Test Shows Howe Was Legally Drunk

Former major league pitcher Steve Howe was charged with drunken driving Friday in connection with the motorcycle crash that critically injured him on Aug. 19.

Howe, 39, who lives near Whitefish, Mont., suffered collapsed lungs and a ruptured trachea in the accident. He was released Monday from Kalispell (Mont.) Regional Medical Center.

Howe was also charged with operating a motorcycle without the proper license.

A blood sample taken after the accident, which went unreported for several days, showed Howe’s blood-alcohol level to be .16, well above the legal limit of .10.

Howe was suspended seven times from baseball for drug or alcohol problems, and was convicted of possessing cocaine in Kalispell in 1992.

The New York Yankees released him on June 22, 1996, and he was arrested two days later at New York’s JFK Airport after a loaded handgun was detected in his suitcase. He pleased guilty and was put on three years’ probation and given 150 hours of community service.

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Diego Maradona has been temporarily banned from play for failing a drug test, Argentine soccer association spokesman Washington Rivera said.

Maradona, who plays for the Boca Juniors, was tested after the opening game of Argentina’s Apertura league season Sunday. He is to appear before a commission Tuesday.

Maradona, who already has been banned twice for drug use, could be banned for five years this time.

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Former USC and Raider quarterback Todd Marinovich is being sued by Harry Kassabian of Glendora for injuries he says he suffered in a June 11 auto accident in Newport Beach. Marinovich rear-ended a car, setting off a six-car pileup.

Pro Basketball

The NBA is delaying approval of the seven-year, $63-million contract free agent forward Brian Grant signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, pending a hearing to determine the status of Chris Dudley.

The league is investigating whether the Trail Blazers tried to circumvent the salary cap by renegotiating Dudley’s three-year, $13-million contract to a one-year contract for the NBA minimum of $272,250.

With the new contract, any team that acquires Dudley in a trade with the Trail Blazers could re-sign him for any amount without regard for the salary cap. Teams can re-sign players for any amount.

Atlanta point guard Mookie Blaylock, who led the NBA in steals last season, has agreed to a four-year contract extension with the Hawks. . . . Toronto Raptor backup guard Shawn Respert suffered a broken left hand while playing basketball in Detroit, where he lives.

Hockey

The Mighty Ducks have signed defenseman Darren Van Impe to a two-year contract. Van Impe, 24, had four goals and 19 assists in 74 games in 1996-97, his first full season in the NHL. He played in 16 games with the Ducks in 1995-96 and one game in 1994-95. . . . The Ottawa Senators signed their 1996 top overall pick, defenseman Chris Phillips, who split time with Prince Albert and Lethbridge of the Western Hockey League last season, totaling seven goals and 41 assists in 58 games. . . . Mario Tremblay, who resigned as coach of the Montreal Canadiens, will remain with the team as a scout.

Auto Racing

Bobby Labonte, driving Joe Gibbs’ Pontiac, won the pole for Sunday’s Southern 500 Winston Cup stock car race at Darlington, S.C. Jeff Gordon, who will be trying to win the Winston Million bonus, qualified seventh in a Chevrolet.

Labonte had a fast lap of 170.661 mph, compared to Gordon’s 169.766. Gordon has already won two of NASCAR’s four “Crown Jewel” races, and anyone winning three of the four gets a $1-million bonus.

Series leader Alex Zanardi won the provisional pole for Sunday’s Vancouver Molson CART Indy car race with a lap of 113.148 mph over the 1.703-mile temporary street circuit.

College Sports

An NCAA committee reprimanded Anson Dorrance, North Carolina’s highly successful women’s soccer coach, for his behavior toward game officials during last year’s Division I championship game. Dorrance will be suspended from the next NCAA tournament game in which the Tar Heels participate, the NCAA’s Division I Women’s Soccer Committee ruled.

North Carolina--390-16-10 in Dorrance’s 18 seasons--beat Notre Dame, 1-0, in the second overtime of the Dec. 8 championship game to win its 13th NCAA soccer title in the tournament’s 15-year history.

Mississippi State basketball player Bart Hyche, who pleaded guilty last week to a drunken driving charge, will be suspended for the first two games of the 1997-98 regular season. Hyche, a junior guard, averaged 12.8 points a game last season and made 75 of the team’s 137 three-point shots.

University Games

Nykesha Sales scored 32 points to lead the United States past Cuba, 100-82, for the women’s basketball gold medal in the World University Games at Cantania, Sicily.

In the women’s volleyball final, the U.S. was beaten by Russia, 15-8, 15-7, 15-10.

In swimming, double Olympic champion Penny Heyns again failed to win an expected gold, settling for silver in the 100-meter breaststroke, in which she holds the world record.

Miscellany

A wreck spotted off Chile has been identified as that of LG2, the yacht of Canadian Gerry Roufs that became lost at sea eight months ago during a round-the-world yachting race. Roufs’ wife, Michelle Cartier, and the yacht’s architect, Pascal Conq, formally identified the wreck from aerial pictures.

Olympic champion Felicia Ballanger of France won the sprint final at the world cycling championships at Perth, Australia, giving France four gold medals in eight events.