September 3, 2007

By George, Oregon has new coach

Former Cal State Fullerton and Cerritos College baseball coach George Horton has been was hired by Oregon to restart its program.

Horton signed a five-year contract that will pay a base salary of $150,000 a year, and an additional $250,000 annually derived from radio and television contracts, as well as shoe and athletics contracts with Nike.

Horton coached the Titans for the past 11 seasons, and took the team to the College World Series six times. They won the national title in 2004, and he has twice been national coach of the year.

"To see what he has built and accomplished at Cal State Fullerton is incredible," Oregon AD Pat Kilkenny said.

Oregon has not fielded a team in 26 years and is the only Pac-10 school without one. The school announced two months ago that it would revive baseball, drop wrestling and add competitive cheer.

Oregon plans to begin play with limited scholarships in 2009.

WNBA Finals set

Deanna Nolan scored 20 of her franchise playoff-record 30 points in the first half to help the defending champion Detroit Shock advance to the WNBA Finals with an 81-65 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Shock will face Phoenix starting Wednesday as they go for their second straight title and third in five years.

U.S. at full strength

Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey will lead a full-strength roster picked by U.S. soccer coach Bob Bradley for Sunday's exhibition game against Brazil in Chicago.

Ten of the 11 players who started in the Americans' 1-0 loss at Sweden on Aug. 22 were selected, with Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein the lone player dropped from the 19-man roster.

Thirteen of the players were on this year's roster that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and 14 of the 19 are based in Europe.

Brazil, a five-time World Cup champion and the world's top-ranked team, has announced a roster that includes Ronaldinho, FIFA player of the year in 2004 and 2005, and Kaka, a contender for this year's award.

The U.S. is 1-11 against Brazil, its only victory a 1-0 win in February 1998 during the Gold Cup in Los Angeles.

Tougher road ahead

From the string of U.S. romps to the sound of "The Star-Spangled Banner," the FIBA Americas championship was a reminder of the way international basketball tournaments used to look.

There never was much doubt about the outcome. The real questions involve next summer.

For starters, who is the favorite in Beijing?

"Obviously us," U.S. star Carmelo Anthony said. "I guess us right now."

Maybe so, but it won't be easy - certainly not as easy as the Olympic qualifier. The Americans brought the strongest team they've had in years, while some of their chief rivals showed up with watered-down ones.

That will change in China. Count on Argentina's roster looking more like the one that won gold in 2004 than the one the Americans beat 118-81 on Sunday in the title game.

"The thing about Beijing next summer, everybody is going to bring their top players," Anthony said. "So it will be a great experience. I can't wait, I'm looking forward to it."

He should be excited. With Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Jason Kidd joining Anthony at the core, the Americans have a team that compares favorably with the ones that helped them rule international basketball a decade ago.

"The Olympics are going to be totally different because we're going to be on foreign soil," said Kidd, who helped the U.S. win its last major gold in the 2000 Olympics. "Spain is very good, Serbia, you've got a lot of European teams, Italy, Greece. Everybody's improved, the world's gotten better. So it won't be as easy, but that's the challenge and that's what we're looking forward to."

Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points and pulled in 11 rebounds as Germany needed overtime to beat the Czech Republic, 83-78, on the opening day of the European championships.

Tony Parker scored 16 as France held off Poland, 74-66, in a Group D match, while Andrei Kirilenko's 24 points and 12 rebounds led Russia over Group A rival Serbia, 73-65.

Schumacher quickest

Defending Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher took the NHRA playoff lead with his sixth Mac Tools U.S. Nationals victory in eight years in Clermont, Ind.

Schumacher drove away from Larry Dixon in the final, finishing in 4.575 seconds at 331.94 mph, to earn a spot in the winner's circle with Funny Car victor Mike Ashley, Pro Stock points leader Dave Connolly, and Pro Stock Motorcycle winner Craig Treble.

The three-time defending world champion leads the points standings for the first time this season. He's 31 points ahead of second-place Dixon and a 102 in front of fifth-place Bob Vandergriff, with the top four drivers after the four-race playoff advancing to the championship round.

"I guess we're a really good pressure team," Schumacher said.