Ski Accident To Sideline Steffi Graf

-- TENNIS

Steffi Graf, the world's top-ranked women's player, suffered a splintered bone in the thumb of her playing hand during a skiing vacation in Switzerland and will be out of action for a long time, a spokesman said today.

Graf fell on her right arm during a cross-country outing with her father at St. Moritz yesterday.

Her family informed the Women's International Tennis Association that the injury would keep Graf from tournaments next month in Boca Raton and Key Biscayne, Fla. It was not immediately known if she would be able to make the Grand Slam events in the French Open in Paris, beginning May 28, or Wimbledon, which starts June 25.

Second-seeded John McEnroe battled the officials as well as his opponent in posting a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Andrei Cherkasov of the Soviet Union in the first round of the Milan (Italy) Indoor tournament. The temperamental American, ejected last month from the Australian Open, was warned by the referee when he bitterly protested several disputed calls.

-- FOOTBALL

Dan Allen, coordinator of Holy Cross' explosive offense, was named head coach at Boston University. He succeeds Chris Palmer, who resigned last week after two seasons to become the Houston Oilers' receivers coach.

-- Junior Seau, USC's junior linebacker, reportedly will enter the NFL draft rather than rejoin the Trojans for his senior season.

-- University of Texas officials are investigating accusations that as many as 20 players may have been wagering on college and professional games, and police vice-squad officers say gambling is widespread on the UT campus. Most of the names on betting slips confiscated in a raid on a campus-area bookmaking operation last year were those of UT students, police said.

There were some students in for thousands of dollars,'' police said.

-- Running back D.J. Dozier of the Minnesota Vikings said he is considering signing with the Minnesota Twins' baseball organization. Last spring, Dozier, 24, attended the Mets' extended training camp, where he hit .312 with a Florida Instructional League-leading eight triples.

-- South Carolina nose guard Tim High and offensive lineman Wes Pringle were arrested in Columbia on charges of illegally betting on college and professional basketball games and pro football games. They were released today from jail on $1,000 bond each.

-- BASEBALL

Kansas City and outfielder Danny Tartabull reached agreement on a one-year contract for $1.65 million, avoiding an arbitration hearing scheduled for today. The right fielder made $1,035,000 last year.

-- Dan Plesac, a left-handed reliever who set a Milwaukee Brewer record last season with 33 saves, agreed to a three-year, $6.5 million contract.

-- Outfielder Devon White lost his salary arbitration with the California Angels and will settle for $580,000 - $285,000 less than he was asking. He made $380,000 last year.

-- OLYMPICS

The International Olympic Committee, among the first sports bodies to act against apartheid policies when it banned South Africa in 1970, announced changes in the racially divided country could lead to its readmission into the Olympic movement.

Before that comes, however, apartheid must be abolished and black African nations must feel sure that the problems they have fought against for so long have been dealt with, IOC leaders said.

-- GOLF

Luis Carbonetti shot a 4-under-par 67 to give Argentina a three-stroke lead in the $300,000 Dunhill Cup world qualifying tournament in Singapore. Twenty-five countries are trying to qualify for the Dunhill Cup, which begins Oct. 11 in St. Andrews, Scotland.

-- COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Walla Walla CC's Board of Trustees unanimously voted to retain the Warrior football program for at least one more year, ending speculation about the team's immediate future. Trustees at Wenatchee Valley College, where the only other Northwest CC Conference football exists, are scheduled to meet next Wednesday to ponder that program's future.

The league dropped football as a sanctioned sport after Spokane CC decided three weeks ago to drop its program. Yakima Valley College dropped out last year.

-- BOXING

Henry Hearns, younger brother of Thomas Hearns, has received a 25- to 50-year prison sentence for killing his girlfriend. Hearns, 23, was convicted in November of killing Nancy Barile, 19, last summer in Pontiac, Mich.