WPPA / T-102 SPORTS / Friday

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Flyers managed to slip past
the Nashville Predators last night in a 3-2 win, with Ville Leino
scoring two goals, including the game winner with 3:16 left in the
game. Jeff Carter also scored for the Eastern Conference-leading
Flyers in the first contest of a four-game homestand.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The Steelers were practicing indoors
for the Super Bowl yesterday. They set up shop at TCU's indoor
practice field, with some of the Horned Frogs' coaches and players
watching. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey is questionable for the
game with his ankle injury suffered in the AFC championship game.
If he can't play, Doug Legursky would make his first NFL start at
center.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Steelers linebacker James Harrison says
he's feeling better after venting about the NFL at the first few
Super Bowl media sessions. Harrison was fined $100,000 by the
league for illegal hits this season. He says that gave him
"100,000 reasons" to sound off. He also says he has no plans to
speak with commissioner Roger Goodell.

DALLAS (AP) - Packers receiver Donald Driver missed practice
yesterday with an injured thigh and likely will miss another
practice. Driver wanted to practice, but coach Mike McCarthy told a
pool reporter he wasn't taking any changes. Driver missed a full
game and parts of two others this season with the same injury.

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) - Lijah Thompson put in 18 points and
Robert Morris had five players in double figures in last night's
91-38 rout of Bryant. Velton Jones scored 16 points while the
colonials held the Bulldogs to just 22.7 percent shooting for the
game. It was the second time this season Robert Morris had held a
team to less than 40 points.

LORETTO, Pa. (AP) - Robby Ptacek tied career and season highs in
getting 26 points as Central Connecticut State beat St. Francis
last night, 86-79. The Blue Devils managed to take the game despite
squandering nearly all of a 29-point first half lead. Umar Shannon
scored 27 points to lead the Red Flash, who posted a season-high 63
second-half points.

DALLAS (AP) - You can add franchise tags to the list of issues
the NFL and the players don't see eye-to-eye on. The league is
telling teams they can put the designation on players whose
contracts are expiring, even if there's no new labor agreement when
the current one ends in march. The union is telling players' agents
the NFL is wrong about that.

DALLAS (AP) - The Steelers may be the AFC champions but a survey
by the players union finds they have the worst grass field in the
NFL. Players evaluated what they saw as the top three fields.
University of Phoenix Stadium was ranked the best grass field,
while Indianapolis had the best artificial turf. Worst among
artificial turf fields was the Metrodome.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - The former mascot for the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees is suing the minor league team,
claiming they violated worker protection laws. Brian Bonner was
laid off last month from his job as Champ. He claims his title was
a manager but he did no supervisory tasks and often worked more
than 80 hours a week for about $22,000 a year. The team disputes
the allegations.


NBA
Thursday's Games
Miami 104, Orlando 100
Golden State 100, Milwaukee 94
San Antonio 89, L.A. Lakers 88
Friday's Games
Miami at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Portland at Indiana, 7 p.m.
New York at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Orlando at Washington, 7 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
New Jersey at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Cleveland at Memphis, 8 p.m.
Dallas at Boston, 8 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
San Antonio at Sacramento, 10 p.m.
Utah at Denver, 10:30 p.m.

NHL
Thursday's Games
Boston 6, Dallas 3
Toronto 3, Carolina 0
New Jersey 3, N.Y. Rangers 2
Philadelphia 3, Nashville 2
Calgary 4, Atlanta 2
Minnesota 4, Colorado 3
Friday's Games
Florida at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Columbus at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Washington at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Edmonton at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Chicago at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Thursday's Games
( 1) Ohio St. 62 Michigan 53
( 9) Notre Dame 83 DePaul 58
Oregon St. 68 (20) Washington 56
(21) Arizona 78 Stanford 69
Friday's Games
No games scheduled


TOP-25 WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Thursday's Games
( 3) Duke 82 (18) Miami 58
( 4) Stanford 72 Arizona St. 54
(11) Michigan St. 73 Wisconsin 70, OT
(12) Maryland 56 (24) Georgia Tech 53
(16) Kentucky 69 Auburn 38
Purdue 60 (20) Iowa 41
(21) Wis.-Green Bay 87 Cleveland St. 63
(24) Georgia 57 Arkansas 54, OT
Friday's Games
No games scheduled