National sports briefs

To handle their veteran team, the San Francisco Giants turned to an old pro: Felipe Alou.

The 67-year-old Alou became the oldest manager to take over a club since Casey Stengel four decades ago. Alou, who played for San Francisco in the 1950s and '60s, agreed to a three-year contract. He was 691-717 in 10 seasons managing the Montreal Expos.

A-Rod is golden

Alex Rodriguez won his first American League Gold Glove, a vote that Omar Vizquel didn't handle too cleanly.

Vizquel had won nine straight times at shortstop. But the fancy fielder from Cleveland had his streak broken by the Texas Rangers star. Vizquel said he thought Baltimore's Mike Bordick, who did not make an error in his final 110 games, was as deserving as Rodriguez.

Judge rebuffs Selig

A federal judge turned down Bud Selig's attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former limited partners of the Montreal Expos, who have accused the baseball commissioner of racketeering in his attempt to eliminate the team.

Selig's lawyers had asked U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro-Benages to toss out the suit, arguing it was improperly filed in Florida and should have been filed in New York. The judge cited a March 2000 meeting in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., that involved Jeffrey Loria, who sold the Expos to the other 29 major league teams.

Coaches suspended

Two Miami University assistant football coaches were suspended with pay after Jon Wauford was charged with assaulting a fan and Taver Johnson acknowledged damaging a coaches' box at Marshall on Tuesday.

More on Bouman

Daunte Culpepper is keeping his job as the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback this week, and his backup tried to stay as diplomatic as he could.

But Todd Bouman didn't deny he might want to play elsewhere next season to get a chance as a starter.

"Obviously as an athlete, you want to be on the field," Bouman said Wednesday. "But as I've said before, I'm very happy where I am. When the offseason comes, I'll worry about that.

"I'm getting older. We'll see what happens in the future."

Here's a new twist on the old cliche:

The Minnesota Vikings' secondary IS broken, so they've got to fix it.

Ranked next-to-last in the NFL in pass defense, Minnesota is making changes -- again -- in the defensive backfield.

"Eight straight weeks now," said defensive coordinator Willie Shaw.

Green Bay and its Hall of Fame-bound quarterback, Brett Favre, come to town on Sunday. So for the Vikings to have a chance, this round of changes will have to work.

Cornerback Corey Chavous is moving to strong safety, a position where he spent most of his rookie season with Arizona, putting rookie Willie Offord back on the bench.

Rookie Brian Williams, the Vikings' fourth-round draft pick out of North Carolina State, will move into Chavous' left cornerback spot.

Veteran free safety Ronnie Bradford, signed as a free agent this year, has a modest 49 tackles (two for losses) and two passes defended but has been consistently singled out by Tice for, well, playing consistently.

All-woman ref crew

Three women refereed an NAIA game in what appears to be the first time an all-female crew officiated in men's college basketball during the regular season. Mona Miller, Erica Bradley and Leigh Anne Webb were the officials for Martin Methodist's 82-44 victory over Atlanta Christian in Pulaski, Tenn., on Tuesday night.

Gopher women finally landing in-state talent

Fosston's Kelly Roysland, one of the top high school girl's basketball players in the state, said she can't wait to play basketball for the Golden Gophers.

Roysland was one of three blue-chip Minnesota players to sign letters of intent Wednesday on National Signing Day. Lakeville's Liz Podominick and Eastview's Jamie Broback round out one of the best recruiting classes in school history.

"I'm excited to be a Gopher," Roysland said. "This class will hopefully keep others in the state down the line."

Roysland's attitude represents a growing trend in Minnesota -- home-grown players staying home to play collegiate basketball.

It's been a good news/bad news situation for the Gophers in recent history.

The good news? Minnesota has become one of the top states for women's basketball in the country, churning out talented players such as Kelly and Coco Miller, Kelley Siemon and Megan Taylor.

The bad news? Every high-profile recruit since Apple Valley's Carol Ann Shudlick in 1990 has spurned the Gophers for other top programs across the country.

They had good reason. Before last season, the Gophers were one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. They also had a coach, Cheryl Littlejohn, who was always in the middle of controversy.

"When I was growing up, I thought that it was too bad those players couldn't stay in state," Roysland said. "The 'U' program really wasn't successful at that time. That really turns people to different places."

No more. Last year's 22-8 record and NCAA appearance under Brenda Oldfield.