The Enquirer and wire reports

Former Utah coach Rick Majerus is joining ESPN as a college basketball analyst.

Majerus led the Utes for 15 seasons before leaving them in January because of heart problems. His Utah teams made 10 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance in the 1998 national championship game.

Majerus said Tuesday that he feels good and wanted to take the network job to stay close to the sport.

"I am very lucky, because if they put this job out on one of those reality shows there'd be a line from Los Angeles to New York to sign up for the position I have," he said.

Blues forward pleads innocent

St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton pleaded innocent in East St. Louis, Ill., to charges that he conspired to kill an acquaintance in a murder-for-hire plot. Danton is charged with conspiring and using a telephone across state lines to attempt a murder. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for July 12, and a trial was set for July 20.

NBC to televise Golden Gloves

One of the oldest American championship tournaments in sports, the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, gets its first live network television broadcast on NBC, at 1 p.m. Sunday. The broadcast is the culmination of "Championship Week," which got under way Monday at the 10,000-seat Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The tournament comprises 290 elimination bouts over the course of six days, ending with the national championship telecast Sunday.

Runner upgraded to fair condition

According to a spokesperson at University Hospital, 48-year-old David Beckman's condition changed Tuesday from serious to fair. Beckman, a Milford resident, was taken by ambulance to the hospital Sunday morning after collapsing at the finish line of the Flying Pig Marathon. Beckman ran the 10K race.
--Shannon Russell

Sanchez Vicario aiming for Athens

Just 18 months after she retired, former world No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is in the German Open in Berlin. But she said she wasn't planning to take up the racket again full time; she's just trying to make Spain's Olympic team. "It's not like I'm planning a comeback, this is just the best practice," said Sanchez Vicario, who hopes to play doubles in Athens.

WNBA's Wyckoff tears ACL, out for year

Connecticut Sun forward Brooke Wyckoff, a Lakota High graduate, will miss the WNBA season after tearing a ligament in her right knee.

The 6-foot-1 forward tore her anterior cruciate ligament during a team workout Monday. Wyckoff will have surgery within a week, and the injury is expected to take six months to heal.

"It's a very, very tough loss for our team," Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "She's one of our most valuable players. ... We planned to use her in a couple of different positions."

A second-round draft pick out of Florida State with three years of WNBA experience, Wyckoff averaged a career-high 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 points last season. She played in all 34 games last season for the Sun, setting or tying career highs in nine statistical categories.

NFL

RAMS SIGN BULGER: Marc Bulger agreed to a four-year contract with the St. Louis Rams - a deal that could affect whether two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner will be released next month. The Rams did not disclose terms of the deal with Bulger, who coach Mike Martz said will enter the preseason as the team's starting quarterback.

The Rams' statement made no mention of Warner's status. Last week, Martz said "at this point, our focus (is) to get something done with Marc, and we'll take the next step from there."

Warner's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Tuesday night that his client expected to be released after June 1 - and that he doubted Warner would be willing to back up Bulger or take a salary cut to stay with the Rams.

College football

OHIO STATE: Suspended tight end Louis Irizarry remained in jail after a Columbus judge ruled he violated his probation by being arrested on a robbery charge.

Irizarry, a sophomore from Youngstown, appeared before Franklin County Municipal Court Judge James Green on Tuesday. Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel suspended Irizarry from the team Saturday, hours after Irizarry and teammate Ira Guilford were arrested and charged with felony robbery by campus police.

Irizarry was put on probation after he was found guilty of assault, negligent assault and disorderly conduct for a fight in a campus dormitory last October. He also spent three days in jail.

Guilford was released Monday evening after paying a $25,000 bond.

Horse racing

PREAKNESS: For the 11th time in the last 14 years, trainer Nick Zito will have the first Triple Crown colt on the Pimlico grounds when The Cliff's Edge, who was fifth in Saturday's Kentucky Derby despite losing both front shoes, arrives Monday on a flight from Louisville. The flight also will include Midway Road, the second place finisher in last year's Preakness. Midway Road will test 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide in the Grade I Pimlico Special on May 14.

Tennis

ITALIAN OPEN: U.S. Open champ Andy Roddick lost in the first round in Rome, falling to Guillermo Canas 7-6 (7), 6-1. Roddick made 35 unforced errors - 24 more than Canas - and wasted three set points in the tiebreaker.

GERMAN OPEN: Jennifer Capriati breezed into the third round in Berlin by beating local wild-card entry Julia Schruff 6-3, 6-1.

Auto racing

FORMULA ONE: F1 teams agreed to sweeping changes, hoping to level the field and prevent Michael Schumacher from extending his domination. The six-time world champ has won all four races this season for free-spending Ferrari. Among the biggest changes: cutting costs so smaller teams can compete with the rich.