BRIEFLY : SIMON SUSPENDED FOR 3 GAMES BY NHL.

Chris Simon's racial slur will cost the Washington Capitals' forward $36,585 in salary after he was suspended for three games by the NHL on Tuesday.

Simon directed the remark at Mike Grier of the Edmonton Oilers, one of six African-American players in the league, at the end of Saturday night's game. He apologized to Grier for the episode Monday night and again Tuesday following a hearing with NHL vice president Brian Burke.

The NHL will disclose a new five-year television contract today with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and John Labatt Ltd. The contract's value is $266.8 million U.S., according to a Molson spokesman.

NBA: The NBA, after talking to other networks, renewed its contract with NBC and Turner for $2.64 billion over four years, more than double the value of the current deal.

In Philadelphia, two bystanders were killed after a disagreement about who was the better point guard, Allen Iverson of the 76ers or Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics. Words turned to gunfire Sunday after the game between the two teams.

Derrick Washington, 21, and his cousin, Jameka Wright, 22, were killed in the crossfire in the Southwark Plaza public housing development. Police were looking for the triggerman, who fled with a group of men.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: A limited number of tickets to the Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day will be available to Pasadena residents and the general public briefly next month. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association announced that 500 tickets will go on sale to Pasadena residents at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium box office on Dec. 6. Two days later, 1,000 tickets will go on sale nationwide by telephone through TicketMaster.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Charles Jones, the nation's leading scorer for Long Island University last season, was suspended by the school for the team's first two games for violating an NCAA rule. Jones, a 6-foot-3 senior guard who averaged 30.1 points per game last year, played in two summer basketball leagues and violated the rule that permits players to participate in just one sanctioned league during the offseason.

NFL: San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Marvin Washington, one of the team's key backups, tore a tendon in his right ankle during Monday night's game with Philadelphia and likely will miss the rest of the season.

San Diego Chargers quarterback Stan Humphries says that he's still showing symptoms of a concussion he suffered on Nov. 2. His headaches are starting to go away, ``but I'm having a lot of problems not sleeping,'' Humphries said. He has been ordered by doctors to sit out a month of football was his symptoms clear up.