Enquirer staff and wire reports

Nykesha Sales smiled when someone suggested the Connecticut Sun could add a WNBA title to this year's NCAA championships won by the UConn men's and women's teams. "This is going to be good for the state," she said Monday. "It's the basketball capital of the world."

Not so fast, Nykesha.

Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm can claim the city's first professional sports title in 25 years in what should be an exciting Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at 9 p.m. today.

"The emotional swings get a little higher," Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said. "Every possession gets magnified a little bit."

The Storm are going for the first title by a Seattle team since the SuperSonics won the 1979 NBA title.

Pro football

Favre book set for release Oct. 19: Brett Favre's autobiography, "Favre," will be released Oct. 19. The Green Bay Packers quarterback wrote the book with Green Bay Press-Gazette columnist Chris Havel. The 14-year veteran is the NFL's only three-time MVP. Sports Illustrated's Peter King also contributes with Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw penning the forward. "Let me say this on the record: he is the best I have ever seen," Bradshaw wrote. The book comes with an NFL Films DVD featuring interviews, game highlights and off-the-field footage.

Equestrian

This (horse) pill tough to swallow: Ireland's Cian O'Connor could have the individual show jumping gold medal he won at the Olympics stripped, because the horse he won on tested positive for banned drugs. The International Equestrian Federation said Friday that four horses tested positive for banned substances during the Athens Games. The rider plans to appeal, saying a sedative used a month earlier is to blame.

Horse racing

KENTUCKY: The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority is disputing the amount of attorneys' fees it should have to pay after losing a fight with jockeys, who successfully sued for the right to wear union and advertising patches on their outfits during the Kentucky Derby. In filings in U.S. District Court in Louisville, the racing authority said it should have to pay $29,599.97 in fees. Seven jockeys involved in the two cases are seeking more than $93,000 in fees they say were accrued during their cases against the racing authority and the Kentucky Racing Commission.

The racing commission was abolished and replaced with the racing authority after Gov. Ernie Fletcher took office in January.

Jockeys Robby Albarado, Brian Peck and Shane Sellers sued April 16 seeking the right to wear a union patch on their outfits. Jockeys Jerry Bailey, John Velazquez, Jose Santos, Alex Solis and Sellers filed a similar suit a week later asking to wear advertising patches.

In a Sept. 27 filing, the racing authority said it shouldn't have to pay any fees in connection with the latter case, because the jockeys' attorneys didn't provide a description of the services they performed.

An Oct. 6 filing by the jockeys' attorneys in that case includes five pages of itemized billing sheets. The jockeys have asked for $25,102.50 in attorneys' fees.

Tennis

Henin-Hardenne done for season: Olympic champion Justine Henin-Hardenne ended her season Monday, saying she was exhausted after two years of a relentless effort to become the WTA Tour's top-ranked player. She said an energy-sapping virus that weakened her since April was a symptom of a more general malaise caused by her pursuit of titles and the No. 1 ranking.

KREMLIN CUP: Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo withdrew from the event, a day after a thigh injury forced her to quit during a final against Lindsay Davenport.

Greg Rusedski won a tiebreaker that equaled the season's longest at 30 points and beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (14), 6-2.

Top-seeded Marat Safin survived two match points to beat Max Mirnyi 6-7 (8), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1) to reach the second round in Moscow.

Golf

WORLD MATCH PLAY: Defending champ Ernie Els will play Scotland's Scott Drummond in Thursday's first round at Virginia Water, England. Drummond won the Volvo PGA Championship on the same Wentworth West Course in May.

Top-ranked Vijay Singh, seeded No. 2 for this tournament, faces European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer in the opening round.

First-round matches were arranged with the top-seeded player facing the 16th seed, No. 2 facing No. 15, etc. After Els and Singh, Padraig Harrington was seeded No. 3 followed by Mike Weir, Retief Goosen, Todd Hamilton, Miguel Angel Jimenez and K.J. Choi. Other first-round pairings:

Choi (South Korea) vs. Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Harrington (Ireland) vs. Chris Riley (USA), Weir (Canada) vs. Thomas Levet (France), Goosen (South Africa) vs. Jeff Maggert (USA), Hamilton (USA) vs. Lee Westwood (England) and Jimenez (Spain) vs. Steve Flesch (Union, Ky.).