Orr speaks out on hockey impasse

Former Bruins star Bobby Orr called on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and players' union executive director Bob Goodenow to "get out of the way" if they can't solve the impasse that triggered the cancellation of the NHL's season. Orr, who operates a sports agency for hockey players, wrote in the Sunday Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence: "Our sport is in danger of becoming irrelevant unless both sides immediately put an end to this nonsense." . . . Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport gave the US Fed Cup tennis team a 2-0 lead over Belgium with singles victories at Delray Beach, Fla., yesterday. Williams defeated Els Callens, 6-2, 6-2, after Davenport needed just 39 minutes for a 6-0, 6-2 win over Eveline Vanhyfte. Belgium is playing the five-match first-round series without its top two players, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters . . . Top-seeded Andy Roddick dominated Jurgen Melzer, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the finals at the US Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston against Sebastien Grosjean, a 6-1, 7-6, (7-5) winner over Nicolas Lapentti . . . Returning to the ring as a welterweight after losing two straight 154-pound fights to Winky Wright, Shane Mosley was impressive in spurts on his way to a unanimous 10-round decision over David Estrada in Las Vegas. On the same card, Antonio Margarito, a possible welterweight opponent for Mosley, dominated Kermit Cintron and retained his WBO crown when Cintron's corner called an end to the bout at 2:12 of the fifth round . . . Former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko stopped previously unbeaten Eliseo Castillo in the fourth round at Dortmund, Germany. Klitschko, younger brother of World Boxing Council champion Vitali Klitschko, knocked Castillo down with a jarring right with 9 seconds left in the round.

London withdraws bid incentives

London withdrew a package of financial incentives to avoid breaking the bidding rules for the 2012 Olympics. The embarrassing backdown comes a day after New York was cleared by the International Olympic Committee of offering improper financial assistance to sports federations . . . Lance Armstrong made a late surge, but teammate Tom Danielson held on to claim the fifth stage and take the overall lead in the Tour de Georgia. Danielson, who races with Armstrong on the Discovery Channel team, finished 15 seconds ahead of Levi Leipheimer, with Armstrong third . . . Derba Bedada Medeksa of Ethiopia outran Kenyans David Chepkwony and Collins Edep to win the Belgrade Marathon in Serbia-Montenegro . . . Colby Confer scored six goals and Jenny McGrath had six assists as undefeated Stonehill (15-0, 9-0) presented coach Michael Daly with his 100th career lacrosse victory, an 18-5 triumph over St. Michael's in a Northeast-10 matchup in Easton. The win was the 21st straight for the Chieftains and 47th in a row in the conference . . . UCLA's Kristen Maloney won the balance beam and the vault titles at the NCAA women's gymnastics individual event finals at Auburn, Ala., for a triumphant finale to an injury-marred career. Maloney endured five operations on her right shin and missed two seasons of competition . . . Missouri sophomore forward Linas Kleiza, the Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder last season, said he will enter the NBA draft, but will not hire an agent, leaving his option open to return to school . . . Newton North's Anthony Gurley scored 35 points and Farnold Degand of O'Bryant had 33 as the BABC, down, 46-43, at halftime, exploded for a 101-77 victory over Kaunas of Lithuania in the quarterfinals of the Victor Roho Tourney in Milan.