Ray Tellier

Ray Tellier, the coach at Rochester, today was named football coach at Columbia, which has the worst record in the country over the last 25 years. Tellier was chosen over four other finalists to succeed Larry McElreavy, who quit after the season amid allegations of professional misconduct, which he denies.

The officiating crew that ruled Washington State quarterback Matt Kegel threw a backward pass on the final play of the Cougars' triple-overtime upset loss against Washington on Saturday made the correct call, Pacific 10 Conference Commissioner Tom Hansen said Tuesday. Verle Sorgen, the conference's coordinator of officials, reviewed replays of the controversial call taped by Fox Sports Net and Washington State.

Marcellus Wiley, on the phone from New York, tells a funny story about something that happened to Columbia University's football players, a week or so ago. A guy from a national all-sports TV network was supposed to come and do a feature on Columbia, because the team had won its first six games and sat atop the Ivy League standings. This sounded fine to everybody, including Wiley, a senior and NFL prospect from South-Central L.A.

Marcellus Wiley took something from everybody. From Dominique Walker, a big kid on the block in Compton, Wiley learned about football. Walker played football on the hot, hard concrete streets of Compton and so Wiley played too. From the television sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," where a white father and his daughter brought two African American boys into a Park Avenue mansion, Wiley got the idea that someday he would have a home with two stories, a home where he could have a staircase too.

Chad Curtis, an outfielder who has averaged 32 stolen bases in five seasons, agreed Wednesday to an $850,000, one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians. With incentives and a club option for the 1998 season, Curtis could make as much as $3.45 million for two years. Curtis played 104 games for the Detroit Tigers last season before he was traded to the Dodgers. He hit a combined .

No. 11-ranked Syracuse, committing three turnovers and having a punt blocked on its first four possessions, barely defeated Army, 10-7, Saturday at Syracuse, N.Y. A 23-yard touchdown run by Michael Owens in the third quarter enabled the Orangemen to win their 16th straight in the Carrier Dome, where Syracuse celebrated its football centennial in front of 48,331. Syracuse (2-0) drove 71 yards for the winning touchdown, with Owens accounting for 48 of the yards in four carries.

Matt Linit kicked a 35-yard field goal with 2:13 left to lead Columbia to a 13-10 victory over Yale in an Ivy League game Saturday at New Haven, Conn. The Lions, 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League, matched the best start in school history. Yale fell to 2-4 and 1-1. "Two thirds of our team--our kicking game and our defense--were outstanding," said Columbia Coach Ray Tellier. "And Marcellus [Wiley] made as many outstanding plays as I've ever seen on our level."