Crew signs Brazilian forward Guilherme

March 29, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

state

COLUMBUS — Brazilian forward Guilherme So signed with the Columbus Crew on Friday, just in time for the team’s MLS opener on Saturday.

The 21-year-old So, has been training with the Crew since the team’s trip to Florida in February and had a goal and an assist in preseason action.

Before signing with the Crew, So played exclusively in his homeland, where he began his career in the youth system of Internacional RS, before moving to Gremio Porto Alegre RS in 2006. He played for G.E. Brasil de Pelotas a year ago.

The Crew will face Toronto FC today. Following league policy, no terms of the deal were disclosed.

nation

Pitcher Lisa Fernandez left off softball team

Lisa Fernandez, a three-time Olympic champion and perhaps softball’s signature star for more than a decade, did not make the U.S. team’s final 15-player roster for the Beijing Games.

“It’s like Michael Jordan getting cut from the basketball team,” said catcher Stacey Nuveman.

The 37-year-old Fernandez was named a replacement player on the American team, which will attempt to win its fourth straight gold medal this summer.

Fernandez was on the mound when the U.S. team won gold in Athens, completing a historic run through the tournament in which the Americans outscored the competition 51-1.

Fernandez was also the starting pitcher when the U.S. won it all in Sydney in 2000. Four years earlier, she came in as a reliever when the Americans cinched gold in Atlanta.

“I have no regrets,” Fernandez said. “I know I gave it everything I had. There wasn’t a corner cut or a practice missed. I just ran out of time. To me, the most important thing is that I know I gave it everything I had. But there were certain things I couldn’t control.”

Tigers coach Consolo dies at age 73

DETROIT — Billy Consolo, a former major league infielder and longtime Detroit Tigers coach, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 73.

Former Tigers public relations director Dan Ewald, a longtime friend, said Friday that Consolo died Thursday at his home in Westlake Village, Calif.

Sparky Anderson and Consolo became close friends while playing high school baseball in southern California. Anderson became the Tigers’ manager midway through the 1979 season and added Consolo to his staff in 1980. Consolo retired after the 1992 season.

Djokovic upset

MIAMI — Kevin Anderson could have been on a bus with the University of Illinois tennis team Friday afternoon, wearing an Illini sweatsuit, driving from Urbana-Champagne to Chicago for a match against Northwestern.

Instead, the 6-7 South African stood incredulously on Stadium Court at the Sony Ericsson Open, his head buried in his giant hands, soaking in the sun and a standing ovation as he tried to absorb the most important day of his young career.

Anderson, a tour rookie and 122nd-ranked qualifier, had just stunned world No. 3 and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-4.

world

World track cycling

MANCHESTER, England — Olympic time-trial champion Chris Hoy and former rowing world champ Rebecca Romero won Britain’s fifth and sixth gold medals in the world track cycling championships Friday.

The women’s pursuit team of Romero, Wendy Houvenaghel and Joanna Rowsell broke the world record twice — in qualifying and in the final — to defeat Ukraine in an event that is new to the track cycling program this year. It was the first time the team had competed together. Germany beat Belarus for the bronze.

The British trio’s time in the final was 3 minutes, 22.415 seconds. The previous world mark of 3:27.438 was set by Ukraine in January, but was officially only a “world best” because the team didn’t formally claim it as a world record. Officials said the British intended to claim the record.

Curlin set for 12 rivals

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Curlin is ready to defend his Horse of the Year title against the rest of the world in the Dubai World Cup.

“He’s an exceptional horse,” Curlin’s assistant trainer Scott Blasi said Friday, the day before Curlin takes on 12 challengers in the $6 million race at Nad Al Sheba racetrack. “It’s a big opportunity for us to show the world what a great horse he really is.”

Curlin has taken up residence in this Gulf city-state for a month now, having warmed up for the 11‚Ñ4-mile World Cup with an easy victory in the Jaguar Trophy Handicap on Feb. 28. Jockey Robby Albarado arrived Friday.

“We all like to say they get better as they get older, and Curlin is a perfect example,” Albarado said this week during a conference call.

Vindicator staff/wire reports