Football
VIKINGS HINDSIGHT: Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice said he wishes he would have challenged Terrell Owens' touchdown catch during Monday night's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
"But that's all hindsight now," Tice said Tuesday.
Owens hauled in a 45-yard pass from Donovan McNabb to put the Eagles ahead 24-9 with 7:48 left in the fourth quarter, but replays showed Owens might not have had full possession of the ball as he landed in the end zone and rolled out of bounds.
Philadelphia's David Akers kicked the extra point before Minnesota's assistant coaches had a chance to see a replay up in the booth.
"Obviously if I knew what I knew now I would have thrown the flag," Tice said.
Track & field
ATHLETE APPEALS: Hungarian hammer thrower Adrian Annus has filed an appeal with sport's highest court in a bid to keep the Olympic gold medal he lost after refusing to take a follow-up drug test.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, said Tuesday it had received a petition from Annus appealing the International Olympic Committee's decision to revoke his medal from last month's Athens Games.
The IOC executive board ruled on Aug. 29 that Annus had refused or failed to submit to a follow-up drug test. The IOC said Annus passed two drug tests — one before and one right after his event on Aug. 22.
Although both samples came back clean, the analysis "showed evidence of belonging to two different athletes, indicating possible tampering," the IOC said.
Annus was ordered to take another drug test after he returned to Hungary, but he failed to show up. He was stripped of the medal at an IOC disciplinary hearing that he did not attend.
After Annus was stripped of his medal, Japan's Koji Murofushi was awarded the gold, Ivan Tikhon of Belarus moved up to silver, and Turkey's Esref Apak got the bronze.
Annus has so far refused to hand back the medal. Last week, Annus' manager said Annus had retired and would soon return the medal.
Another Hungarian, discus thrower Robert Fazekas, was stripped of a gold medal in Athens for refusing to provide a complete urine sample in his post-competition drug test.
Fazekas, who has the same coach as Annus, filed an appeal to the CAS last week.
Tennis
STEVENSON SURGERY: Former Wimbledon semifinalist Alexandra Stevenson had surgery Tuesday for a right shoulder injury that has bothered her since January 2003.
"Hopefully she'll be back on the court in six to eight months," Stevenson's mother, Samantha, said by telephone from Birmingham, Ala. "She'll definitely miss the clay season and probably the grass season and maybe come back for the summer."
Stevenson is a former top 20 player now ranked 143rd. In 1999, she became the first female qualifier to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and won a bronze medal in singles at the Pan American Games.
She lost in the first round of the U.S. Open last month.
Soccer
REAL MADRID WIN: David Beckham scored on a free kick in the 61st minute to put Real Madrid atop the Spanish league standings with a 1-0 victory over Osasuna on Tuesday in coach Mariano Garcia Remon's debut.
Beckham was benched by Jose Antonio Camacho, who resigned over the weekend after coaching Real for just six games. Garcia Remon put the star English midfielder back in the lineup.
Madrid is 3-1 for nine points, putting it ahead of six teams that are 2-0-1 with a game in hand.
GALAXY PLAYERS BACK: Starting forwards Carlos Ruiz and Jovan Kirovski are expected back in the Los Angeles Galaxy lineup Saturday night at San Jose after missing two games each because of injuries.
Ruiz strained his right hamstring in Guatemala's 2-1 victory over Costa Rica in a FIFA World Cup qualifier Sept. 8. Kirovski was diagnosed with tendinitis in his right knee following practice Sept. 10. The Galaxy split their two games the absence of Ruiz and Kirovski.
Basketball
JAM HIRES ARCHIBALD: Nate Archibald, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA's 50th anniversary all-time team, was hired as coach of the American Basketball Association champion Long Beach Jam on Tuesday.
Archibald is the only player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring and assists in the same season, averaging 34 points and 11.4 assists per game with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings during the 1972-73 season.
Archibald, 56, succeeds Earl Cureton, hired as coach of the ABA's Orange County Crush earlier this month.
SURA SURGERY: Houston Rockets guard Bob Sura had surgery Tuesday to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.
Sura, who signed with the Rockets in August, was injured during an offseason workout three weeks ago. The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Watkins of the Los Angeles Spine Surgery Institute.
His rehabilitation is expected to last at least eight weeks, about two weeks after the Rockets' season opener against Sacramento on Nov. 6.
Auto racing
RACER DIES: Larry Phillips, a stock car racer whose 2,500 career wins included five Winston Racing Series championships, died Tuesday at St. John's Regional Health Center in Springfield, Mo. He was 62.
Phillips died after a four-year battle with lung cancer, said his longtime crew chief, Stanley Shobe.
Phillips entered the NASCAR circuit as a teenager and didn't stop racing until cancer forced him to retire three years ago.
His career included five Winston Racing Series National Short-Track championships, seven regional NASCAR championships and a spot in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In one season, Phillips won 38 of the 40 Winston Racing Series events.