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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sports in brief: Clarett pulls request for clemency

Maurice Clarett could get out of prison in March.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Football: Former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett has withdrawn a request for early release from prison so he could pursue an NFL career.

Clarett had argued that the sooner he was released, the sooner he could make a comeback, possibly in the NFL. But he sent a letter Monday to the Ohio Parole Board explaining his decision to withdraw the request, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Culp said Wednesday.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien had opposed the move, saying the former Buckeyes standout hasn’t made a strong case to be released so early in his prison term.

“It probably was a reality check by both Mr. Clarett and his lawyer that they had no chance of obtaining clemency under the circumstances,” O’Brien said Wednesday.

Clarett, 25, was sentenced in September 2006 to serve at least 3 1/2 years for a holdup outside a Columbus bar and a separate highway chase earlier that year that ended with police finding loaded guns in his SUV.

Clarett could be out in March if a judge releases him early, although he would still have to spend six months in a halfway house.

O’Brien said it appeared Clarett wanted to be released in time to play football in Canada this year in preparation for a possible return to the NFL in 2010.

The former tailback led the Buckeyes to the 2002 national championship.

•AFL makes shutdown official: The Arena Football League has shut down, this time indefinitely. The league, which previously called off play for the 2009 season but had said it planned to return in 2010, sent a terse, one-paragraph statement to its teams late Tuesday announcing it had suspended operations.

The 22-year-old indoor league had lost its commissioner and two teams since the end of last season

The league is likely to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Bidding on Coyotes expanded by judge

Hockey: A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has expanded bidding for the Phoenix Coyotes to include potential buyers who would move the team.

Judge Redfield T. Baum ruled that all bids, those to keep the team in Arizona or to move it elsewhere, would be accepted for the Sept. 10 auction.

He specifically said the $212.5 million offer from Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie would be considered. That sets up another showdown between Balsillie and the NHL, because the league’s board of governors has unanimously rejected him as an owner. Balsillie’s bid is contingent on moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario.

Rambis may become next Wolves coach

Basketball: The Los Angeles Times reported that Kurt Rambis was seen boarding a plane Wednesday morning to meet again with Minnesota Timberwolves officials, a strong sign that the Lakers’ assistant coach will be hired to coach the Timberwolves.

Rambis, 51, has been an assistant with the Lakers for 10 seasons and has filled in for coach Phil Jackson for medical reasons on a number of occasions.

•Storm’s Gearlds out with injury: Seattle Storm guard Katie Gearlds will miss the next four to six weeks after tearing a ligament in her left knee.

Gearlds tore the posterior cruciate ligament in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s game against Phoenix. She’s been one of the first players off Seattle’s bench, playing in all 20 games. .

Brazilian coaches take doping blame

Miscellany: Two coaches on the Brazilian track and field team are taking the blame for the doping of five athletes who were preparing for the world championships in Germany.

Jayme Netto and Inaldo Sena said during a news conference that the Brazilian athletes were given shots of the endurance-booster EPO without their knowledge.

•Swiss pick site for America’s Cup: Two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland picked the Persian Gulf port Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, as the site for the America’s Cup sailing races against American challenger BMW Oracle Racing. A twisting, two-year court tussle between bickering billionaire syndicate bosses has led to a rare best-of-3 series in massive multihulls for the oldest trophy in international sports. The nautical grudge match is scheduled to begin Feb. 8.

•Klitschko to fight Arreola: Vitali Klitschko has agreed to defend his WBC heavyweight boxing title against rising prospect Chris Arreola at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 26.

•Judge refuses to halt sports betting: A federal judge denied a request by professional sports leagues and the NCAA to halt Delaware’s planned sports betting lottery until a legal challenge is resolved.

Chief District Judge Gregory Sleet set a Dec. 7 trial date on the plaintiffs’ claims that the sports betting plan violates a federal ban on sports gambling, as well as Delaware’s state constitution.

•Medalist loses: Amelia Lewis beat stroke-play medalist Danielle Kang 2 and 1 in the first round of match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur golf tournament at St. Louis.