Names in the Game

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Damon Allen, brother of retired NFL star Marcus Allen, has re-signed with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League. <br><br>The quarterback, who has spent the

Wednesday, February 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Damon Allen, brother of retired NFL star Marcus Allen, has re-signed with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League.

The quarterback, who has spent the last three years with the Lions, would have become a free agent Monday at midnight. The 36-year-old Allen said the deal covers two seasons. League rules dictate the most he can make is $150,000. That's significantly less than the $300,000 Allen made last year, when he was the last remaining CFL player still under the league's marquee player designation. That allowed the Lions to exclude his contract from the $2.1-million salary cap.

Last season the 15-year veteran guided the Lions to a CFL-best 13-5 record, completing 315 of 521 passes for 4,219 yards with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He was also the league's second best rushing quarterback with 785 yards, 93 behind Edmonton's Nealon Greene.
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PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- The NHL's first European-born coach has been forced to delay his departure for the United States because of a problem with his work permit.

Ivan Hlinka, who will become associate head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, had to postpone his plans to leave Thursday because the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has not issued him proper work papers, said Katerina Sabachova, secretaryof the Czech Ice Hockey Association.

The U.S. Embassy in Prague said it still has not received the work permit from the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the United States, essential for issuing a work visa. "We do not know when the petition was filed with the INS by the U.S. employer," an embassy statement said. "After receiving a notice that the petition has been approved, we will issue the visa immediately."

Hlinka coached the Czech Republic to an Olympic gold medal in 1998. From 1981-83, he played in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks and also played for Czechoslovakia in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.

Eleven of the 23 players on the Penguins are Europeans, including six Czechs, led by NHL scoring leader Jaromir Jagr.
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MUNICH, Germany (AP) -- Lothar Matthaeus is getting a rock 'n 'roll tribute before he leaves Germany for the New York-New Jersey MetroStars. A previously unknown group called The Fanatic 2 has released a single called "Rock me Matthaeus," sung to the tune of "Rock me Amadeus," once a hit by the late Austrian rock star Falco.

The new words describe Matthaeus as "super cool" and a "sex symbol." The 38-year-old Bayern Munich star is set to join his new Major League Soccer club March 10.
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LONDON (AP) -- Stan Collymore is off to a shaky start with his new team. Collymore, who joined Leicester last week from Aston Villa in a move to save a declining career, set off a fire extinguisher in a hotel bar at 2:30 a.m. that led the team to be ejected from its Spanish training site. "Mr. Collymore set off a fire extinguisher in the bar, which caused an enormous amount of damage," said managing director Tony Coles of the LaManga training center. "We advised them his behavior was totally unacceptable and asked them to leave." "We have now had over 250 teams visit our soccer center since it was opened in 1998 and we have never had any problems whatsoever."

This came as the English Football Association tries to crackdown on violence.

On Tuesday, Middlesbrough's Paul Gascoigne was charged with misconduct for using an elbow to hit Aston Villa's George Boateng. Gascoigne broke his arm on the play. Earlier in the week the F.A. cited four clubs -- Leeds, Tottenham, Chelsea and Wimbledon -- with misconduct for weekend brawls.