Fast Break

Baseball

Fans mixed about Bonds

Only about four in 10 baseball fans are rooting for Barry Bonds to break the career home run record and most think he knowingly took steroids, according to a poll showing stark racial divisions in how the San Francisco Giants’ slugger is viewed.

Still, most fans think Bonds should end up in the Hall of Fame. He has 10 homers this season and 744 lifetime – 11 shy of Hank Aaron’s record, one of the most revered in sports.

In the poll by ABC News and ESPN, 37 percent said they are rooting for Bonds to break Aaron’s record, while 52 percent said they hope he falls short and 11 percent had no opinion. Twenty-eight percent of whites and nearly 75 percent of blacks said they were hoping Bonds succeeds.

Basketball

Hoopfest has volunteer fever

Fixing nets and backboards at area schools and parks and recruiting court monitors is high on the to-do list at the Hoopfest office this week.

Official registration for the popular 3-on-3 street tournament closed Monday, but teams can still register on a space-available basis until May 21. The tournament is June 30-July 1.

Saturday, Hoopfest volunteers will be participating in the annual Net Day, an effort by the Hoopfest organization to canvass the city replacing nets on basketball hoops at parks and schools throughout Spokane.

Volunteers interested in helping with Net Day or becoming a court monitor for Hoopfest should call the Hoopfest office at 624-2414.

College athletics

Idaho’s Spear gets extension

University of Idaho athletic director Rob Spear has agreed to a five-year contract extension.

Spear said he has agreed in principle on an extension, but terms haven’t been finalized. He currently makes $146,000 annually, according to state records.

“That’s still to be discussed and decided,” Spear said of the financial figures, “but the most important thing for me is to have the time to continue to improve these programs.”

Spear’s contract extension is subject to approval of the state Board of Education. It wasn’t immediately known when the contract would be presented to the board, but it could be on the agenda in mid-June.

Attempts to contact UI president Tim White by telephone and e-mail were unsuccessful.

Spear was promoted from interim to full-time A.D. in 2004. He had roughly 15 months remaining on his existing contract.

Idaho recently announced ambitious plans for facilities upgrades. “We’re making progress (regarding fundraising),” Spear said, “but we don’t want to report anything until we’re well on our way.”