Basketball
STRICKLAND'S PLEA: Portland Trail Blazers guard Rod Strickland pleaded guilty Monday to driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to 10 days in jail.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Poretz also put Strickland on supervised probation for two years and ordered him to attend substance abuse counseling and pay about $1,000 in fines.
When Strickland was arrested for driving under the influence on Jan. 7, he was playing for the Washington Wizards. An officer pulled him over after watching his car swerve across the George Washington Memorial Parkway, according to a police report.
A prosecutor and Strickland's attorney both asked that the player not be required to serve the jail time until the current NBA season ends.
Strickland was arrested four times during his five years with the Wizards. He was waived in March and signed with the Trail Blazers soon after.
Strickland's last brush with the law was in October, when he was arrested for refusing to leave a restaurant that was being shut by fire marshals.
Before that, he was arrested in April 1999, and charged with driving under the influence and reckless driving. Five months later, he was found not guilty by a jury on the DUI charge and by a judge on the reckless driving charge.
SONICS SALE: The sale of the Seattle SuperSonics was completed, providing $155 million for The Ackerley Group to spend on debt reduction and investments in billboards, TV and new media.
The $200 million sale of the NBA franchise and the Storm of the WNBA by Ackerley to a group led by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz closed Monday. Taxes on the sale will amount to about $45 million, co-president Chris Ackerley said.
As part of the sale, Ackerley's KJR-AM will remain the flagship station for Sonics game broadcasts for as long as five years. If the new owners receive a better offer, Ackerley has the right to match it. The full broadcast package remain under negotiation, Ackerley said.
TRAINER CAUGHT STEALING: The brother of Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce left as the team's conditioning coach after he was caught on videotape stealing money from Allen Iverson's pants in the locker room.
Pat Croce told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his brother, John, had been dismissed. When asked what the videotape showed, the owner said, "The actions speak for themselves." He paused, then added, "I felt sick."
General manager Billy King said he authorized the videotaping in the locker room, and he and Pat Croce said the tape showed John Croce stealing from the star guard.
The team originally announced that John Croce had resigned Jan. 12 to pursue other work.
Attempts by the Associated Press to reach John Croce were not successful Tuesday. The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, which also reported the story, said he did not return calls Monday.
King said he confronted John Croce about the tape, and John Croce left the team soon after that. Pat Croce said he was not present when King confronted his brother.
Neither the 76ers nor Iverson pressed criminal charges against John Croce.
TENNESSEE COACH SEARCH: Buzz Peterson has tentatively agreed to become Tennessee's new coach and the deal could be finalized Tuesday, the Associated Press has learned.
Peterson, who led Tulsa to the NIT championship last week, agreed in principle to succeed Jerry Green as coach of the Vols, a source close to the search said.
Officials at Tulsa and Tennessee were working morning to close the $750,000 deal and complete it "probably today," according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. BOXER RETURNS HOME: A Cuban boxer who went to the United States a month ago, reportedly to avoid German tax authorities, has returned to Germany.
Juan Carlos Gomez, the WBC cruiserweight champ, has been fighting out of Germany since 1995, when he defected during a tour of the country by the Cuban national team.
He fled to the United States at the end of February, with a tax debt of $270,000, according to his promoters.
Baseball
ALOU ON DL: Moises Alou was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Houston Astros because of a right calf strain.
Alou missed the 1999 season recovering from reconstructive knee surgery and was sidelined part of last season with a strain in his right calf. He played in 126 games last season, hitting .355 with 114 RBIs and 30 home runs.
STRAWBERRY FOUND: Darryl Strawberry's latest absence from a drug treatment center ended with him in a hospital and under arrest.
It remains to be seen if prison time is next for the former New York Yankees slugger.
Strawberry was arrested at St. Joseph's Hospital on Monday night, four days after he left the Health Care Connection, a drug treatment center in Tampa. He was charged with violating a probation warrant, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
First word that Strawberry was safe came from Ray Negron, a Cleveland Indians consultant who advised the former player when he played for the Yankees.
"The search is over and Darryl is OK," Negron said about two hours before Strawberry was arrested. "We've put him in a hospital to make sure he's taken care of. He's OK."
Further details on Strawberry's leaving the hospital were not known.
The 39-year-old Strawberry, also being treated for colon cancer, was wearing an electronic monitor as a sentence for his 1999 arrest on drug and solicitation of prostitution charges. The monitor showed he had left, but did not indicate where he had gone.
Police said Monday they were investigating an unconfirmed report that Strawberry was kidnapped and being held in Orlando, where his captors were reportedly demanding $50,000.
Prosecutors said they would seek a prison sentence for Strawberry once he was located. Strawberry also disappeared from the center in October. He left with a friend for an overnight drug binge, but turned himself in the next day.
If it is determined that Strawberry broke house arrest by leaving the center Thursday, it will be the fourth time he has violated conditions imposed by a judge.
The judge has kept Strawberry out of prison so he can seek treatment for his addiction and cancer.
VALENZUELA TURNED DOWN: Jockey Patrick Valenzuela, suspended for more than a year after testing positive for amphetamine use, was denied a license to return to riding after the California Horse Racing board upheld a recommendation by racing stewards.
The board commissioners said that Valenzuela may reapply for a license in six months if he can prove he is no longer abusing drugs and has attended a drug-treatment facility for the entire six-month period.
Valenzuela, who has a history of drug and alcohol problems, was suspended from riding in February 2000.