Skiing
AUSTRIAN WINS: At Hakuba, Japan, Mario Stecher of Austria used jumps of 90 and 88 meters to win the ski jumping portion of a Nordic combined World Cup event.
Stecher, who held the World Cup lead before slipping in the standings two weeks ago, totaled 231 points for the two jumps and earned a 60-second starting advantage in Sunday's 15-kilometer cross-country ski race.
"I had two good jumps, but it was a little windy in the second round," Stecher said. "It was very difficult, but I'm satisfied with myself."
The competition at Hakuba, a 1998 Olympics site about 125 miles northwest of Tokyo, is the ninth of the 13-event World Cup season. The Nordic event combines scores from ski jumping and cross-country.
Baseball
PHILS-SOX TRADE: The Philadelphia Phillies acquired first baseman Mike Robertson from the Chicago White Sox on Friday for first baseman Gene Schall.
1-YEAR DEALS: Minnesota shortstop Pat Meares, Detroit pitcher Omar Olivares and Atlanta pitcher Yorkis Perez agreed to one-year contracts Friday, leaving 30 players in salary arbitration.
Meares and the Twins agreed at $1,425,000, more than five times his $275,000 salary last season. Olivares and the Tigers settled at $1.1 million, more than double the $505,000 he made last year. Perez and the Braves agreed at $375,000/
Football
FASSEL HIRES COACHES: Jim Fassel nearly completed his New York Giants' coaching staff on Friday by hiring Mike Haluchak as linebacker coach and Johnnie Lynn as defensive backs coach.
The only spot left for Fassel to fill is a defensive line coach.
SUPER SITE: City officials headed by Mayor Richard Riordan have offered the Los Angeles Coliseum as an alternate site for the 1998 Super Bowl.
Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego is the scheduled site of the next Super Bowl. However, the fate of the game, as well as San Diego's 1997 regular season, will be determined Feb. 20, when a judge is expected to rule on a lawsuit filed by opponents of a planned stadium expansion.
GEORGIA PROBATION: The University of Georgia on Friday placed itself on two years' probation and recommended that it lose five football scholarships next year because of alleged infractions of NCAA recruiting rules.
The self-imposed penalties, which included reduced recruiting trips, were recommended to the NCAA Infractions Commmittee during a hearing in Phoenix, Ariz., to discuss 10 allegations.
NO NEW TRIAL: Former Miami Dolphins star Mercury Morris lost his bid Friday for a new trial in a cocaine case that tainted his career, but he vowed to keep trying to clear his name.
Basketball
GOURDINE WINS: Simon Gourdine, fired as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association after its latest collective bargaining agreement, was awarded $883,738 plus interest on Friday by a panel of three arbitrators.
CHAPMAN ON IL: The Phoenix Suns placed guard Rex Chapman on the NBA's injured list Friday and signed free-agent guard Dexter Boney to a 10-day contract.
KINGS NEED HELP: Sacramento Kings owner Jim Thomas appears to be telling the truth when he says he needs financial help from the city to keep the team afloat, a panel of banking and accounting experts said Friday.
A four-member committee appointed by Mayor Joe Serna reviewed the Kings' books earlier this week and reported its findings to Serna and City Council on Friday.
TATE OUT FOR SEASON: Center Jermaine Tate, Ohio State's second-leading scorer and rebounder, will miss the remainder of the season.
FINCH LEAVING MEMPHIS: Basketball coach Larry Finch rejected an offer to stay with the University of Memphis when he agreed to take $413,660 to resign at the end of the current season, the school said Friday.
That payoff, the majority of which will come in monthly payments of $9,350, covers the three years that would remain on Finch's contract.
Gymnastics
DENVER LANDS MEET: For the first time in six years, national gymnastic competition will return to Denver when the USA Gymnastics championships unfold in August at McNichols Sports Arena.
The event, slated for Aug. 13-16, will include competition by men and women, organizers announced Thursday.
Hockey
WOLANIN TRADED: Defenseman Craig Wolanin was traded for the second time in six months, going from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday for a third-round pick in the 1998 NHL draft.
Wolanin was obtained by Tampa Bay from Colorado last August. He appeared in 15 games, accumulating no points and eight penalty minutes after missing the Lightning's first 23 games while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.
Horse racing
UNBRIDLED'S SONG RETIRES: Unbridled's Song, the beaten 1996 Kentucky Derby favorite who was plagued by injuries, was retired Friday because of a fractured cannon bone in his left front leg.
It's the second time he's fractured a bone in the leg.
Rugby
SUPER LEAGUE: Rupert Murdoch's Super League rugby league organization plans to launch new competitions in Japan and the United States over the next 18 months.
Super League last year started a European Super League featuring teams from Britain and France and will this year launch its southern hemisphere competition including teams from Australia and New Zealand.