Girardi, Randolph asked to serve as All-Star coaches

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NEW YORK -- Managers Joe Girardi of the Yankees and Willie Randolph of the Mets have been asked to serve as coaches for the All-Star game in New York.

Yankee Stadium will host the game July 15 in its final season.

Boston manager Terry Francona will guide the AL team and Colorado manager Clint Hurdle will lead the NL side.

Francona invited Girardi and Detroit manager Jim Leyland to be AL coaches. Hurdle asked Randolph and San Diego manager Bud Black to be on his staff.

• HOCKEY -- The Carolina Hurricanes know their coach will be back next season. They're still waiting to find out whether two of their aging defensemen will join him.

General manager Jim Rutherford said Friday that the team would retain coach Peter Laviolette, who in 2006 led the Hurricanes to their only Stanley Cup. Rutherford, however, was unaware of any final decisions from defensemen Bret Hedican and Glen Wesley about their plans for 2008-09.

Speculation swirled for the past month about Laviolette's future after Carolina missed the playoffs in both seasons after its championship run.

• BASKETBALL -- Dennis Rodman was charged with domestic violence for allegedly hitting his girlfriend at a hotel last month.

Los Angeles City Attorney spokesman Nick Velasquez said Rodman was charged Wednesday with spousal battery, brandishing a deadly weapon, and one count of dissuading a witness. The charges were misdemeanors.

The 46-year-old was arrested at a hotel April 30 after Gina Peterson called hotel security. Police say she suffered injuries to her arm.

• COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- Forward Alex Stepheson is transferring from North Carolina because he wants to be closer to his family in California.

"My family is dealing with some health challenges at this time, and as a result I have made the decision to transfer to be closer to home," Stepheson said in a statement issued Friday by the school.

Stepheson, a Los Angeles native, was the backup to Deon Thompson at power forward. He averaged 3.16 points and 3.36 rebounds in two seasons in Chapel Hill, and as a sophomore this season was a key role player on a North Carolina team that won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, reached No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll issued before the NCAA tournament and reached the Final Four.