Overtime

Baseball

Sutter decides to wear Cardinals' hat

Bruce Sutter is going into the Hall of Fame wearing the cap of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The reliever, who was elected to the hall on Tuesday, started his career with the Chicago Cubs, then played for St. Louis from 1981-83 and closed his career in Atlanta.

He helped the Cardinals win the World Series in 1982.

- Atlanta will have a familiar name at spring training - Jonathan Schuerholz.

The son of longtime Braves general manager John Schuerholz was one of 14 non-roster players invited to camp.

Schuerholz, who can play second base and shortstop, split last season between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Richmond.

He batted .278 with four homers and 21 RBI at Mississippi but struggled after being promoted to the R-Braves, hitting .175 with no homers and 12 RBI in 44 games.

The Braves also invited catcher Eddie Perez and outfielder Brian Jordan to their major league camp. Both agreed to minor league deals last week.

Olympics

U.S. silver medalist dies after accident

In Ypsilanti, Mich., Eric Namesnik, who won silver medals in swimming at the 1992 and '96 Olympics, died Wednesday after a car accident last week. He was 35.

Namesnik was critically injured in the Jan. 7 accident, which was caused by icy conditions in Pittsfield Township, according to USA Swimming. He had been in a medically induced coma to reduce swelling around his brain before he died at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.

Namesnik won silver medals in the 400-meter individual medley at the 1992 Barcelona Games and four years later in Atlanta. He became the first American to swim under 4 minutes, 15 seconds in the four-stroke IM event and lowered the American record four times. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1991 and '93.

He also won a bronze medal in the 400 IM at the 1994 world championships, and two silvers at the 1991 world meet.

- The newest American couldn't wait to begin dancing her way to the Olympics.

Tanith Belbin, sworn in as a U.S. citizen on Dec. 31 and now eligible to represent this country in Turin, didn't miss a beat Tuesday night at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Along with longtime partner Ben Agosto, she made a memorable first appearance on ice as an American.

Belbin and Agosto earned 107.89 points in winning both the compulsory dance and the original dance. It wasn't perfect, but it was far superior to anyone else in the field.

Second place was held by Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov with 94.13 points. Gregory skated Tuesday despite a bout with the flu.

- These are uncertain times for Noelle Pikus-Pace and her U.S. skeleton teammates, with World Cup races awaiting this weekend and the Olympics less than a month away.

As the sliders resume World Cup racing, coach Tim Nardiello's quest to rejoin the team remains on hold while sexual harassment claims against him are investigated. And the squad is still reeling from Tuesday's announcement that World Cup men's overall leader and Olympic gold-medal favorite Zach Lund has been temporarily barred after a drug test that showed a masking agent in Calgary earlier this season.

Pikus-Pace said Lund's situation is nothing more than an "unfortunate misunderstanding."

"I have all the hope in the world," Lund said. "Until they tell me I'm not going, I'm going to believe I'm going to the Olympics. I know I'm an Olympian."

Tennis

Clijsters injures hip on warmup serve

Kim Clijsters withdrew from the Sydney International Wednesday after injuring her hip and might not play in the Australian Open.

The injury occurred on Clijsters' first serve during a warmup for her quarterfinal match against Francesca Schiavone.

In men's action Wednesday, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Jurgen Melzer.