In brief - 2004-04-08

There was nothing funny about Zalgiris' 87 - 100 home defeat to Valencia Pamesa on April Fools' Day.

American Ed Cota led the way for Zalgiris with 20 points and six assists. Arvydas Sabonis (photo) chipped in 17 points while collecting seven rebounds but turned the ball over five times. While the loss is a blow to Zalgiris' chance of progressing to the Euroleague final four, a win in its final game of the second round against group leader Maccabi Tel Aviv April 8 would suffice to see the Kaunas team advance.

Robertas Javtokas, a player with top Lithuanian basketball side Lietuvas Rytas, was disqualified for four games and fined 1,000 litas (290 euros) following an incident during a game against Klaipeda Neptunas on March 3. Neptunas captain Mindaugas Bugis required medical attention after being elbowed in the face by Javtokas. Bugis withdrew a formal complaint to the police after Javtokas apologized for his actions. Lietuvas Rytas won the game 93-78.

For the first time in the history of the Latvian mountain skiing championships, the winners were announced in the hills of the Alps in Austria on April 4, at the alpine skiing training base of Innerkremse. Several Latvian athletes might now qualify for the 2005 Winter Olympics once their final standings have been determined according to the FIS points system and the Latvians are hopeful that they will have a full men's mountain skiing team in competition.

Latvian swimmer Agnese Ozolina qualified for the Athens Olympics on April 3 Athens in the 100-meter free style distance, becoming the 23rd member of the Latvian Olympic team. The Grand Prix competition took place in Indianapolis, U.S.A. She took 28th place out of 125 swimmers with a time of 58.04 seconds. The Olympic qualifying time is 58.36 seconds.

Italian soccer is in a state of turmoil as Series A clubs must prove their financial solvency by the end of the month if they are to be allowed to compete in the lucrative UEFA Champions League competition next season. Many of Italy's top clubs are seriously debt ridden as a result of the heady 1990s when players' wages spiraled out of control. Last season 85 percent of the top clubs' budgets were swallowed up by wages. Italian PM and AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi (photo)
has nought to worry about, though.