UConn suspends one player, allows teammate to return

Connecticut suspended guard A.J. Price for the entire 2005-06 season as a result of his arrest on charges of trying to sell stolen laptops this summer, but has allowed co-defendant Marcus Williams to return to the team in December.

University officials announced the school-imposed sanctions on Friday.

Under the penalties handed down by the university’s director of judicial affairs, the two point guards have been kicked out of campus housing and dining halls – Price for three years and Williams until next August.

They also have been suspended for the 2005-06 academic year, but those suspensions were held in abeyance, meaning they can attend classes but could be expelled if they fail to meet several conditions. Price, a redshirt freshman, will return to classes in the spring semester, while Williams has been attending classes this semester.

Williams, a junior, can rejoin the team on Dec. 17 and will be available for the Jan. 3 game at Marquette.

The players also must complete several hours of community service, under the school penalties.

•Former Iowa basketball star Pierre Pierce was sentenced to two years in prison for assaulting a former girlfriend at her apartment last January.

The 22-year-old player wept as he hugged his parents and relatives after he was sentenced. Moments later, he was handcuffed and escorted a block down the sidewalk to the county jail.

Cycling

Armstrong criticizes Tour director

Lance Armstrong criticized the Tour de France director as “someone who continues to ignore the truth” for suggesting that next year’s race will be better off without the seven-time champion.

Director Jean-Marie LeBlanc questioned Armstrong’s record as a drug-free rider Thursday when officials announced the setup for the 2006 race.

Armstrong has denied accusations by the French newspaper L’Equipe that he used the banned blood-booster EPO to help him win his first Tour title. Armstrong retired in July after winning his final Tour.

“Once again (LeBlanc) has taken an unsolicited shot at me and continues to ignore the truth,” Armstrong said. “… Jean-Marie claims the Tour deserves a better fate, I believe it deserves a better leader.”

Olympics

Rogge confident of solution

IOC president Jacques Rogge is confident “intelligent solutions” will be found to prevent athletes from being arrested on doping charges during the Turin Olympics.

Rogge acknowledged the Italian government was unwilling to suspend its strict anti-doping legislation for the Winter Games on Feb. 10-26, but he expects a compromise within “full respect” of the law.

Italy classifies doping as a criminal offense, meaning police could raid the Olympic village and jail athletes for drug violations.

Miscellany

Longtime sports editor Broeg dies

Longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor and columnist Bob Broeg, credited for nicknaming Stan Musial “Stan the Man,” has died. He was 87.

Broeg, a member of the writers’ wing of the baseball Hall of Fame, died at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur after being treated for pneumonia. He had been in poor health during the last five years, having two strokes and losing his vision, stepson Greg Emmenegger said.

•Former soccer star George Best remained on a ventilator in London, although he has improved after responding to new medication.

The 59-year-old former Manchester United star, who had a liver transplant three years ago but went back to drinking, is being treated for internal bleeding. He has been in the intensive care unit for a month.

•Two-time winner and women’s record holder Margaret Okayo has withdrawn from the ING New York City Marathon because of a leg injury.

•Tennis umpires will use instant replay at a tournament for the first time next month when the recently approved Hawk-Eye technology is tested at a seniors event in London Nov. 29 to Dec. 4.

•Fifty thoroughbreds were moved to Gulfstream Park after Calder Race Course in Hallandale Beach, Fla., was damaged by Hurricane Wilma.

Calder’s main facility and track rail were extensively damaged, and many barns lost their roofs in the storm’s 100-mph winds Monday.