Shula Leads Hall of Fame Inductees

The National Football League is honoring four of its all-time best players today. Don Shula, the winningest coach ever, is among four individuals being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Mike Haynes, a cornerback for the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster and New York Giants owner Wellington Mara are also being enshrined along with Shula. Shula coached for 33 years with the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Colts and owns a career record of 347-173-6. He coached in a record six Super Bowls and led the 1972 Dolphins to the league's only undefeated season.

NFL Pre-Season Kicks Off

The 1997 NFL pre-season begins this weekend with three games today and one tomorrow. The exhibition schedule kicks off this afternoon with the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio between the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks. In other games today, Miami visits Green Bay and Buffalo travels to Denver. Tomorrow, the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers battle in Dublin, Ireland. The regular season begins Aug. 31.

Olano Wins Time Trial in France

Abraham Olano finally came up on top when he won the 20th stage of the Tour de France, a 63-km time trial at Disneyland Paris today. The Spaniard, who has had a disappointing Tour, was 45 seconds faster than overall race leader Jan Ullrich, who is set to be crowned winner on the Champs Elysees tomorrow. Defending champion Bjarne Riis's woes continued when he twice had to change wheels in the opening section. He finished 9:12 behind Olano.

AL: Key Starts for O's

Baltimore sends cagy veteran Jimmy Key to the mound tonight against Shane Bowers, who makes his major-league debut for Minnesota, as the Orioles and Twins continue a three-game series. Key (13-6, 2.67 ERA) tries to become the fourth 14-game winner in the American League. The O's lead the Yankees by 3 1/2 games in the AL East. Elsewhere on the AL schedule today, the Chicago White Sox host Texas, Oakland visits Cleveland, Seattle is at the New York Yankees, Kansas City visits Toronto, Anaheim is at Boston and Detroit hosts Milwaukee.

NL: Surging Mets Face Padres

The surging New York Mets continue their 11-game road trip tonight as they play the middle game of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. After dropping the first game of the road swing against the Dodgers, the Mets have won three straight, including a 4-2 victory over the Padres yesterday. Bobby Jones (12-5, 3.37 ERA) continues his quest for his elusive 13th win of the season when he starts for the Mets. San Diego counters with left-hander Sterling Hitchcock (6-5, 4.31). Elsewhere on the NL schedule today, Atlanta plays at Cincinnati, Florida visits St. Louis, Pittsburgh visits San Francisco, Colorado hosts Chicago and Philadelphia is at Los Angeles.

Levi Leads Greater Hartford Open

Wayne Levi, who has only one win since capturing this event seven years ago, held a four-stroke lead going into today's third round of the Greater Hartford Open in Cromwell, Connecticut. Levi shot a 5-under-par 65 yesterday. He has only one bogey after two trips around the TPC at River Highlands course, and his 36-hole total of 11-under 129 broke the mark of 131, established in 1991 by Kirk Triplett and Greg Norman. Levi is four shots better than Jeff Maggert, Steve Pate and Brandel Chamblee, who matched the leader's 65 yesterday.

Ratcliffe Ahead at Senior Event

Australia's Noel Ratcliffe takes a three-shot lead into today's third round of the British Senior Open at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland. Ratcliffe fired a 7-under-par 65 yesterday. He moved to 9-under 135 after 36 holes, three shots better than South Africans John Bland and Gary Player. Bland, who held a two-shot lead after the first round, carded a 72, while Player fired a 70. On the women's tour, second-year pro Anna Acker-Macosko is tied with former champion Tammie Green heading into the second round of the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic in Warren, Ohio.

Funeral Set for Hogan

Funeral services for legendary golfer Ben Hogan will be held Tuesday at University Christian Church on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Hogan, one of only four men to win all four of the tournaments that currently comprise the sport's Grand Slam, died yesterday at his home in Fort Worth. Hogan had 63 PGA Tour victories, placing him third behind Sam Snead (81) and Jack Nicklaus (70) for all-time wins.

Alonso Advances in Tennis

Spanish teenager Julian Alonso advanced to his first career ATP Tour final today, defeating number 15 Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4 at the Generali Open claycourt tennis tournament in Kitzbuhel, Austria. The 19-year-old Alonso, ranked 92nd in the world, will take on 10th seed Filip Dewulf of Belgium, who breezed past number 14 Galo Blanco of Spain, 6-3, 6-2. In women's tennis, heavy rain forced postponement of today's semifinal action at the Warsaw Cup clay court tennis tournament in Poland.

Omni is History

The Omni in Atlanta, which has hosted thousands of sporting and other events in its 25-year life, is history. The building was imploded this morning to make way for a new arena for the city's pro basketball team and its future hockey team. Thousands of onlookers cheered and applauded as the Omni came down, raising a huge cloud of dust, shaking the city and breaking windows in nearby buildings. A new $125 million facility will be constructed at the site to be home to the Hawks and the NHL expansion franchise awarded to Atlanta.

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