STEELHOUNDS

STEELHOUNDS
Enforcer signed
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown SteelHounds signed forward Dallas Anderson Saturday.
Anderson, 27, has played in 260 career professional games, scoring 46 points with 39 assists and 1767 penalty minutes.
He last saw action in the ECHL during the 2005-06 season when split time between Pensacola and Victoria combining for one goal, two assists and 191 penalty minutes in 30 games.
The Bowsman, Manitoba native has played 208 career games in the Central Hockey League dressing in 155 games with the Tulsa Oilers and 53 games with the Austin Ice Bats where he was a teammate of current 'Hounds Chris Richards and Jeff Alcombrack.
During his three seasons with the Oilers (2000-03), the 6-foot-6, 228-pound forward led the CHL with 378 penalty minutes during the 2001-02 campaign and finishing third with 365 minutes during the 2002-03 season. With Austin during the 2004-05 season, Anderson amassed a career-high 395 minutes, second most in the CHL.
Anderson attended the Edmonton Oilers training camp prior to the 2003-04 season and played in eight games with the Flint Generals of the United Hockey League before having his season cut short with an injury.
LOCAL
DeFrank to fight
CANTON -- Rocky "The Big Deal" DeFrank of Girard will attempt to defend his super heavyweight title when another toughman contest is held at the Civic Center, Jan. 12-13.
The championship bout series will bring back former winners to decide the best in Ohio.
DeFrank's weight classification is for contestants 201-400 pounds.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound DeFrank fought at 230 when he won in January 2006.
The event is for candidates who haven't turned pro, or those who haven't fought in a national toughman event. The cutoff age is 34.
Last year, DeFrank used his 1,000 first-place prize toward wedding expenses.
This year, the 30-year-old expects the first-place purse to be at least 1,000.
"The pay depends on how many are entered and the size of the crowd," DeFrank said.
Last year, DeFrank, who trains under Larry Filer at the Downtown Boxing Club, went 3-0 in winning his first crown.
This year, he'd be expected to win once on Friday and as many as three times on Saturday.
To enter or for ticket information, call 1-800-tufguys.
NATION
Groin injurysidelines Hinrich
CHICAGO -- Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich missed the Bulls' game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night because of a groin injury.
Hinrich, averaging 14.5 points and 5.8 assists, left late in the third quarter of Friday's 107-97 victory at Toronto after he aggravated a condition that had been nagging him for a week when he tried to stop T.J. Ford's penetration.
"It was something that bothered me about a week ago," Hinrich said. "It felt like something real minor, but it had been feeling good. Then, I [strained] it."
Hinrich hopes to play Tuesday when the Bulls host Phoenix.
Saturday's game was not completed in time for today's edition.
Injured Jay Williams waived by team
AUSTIN, Texas -- Jay Williams' comeback was put on hold Saturday when the NBA Development League's Austin Toros waived him so he can rehabilitate a nagging groin injury.
Williams, still trying to make it back after severely injuring his left leg in a 2003 motorcycle accident, played three games for Austin. He averaged 6.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 28 minutes per game.
Williams, the national player of the year at Duke in 2002 and the No. 2 pick in that year's NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls, was replaced on the roster by former Boston College star Troy Bell.
McAlarney suspended after drug arrest
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame suspended starting guard Kyle McAlarney indefinitely after he was arrested on a marijuana possession charge.
McAlarney, who had been averaging 10.3 points a game, did not play Saturday in No. 19 Notre Dame's 95-66 victory over Stony Brook.
A state trooper reported finding marijuana in McAlarney's car during a traffic stop a few blocks from the Notre Dame campus early Friday. The 19-year-old McAlarney was taken to St. Joseph County Jail, where he was booked on the charge and later released on bond.
Duke prosecutor could be ousted or charged
RALEIGH, N.C. -- By the time the prosecutor in the Duke University lacrosse case is tried on ethics charges, the sexual assault indictment he sought against three players may have been long since dismissed.
If the woman who claims the players sexually assaulted her at a party can't identify them at a February hearing, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has said, he will abandon the divisive case.
It will be weeks, if not months, after that before Nifong defends himself against charges that he violated four rules of professional conduct by making misleading and inflammatory comments about the athletes, said Thomas Lunsford, executive director of the state bar.
The bar association, which filed the ethics charges Thursday, will not schedule Nifong's trial-like hearing for at least three months, Lunsford said Friday.
At the next hearing in the lacrosse case, set for Feb. 5, the defense is expected to ask a judge to throw out the results of photo lineup in which the accuser -- a 28-year-old hired to perform as a stripper at a lacrosse team party -- identified her attackers.
If that happens, experts have said Nifong would likely be forced to drop charges of kidnapping and sexual offense, and Nifong has acknowledged as much.
Earlier this month, Nifong dropped rape charges against the athletes after the woman wavered, saying she was no longer certain intercourse had occurred, a requirement under the wording of the state's rape law.
Downthedustyroad wins La Brea Stakes
ARCADIA, Calif. -- The Bob Baffert-trained Downthedustyroad won the 250,000 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, beating Squallacious by 41/4 lengths.
Ridden by Jon Court, the 3-year-old Downthedustyroad was second on the backstretch in the field of nine fillies, took the lead at the top of the stretch and pulled away to win with ease, covering seven furlongs in 1:21 2-5.
Downthedustyroad paid 9, 4.80 and 3.20. Squallacious closed from seventh at the top of the stretch to finish second and return 4.20 and 2.80. The favorite, Balance, was never a factor and finished third, paying 3.20.
Vindicator staff/wire reports