Briefs | Mavericks make Paul Westphal executive vice president

NBA

Ex-Sonics coach was a Mavericks assistant coach last season: Paul Westphal, a former Sonics coach and player, was hired Monday by the Dallas Mavericks as executive vice president of basketball operations.

Westphal, who was a Dallas assistant coach last season, will assist general manager Donnie Nelson and work in scouting.

When Westphal was hired before last season to be on ex-Dallas coach Avery Johnson's staff, he had been out of the league since being fired as Seattle's coach in November 2000 after the Sonics started the season 6-9. He had a 267-159 record as coach for the Sonics and the Phoenix Suns.

Westphal, 57, already was under contract with the Mavericks this season, but he wasn't part of first-year coach Rick Carlisle's staff.

Basketball

Globetrotters sign Melendez: The Harlem Globetrotters signed the first Puerto Rican-born player in their history, 6-foot-8 dunking sensation Orlando "El Gato" Melendez.

Melendez, 29, played college ball at North Carolina.

Cycling

Piepoli tests positive twice, Schumacher is suspended: Italian rider Leonardo Piepoli twice tested positive for a blood booster during this year's Tour de France, officials said. Meanwhile, German rider Stefan Schumacher's team suspended him for suspected use of the same substance.

The two became the second and third riders who reportedly tested positive for CERA, an advanced version of the blood-booster EPO, during the Tour in July. Italian Riccardo Ricco already has admitted to CERA use.

Several riders previously tested positive during this year's race, which was won by Carlos Sastre. Some sponsors and TV companies ended their deals after this year's Tour.

Italian and French officials said Piepoli, a Saunier Duval teammate of Ricco's, tested positive before and during the Tour. The team has fired both riders.

Hans-Michael Holczer, head of Schumacher's Gerolsteiner team, said he received confirmation from the Tour's director that Schumacher had tested positive for CERA.

Golf

Ballesteros is hospitalized: Seve Ballesteros, 51, was admitted to a hospital in Madrid, Spain, after feeling dizzy and fainting.

Ballesteros, the winner of three British Opens and two Masters titles, briefly lost consciousness, the hospital said in a statement. The Hall of Famer's condition was stable, and he was undergoing diagnostic tests, hospital officials said.

Ballesteros officially retired from competition last year.

Volleyball/dancing

Injured May-Treanor is out of ABC competition: Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor, 31, appeared near the end of Monday's "Dancing with the Stars" show on ABC on crutches and with a cast on her left leg.

The beach-volleyball standout announced she is out of the dance competition, after rupturing her Achilles tendon while rehearsing Friday. Maksim Chmerkovskiy was her professional dance partner on the show.

Soccer

WPS, Fox Soccer Channel have a deal: The new Women's Professional Soccer league that launches next year will have a live Sunday-night broadcast each week on the Fox Soccer Channel. The contract runs through at least the 2011 WPS season.

Auto racing

Hamlin is released from hospital: Driver Denny Hamlin was released from a hospital, a day after a tire failure led to a hard crash during the Amp Energy 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Hamlin was kept overnight for observation at a Birmingham hospital after his car slammed into a wall.

Boxing

Peter literally takes WBC belt from

Klitschko at news conference: Samuel Peter ripped the WBC belt from Vitali Klitschko's hands and stormed off the stage at a news conference in Berlin to promote Saturday's heavyweight-title fight.

The two fighters — both called champions by the WBC — were engaged in the routine prefight staredown, with both holding the belt. Peter, urged by trainer Stacy McKinley, snatched the belt from Klitschko's grasp. Klitschko looked surprised, then bemused.

"What happens here is a show," Klitschko said. "The real fight is in the ring."

Peter reportedly was upset the news conference was conducted mostly in German. Klitschko is from Ukraine and speaks German fluently. Peter, who was born in Nigeria, responded by answering the few English questions posed to him in a Nigerian language.

NHL

Canucks, Tampa Bay make trade: The Vancouver Canucks traded defenseman Lukas Krajicek and minor-league forward Juraj Simek to Tampa Bay for defenseman Shane O'Brien and right wing Michel Ouellet.

Seattle Times news services