AREA

AREA
Browns boosters
YOUNGSTOWN -- A sold-out crowd of 850 sports fans will be on hand when the Ohio Browns Boosters fan club honors the 1980 Cleveland Browns football team with the "Return of the Kardiac Kids" at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Maronite Center.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
Brian Sipe, Clay Matthews, Dave Logan, Mike and Greg Pruitt, Cleo Miller, Ricky Feacher, Reggie Rucker, Don Cockroft, Dick Ambrose, Thom Darden, Joe Delamielleure, Judson Flint and former head coach Sam Rutigliano will be honored.
Getz leads Boardman
YOUNGSTOWN -- Sue Getz won 27 games as The Boardman Tennis Center Women Netters defeated the Tri-State Tennis Club 78-61.
Melanie Olsen won 21 games, while Carol Penny and Deb Evan each won 20. Seven BTC players each won 14 games.
Littlefield to appearat Butler Institute
YOUNGSTOWN -- Vice president and general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pirate Parrot will be guests at the Butler Institute of American luncheon today from noon to 1:30 p.m.
Littlefield will give updates on Pittsburgh's spring training and answer questions about the Pirates.
Heartland Christiancompetes in tourney
MANSFIELD -- The Columbiana Heartland Christian boys and girls basketball team will compete in the Association of Christian Schools state tournament this weekend.
The Lions' two teams advanced through district and regional competitions to earn their state berths.
Soccer clinic
SALEM -- A USSF Recertification Clinic will be held for soccer referees at the Memorial Building on East State Street from 8:30 a.m. until 2:20 p.m. Saturday.
Accredited USSF instructors will discuss laws of the game and advanced subjects and give a 50 question test.
For more information, call Paul Fennema at (330) 332-0860.
Youngstown Phantoms
BOARDMAN -- The Youngstown Phantoms will try to continue their role as streak-busters when they travel to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan this weekend to face the North Division-leading Soo Kewadin Indians in North American Hockey League (NAHL) action.
Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. today and Saturday.
The Phantoms (23-20-3, 49 points) snapped the U.S. National Team's league-high 10-game winning streak last Sunday with a 4-3 overtime win in Ann Arbor. They now face a Soo team (29-14-4, 62 points) that has won three in a row and is 20-3-2 in their last 25 outings.
NATION
Poll: New Yorkersoppose new stadium
NEW YORK -- A poll released Thursday found that while New Yorkers overwhelmingly support the city's efforts to attract the 2012 Olympics, a majority remain opposed to building the $1.7 billion stadium necessary to lure the Summer Games.
The poll of New York voters, conducted by Quinnipiac University, also showed they wanted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to get the highest price possible for the site above the rail yards on Manhattan's West Side.
"Voters, many of whom are straphangers, want the agency that operates their subways and buses to get all the money it can," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
TransGas Energy Systems LLC, an energy company, made a $700 million bid for the site two weeks ago, topping the $600 million offer made by Madison Square Garden. The New York Jets, the early front-runner for the site and the proposed prime tenant, offered $100 million for the development rights.
World Cup snowboarding
WILMINGTON, N.Y. -- Switzerland's Daniela Meuli beat Americans Michelle Gorgone and Rosey Fletcher in the women's World Cup snowboarding parallel giant slalom races Thursday.
The silver medal was the second of the season for Gorgone, who finished runner-up in a World Cup race less than a month ago. Meuli is the parallel giant slalom series points leader.
Rosey Fletcher took the bronze.
WORLD
Australia takes lead
SYDNEY, Australia -- Lleyton Hewitt and Wayne Arthurs won in straight sets Friday, giving Australia a 2-0 lead over Austria in a Davis Cup World Group match at the Sydney International Tennis Center.
Hewitt, playing for the first time since losing the Australian Open final to Marat Safin on Jan. 30, beat Austria's Alexander Peya 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Arthurs, who won his first career singles title in Scottsdale, Ariz., last weekend, beat Austrian No. 1 Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on a grass court at the 2000 Olympic site.
Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge can clinch the first-rounder for Australia on Saturday when they play Julian Knowle and Peya in the doubles. The reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.
Staff/wire reports