Briefs | Basketball: Naismith Hall of Fame inductions today

Basketball

Vitale star of class: Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon are the biggest names being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame today. When the speeches are given, though, they may see their spotlight stolen by a man who was fired after less than two years as an NBA coach.

Dick Vitale is being inducted, not for what he did with a basketball, but what he does with a microphone.

"I would have been dead by 50 if I had stayed in coaching," Vitale said during a conference call this week. "I just could not handle losing."

Vitale hasn't had to worry about that since 1979, when the now 69-year-old accepted an offer from a fledgling cable sports station out of Bristol, Conn., called ESPN. He spent the next 30 years becoming the voice of college basketball, extolling the virtues of "PTPers [Prime Time Players]," and screaming "Awesome baby!" He will be enshrined in Springfield, Mass. as a contributor to the game.

Vitale makes no apologies for his rah-rah style, and says his election to Hall of Fame has a lot to do with his ability to convey to viewers his passion for basketball — the same passion that gave him bleeding ulcers as a coach.

"Am I a cheerleader at times? Yes, and I don't regret that at all," Vitale said. "I feel like I'm a kid and it's a kid's sport, and I attack it that way."

Other inductees include Adrian Dantley; Immaculata University coach Cathy Rush, a pioneer who led her team to three championships; and Bill Davidson, owner of the Detroit Pistons and Shock.

Soccer

Petke lifts Rapids: Mike Petke scored in the 60th minute for his first Major League Soccer goal in nearly one year to lead the Colorado Rapids past FC Dallas 1-0 on Thursday in Frisco, Texas.

Terry Cooke lofted the ball on a corner kick in front of the net to a wide-open Petke, whose last goal came last Sept. 8. Petke took the pass and scored on a header into the right corner to help the Rapids (8-12-3) snap a 13-game winless streak at FC Dallas (6-9-8) dating to May 5, 2001.

Auto racing

Stewart, Logano avoid probation: A three-man panel of the National Stock Car Racing Commission rescinded the penalty handed down to Tony Stewart and Joey Logano after the Joe Gibbs Racing team was caught trying to manipulate an engine horsepower test following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Michigan last month.

The team used magnets under the gas pedals of the Nos. 20 and 18 JGR Toyotas in an attempt to keep NASCAR from getting an accurate read of the horsepower in the two engines.

The team appealed only the probation to the two drivers, saying they had nothing to do with the test that took place long after the race had ended.

Georgia track closed after woman dies: Cochran Motor Speedway in Macon, Ga., was closed indefinitely following the death of a woman hit by debris from a car on Labor Day weekend.

Cynthia Nobles, 43, died Monday of injuries sustained during a race Saturday night. A tire and part of an axle flew from a race car and landed in a section of the pit area that wasn't protected by a fence.

Hockey

Russian league blasts NHL: The newly formed Continental Hockey League (KHL) of Russia announced that it was no longer obligated to abide by a moratorium reached in July, when the leagues agreed against signing players that were under contract.

In a news release, the KHL said the NHL violated that agreement when the Los Angeles Kings signed 2008 second-round draft pick defenseman Vjateslav Voinov and fifth-round pick center Andrei Loktionov, on Aug. 27. The KHL said Voinov is currently under contract with Chelyabinsk, while Loktionov is under contract with Yaroslavl.

Horse racing

Curlin heads for New York: Curlin will get a chance to become Thoroughbred racing's richest horse in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Sept. 27 at Belmont Park in New York.

The 2007 Horse of the Year, fresh from a victory in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in upstate New York, has earned $9,796,800 with 10 wins in 13 career starts. The record of $9,999,815 is held by Cigar.

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