Suspensions

The NCAA lengthened the suspension of USC tailback Delon Washington from one to three games Friday, prompting a USC appeal. USC announced the added penalty on Washington, a junior from Dallas, after Friday afternoon's practice. He was suspended by the school on Aug. 20 for one game, last Sunday's season opener against Penn State at the Kickoff Classic in New Jersey.

Manager Terry Collins intends to appeal his eight-game suspension resulting from Tuesday night's brawls in Kansas City, but he isn't upset that his suspension is set to begin next Friday, the first night of a four-game series against division-leading Texas.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) pulled back Thursday from her efforts to force an investigation of the suspensions of two House Ethics Committee lawyers who worked on a pending case against her. Waters took to the House floor and instead called on the Ethics Committee to publicly disclose the circumstances surrounding the suspensions of Morgan Kim, the panel's deputy chief counsel, and Stacey Sovereign, another committee lawyer. "Upon the advice of my colleagues whom I trust and admire, I am not pushing for a vote on this resolution today," Waters said.

Fined by Major League Baseball on Thursday for throwing at Milwaukee's Prince Fielder two days earlier, Guillermo Mota said he considered the matter to be settled. Mota, who avoided a suspension, said he wouldn't file an appeal. "We're going to pay it and forget about it," he said, although he said he hadn't been told the amount of his fine. Fielder was fined $2,500, but also not suspended, for attempting to enter the Dodgers' clubhouse on Tuesday night to look for Mota.

USC junior center Kostas Charissis had his season-opening 15-game suspension reduced to three games Thursday. It came after the NCAA Division I Board of Directors sustained a motion to lessen the punishment for foreign players who had played with professionals on club teams abroad. The NCAA Management Council advised last week that affected players should be suspended from a maximum of 20% of the number of professional contests played or eight games, whichever was fewer.

Pepperdine center omm'A Givens was held out of practice by Coach Lorenzo Romar because he had yet to apologize to teammate Aaron Butler, who suffered a broken jaw when he was punched by Givens at practice last Tuesday. Givens served a two-game suspension and was expected to rejoin the team Monday. Romar said he was unsure if Givens' suspension would be extended while the university prepares a report on the incident.

Jockey Laffit Pincay may appeal a five-day suspension he was given by the Hollywood Park stewards after the disqualification of 58-1 longshot Designed For Luck in Sunday's $500,000 Early Times Hollywood Derby. Designed For Luck crossed the wire a head in front of favored Brahms, but was placed fifth for allegedly interfering with Zentsov Street, who originally finished fourth, and Walkslikeaduck, who was fifth.

As expected, Galaxy forward Carlos Ruiz was suspended Thursday and fined $1,000 by Major League Soccer for actions that led to a fractured left orbital bone suffered by Kansas City's Carey Talley in the teams' game last Saturday. Ruiz's two-game suspension begins with Saturday's match at New York/New Jersey, but Ruiz was not planning to play against the MetroStars anyway. He is playing with his native Guatemala national team in an exhibition at the Home Depot Center Sunday against Honduras.

John Daly's suspension from the PGA Tour will end March 10 when he competes in the Honda tournament at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the PGA Tour said Tuesday. The four-month suspension was imposed by Commissioner Deane Beman on Nov. 6 after Daly failed to complete pro-am play in the second round of a tournament in Hawaii.

Pat Valenzuela's checkered career took another abrupt turn Thursday when the stewards at Santa Anita suspended him indefinitely for failure to meet with them after several riding absences. Valenzuela, one of the country's top jockeys, did not ride at Santa Anita last Friday, Sunday and Monday and also canceled mounts last Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., after telling stewards he was suffering from food poisoning.