Tuesday's Sports In Brief

Tuesday's Sports In Brief
COLLEGE SPORTS
By The Associated Press
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) -- Atlantic Coast Conference presidents voted to expand, setting the stage to invite Miami and two other schools to join their nine-team league, two sources familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press.
Miami will get an invitation soon. If the Hurricanes and two other teams from the Big East accept, it could drastically alter the landscape of college sports. Any expansion plan would likely go into effect in 2004.
ACC commissioner John Swofford, meeting with coaches and athletic directors in Amelia Island this week, was hesitant to call expansion of the 50-year-old league a done deal. He knows Miami and two other schools -- Syracuse, Boston College and Virginia Tech are candidates -- still must accept.
BASEBALL
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Ken Griffey Jr. grounded out as a pinch-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals, his first game since he dislocated his right shoulder in April.
Griffey was activated from the disabled list earlier in the day. He pinch-hit for Paul Wilson in the seventh inning, and did not play in the field.
Before the game, Reds manager Bob Boone said Griffey would start either Wednesday night or Thursday, but not both games.
The 33-year-old Griffey was hurt while trying to make a diving catch April 5 against the Chicago Cubs. He resumed taking batting practice last week, and was activated in time for the start of the three-game series against the Cardinals.
BASKETBALL
PHOENIX (AP) -- Point guard Kristen Veal said she was leaving the Phoenix Mercury and returning to her native Australia.
The announcement came a day before the Mercury play their first exhibition game in Indianapolis.
Veal, 21, cited personal reasons for leaving before her third WNBA season.
HOCKEY
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Doug Wilson was hired as general manager of the San Jose Sharks, who missed the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
Wilson, the first captain in franchise history and the team's director of pro development the last five years, will replace Dean Lombardi, who was fired in March.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon guard Luke Ridnour, who declared for the NBA draft last month, said he will be represented by a law firm and forgo his senior season.
Ridnour did not sign with an agent when he made himself eligible, leaving open the possibility that he could return to Oregon under NCAA rules.
He will be represented by the Washington D.C. law firm of Williams & amp; Connolly LLP.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Former champions Duke, Purdue and Seton Hall will play in the 2003 Great Alaska Shootout.
Alaska Anchorage, the Division II host of the eight-team tournament, announced the field for the 26th annual event, to be played Nov. 26-29 at Sullivan Arena.
The other teams in the field are Pacific, Southwest Texas, Houston and Liberty. It will be the first appearances for Houston and Liberty.
AUTO RACING
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Driver Jerry Nadeau is semiconscious and has not spoken since his car slammed into a wall May 2 during practice for a Winston Cup race.
Nadeau sustained what his doctors call a "moderate to severe head injury," Jay Frye, general manager of Nadeau's U.S. Army team, said during a conference call. He said Nadeau's communication has been mostly hand-squeezing and facial expressions.
Nadeau also sustained a partially collapsed left lung and a broken left shoulder blade. He has been in fair condition since last Thursday and his doctors are encouraged, Frye said. He added there is no timetable for his recovery.
BOSTON (AP) -- A NASCAR fan who flooded Fox with angry e-mails after a Red Sox game pre-empted an auto race pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
Michael Melo acknowledged that he fired off more than a half-million e-mail messages to WFXT-TV 25 in Boston after the Red Sox game was broadcast instead of a NASCAR race in 2001.
The e-mail messages were automatically forwarded to Fox-25's Los Angeles parent company, Fox Entertainment. The network, thinking it was a hacker attack, shut down Internet communication with the affiliate and was forced to spend about $36,000 to clean up the barrage.
SOCCER
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- More than 200 fans attacked the manager and players of Panathinaikos Athens, angry over the team's loss over the weekend.
The fans smashed cars and property and clashed with police during a team training session. Thirty people were detained and three policemen were injured, authorities said.
Panathinaikos manager Sergio Markarian and several players were struck by fans. None were hospitalized, authorities said.
MILAN, Italy (AP) -- AC Milan advanced to the final of the European Champions Cup for the first time in eight years, playing a 1-1 tie with intracity rival Internazionale.
The teams, who share San Siro stadium, played a scoreless tie last week and finished with a 1-1 aggregate score in the total-goals series. Because AC Milan was the road team in the second leg, it advanced because of more "away" goals.
AC Milan, owned by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, plays either Juventus or defending champion Real Madrid in the final on May 28 in Manchester, England. Real Madrid, seeking its 10th title in Europe's top club tournament, takes a 2-1 lead into Wednesday's second leg in Turin.
CYCLING
VIBO VALENTIA, Italy (AP) -- Robbie McEwen won the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia by outsprinting overall leader Alessandro Petacchi at the finish.
On Sunday, McEwen was stripped of a stage victory for pushing Fabio Baldato in the final stretch.
The Australian covered 105 miles from Acquappesa to Vibo Valentia in southern Italy in 4 hours, 25 seconds.