Mets' Hernandez has arthritis in neck

Baseball
New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez has arthritis in his neck and will be sidelined three or four days after receiving a cortisone shot. El Duque, 41, slated to be the No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine in the Mets' suspect rotation, left spring training yesterday and returned to New York to have his neck examined. He underwent an MRI, which did not show any disk problems, general manager Omar Minaya said. "Everything looks well," Minaya said on a conference call. "It was preventive, and we feel really good -- especially after reviewing the MRI." . . . Rafael Furcal will hit leadoff for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Juan Pierre will follow him, manager Grady Little said. Furcal batted .300 leading off last season and stole 37 bases in 50 attempts. Pierre, acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the offseason, has spent most of his seven-year career hitting at the top of the order with the Rockies, Marlins, and Cubs . . . Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Xavier Nady was released from a hospital in Bradenton, Fla., two days after being admitted for inflammation of the intestine. He is expected to resume limited physical activity today . . . Kansas City Royals announcer Denny Matthews won the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for major contributions to baseball broadcasting.

Colleges

Boise State football coach Chris Petersen will be a millionaire if he leads the Broncos to another undefeated season. Petersen received a new five-year, $4.25 million contract but his salary would escalate above $1 million if he guides his team to another perfect campaign. Last season, Boise State went 13-0 and was the only Division 1 program to finish undefeated. Capping the season was the Broncos' 43-42 overtime win against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl . . . The NCAA said it has cited the University of Southern Maine for violations in a work-study fraud case involving 37 student-athletes in 15 sports during the 2003-04 academic year. The fraud resulted in a total of $10,599 in overpayments, ranging from $6.30 to $3,300 per athlete, for work the students did not perform. The NCAA Division 3 Committee on Infractions placed USM on probation for two years and two members of USM's athletic staff -- an assistant work-study coordinator and an administrative assistant -- were cited for unethical conduct and suspended without pay for one week. Reprimands were issued to the men's basketball and wrestling coaches . . . New Mexico basketball coach Ritchie McKay will be fired at the end of the season, the school said. New Mexico is 15-13 this season and 4-9 in the Mountain West . . . North Carolina State basketball coach Sidney Lowe was released from a hospital a day after leaving the game against North Carolina with dehydration and flu-like symptoms.

Winter sports

US ski star Lindsey Kildow will miss the rest of the World Cup season because of an injury to her right knee suffered last week at the world championships in Are, Sweden. The 22-year-old skier made the decision Wednesday as a precautionary move, US Ski Team spokesman Marc Habermann told the Associated Press . . . Astrid Jacobsen overtook Slovenia's Petra Majdic to win the women's cross-country sprint race and give Norway its first of two gold medals on the opening day of the Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo, Japan. Andy Newell of Shaftsbury, Vt., was fifth in the men's race won by Jens Arne Svartedal.

Miscellany

The All England Lawn Tennis Club agreed to pay women the same as men, falling in line with the other Grand Slam tournaments. The US Open and Australian Open have paid equal prize money for years. The French Open paid the men's and women's champions the same for the first time last year, although the overall prize fund remained bigger for men . . . Venus Williams, playing her first tournament since October after recovering from a left wrist injury, advanced to the semifinals of the Memphis WTA Tour event, beating Laura Granville, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. In men's play, top seed Andy Roddick and defending champion Tommy Haas advanced, Roddick beating Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, and Haas edging Amer Delic, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5) . . . Former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison stopped John Castle in the second round in Chester, W.Va., in his return to the ring 11 years after testing positive for the virus that causes AIDS. Morrison, 38, who claims he has no trace of AIDS after taking several HIV tests, dropped Castle with a left hook in the scheduled four-round fight . . . Paolo Bettini, the Italian cycling champion racing for the first time in the United States, won the fourth stage of the Tour of California, while Levi Leipheimer maintained the overall lead . . . The Detroit Shock traded Ruth Riley, the 2003 WNBA Finals MVP, to the San Antonio Silver Stars for Katie Feenstra.