Robin Williams drawing's top draw
LAS VEGAS - With dozens of celebrities on hand, not surprisingly it was madcap Robin Williams who provided the most entertaining moments of the World Cup draw Sunday.
The comedian-actor was introduced by Joseph Blatter, general secretary of FIFA, the international governing body for soccer. Williams then imitated Blatter's accent, put a surgical glove on his hand before pulling out plastic balls to place teams from the fourth tier, and at one point shouted "bingo" and said the electronic draw board "looked like the world's biggest Keno board."
Live entertainment was provided by Barry Manilow, Vanessa Williams, James Brown and Willie Nelson. Rod Stewart did a song on video.
President Clinton delivered a message to open the broadcast.
"World Cup fever has spread across America and the White House," Clinton said.
Faye Dunaway and Dick Clark served as hosts.
IHL adds new team
INDIANAPOLIS - The International Hockey League announced Thursday that it has granted membership to ISport for an expansion team in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to begin play in 1994-95.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul entry was approved by unanimous vote of the 14 IHL Board of Governors during a special conference call. The addition of the ISport team brings the number of teams in the IHL to 15.
ISport is owned by Kevin MacLean and Roger Sturgeon.
Denver, which was approved to join the league in June will also begin play next season.
Coach feels good about soccer loss
STANFORD, Calif. - The score says it was a step backward.
Not so, says Bora Milutinovic, coach of the U.S. soccer team.
The United States lost 3-0 to defending champion Germany on Saturday at Stanford Stadium in a tuneup for both teams for next summer's World Cup.
Nevertheless, Milutinovic says he feels better about the U.S. team's prospects today than he did in June when Germany had to hang on for a 4-3 victory over the Americans.
"Even though the result was more one-sided than the loss in Chicago, we played much better in losing 3-0," said Milutinovic.
He said the young American players such as Chad Derring and Cobi Jones gained valuable experience by testing their mettle against some of the world's best players.