Jury finds Williams guilty of one count
Former Minnesota Vikings running back Moe Williams, charged last fall after a raunchy team boat party that tarnished the team’s season, was found guilty of disorderly conduct Thursday at Minneapolis.
A jury found him not guilty of two other misdemeanors – indecent conduct and lewd or lascivious behavior. Williams was accused of touching the breasts of a dancer in a public space during the boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka.
Hennepin County District Judge Kevin Burke fined Williams $300 and ordered him to complete 30 hours of community service that benefits women or children.
•Three-time Pro Bowl receiver Chad Johnson got a minimum one-year contract extension as part of a reworked contract that substantially increases his pay and could keep him with the Cincinnati Bengals through 2011.
•Bob Dove, a College Football Hall of Fame end at Notre Dame who was a longtime assistant coach at Youngstown State, died Wednesday at a nursing home in Austintown, Ohio. He was 85.
Golf
Appleby shines
Stuart Appleby shot a 6-under-par 66 on The Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club to take the first-round lead in the Shell Houston Open in Humble, Texas.
Appleby, the event’s 1999 champion, sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole and another on No. 11. He chipped in on No. 17 and made a downhill 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
Jerry Smith and D.A. Points benefited from early tee times and shot 67s.
•Defending champ Annika Sorenstam put herself in a solid position at Eagle’s Landing Country Club – one shot off the lead after the opening round at Stockbridge, Ga.
Maria Hjorth and Cristie Kerr shot 7-under 65s to share the lead at the LPGA’s Florida’s Natural Charity Championship.
Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 69 and Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum carded a 71.
Basketball
Thomas picks UW
Junior Isaiah Thomas of Curtis High in Tacoma, the player of the year in Washington, announced that he will play for the University of Washington.
The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 31.6 points per game as a junior and scored a State 4A tournament-record 51 points in a semifinal loss to Franklin.
•UCLA guards Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar both declared for the NBA draft, but neither will sign with an agent, giving them the option to return for their junior seasons.
•The NBA set an attendance record for the second straight year, announcing that it averaged 17,558 fans for its games this season.
•NBA head coaches will be able to directly call timeouts next season, one of six rules changes announced following the Board of Governors meetings at New York.
Lacrosse
Details emerge
A cab driver who picked up a Duke University lacrosse player the night he’s accused of raping a stripper appears to reinforce a timeline the defense says supports his innocence, but also casts doubt on claims that nothing happened at a party.
When he returned to the off-campus party to pick up a second fare after dropping off Reade Seligmann, Moez Mostafa said he saw a woman leaving the party in anger, and overheard someone say, “She just a stripper. She’s going to call the police.”
Miscellany
Manager dies
New York Yankees minor league manager Oscar Acosta and team official Humberto Trejo were killed in a car accident near Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
•Top jockey John Velazquez was injured at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., when his horse collapsed and rolled onto him after winning the Forerunner Stakes.