Ex-Raider Ford Named in Shooting

A former kicker for the Oakland Raiders is being sought in a drive-by shooting last month at the Las Vegas home of entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, police said Wednesday.

Cole Ford, whose three-year NFL career ended after several crucial missed kicks during the 1997 season, was named in a felony warrant stemming from the Sept. 21 shooting, Sgt. Chris Jones said.

“I can confirm this individual was at one time a kicker for the Oakland Raiders,” Jones said. “We have not found him.”

Ford was drafted out of USC in 1995 by the Pittsburgh Steelers but was released before the season started. He signed with the Raiders and was with them for three seasons before being cut.

Police identified Ford, 31, as the owner of a white minivan from which shots were fired at the compound owned by the former illusionists known as Siegfried & Roy. No one was hurt, but police said shotgun pellets shattered windows and left a hole in a wall.

Motor Racing

A day after fining Dale Earnhardt Jr. $10,000 and docking him 25 Nextel Cup Series points for cursing Sunday during a post-race TV interview, NASCAR handed down 12 more penalties for rule violations at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

The hardest hit was Roush Racing, which received four penalties for making unapproved rear spoiler adjustments on the Ford of Greg Biffle.

Biffle was penalized 25 points, and car owner Geoff Smith, also the Roush team’s general manager, lost 25 points. Also, crew chief Doug Richert was fined $25,000 and crew member Michael Hillman Jr. was suspended until Oct. 20 and put on probation until Dec. 31.

Earnhardt, who dropped to second place behind Kurt Busch with seven races left in the season, has plenty of time to make up the deficit with up to 190 points available at each race.

Biffle remained 21st in the standings, falling to 46 points behind 20th-place Jeff Burton.

Tennis

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, seeded No. 1, defeated Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo. She’ll play 16-year-old Youlia Fedossova, who beat Akiko Morigami, 6-3, 7-6 (2). Second-seeded Tatiana Golovin was upset by Nicole Vaidisova, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

In the men’s draw, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt defeated Gouichi Motomura, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, and second-seeded David Nalbandian defeated Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

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Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport needed only 51 minutes to defeat Alicia Molik, 6-1, 6-0, in the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany. Fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva was upset by qualifier Lisa Raymond, 6-0, 7-5.

Boxing

Former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga returned home to Managua, Nicaragua, after Saturday’s loss to Felix Trinidad and almost immediately was ordered under house arrest.

Mayorga surrendered in court to face sexual abuse charges. A 20-year-old woman last month accused him of rape. He acknowledged having sex with her at a hotel but said it was consensual.

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The U.S. Senate passed a resolution asking President Bush to pardon former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, a black man convicted more than 90 years ago of taking a white woman across state lines. In 1913, Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act by traveling between states with his girlfriend, Belle Schreiber.

Miscellany

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced that sprinter Rae Edwards of Gainesville, Fla., tested positive for THC, a prohibited substance under the International Assn. of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules, at the Norwich Union International on July 25 in Birmingham, England.

At the direction of the IAAF, Edwards, 23, received a public warning, in accordance with the IAAF rules for a first offense. In addition, he is disqualified from his third-place finish in the invitational 100 meters.

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Six weeks after winning six gold medals and two bronzes at the Athens Olympics, Michael Phelps will swim in six events in the 25-meter pool at the short-course world championships starting today in Indianapolis.