Newsmakers
Suing A fundraiser at Binghamton (N.Y.) University has sued two senior athletic department officials, accusing them of using her as a “plaything” and trying to make her ply big donors with her sexuality. The plaintiff, Elizabeth Williams, is represented by the lawyer who won a highly publicized sexual harassment case against former New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas two years ago.
Acquitted A Los Angeles jury has acquitted former University of Montana cornerback Jimmy Wilson of homicide charges for the June 2007 shooting death of his aunt’s boyfriend. Wilson was a second-team Big Sky Conference defensive back for the Grizzlies after starting all 14 games in 2006. He would have been a senior in the fall of 2007.
Agrees Former Red Wing Jiri Hudler will not return to Detroit after the left wing agreed to a contract with Dynamo Moscow of a Russian League, KHL.
•The New York Rangers have agreed to terms with forward Ales Kotalik on a three-year, $9 million deal. Kotalik had 20 goals and 43 points in 75 games with the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers last season.
Blocked Hennepin County (Minn.) District Judge Gary Larson blocked the NFL’s plan to suspend Minnesota Vikings linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams for violating the league’s anti-doping policy, a move their attorney said should let them start the season with camp beginning in just three weeks. The order keeps the NFL from suspending them until their case is decided.
Retired Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile has been retired with a soft-tissue injury in his left front leg.
Died Former volleyball player Jen-Kai Liu, the MVP of Southern California’s 1988 NCAA championship team, died of heart failure on June 1 in Shanghai, China. He was 42.
Convicted Former NFL star Bruce Smith, 46, was convicted of drunken driving by a judge in Virginia Beach, Va., who rejected his claim that old football injuries, not alcohol, were responsible for his poor performance on field sobriety tests. Smith will appeal. His lawyer said during the trial that 11 knee surgeries during Smith’s career made it difficult to complete sobriety tests.