LOCAL

LOCAL
Astro Falcons win two
CINCINNATI -- Astro Falcons defeated Boys of Summer 10-2 and Midland Braves 13-3 on the first day of the AABC Mickey Mantle (16 and under) regional baseball tournament Monday.
Against Boys of Summer, David Dejacimo went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI, while Steve Gruver went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Andy Onufrank also had two hits. Matt Weir pitched a complete game, with six strikeouts.
Against host Midland, Kolten Hoffman went 3-for-3, scoring three runs. Onufrank also had three hits, while Dejacimo and Mike Dota had two apiece. Dejacimo had four RBIs and Dota scored three runs.
Gruver pitched a complete game, allowing four hits, and he struck out two.
Astro Falcons was scheduled to play in a winners bracket game today at 9 a.m.
NATION
New poll to usebig-name coaches
NEW YORK -- A dozen retired coaches with impressive resumes have agreed to take part in a new college football poll that the organizer hopes to unveil in late September.
Ideally, the Master Coaches Survey will have 15 or 16 voters, who will be provided game films of the top teams, said Andy Curtin, an Atlanta-based lawyer and former sports agent who came up with the idea after watching last season's Orange Bowl.
Curtin met with 14 coaches last week to discuss his idea. John Cooper (Ohio State), Vince Dooley (Georgia), Pat Dye (Auburn), LaVell Edwards (BYU), Hayden Fry (Iowa), Don James (Washington), Frank Kush (Arizona State), Dick MacPherson (Syracuse), Bill Mallory (Indiana), Don Nehlen (West Virginia), John Ralston (Stanford), John Robinson (USC), R.C. Slocum (Texas A & amp;M) and Gene Stallings (Alabama) attended the meeting in Georgia on July 17.
Curtin said Bo Schembechler (Michigan), George Welsh (Virginia) and Terry Donahue (UCLA) have also expressed interest in being part of the panel. That group includes 11 coaches voted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Coaches participating in the Master Coaches Survey would participate in a conference call or round-table during the week to discuss their opinions then vote on a top 25, Curtin said.
Curtin's plan is to have the poll released Wednesday nights during a television show with the coaches, who will be made available for questions on how the teams were ranked.
Baseball roundup
*SEATTLE -- Detroit pitcher Jeremy Bonderman dropped his appeal Monday and began serving a five-game suspension assessed by the commissioner's office for his part in a July 17 brawl with Kansas City.
Bonderman made his decision one day after beating Minnesota 5-2 to improve his record to 13-6. His next scheduled start will be pushed back from Saturday to Sunday.
*BALTIMORE -- San Diego Padres first baseman Phil Nevin on Monday rejected a trade that would have sent him to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Sidney Ponson.
The proposed deal was contingent upon Nevin's approval. He has the right to block a trade to eight teams, including the Orioles.
Nevin, 34, is batting .263 with nine home runs, 11 doubles and 47 RBIs in 71 games.
Ponson is 7-9 with a 5.91 ERA.
Bowden: Linebackers will play vs. 'Canes
HOT SPRINGS, Va. -- Florida State linebackers Ernie Sims and A.J. Nicholson will both be in the lineup for the Sept. 5 season opener against Miami, despite their summer brushes with the law.
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Monday he'll handle the discipline since the legal issues are misdemeanors.
Sims was arrested following an early morning fight with his live-in girlfriend outside a university residence hall while Nicholson had a pair of run-ins with local police, including a misdemeanor DUI.
Agassi hopes forreturn to U.S. Open
LOS ANGELES -- Back on the court for six days and heading into his first tournament in two months, Andre Agassi is beginning a comeback he hopes will carry him into next month's U.S. Open.
"I've got a long road ahead of me, but I'm certainly in a position to look forward," said Agassi, playing this week for the first time since losing in the first round of the French Open in May.
Sidelined by a lower back injury that hampered him at Roland Garros, the 35-year-old Agassi had to miss Wimbledon for the second consecutive year. He planned to begin playing again last week in Indianapolis, but pulled out because it was taking him longer than expected to recover.
Vindicator staff/wire reports