Jordan hits to many shots

Even Michael Jordan couldn't come back from a deficit this big.

The former Chicago Bulls superstar shot a 10-over-par 81 on 
Thursday in the second round of the Chicago Open, and missed 
the cut in the 54-hole event in Chicago by 15 shots.

Jordan, who shot an opening-round 84, arrived at the course 
less than an hour before his scheduled tee time Thursday and 
appeared relaxed. He talked with fans and leisurely smoked a 
cigar while hitting balls at the driving range.

Jordan and playing partners Michael O'Connell and Dave Ryan 
teed off in front of a gallery of about 100 spectators, nearly 
half of them children.

LPGA: Chris Johnson shot an 8-under 64, good for a two-stroke 
lead over Australian Wendy Doolan after the first round of the 
$650,000 Safeco Classic in Kent, Wash.

COLLEGES

Michigan State: Citing violations in the school's women's track 
and field program and its wrestling program, the NCAA said it 
was extending the Spartans' probation by two years. The school 
was completing the probation meted in 1996 for violations in 
its football program.

Hartford: The school has hired former Connecticut star Jennifer 
Rizzotti as its women's basketball coach. 

AT A GLANCE

Postponements: Hurricane Floyd washed out part of the sports 
calendar for a third straight day as it swept up the East Coast.

The Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles, who were rained 
out Wednesday, lost their second game to the storm. The games 
probably will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sept. 23, an 
off day for both clubs. Heavy rain and flooded roads also 
caused postponement of NHL exhibitions in New York and 
Philadelphia; and the first round of the PGA Tour's B.C. Open 
in Endicott, N.Y.

NBA: The Philadelphia 76ers signed rookie center Todd 
MacCulloch and free agent Bruce Bowen. . . . The Vancouver 
Grizzlies signed free-agent forward Grant Long to a three-year 
contract. . . . The Miami Heat re-signed guard Rex Walters. . . 
. The Chicago Bulls released guard Ron Harper, a key fixture
on three championship teams, and re-signed forward Dickey 
Simpkins.

Women's basketball: A suffocating press and the scoring of 
Natalie Williams and Lisa Leslie (18 points apiece) pushed the 
United States past Poland 86-67, sending the Americans into 
Saturday's gold medal game of the USA Basketball International 
Invitational. The championship game will be the third meeting 
between the United States (6-0) and Australia (3-3) in the 
tournament. The Americans won the previous two.

Cycling: Daniele Nardello of Italy won the 11th stage of the 
Tour of Spain in Pla de Beret, Spain. Nardello finished stage 
11 in 5 hours, 1 minute, 37 seconds. Abraham Olano of Spain 
kept the overall lead.

Track and field: The sport's world governing body in London 
asked the Cuban and Jamaican federations to provisionally 
suspend Javier Sotomayor and Merlene Ottey for positive drug 
tests. Sotomayor, the world record holder in the high jump, 
tested positive for cocaine at the Pan American Games in Canada. 
Ottey, the Jamaican sprint star, tested positive for the 
steroid nandrolone at a meet in July. Both athletes have denied 
taking drugs.

Prep basketball: David Sabonis, the younger brother of the 
Trail Blazers' Arvydas Sabonis, will play in the first boys 
prep basketball game at the new Conseco Fieldhouse on Dec. 22 
in Indianapolis. The younger Sabonis, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, 
plays on the Chesterton High School team that will face LaPorte. 

IN THE REGION

College volleyball: No. 14 Arizona rallied to beat Oregon State 
6- 15, 1-15, 15-11, 15-5, 17-15 in Tucson, Ariz., in the 
Pacific-10 Conference opener for both schools. No. 14 Arizona 
improved to 7-3; OSU dropped to 5-3.