Sports briefs
Baseball
STEINBRENNER TROUBLE: George Steinbrenner faces suspension from baseball's ruling executive council for suing the sport over the Yankees' Adidas deal, two baseball officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.In addition, the council may start an investigation that could lead to the owner's third suspension from control of his team.
MCLAIN SENTENCED: In Detroit, Denny McLain, the last pitcher to win 30 games in a season, was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $2.5 million on Wednesday for stealing from the pension plan of a company that went bankrupt 18 months after he bought it.
NEW DEAL FOR ASHBY: Right-hander Andy Ashby agreed to a $15 million, three-year contract extension with the San Diego Padres. Ashby is 2-2 with a 2.15 ERA this season. He was 12-10 with a 2.94 ERA in 1995, and 9-5 with a 3.23 ERA last year.
Basketball
CARR STEPS DOWN: M.L. Carr stepped down as director of basketball operations of the Boston Celtics and Larry Bird may be the next to go.
It was reported that Bird, now a Celtics special assistant, already had agreed to coach the Indiana Pacers. But the Pacers and a source close to Bird denied he had accepted an offer believed to be worth about $4.5 million a year plus part ownership.
The Celtics also announced the firings of head scout Rick Weitzman, director of basketball development Jon Jennings and assistant coaches K.C. Jones, Dennis Johnson and John Kuester.
Hockey
BRUINS SEEK PARKER: The Boston Bruins offered their coaching job to Jack Parker, who led Boston University to two NCAA championships in his 24 seasons.
WHALERS' MOVE: The Hartford Whalers cleared a major hurdle in their move to North Carolina when a state agency agreed to let the NHL team pay a $21.7 million penalty to leave Connecticut a year early.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: In Helsinki, Finland, the Czech Republic beat Canada 5-3 at the World Hockey Championships in game marked by a brawl which resulted in the suspension of eight players.
The loss damaged Canada's chances of reaching the finals. Also, first-place Sweden officially ended Finland's chance at a medal game with a 5-2 victory.
Football
COOKE'S WILL: The will of former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke was probated and much of his estimated $825 million estate is going to charity.
The will also could set in motion the eventual sale of Cooke's Washington Redskins football franchise and set up his one surviving son, John Kent Cooke, to be the team's buyer.
DARLING ARRESTED: James Darling, a second-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles, was arrested for assault and burglary this week on the Washington State campus in Pullman, Wash., his fourth arrest in the past two years.
A deputy Whitman County prosecutor, said the former Washington State linebacker had been drinking and was trying to track down a person he planned to beat up in a dispute over a woman.
Softball
UCLA WILL APPEAL: UCLA has decided to appeal a ruling by the NCAA committee barring the women's softball team from competing in the upcoming national tournament. That means the fourth-ranked Bruins (39-11) will be eligible to play in the NCAA tournament since an appeal won't be considered until well after the competition finishes.
Tennis
HINGIS HEALING: Martina Hingis, who injured her knee falling off a horse last month, says she expects to be fit for the French Open.
The 16-year-old Swiss star, the world's top-ranked player, has been forced to pull out of three tournaments since suffering the injury on April 21.
GERMAN OPEN: In Hamburg, Germany, eighth-seeded Boris Becker beat his protege Nicolas Kiefer 7-5, 6-2 to reach the third round of the German Open.
In other matches: Thomas Muster beat Alex Radulescu; Michel Stich lost to to Slava Dosedel; Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat Richard Fromberg and Tommy Haas upset Carlos Moya.
RED CLAY CHAMPIONSHIP: In Coral Springs, Fla., Steve Campbell, a qualifier, knocked off No. 5 seed Byron Black of Zimbabwe 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of America's Red Clay Tennis Championship.
Top-seed Jonas Bjorkman advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Luke Jensen.
ITALIAN OPEN: In Rome, Conchita Martinez, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Iva Majoli, Amanda Coetzer and Mary Pierce were all winners in the second round of the Italian Open.
Francesca Lubiani upset No. 4 seed Anke Huber. Other seeded losers were No. 16 Sandrine Testud and No. 9 Brenda Schultz McCarthy.
Golf
DALY'S RETURN: John Daly, who leaves alcohol rehabilitation on Friday, makes his first public golf appearance since undergoing treatment at the Mystic Rock Pro-Am near Pittsburgh on Memorial Day.