Briefs

The NBA players’ union filed an appeal on behalf of Indiana Pacers Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neal, who were suspended for their roles in a brawl with Detroit Pistons fans last week.

The union asked that an arbitrator decide whether there should be reductions in the suspensions handed out Sunday: Artest was banned for the season, Jackson for 30 games and O’Neal for 25.

Union director Billy Hunter has called the penalties excessive.

Commissioner David Stern, who issued the suspensions, has sole discretion under collective bargaining rules over penalties for on-court behavior, and all appeals go through him, too.

The union, however, asked in its one-page appeal that the case go to arbitrator Roger Kaplan.

DETROIT (AP) — Two fans sued the Indiana Pacers and players Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neal, contending they were injured in the brawl at the end of the Pistons-Pacers game.

Lawyers for John Ackerman and William Paulson filed suits in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, seeking unspecified damages.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Police released a copy of a videotape showing a man who investigators believe hurled a chair into the crowd during the brawl at the end of the Pistons-Pacers game. Police asked the public to help identify him.

Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca has said the only possible felony charge in the brawl could be against the chair-thrower. He said other charges most likely would be for misdemeanor assault and battery.

BCOLLEGE FOOTBALL

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Steve Spurrier was hired at South Carolina after the school trustees’ executive board approved a seven-year deal worth $1.25 million a season for the former Florida coach.

Spurrier, who replaces the retiring Lou Holtz, returns to college football after a three-year absence. He was coach of the Washington Redskins for two seasons after leaving Florida, going 12-20 before resigning.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz signed a three-year extension that will keep him under contract with the Hawkeyes through 2012.

The school announced the extension, three days after the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes beat Wisconsin to clinch a share of the Big Ten title.

Iowa also accepted an invitation to the Capital One Bowl. The Hawkeyes will play the second-place finisher in the Southeastern Conference in Orlando, Fla., on New Year’s Day.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin accepted a bid to play in the Outback Bowl. The 20th-ranked Badgers will face a team from the Southeastern Conference on New Year’s Day.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue accepted a bid to the Sun Bowl. Purdue will likely face either No. 18 Arizona State or Oregon State in the game in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 31.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State accepted an invitation to play in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. Ohio State, which was selected after upsetting No. 7 Michigan on Saturday, will play a team from the Big 12 conference.

BPRO FOOTBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Ricky Williams will serve a four-game suspension beginning next month and then be reinstated with the Miami Dolphins by the NFL, according to his lawyer, David Cornwell.

But the league says an agreement has not been finalized.

Williams must approve the deal, which would move him from the retired list to the suspended list for the final four games of the schedule. The running back is required to serve a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

After that, his contract with the Dolphins would be in force.

Williams, 27, retired during the summer, giving up the $5 million he would have earned this season, amid reports he faced the suspension for substance abuse.

MIAMI (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler was put on injured reserve with a herniated disc in his neck and will miss the rest of the season. Fiedler was hurt in Sunday’s loss to Seattle after playing one series in place of A.J. Feeley, who left with an injured hip. Feeley later returned.

BSOCCER

Landon Donovan is leaving the San Jose Earthquakes to rejoin Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, a move that costs Major League Soccer its most successful player.

The 22-year-old forward, voted the No. 1 player on the U.S. national team for three straight years, will rejoin the Bundesliga team in January following the end of a sharing arrangement that lasted four years.

Donovan signed with Bayer Leverkusen in February 1999 when he was just 16 but never got into a game with the club and joined San Jose before the 2001 season.

BAUTO RACING

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kasey Kahne, who narrowly missed out on his first victory five times this season, was selected NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year.

Kyle Busch, younger brother of Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, was the top rookie in the Busch Series. David Reutimann earned top honors in the Truck Series.

Kahne, 24, is the youngest rookie winner in NASCAR’s top series since Jeff Gordon won it as a 22-year-old in 1993.

BTENNIS

PARIS (AP) — Mary Pierce pulled out of France’s Fed Cup semifinal against Spain because of a right shoulder injury. France earlier lost its top player, former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, who said she wanted to concentrate on preparing for next season.

Pierce could return if France makes the final. She’ll be replaced against Spain by Marion Bartoli.

Iowa coach

signs extension

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz signed a three-year extension that will keep him under contract with the Hawkeyes through 2012.

The school announced the extension, three days after the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes beat Wisconsin to clinch a share of the Big Ten title.

Iowa also accepted an invitation to the Capital One Bowl. The Hawkeyes will play the second-place finisher in the Southeastern Conference in Orlando, Fla., on New Year’s Day.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin accepted a bid to play in the Outback Bowl. The 20th-ranked Badgers will face a team from the Southeastern Conference on New Year’s Day.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue accepted a bid to the Sun Bowl. Purdue will likely face either No. 18 Arizona State or Oregon State in the game in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 31.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State accepted an invitation to play in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. Ohio State, which was selected after upsetting No. 7 Michigan on Saturday, will play a team from the Big 12 conference.

BPRO FOOTBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Ricky Williams will serve a four-game suspension beginning next month and then be reinstated with the Miami Dolphins by the NFL, according to his lawyer, David Cornwell.

But the league says an agreement has not been finalized.

Williams must approve the deal, which would move him from the retired list to the suspended list for the final four games of the schedule. The running back is required to serve a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

After that, his contract with the Dolphins would be in force.

Williams, 27, retired during the summer, giving up the $5 million he would have earned this season, amid reports he faced the suspension for substance abuse.

MIAMI (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler was put on injured reserve with a herniated disc in his neck and will miss the rest of the season. Fiedler was hurt in Sunday’s loss to Seattle after playing one series in place of A.J. Feeley, who left with an injured hip. Feeley later returned.

BSOCCER

Landon Donovan is leaving the San Jose Earthquakes to rejoin Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, a move that costs Major League Soccer its most successful player.

The 22-year-old forward, voted the No. 1 player on the U.S. national team for three straight years, will rejoin the Bundesliga team in January following the end of a sharing arrangement that lasted four years.

Donovan signed with Bayer Leverkusen in February 1999 when he was just 16 but never got into a game with the club and joined San Jose before the 2001 season.

BAUTO RACING

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kasey Kahne, who narrowly missed out on his first victory five times this season, was selected NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year.

Kyle Busch, younger brother of Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, was the top rookie in the Busch Series. David Reutimann earned top honors in the Truck Series.

Kahne, 24, is the youngest rookie winner in NASCAR’s top series since Jeff Gordon won it as a 22-year-old in 1993.

BTENNIS

PARIS (AP) — Mary Pierce pulled out of France’s Fed Cup semifinal against Spain because of a right shoulder injury. France earlier lost its top player, former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, who said she wanted to concentrate on preparing for next season.

Pierce could return if France makes the final. She’ll be replaced against Spain by Marion Bartoli.

Kahne wins

Rookie of the Year

Kasey Kahne, who narrowly missed out on his first victory five times this season, was selected NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year.

Kyle Busch, younger brother of Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, was the top rookie in the Busch Series. David Reutimann earned top honors in the Truck Series.

Kahne, 24, is the youngest rookie winner in NASCAR’s top series since Jeff Gordon won it as a 22-year-old in 1993.

BTENNIS

PARIS (AP) — Mary Pierce pulled out of France’s Fed Cup semifinal against Spain because of a right shoulder injury. France earlier lost its top player, former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, who said she wanted to concentrate on preparing for next season.

Pierce could return if France makes the final. She’ll be replaced against Spain by Marion Bartoli.

Champs to get

new field

There was a bulldozer in front of the Green Monster, a pickup truck by the Pesky Pole and mounds of dirt where there once was grass.

The Boston Red Sox are rebuilding their antiquated playing field just weeks after they buried another part of their history by winning their first World Series title in 86 years. Yet to be decided is whether they want to replace Fenway Park with a new stadium.

‘‘That depends on our long-term ability to make the kind of changes that we think need to be made both to the ballpark and the neighborhood,’’ team president Larry Lucchino said Tuesday. ‘‘We are working on that master plan but we haven’t completed it.’’

The field dimensions won’t change and no seating will be added for next season. Fenway holds about 35,000 fans, and the team plans to add about 1,000 seats for 2006.

Improved drainage will allow the infield to be flatter by removing a crown that helped water drain toward foul territory. Rain delays and postponements should decrease, and center fielder Johnny Damon should not have to splash through puddles to track down fly balls.

‘‘This will put us in the modern age’’ of playing fields, director of grounds Dave Mellor said. ‘‘Some front lawns were better than this.’’

The makeover of a ballpark that opened the week the Titanic sank in 1912 extends to the Red Sox clubhouse, which will be more than doubled in size by the home opener against the Yankees on April 11. A batting tunnel and video room will be added directly behind Boston’s dugout.

‘‘The depth and extent of this effort is, we believe, the most significant in decades, perhaps ever,’’ Lucchino said. ‘‘The changes will affect our ballplayers, so that we will gain some competitive advantage.’’

The club also will complete installation of a new electrical power system.

‘‘There was a moment in time two seasons ago where (the concessionaire) asked to install an additional pizza oven,’’ said Janet Marie Smith, Red Sox vice president of planning and development. ‘‘We literally could not say yes to it because the power was so tapped out here at Fenway.’’

The new field will have a drainage system with 3 inches of gravel topped by 9 inches of sand through which water can seep away from the surface. The old field was built more than 30 years ago on more tightly clumped dirt.

Barring weather delays, workmen will start laying infield sod on Saturday, and all the grass should be down by Tuesday. The Red Sox finished their sweep of St. Louis in the World Series on Oct. 27. Mellor’s crew then spent 4 1/2 days excavating the old field — from which four million pounds of soil were removed — and 13 days preparing the new one for fresh sod.

‘‘Two of my dreams were the Red Sox winning the World Series and a new playing field,’’ Mellor said.

Lucchino estimated the cost of the field work at $1.5 million to $2 million.

‘‘If we can save one rainout a year,’’ he said, ‘‘we will essentially pay for the cost of the better drainage system and the new field.’’

The current clubhouse is the smallest in the majors, covering 6,000 square feet, Smith said. The main section will remain the same but 7,500 square feet will be added for workout, training, rehabilitation and other support areas.

Players requested specific improvements, and the World Series victory helped the club go ahead with some of them. The team also raised ticket prices for next season by an average of 7 percent.

‘‘One of the commitments we made to them during the course of the year was that if you win we will do a lot of the things that you’re talking about,’’ Lucchino said. ‘‘We’ll have the opportunity to generate additional revenue if you win and some part of that revenue will go to the facilities.’’