Sports briefs

Soccer

MLS TICKETS AVAILABLE: Just a day after announcing the hiring of Steve Pastorino as the general manager of Utah's Major League Soccer team, the team announced preliminary tickets are on sale.

Even though final ticket prices haven't been determined, you can reserve your tickets at mlsnet.com for $30 per seat. Pastorino said the quicker fans get their name registered, the better seats they'll ultimately end up getting.

College football

MARSHALL COACH APOLOGIZES: Marshall coach Bob Pruett will not be reprimanded for calling the Ohio State football team "a bunch of Mandingos," a comment some thought could be offensive to blacks.

"I profusely apologize if I offended anyone," Pruett said Wednesday. "That's the last thing in the world I wanted to do. As I understand the term, I was trying to be complimentary."

Pruett said he used the term to mean "superior ability, superior strength, boldness and courage." Pruett made the original comment in his weekly news conference leading up to last Saturday's game against Ohio State.

"We think coach Pruett's apology is sufficient and I think he stated everything very well," athletic director Bob Marcum said Wednesday.

Charles Farrell, director of Rainbow Sports, a division of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition, said Pruett's remarks could be offensive to some because the Mandingos of West Africa were used as slaves.

Farrell said he also was satisfied with Pruett's apology.

College athletics

CAL HIRES AD: Sandy Barbour was named the first female athletic director at California on Wednesday. Barbour spent the past five years at Notre Dame, including two years as the top assistant to athletic director Kevin White. She also spent eight years at Tulane, including three years as athletic director. Barbour replaces Steve Gladstone, who wanted to return to a full-time job as Cal's crew coach after serving as athletic director since June 2001.

Pro basketball

NETS RELEASE HARRIS: Backup guard Lucious Harris was waived by the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday. Harris averaged 7.7 points, 1.6 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 456 games since being acquired in June 1997 as part of an eight-player trade with Philadelphia. His most productive season in New Jersey was 2002-03, when he averaged 10.3 points. He played a big part in helping the Nets won two Eastern Division titles.

Hockey