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Brent Bilodeau, an assistant for one of the top franchises in the East Coast Hockey League, is the new coach of the Wichita Thunder, according to two sources close to the hiring.

Bilodeau, the assistant coach and assistant general manager for the Las Vegas Wranglers the past three seasons, is expected to be introduced at a news conference on Thursday.

Bilodeau would not confirm that he has been hired but said, "I think there's a press conference on Thursday. That would probably be my best answer right now."

Thunder general manager Joel Lomurno declined comment.

In Bilodeau's time in Las Vegas, all of it spent under coach Glen Gulutzan, the Wranglers have gone 146-38-32 (.750).

A judge ruled Monday against Kansas basketball guard Sherron Collins in a civil lawsuit over an alleged sexual assault of a woman that took place in an elevator more than a year ago.

Douglas County District Judge Jack Murphy ruled in favor of the woman, granting her a judgment in excess of $75,000. An exact amount will be set at a July 8 hearing.

Jim Wisler, the woman's attorney, asked the judge to rule for his client because Collins had not filed a legal response to the lawsuit that was first filed May 14.

The Eagle does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes.

Although criminal charges have not been filed, the door is still open for criminal action on the incident. Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson has requested further investigation by the KU police, which took the initial report the day after the incident.

Note: "Summer in Season" is a weekly series focusing on a variety of Wichita-area sports, events and individuals.

When Mike Winn finishes his all-night shift at the post office at 7 a.m., he's in desperate need of sleep.

But through eight weeks of the summer, sleep has to wait.

That's because Winn, 52, volunteers at Goose Doughty's free tennis camp at McAdams Park. Five days a week, from 9 a.m. to noon, Winn's on the blue and green tennis courts.

He's out there with Doughty, 74, and one or two other volunteers, hitting balls to youths ranging in age from 6 to 14.

Wichita State men's basketball is no longer short on bodies or big bodies.

Power forward Gabe Blair, a transfer from East Carolina, committed to WSU late last week. He will sit out the 2008-09 season and have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

"After talking with Coach (Gregg) Marshall, I felt something special is about to happen there," Blair said. "I felt like I could be a big part of it."

Blair fills WSU's 13th and final scholarship. Last season, WSU had 10 eligible scholarship players and injuries sometimes made it difficult to find enough healthy players for a scrimmage.

Blair (6-8, 217 pounds) said he also considered Winthrop, Virginia Tech, Nebraska and Purdue. He committed to WSU late last week after visiting earlier this month.

Mario Chalmers finally made official Sunday what just about everyone knew would happen six weeks ago when the Kansas junior guard declared for the NBA draft.

"I'm staying in," Chalmers said Sunday.

Or as KU coach Bill Self said, "If they declare, you're pretty sure they're going to stay gone."

Nonetheless, Chalmers dragged out the process to almost the last minute. Today is the deadline for underclassmen that haven't hired an agent to pull their name out of draft and retain their college eligibility.

Chalmers now officially becomes the third player off KU's national championship team who has left early for the draft, joining junior Brandon Rush and sophomore Darrell Arthur.

The Wingnuts and St. Paul narrowly avoided more on-field drama and the Saints easily avoided a three-game sweep at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, beating Wichita 12-4 on Sunday afternoon.

A play at home plate riled up the Saints, but it didn't come close to escalating to the level of Saturday, when Wichita closer Byron Embry threw behind Kevin Sullivan, starting a brawl that saw eight players ejected and resulted in seven suspensions.

Wichita had mostly done its job in winning the first two games of the series, pulling to within a half game of the Saints, who are tied with Sioux Falls for first place in the American Association North Division. The season's first half concludes June 28.

With a chance to rise in the standings, the Wingnuts were done in by a poor starting pitching performance by Ronnie Ball and a relief corps that wasn't much better.

"We really needed three (wins)," Wingnuts manager Kash Beauchamp said. "Yeah, our goal is to win series but not when you're a game-and-a-half out. We really needed that ballgame. But it's not over by any stretch of the imagination. We've got to get a sweep somewhere along the line."

The new athletic director at Kansas State has never been an athletic director, and he's inheriting the post from Tim Weiser, a native of Emporia whose understated style and fiscal responsibility made him a solid, if not perfect, fit in Manhattan.

The new athletic director is also the current vice president of institutional advancement, initially hired by K-State president Jon Wefald, who is retiring at the end of the upcoming academic year.

Plus, the new athletic director is also an admittedly passionate supporter of Wildcat athletics, which are in the midst of a transition the new athletic director likens to 1988, just after he arrived on campus, when football was a mess and basketball reached the NCAA Elite Eight.

This could be a confusing time, at least troublesome, but Bob Krause isn't concerned.

Take his animated courtside antics at Bramlage Coliseum, for instance.

Bronco batting-- Davis 0-4, Abel 1-5, Koch 1-4, Springer 2-4, Broadbent 0-5, Bradford 2-3, Loehrs 0-4, Wall 2-3, Armendariz 2-4.

Bronco pitching -- Hord 5-0, Kuroda 0-2, Hinds 1-0, Kimble 1-3.

NEW YORK -- Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang is expected to be sidelined until at least September after injuring his foot running the bases, prompting club co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner to chastise the National League for playing without a designated hitter.

An examination in New York on Monday showed Wang partially tore a tendon and sprained his right foot Sunday during the Yankees' 13-0 interleague win at Houston. He will be on crutches and wear a protective boot for a minimum of six weeks, the latest blow to the team's banged-up pitching staff.

Mariners fire GM

SEATTLE -- It was Bill Bavasi's last ditch effort, the desperation of a frustrated man trying to find a spark and save his job.

Two weeks ago, Bavasi locked the doors in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse and forced his underachieving 25-man roster to sit together and be publicly held accountable for their spiraling season.

Matt Cerione's two-out, bases-loaded single drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and three Georgia pitchers combined for six innings of shutout relief to lead the Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory over Stanford in the College World Series on Monday night.

The Bulldogs (43-23-1) took control of Bracket 1 and will wait until Friday to play the winner of Wednesday's Miami-Stanford game. A win in that game would send Georgia to the best-of-3 championship round that begins next Monday.

Stephen Dodson, Alex McRee and Joshua Fields held Stanford to a single and four other baserunners after starter Nick Montgomery left in the fourth inning. McRee (7-1) got the win after striking out two in 1 1/3 innings, and Fields earned his 17th save.

After Fields hit Toby Gerhart with a pitch and walked Austin Yount with one out, he got Colin Walsh to ground into a double play to end the first game between the teams since they met in the 1992 CWS.

Stanford (40-23-2) got a solid start from Jeffrey Inman, who gave up two runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

El Dorado 15, Dodge City 6

Hays 5, Liberal 4

Derby 2, Nevada 1

Monday's Result

With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, David DeJesus was looking for a fastball from Micah Owings.

He delivered one. DeJesus hit it into Chase Field's pool area for his first career grand slam, lifting the Kansas City Royals to an 8-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. DeJesus also doubled and singled and had a career-high five RBIs.

"He threw a changeup down for the first pitch, and then I was just ready if I saw a fastball," said DeJesus, who hit his seventh homer and his second in as many days. "And I was able to get a good swing on it and it went out."

DeJesus raised his average to .304 as the Royals, last in the AL Central, took two of three from the NL West-leading Diamondbacks. Kansas City had 31 hits in winning the last two games by a combined score of 20-6.

"It's a big deal for us right now with what we've been through this season, some of the ups and the downs," Kansas City manager Trey Hillman said. "Hopefully, this is the start of a long upswing for us."

Tigers 5, Dodgers 4 -- Nate Robertson pitched six shutout innings, Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge hit back-to-back homers and Detroit won its sixth straight.

• Robertson (5-6) allowed four hits and walked none, winning for the fourth time in five starts. Carlos Guillen had three hits and an RBI for Detroit, which finished with 14 hits.

Indians 7, Padres 3 -- Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia outpitched Greg Maddux in a matchup of Cy Young winners.

• Ben Francisco hit a three-run homer and Grady Sizemore a solo shot, his ninth homer in 16 games, as Cleveland took two of three in the interleague series.

Yankees 13, Astros 0 -- Chien-Ming Wang pitched five scoreless innings before spraining his right foot running the bases, and Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in New York's rout of Houston.

Sioux Falls pitchers silenced the Wingnuts for 13 consecutive innings in a 2-0 and 10-2 sweep on Tuesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Canaries (23-13) took a 1 ½-game lead over St. Paul in the American Association's North Division. Wichita (20-17), which got its lone runs in the seventh inning of the nightcap, fell 3 ½ games behind the Canaries.

Ryan Ford and Kris Regas combined on a four-hitter in the opener. Wichita loaded the bases twice against Ford, but he worked out of the jams by striking out three Wingnuts batters.

In the second game, Sioux Falls outfielder Beau Torbert homered twice and drove in four runs to provide plenty of support for Canaries starter Ben Moore, who outdueled Wichita's Leonard Landeros.

David Gates and Brenan Herrera drove in the Wingnuts' runs.

City Match Play

At Tallgrass C.C.

Championship flight

First round--Katy Nugent def. Helen Joyce 6 and 5; Cheryl Flamini def. Lisa Eaglin 9 and 7; Jaci Henderson def. Barbara Ford-Buell 5 and 4; Denise Desilet def. Nancy Knopp 2 and 1; Barbara Taber def. Judy Morris 5 and 3; Paula Routon def. Sherrie Wynkoop 5 and 3; Alex Beury def. Vicky Hiebsch 7 and 5.

Quarterfinals--Nugent def. Flamini 5 and 4; Henderson def. Slater 6 and 5; Desilet def. Taber 7 and 5; Beury def. Routon 7 and 5.

Defending champion Denise Desilet won two matches Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the Women's Golf Association of Wichita city championship at Tallgrass Country Club.

Desilet outlasted Nancy Knopp 2 and 1 in the conclusion of Monday's suspended first-round match, then topped Barbara Taber 7 and 5 in the quarterfinals of the championship flight. Desilet, a Reflection Ridge member, advanced along with Wichita Country Club member Alex Beury, recent Andover High graduate Katy Nugent and Jaci Henderson.

Nugent will play Henderson in today's first semifinal at 8 a.m., followed by Desilet and Beury. Desilet edged Beury in a 20-hole semifinal last year en route to her second city title at Wichita Country Club.

Beury earned a rematch with Desilet with a 7-and-5 victory over five-time champion Paula Routon.

Semifinal matches in three other flights will also be played today.

Alan Ahmady hit the go-ahead single in the fifth inning, five Fresno State pitchers combined to hold North Carolina scoreless for all but one inning and the upstart Bulldogs continued to surprise Tuesday night with a 5-3 victory in the College World Series.

The Bulldogs (44-29), the first No. 4 regional seed to reach the CWS, have won two straight in Omaha to take control of Bracket 2. They need one more win to reach the best-of-3 championship round that starts next Monday.

North Carolina (52-13), the No. 2 national seed, will meet LSU in an elimination game Thursday, with the winner facing Fresno on Friday. If the Bulldogs lose, they'll play the same opponent Saturday in an elimination game.

The Bulldogs, who opened the CWS with a 17-5 win over Rice, knocked out Tar Heels starter Adam Warren (9-2) in the fifth after opening the inning with three straight singles. Brian Moran came on and gave up Ahmady's two-run single that gave Fresno State a 4-3 lead.

Ryan Overland homered leading off the second inning, marking the first time North Carolina had trailed in a game since the fifth inning of its regional opener against UNC Wilmington.

Wichita State players Rob Musgrave, Conor Gillaspie and Andy Dirks were named third-team All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

• The Baltimore Orioles will hold a tryout camp for players 16-23 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at El Dorado's McDonald Stadium. American Legion players must have written permission to participate.

MOTORSPORTS

A Muskogee, Okla., man who was struck by a pickup truck outside an NHRA race in Kansas has died of his injuries, his wife said.

James C. "J.J." Jenkins, 52, suffered a major brain stem stroke Saturday and died at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., according to his wife, Joy Jenkins.

Derby

Men--Kurt Warren 278, 712. Women--Nikki Botkin 257, 660. Senior men--Herman Owens 209, Mel Aikman 520. Senior women--Sachiko Rogers 184, 487. Boys--Blaine Frazier 268, 641. Girls--Lindsay Wise 193, 501.

Northrock

Men--Jim Crawley and Chris Upton 300, Robert McGlothlin 783. Women--Katie Verbil 289, Teresa Northrop 700.

Rose Bowl

David Anthony has been around bowling long enough to know when a new start is needed.

Fading in his last four qualifying games of the first day in the PBA Southwest Region Budweiser Wichita Open at Thunderbird Bowl, Anthony was stuck in 25th position.

Needing to move into the top 16 to advance to match play, Anthony entered Sunday morning's five-game qualifying with a new mindset.

"Knowing coming into today we were bowling fresh again, I kept that in mind," Anthony said. "But I used a different bowling ball this time. I just stayed steady and shot one really good game and worked my way up."

All the way up to the 10th seed for the single elimination match play bracket. From there Anthony's smooth right-handed release wasn't to be denied, almost cruising to the final against David Ruder.

What made the cover

• "Jamie Lynn's baby joy turns to tears... wedding is off!" (Star)

• "Oprah packs on 50 lbs. after Obama says 'we're through!' " (National Examiner)

How very eloquent

• "Jen (Aniston) asks John (Mayer): Be my baby-daddy, OK?" (National Enquirer)

Random movie things bouncing around in my noggin: • What's with the MPAA's use of the term "graphic nudity" in ratings advisories? Isn't just nudity, by nature, graphic?

• I thought the title of M. Night Shyamalan's new flick "The Happening" at first sounded too bland, and not nearly strong enough to carry a movie with an apocalyptic plot. Well, I was wrong. The title is perfect, because the whole movie is bland, and despite a great beginning, never gets exciting. We couldn't care less if a character lies down in front of a tractor and gets chopped to pieces. I was actually rooting for the tractor.

"There are forces at work beyond our understanding," Mark Wahlberg says, while looking like he's trying not to laugh. So were we.

• Don't get me wrong, I love some movies based on comic books, but the superhero slate this summer is a bit crowded, with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Batman and Hellboy elbowing each other for the spotlight. The world can be saved only so many times.

• Speaking of superheroes, is it just me or does the new "Hulk" kind of look like a green WuShock?

Look for these new titles in video stores and rental shops beginning today.

Fool's Gold (PG-13) ' ½ (1 hr 55 min) _ A new clue to the whereabouts of a lost treasure rekindles a married couple's sense of adventure _ and their estranged romance. Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson star.

Be Kind Rewind (PG-13) ' ½ (1 hr 50 min) _ A man (Jack Black) whose brain becomes magnetized unintentionally destroys every tape in his friend's video store. The two men set out to remake the lost films, which include "Back to the Future," "The Lion King" and "Robocop."

Under the Same Moon (PG-13) (2 hrs) _ Film festival favorite about a boy living in Mexico who goes against great odds to cross the U.S. border and reunite with his mother.

TV shows

Cue the fist bump. Prepare the post-Camelot pearls and sleeveless dress. Michelle Obama is ready for her close-up.

The wife of the Democratic presidential candidate will be a guest host on "The View" on Wednesday, a chore her GOP counterpart, Cindy McCain, tackled in April.

Obama is a natural for television. Her on-air style has a relaxed confidence. Her candor keeps things interesting.

But that's a basic requirement for any future White House resident, isn't it? Obama's stint on "The View" is another example of how blurred the boundaries have become between entertainment and politics in current presidential campaigning.

Under the old rules, candidates had to be willing to sit down with the likes of Leno or Letterman in order to seem like good sports and reach a wider audience.

Deborah Voigt is back, in black.

The American soprano returned to London's Royal Opera House stage Monday, four years after the company fired her for being too big for the little black dress chosen for the title character in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos." The decision sparked a fierce debate about weight discrimination in opera.

Now a slimmer Voigt is back in the same opera, the same role -- and wearing "that" dress.

"When I got the call from my manager, I have to admit my first reaction was to laugh, because we had come full circle," Voigt told the Associated Press in an interview before opening night. "When that happened, I didn't anticipate ever coming back, because I didn't think they would invite me."

Voigt, one of the world's leading opera singers, had been scheduled to play the lead in the Royal Opera's summer 2004 production of "Ariadne." But the casting director decided the titular Greek goddess should wear a black evening dress and thought Voigt would not look right in it.

It's taken five years and a couple of "Shreks" for Mike Myers to take on a new role.

Forget the green ogre. "The Love Guru" is here (it opens in theaters on Friday). In it, Myers plays Guru Pitka, an American-born, India-raised, spiritual self-promoter who tries to motivate the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.

Crude and crazy as it gets, "The Love Guru" addresses many things the 45-year-old writer-producer-star holds near and dear. Such as:

"Love Guru" might be one of the silliest movies ever made. Yet it seems somewhat committed to its spiritual message.

My favorite delivery system of ideas is silliness. A movie that I would aspire to, that in my opinion is the ultimate comedy, is "Dr. Strangelove." That's a farcical, silly movie that talks about Mutual Assured Destruction. Of course, the genius of Terry Southern, Stanley Kubrick and Peter Sellers -- I think that's a once-in-every-five-generations offering. But one's reach must go farther than one's grasp, as they say.

TUE. Celebrity & Chef Cook-Off, 6 p.m. Tue., Grand Ballroom, Wichita Marriott, 9100 Corporate Hills Drive. Benefits the Orpheum. Tickets $60, available by calling 316-263-0884.

Steve Hatfield Band and Wichita R&B Quartet, 8 p.m. Tue., B-Side Gallery, 817 W. Douglas. Donation. Information, Craig Owens, 316-304-8704, or David Lord, 316-619-1663.

WED. Senior Wednesday, "Home on the Range: Kansas Folklore" program, refreshments, open galleries, 10-11:30 a.m. Wed., Ulrich Museum of Art, WSU. Free. Information, 316-978-3664.

"Jazz Casual: Sonny Rollins Quartet with Jim Hall, Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Bob Brookmeyer," Wichita Creative Music Society's summer film series, 7:30 p.m. Wed., B-Side Gallery, 817 W. Douglas. Free. Information, Craig Owens, 316-304-8704, or David Lord, 316-619-1663.

THU. Wu Barbershop Quartet, Art for Your Ears concert, 5:30-7 p.m. Thu., Ulrich Museum of Art, WSU. Free. Information, 316-978-3664.

Bloomsday Celebration, readings from James Joyce's "Ulysses," music by the Shamrockers, Irish dancing, James Joyce look-alike contest, 7-10 p.m. today, Artichoke Sandwich Bar, 811 N. Broadway. Presented by the Wichita Irish Cultural Association. Free admission. Information, 316-263-9164.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

Common Threads 2008 Quilt Show, more than 800 quilts, demonstrations, vendors, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun., Century II Expo Hall. Tickets $10, weekend pass $15, available at www.wichitatix.com. No children under 6 or strollers allowed. Presented by Prairie Quilt Guild. Information, 316-264-9121.

SATURDAY

Evening on the Bayou, Cajun food, music by Rain, live and silent auctions, entertainment on "Bourbon Street," 6:30 p.m. Sat., Old Town Farm & Art Market Plaza, 835 E. First St. A benefit for Communities in Schools. Tickets $100, available by calling 316-973-5110, online at www.ciswichita.org.