Brewers working on deal with Gagné

The Milwaukee Brewers are working on a deal with free agent reliever Eric Gagné, potentially giving the team another option at the closer spot after losing Francisco Cordero to free agency. "We're not there yet," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said last night at the Marquette-Wisconsin basketball game. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported on its website the righthander, who played for the world champion Red Sox last season, has a deal in the place with the Brewers, pending a physical. Melvin said the Brewers' interest in Gagné didn't indicate a lack of confidence in reliever Derrick Turnbow, considered the most logical candidate to take over as the Brewers' closer. "We're just adding depth," Melvin said . . . The Yankees designated outfielder Bronson Sardinha for assignment, clearing room on the 40-man roster for lefthander Andy Pettitte, who accepted salary arbitration Friday, putting off retirement to pitch for New York next year.

Navy wasted little time finding a new football coach, promoting assistant Ken Niumatalolo to replace Paul Johnson, who left Friday to take over at Georgia Tech. Niumatalolo, 42, is believed to be the NCAA's first Polynesian head coach. Niumatalolo had two coaching stints at the Naval Academy for a total of 10 seasons, including the last six, when he was assistant head coach and offensive line coach. He will coach the Midshipmen against Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl Dec. 20 . . . Yale junior tailback Mike McLeod, Harvard defensive back Steven Williams, Holy Cross senior wide receiver Ryan Maher, and UNH senior quarterback Ricky Santos were all selected to the American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision All-America team . . . The Denver Broncos signed wide receiver Brandon Stokley to a three-year contract extension. Stokley, who injured his knee in last week's loss to Oakland, is expected to play today against Kansas City . . . The Lakeshore Raiders of Greater Jacksonville, Fla., scored in the first quarter and held off the Malden Cyclones, 8-6, for the national Midget championship at the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

Ernie Els shot a bogey-free 64 (13-under 203) in Malelane, South Africa, to take a two-stroke lead over Lee Slattery (67) after the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, which featured two holes-in-one. Els had five of his eight birdies on the back nine to share the best round of the day with Joost Luiten, who had a hole-in-one. Oliver Wilson had the other . . . Woody Austin and Mark Calcavecchia shot a 12-under-par 60 in best-ball play in Naples, Fla., to take a two-stroke lead over tournament host Greg Norman and Bubba Watson (61) after the second round of the Merrill Lynch Shootout. Calcavecchia made a 5-foot eagle putt on the par-5 17th hole on the Norman-designed Tiburon Golf Club course. Austin and Calcavecchia are at 20-under 124 . . . Se Ri Pak and In-Kyung Kim held off Annika Sorenstam and Catriona Matthew in the final best-ball match to give Asia a 7-point lead over the International team in the Lexus Cup in Perth, Australia. After sweeping the opening alternate-shot session Friday, Asia took 3 1/2 of 6 points in best-ball play to take the big lead into today's singles matches . . . Gwladys Nocera of France shot a 1-under 71 (7-under 281 total) in Bangalore, India, to win the EMAAR-MGF Ladies Masters by one stroke over Virginie Lagoutte-Clement.

Undefeated Arthur Abraham stopped Wayne Elcock in the fifth round to retain his International Boxing Federation middleweight title in Basel, Switzerland. The Armenia-born German knocked down Elcock in the second round and again in the fifth. The referee stopped the fight after Abraham landed a flurry of punches to Elcock's head. Abraham, 25-0 with 20 knockouts, has been eyeing a unification bout against either Jermain Taylor or Kelly Pavlik next year in the United States . . . Brahim Asloum won the World Boxing Association light flyweight championship in Le Cannet, France, with a unanimous decision over defending champion Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina. Asloum, a gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games, became the first Frenchman to win Olympic and professional world titles. He won by scores of 116-113, 116-112, and 115-113 in the 108-pound bout.

The Atlanta Thrashers claimed veteran forward Mark Recchi off waivers. The 5-foot-10-inch, 190-pound Recchi is expected to join the team in Atlanta today and probably will have his first practice with the team Tuesday . . . Jeff Hoggan had two goals and Chris Collins and Pascal Pelletier scored one each, but the host Providence Bruins fell to the Portland Pirates, 5-4 . . . Munich received support for a 2018 Olympic bid from the German Olympic Sports Federation, with the country hoping to stage the Winter Games for the first time since the Nazi era in 1936. Munich could become the first city to hold both the Winter and Summer Games. It hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics, which were scarred by the attack on Israeli athletes.