Sports News

NEW YORK - Seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars — one for every position — and that still wasn't the worst of it for the long-awaited Mitchell Report. That infamy belonged to Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his era. The Steroids Era.

1. Kirk Radomski and Brian McNamee must be in a lot of trouble with the feds. 2. Sen. George Mitchell placed an inordinate amount of faith in the claims and reliability of Radomski and McNamee. 3. Baseball faces a big problem with the move toward obtaining HGH from "rejuvenation clinics.'' Mitchell acknowledged blood testing for HGH is unreliable at this time. 4. The Boston Red Sox are thorough in their research on potential player acquisitions. 5. MLB must do a better job of screening people employed in support jobs such as clubhouse attendants and must also tighten clubhouse access. ...

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds and his supporters often pointed to the fact that the home run king never flunked a drug test administered by Major League Baseball.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dozens of baseball stars from Barry Bonds to Roger Clemens were named on Thursday in the long-awaited Mitchell Report on steroids use, which U.S. Major League Baseball hopes will help clean its tarnished image.

Here's a list of Major League Baseball players listed in the Mitchell Report.

HOUSTON - Mike Shanahan likes to see the Houston Texans win.

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed practice again Thursday because of a sore right shoulder, with Charlie Batch running the starting offense in his place.

RICHMOND, Va. - Michael Vick declared "I am not the bad person or beast I've been made out to be" and asked for leniency in a letter to the federal judge who sentenced him to 23 months in prison for a dogfighting conspiracy.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The NFL will hear the appeal by the players' union on behalf of suspended Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones by telephone on Friday afternoon.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Atlanta Falcons assistant Emmitt Thomas was promoted Wednesday to interim head coach for the final three games of the regular season. He replaces Bobby Petrino, who resigned to become coach at Arkansas.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford has been given a one-match suspension after striking a player on the head, the NBA said on Thursday.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson signed a two-year contract extension Wednesday believed to be worth about $24 million, keeping him on the bench through the 2009-10 season.

PHOENIX - Playing half the game with a chipped front tooth, Steve Nash had 29 points and 11 assists, and the Phoenix Suns defeated Utah 103-98 on Wednesday night.

The Houston Rockets had a terrible time at the free-throw line. Good thing for them, the Detroit Pistons seemed to miss from everywhere else.

MILWAUKEE - Michael Redd had 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help the Milwaukee Bucks snap a four-game losing streak with a 100-86 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.

LONDON (AFP) - Fabio Capello was Thursday given a green light to begin plotting England's renaissance in international football after the Football Association (FA) agreed in principle to his appointment.

PARIS (AFP) - Lyon striker Karim Benzema insisted Thursday he will only be tempted by a big-money move to another major club once the French champions finally conquer Europe.

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AFP) - Italian powerhouses AC Milan lived up to their pre-tournament promise by beating Urawa Red Diamonds 1-0 to reach the final against Boca Juniors in the Club World Cup on Thursday.

PARIS (AFP) - Outspoken France coach Raymond Domenech on Thursday hit out at the decision to approve Italian Fabio Capello as the new England manager.

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - Bayern Munich captain Oliver Kahn was lucky to escape with a 25,000-euros (37,500-US dollars) fine and one-match suspension for his behaviour last weekend, according to former German international Guenter Netzer.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Flyers signed scoring leader Mike Richards to a 12-year contract extension Thursday

RALEIGH, N.C. - Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 6-0 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.

Ray Emery lived up to the No. 1 on his back. He made the start in goal for the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night and left after one shot against, one save, one injury, and yes — even one win.

PITTSBURGH - Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, unbeaten the last three weeks, has a badly sprained ankle that will keep him out of the Pittsburgh Penguins' lineup for up to two months.

CHICAGO - Martin Havlat scored twice, and Patrick Sharp and rookie Jonathan Toews each had a goal and two assists to help the Chicago Blackhawks end a season-high, four-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.

HOUSTON - Oklahoma assistant coach Kevin Sumlin will be hired by as Houston's football coach, a newspaper reported Thursday.

NEW YORK - Danny Woodhead ran for more yards than any player in the history of college football and was selected to The Associated Press Little All-America teams each season he played at Chadron State.

CINCINNATI - The ball was loose on the floor, and all 10 players went after it. The referees eventually untangled the pile of bodies and assessed two technical fouls for jawing and shoving. Vintage crosstown rivalry.

CINCINNATI - The ball was loose on the floor, and all 10 players went after it. The referees eventually untangled the pile of bodies and assessed two technical fouls for jawing and shoving.

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Shan Foster and A.J. Ogilvy came through after struggling most of the night, and No. 20 Vanderbilt rallied for a 91-85 overtime win over DePaul on Wednesday night to remain undefeated.

MELBOURNE (AFP) - The strongest field in the Australian Open's 103-year history was revealed Wednesday, with every one of the world's top 100 men taking part and 99 of the top 100 women competing in January's tournament.

PORTLAND, Oregon (AFP) - The United States have reasserted their Davis Cup dominance, earning their 32nd title with a 4-1 triumph over Russia in the 2007 World Group final.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Former World No. 4 Jelena Dokic says she is aiming to return to the top 50 next year and believes her climb back can begin with Australian Open qualification, a newspaper reported Sunday.

PORTLAND, Oregon (AFP) - The United States clinched their first Davis Cup title in 12 years on Saturday as a doubles win for Bob and Mike Bryan gave them an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Russia in the best-of-five match final.

PORTLAND, Oregon (AFP) - The Davis Cup nations tennis tournament is a venerable tradition, begun in 1900 as a means of fostering international understanding through sport.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Tiger Woods went 10 weeks and four days without hitting a golf shot that mattered, and it hardly showed Thursday in the Target World Challenge when he struck just about everything where he was aiming.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Tiger Woods said Wednesday that drug testing on the PGA Tour will start July 8, and he is about halfway through the tour's anti-doping manual sent to players earlier this month.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - No one came close to matching Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour, which is becoming as predictable as Woods being voted the PGA Tour player of the year.

PERTH, Australia - South Koreans Jee Young Lee, Seon Hwa Lee and In-Kyung Kim won early matches Sunday to give Asia an insurmountable lead en route to its second straight Lexus Cup title, a 15-9 victory over the International team.

DUBLIN, Ireland - The wife of golfer Tiger Woods won $183,250 and an apology Friday from an Irish magazine that published an abusive article and a faked nude photo of her.

LAS VEGAS - Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't need to dance to beat Ricky Hatton. His fists proved a lot more potent than his feet.

LAS VEGAS - Round-by-round action in Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s WBC welterweight title fight with England's Ricky Hatton:

NEW YORK - The fractured state of the heavyweight division has long been the scapegoat for the declining popularity of boxing.

LEDYARD, Conn. - Antonio Tarver stopped Danny Santiago in the fourth round Saturday night to retain his IBO light heavyweight title.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Ivan Calderon of Puerto Rico successfully defended his WBO junior flyweight title, unanimously outpointing Mexico's Juan Esquer on Saturday night.

MADRID, Spain - Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso is heading back to Renault. The 26-year-old Spaniard announced his return to the French team Monday after a turbulent season at McLaren.

MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Renault was not penalized Thursday, despite being found guilty of having confidential information about Formula One rival McLaren.

NEW YORK - The only time the smile has left Jimmie Johnson's face this week is when somebody mentioned his upcoming appearance on stage Friday night at NASCAR's annual awards ceremony.

NEW YORK - Roger Clemens turned out to be Exhibit A in the long-awaited Mitchell Report, an All-Star roster linked to steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs that put a question mark — if not an asterisk — next to some of baseball's biggest moments.

NEW YORK - Alex Rodriguez set another record for baseball's highest contract, finalizing his $275 million, 10-year agreement with the New York Yankees on Thursday.

Here's a list of Major League Baseball players listed in the Mitchell Report.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alex Rodriguez has signed a record 10-year deal with the New York Yankees worth $275 million, the team said on Thursday.

RICHMOND, Va. - Michael Vick declared "I am not the bad person or beast I've been made out to be" and asked for leniency in a letter to the federal judge who sentenced him to 23 months in prison for a dogfighting conspiracy.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The IOC formally stripped Marion Jones of her five Olympic medals Wednesday, wiping her name from the record books following her admission that she was a drug cheat.

BEIJING - Chinese traditional medicines do not contain banned substances, a Beijing Olympics medical official said Tuesday. However, as a precaution they will not be used to treat d athletes during the games.

GENEVA - China continues to evict 13,000 people each month in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, despite worldwide attention and increased scrutiny, a housing rights group said Wednesday.

CHICAGO - The Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday issued a series of recommendations for reforming the police department as he reiterated his threat to lobby against the city's Olympic bid if the mayor doesn't respond soon.

HAMBURG, Germany (AFP) - The German Olympic Committee (DOSB) unanimously agreed to support Munich's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, it was announced here on Saturday.