COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ducks' vests steam Miss. St. coach Sherrill
Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill is miffed that Nike has provided Oregon with experimental vests - which the Ducks might use Saturday night to help stay cool in warm and humid conditions.
Sherrill said Mississippi State - which also has a contract with Nike - wasn't offered the equipment for the game in Starkville, Miss., until he asked about it.
``When you have two teams under contract to the same vendor, you question why they're allowing one to use it and not another,'' he said. ``They (Nike) didn't offer it until Friday afternoon - and not until I asked the question.''
The product, which was developed by Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike, is worn under the shoulder pads and weighs slightly more than a T-shirt.
When connected to a sideline compressor, the bladder-like device blows dehumidified air on the players.
* Former Minnesota and Texas Christian coach Jim Wacker, who won consecutive national championships in NAIA at Texas Lutheran and Division II at Southwest Texas, died in San Marcos, Texas. He was 66.
Wacker, who had a career coaching record of 160-130-3, died after a long battle with cancer.
* Former Loveland High School athlete Josh Davis has been named starting I-back for Nebraska's opener at home against Oklahoma State on Saturday. Davis beat out sophomores David Horne and Cory Ross.
``We've had a lot of great I-backs since I've been here, and it's been a real competitive spot,'' said Davis, who follows in the footsteps of his father Tony, who was a starting I-back and fullback for the Huskers from 1973 to '75. ``Just to be number one at a school like this, as prestigious as it is, is a real honor.''
BASKETBALL
Tigers coach welcomes expanded investigation
University of Missouri basketball coach Quin Snyder broke his silence and said he welcomes the intensified probe of his program ordered by the university president.
Snyder declined comment for weeks, but now views the probe as ``a vehicle to expedite and further validate the process we are going through right now as an athletic department.''
On Monday, school president Elson Floyd appointed engineering professor Michael Devaney to lead a ``continuation, extension and amplification'' of an investigation started in late July by the athletic department, after the ex-girlfriend of former Tigers point guard Ricky Clemons said he received improper academic help.
Floyd also directed the Devaney investigation to look at ``the entire men's basketball program.'' Athletic staffers and other university personnel involved in the investigation will answer to Devaney.
* Iowa State basketball coach Wayne Morgan, hired in May, recently signed a four-year contract that pays him $500,000 annually.
UNIVERSITY GAMES
U.S. takes tense match against North Korea
The United States beat North Korea 3-0 in a men's volleyball match in front of 5,000 spectators and heavy security at the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea.
The match on the eve of talks in Beijing aimed at defusing tension over North Korea's suspected
nuclear weapons program was again overshadowed by a boycott threat.
North Korean delegation chief Jun Kuk Man said he'd withdraw unless the South Korean government apologized for failing to prevent anti-North Korea rallies at the games and guaranteed heightened security for his delegation.
FOOTNOTES
Fleeing goalie leaves gap between the pipes
University of Minnesota goal-tender Travis Weber, who backstopped the Golden Gophers to their second consecutive NCAA title in April, has decided to withdraw from the school for unspecified personal reasons.
With Weber gone, the Gophers have two goaltenders left on the roster: junior Justin Johnson and newcomer Kellen Briggs.
* New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey ruled out any new subsidies for current or future owners of the Nets and the Devils, despite a threat that the teams could move to New York.
His announcement came five days after a group of investors, currently negotiating to buy the Nets and keep the team in New Jersey, met with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to discuss the renovation of the team's arena in East Rutherford, N.J.
* Jose Santos, the jockey who rode Funny Cide to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, began serving a 10-day suspension for careless riding at New York's Saratoga Race Course.
* Winston Cup driver Bill Elliott isn't giving any hints about his future driving plans, even amid widespread speculation that he's contemplating retirement at the end of this season.
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