BRIEFLY : ROSE BOWL LANDS MLS TITLE GAME.

Major League Soccer on Friday awarded its 1998 championship game to the Rose Bowl, where a league-high 900,000 fans have watched the Galaxy at home the last two years.

Pasadena will be the first West Coast site for the game, which was held at Foxboro, Mass., last year and will be contested Sunday at RFK Stadium in Washington.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Brian Ellerbe, the assistant coach who had been running Michigan basketball practices after Steve Fisher was fired, was chosen interim head coach. Fisher was fired Oct. 10 after a Kansas law firm released a report saying the basketball program was guilty of three NCAA violations the university called ``minor.''

TENNIS: Third-ranked Patrick Rafter, the U.S. Open champion, battled for more than two hours before beating Todd Martin and reaching the semifinals of the Eurocard Open at Stuttgart, Germany. Rafter, the highest-ranked player left in the tournament, rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 victory over Martin.

Top-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 and advanced to the semifinals of the Seat Open tournament in Luxembourg.

NHL: The Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of a sale that will keep the NHL team in the Alberta capital, principals of the deal said. Oilers owner Peter Pocklington and prospective owner Leslie Alexander (who also owns the NBA's Houston Rockets) said in a joint statement that they hoped to finalize the agreement over the weekend.

Restricted free agent Bill Guerin will train with the U.S. National Program while he waits for New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello to honor his demand to be traded, Guerin's agent said.

Phoenix Coyotes left wing Darrin Shannon will be out four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his hand during Thursday night's 3-3 tie with the Washington Capitals, the team said.

NBA: In Harrisonburg, Va., former NBA referee George Toliver was fined more than $30,000 but got no jail time for filing a false federal income tax return in an airline ticket scam.

NBA referees Jess Kersey, Henry Clinger Armstrong and Mike Mathis also were indicted earlier this year on charges of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service. IRS investigators allege the referees downgraded first-class airline tickets supplied by the league to cheaper fares, then pocketed the difference without reporting the gain as income.

Detroit Pistons forward Grant Hill will miss the rest of the exhibition season after undergoing minor toe surgery. Hill had the nail on the big toe of his right foot removed so that a new nail could grow.

BOXING: Heavyweight boxer Andrew Golota was fined $5,000 for secretly using a painkiller 1-1/2 hours before an Oct. 4 fight against Lennox Lewis, New Jersey boxing commissioner Larry Hazzard said.

GOLF: Six area players survived the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying school at Cyrstalaire Country Club, where former Cal State Northridge star Pat Boyd, reigning State Open champion Jason Gore of Valencia and Camarillo's Chris Zambri all shot 8-under-par 280. John Johnson of Ventura (281) and Brad Gallagher of Valencia (282) and Chad Wright of Ventura also advanced in the four-round event.