Briefs: New plan will be discussed in NHL talks

NHL

Labor talks: A new plan will be up for discussion when labor talks resume. The plan attempts to blend elements from both sides' vision of how players will be paid.

Negotiations probably will resume next week, during which a new, hybrid concept — addressing the relationship between player costs and league revenues — will be brought to the table, a source close to the negotiations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity yesterday.

The 2004-05 season was canceled in February.

Auto racing

Lights, cameras, NASCAR: The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida will finish in prime time in some markets after installation of an $8 million lighting system allows night events that might lead to higher television ratings.

The Ford 400, scheduled for Nov. 20, is expected to end about 9:30 p.m. Eastern.

Crew chief fined: Robert Temple, crew chief for Robby Gordon, was fined $5,000 for a rule violation last week in Martinsville, Va. Inspectors found an unapproved deck lid on Gordon's Chevrolet.

Indy 500 entries: The Andretti Green Racing team has eight cars among the 69 entries for the May 29 Indianapolis 500.

Tennis

Federer advances: Top-ranked Roger Federer beat Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco in his first appearance at the clay-court tournament since 2002.

Taekwondo

Choue to head federation: South Korea's Choue Chong-won was elected to a four-year term as president of the World Taekwondo Federation.

Paralympics

Rowing added for 2008: Rowing will be included in the Paralympics for the first time at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Arena Football League

Coroner awaits test results: The coroner has to wait for test results on the brain tissue of Al Lucas before determining why the Los Angeles Avengers' lineman died after making a tackle in Sunday's home game against New York.

Figure skating

Hershberger is president: Ron Hershberger was elected president of U.S. Figure Skating in a unanimous vote by the organization's board of directors. He took over the duties of president on Feb. 3, when Chuck Foster resigned.

College athletics

Colorado hires Bohn: Mike Bohn, previously the athletic director at San Diego State, has been hired as Colorado's AD. The 44-year-old will be introduced today as the replacement for Dick Tharp.

Bohn was Idaho's athletic director from 1998-2003 before leaving for San Diego State.

Athletics

Poll shows mixed views on gay athletes: A majority of people believed there is nothing wrong with openly gay male athletes participating in sports, but nearly 24 percent think an openly gay athlete would hurt their team, according to an NBC/USA Network poll.

The mixed results of the survey on American attitudes toward gay athletes appear in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. Of the 979 people interviewed, 86 percent agreed it is OK for openly gay men to play sports, but some seemed to back off when asked if that could hurt their team.

"It was like, I'm OK with this, but if you press me, I have some doubts," said Doug Schoen, whose firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, conducted the poll.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., a former Mariner, said he wouldn't have a problem accepting a gay teammate. "Wouldn't bother me at all," Griffey said. "If you can play, you can play."

Obituary

Scimone dies in Sicily: Chico Scimone, who at age 93 completed his 14th consecutive Bank of America Empire State Building Run-Up in February, died last weekend in his native Taormina, Sicily.

Seattle Times news services