Soccer
FREEZZ HONORED: Utah Freezz players Justin Labrum and Beau Brown were selected to the All-WISL second team on Tuesday. The awards were based on a poll of the league's coaches.
Brown, who set a Freezz record with 19 assists, was named to the second team for the third straight year. Labrum set new career highs this year with 22 goals and 31 points.
The first team included: Sagu, Dallas; Iain Fraser, Sacramento; Jeff Davis, St. Louis; Mariano Bollella, San Diego; Ato Leone, Sacramento; Carlos Farias, San Diego.
Other league honors included Sacramento's Fraser earning coach of the year, and San Diego's David Beltran earning rookie of the year.
BLITZZ AWARD: The Utah Blitzz were recently awarded the Marketing Excellence Award at the United Soccer Leagues annual operations meeting in Florida. In an effort to continue that trend, the Blitzz have hired Chad Starbuck as the director of marketing.
Starbuck has spent the last seven years as the vice president of corporate development for the Colorado Sky Sox minor league baseball team.
Football
BRONCOS LOSE DRAFT PICK: Although disappointed and confused by the ruling, Denver coach Mike Shanahan said the Broncos will abide by an NFL decision that will cost the team a third-round draft choice and a fine of nearly $1 million.
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue found the Broncos guilty of violating guidelines under the league's deferred compensation fund.
BATCH OUT FOR YEAR: Detroit Lions quarterback Charlie Batch was placed on injured reserve, ending his season.
PEPPERS WINS LOMBARDI AWARD: Julius Peppers, the North Carolina defensive end who gave up basketball to concentrate on football, won the Vince Lombardi Award as the top college lineman. Peppers, a junior, has 30 1/2 career sacks.
Baseball
YANKEES HIRE ASSISTANT GM: Jean Afterman, a former aide to agent Don Nomura, was hired by the New York Yankees as their assistant general manager.
GIANTS SIGN PITCHER: Left-handed reliever Jason Christiansen agreed to a $6.8 million, three-year deal to remain with the San Francisco Giants.
NEW STADIUMS FOR N.Y.: Even though New York City faces three successive years of budget deficits greater than $3.5 billion, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said he wants to complete new stadium deals for the Mets and Yankees before he leaves office Dec. 31.
Olympics
1980 REUNION: America's 1980 gold-medal hockey team will play together for the first time since Lake Placid when it meets a team of NHL old-timers in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, the day before the NHL All-Star game.
Basketball
OLOWOKANDI CASE: A detective investigating the Michael Olowokandi case said police have "significant evidence" against the Los Angeles Clippers center despite his former girlfriend's claim that she was at fault in the matter.
"I'm not a judge, but the victim did not beat herself up nor did she rob herself of property," Det. Karl Nilsson of the Manhattan Police Department said.
Boxing
LEWIS SUING TYSON: Lennox Lewis is suing Mike Tyson to prevent him from fighting on Jan. 19 or to have the WBC remove Tyson from the mandatory challenger's position if he does fight.
The suit, which also names the WBC as a defendant, was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.