Tiger Woods in the news: tabloid revelations and blind eyes

As we wind down from TigerCrashGate -- yes, it's true, we're almost done, at least until he returns to the course -- it's worth taking a look at the way that this story spiraled from one-car hydrant-bump to worldwide scandal, one whose cost will eventually be measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here's the key question to all of this: did we need to know about Tiger Woods' secret, off-the-course life? Many argue that this is an unforgivable invasion of a family's privacy, that we're interested in Tiger Woods as a golfer, not as a family man. As long as he keeps sinking long putts on Sunday afternoons, who cares what he does later that evening?

But that just-golf-it mindset doesn't account for the fact that Woods is not "just a golfer," he's the public face of an entire corporation. What he does on his own time is not his own business, not when his actions can do financial harm to those who have invested hundreds of millions in his image. That financial impact, not the "more mistresses or more majors?" question, is the real story here.

Still, the reason why this scandal exploded the way it did is because Woods' secret dealings were allowed to continue unabated, whether intentionally or unintentionally. The more Woods got away with his misdeeds, the bolder -- and stupider -- he got. (Leaving your name on a voicemail? Sending texts from your own phone? Really, Tiger?)

Part of this is surely because of the coverage bubble that Woods enjoyed for all of his career, a bubble that was born fully formed in Gary Smith's absurdly over-the-top introduction/sanctification of Woods in a legendary 1996 Sports Illustrated article entitled "The Chosen One." The see-no-evil approach to Tiger then dominated the golf media for more than a decade, partly because everyone was so in awe of Woods, and partly because Woods would cut off any access to any media outlet daring to poke around the edges of the mystique.

Did Tiger Woods have everyone fooled? Did the golf media know about Tiger's affairs and cover them up? Did everyone just happen to look the other way at the proper time? Those are questions that each media member will have to answer for him- or herself, but here's one huge clue: there are several golf media members who have not written a single word about this, the biggest story to hit golf in decades. Why? Well, you'd have to ask them, but it's a fair bet that they're setting themselves up as good guys when Tiger eventually does return. ("See, Tiger? All those other guys piled on, but I didn't! I'm still your pal!") On the flip side, credit longtime golf writers like Steve Elling who actually did call out Woods, knowing full well that they'll find that next one-on-one interview that much tougher -- if not impossible -- to secure.

Many in the golf media got completely outplayed on this story because of their insistence that it was no golf story at all, it was nothing but celebrity garbage, tawdry trash-digging that was beneath them. And again, if it was nothing but the personal affairs of a private family, that would be true. But Tiger's absence from the Tour is going to cost people and corporations hundreds of millions of dollars and fundamentally alter the game of golf for the short term -- so, yeah, that very much is a golf story.

Journalists who complain that the tabloids were setting the agenda in this story should have been practicing a little shoe-leather journalism themselves. After the initial revelation on the day before Thanksgiving that Rachel Uchitel was somehow involved with Woods, it was a blogger who trumped the mainstream media and first contacted her. In the absence of comments from Team Tiger, the tabloids filled in the gaps, and despite their "bat boy/UFO abduction" rep, were on the whole more accurate than not. (Tiger's admission of "infidelities" plural is a testament to that.)

There were some notable missteps on the tabloids' part. The RadarOnline.com story about Elin Woods moving out proved to be completely groundless, even though many outlets picked it up and ran with it. (We decided not to here because of the flimsiness of the sources.) More significantly, the Life & Style story about two professional golfers calling out Woods turned out to be an utter falsehood; we had decided to mention it here because there was on-the-record attribution, not "unnamed sources." Surely, we figured, no magazine would be foolish enough to print actual names without verifying. Wrong. Lesson learned -- and that's an aspect of this story that deserves further scrutiny.

This is not to defend the tabloids' approach to celebrity -- they look at stars the way that the rest of us look at a Thanksgiving turkey right out of the oven -- but their dogged method of running down a story does indeed have its merits. (Paying interview subjects is not one of them, nor is publishing articles without bylines.) Still, if other journalists were similarly unconcerned about their future access to their subjects, they'd be able to uncover some secrets on topics more important than celebrities' sex lives.

For now, though, the Tiger story has reached a natural stopping point. We can take some time over the holidays to breathe deep, stop wondering about how many more mistresses will come out of the woodwork, and -- thank you, heaven -- stop hearing lame Tiger jokes.

The old Tiger Woods is gone. The new one -- well, we haven't met him yet. But he won't be on the same celebrity-worship pedestal as the old guy ... and, all in all, that's probably for the best.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Tiger-Woods-in-the-news-tabloid-reveleations-an?urn=golf,208325

For 3rd time, Woods cancels meeting with police

WINDERMERE, Fla. (AP)—Tiger Woods canceled yet another meeting with state troopers but, for the first time, talked about his car crash on his Web site, saying it was his fault, that his wife acted courageously and that remaining details were private.

The statement was posted about an hour before troopers were to meet with the world’s No. 1 golfer at his home inside the gates of Isleworth. A meeting was not rescheduled.

In a tape of a 911 call released Sunday, two days after the accident, a neighbor told dispatchers that a black Cadillac Escalade hit a tree and “I have someone down in front of my house.”

Woods’ neighbor never mentions the golfer by name, and the call is inaudible at several points because of the bad connection.

“I came out here just to see what was going on,” the neighbor, who was not identified, told dispatchers. “I see him, and he’s laying down.”

One woman is heard in the background yelling, “What happened?”

In his statement, Woods took responsibility for the accident.

“This situation is my fault, and it’s obviously embarrassing to my family and me,” Woods said. “I’m human and I’m not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Woods said it was a private matter, and he wanted to keep it that way. What he failed to address was where he was going at that hour.

“Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible,” he said.

Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor has said Woods’ wife, Elin, used a golf club to smash out a rear window to help him get out of the SUV when she heard the crash from inside their home at 2:25 a.m. Friday.

“The only person responsible for the accident is me,” Woods said. “My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false.”

Sgt. Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol said Woods’ attorney, Mark Nejame, informed the patrol that Woods would not be meeting with troopers Sunday afternoon.

“It has not been rescheduled,” Montes said. “He’s not required by law to give us a statement, and we’ll move forward with our investigation without it.”

Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at IMG, said in an e-mail Sunday:

“We have been informed by the Florida Highway Patrol that further discussion with them is both voluntary and optional. Although Tiger realizes that there is a great deal of public curiosity, it has been conveyed to FHP that he simply has nothing more to add and wishes to protect the privacy of his family.”

Police first tried to interview Woods on Friday, but his wife asked if they could return the next day because he was sleeping.

As they headed to Woods’ $2.4 million house inside the gates of Isleworth on Saturday afternoon, FHP dispatch put through a phone call to troopers from Woods’ agent, informing them that Woods and his wife would be unavailable to talk until Sunday.

The accident came two days after the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York night club hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.

The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press.

Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred confirmed she was representing Uchitel when she was reached by the AP on Sunday.

“She is with me in L.A.,” Allred said later in an e-mail to the AP. “We plan to meet and then we’ll decide on the next step, which we do not plan to announce to the press.”

Uchitel arrived at Los Angeles International Airport late Sunday morning, where she was met by Allred and escorted out of the baggage claim area and into a black car. Uchitel did not speak to reporters except to ask that she be left alone.

Woods is to host his Chevron World Challenge this week in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which benefits his foundation. Woods’ news conference had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, although it was not clear if he would still play, or even attend.

“We do not know if Tiger is playing; we are anticipating a great week of competition,” said Greg McLaughlin, the tournament director and president of his foundation.

Aside from occasional criticism of his temper inside the ropes, Woods has kept himself out of the news beyond his sport. In an October posting on his Facebook account, Woods wrote, “I’m asked why people don’t often see me and Elin in gossip magazines or tabloids. I think we’ve avoided a lot of media attention because we’re kind of boring. …”

“He’s an iconic brand, the platinum standard,” said John Rowady, president of rEvolution, a Chicago-based sports marketing agency. “I find it interesting how he’s being attacked by so many sides after how gracious he’s been. But even the best of celebrities who try to do their best can be riddled with controversy.”

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-woods-accident&prov=ap&type=lgns

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Woods speaks up, says crash is ‘private matter’

WINDERMERE, Fla. (AP)—Despite presenting his side of the car-crash story and asking that it remain “a private matter,” Tiger Woods may still not be in the clear.

Troopers arriving at his Isleworth home requesting an interview were turned down for a third straight day, but the Florida Highway Patrol said it will continue to investigate. Yet the tabloid-fueled rumors now swirling around one of the world’s richest and most-recognizable athletes could turn out to be more troublesome still.

About an hour before the troopers arrived Sunday afternoon, Woods released a statement on his Web site taking responsibility for—but providing few details about—the middle-of-the-night accident that left him dazed, bruised and bloodied.

“This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way,” Woods said. “Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible. …

“I appreciate all the concern and well wishes that we have received,” the statement concluded. “But, I would also ask for some understanding that my family and I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be.”

Yet several public-relations experts believed there was little chance of that request being honored.

“The goal of putting out a statement, or having a press conference, is to make sure questions are answered so you’re not continuing to have questions that are crisis-related,” said Mike Paul, whose firm, MGP & Associates, frequently works with athletes. “There are still over a dozen questions we have regarding his reputation because the statement is not enough.”

The world’s No. 1 golfer remained hunkered down at home in an exclusive gated community outside Orlando. He was scheduled to compete at the Chevron World Challenge, which starts Thursday in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The tournament director, however, did not know whether Woods would play or even attend.

When troopers arrived at Woods’ home Sunday, his attorney, Mark NeJame, gave them Woods’ driver’s license, registration and insurance, as required by law for such accidents. This time, the meeting was not rescheduled.

But patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said investigators spoke with the neighbor who made the 911 call on Saturday and might seek out others who were at the scene as well.

“If we have somebody who we feel is pertinent to the investigation, then we will interview them,” she said.

In the 911 call released by the FHP on Sunday, the unidentified neighbor told the dispatcher, “I have a neighbor, he hit the tree. And we came out here just to see what was going on. I see him and he’s laying down.”

The caller did not identify the neighbor as Woods. When asked if the victim was unconscious, the neighbor replied, “Yes,”

Parts of the call were inaudible because of a bad connection. At one point, the voice of a woman is heard yelling, “What happened?”

Yet even the release of the 911 tape and Woods’ statement failed to answer that question and several other.

— Where he was going at that time of the night?

— How did he lose control of his SUV at such a speed that the air bags didn’t deploy?

— Why were both rear windows of the Cadillac Escalade smashed?

— If it was a careless mistake, why not speak to state troopers trying to wrap the investigation?

Montes said authorities towed the Cadillac SUV that Woods was driving and have already documented the damage to the vehicle and the point of impact. According to the FHP accident report, Woods had just pulled out of his driveway when he struck a fire hydrant and then a tree. His wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back windows to help him out.

“The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false,” Woods said.

The reference in his statement to “false, unfounded and malicious rumors” may have involved a story published last week in the National Enquirer alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.

The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press. On Sunday, she flew to Los Angeles and was met by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred at the airport.

Uchitel didn’t speak to reporters except to ask that she be left alone. Allred, however, confirmed to the AP that she would be representing Uchitel.

“We plan to meet and then we’ll decide on the next step, which we do not plan to announce to the press,” the attorney said in an e-mail.

AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson in Jacksonville, and Associated Press writers Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles, and Sarah Larimer in Miami contributed to this report.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-woods-accident&prov=ap&type=lgns

Chad Ochocinco tries to 'bribe' official on replay ruling

The artful use of a folded bill can get people past a long line at a club, seated quickly at a restaurant with a 45-minute wait or, as countless detective shows have demonstrated, a good piece of information from a cab driver with a hazy memory. As Chad Ochocinco(notes) found out today, it will not get you a call during an NFL game.

The impish Cincinnati Bengals receiver playfully tried to bribe an NFL official today during his team's game with its division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. With the Cincinnati Bengals up 14-3 in the third quarter, Ochocinco caught a 15-yard Carson Palmer(notes) pass near the sideline. The side judge ruled it a catch, but the Ravens contended that Ochocinco's foot was out of bounds. While the ref was under the hood looking at the replay, Ochocinco borrowed a dollar bill from an assistant and playfully tried to hand the one-spot to another official.



Ochocinco was smiling the entire time and, as you can see above, the official put a stop to the hijinks before they really began. It didn't work, the ref overturned the call on the field and ruled that the pass was incomplete.

You're either going to be in one of two camps with this. Either you think it's hilarious (like me) or you think that the mere appearance of bribery toward officials is uncouth and needs to be dealt with swiftly. Judging by his track record, Roger Goodell will fall firmly in the latter camp. Expect a fine for Ochocinco, even though nobody will seriously think that this was ever meant to be anything but a goof.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Chad-Ochocinco-tries-to-bribe-official-on-repl?urn=nfl,200914

UFC fighter was eating ketchup and rice before UFC 104

If anyone needed a huge postfight bonus at UFC 104, it was Pat Barry. The heavyweight out of New Orleans, scored Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night for his victory over Antoni Hardonk. That was good enough for $120,000. Good thing, Barry needed the infusion of cash in the worst way. He confirmed to MMAScrapsRadio that he was completely down on his luck before the fight, agreeing that he had little to eat in Los Angeles the week of the fight.

"I still had my apartment but if something would've happened and the fight had been canceled, I would've been evicted six days later."

Barry, 30, said he didn't even tell his trainer Duke Roufus for fear that he would think the fighter had the wrong motivation going into the fight. Barry said he didn't ask anyone for money including his mother:

"I could ask someone but then at the same time, how hard are you going to work for something if everytime you get in trouble somebody catches you? I did something to put myself in this position I have to work my way out of it."

Barry got his $120,000 bonus check last Tuesday. He couldn't believe it. When he went to deposit the check, his truck wouldn't start. Barry got a jump and hit the bank sporting a black eye and pink striped shorts.

"I go to the bank, I'm sweaty, I've got the black eye, I haven't shaven in two days, I'm strung out because I haven't slept, I have green circles under my eyes so I'm like 'Can I have a deposit slip mam?'. She gives it to me, I fill it out hand it to her. She looks at the deposit slip, then the check, then looks at me and says 'Excuse me I'll be right back.' Then a manager comes out, a guy in a suit and says 'What seems to be the problem?' I was like 'Well I have a black eye, that's the only problem I know this looks really ridiculous.' So he asks me for my ID, I hand him my license an he's like 'Your license says Pat Barry, but this check was written to Patrick Barry.' So I decided to be funny and tell him Pat Barry is in my trunk right now. He didnt laugh. So I told him take your time man do whatever you need to do because I have no where to go and my truck probably wont start when I go outside so you can just do whatever you need to do. An hour later he came back and everything was fine, the check was in my bank account."

Listen here to the entire Barry interview on MMA Scraps Radio.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-fighter-was-eating-ketchup-and-rice-before-U?urn=mma,199656

Congress slams NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about NFL's head trauma policy

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Like a quarterback facing a game-long blitz, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the nation's richest professional sport absorbed a barrage of hits on Capitol Hill Wednesday, when a hearing on football head injuries produced sharp questioning and a finger-jabbing accusation from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

Waters, whose husband played in the NFL, was particularly incensed when Goodell refused to acknowledge a direct link between football and brain-trauma injuries.

"I believe you are an $8 billion organization that has failed in your responsibility to the players," Waters said. "I know that you dearly want to hold on to your profits. I think it's the responsibility of Congress to look at your antitrust exemption and take it away.”

The league's antitrust exemption, established in 1961, cleared the way for owners to reap billions in television revenue.

The hearing - convened by the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) - was held before an SRO crowd in the Rayburn Office Building, among them two NFL Hall of Famers, Willie Wood and Jim Brown.

Wood, the former Packers defensive back, was in a wheelchair. Brown, perhaps the greatest running back in history, walked with a cane.

The hearing was called in the wake of a recent NFL-commissioned survey that revealed that retired NFL players may suffer from such irreversible brain diseases as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and dementia, at rates far greater than the general population. Conyers said it was time for the committee to do "an expeditious and independent review all of the data."

The league has steadfastly downplayed the validity of any studies indicating a connection between playing football and the incidence of brain disease, maintaining that its own recent survey was widely misinterpreted.

Christoper Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler, is the founder of the Sports Legacy Institute and co-director of Center For the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University. He testified about his own years of concussion-related problems, while his colleague, Dr. Ann McKee, reported that she found "severe" brain damage in all 11 of the postmortem studies she has made of former pro and college football players.

"I am constantly surprised by the NFL's reaction to evidence that is overwhelming that we have a serious public-health crisis on our hands," Nowinski said.

Goodell repeatedly defended the league's actions and policies, saying he had spent more time and attention to the issue of brain injuries to NFL players than any issue in his time as commissioner.

"We know that concussions are a serious matter," Goodell said. "Our goal is to make our game as safe as possible."

Goodell said the league has dramatically improved pension and disability benefits for former players, and was committed to studying data to continue its efforts to reduce the risk of brain injury.

When asked by Conyers if he believed there was a connection between football-induced brain injury and neurological problems later in life, Goodell said the league wasn't waiting for the debate to unfold, but was taking all possible measures make the game safer now.

"I asked you a simple question. What's the answer?" Conyers said.

Goodell said that a medical expert would be best equipped to answer the question. Under further questioning, Goodell assured Conyers that the league would turn over all relevant player medical records to the committee, as did DeMaurice Smith, the new executive director of the NFL Players Association.

Over the objection of the ranking minority committee member, Lamar Smith, (R-Tex.) who said "the NFL does not need Congress to referee this issue," Waters, Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and other committee members, pressed Goodell and the panel of witnesses that included doctors, neurologists and safety advocates, along with former Giants George Martin and Tiki Barber.

Martin talked movingly of a former Giant teammate, a star running back whose once-prosperous life has been obliterated by CTE, leaving he and his family ashamed and embarrassed.

"(He) has been reduced to a shell of his former self," said Martin, executive director of the NFL Alumni Association, who declined to name his teammate. "This unfortunate scenario rings a far too familiar refrain among many NFL alumni."

Barber, for his part, said that the whole culture of the sport inclines players to minimize injuries, get back out there.

"I think a lot of it comes down to pride. I know when I was playing, I didn't want to come out of the game," Barber said.

Dr. Gay Culverhouse, former president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was sharply critical of medical practices in a league in which "the team doctor is not a medical advocate for the players." Rather, the team physicians are in cahoots with management to get players on the field no matter what.

"This is inexcusable. This is, in my mind, inhumane," said Culverhouse, whose account was refuted by Dr. Joseph Maroon, longtime team physician of the Steelers, who said that only one time has a coach ever questioned his judgment that a player sit out.

The most powerful testimony came from Dick Benson, whose son, Will, died shortly after suffering a helmet-to-helmet hit in a Texas high-school game in 2002.

'Don't let it happen again," Benson said to the committee, sobbing.

For Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), the co-chair of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, the core of the issue goes far beyond the NFL - to the estimated 3.8 million Americans who suffered a concussion last year.

Last year, Ryan Doughterty, 16, of Montclair, died from a brain hemorrhage after returning to play football, allegedly before he recovered from a concussion earlier in the season.

"I hope this hearing will generate a national conversation,spur innovation to equipment and lead to action regarding brain injury," Pascrell said.

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2009/10/28/2009-10-28_goodell_hit_head_on_by_congress.html

Agassi admits use of crystal meth

American Andre Agassi has admitted in his new autobiography he lied to tennis authorities about his use of crystal methamphetamine to escape a ban.



Eight-time Grand Slam winner Agassi said he wanted to share "my bad decisions which, in a few instances, nearly ended in catastrophe".

The 39-year-old, who retired in 2006, also stated it was "not easy being so candid" and "brutally honest".

Agassi admitted he used the drug with ex-assistant "Slim" in 1997.

"I felt my story was one from which many people could learn," he added in a video promoting the book.

Meanwhile, he also confessed in the book itself to a surprise lifelong hatred of the sport.

"I play tennis for a living, even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion, and always have," he wrote.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said it could not comment on Agassi's drug-taking revelation because it had withdrawn its doping case against him.

Agassi had lied to them that the use of the drug was accidental - and the failed test was kept secret by the ATP.

In response, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) called on the association to "shed light" on the case.

Meanwhile, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said it was "surprised and disappointed" by Agassi's remarks.

Writing about the first time he used crystal meth, Agassi said: "Vast sadness and regret" followed his taking of the drug.

"Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table," writes Agassi in his book, which the Times is serialising.

"He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some.

"Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I've never felt so alive, so hopeful - and I've never felt such energy."

Crystal meth is classified in the UK as a class A drug - the category for those considered to be the most harmful and which attract the most serious punishments and fines.

It looks like small ice crystals and is a very powerful and addictive form of the stimulant speed, which can be eaten, inhaled through the nose or injected.

Agassi, who is widely considered to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, recounts in the book, which is called 'Open', about his introduction to the drug.

He was enduring the worst year of his professional career in 1997 as he struggled with a wrist injury, and his world ranking slumped to a low of 141 that November.

Agassi, who is married to former women's world number one Steffi Graf, explained how he had received a call from an ATP at that time to inform him he had failed a drugs test.

The Las Vegas-born star wrote a letter to the ATP to argue the use was accidental, blaming his former assistant Slim.

"My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I've achieved, whatever I've worked for, might soon mean nothing," Agassi writes.

"Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP. It's filled with lies interwoven with bits of truth.

"I say Slim, whom I've since fired, is a known drug user, and that he often spikes his sodas with meth - which is true. Then I come to the central lie of the letter.

"I say that recently I drank accidentally from one of Slim's spiked sodas, unwittingly ingesting his drugs. I ask for understanding and leniency and hastily sign it: Sincerely.

"I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it."

Agassi, who is often cited as one of the most charismatic players ever, writes that the ATP reviewed his case and, while he faced a minimum three-month ban, decided to believe his account and withdraw the charges.

His subsequent rise back through the rankings over the following two years, on the back of a gruelling fitness programme and the ignominy of playing on the lesser Challenger circuit, has gone down in tennis history.

In 1999 Agassi became only the fifth man to win all four Grand Slam titles with victory at the French Open. Three months later he added a second US Open crown and he ended the year back at number one in the world.

Former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich told BBC Radio 5 live the revelations raised questions about the ATP's handling of the matter.

He suggested Agassi was not suspended "because he was so important to the game".

The German said: "The fact that he was using it [crystal meth], escaped drugs tests and said he used it accidentally raises a lot of questions towards the ATP.

"Why was Andre Agassi not suspended if he tested positive and why was it never brought to the attention of the media and the players? Nobody ever heard about it."

An ATP spokesman said it commented on the results of drugs tests only when a violation had occurred, and so could not speak about the Agassi situation because it withdrew the case against him.

"Under the tennis anti-doping programme it is, and has always been, an independent panel that makes a decision on whether a doping violation has been found," he stated.

"The ATP has always followed this rule and no executive at the ATP has therefore had the authority or ability to decide the outcome of an anti-doping matter."

Expressing his disappointment about the revelation, Wada president John Fahey said Agassi was seen as a role model who should alert youths to the dangers of doping.

Fahey said he expected the ATP to "shed light on this allegation."

The ITF said tennis authorities were determined to keep drugs out of the sport.

"This should not be overshadowed by an incident that took place over 12 years ago," said president Francesco Ricci Bitti.

"The statements by Mr Agassi do, however, provide confirmation that a tough anti-doping programme is needed."

BBC Radio 5 live's tennis correspondent Jonathan Overend feels Agassi's legacy could be ruined by the revelations and will also damage tennis's reputation.

"This is sure to severely tarnish the reputation of one of the great champions," said Overend.

"I think it will have underlying implications for the sport in terms of the suspicion about some of the athletes and whether or not they are on drugs.

"The fact that Agassi lied and the authorities believed him has enormous repercussions. How many other cases may there have been like this?"

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8329193.stm

Video: Who had more embarrassing goal, Pavelec or Toskala?

"It was a pass, I think ... It was a just bad bounce. It hit the ice and went over my shoulder. Sometimes it happens. It just happened at a bad time." -- Ondrej Pavelec(notes) to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Yeah, that about sums up the 178-foot goal Atlanta Thrashers goalie Pavelec surrendered to Washington Capitals defenseman Jeff Schultz(notes) last night that (a) gave Washington a 3-2 lead that became 5-2 (and, eventually, a 5-4 win) just 1 minute and 28 seconds later thanks to Matt Bradley(notes) and Chris Clark(notes); (b) began a sequence had Pavelec getting yanked for Johan Hedberg(notes) in what Coach John Anderson called "a mercy pull"; and perhaps most embarrassing, (c) gave Jeff Schultz a goal.


Take a look at what will surely be one of the NHL's biggest goalie goofs of the season (stick around for the final replay at the :50 mark):

Thrashers blogger Bill Tiller said it took "a bad hop up off the ice just before reaching him" but that "really, if you are a goalkeeper in the NHL you just cannot let that wind up in the net."
This is, of course, the second time in two years we've seen an NHL goalie let in a rink-length shot. Please recall March 17, 2008, as Toronto Maple Leafs keeper Vesa Toskala(notes) allowed an excruciating, slow-bouncing goal from nearly 200 feet away from where New York Islanders defenseman Rob Davison(notes) cleared it while shorthanded in the first period.


Two funky bounces, two awkward goals. We ask you, dear readers -- which long-distance goal is the most embarrassing: Pavelec against the Caps or Toskala against the Isles?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Who-had-more-embarrassing-goal-Pavelec-o?urn=nhl,197825

Jordan’s son not free to wear Air Jordans

The fight over the feet of Michael Jordan’s son is not over.

Last Thursday, Marcus Jordan, the Hall of Fame guard’s younger son, told the media that he’d honor the University of Central Florida’s contract with adidas by wearing all the apparel with adidas logos on it.

He would not, however, take the court in the shoes. Citing family pride, Marcus said he would be in Nike’s Air Jordans, named after his father, of course.

Soon after the comments were made, UCF athletic director Keith Tribble told AOL’s Fanhouse that the freshman could make the decision for himself since there had been a previous precedent set with a UCF football player who wore a different brand of shoe due to the fit.

But adidas spokesperson Andrea Corso told CNBC that no compromise had been reached with the school.

“We are in negotiations for a future relationship regarding the broader UCF athletic program,” Corso said. “What I can say is that these relationships are based upon agreed deliverables for both parties.”

Translation: The story that adidas had buckled on this one might be what UCF is saying, but it’s certainly not what adidas is saying. adidas officials won’t talk contract specifics, but it appears as though adidas might have the right to change the terms if they don’t get what they were promised.

While some might think this is all about Nike vs. adidas, it seems like it’s more about potential breach of contract. And although it’s bigger than Marcus Jordan, Jordan’s shoe defection is very public and could potentially be costly to the university.

We’re wondering in the coming days if Tribble is willing to take say, tens of thousands of dollars (maybe even hundreds of thousands) less on the shoe deal, to allow Jordan to wear his father’s shoes.

The Jordan brand doesn’t make softball uniforms like adidas does, but maybe Tribble is counting on the original MJ to bridge the gap in donations.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ys-cnbcairjordan102109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Nike, Vick do not have agreement

NEW YORK -- Nike said Thursday it does not have a "contractual relationship" with Michael Vick, a day after the quarterback's agent announced a deal with the manufacturer.

In a statement released Thursday morning, Nike said it has "agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike."

On Wednesday, Michael Principe, the managing director of BEST, the agency that represents Vick, announced the Philadelphia Eagles player had a new deal with Nike during a panel discussion at the Sports Sponsorship Symposium.

"He actually just became a Nike client," Principe said Wednesday. "He has a new deal with Nike that we're all very pleased about."

Principe declined comment Thursday.

Vick's agent, Joel Segal, said later Wednesday that Vick looked forward to continuing his relationship with Nike, adding that the player and company had agreed not to release terms of the deal.

Segal did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

Nike had initially declined comment Wednesday night.

Nike, which signed Vick as a rookie in 2001, terminated his contract in August 2007 after he filed a plea agreement admitting his involvement in a dogfighting ring.

Vick signed a $1.6 million deal with the Eagles, with a team option for the second year at $5.2 million. He was once a corporate star -- holding multimillion-dollar deals to market everything from sneakers to sports drinks. But those millions are long gone.

In July, Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving a 23-month prison sentence, saying he owed between $10 million and $50 million to creditors.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4521948

Burress begins sentence in gun case

Former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress carried his son, Elijah, into court on Tuesday, and then told him goodbye.
NEW YORK -- One-time Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for violating New York's stringent gun laws and was immediately taken into custody following his hearing.

Burress agreed to a plea deal last month and pleaded guilty to a lesser firearms charge. The charges stemmed from an incident late last fall, in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub with a gun that had not been licensed in New York.

He is expected to serve about 20 months with credit for good behavior -- meaning he could be released as early as the spring of 2011 -- followed by two years of probation.

Burress arrived at the courthouse at 9:41 a.m. ET on Tuesday wearing a jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, a stark contrast to the dark blue suit he wore last month when he entered his guilty plea.

He was accompanied by his pregnant wife, Tiffany; his almost 3-year-old son, Elijah, whom he carried; his father and stepmother; and his grandmother.

Before the sentencing began, Burress asked for and was granted permission by Judge Michael Melkonian to say one last goodbye to his wife and family, seated in the fifth row of the courthouse.

The hearing was brief, as the prosecution and defense told the judge they had previously agreed to the guilty plea and two-year sentence.

A soft-spoken Burress then apologized to his family and fans and thanked them for their support. "We will all get through this," he said.

He was then taken into custody.

The Giants, through spokesman Pat Hanlon, said, "This has been a tragic, sad, disappointing situation from the beginning. Our concern has always been for Plax's welfare, and for his family, and that continues to be our overriding feeling."

Michael Strahan, a former Giants teammate who is now an NFL television analyst, used his Twitter account to support Burress: "My Thoughts and Prayers are with my man Plaxico and his family today!!!"

Antonio Pierce, also a former Giants teammate who was with Burress the night of the incident, and former Giants linebacker Kawika Mitchell, now with the Buffalo Bills, re-tweeted the Strahan comment.

Burress was transported to Rikers Island jail in New York, where he arrived at 1:20 p.m. ET, according to Steve Morello, a deputy commissioner with the New York City Department of Corrections.

Burress was moved Wednesday morning to Ulster Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison, in Napanoch, N.Y., on the edge of Catskill State Park. There, he will undergo further processing, including getting state-issue clothing and a strip search.

After the sentencing on Tuesday, his defense attorney, Benjamin Brafman, called the case "terribly sad and very tragic."

"This has been a very emotional experience for him," Brafman said. "He's sad about what he's done to his life, his career, and more importantly to his family. He's a fundamentally good man who has used bad judgment and is going to pay a very, very severe penalty."

The case went to a grand jury after months of negotiations between prosecutors and Burress' defense attorney broke down, apparently because Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau insisted that the former New York Giants wide receiver serve at least two years in prison for violating the city's strict gun laws. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had also publicly called for Burress to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

On July 29, Burress took the rare and risky step of testifying before the grand jury, hoping to convince the panel that the gun was not used in the commission of a crime and that he was the lone victim. But days later, Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. He faced a minimum sentence of 3½ years if convicted at trial.

On Aug. 20, the day he was to be arraigned, Burress agreed to a plea deal and pleaded guilty to attempted weapons possession in the second degree.

Hours after Burress pleaded guilty, the NFL announced that commissioner Roger Goodell had suspended the receiver and said Burress is ineligible to sign with any team until he completes his prison term. After that, Burress may sign with an NFL team without further review.

Burress, a nine-year veteran with the Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, became a Super Bowl hero when he caught the winning touchdown pass in the last minute of the Giants' 17-14 upset win over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Burress and Pierce were at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan in late November 2008 when a gun that was tucked into Burress' waistband slipped down his leg and fired, shooting him in the right thigh.

The bullet narrowly missed a nightclub security guard who was standing inches away, prosecutors said. It lodged in the floor and was recovered by a bartender.

The gun was not licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived. His license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of Florida had expired in May 2008.

Prosecutors said Pierce drove Burress to a hospital, then took the gun to his own home in New Jersey. It was later delivered to Burress' home. Pierce, who also testified before the grand jury, was not charged.

The Giants released Burress in April, but the 32-year-old told ESPN he hopes to resume his NFL career when he completes his sentence.

"When I get out, I'll be 33, not 43," Burress said in an interview broadcast in August. "I'll still be able to run and catch. I'll still have the God-given ability to snag footballs; that's what I love to do. Of course, I want to play again."

Gil Brandt, an analyst on NFL Sirius Radio and the former head of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, said Burress won't be too old for a comeback when he's released from prison.

"First of all, Plaxico is a guy who keeps himself in pretty good shape," Brandt said. "Lots of times guys get heavy in the offseason. He is not a guy who has done that."

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4493887

Semenya withdraws from race amidst reports she's hermaphrodite

Caster Semenya, the 18-year old at the center of one of the biggest gender scandals in sports history, withdrew from a weekend race in South Africa amidst unconfirmed reports that her gender tests have revealed that she has both male and female sexual organs.

She was scheduled to compete in the 4,000 meters at the national cross country championships in Pretoria. Semenya's coach, Michael Seme, says his runner "isn't feeling well".

Yesterday, unsubstantiated reports from Australia and England said that Semenya's tests showed that she has no womb or ovaries and produces testosterone levels three times higher than a normal woman. The IAAF thinly denies the reports. (The organization's spokesman says he hasn't "seen" the results, which doesn't mean he hasn't "heard" the results. Nor has the IAAF come out and said that the reports are false.)

The Today Show aired a report on the Semenya situation this morning:

It's another chapter in an unfortunate story. It's easy to get caught up in the sensationalized aspects of Semenya's tale, but let's not forget that she's still just a teenager who is now the centerpiece of an embarrassing worldwide scandal. No matter how things progressed to this point (and we'll get to that later), Semenya is a victim in this story.

But let's operate under assumption that the tests were accurate and that Semenya is a hermaphrodite. If so, then there are three main questions that will need to be answered soon:

1) Will Semenya be stripped of her gold medal?

Probably. It's hard to imagine that the IAAF would allow Semenya to keep the gold after what these tests reveal. The rules explicitly state that a "gender verification" situation has to be approved and overseen by medical authorities. Semenya didn't do this. Fair or not, a rule is a rule.

2) Will Semenya ever be allowed to run again?

Reading the IAAF rules, it would appear that Semenya would be allowed to run if her condition was treated. Whether or not she would want to is anyone's guess. But there's also a chance she could be banned from running based on the answer to the next question.

3) Who knew about this and when did they know?

We haven't gotten this far down the road yet, but the next logical step in the progression of this sordid affair is whether there was a coverup involved. Regardless of whether the intentions of Semenya and her handlers were nefarious, they had to know of her ambiguous gender. Not having ovaries isn't something that goes unnoticed. If they did, then at what point did this turn from an unfortunate medical situation into outright deception?

If Semenya was an innocent running without knowledge of her condition, then there's not much the IAAF could do other than strip her medal and advise her on how to regain eligibility. But if it can be determined that she knew she was running illegally (which would be tough to prove, but I'm starting to get the feeling that people knew -- how else would other coaches have known to order gender tests?) then there could be heavy sanctions down the road.

These questions will be discussed in the coming weeks and will be the center of attention when the IAAF officially releases its findings in November. If you thought the tale of Caster Semenya was strange before, it's just getting started.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Semenya-withdraws-from-race-amidst-reports-she-s?urn=oly,188930

Coach: Gender tests not explained to Semenya

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—A South African track coach has resigned, saying Monday that he and other officials failed a world champion runner by not telling her she was being subjected to tests to determine her sex.

Wilfred Daniels’ comments contradicted statements from Athletics South Africa officials who have accused the IAAF, track and field’s international governing body, of publicly humiliating world 800-meter champion Caster Semenya while denying any responsibility on their part. The South African officials have said tests were done only abroad, not in South Africa.

Athletics South Africa President Leonard Chuene told The Associated Press on Monday that Daniels’ statements were “wild allegations.” Both he and Daniels said Monday they were still awaiting an IAAF ruling on Semenya’s sex—and future as a runner.
ADVERTISEMENT

The Athletics South Africa Web site listed Daniels as a manager for middle distance—Semenya’s specialty—for the team that went to the IAAF World Championships in Berlin in August.

He told the AP he resigned last week from his post, which included supervising Semenya’s personal coach and overseeing South Africa’s performance at international meets. He said he agonized over the decision for weeks before deciding “there’s only one way for me to deal with this, and that was to say sorry and walk away.”

“Maybe it’s time that other people came in and do what I was supposed to do,” he said.

Daniels said he found out shortly before Semenya won the race at the world championships in Germany last month that she had been tested in South Africa in July at the IAAF’s behest. He said she was told she was undergoing only a doping test.

IAAF rules say such cases are to be handled confidentially. Instead, responding to media reports, the IAAF publicly acknowledged hours before the 800-meter final that questions had been raised about Semenya and that sex tests were initiated in response.

The IAAF has said Semenya is not accused of cheating by trying to mask her sex. She may have a biological condition that gives her an advantage over other female runners. That could result in her being banned from the sport.

Daniels said he did not know why Semenya was lied to, but said it could have been to protect her feelings at a time when the issue was confidential, as IAAF rules demand.

But “when there’s legal implications that an athlete could be barred from competing for life, we need to explain to the individual concerned, look, these are the implications,” Daniels said.

He said Semenya would have been better prepared to deal with the media storm had she been told “this is what’s going to happen, this is how gender verification tests are done, these are your rights,” he said. “Those are the kind of issues that we didn’t explain to her.”

Daniels said he explained and apologized to Semenya over the weekend, and she took the news calmly. He said the poise she has shown since the case became public is “a lesson to us grown-ups on how to behave under difficult circumstances.”

Daniels said IAAF rules stipulate the results be kept private, but that he was not sure that would happen.

“The IAAF violated their own procedures and protocols by putting this out in the public domain,” he said.

IAAF President Lamine Diack has publicly acknowledged the affair was handled badly, telling reporters in Berlin last month: “I deeply regret that confidentiality was breached in this case and that the IAAF were forced into a position of having to confirm that gender testing was being carried out on this young athlete.”

Chuene called on Daniels to prove his statements. Until then, Chuene said, “wild allegations will remain wild allegations.”

Chuene said top South African track officials were meeting this weekend to determine their next step in Semenya’s case. He would not say what options they were considering.

Found at: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-southafrica-gendertest&prov=ap&type=lgns

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Embattled track star Caster Semenya gets new coach, new look

It's been a week of change for Caster Semenya, the South African runner at the center of a gender controversy at last month's world track championships.

First, one of her South African coaches quit the team in shame for not telling Semenya that she was being subjected to gender tests. (Semenya had thought she was taking a doping test.) Then, Semenya appeared on the cover of South Africa's You magazine with a complete makeover designed to silence critics who insist she is a man.


For the shoot Semenya sported a less ambiguous hair style, a designer black dress, jewelry, makeup and nail polish. Despite what you think about the whole situation, it's safe to say that this is the first time that Semenya has truly looked like an 18-year old woman.

She says she likes the look too. Semenya told the BBC:

"I'd like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance.

I am who I am and I'm proud of myself."

Let's hope this is what she wants though.

Nothing Semenya has done in the past month has suggested that she likes to wear dresses, get manicures and let down her hair. After the controversy broke, she kept her cornrows, wore baggy clothes and pounded her chest in victory like a college football cornerback. When she returned to her hometown, she was dressed the same way. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. That seemed to be Semenya's natural inclination. This feels forced.

Hopefully I'm wrong. But if Semenya was pressured to do this to silence her critics, then this is a sad story rather than one of retribution. The opinions of a few jealous coaches shouldn't have an effect on how an 18-year old carries herself. If Semenya wants to wear dresses then she should. But if she wants to run around in track suits, what's the problem with that?

The coach who resigned wasn't Semenya's personal coach, but a middle distance supervisor on the South African team who was ashamed that Semenya was kept in the dark about the growing controversy. Wilfred Daniels said he was told the issue was supposed to stay private.

Found at: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Embattled-track-star-Caster-Semenya-gets-new-coa?urn=oly,187999

49ers running QB tradition into the ground

Today’s column is about the 49er offense, such as it is. But first I want to talk about bread. That’s right, bread.

We have a tradition around here. We love our sourdough bread and we have the best sourdough in the world. If a dictator came in – OK, I’m pretending – and said sourdough is out and from now on Northern Californians can eat only rye or whole wheat or, heaven help us, pumpernickel, the population would revolt.

As it should. You don’t mess with tradition, especially a tradition unique to this part of the country.

The 49ers and their quarterbacks are the same as Northern California and sourdough. They share an identity and a tradition. There’s really no need to document the case re: the 49ers and QBs — just think Montana, Young, Brodie, Tittle and leave it at that.

And now we have the current 49ers regime. Specifically, we have offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye explaining the diminished, degraded, laughable role of the quarterback — Shaun Hill — in the so-called new, improved Niner scheme of things.

Raye: “This deal is 21 (running back Frank Gore). This ballpark is going to be run by No. 21. The guy that’s running the ship at the quarterback position — and for both of them, that is why the competition was what it was — it was never going to be that the lead dog in this race was going to be the quarterback.”

I’ll get back to Raye’s speech in a minute, although I’m completely confused how a dog can run a ship. I know some dogs are smart, especially border collies, but not THAT smart.

What Raye said was inflammatory. It’s like he was spitting on sourdough. He sure was disrespecting 49er football tradition – a pretty good tradition as football traditions go.

To paraphrase, he declared the quarterback chump, Hill or Alex Smith, always was perceived as a bit player in the Niner drama, a mere sidekick to the running back. The quarterback mostly will be a glorified hander-offer. Think of him as a turnstile.

He spins, faces Gore, hands off and gets the hell out of the way while Gore runs up the middle to the grunting sounds of offensive linemen.

This is what the Niners call an offense?

More Raye: “The bell cow in this operation will be No.21.”

So now the dog is a cow. Make up your mind, Jimmy.

Sorry. Back to Raye’s dog/cow riff.

“The quarterback’s job is to make sure we get that done (the handoff) and play within himself and make the plays available to him. It wasn’t from the beginning to tailor it so we would see the quarterback and do what his strengths were as our lead. That wasn’t the way it was.”

Now he tells us. Silly me, I thought something important was at stake in that quarterback competition that dragged on for months. Now I know different.

It feels like an outsider just came in and changed everything.

This someone — Mike Singletary, Raye, whoever — has no feel for our region and what made 49ers football special. This guy is doing violence to our tradition and trying to sell us on banana bread, or Chicago Bears smash-mouth football, whatever.

So, let’s talk football reality. What happens when the running game doesn’t work? Believe me, one day the Niners will meet a bigger, stronger team — it always happens. And the offensive line won’t open holes for Gore and the running game won’t go anywhere. Then they’ll have to fall back on the guy who is not the lead dog or the bell cow who has little experience at steering the ship.

I see problems looming. Icebergs anyone? I also see problems with Gore. Terrific little back. Yes, little. He’s 5-9. Last year he missed two games — ankle. In 2007 he missed one game — ankle. In 2006 he was OK, but in 2005 he missed two games — groin.

You see where I’m going with this. Gore gets bounced around and crunched and sometimes he can’t play. The Niners better have a PlanB. This plan needs to involve the quarterback. The quarterback will have to lead the offense. Sometimes he will have to win a game by himself, with or without Gore.

If Singletary and Raye and general manager Scot McCloughan didn’t think Hill or Smith could be the top dog (a schnauzer?) or lead cow (a Guernsey?), they should have acquired a better one in the offseason. But they didn’t.

Which means, if this running back thing doesn’t work, the 49ers are toast.

Source: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090826/NEWS/908269895/1057/SPORTS0908?Title=49ers-running-QB-tradition-into-the-ground

In runner's village, no doubts on her gender

FAIRLIE, South Africa – She wore pants instead of a skirt to school, played soccer with the boys and was teased about her masculine looks.

Caster Semenya learned to ignore the taunts. She ran alone across a landscape of high grasses dotted with rocky hills.

She came almost out of nowhere to win the world championship in the 800 meters Wednesday in Berlin, far and away the fastest woman on the track.

Or was she?

Her time of 1 minute, 55.45 seconds was more than 2 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, but now Semenya's gender is the subject of an international investigation.

Even before Berlin, track officials were taking a closer look at the 18-year-old runner, following her performance last month at an international meet where she improved her personal bests in the 800 and 1,500 meters by huge margins.

Her family is outraged at suggestions that Semenya, who has a muscular build and a deep voice, isn't a woman.

"That's how God made her," Semenya's cousin, Evelyn Sekgala, told The Associated Press. "We brought her up in a way that when people start making fun of her, she shouldn't get upset."

Her father, Jacob, has no doubts.

"She is my little girl. ... I raised her and I have never doubted her gender," he told the Sowetan newspaper. "She is a woman and I can repeat that a million times."

Added her paternal grandmother, Maputhi Sekgala: "What can I do when they call her a man, when she's really not a man?

"It is God who made her look that way," she told the South African daily The Times.

Muriel Mkele, 16, remembers how her sister would run for miles on dirt roads in this dry corner of Africa, usually alone because no one could keep up with her as she breezed past low, thorny trees.

Semenya's former headmaster said he thought for years that she was a boy.

"She was always rough and played with the boys," Eric Modiba, head of the Nthema Secondary School, told South Africa's Beeld newspaper. "She liked soccer and she wore pants to school. She never wore a dress. It was only in grade 11 that I realized she's a girl."

The International Amateur Athletic Federation asked the South African athletic federation to conduct the gender test after Semenya burst onto the scene by posting a world-leading time of 1:56.72 in the 800 at the African junior championships in Bambous, Mauritius, on July 31. Her previous best was 2:00.58.

The test, which takes weeks to complete, requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender.

At the medal ceremony Thursday in Berlin, Semenya waved to the crowd as she ascended the podium. She bowed as she received her gold medal and mouthed the words to the South African national anthem.

Asked how she felt as she walked into the ceremony, Semenya smiled and said, "Good, man."

She did not attend the medal winners' news conference and was replaced at the dais by IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss, who said the testing was ordered because of "ambiguity, not because we believe she is cheating."

"We have to be very scrupulously fair and sensitive about" the issue, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said. "It's all very well people saying she's a man, she looks like a man — that's not good enough. You have to be very careful and cautious about that."

Gender testing used to be mandatory for female athletes at the Olympics, but the screenings were dropped in 1999. One reason for the change was not all women have standard female chromosomes. In addition, there are cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions.

The most common cause of sexual ambiguity is congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an endocrine disorder where the adrenal glands produce abnormally high levels of hormones.

Semenya's family was pleased she took up sports instead of drinking and partying like many other teenagers. A teacher got her interested in running, and her grandmother gave her money to enter races.

When she was about 13, Semenya's parents sent her from Ga-Masehlong to the nearby village of Fairlie to help care for her grandmother. Semenya's sister still lives in Ga-Masehlong. In the family's concrete-walled, tin-roofed home, she retrieved a plastic shopping bag containing a tangle of ribbons and medals, most of them gold, won by her sister. Muriel didn't have to count when asked how many there were, firmly declaring: "39."

Despite Semenya's medals from local races, she is fairly new to international track and field.

Shirley Rammabi, who lives in Ga-Masehlong, said Semenya is an inspiration to young people in the village and that no one there questioned her gender even though it was unusual for a girl to be so interested in sports.

"The people from this place, they know her very well. They've known her since" — Rammabi broke off, putting her hand at the height of a toddler.

As questions mounted in Berlin, South Africans leapt to Semenya's defense. The ruling African National Congress party called on South Africans to "rally behind our golden girl."

"We condemn the motives of those who have made it their business to question her gender due to her physique and running style. Such comments can only serve to portray women as being weak," the ANC said in a statement.

South African athletics federation president Leonard Chuene insisted Semenya is facing intense scrutiny because she is African.

"It would not be like that if it were some young girl from Europe," Chuene told the AP by telephone. "If it was a white child, she would be sitting somewhere with a psychologist, but this is an African child."

The Congress of South African Trade Unions said it "rejects with contempt the attempts by those who tried to undermine her success by raising bogus and groundless queries about her gender."

Gideon Sam, the president of South Africa's Olympic governing body, congratulated Semenya on a "truly remarkable achievement."

"We condemn the way she was linked with such media speculation and allegation, especially on a day she ran in the final of her first major world event," Sam said. "It's the biggest day of her life."

Morris Gilbert, a media consultant for TuksSport, the University of Pretoria's sports department, said the issue of Semenya's gender was never raised at the school, where she is a freshman studying sports science.

"We are all very proud of her and of what she's achieved," Gilbert said. "The university stands behind her all the way."

He attributed her 800-meter victory to hard work and rigorous training.

"She trains a lot," Gilbert said. "If you go to the athletics track, you're sure to find her there."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090820/ap_on_re_af/af_semenya_s_village

Heavyweight orbits cross in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – Brett Rogers’ new mixed martial arts gym in Eagan, Minn., is named Ambition MMA, an appropriate moniker for a place that houses a guy looking to move to the top of the heavyweight division.

There is little doubt what the future holds for the undefeated Rogers, who scored a spectacular first-round knockout of former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Andrei Arlovski Saturday on a Strikeforce card at the Scottrade Center.

More serious questions surround the future of Arlovski, who has now been knocked out in each of his last two fights.

Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champion, is good enough to beat the majority of the world’s heavyweights. He doesn’t look like a guy, though, who is prepared to beat the elite men in the important bouts.

Rogers needed just 22 seconds to dispose of Arlovski on Saturday. He blasted the Belarusian with a left hook that sent the popular former champ staggering back into the cage. Rogers finished him with a flurry of punches, including a left-right-left combination that nearly left Arlovski’s head spinning like a top.

Rogers, the one-time Sam’s Club employee, guaranteed himself another high-profile bout with the nationally televised victory. He may get a shot at Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem on an Aug. 15 card that also features a women’s showdown between Gina Carano and Cris “Cyborg” Santos.

“I’m ready for whatever, man,” Rogers said after improving to 10-0 with his ninth knockout. “I was planning on picking that (heavyweight title) up today, but it was kind of pushed back. I hope he’s keeping that belt good and clean for me.”

Arlovski is only 30 years old, and there’s no reason he couldn’t continue to fight at a high level for four or five more years. But when a man has scaled the heights that Arlovski has, it’s often difficult to accept being a middle-of-the-pack guy.

That’s what Arlovski appears to be at this stage. He was knocked out by Fedor Emelianenko in Anaheim, Calif., in January and suffered a similar fate on Saturday to a man with a far less impressive résumé than Emelianenko.

Many fighters who get knocked out as hard as Arlovski was by Emelianenko are never truly able to take a hard shot again.

It’s hard to question Arlovski’s chin on Saturday because the punches Rogers hit him with were powerful enough to knock down a schoolyard wall. The psychological effect, though, of another knockout loss figures to have a far more lasting impact than the physical damage sustained.

Rogers, though, inflicted plenty of that. He made little pretense of what he intended to do and then simply went out and overpowered Arlovski.

“He wasn’t moving much,” Rogers said.

That’s probably because the first clean punch Rogers landed, a left hook to the cheek, appeared to put Arlovski out on his feet. He was back against the cage when Rogers waded in firing heavy shots, forcing referee John McCarthy to jump in and stop the carnage after Arlovski dropped to the mat.

“I wanted to show everyone I’m not in there to play around,” Rogers said.

If he gets past Overeem in August, he’ll have positioned himself to fight the biggest names available. Though Rogers’ record isn’t filled with big names, he’s only been out of the first round once in 10 fights, and that has to count for something. You can bet that the Showtime television executives have taken note of that.

What clouds Arlovski’s future is that those same executives undoubtedly were carefully watching his last two outings. Because of his past he commands big money, but fighters who make big money in MMA do it by fighting top-shelf competition.

But after back-to-back crushing knockouts, it’s doubtful Arlovski is going to get another fight of similar magnitude anytime soon.

He was so confident of a victory on Saturday that he’d already agreed to a boxing match on June 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. That, too, went out the window when he got knocked out by Rogers.

Arlovski’s boxing handlers were excited by his potential and believed he had the skills to compete for a title. His confidence, though, is now as shattered as his chin.

Rogers has no such issues. His confidence soared with the career-defining win over Arlovski, and his prospects are exceedingly bright.

Rogers hasn’t proven he has a ground game, though the other way to look at is that he hasn’t needed to. If he keeps knocking guys out, he won’t have to worry about his ground skills.

He began training in his spare time while he worked in the tire department at a Minnesota Sam’s Club. He finally decided earlier this year to give the job up for good so he could concentrate on MMA full-time.

It clearly looked like a good move on Saturday, though Rogers doesn’t want to get caught up in the hype.

“I’m not the only guy who started in the working world,” Rogers said. “This was a perfect opportunity and this sport is all about timing. Definitely this is my time and I’m just going to keep on working.”

The only difference between now and six months ago is that he can do his work in a spiffy new gym and doesn’t have to worry about throwing tires around in an auto shop.

It’s the guy he beat on Saturday who might have to think about getting a job.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-rogerswins060709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Chicagoland Power Closing Its Doors

A suburban Catholic school football team near Chicago that won seven consecutive state football titles won't win another – but it won't be because of anything that has happened on the field.

Driscoll had a run of success in Illinois football.

Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison, Ill., is closing its doors, the Christian Brothers of the Midwest announced Thursday, because of falling enrollment and finances. The school, which opened in 1966, had seen its enrollment drop from 465 students in 2003-04 to 303 this year. A student body of 270 was projected for next year.

The Christian Brothers of the Midwest is a religious order with schools around the world. Brother Kevin Convey, director of education, characterized the decision as "very, very difficult," particularly given the school's success on the field.

The Highlanders won seven consecutive Class 4A state championships under two different coaches before losing Nov. 15 in the quarterfinals to undefeated Aurora Christian, which lost in the state final. Driscoll finished 9-3 this season after going 92-6 during its seven-year run.

Convey blamed the school's plunging population on the nation's economic recession, which made it harder for families to afford the school's nearly $8,000 annual tuition. Local elementary schools that have fed students into the pipeline also have seen a decline in enrollments. As for staff members and coaches, "We will do what we can to assist them to find other positions in other Catholic schools," he said.

The news was difficult for former players and coaches to hear. David Schwabe, last season's quarterback who is now playing baseball at the University of St. Francis in Aurora, Ill., was sitting in his accounting class when he received a text message about the news.

"Actually, I cried, to tell you the truth," he said.

Schwabe, whose father, David, was the freshman football and basketball coach and whose brother, Steve, quarterbacked the team this year, said he and his high school teammates have been exchanging phone calls sharing their thoughts and memories – "how we walked into that school as boys and came out as men."

Schwabe credited the team's winning streak to its coaches, starting with Gene Nudo, who started the winning tradition with the team's first state championship in 1992.

Six players from that team were coaches during Schwabe's four-year championship run from 2004-07. The coach and winner of the first four championships was Tim Racki.

"Racki just had this demeanor about him that, 'We work hard every day, and we may not be the biggest, the fastest, the strongest, but we'll be the smartest,' " Schwabe said. "And he never took anything for granted."

Schwabe, who rotated in and out at safety as a freshman and started at quarterback as a senior, said the coaches spent hours watching film, changed offensive schemes every week, and always had the players ready. A favorite memory of his was stuffing a fourth-and-1 in the conference championships in 2007 against Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, Ill., which, unlike Driscoll, had several Big Ten recruits. Both teams were 13-0. Recognizing the offensive set, Schwabe blitzed up the middle and stopped the run, and the Highlanders went on to win, 13-7.

Mike Burzawa, who coached the team for its last three championships before moving on to coach at Evanston Township High School, credited the players. Only three or four players during the championship run have gone on to play at Football Bowl Subdivision (i.e., Division I-A) schools.

"I think it was just the kids were unselfish," he said. "We didn't care who got the credit, as long as the job got done. The players, they played like their hair was on fire week in and week out."

For Burzawa, the closing of the school is a personal loss. He was on the team that won the first state championship, and he also played on that year's state champion baseball team.

"It's a very sad day for the Highlander family," he said. "Driscoll's been a great place for me personally because many of my best friends today are people I met when I was in high school."

Source: http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=932536

Browns WR Stallworth hits, kills Fla. pedestrian

In this Nov. 6, 2008 file photo, Cleveland Browns Donte Stallworth in action against the Denver Broncos in an NFL football game in Cleveland. Police in Miami Beach say Stallworth has hit and killed a pedestrian with his Bentley, who was crossing the busy causeway that links downtown Miami with Miami Beach the morning of Saturday March 14, 2009.

MIAMI (AP)—Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth hit and killed a pedestrian with his Bentley on Saturday morning on a busy causeway linking Miami and Miami Beach, police said.

Stallworth was headed toward the beach when he hit a 49-year-old man around 7 a.m., said Miami Beach police spokesman Juan Sanchez. The unidentified pedestrian was taken to a nearby trauma center, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later. He was near a crosswalk but it’s not clear if he was crossing legally.

Stallworth, 28, was cooperating and no charges have been filed, Sanchez said. Officers drew blood to test for drugs or alcohol, which is routine, but police said it was too early to tell if Stallworth was impaired or violating traffic laws. Police would not say where he was coming from or where he was headed.

Miami-Dade County property records show Stallworth owns two condos in a building on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami not far from the causeway and another condo in a different building in Miami.

A message seeking comment was left on the voicemail of his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

The Browns said in a statement they were aware of what happened.

“We understand the seriousness of this situation, but will not have any further comment at this time as this is an ongoing investigation,” the team said.

Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns as a free agent before last season but hardly played because he was hurt. He was due a $4.75 million signing bonus Friday.

Stallworth, who previously played for New England, Philadelphia and New Orleans, finished last season with just 17 catches for 170 yards. He was slowed all season by a nagging hamstring injury and made just seven starts for the Browns.

Stallworth had his best season with the Saints in 2005, when he made a career-high 70 receptions for 945 yards and seven touchdowns. He was drafted in the first round (No. 13 overall) by the Saints in 2002. Stallworth played his college ball at Tennessee.

AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Cleveland contributed to this report.

Found at: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-stallworth-pedestriankilled&prov=ap&type=lgns

Agent: 2 NFL players among Fla. missing boaters

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP)—Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper were among four boaters missing Sunday off Florida’s Gulf Coast, the Coast Guard and Smith’s agent said.

Smith and Cooper were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass on Saturday morning for a fishing trip and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Crews used a helicopter and a 47-foot motor-life boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass on Sunday.

Smith owned the boat and he and Cooper had been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith’s agent. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.

Smith, 29, had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the winless Lions. Smith, who is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds, also played for the San Francisco 49ers and played college ball at North Carolina State.

Del Duca called Smith one of the “good guys” of the league and was planning to start visiting teams as a free agent this week. He said he has spoken with Smith’s family and is also in touch with Coast Guard officials.

“They’ve assured me that they’re deploying all available resources to look for these guys and get them back,” he said.

Cooper, 26, has played sparingly in five seasons with the Buccaneers, Seahawks, Jaguars, Steelers and Raiders. Cooper, who is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, played college ball at Washington.

Rick Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tampa, said seas were about 2 to 4 feet Saturday morning and increased to 3 to 5 feet in the afternoon. Late Saturday night, a small craft advisory was issued, when winds were around 20 knots and seas were up to 7 feet or more. There were no thunderstorms in the area.

Davis said the water was “extremely rough and choppy” on Sunday afternoon.

Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said he had heard Smith was aboard a missing boat but hadn’t been able to confirm it.

“We’re aware of the media reports,” Keenist said Sunday afternoon. “We’re trying to find out what we can.”

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-missingboaters-nfl&prov=ap&type=lgns

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doctor: Boater’s survival a ‘miracle’

TAMPA, FLORIDA (TICKER) —The attending physician for the lone survivor of a boating mishap off Florida’s Gulf Coast said it was a “miracle” that his patient withstood the 46-hour ordeal.

Nick Schuyler, a former football player at South Florida, was in “good condition” Wednesday, two days after he was plucked from the sea while clinging to an overturned fishing boat.

“To stay in the water for 46 hours, to be alive, I think is a miracle,” Dr. Mark Rumbak said during a Wednesday morning press briefing.

Three men, including two NFL players, were presumed dead after the Coast Guard announced it was suspending its rescue efforts at 6:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday.

Free agent defensive end Corey Smith, Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and former South Florida football player Will Bleakley also were aboard the boat that capsized in rough seas on Saturday night.

The Coast Guard ended its search approximately 30 hours after Schuyler was rescued at 12:30 p.m. on Monday. Dr. Rumbak said he didn’t think Schuyler could have lasted another five to 10 hours in the ocean.

“But if you asked me to predict, I don’t think he could have lasted 46 hours,” Rumbak said. “I can’t explain it, (it’s) some divine providence.”

Schuyler, wearing a yellow life vest, was discovered perched atop the capsized boat approximately 38 miles west of Tampa Bay. He was rushed via helicopter to Tampa General Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition.

Rumbak said one key to survival is the physical condition of Schuyler, who is a personal trainer, and also credited his mental toughness.

“Extremely important. This guy is very tough mentally,” Rumbak said. “Even so, being in the water that long saps the energy you have.

“I think if he didn’t have that type of background, I don’t think he would have made it.”

Rumbak said the 24-year-old Schuyler was suffering from moderate hypothermia with a body temperature of 89 degrees when he was pulled from the water.

Schuyler also has significant muscular damage, some kidney issues along with pain in his knees and ankles, which will be checked by an orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday. Rumbak attributed some of the sustained trauma from repeatedly knocking up against the boat.

Rumbak declined to say when Schuyler would be released from the hospital, although he could get out of intensive care unit in the next few days and possibly leave the hospital by the end of the week.

According to the doctor, Schuyler was in much better spirits and likely was aware of Tuesday’s turn of events, although he acknowledged that the patient may not have fully grasped the magnitude of the ordeal.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Coast Guard announced it would suspend its search after exhaustive efforts turned up no evidence of survivors.

“We’re extremely confident that if there were any survivors on the surface of the water, we would have found them,” Coast Guard captain Timothy Close said.

Smith, who spent this past season with the Detroit Lions, and Cooper were teammates with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2004 campaign.

Smith, 29, appeared in 12 games with the Lions this past season, his seventh in the NFL. The Richmond, Virginia native has played 62 career games with Detroit, San Francisco and Tampa Bay, recording 8 1/2 sacks.

Cooper, 26, played in eight games with the Raiders last year. A native of Mesa, Arizona, he has played in 42 career games over parts of five seasons with seven different teams.

Schuyler told rescuers that the boat, which belonged to Cooper, was anchored when it flipped over Saturday evening. Schuyler claimed that all four men clung to the vessel for at least 12 hours Sunday night before Smith, Cooper and Bleakley drifted away.

After receiving the report of the missing boat early Sunday morning, the Coast Guard began its search.

According to a statement released Sunday by the Coast Guard, the boat left Clearwater Pass at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning and did not return at its scheduled time later in the day.

The boat was reported missing at about 1:30 a.m.

Close said the Coast Guard covered 24,000 square miles in an exhaustive search for the men, conducting 50 missions in the 60-plus hours since they were reported missing.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=txnflplayersmissing&prov=st&type=lgns

Police cite Steelers kicker for restroom tantrum

PITTSBURGH (AP)—Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed is in trouble with the police over some towels, but not the Terrible kind waved by his fans.

Pennsylvania state police say Reed threw a temper tantrum at a Sheetz convenience store in New Alexandria, a tiny borough about 35 miles east of Pittsburgh, because its restroom didn’t have any towels.

Reed has been cited for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, offenses similar to traffic tickets that carry a maximum fine of $300 and 90 days in jail each. Police said he broke the towel dispenser then used profane language to an employee and also outside the store.

“Reed caused damage to a towel dispenser as he was infuriated at the fact that there were no towels in it,” according to a news release by Trooper Shawn Askins, who issued the citations. The incident occurred Saturday about 2:50 a.m.

A message left on an answering machine at Reed’s home was not immediately returned.

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said the team wouldn’t have any immediate comment.

“We’re still gathering information right now,” Lockett said Saturday.

Reed made 27 of 31 field goals and 36 of 37 PATs for 117 points in his seventh season with the Steelers, which was capped by Pittsburgh’s 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl.

Reed has made nearly 83 percent of his field goals (162 of 196) and scored 733 points for the Steelers in his career.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-steelers-toweltantrum&prov=ap&type=lgns

Where will Michael Vick play football in 2009?

The Atlanta Falcons announced this week that they were looking to trade the rights to Michael Vick, who is indefinitely suspended from the NFL and currently imprisoned for his role in a dogfighting operation. In essence, they want somebody to give them something in return for their massively overvalued, damaged product. Good luck with that.

It's not even a guarantee that Vick will be back in the NFL in 2009. Roger Goodell has said he won't consider reinstatement until Vick's legal obligations are settled, and that might not be until July. Plus, it's Goodell and he likes to drag things out, so don't expect a quick decision on Vick's future.


If Vick does get reinstated, it is still difficult to imagine that there will be too many teams lining up to give away draft picks in order to get a guy who's been in prison for the past 18 months and is due to get $15 million in 2009 from his current contract. More likely, teams will wait for Atlanta to release Vick, thus enabling them to sign him to a new, more logical deal.

Assuming that all these things happen, what's the most likely destination for Vick in 2009? Shutdown Corner lists the five most likely spots:

1) Oakland -- Other locales might make more football sense, but Vick landing in Oakland make the most overall sense. The Raiders are irrelevant, Al Davis won't care about the negative press and a good number of Oakland fans can relate to Vick's status as an ex-con. JaMarcus Russell is already there at QB, but that's just semantics.

2) Seattle -- Former Falcons coaches Jim Mora and Gregg Knapp are now running the show in Seattle. With Matt Hasselbeck possibly on his way out, this could be a good fit for Vick.

3) San Francisco -- Shaun Hill and J.T. O'Sullivan may not be the answers.

4) Minnesota -- The Vikings are a quarterback away from being a true contender in the NFC, so they seem like the most logical landing spot for Vick. But Vick isn't a Drew Brees-type who can be easily dropped into a pre-existing system, he's the kind of guy whom the system has to be built around. Also, the team is in a battle to get public funding for a new stadium and bringing in a social pariah like Vick may not be the best way to win support for a stadium plan that's already questionable in this economy.

5) New York Jets -- The Jets have said they aren't interested in acquiring Michael Vick. They weren't interested in trading for Brett Favre either.

Honorable Mention: Washington -- If you think Dan Snyder hasn't called up Jim Zorn in the middle of the night at least once this month to bounce off some ideas about how Michael Vick could help the Redskins, then you don't know Danny.

Not listed: Detroit (even Michael Vick has standards), Tampa Bay (unlikely that a new coach and GM would begin careers with Vick at QB) and Kansas City (ditto).

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Where-will-Michael-Vick-play-football-in-2009-?urn=nfl,141488