Briefly

Ronaldo was dropped Monday from Brazil’s roster for two World Cup soccer qualifiers next month and the Confederations Cup.

“Ronaldo claimed personal problems that prevent him from dedicating himself to the Brazilian team at the moment,” Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said.

Grafite will take the roster spot of the three-time FIFA Player of the Year for the qualifiers against Paraguay on Sunday and at Argentina on June 8. Julio Cesar will replace him at the Confederations Cup, an eight-nation tournament to be held in Germany from June 15-29.

Ronaldo had hoped to be excused from the Confederations Cup, a tournament many players and coaches claim is unnecessary. The forward, a star for Real Madrid in the Spanish League, said he wanted time off because it would be his only break from playing until after the 2006 World Cup.

Parreira warned last week that he wouldn’t accept fatigue as an excuse for not playing in the Confederations Cup.

“Just in time for his 16th birthday, Freddy Adu has the perfect cure for his teenage blues – getting away from adults.

For the next several weeks, Adu will leave Major League Soccer – where his playing time is inconsistent and his team isn’t tailored around his considerable talents – and join the U.S. under-20 team for the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.

“Chivas USA coach Thomas Rongen was replaced by assistant Javier “Zully” Ledesma after the Major League Soccer expansion team got off to a 1-8-1 start.

Rongen was reassigned as the team’s sporting director and will oversee its development efforts, including scouting, clinics and player development.

“U.S. soccer star Tiffeny Milbrett has been asked to rejoin the women’s national team after a 19-month absence that began because of disagreements with former coach April Heinrichs.

Milbrett, one of the team’s career scoring leaders, said the invitation came in an e-mail she recently received from new coach Greg Ryan while she was playing in a league in Sweden.

lacrosse

Johns Hopkins edges Duke

Johns Hopkins won its first NCAA lacrosse title in 18 years, beating Duke 9-8 to complete an undefeated season, at Philadelphia.

Jake Byrne’s goal with 13:35 left in the fourth quarter was the difference for the Blue Jays (16-0), who became the first men’s team to finish the season undefeated and win the national championship since Princeton (15-0) in 1997.

miscellany

NHL talks to resume in Toronto

Negotiations between the NHL and the players’ association will resume Wednesday and Thursday in Toronto, first in another small-group setting and then in a full bargaining session.

“Darrell May will be the general manager of the Chilliwack Bruins, the expansion Western Hockey League club said.

The Bruins will begin play in the 2006-07 season.

“ABC’s broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday drew a 6.6 overnight rating and a 17 share, up 40 percent from last year and the highest since 1997.

“Bruno Junqueira was in fair condition following surgery on two vertebrae he fractured in a crash during the Indianapolis 500, the Indy Racing League announced.

“Florida International’s 3-year-old football program was placed on three years probation by the NCAA after an internal investigation revealed an assistant coach committed off-season football workout violations.

The unidentified assistant coach – fired by the school – supervised and conducted off-season practice, illegal under NCAA rules. The sanctions don’t include any loss of scholarships or reductions in postseason play or television appearances.

“Ghostzapper made a triumphant return to the races, cruising to the lead entering the turn and easily winning the $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park in New York.

The reigning Horse of the Year needed a few extra minutes to be loaded into the gate for his first start in seven months. But once the race began, Ghostzapper ran like a champion, taking command at the top of the stretch and won by 6 1/4 lengths over 35-1 long shot Silver Wagon.

“Castledale gave trainer Jeff Mullins a reason to forget his recent troubles with a victory in the $443,000 Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile at Inglewood, Calif.

Mea Domina and Solar Echo finished 1-2 in the $461,500 Gamely Breeders’ Cup Handicap, giving Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally the top two places in the Memorial Day holiday’s other major turf stakes race at Hollywood Park.

Sports people

Dale Velzy, surfing pioneer, dies

Dale Velzy, a surfing pioneer who helped popularize the sport along the California coast and was once the world’s biggest surfboard maker, died at 77. He died Thursday of lung cancer at the Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, Calif… . Elva Dryer became the fourth American woman in five years to win the Bolder Boulder 10-kilometer run at Boulder, Colo., pulling away over the final two kilometers to beat Ethiopia’s Merima Hashim by 94 seconds. Gudisa Shentama won the men’s race, pulling away over the final few hundred yards to become the third Ethiopian men’s winner in the 27th version of North America’s third-largest road race… . At College Station, Texas, Baylor’s Benedikt Dorsch held off a determined comeback from Pierrik Ysern of San Diego to win the NCAA men’s singles tennis championship 6-2, 7-6 (6). In the doubles championship, Georgia’s top-ranked duo of John Isner and Antonio Ruiz defeated LSU’s Mark Growcott and Ken Skupski 7-6 (4), 7-5.