Continued: Wednesday's sports briefs

nba

Chalmers, Arthur sent home from NBA rookie program

Former Kansas stars Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were sent home Wednesday from the NBA's mandatory rookie transition program for violating unspecified league rules. Sources told ESPN The Magazine they were caught in their hotel room with marijuana and women.

Both the Miami Heat, who drafted Chalmers, and agent Sam Goldfeder confirmed to The Associated Press that the guard left the program. Neither would divulge the reasons why the former Kansas standout, who hit the overtime- forcing jumper in the Jayhawks' victory over Memphis in the national championship game five months ago, was asked to depart early from the resort in southern Westchester County, a short drive north of Manhattan, where the event was taking place.

Arthur, a 6-9 forward who was chosen late in the first round by New Orleans, was traded three times on draft night and signed his rookie contract with Memphis in early July. The Grizzlies acknowledged Arthur "was sent home ... for violating program rules" but declined to give details.

• Spurs guard Manu Ginobili had arthroscopic surgery to repair a ligament injury in his left ankle. Ginobili averaged 19.5 points last season to lead the Spurs in scoring.

• After weeks of speculation, Oklahoma City's new NBA franchise -- the former Seattle SuperSonics -- revealed that the team would be called Thunder. The team colors will be blue, red and orange -- blue to coincide to with the main color of Oklahoma's state flag and red and orange to reflect the colors of the sunset.

TENNIS

WTA revises next year's tour

The WTA Tour is using the U.S. Open to unveil sweeping renovations to next year's tour.

Called "Road Map 2009," the WTA's revamped plan centers around a dramatic, more streamlined -- and healthier -- calendar for the tour's players. Among the highlights:

• A shorter season that ends in October, and a nine-week offseason, two weeks longer than the current one.

• More than $85 million in prize money.

• A reduction in the number of required tournaments from 12 to 10 -- not including the four Grand Slam tournaments.

• Fewer surface changes so players will not have to go from outdoor to indoor, from indoor hardcourt to clay, etc., as frequently.

AROUND THE HORN

Horse racing: A federal grand jury in Louisville, Ky., has issued new indictments for wire fraud against two part-owners of 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin. Attorneys William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. are accused of defrauding clients of $94 million after winning a settlement from manufacturers of the diet drug fen-phen.

Soccer: Fred led D.C. United to the U.S. Open Cup title and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League, scoring in the 50th minute to help the Major League Soccer team beat the Charleston Battery 2-1. Charleston, a team from the second-tier United Soccer League's First Division, was the first non-MLS team to play in the Cup final since 1999.

Golf: Tommy Bolt, the 1958 U.S. Open champion who had one of golf's sweetest swings and most explosive tempers, has died in Cherokee Village, Ark. He was 92. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.

NHL: The Boston Bruins signed center Stephane Yelle. He spent the past five seasons with Calgary after seven seasons with Colorado, and has 85 goals and 239 career points.

Auto racing: Penske Racing hired David Stremme to replace Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman. Newman will leave the No. 12 Dodge at the end of the season to drive for Tony Stewart's new team.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Recent Sports stories

Mark Craig: The importance of kicker Ryan Longwell can't be overlooked - September 3, 2008

Mark Craig: The importance of kicker Ryan Longwell can't be overlooked - As long as the Vikings keep winning, we'll be dishing out praise to the Brad Childress regime. (Warning: This exercise could end extraordinarily abruptly with a first-round playoff exit). Childress and the organization have gotten well-deserved credit for the Jared Allen trade. Chasing and catching Brett Favre. Doing background work on Percy Harvin (so far, so good). But watching the Texans fall to 5-5 [Monday] night when kicker Kris Brown missed a last-second field goal for the second consecutive week made me think about one of Childress' first decisions as a Vikings coach: Ryan Longwell. Remember how bad the Vikings' kicking situation was under Mike Tice? Even Tice has admitted that kickers were his Achilles' heel. Well, Childress came in before the 2006 season and on Day 1 of free agency, one of the players he locked up was Longwell. Longwell has a career field goal percentage of 82.7, third-best in NFL history. He's 85.9 percent since he joined the Vikings. Longwell has made 15 of 16 field goal attempts this season. Just thought I'd throw that out there after watching Brown miss a 49-yarder that would have sent Monday night's game against Tennessee into overtime. It came a week after he missed a 42-yarder as time expired in a 20-17 loss to the Colts. More