Finish line, August 15

Published August 15, 2006 at midnight

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HOCKEY

Malkin remains a mystery for Russian team

The Pittsburgh Penguins aren't saying where Russian star Evgeni Malkin is, or when they expect to see him.

The Malkin mystery continued Monday as the 20-year-old star remained out of sight after bolting from his Russian Super League team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, on Saturday after it arrived for training camp in Helsinki, Finland. He is expected to join the Penguins.

Malkin, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 draft and the player widely considered the best in the world not currently playing in the NHL, left with his belongings and passport and, possibly, a Canadian visa.

Malkin's former Russian agent, Sergei Isakov, told the Soviet Sport newspaper that Malkin had the visa before leaving for Finland. Malkin's North American agents, JP Barry and Pat Brisson, would not confirm that or say where Malkin is, though they believe he is out of harm's way.

"I can tell you I think he is safe, but I cannot comment on anything else," Brisson said.

• Rangers forward Jed Ortmeyer has been diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism and will be sidelined indefinitely.

A pulmonary embolism is the sudden blockage of an artery in the lung, usually caused by one or more blood clots.

• The Red Wings signed veteran forward Greg Johnson to a one-year contract. The 35-year-old center is coming back for a second stint with Detroit after playing the last seven seasons with the Nashville Predators.

• Season-ticket sales for the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes are up about 60 percent over last year, general manager Jim Rutherford said.

SOCCER

Browns owner bids for England's Aston Villa

Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner put in a $118.8 million bid to buy Birmingham, England, soccer club Aston Villa, one of the oldest clubs in the English Premier League.

The Aston Villa board recommended the transaction to shareholders and said owners of 56.85 percent of the shares were committed to the deal. Lerner is expected to take over within months.

• Houston Dynamo leading scorer Brian Ching will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee and is expected to be sidelined for three weeks from Major League Soccer.

• Calen Carr and Andy Herron scored to lead the Chicago Fire to a 2-0 victory against the Kansas City Wizards to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.

HORSE RACING

Barbaro begins to stroll outside medical stable

Barbaro is enjoying daily outings outside his intensive care stall in Kennett Square, Pa., to pick his own grass, enjoy the warm weather and stretch his recovering legs.

Barbaro stepped outside and started daily walks on a grassy area near the unit last week for the first time since having catastrophic injuries in the Preakness nearly three months ago.

The Kentucky Derby winner, also recovering from a severe case of laminitis on his left hoof, continues to show signs he's on the road to recovery.

"It's a big step just to know he feels good enough that you can take him out of the stall and walk him around like a normal horse and he eats grass like a normal horse," said Dean Richardson, chief surgeon at the New Bolton Center. "That doesn't mean he's healed. It just means things are going well right now."

FOOTNOTES

Barbee becomes first black coach at UTEP

Former University of Memphis assistant Tony Barbee will become the men's basketball coach at Texas-El Paso, replacing Doc Sadler.

Barbee, 35, is the first black head coach at UTEP, a school credited with helping break down the color barrier in college sports. Sadler left last week to coach Nebraska.

Sporting a new UTEP tie and lapel pin, Barbee said his first priority is continuing "a rich and winning tradition."

He has already spoken to Don Haskins, the former UTEP coach who led the 1966 Miners to the NCAA championship and made history by starting five black players in the title game against an all-white Kentucky squad.

"My style is built on one thing, and it's winning in March," Barbee said. "Winning in March starts with defense."

• Kansas State forward Tyler Hughes was dismissed from the men's basketball team because his name appears in a registered sex offender database.

The 21-year-old player was registered May 5 for aggravated indecent liberties with a child. A prosecutor said Hughes was under 18 at the time, but authorities did not find out about it until recently.

• Former University of Miami linebacker Willie Williams is transferring to Pearl River Community College in Mississippi.

Pearl River won the 2004 NJCAA championship, finished last season ranked No. 3 among junior colleges and is the top-ranked team in this year's preseason polls.

• Brigham Young sophomore offensive lineman Tom Sorensen will redshirt this season after suffering a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury last week.

• South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier has closed the rest of his team's practices because he said too much is being reported on Internet sites.

• Third-seeded David Nalbandian waited out a rain delay and beat Rik De Voest 6-0, 6-4 in the first round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters men's tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio, while sixth-seeded James Blake eliminated Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-4.

• Fourteenth-seeded Katarina Srebotnik eliminated Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 7-5, and 15th-seeded Maria Kirilenko defeated Jelena Kostanic 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the first round of the Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament in Montreal.

• Al Hostak, who won the middleweight boxing title in 1938 in a bout refereed by Jack Dempsey, died Sunday in Kirkland, Wash., of complications from a stroke. He was 90.

Hostak had a record of 63-9-12. He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997.

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