BRIEFS

Gaffney hoops to be broadcast on the Internet

The Gaffney High boys basketball games will be broadcast in 2008 over the Internet and by phone through the Web site:

www.teamline.cc.

The current schedule appears below. Game broadcasts can be heard on the phone by dialing 1-800- 846-4700 and entering the Gaffney team code of 4233.

Jan. 2 Wed. (H) Spartanburg 8 p.m. 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 4 Friday (H) Boiling Springs 8 p.m. 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 15 Tuesday (H) Hillcrest 8 p.m. 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 22 Tuesday (H) Dorman 8 p.m. 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 25 Friday (Away) Spartanburg 8 p.m. 7:45 p.m.

Feb. 8 Friday (H) Blacksburg 7:30 p.m. 7:15 p.m.

Game and broadcast start times are approximate. Additional game(s) may be added. More information is available by calling Fabian Fuentes at (864) 490-7119.

South Korean boxer declared brain dead

A South Korean boxer who lost consciousness after winning an WBO intercontinental flyweight bout last week has been declared brain dead.

Choi Yoi-sam was declared brain dead Wednesday after a series of brain tests, said Ko Seung-kwan, a spokesman at Asan Medical Center. Choi had been in a coma since shortly after winning the fight against Indonesian challenger Heri Amol in Seoul on Dec. 25.

The 33-year-old Choi was knocked down shortly before the end of the 12th and final round, but got back up and was declared the winner on points before collapsing.

Doctors were scheduled to remove Choi's organs for transplantation Wednesday night after getting approval from the prosecutors' office, a legal requirement before organs can be removed, said Ko. South Korean media reported that Choi had said he would donate his organs.

LA Laker suspended for one game

Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom was suspended for one game without pay for committing a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter of his team's 110-91 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Odom threw himself into Ray Allen and knocked the Boston guard to the floor with 2:56 remaining Sunday night and the outcome already decided. Besides the suspension, Odom was assessed a flagrant foul, penalty two, NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said in a press release.

San Diego GM gets extension

After building the San Diego Chargers into a consistent playoff contender - if not yet a postseason success - general manager A.J. Smith received a five-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2014.

Details weren't announced, but various reports said the extension was worth $11 million. Smith's previous contract was due to expire following the 2009 season.

Sprinter gets ban reduced

Sprinter Justin Gatlin got his doping ban reduced, but not by enough to make him eligible to defend his Olympic 100-meter title this year.

An arbitration panel, in a 53-page ruling released Tuesday, reduced the 25-year-old sprinter's potential eightyear ban to four. With the ban set to expire May 24, 2010, it means Gatlin would be on the sidelines for the Beijing Olympics in August.

Still, the panel left open the possibility of a further reduction.

The three-member panel unanimously ruled Gatlin committed a doping offense when he tested positive for excessive testosterone in April 2006, but the sprinter's first doping offense in 2001 troubled the group.