Basketball
HEY, OFFICER SHAQ: Shaquille O'Neal wants to be a police officer.
O'Neal has been designated a second-class reserve officer by the police department of the Port of Los Angeles, the Daily Breeze reported Thursday.
O'Neal, 30, has completed enough training to fight crime with senior officers and carry a gun.
"He can now ride as a second man in a port police car — not that he can fit in it," city councilwoman Janice Hahn said about the 7-foot-1-inch, 350-pound athlete.
Tennis
DAVENPORT RETURNS: Three-time Grand Slam champion Linsday Davenport is set to play her first competition since right knee surgery in January.
She'll play World Team Tennis on Friday in Hartford.
Baseball
RETIRE NO. 25?: The Boston City Council voted to ask the Red Sox to retire No. 25 in honor of late Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro, who was nearly killed by a pitch in 1967.
Conigliaro, an East Boston native, nearly died when he was struck in the head at age 22. His career, which some baseball observers believe would have landed him in the Hall of Fame, fizzled after he suffered a fractured cheekbone, dislocated jaw and damaged retina.
Volleyball
KILGOUR DIES: Kirk Kilgour, a three-time All-American volleyball player at UCLA and an Olympian, has died. He was 54.
Kilgour, who was left a quadriplegic after a 1970s training accident, died Wednesday at Mediplex Rehabilitation Hospital in Thornton, Colo., after battling pneumonia and a series of illnesses that kept him in the hospital most of the year.
Softball
PIONEER DAYS TOURNEY: The 27th annual Pioneer Days Men's Fastpitch tournament kicks off today at the Cottonwood Complex, with a 6 p.m. game featuring current International Softball Congress World Champions, Broken Bow Travelers of Nebraska against Utah County's Castlewood. The tournament features eight teams from the West and Midwest. Admission is free for the Pioneer Days tournament.
For more information: Don Young UT84118@aol.com, (801) 964-0252
Luge
WORLD CUP IN UTAH: Luge will be back in Utah this winter.
Nine months following the conclusion of the 2002 Winter Games, luge competition — of the highest level — will return to Bear Hollow.
The first leg of the seven-race World Cup season will kick off Nov. 18-24 at Utah Olympic Park. It's the second straight season that the World Cup season will begin in North America.
From Bear Hollow the World Cup will move to Calgary before heading to Europe for the final five races. The finale will be Feb. 3-9 in Winterberg, Germany.
Rodeo
POINTS TOWARD TITLES:The month of July is a huge month for rodeo athletes in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, as competitors earn money toward a trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December.
Cowboys and cowgirls from Utah, Idaho and Nevada earn points as members of the Wilderness Circuit and moved up in the rankings during the first week of July and have solidified their run for a trip to NFR, which centered around the more traditional Christmas holiday in December.
July is starting out well for reigning world champions Lan LaJeunesse, the bareback champion from Morgan, and Blue Stone, the bull riding champion from Ogden, as the pair have moved into striking distance for a repeat trip to NFR and the opportunity to defend their world titles.
Golf
PLAYER OUT OF OPEN: Gary Player withdrew Friday from British Open qualifying because of a rib injury, formally ending his record of 46 consecutive appearances in golf's oldest championship.
The 66-year-old Player is no longer exempt to the British Open because it has an age limit of 65 for past champions.