LOCAL

LOCAL
Curbstone Coachesoff for two weeks
BOARDMAN -- The Curbstone Coaches won't hold a scheduled luncheon until Jan. 7 when major league umpire Wally Bell is the guest speaker.
Prep footballbanquet is set
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Curbstone Coaches will hold their recognition banquet for area high school football standouts on Jan. 27 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel hall.
Tickets for the event are $15 and can be purchased by contacting any Curbstone member.
REGION
Jockey killed in race at Beulah Park
COLUMBUS -- One jockey was killed and two others were injured Saturday when a horse stumbled coming down the stretch at Beulah Park.
Arnold Ruiz, 33, of Arlington Heights, Ill., fell with Winds of Sonora and was run over by the two horses behind him, track steward Joe DeLuca said. Ruiz was pronounced dead of head injuries at Grant Hospital.
Chuck Costanzo, 34, of Cleveland, was thrown to the ground after his horse, Kaicoltra, hit Ruiz's horse. Costanzo was treated for injuries and released from Grant.
A third jockey, Michael Heath, 35, of Georgetown, Ky., suffered minor cuts and bruises.
DeLuca said Winds of Sonora suffered a "slight injury" to a lower leg, but he did not know other details.
The track's final nine races were canceled Saturday. DeLuca said the track plans to resume its schedule Sunday, the last day of the season.
Toledo picks O'Brien as athletic director
TOLEDO -- Michael O'Brien, an associate athletic director at Kansas State since 1997, was picked as AD at Toledo on Saturday.
O'Brien, 48, will take over for interim AD Mike Karabin on Jan. 21. His contract runs through June 30, 2005, and pays $130,000 annually.
University President Daniel Johnson said he picked O'Brien because of his experience at four other universities and as a fund-raiser.
Before going to Kansas State, O'Brien was athletic director at Lamar from 1993-97 and also worked in the athletic departments at Pittsburgh and Ball State.
Karabin replaced Pete Liske, whose contract expired June 30 and was not renewed.
NATION
Rangers acquirepitcher Park
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The pitching-poor Texas Rangers grabbed the best arm in the free agent market, agreeing Saturday to a $65 million, five-year contract with Chan Ho Park.
Park, a 28-year-old right-hander, went 15-11 with a 3.50 ERA last season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He joins a Texas team that had a major league-worst 5.71 ERA and was last in the AL West.
Texas, which went 73-89 and finished 43 games behind division champion Seattle, has been busy in the offseason.
New general manager John Hart has added pitchers John Rocker, Dave Burba, Todd Van Poppel and Jay Powell, traded starter Darren Oliver to Boston for outfielder Carl Everett and let go of former 20-game winner Rick Helling.
Park figures to earn even more during the contract. He could opt out of the deal after next season and become a free agent once again, but Texas can eliminate that right by agreeing before next Nov. 10 to make an additional $6 million payment.
Park's contract calls for salaries of $11 million next season, $12 million in 2003, $13 million in 2004, $14 million in 2005 and $15 million in 2006.
High school playercollapses, dies
MILWAUKEE -- A 17-year-old basketball player died after collapsing during a high school game the night before.
Ervin Killiebrew of Milwaukee's Custer High School was pronounced dead at a hospital Friday night, police said. Autopsy results were pending and the cause of death was unknown Saturday.
Killiebrew was not in the game at the time but had been playing earlier, said Janis Doleschal, commissioner of athletics for Milwaukee Public Schools.
He was lying on the floor near the Custer bench, had no pulse and was not breathing when rescue personnel arrived, said Lt. Carter Hunnicutt of the Milwaukee Fire Department. He died at St. Michael Hospital.
"It's very difficult for a school to go through this, for a family to go through this," Doleschal said.
The third quarter of the game between Custer and Milwaukee School of Languages had just started when the player collapsed.
The game was called off and the gym was cleared of about 100 fans, Doleschal said. Also canceled was Saturday night's Custer varsity game at Waukesha West High School, she said.
Lawsuit accuses boxer
NEW YORK -- The former adviser to middleweight boxing champion Bernard Hopkins has accused the boxer in a $6 million libel lawsuit of betraying his trust and confidence.
In the lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Lou DiBella accused Hopkins of ungraciously dumping him as his adviser and matchmaker after winning the title from Felix Trinidad on Sept. 29.
The lawsuit alleged that the firing brought about negative publicity, leading Hopkins to begin "lashing back, publishing scandalous and patently false statements" about DiBella and his company, DiBella Entertainment.
Hopkins alleged this week in published reports and on a boxing Web site that he paid DiBella to arrange fights for him while DiBella still worked for a cable television network.
"It's a complete, absolute and utter lie," said Judd Burstein, DiBella's lawyer.
In his lawsuit, DiBella said he had nurtured the career of Hopkins for two years, providing financial and other help until the boxer could get his shot at the title.
He said the lawsuit alleging libel and breach of contract arose from "a remarkable betrayal of trust and confidence."
Villanova RBis I-AA's best
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Villanova running back Brian Westbrook is the winner of the Walter Payton Award honoring the Division I-AA player of the year.
The senior rushed for 1,603 yards, caught 59 passes for 658 yards and scored 29 touchdowns to help Villanova share the Atlantic 10 title this year.
The Buck Buchanan Award went to James Madison linebacker Derrick Lloyd, and Lehigh coach Pete Lembo received the Eddie Robinson Award.
Lloyd, a senior, recorded 157 tackles during the regular season, including 23 in the game against nationally ranked Rhode Island.
In his first year as a head coach, Lembo led Lehigh to a 10-0 regular season record, the Patriot League title and a berth in the I-AA playoffs.
Vindicator staff/wire reports