Bugel Goes From Assistant to Head Man With Raiders

Joe Bugel was promoted to head coach Thursday by the Oakland Raiders and immediately carried out perhaps the most essential task that comes with the job--lavishing praise on owner Al Davis.

“I love Al Davis. This love affair has been going on for 30 years,” said Bugel, who referred to Davis as “the Coach.”

Bugel, who was considered for the Raiders’ head coaching job in 1995 and lost out to Mike White, has spent the last two seasons as Oakland’s assistant coach for offense. He had a 20-44 record at Phoenix in 1990-93 in his only previous head coaching job.

White was fired on Christmas Eve after compiling a 15-17 record and failing to make the playoffs in two seasons.

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Center Jesse Sapolu, who has played on four winning Super Bowl teams in his 14 years with the San Francisco 49ers, was recovering from open-heart surgery, during which doctors repaired a leaking valve.

Baseball

A year after he became a two-way starter with the Dallas Cowboys, Deion Sanders is going back to being a two-sport player.

Sanders agreed to an unusual one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds that binds him to the Reds until they are eliminated from the pennant race. The agreement means Sanders will miss the Cowboys’ training camp and might be unavailable for some of their early games.

Left-hander Chris Haney and the Kansas City Royals agreed to a $1.7-million, one-year contract. . . . Relief pitcher John Hudek signed a one-year contract worth $375,000 with the Houston Astros. . . . Relief pitcher Steve Reed agreed to a $1.1-million, one-year contract with the Colorado Rockies. . . . Outfielder-first baseman Reggie Jefferson agreed to a $1.9-million, one-year contract with the Boston Red Sox.

College Football

Baylor linebacker Dean Jackson says he played with a broken neck for eight games last season after the team’s medical staff failed to diagnose the injury. It was later found in a postseason MRI exam.

College football’s bowl season will return to the Detroit area in December after a 13-year absence.

Barring problems getting NCAA approval in April, the Motor City Bowl will be played Dec. 26 at the Pontiac Silverdome, matching the champion of the Mid-American Conference against an at-large opponent.

Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers of South Carolina and two-time Outland Trophy recipient Dave Rimington of Nebraska headed a list of 12 players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Also selected by members of the National Football Foundation on its 50th anniversary were Ray Beck of Georgia Tech, Randy Duncan of Iowa, Dave Elmendorf of Texas A&M;, Charlie Flowers of Mississippi, Ricky Hunley of Arizona, Alex Kroll of Rutgers, Ken MacAfee of Notre Dame, Bob Reifsnyder of Navy, Dave Robinson of Penn State and Danny White of Arizona State.

Names in the News

Alberto Tomba of Italy put aside the problems that have resulted in a subpar ski season with a victory in a World Cup slalom at Schladming, Austria. . . . Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, 50, said he won’t be racing this year but hasn’t decided yet about retirement. . . . Former world cross-country champion and two-time Olympic runner Craig Virgin remained hospitalized with injuries suffered in a head-on car crash in East St. Louis, Ill. Virgin suffered a broken nose, a broken finger, forehead cuts and possible internal injuries.