Florida State Will Appeal Decision on Its Nickname

Florida State University trustees voted Wednesday to appeal its inclusion on a list of schools that won’t be permitted to use American Indian nicknames or logos in NCAA tournaments.

The school’s Seminole mascot was one of 18 the NCAA said it found “hostile” and “abusive.”

Florida State trustees and school officials say that putting the Seminoles on the list doesn’t make sense because the Seminole Tribe of Florida backs the school’s use of the name and various images associated with it, such as the Seminole chief on horseback that serves as a team symbol.

The trustees also voted to authorize possible court action if the appeal doesn’t work.

“We will not stand by and let this happen without a fight,” board of trustees Chairman Jim Smith said at an emergency meeting called to give university officials authority to move forward in fighting the new ban.

Soccer

Team captain Claudio Reyna was among 20 players selected for the United States’ next World Cup qualifying match.

The Americans play Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday in East Hartford, Conn. The U.S. team is in second place in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying with a 4-1-0 record.

Galaxy players Kevin Hartman, Chris Albright and Landon Donovan also were selected.

Clint Mathis of Real Salt Lake was suspended for an additional two games by Major League Soccer for confronting officials during his team’s 2-1 win last weekend over Chivas USA.

Chivas defender Esteban Arias, who also received a red card during the altercation, was suspended for one more game.

Bobby Boswell, Dema Kovalenko and Joshua Gros scored goals to give D.C. United (10-6-5) a 3-0 victory over the MetroStars (7-7-8) at Washington.... Clint Dempsey and Taylor Twellman scored four minutes apart early in the first half to lead the New England Revolution (11-4-6) to a 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake (5-12-4) at Foxboro, Mass.... Josh Wolff scored the only goal of the second half as the Kansas City Wizards (9-5-8) rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 win over the host Chicago Fire (11-9-3).

Basketball

Former European star Sarunas Jasikevicius will sign with the Indiana Pacers today, his agent, Doug Neustadt, said.

Jasikevicius, a 6-foot-4 point guard from Lithuania, agreed to a three-year deal with the Pacers in July but couldn’t sign the contract until the new six-year NBA collective bargaining agreement was finalized last week.

Curtis Withers of Charlotte scored 15 points and Terrence Roberts of Syracuse had 14 as the United States rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Slovenia, 82-79, in the preliminary round of the men’s under-21 World Championships at Mar del Plata, Argentina. The U.S. team (5-0) advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals.

Hockey

Officials from the NHL, the league’s players association and executives of the International Ice Hockey Federation will meet today in Zurich, Switzerland, to try to finalize an agreement for NHL participation in the Turin Olympics.

Duck Coach Randy Carlyle filled one opening on his staff by tabbing Dave Farrish as an assistant coach. Farrish, 49, has spent 14 years as a head coach in the minor leagues and was also an assistant with New Jersey under Herb Brooks during the 1992-93 season.

The Ducks also announced that defenseman Ruslan Salei, centers Stanislav Chistov and Samuel Pahlsson, and left wing Travis Moen have until Monday to accept their qualifying offers or negotiate new contracts before the offers expire.

Left wing Mike Leclerc and the Ducks are close to an agreement after the club tendered a qualifying offer of $1.14 million.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed veteran goaltender Jocelyn Thibault to a two-year, $3-million contract after acquiring him from the Chicago Blackhawks for a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft.

Former Red Wing coach Dave Lewis, who was replaced last month by former Duck coach Mike Babcock, accepted an offer to be an NHL scout for Detroit.

Tennis

Andre Agassi defeated Jonas Bjorkman to advance to the third round of the Montreal Masters tournament.

Agassi, seeded fourth and seeking his first victory in Canada since 1995, advanced to face Nicolas Kiefer in the round of 16 today with his 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory. Kiefer, a semifinalist last year, beat Taylor Dent, 6-4, 6-4.

In other matches, former French Open champ Gaston Gaudio broke Kenneth Carlsen in the last game to win, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, and Montreal-born Greg Rusedski of Britain downed Max Mirnyi, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Miscellany

Todd Thornton edged David Sender for the top spot in the preliminaries in the U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Indianapolis. Thornton finished with 52.900 points, 0.50 ahead of Sender.

Heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko will take on unbeaten Samuel Peter in a Sept. 24 International Boxing Federation elimination bout in Atlantic City, N.J. The winner will become the mandatory challenger for the IBF title held by Chris Byrd.

The Bay Meadows Land Co., which is buying Hollywood Park for $260 million, has dismissed 19 track employees, including Allen Gutterman, vice president for marketing, and Jim Miller, the horsemen’s paymaster.

Bay Meadows, which is scheduled to close on its Hollywood Park deal with Churchill Downs Inc. on Sept. 23, has been reviewing all departments at the track since the announcement of the sale July 6. None of Wednesday’s dismissals affect Hollywood’s racing department.

A free cross-country coaching clinic, sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles and featuring Jack Farrell, John Mahr, Bob Messina and Jim Warrick, is set for 9 a.m. Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Information: (626) 890-1192 or www.aafla.org.