Gretzky’s Former Agent Joins Him as Coyote GM

Mike Barnett took a pay cut to join friend and former client Wayne Gretzky in the Phoenix Coyotes’ front office and considered it a bargain.

“It wasn’t a monetary decision,” the Coyotes new general manager said Tuesday. “It was 20 years doing the same thing. People in any walk of life go out and look for a new challenge. I could have been happy continuing on there.

“But this was a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, and when you’re a Canadian and you’ve been in hockey your entire life, you want to get that opportunity.”

Barnett told reporters an agent needs the same analytical skills as a hockey executive, and Gretzky backed him up.

“These people are around hockey as much as anyone,” Gretzky said. “Just because you’re a professional hockey player doesn’t make you a great general manager.”

According to published reports, Barnett agreed to a five-year contract worth nearly $1 million a year, about half what he was making to head up IMG Hockey.

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Chicago Blackhawk assistant coach Denis Savard was arrested and charged with driving under the influence last week. Savard, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last year, posted bond and is to appear in court Sept. 18.

Little League

Little League officials said it might take a month or longer to investigate allegations that Bronx (N.Y.) pitching star Danny Almonte was too old to play in this year’s World Series for 11-and 12-year-olds.

The investigation--launched after Sports Illustrated showed evidence that Almonte is 14--might result in nullifying the team’s third-place finish in the series.

The Rolando Paulino league also might be stripped of its Little League charter, Little League Baseball spokesman Lance Van Auken said.

Soccer

CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Serhiy Perkhun, 23, died from injuries sustained following an accidental clash of heads during a match Aug. 18. Perkhun had stitches to a wound above his eyebrow after the collision with an Anzhi player in a Russian Premier Division match. Later that day, Perkhun fell into a coma.

He was flown to a Moscow hospital Aug. 19 and his relatives agreed to switch off his respirator Tuesday.

Perkhun leaves a 2-year-old child and a wife who is five months pregnant.

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Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids was suspended for five months at a hearing in Milan, Italy, and fined 100 million lire ($45,000 U.S.) after testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.

Davids, a 28-year-old Dutch national team member and Juventus standout has denied ever knowingly taking performance-enhancing substances.

England captain David Beckham underwent a medical scan to determine the extent of his groin injury before Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Germany.

Beckham suffered the injury during Manchester United’s draw at Aston Villa last Sunday. He missed England’s training session on Tuesday to undergo the scan.

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Turkey and Greece will make a joint bid to hold soccer’s European championships in 2008, another step in the reconciliation between the nations.

University Games

Marcus Brunson of Arizona State won the men’s 100-meter gold medal at the World University Games at Beijing.

After two faults by opponents, Brunson led out of the blocks and won in 10.15 seconds, giving the U.S. its first track and field medal.

In basketball, Chris Owens of Texas scored 32 points to help the U.S. men defeat South Korea, 128-97, and in swimming, Andrew Mahaney won the men’s 200 butterfly and U.S. teammate Kevin Clements set a meet record to win the 400 individual medley in 4:17.82.

Miscellany

Antawn Jamison agreed to a six-year contract extension worth more than $86 million with the Golden State Warriors. Jamison averaged 24.9 points and 8.7 rebounds last season.

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The Memphis (Tenn.) school board permanently revoked the coaching privileges of a former assistant who testified that an Alabama booster paid his colleague $200,000 for getting a star linebacker to sign with the Crimson Tide.

The board on Monday night permanently revoked Milton Kirk’s coaching privileges, but sympathized with him because he was a “whistle-blower,” and suspended him without pay for a year. He will be able to teach again in March 2002.

Kirk had been recommended for firing on March 19, 2001, when he disclosed his involvement in the recruiting of linebacker Albert Means.

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Researchers tested the energy-absorbing Humpy Bumper at Concord, N.C. by sending a remote-controlled Winston Cup car crashing into a wall as a NASCAR official watched.

All indications were that the test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was a success, but the damage and data from a “black box” inside the car still must be analyzed.

The Humpy Bumper is designed to address concerns about the rigidity of the front of stock cars. The stiffness in the cars has been an issue the past year because of the deaths of Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and Dale Earnhardt in wrecks.

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Joseph Nolan, 85, a Golden Gloves boxing champion in the 1930s, died of cancer in his home at Peabody, Mass.