Oddsmaker, Commentator Jimmy `The Greek' Dies

Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, the blustery oddsmaker and sports commentator whose career ended because of controversial comments he made about African-American athletes, has died of heart failure in Las Vegas. He was 77.

He was the most famous oddsmaker in the betting world, much of that notoriety coming from his uncanny knack at self-promotion. In the mid-'70s he became a regular on CBS' "NFL Today" pregame show.

All that ended after a television interview in 1988, in which Snyder said African-American athletes were superior to whites because of breeding and that the only thing whites continue to control are coaching jobs. He was fired by CBS the next day.

Whitewater racing

Kayaker Scott Shipley of Poulsbo raced to a time of two minutes and 28.70 seconds, the fastest time in all four divisions, to win the Whitewater World Cup I on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. He is considered the favorite for an Olympic gold medal in kayaking.

Football

Bobby Hammond was fired as coach of the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football and replaced today by Lionel Taylor, a former wide receiver with the Denver Broncos.

Auto racing

Terry Labonte drove in a record-setting 514th consecutive Winston Cup event, but was overshadowed by Rusty Wallace, who won the Goody's 500 in Martinsville, Va., for the fourth straight year. Tennis

Top-ranked Pete Sampras beat fellow American Richey Reneberg 6-4, 7-5 in the Japan Open final.

-- Top-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria won his 29th consecutive clay court victory, over Marcelo Rios of Chile, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the Barcelona Open.

CYCLING

Pascal Richard won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic, beating American Lance Armstrong in a sprint finish, finishing 163 miles in southern Belgium in 7 hours, 6 minutes, 53 seconds. Armstrong rose to seventh in World Cup standings.

HOCKEY

The U.S. defeated Austria 5-1 in its opening-group A game at the World Ice Hockey Championship today in Vienna, Austria.