Baseball union could OK valid HGH test

Players' union leader Donald Fehr would consider approving blood testing for the human growth hormone if there was a valid, efficient procedure for determining its use over an extended period.

Under baseball's collective bargaining agreement, urine tests for performance-enhancing substances are administered, although HGH cannot be detected in current urine tests. The World Anti-Doping Agency says a blood test for HGH will be used at the Olympics, but no validated blood test for HGH currently is commercially available.

"If and when a blood test is available and it can be signed and validated by people other than those that are trying to sell it to you, then we'd have to take a hard look at it," Fehr said Thursday. "We'd have to see what it is and try to make a judgment as to whether it is fair and appropriate."

Such a test would have to be agreed upon in discussions between owners and the union.

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said this month he "wouldn't mind" a blood test for HGH, and several of his teammates echoed that stance.

"I haven't talked to Derek about it, but my guess is if something is there, it works and it wouldn't be too bothersome, I'd think about it," Fehr said. "I guess a lot of people would. But that depends on what it is and how it's done."

Fehr made the comments after meeting with the Baltimore Orioles, his first step in a planned journey to discuss union issues with all 30 major league teams. Twenty-four hours earlier, Fehr was in Washington in front of a House subcommittee seeking to legislate drug-testing policies for U.S. leagues.

"It was a straightforward hearing. They had some things they wanted to ask," Fehr said.

Asked to assess the public's perception of the sport in the wake of accusations that superstars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens used performance enhancing drugs, Fehr said, "If one of our friends does something terrible, we don't assume that the rest of our friends are going to do that. Having said that, we have some fundamental principles in this country, and one of those is innocent until proven guilty. We've got to remember that, and we've got to pay attention to that."

Senators fire coach John Paddock

John Paddock ran out of ideas and time as he tried to get the Ottawa Senators to play the way they did in building the Eastern Conference's best record.

With the Senators in a massive slump, general manager Bryan Murray decided the only solution for Ottawa to save its suddenly crumbling season was to go back: Back to when Murray was coach.

Murray fired Paddock on Wednesday with only 18 games left in a season that is in danger of falling apart despite a robust 15-2 start. Murray, who led the Senators last season to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals, is stepping back behind the bench for the remainder of the season.

"It's shocking really that it comes to this," Murray said. "It's disappointing from everybody's point of view."

Murray moved up shortly after the Anaheim Ducks beat the Senators 4-1 in the Stanley Cup finals to become the general manager last summer. Paddock went from being Murray's assistant to his replacement as head coach.

Assistant coach Ron Low was also fired Wednesday, a day after the team was shut out for the second consecutive game.

"It comes certainly because of performance lately," Murray said. "The results we've been having — or not having — was an indicator that some adjustment, some emotion had to be brought back to the team."

Murray will continue to perform his duties as general manager. Those demands should lessen since the NHL trade deadline passed Tuesday.

"It's always a surprise when a coach gets let go," center Jason Spezza said at the team hotel in Philadelphia, a day before the Senators played the Flyers. "We've been struggling, but as a team I don't think we thought it would come to the coach getting fired.

"It just shows the high standard we have in our dressing room, the city of Ottawa, and that our owner has. It shows how competitive a team they think we have."

Paddock was in his sixth season with the Senators organization. He posted a 36-22-6 record in his lone season as head coach. The Senators won 15 of their first 17 games and were first in the Eastern Conference until last weekend, when they were passed by New Jersey. They have since fallen behind Pittsburgh, too, in points.

Ottawa came into Wednesday with a one point lead in the Northeast Division over Montreal.

Things got especially bad on Monday, when the Senators were beaten 5-0 by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a game Paddock called a "total embarrassment." Ottawa followed that up a night later with a 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins.

"It's a difficult (decision), but it's the right one at the moment," Murray said. "Really since late December, we've seen the team not compete at the level we were close to competing at for most of the first part of the year."

Assistant coach Greg Carvel, goaltending coach Eli Wilson, conditioning and player development coach Randy Lee and video coach Tim Pattyson remained on staff.

Paddock, who coached the Eastern Conference in last month's NHL All-Star game, was offered another role in the organization.

"I thought there was something amiss with the group. Hopefully this will help," Murray said.

Murray also described the Senators as a "very passive group" over a stretch where they lost six of eight and 14 of 21. Paddock thought the undisciplined and unmotivated play of late could be corrected down the stretch.

"There were some players that maybe took advantage of him not being a real hard person at times," he said.

Daniel Alfredsson, who leads the Senators with 35 goals and 75 points, said the Senators were in a rut but did not quit or take advantage of their coach.

"There's no question we didn't," the captain said. "It kind of bothers me. He had the ears of everyone in the locker room."

A move like this is not particularly stunning in the NHL. Last season, New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello fired coach Claude Julien and took over with a week left in the regular season. The Devils advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals and were eliminated by the Senators.

The 65-year-old Murray has coached more than 1,300 games in the regular season and playoffs. He has a regular-season coaching record of 100-46-18 with Ottawa.

Murray began his NHL coaching career with the Washington Capitals on Nov. 11, 1981. He remained at the helm of the Capitals for over eight seasons and won the Jack Adams Award in 1984 as NHL coach of the year.

"Bryan and John share the same philosophy, so it's not going to change that way," Spezza said. "We've a good hockey club and we expect to win.

"We have to find a way to get winning games again."

___

Associated Press writer Bob Lentz contributed to this report.

Yao out for season with left foot injury

All-Star center Yao Ming is out for the season with a stress fracture in his left foot, a stunning blow to the surging Houston Rockets. General manager Daryl Morey made the announcement Tuesday, hours before the Rockets put their 12-game winning streak on the line against the Washington Wizards.

Yao was having a terrific season, averaging 22 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

"It is not an injury we feel he can play with," Rockets team doctor Tom Clanton said. "I've made the recommendation that it be treated surgically and we are working with him to get other opinions just to be certain that that is indeed what should be done."

If Yao chooses surgery, Clanton said, it would involve placing screws across the bone to hold it together. The second option would be to treat it with a cast and crutches. Both options involve a healing time of about four months.

Clanton would not say when Yao could play again, but said he doesn't expect the center to miss the Beijing Olympics in August.

That possibility is weighing heavily on him though.

"If I cannot play in the Olympics for my country this time, it will be the biggest loss in my career to right now," he said.

He doesn't even want to think about how his absence in the game would affect his fans in China.

"I don't want to try, actually and I don't want to know either," he said.

Coach Rick Adelman and Morey told the team before Tuesday's shootaround. Yao said it was a difficult day for him from the moment he walked into the building.

"When coach tells everybody I am out for the season, everybody is like quiet," he said. "That kind of quietness makes me feel kind of scared, it was quiet like nobody was there and you just feel alone."

Morey said he doesn't believe the injury compromises Houston's playoff hopes. The Rockets were 36-20 entering Tuesday's game.

"We've been playing exceptional ball and Yao's been a huge part of that," Morey said. "We feel very confident about our playoff push. We've managed to step up and play well without Yao in the past and coaches and players feel confident that we're going to continue to play well and make the playoffs this year."

Morey acknowledged that it was difficult news to receive when the team has been playing so well.

"It's a pretty big swing from a high to a low, with how we were playing," Morey said. "We feel like our supporting cast is superior to when we played without Yao in the past. We remain ready for the challenge ahead."

Clanton said there was no specific event that led to the injury, but rather an "accumulation of stresses on the bone. Yao first experienced soreness and pain in his ankle before the All-Star game and tests were done Monday when the situation didn't improve.

This is Yao's fourth major injury in the last two years. He missed 32 games last season with a fracture in his right leg and 21 games in late 2006 with a toe infection that required surgery. He missed four games in April 2006 after breaking his foot.

Houston went 20-12 when Yao was injured last season.

The Rockets, who remain in seventh place in the tough Western Conference despite their winning streak, will now have to rely heavily on 41-year-old Dikembe Mutombo. The 17-year veteran has been averaging just eight minutes per game.

"I really feel bad for Yao," Adelman said. "It's just such a shocker. Yesterday morning he was OK and then four hours later, he wasn't. It's tough on everybody, but we've got to move on."

Yao said he took Tracy McGrady aside after speaking to the team and told him the success of the team is up to him now.

"We're in a good situation right now," he said he told McGrady. "Right now is your time."

On Tuesday, the Rockets signed Bobby Jones to a 10-day contract and released Adam Haluska.

While it took more than two weeks to discover Yao's injury, Clanton said it sometimes takes months to diagnose.

"This is something that can be treated," he said. "We are catching this at a very early stage."

Edwards outduels JJ to win Auto Club 500

Carl Edwards won the rain-delayed Auto Club 500 on Monday, charging past NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson with 13 laps remaining. Johnson, winner of the past two Cup titles, came out of the final pit stop in the lead with 26 laps left. But Edwards surged from third to capture the eighth victory of his career.

Edwards showed good form on his traditional victory backflip in front of the main grandstand after taking the checkered flag in a race that ended under caution when Dale Jarrett spun on the final lap.

Edwards had it all but wrapped up at that point, driving his Roush Fenway Racing No. 99 Ford to a lead of more than four seconds over Johnson. It was his first victory at Fontana but his seventh top-10 finish in eight starts at Auto Club Speedway, formerly known as California Speedway.

"Well, it looked like Jimmie was the guy to beat at the end," Edwards said. "It was fun racing with him. I want to thank Bob (Osborne, the crew chief) and all my teammates for working so hard this winter."

Jeff Gordon, who dominated Sunday's racing, was third. He was followed by Kyle Busch and Roush's Matt Kenseth, who had won the two previous February races at this track. Another Roush driver, Greg Biffle, won this event in 2005.

The Roush Fenway team got off to a slow start with NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow that was introduced with a 16-race schedule in 2007. It was Johnson, Gordon and their Hendrick Motorsports teammates that dominated the CoT race last year.

But, with the new car running the full schedule this season, it appears Roush Fenway has figured it out.

Edwards went into the final round of pit stops under caution on lap 221 while leading. He came out behind Johnson, Gordon and Roush Fenway teammate Jamie McMurray.

He quickly passed McMurray after the green flag waved for the start of lap 225 and set out after the leaders, passing Gordon for second on lap 233 and moving alongside Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet on lap 236.

They stayed side-by-side for almost two laps before Edwards nosed ahead and then began to pull away.

"Carl Edwards was in another league. We've got some work to do to catch those guys," said Gordon, whose engine blew seconds before the last of 12 caution flags in the race froze the field and assured his third-place finish.

Gordon, a four-time Cup champion, and teammate Johnson, who finished 1-2 in points last year, got off to a tough start last week at Daytona. They finished 39th and 27th.

"It's a good rebound from Daytona and we'll roll on," said Johnson, who won 10 races last season. "I was too loose off the corners to do anything with Carl."

Johnson said the new car performed well on the two-mile oval at the track formerly known as California Speedway.

"Maybe another practice session would have helped," Johnson added, referring to all the track time lost to rain Friday and Saturday. "I think it would have helped the whole field."

About 25,000 fans, far short of the approximate 120,000 capacity, showed up Monday, with the sun peeking out from high clouds and temperatures moving into the high 60s.

The drivers spent most of Sunday waiting through rain, track drying and attempts to stop water seeping through seams of the track. The race finally began about 2 1/2 hours late, followed by a rain delay of just more than an hour and then a five-hour wait after a downpour. NASCAR and track officials finally gave up after 11 p.m. and postponed the conclusion until Monday.

Accidents during Sunday's 87 laps involved Dale Earnhardt Jr., Casey Mears, Sam Hornish Jr., Reed Sorenson and Denny Hamlin. Only Mears and Hornish were unable to get back into the action.

Red Sox give Francona 3-year extension

After managing the Boston Red Sox to two World Series championships in four seasons, Terry Francona was rewarded Sunday with a three-year contract extension that runs through 2011.

The deal includes club options for 2012 and 2013, which would give him a full decade as manager if the team exercises them.

Francona also received something else: a touching e-mail from general manager Theo Epstein as final details were being worked out Saturday night.

"It was just personal (about) what we've been through since the very beginning," Francona said after Sunday's spring training workout. "It meant a lot to me. He means a lot to me."

Francona guided the Red Sox to World Series sweeps of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004, their first title in 86 years, and the Colorado Rockies last year. He succeeded the fired Grady Little when he signed a three-year contract on Dec. 4, 2003. Francona later received a two-year extension through the 2008 season.

"The ballclub showed a lot of trust in me, which I don't take lightly," he said.

At 48, he is entering his fifth season as manager, the last of his previous contract. If he serves the full three-year extension, he would have eight seasons on the job. The only Red Sox manager with a longer tenure was Joe Cronin, who held the job from 1935-47.

Francona has come a long way since his four-year tenure as Philadelphia's manager, all losing seasons, from 1997-2000. Epstein studied that and decided that Francona had learned a lot from managing a team with mediocre talent.

"But for that experience in Philly, he wouldn't be the manager that he is today for us," Epstein said. "It's a great day for the organization to know Tito will be around for at least the next four years, if not the next six.

"This demonstrates that he's a core member of the organization. Now he has a contract that reflects that status as well."

Financial details were not released, but Francona moved closer to Joe Torre as baseball's highest-paid manager. Torre signed a $13 million, three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers after spending the past 12 seasons as manager of the New York Yankees.

Despite being the most successful manager over the past four years, Francona, who prefers to deflect praise to his players, hasn't gotten the national recognition that comes with such accomplishments, third baseman Mike Lowell said.

"I think he was underpaid for a couple of years, too," Lowell said. "He's not that outspoken guy where he says what he did, but he has his own way of allowing guys to maximize their talent. I actually view that as a strength."

Francona is considered a players' manager. He handles the pressure of a passionate and demanding fan base well, and has become more comfortable when he has to confront players, Epstein said. But he does it privately and never uses the media to send a message to them, Lowell said.

Francona also stands by players through their on-field struggles.

Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was batting .172 last May 1, but Francona kept using him. Pedroia finished the season with a .317 batting average and won the AL Rookie of the Year award.

"It just shows what kind of guy he is and how he defends his players and sticks by us through any situation," Pedroia said. "He's the only manager I've ever played for up here but he's the only one I'd want to play for."

Epstein and Francona, who let agent Pat Rooney negotiate for him, acknowledged that the talks weren't always smooth.

But early in spring training, owner John Henry and Epstein were optimistic the extension would be completed before the regular season.

"Sometimes when there's success in an organization, there's higher prices that come with it and Tito certainly deserves it. So ownership stepped up," said Epstein, who always felt the agreement would be reached. "It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to get this contract done."

Francona agreed and let Rooney handle the talks rather than be in an adversarial relationship with his bosses.

"I had a couple of nights where I was a little concerned," Francona said.

His .710 winning percentage (22-9) in postseason games is the best in major league history among managers with at least 20 games. He also has the most World Series wins (eight) without a loss.

He led Boston to the 2004 title after trailing 3-0 to the rival New York Yankees in the AL championship series. His basic demeanor never changed during that comeback, catcher Jason Varitek said.

"If you don't change during those tough times," Varitek said, "that's a great example for him to lead by."

Francona's .579 regular-season winning percentage (375-273) is the second-best in club history among managers with at least 350 games.

"I think baseball's in his blood. I think the Red Sox now are in his blood," Epstein said. "As long as the blood keeps coursing through his veins and we can keep him healthy I think that he'll want to be a manager."

As long as Francona keeps winning and treating players with respect, the Red Sox will probably want him.

"We try to treat everybody that we come in contact with like they're special. I think the players have earned that right when they come in our clubhouse," Francona said.

On Sunday, he got his due.

"Because this is the way I make my living, it's a big day," he said, "but what's nice is starting tomorrow all we'll talk about is the Red Sox."

Indiana wins first game without Sampson

Armon Bassett had difficulty finding the right words. It was about the only time he struggled. While some Indiana fans were glad to see coach Kelvin Sampson go, his players certainly weren't.

"It just wasn't the same, not having him around," Bassett said after the No. 15 Hoosiers escaped with an 85-82 victory over Northwestern on Saturday night.

Hoosiers star Eric Gordon added: "He wasn't just like a coach. He was more like a father to us. We just miss him."

A day after Indiana bought out Sampson's contract and players threatened to boycott, Bassett scored a season-high 24 points in the victory.

The game seemed like a fitting conclusion to one of the most difficult weeks in the storied program's history. The Hoosiers had to hang on against a team still searching for its first Big Ten win.

D.J. White altered a potential go-ahead layup by Northwestern's Michael Thompson, then hit two free throws to make it 85-82 with 5 seconds left. Thompson missed a pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Hoosiers moved into a three-way tie for first with Wisconsin and Purdue.

It was the first step in what could be a difficult healing process.

"It's been a long 48 hours, and everything has happened so fast," Bassett said.

Sampson agreed to a $750,000 buyout Friday and waived his right to sue the university for further damages after the NCAA charged him with five major rules violations involving calls to recruits in a report released 10 days earlier. The school hopes the fallout doesn't lead to more damage.

The first issue: Winning over the players, many of whom had "K.S." scribbled on their sneakers.

The Hoosiers (23-4, 13-2 Big Ten) avoided one potential mess when the six who skipped Friday's practice, interim coach Dan Dakich's first, opted not to boycott the game. Instead, forward White and guards Jamarcus Ellis and Bassett were in the starting lineup as usual. Reserves Jordan Crawford, DeAndre Thomas and Brandon McGee were also available.

Crawford scored 21, and Gordon scored 18, hitting 13 of 16 free throws. White added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

"We weren't going to sit out the game," said Bassett, who apologized for sitting out practice.

Dakich said he understood the players' frustrations, that their reaction was "natural," and he never considered punishing them. By Friday night, they had sent text messages to him saying they would be ready to play.

"It wasn't like a boycott," Dakich said. "To ask them to go practice, they're 18 to 22-year-old kids. ... Coach was a father figure, and now, for whatever the reason, he's no longer there. That's a difficult thing. There was no way that I was going to sit there and demand that they (practice)."

Kevin Coble scored a career-high 37 points for Northwestern (7-18, 0-14), and his 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 78-77 lead with 2:49 left, whipping their fans into a frenzy that only grew louder when Gordon charged into Nikola Baran.

With Indiana leading 79-78, Northwestern had a chance to go ahead in the final minute, when the Hoosiers' Crawford attempted a long inbound pass near his own basket. Jeremy Nash intercepted the ball near midcourt, but Craig Moore missed a 3-pointer.

Bassett then hit two free throws with 34 seconds left to make it 81-78. Coble then made two free throws to bring Northwestern with one with 21.6 seconds left, but the Hoosiers hung on.

"We all knew they've been going through a lot, but they still executed and played with a lot of courage out there," Wildcats coach Bill Carmody said.

A small group of fans yelled "Go IU!" as the Hoosiers made their way from the bus to the arena about an hour-and-a-half before tipoff. Someone in the Indiana party carried an old Big Ten championship trophy, a symbolic gesture with the team contending for a conference title.

That may explain why a girl sitting behind the Northwestern bench held this sign: "Thanks Kelvin! Go IU."

But many Hoosiers fans were less than grateful for Sampson, who came under heavy fire after the NCAA claimed he provided false and misleading information to investigators from both the university and the NCAA, failed to meet the "generally recognized high standard of honesty" expected in college sports and failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the program.

Poor behavior by a men's basketball coach is nothing new for Indiana. NCAA sanctions are, however.

It was no surprise that fans greeted Dakich with a standing ovation as he approached the bench just before the game. The former Hoosier and longtime assistant under Bob Knight responded by pumping his right fist.

"It was emotional for me for a lot of reasons," Dakich said. "The one thing I have never liked as a head coach was warmups. I came out with a couple minutes to go. Usually, I come out with a minute to go. If I see someone messing around, it makes me mad. But I didn't expect that (ovation). I was thinking, 'Why are they cheering?' It was nice."

Meanwhile, Northwestern fans had some fun at Sampson's expense, chanting "Where is Kelvin?" during timeouts.

Indiana hadn't faced a major rules violation since 1960, and many fans were calling for Sampson's removal after the NCAA report. The second-year coach was booed at recent home games, and one anonymous donor even gave the school $550,000 to get rid of him.

It was a rough — but perhaps fitting — end for a coach whose tenure began under a cloud of controversy, stemming from violations he committed while coaching Oklahoma.

Now, Sampson's unemployed. And Indiana is starting a new chapter.

"I don't think it's something you put behind in 24, 48 hours," Dakich said.

Indiana wins first game without Sampson

Armon Bassett had difficulty finding the right words. It was about the only time he struggled. While some Indiana fans were glad to see coach Kelvin Sampson go, his players certainly weren't.

"It just wasn't the same, not having him around," Bassett said after the No. 15 Hoosiers escaped with an 85-82 victory over Northwestern on Saturday night.

Hoosiers star Eric Gordon added: "He wasn't just like a coach. He was more like a father to us. We just miss him."

A day after Indiana bought out Sampson's contract and players threatened to boycott, Bassett scored a season-high 24 points in the victory.

The game seemed like a fitting conclusion to one of the most difficult weeks in the storied program's history. The Hoosiers had to hang on against a team still searching for its first Big Ten win.

D.J. White altered a potential go-ahead layup by Northwestern's Michael Thompson, then hit two free throws to make it 85-82 with 5 seconds left. Thompson missed a pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Hoosiers moved into a three-way tie for first with Wisconsin and Purdue.

It was the first step in what could be a difficult healing process.

"It's been a long 48 hours, and everything has happened so fast," Bassett said.

Sampson agreed to a $750,000 buyout Friday and waived his right to sue the university for further damages after the NCAA charged him with five major rules violations involving calls to recruits in a report released 10 days earlier. The school hopes the fallout doesn't lead to more damage.

The first issue: Winning over the players, many of whom had "K.S." scribbled on their sneakers.

The Hoosiers (23-4, 13-2 Big Ten) avoided one potential mess when the six who skipped Friday's practice, interim coach Dan Dakich's first, opted not to boycott the game. Instead, forward White and guards Jamarcus Ellis and Bassett were in the starting lineup as usual. Reserves Jordan Crawford, DeAndre Thomas and Brandon McGee were also available.

Crawford scored 21, and Gordon scored 18, hitting 13 of 16 free throws. White added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

"We weren't going to sit out the game," said Bassett, who apologized for sitting out practice.

Dakich said he understood the players' frustrations, that their reaction was "natural," and he never considered punishing them. By Friday night, they had sent text messages to him saying they would be ready to play.

"It wasn't like a boycott," Dakich said. "To ask them to go practice, they're 18 to 22-year-old kids. ... Coach was a father figure, and now, for whatever the reason, he's no longer there. That's a difficult thing. There was no way that I was going to sit there and demand that they (practice)."

Kevin Coble scored a career-high 37 points for Northwestern (7-18, 0-14), and his 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 78-77 lead with 2:49 left, whipping their fans into a frenzy that only grew louder when Gordon charged into Nikola Baran.

With Indiana leading 79-78, Northwestern had a chance to go ahead in the final minute, when the Hoosiers' Crawford attempted a long inbound pass near his own basket. Jeremy Nash intercepted the ball near midcourt, but Craig Moore missed a 3-pointer.

Bassett then hit two free throws with 34 seconds left to make it 81-78. Coble then made two free throws to bring Northwestern with one with 21.6 seconds left, but the Hoosiers hung on.

"We all knew they've been going through a lot, but they still executed and played with a lot of courage out there," Wildcats coach Bill Carmody said.

A small group of fans yelled "Go IU!" as the Hoosiers made their way from the bus to the arena about an hour-and-a-half before tipoff. Someone in the Indiana party carried an old Big Ten championship trophy, a symbolic gesture with the team contending for a conference title.

That may explain why a girl sitting behind the Northwestern bench held this sign: "Thanks Kelvin! Go IU."

But many Hoosiers fans were less than grateful for Sampson, who came under heavy fire after the NCAA claimed he provided false and misleading information to investigators from both the university and the NCAA, failed to meet the "generally recognized high standard of honesty" expected in college sports and failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the program.

Poor behavior by a men's basketball coach is nothing new for Indiana. NCAA sanctions are, however.

It was no surprise that fans greeted Dakich with a standing ovation as he approached the bench just before the game. The former Hoosier and longtime assistant under Bob Knight responded by pumping his right fist.

"It was emotional for me for a lot of reasons," Dakich said. "The one thing I have never liked as a head coach was warmups. I came out with a couple minutes to go. Usually, I come out with a minute to go. If I see someone messing around, it makes me mad. But I didn't expect that (ovation). I was thinking, 'Why are they cheering?' It was nice."

Meanwhile, Northwestern fans had some fun at Sampson's expense, chanting "Where is Kelvin?" during timeouts.

Indiana hadn't faced a major rules violation since 1960, and many fans were calling for Sampson's removal after the NCAA report. The second-year coach was booed at recent home games, and one anonymous donor even gave the school $550,000 to get rid of him.

It was a rough — but perhaps fitting — end for a coach whose tenure began under a cloud of controversy, stemming from violations he committed while coaching Oklahoma.

Now, Sampson's unemployed. And Indiana is starting a new chapter.

"I don't think it's something you put behind in 24, 48 hours," Dakich said.

Woods outlasts Baddeley at Match Play

Tiger Woods was at his best. It almost wasn't enough.

He was firing at every flag he could, making birdie on every other hole, and still feeling enormous pressure from Aaron Baddeley, who held his own Friday in the Accenture Match Play Championship and twice had putts that would have sent Woods home.

"I just figured I had to make birdie to win the hole," Woods said. "If I didn't, I was going to lose the hole. It was just that simple."

Woods made his 12th birdie on the 20th hole of an electrifying match at Dove Mountain, a 13-foot putt that was so true Woods began removing his cap when the ball was a foot from going into the center of the cup.

It wasn't the first time Woods has made so many birdies, but those matches usually end quickly. This one stretched 20 holes, his longest match in nine years of this tournament.

He was relieved, satisfied, thrilled to reach the quarterfinals.

"All of the above," Woods said wearily. "All of the above."

It was devastating to Baddeley, playing head-to-head with Woods for the first time since the U.S. Open at Oakmont, when Baddeley had a two-shot lead and shot 80. That was a distant memory on a cloudy afternoon, for Baddeley recovered from a shaky start by making eight birdies in a nine-hole stretch, one of them conceded when Woods journeyed through the desert.

He stood over a 10-foot birdie on the 18th, a tough putt that swung sharply from right-to-left, and missed it under the hole. He had 12 feet for eagle and the victory on the 19th hole, and was stunned to see it turn left and burn the edge.

Woods seized his first chance with his birdie putt on the 20th hole to win the match, reaching the quarterfinals for the fifth time.

"I played great, you know?" Baddeley said. "I made him have to win it."

Next up for Woods is K.J. Choi, a 1-up winner over Paul Casey of England. Typical of this tournament, those two matches could not have been any different. While Woods and Baddeley combined for 22 birdies and had a best-ball score of 58 in regulation, Choi cooled after opening with three birdies, finishing with 11 straight pars. That was good enough to advance.

The World Golf Championship again has an American flavor. They began this week with a record-low 20 players, but there is still one American alive in each bracket.

Woody Austin easily handled Boo Weekley, 3 and 2, to advance to play defending champion Henrik Stenson, who hung on to beat Jonathan Byrd. Stenson won his ninth straight match, the third-longest streak in the Match Play Championship.

Stewart Cink took advantage of sloppy play by Colin Montgomerie to deny the Scot valuable world ranking points, winning 4 and 2. Cink will play U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera, who made six birdies on the front nine and beat Steve Stricker, 4 and 3.

Justin Leonard reached the quarterfinals for the first time and joined Cabrera as the only players to have not played the 18th hole after three rounds. Leonard dispatched of Stuart Appleby, 3 and 2, after running off five straight birdies at the turn.

Leonard will face Vijay Singh, who rallied from 2-down with two holes to play, then beat Rod Pampling on the 25th hole.

After a furious rally to survive the first round, and a far more comfortable win in the second round, Woods looked like he would have another short day of work when he won the first two holes with birdies against Baddeley.

What followed was match play at its finest, with both players giving away a few holes, then an explosion of birdies that kept the gallery hustling along the desert to see what they would do next.

There were a few ugly moments.

Woods hooked his tee shot into the base of a chollo cactus on No. 4 and tried to play out left-handed with an inverted wedge, but it was so far off line that it bounced off a knee-high wooden stake. One hole later, Baddeley returned the favor by pulling his second shot on the par 5 into a prickly pear bush, proving match play indeed can be dangerous.

Taking an unplayable lie, he tried to drop onto the flat cactus bush and have it roll into the desert sand. But when it stayed there, he stepped gingerly into the bush, and his shot hit the cactus.

Woods plunked a marshal in the head with his errant drive on the 13th, with caromed into the desert and led to a penalty drop. Then came a nerve-jangling finish.

"It was quality shot after quality shot," Woods said. "Matches like that are fun to be a part of."

Baddeley took his first lead with a 12-foot birdie on the 14th, after Woods missed from 15 feet. From there, the Aussie played away from the dangerous slopes to the center of the green, making Woods beat him.

"He did all the things you were supposed to do when you have the lead," Woods said.

And Woods did what he usually does, starting with an 8-iron into 2 feet for birdie on the 16th to tie the match. And on they went, both reaching the par-5 17th in two for a putt at eagle, both finding the 18th fairway for a decent look at birdie on the 18th.

Woods could only think of one other match he played at such a high level, when he went the 36-hole distance with Mark O'Meara in the final of the World Match Play Championship in England in 1998.

He lost that match. Thanks to a 12th and final birdie, he now gets to keep playing.

Howard wins $10M in arbitration

Everywhere Ryan Howard turned, people wanted to dig into his pockets.

Howard's bank account just skyrocketed like one of those home runs he deposits into the upper deck. Baseball's best bargain finally will be getting big bucks.

Howard won his salary arbitration case against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday when he was awarded $10 million, the highest figure given a victorious player.

Now teammates expect him to pay for their meals and pick up the tab on their nights out.

"My reaction is mostly relief," Howard said. "It was an interesting process. Anyway you look at it, it's a win-win because it's a substantial raise."

Howard made $900,000 last year and $355,000 during his MVP season in 2006. The Phillies offered $7 million, but Howard became the first player to win in six arbitration cases this season.

Howard tied the record for the highest salary awarded in arbitration, received by Alfonso Soriano in his losing case against the Washington Nationals in 2006. Soriano had sought $12 million.

"I'm sure he's very pleased," Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "This has been a negotiation that has been very amicable and very professional. It's just a part of the process."

Los Angeles Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez will either tie the arbitration record or break it after going to a hearing Thursday. K-Rod, eligible for free agency after this season, asked a panel of Stephen Goldberg, Elizabeth Neumeier and Steven Wolf for a raise from $7.1 million to $12.5 million. The Angels argued for $10 million.

Howard batted .268 with 47 homers and 136 RBIs last season in what was considered a down year for him. In 2006 he had 58 homers, 149 RBIs and a .313 average, one of the best seasons by a second-year player.

The 28-year-old first baseman has less than three years service time in the majors, partly because his path was blocked by Jim Thome. An injury to Thome during the 2005 season paved the way for Howard, who had 22 homers and 63 RBIs in just 88 games to win the NL Rookie of the Year award.

The case was decided by Goldberg, Robert Bailey and Jack Clarke. The panel listened for nearly five hours as each side presented its arguments Wednesday in St. Petersburg.

Howard was represented by his agent, Casey Close. Houston Astros president Tal Smith, who represents many teams, handled the Phillies' side.

Amaro negotiated with Close right until the hearing began, but couldn't agree on a deal. Howard can't become a free agent until after the 2011 season. It's likely the Phillies will try to sign him to a long-term contract much sooner.

"We negotiated right up to the courthouse steps with Ryan in a variety of ways and unfortunately we couldn't get it done," Amaro said.

If the team upset or insulted Howard at the hearing, he didn't let on.

"I'll leave what happened in there in there," he said, adding he'll leave his options open for a longer contract. "I'm sure there's going to be talks and discussions. As for now, I'm not going to focus on it. For now, I'm focusing on getting my game right."

He might have to pay off a few debts, too.

When Howard joined the Phillies, he spent time living with Jimmy Rollins. The reigning NL MVP figures his former housemate owes him more than just chores.

"I don't want Ryan to do the dishes anymore. He needs to pay me," Rollins joked.

Owners previously defeated pitchers Brian Fuentes of Colorado, Jose Valverde of Houston and Chien-Ming Wang of the New York Yankees, along with Washington infielder Felipe Lopez and Astros infielder Mark Loretta.

Rodriguez and New York Mets pitcher Oliver Perez are the only remaining arbitration cases.

Philadelphia hadn't gone to arbitration since defeating Travis Lee in 2001 and had been 7-0 in arbitration decisions.

Tiger overcomes Holmes in Match Play

Tiger Woods produced another incredible comeback in the desert Wednesday, playing the final five holes in 5-under par to turn what looked like certain defeat into an unlikely victory in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Woods fell behind J.B. Holmes on the first hole when his tee shot sailed into the desert and out of play, and he was three holes down with five to play after taking another penalty shot from the desert.

But he turned it around quickly, winning the next four holes, capped by a 35-foot eagle putt on the 17th. He escaped with a 1-up victory on the 18th when Holmes missed an 8-foot birdie putt.

"I just kept telling myself, even when I was 3 down, there's still a chance to win in regulation," Woods said. "I was just going to have to start playing a hell of a lot better. Then all of a sudden, putts started falling in from everywhere."

It started with a 15-foot birdie on the 14th, followed by a meaningless 18-foot birdie on the 15th, when he only needed two putts to win the hole. The first overhand fist pump came at the 16th when he made a third straight birdie from just over 20 feet to square it for the first time since they shook hands on the tee to start the match.

The loudest roar came on the par-5 17th, which Woods reached in two with a 5-wood from the rough. He holed his long eagle putt for his first lead of the match, then held on to avoid what would have been a shocking departure.

Holmes, whose big drives kept pressure on Woods the entire match, was helpless at the end.

"I got beat," Holmes said. "Playing the best player in the world, 3 up with five to play, I just said, 'Don't do anything stupid. Make him beat you.' And he did."

Woods shot 30 on the back nine in his first tournament since he shot 31 on the back nine of the Dubai Desert Classic to overcome a four-shot deficit and win his fourth straight official tournament.

"For some reason, momentum just goes your way," Woods said. "Sometimes the run is early in the round, sometimes middle or late. It just so happened that in the last two rounds, it was late. But at least it happened today. At least I had a run. I wasn't playing good enough to win the match unless I had a run."

None of the top four seeds had an easy time at Dove Mountain.

Ernie Els, the No. 4 seed who changed his mind last week and decided to enter a tournament that has been so vexing, shot 40 on his opening nine and was soundly beaten, 6 and 5, by Jonathan Byrd. It was fourth straight time Els has lost in the first round.

Second-seeded Phil Mickelson, the winner Sunday at Riviera, held off Pat Perez 1 up. Third-seeded Steve Stricker needed 20 holes to beat Daniel Chopra, a small measure of revenge. Chopra beat him in a four-hole playoff at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last month.

Four of the top eight seeds were gone after the first day of the Match Play, one of the most chaotic days in golf. Jim Furyk (No. 6) continued to struggle with his game, losing to Colin Montgomerie, 3 and 2; Justin Rose (7) fell to Rod Pampling, 2 and 1; and Rory Sabbatini, who played college golf at Arizona, lost to Bradley Dredge, 4 and 3.

"You can never really fancy your chances in this format," Lee Westwood said after making eight birdies in a 3-and-2 victory over Brandt Snedeker. "This is the kind of week where you unpack, but you don't move stuff too far away from your suitcase."

Woods appeared to have his bags packed.

He had said on Tuesday that when players fall behind two or three holes, they generally lose. That looked certain when Holmes took a 3-up lead through five holes, and he staved off one charge with a birdie on the ninth to stay 2 holes ahead.

Woods had to take an unplayable lie in the desert on the 13th, swatting the bag with his driver after taking his drop.

Then came a charge that sent cheers resounding across the desert fauna, starting with his birdie on the 14th. Holmes three-putted from the back of the 15th to hand Woods' the next hole, and appeared to have the advantage on the 16th when Woods right foot slipped on his downswing, and his shot spun back 20 feet below the hole.

"It was just one of those things where everything kind of turned my way," Woods said. "Very, very fortunate to advance."

Next up is Arron Oberholser, who is playing with an injured shoulder. He made his '08 debut by beating Mike Weir, 3 and 1.

The Woods-Holmes match was among only eight that went the distance, the fewest number since 2002.

The blowouts came from Woody Austin, who birdied his first four holes against Toru Taniguchi; Niclas Fasth, who holed a bunker shot for eagle on No. 1 and buried Richard Green of Australia; and Byrd making Els wish he had taken that holiday in South Africa.

All won by a 6-and-5 margin.

"You just don't know what to expect in match play," Fasth said. "It's like flipping a coin. It really doesn't matter who you play, except that nobody wants to play Tiger in the first round."

For the longest time, Woods looked like a pushover.

Nuggets halt Celtics' winning streak

Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points, Allen Iverson added 28 and the Denver Nuggets spoiled the return of Kevin Garnett, holding on for a 124-118 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.

Denver also halted the Celtics' dominance over Western Conference teams this season, snapping their string of 16 straight wins.

"I don't look at it as we beat the best team in the league, a win is a win," Iverson said. "Obviously, we can compete with anybody. No one seems to know how much talent we have. We have enough talent to scare some people, but we just have to bring it night in and night out."

Garnett, who had been out since Jan. 25 with a strained abdominal muscle, wasn't his flashy self, finishing with four points on 2-of-7 shooting in close to 21 minutes of action. He also had eight rebounds.

"It was good to get back," said Garnett, who planned to play Wednesday night at Golden State. "It felt good."

Garnett said he was feeling a little winded toward the end. He chalked it up to the Mile High City.

"There wasn't a lot of air out there," he said.

Paul Pierce scored 24 points, Rajon Rondo added 22 and Leon Powe had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who had won five straight.

Ray Allen, fresh off his 28-point performance at Sunday's All-Star game, scored 14 of his 20 points in the first quarter. He went 2-for-10 after the opening 12 minutes.

Garnett cut a once 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to 105-104 on a dunk with 3:35 remaining, but Denver reeled off six straight points, including a 3-pointer by Marcus Camby, to build the lead back up.

Camby finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds and Kenyon Martin had 19 points for Denver, which won for the fourth time in five games.

Garnett came in averaging 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds this season, and anchoring a Celtics defense that's allowing an NBA-low 89.4 points per game.

However, the Nuggets dictated the pace of play, scoring the most points against the Celtics this season. The previous high was 114 points scored by Toronto and Cleveland.

Linas Kleiza hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the final quarter to give Denver a 101-91 lead. Kleiza finished with 11 points. He didn't immediately come out of the locker room after halftime due to a sprained left ankle.

Notes:@ The Suns and Nuggets will play an outdoor game in Indian Wells, Calif., during the 2008-09 preseason. Camby said he may have to work on his jumper to make it more aerodynamic. "I have a high release — it's probably not too good outdoors," he said. ... Celtics F Brian Scalabrine was out with a strained right groin. ... Boston coach Doc Rivers had to leave practice the day before because of an illness. He said he was feeling better. ... Denver is 22-6 at the Pepsi Center this season.

Augustin's 27 lead No. 7 Texas over A&M

D.J. Augustin scored 27 points and No. 7 Texas rolled over No. 22 Texas A&M 77-50 on Monday night for the Longhorns' sixth straight win.

The rout was a complete reversal of A&M's dominant 17-point win in College Station on Jan. 30, which was Texas' last loss. The Longhorns (22-4, 9-2 Big 12) ran away with this one from the start with a 16-4 run to open the game and a front line that matched the Aggies' muscle for 40 minutes.

Augustin was dazzling in the first half, nearly outscoring A&M (20-6, 6-5) by himself with 17 points as Texas built a 39-18 lead. The Aggies looked surprised by the Longhorns' physical play under the basket — Texas blocked 12 shots — and a stifling defense that held A&M to 19 percent shooting in the first half and their lowest scoring output of the season.

Damion James added 15 points and nine rebounds for Texas, which has used the winning streak to earn a tie for first in the Big 12.

Josh Carter scored 11 points to lead A&M, which trailed by 20 points almost the entire second half.

From the start, the teams traded bruising screens, blocked shots, dunks and menacing stares between the big men in a physical contest typical of this heated rivalry.

Texas charged up the sellout crowd with its opening burst behind four 3-pointers and a pair of blocked shots. James, who was harshly criticized by Barnes after a poor effort in the first game against the Aggies, grabbed Texas' first two rebounds and hit the Longhorns' first 3-pointer of the game.

James and Augustin seemed to be everywhere in the first half.

In one sequence, Connor Atchley started a fast break with a steal and fed a quick outlet to Augustin before James finished it with two-handed dunk. A minute later, James blocked a shot from behind, then flew in to snag the rebound off the backboard to start another break.

Augustin made two 3-pointers, then fed a tricky pass in the lane for an easy layup. When he pulled up for a soft jumper in the lane over Bryan Davis, Texas led 37-14 and Augustin had outscored the Aggies by himself.

Texas closed the half when Augustin, who had nine assists, split two defenders with a reverse dribble and tossed up a pass to James. Instead of a dunk that an Aggie defender leaped to block, James used the backboard for an easy layup and a 21-point halftime lead.

Misfiring from the outside, the Aggies tried to use their muscle inside to start the second half. Three quick fouls and two more blocked shots, including one when Atchley stopped 7-footer DeAndre Jordan, left A&M coach Mark Turgeon rubbing his temples during the first timeout of the half.

If Texas was giving him a headache, it only got worse. Augustin hit another off-balance jumper and Justin Mason was left wide open for a 3-pointer that put Texas up 51-27.

Things were going so badly for A&M that when Jordan snagged a rebound deep in the lane and tried to tomahawk a dunk, he caught the front of the rim and ball went flying back up in the air. When Jordan finally got his dunk five minutes later, it came after Atchley fell down in the lane.

Texas hit nine 3-pointers while the Aggies were 1-of-14 from long range and went blow-for-blow with the Aggies inside as each team scored 28 points in the paint.

Wake Forest shocks 2nd-ranked Duke 86-73

Jeff Teague scored 26 points and Wake Forest shocked No. 2 Duke 86-73 on Sunday night, ending the Blue Devils' 12-game winning streak and giving first-year coach Dino Gaudio his first big victory as the heir of the late Skip Prosser's program.

James Johnson added 24 points for the Demon Deacons (16-8, 6-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who claimed their first victory against a top-five team since they also knocked off the then-No. 4 Blue Devils on Feb. 2, 2005.

Wake Forest won its third straight, improved to 14-1 on its home court and snapped a five-game losing streak in the series on the strength of a 17-2 run midway through the second half and some smothering defense, forcing the Blue Devils into a season-high 22 turnovers.

The Demon Deacons held Duke (22-2, 10-1) without a field goal for more than 7 minutes in building the first double-figure lead of the game for either team, with Teague's three-point play with 4:58 left making it 72-62.

After Kyle Singler's layup at the 11:20 mark gave the Blue Devils their largest lead of the half at 60-55, they missed 11 consecutive shots before Paulus ended the drought with a 3 with just over 4 minutes left. They didn't get closer than six points the rest of the way.

Freshman Nolan Smith scored a season-high 21 points, DeMarcus Nelson had 18 points and Singler finished with 17 for the Blue Devils, who had all five starters foul out in the closing moments in losing for the fourth time in five visits to Winston-Salem.

Jamie Skeen added 10 points for Wake Forest, which came out determined to honor Prosser's memory and give Gaudio a signature win, rocking the Joel Coliseum like it hadn't been in years.

With students spelling out "WIN 4 SKIP" in body paint and the players loudly chanting "Dino" in the hallway beforehand, Wake Forest came out firing and opened the game with an 18-9 run. Teague scored 11 points during the burst, capping it with his third 3-pointer 5 1/2 minutes into the game. The Demon Deacons led for most of the first half, with Skeen's stickback at the buzzer giving them a 47-42 lead.

Howard soars in spectacular dunk contest

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Dwight Howard — super slam dunk champion. A red cape trailing behind him, Orlando's man of steel made like Superman and won perhaps the best dunk contest, definitely the most creative, in NBA history to close a memorable All-Star Saturday.

Using a variety of props as well as teammate Jameer Nelson, Howard scored perfect 50s from judges on his first two dunks before the contest was turned over to fan voting for the first time in the final round.

Fans, too, picked the 6-foot-11 Howard, who dispelled an old dunking myth: Big men can fly high.

"It's really for the big men," Howard said. "Everybody always says, big men can't jump and big men don't look good dunking. I just tried to add a little bit of my personality. With me being so tall, I knew it was going to be tough. I tried to play to the crowd and have fun."

In any other year, Minnesota's Gerald Green would have easily walked away with his second straight dunking crown, but he was upstaged by the amazingly athletic Howard, whose performance has to rank up there with anything Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter or even tiny Spud Webb ever did above the basket.

The dunk contest, bland for so many years as the game's high risers seemed to run out of ideas, was freshened up by some of the most creative aerial assaults in memory.

Howard, Green, Toronto's Jamario Moon and Memphis' Rudy Gay all used tape, ladders, teammates and even a tasty dessert to show their stuff.

"I think the dunk contest is back," said Howard, who was disappointed when he failed to make it out of the first round last year. "I don't think people want to see the same old dunks. They want to see something else, see some spice."

Howard started things off with a dunk he has been practicing for two years. Standing on the baseline, he tossed the ball off the reverse side of the backboard, caught it with both hands, and after peering through the glass at the rim, dunked left-handed.

The crowd roared and a celebrity panel of judges including Magic Johnson, Karl Malone as well as Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving and Darryl Dawkins — three of the game's most famed dunkers — all gave him perfect 10s.

Not to be outdone, Green tried to blow the field away. Literally.

After Timberwolves teammate Rashad McCants climbed up and placed a cupcake with a single candle in it on the back of the rim, Green soared in and puffed out the flame before throwing down a nasty left-hander.

"At first I thought he was going to take the cupcake, eat it and then dunk it," Howard said. "I thought he would have won with that."

In the second round, McCants sat on the top step of the ladder and handed the ball off to a rising Green, who crushed another dunk.

That's when Howard stripped off his blue Magic jersey to reveal an "S" on his chest. As the crowd stood, he tied the cape around his massive shoulders.

"I didn't have time to get the telephone booth," he quipped.

Nelson placed a piece of tape to mark Howard's take-off spot, and after a running start from near mid-court, the Magic's main man took off just inside the free-throw line and fired down the ball with authority.

In the final round, Green performed two acrobatic dunks, one in only green socks after removing his sneakers. But neither of those could top Howard's last two efforts.

First, Howard bounced the ball off the floor, tapped it left-handed off the backboard and dunked with his right hand. For Howard's finale, Nelson affixed a miniature Orlando backboard next to the rim and balanced a ball on it.

Howard flew in from the right side, picked the ball off cleanly and slammed it in. He then only had to wait for fans to text message a result that seemed to be a no-brainer. Howard won in a landslide, receiving 78 percent of the vote.

Earlier, Jason Kapono showed nobody's close to him from long distance.

The NBA's best 3-point shooter this season, the Toronto forward with the silky touch won his second straight 3-point Shootout, tying a 22-year-old record with a final round of 25.

Kapono missed his first two shots in the last round before dropping 10 straight. By the time he approached the last rack of balls, Kapono had already clinched the win and didn't have to fire up another shot.

But he knocked down a few more anyway, matching three-time winner Craig Hodges' mark of 25 set in 1986. When his final shot swished through, Kapono, who made all five money balls — worth two points apiece — and went 20-for-25 in the last round, slapped high-fives with other All-Stars and hugged Raptors teammate Chris Bosh.

Kapono wasn't sure what he'll do with his second shiny trophy.

"I'm thinking in the bathroom or something," he said. "Maybe every time I take a shower or I go in and brush my teeth I'll start my day out staring at this beautiful trophy."

Cleveland's Daniel Gibson, who made 11 3-pointers in Friday night's rookie challenge finished second. He scored 17 points in the final round, finishing three points ahead of Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, who replaced the injured Bryant.

Kapono almost didn't get out of the first round. He was in danger of elimination as he approached the last rack but came through in the clutch by sinking five straight shots to advance.

In the Skills Challenge, Utah's Deron Williams was flawless and fast.

With a nearly perfect run through an obstacle course of dribbling, passing and shooting, the Jazz point guard defeated New Orleans playmaker Chris Paul in the final round.

Williams blazed up, down and around the floor of the New Orleans Arena in 25.5 seconds, a new record for the six-year-old event. Cheered on by his home crowd, Paul, who completed the circuit in 29.9 seconds in the first round, finished in 31.2 seconds for second place.

In the night's first event, San Antonio's Becky Hammon, David Robinson and Tim Duncan won the Shooting Stars competition. It featured three-person teams consisting of an NBA player, a WNBA player and a former NBA great from the same city. Contestants had to make six shots with the final one a heave from mid-court.

Indiana probes accusations against coach

Indiana's athletic director has seven days to investigate the NCAA's accusations of recruiting violations against coach Kelvin Sampson and then recommend what steps the university should take, the school's president said Friday.

"I am deeply disappointed by these allegations," Indiana president Michael McRobbie said during a news conference. "I fully understand the desire by many people for us to move quickly to bring this situation to resolution and we intend to do just that."

He said he has authorized athletic director Rick Greenspan to head a panel that includes attorneys and other athletic officials to examine the NCAA allegations. The NCAA said in a report Wednesday that Sampson and his staff violated telephone recruiting restrictions imposed because of his previous violations at Oklahoma, then lied about it to the school and NCAA investigators.

The allegations of five major NCAA infractions set off widespread debate over what the university should do next and whether Sampson should continue coaching at Indiana, which hasn't had a major NCAA rules violation in nearly half a century.

McRobbie said he does not have preconceived ideas of what Greenspan's conclusions will be, so he is not sure what actions the university will take.

"Let there be no doubt, these are serious allegations of misconduct," McRobbie said.

He said officials must balance a prompt resolution with the need to be fair to Sampson and his staff.

McNamee's lawyer predicts Clemens pardon

One of Brian McNamee's lawyers predicted Roger Clemens will be pardoned by President Bush, saying some Republicans treated his client harshly because of the pitcher's friendship with the Bush family.

Richard Emery made the claims Thursday, a day after a congressional hearing broke down along party lines. Many Democrats were skeptical of Clemens' denials he used performance-enhancing drugs and Republicans questioned the character of McNamee, the personal trainer who made the accusations against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

"It would be the easiest thing in the world for George W. Bush, given the corrupt proclivities of his administration, to say Roger Clemens is an American hero, Roger Clemens helped children," Emery said in a telephone interview. "It's my belief they have some reason to believe they can get a pardon."

During Wednesday's session before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Clemens repeated his denials under oath, which could lead to criminal charges if federal prosecutors conclude he made false statements or obstructed Congress.

"I'm not aware of Mr. Clemens having been charged with anything," White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said after being told of Emery's remarks.

Emery cited Bush's decision last year to commute the 2 1/2-year prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his vice president's former top aide. Libby was convicted in the case of the leaked identity of a CIA operative.

In addition, Emery said he thinks Bush would pardon Clemens even before an indictment or conviction, as President Ford did with President Nixon.

During the hearing, Clemens cited his friendship with Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, a baseball fan who regularly attends Houston Astros' games. Clemens said he was on a recent hunting trip when the elder Bush called with words of support.

"When all this happened, the former president of the United States found me in a deer blind in south Texas and expressed his concerns that this was unbelievable, and stay strong and hold your head up high," Clemens testified.

Emery said as he thought about the testimony overnight, Clemens' reference to the call from the elder Bush convinced him the questioning by Republicans was a concerted effort.

"All the pieces fell into place given his friendship, his personal friendship with the Bush family," Emery said. "They have some belief that even if he's prosecuted, he will never have to serve jail time or face a trail. This is a charade we're going through."

IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky attended the hearing and watched from the second row. Novitzky has been a part of the BALCO prosecution team that secured an indictment against Barry Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds testified before a grand jury in 2003 and denied that he knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Emery praised Clemens' lawyers, Rusty Hardin and Lanny Breuer, as knowledgeable and said the prospect of a pardon was the only explanation that allowed the pitcher to repeat his denials under oath.

"It's the only reason lawyers worth their salt would allow their client to run into the buzz saw of Jeff Novitzky and the potential prosecution, tampering and lying to a federal official," Emery said.

Hardin dismissed Emery's theory as without merit.

"Richard Emery just has to quit smoking his own dope," Hardin said.

A spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa of California, a Republican who was critical of McNamee during the hearing, said Wednesday's partisan tone came about because GOP members felt the hearing was overly focused on Clemens instead of the broader concerns raised in the Mitchell Report on drug use in baseball.

"It's clear Democrats had expected a government-funded TV show trial, and now they're whining that Republicans didn't want to play," said the spokesman, Frederick Hill. "The hearing was supposed to be about the Mitchell Report. The Democrats are at fault for focusing on individual wrongdoing instead of the validity of the Mitchell Report."

Emery had harsh criticism for Republican Reps. Dan Burton of Indiana, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Christopher Shays of Connecticut and Issa. Shays called McNamee a "drug dealer" and Burton accused McNamee of telling "lie after lie after lie after lie."

"It was disgusting and despicable behavior," Emery said. "It was clear to me they were carrying someone's water."

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who said he believed McNamee, was concerned about the apparent Republican-Democratic divide.

"Of all the things to become partisan over, this was the wrong one," Cummings said. "What we needed to be doing was to be in search of truth. And I think that when you are truly in search of truth, we need to put the partisan shoes at the door and walk in without them."

___

AP White House Correspondent Terence Hunt and AP Sports Writer Joseph White contributed to this report.

Andy Pettitte admits using HGH in 2004

Andy Pettitte felt caught in the middle between his friends Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee. In the end, Pettitte's conscience told him which side to choose.

Pettitte told congressional lawyers that Clemens informed him nearly a decade ago he had used human growth hormone and said McNamee let him know in 2003 or 2004 that Clemens had used steroids. Pettitte also admitted his own use of HGH was not limited to 2002, as he previously said, but that he also took injections in 2004 after obtaining the substance from his ailing father.

"I have to tell you all the truth," Pettitte said in his deposition last week, which was released after Wednesday's congressional hearing. "I have to live with myself. And one day I have to give an account to God and not to nobody else of what I've done in my life. And that's why I've said and shared the stuff with y'all that I've shared with y'all today that I wouldn't like to share with y'all."

McNamee, personal trainer for Clemens and Pettitte, said in the Mitchell Report that Clemens used steroids and HGH, an accusation the seven-time Cy Young Award winner denies. McNamee also said Pettitte used HGH.

On Dec. 15, two days after the Mitchell Report was released, Pettitte said he used HGH for two days in 2002 while with the New York Yankees. Last week, he went further, in a deposition for congressional investigators and an affidavit submitted in exchange for being excused from Wednesday's hearing.

"In 2004, when I tore the flexor tendon in my pitching arm, I again used HGH two times in one day out of frustration and in a futile attempt to recover. Unfortunately, I needed surgery on the arm later in the year. I regret these lapses in judgment," Pettitte said in his affidavit.

Pettitte pitched for his hometown Houston Astros from 2004-06 before rejoining the Yankees last year.

"My dad had been using it," Pettitte said in his deposition, describing his father's heart condition. "He ended up bringing me two syringes over to my house. And you know, I injected myself once in the morning and once at night. ... I did it for that day. And to this day, I don't know why. ... I was desperate and you know I really knew that it wasn't going to help me. My flexor tendon was already torn. I knew I needed surgery. I would just say just out of desperation I tried to do it again. But that was the extent of it."

Pettitte's lawyers said he will speak publicly when he arrives at spring training with the Yankees. Pitchers and catchers were due to report Thursday, but Pettitte asked general manager Brian Cashman for a few extra days. Cashman granted the request and said Pettitte will report to camp no later than Monday.

In his affidavit, Pettitte said Clemens acknowledged to him long ago that he used HGH.

"In 1999 or 2000, I had a conversation with Roger Clemens in which Roger told me that he had taken human growth hormone This conversation occurred at his gym in Memorial, Texas. He did not tell me where he got the HGH or from whom, but he did tell me that it helped the body recover," the affidavit said.

"Shortly after my conversation with Roger, I spoke with Brian McNamee. Only he and I were parties to the conversation. I asked Brian about HGH and told him that Roger said he had used it. Brian McNamee became angry. He told me that Roger should not have told me about his HGH use because it was supposed to be confidential. While I don't remember if Brian told me that he supplied Roger with HGH, it certainly was my impression from the conversation that he did."

In the affidavit, Pettitte said Clemens backtracked when the subject of HGH came up again in conversation in 2005, around the time the same House committee held a hearing on steroids in baseball.

Pettitte said in the affidavit that he asked Clemens in 2005 what he would do if asked about performance-enhancing substances by reporters. Pettitte said Clemens responded by saying Pettitte misunderstood the previous exchange and that, in fact, Clemens had been talking about HGH use by his wife in the original conversation.

Pettitte also recounted in his deposition how McNamee told him during a 2003 or 2004 conversation at Pettitte's gym that Clemens also had used steroids.

"I can just remember, you know, Mac telling me that Roger, you know, that he had gotten steroids for Roger," Pettitte said. "That surprised me."

Pettitte's affidavit and deposition often were cited by members of Congress who questioned Clemens under oath Wednesday, with Rep. Elijah Cummings saying it was the decisive factor in his decision to believe McNamee. California Democrat Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, read from affidavits by Pettitte and his wife, Laura, supporting McNamee's accusations. Laura said her husband had told her contemporaneously of his knowledge of Clemens' alleged use.

Clemens was asked whether he considers Pettitte an honest person, and Clemens said yes.

"Andy Pettitte is my friend. He was my friend before this. He will be my friend after this and again. I think Andy has misheard," Clemens said. "I think he misremembers."

Waxman commended Pettitte for making his admissions.

"Mr. Pettitte's consistency makes him a role model on and off the field," Waxman said.

___

On the Net:

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID1743

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AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick in New York and AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in Tampa, Fla., contributed to this report.

Busch, Stewart handed 6-race probation

NASCAR placed drivers Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart on probation for six races Tuesday, beginning with the Daytona 500. The punishment stems from a confrontation between the two former series champions, who wrecked in practice last week and then carried it into the NASCAR officials' trailer.

While nobody involved in the incident would confirm that Stewart actually punched Busch during a meeting with officials, as is widely believed, NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton inferred that Busch's penalty was for what happened on the track and Stewart's was for what happened afterward.

"The accident was a racing incident," Pemberton said. "How they conducted themselves after that, after the accident and coming onto pit road and from there through the rest of the evening is why the penalties were equal."

NASCAR officials came into this season saying drivers would be given more latitude to show emotion this year, and the relatively light nature of Tuesday's punishments would seem to support that.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said the measures would have been more severe if Stewart and Busch had rubbed fenders while pit crew members were working on pit road, endangering their safety.

"We took a lot into consideration," Poston said. "The drivers do have greater latitude, pit road was closed, there was no personnel on the track. It's an emotional sport, there's emotion on the track. They should not have been banging each other after the accident. But they were not banging each other on a 'hot' pit road. That is very different and would have been dealt with much more severely."

But even as they take a more permissive attitude toward driver misbehavior, Poston said NASCAR officials are going to begin making probation more meaningful.

In the past, officials haven't necessarily punished a driver more harshly if he misbehaves while on probation. Poston said that's going to change.

"In the past we've used 'probation for the rest of the year,' but it's never been something that's been exercised. It never seemed to really mean anything," Poston said. "Now we are going to take action. If you are on probation for an altercation with another driver, and you have a second incident during that probation period, we are going to take action."

Rocker: Rangers advised on steroids use

John Rocker claims he flunked a drug test ordered by Major League Baseball in 2000 and that he, Alex Rodriguez and other Texas Rangers were advised by management and union doctors following a spring training lecture on how to effectively use steroids.

"Bud Selig knew in the year 2000 John Rocker was taking the juice," the former pitcher said Monday of the baseball commissioner on Atlanta radio station 680. "Didn't do anything about it."

Rocker was suspended for the first 14 days of the 2000 season by Selig for making racial and ethnic remarks the commissioner deemed insensitive. The penalty, originally set to cover 28 days, was reduced by an arbitrator following a grievance.

"As part of the disciplinary process, Mr. Rocker was referred to the confidential Employee Assistance Program," Major League Baseball said in a statement. "Any test of Mr. Rocker would have been conducted by professionals who ran the EAP. Those professionals were obligated to maintain the confidentiality of the result and to use it in developing a treatment and education program for Mr. Rocker. Further discipline was not an option legally available to Major League Baseball at that time."

Rocker said that doctors from management and the players' association, following a spring training talk with the Texas Rangers about steroids and other topics, pulled himself, A-Rod, Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez aside. Rocker was with the Rangers in 2002.

"Look guys, if you take one kind of steroid, you don't triple stack them and take them 10 months out of the year like Lyle Alzado did," Rocker said the doctors told them. "If you do it responsibly, it's not going to hurt you."

Rocker did not identify the doctors.

Baseball did not have a drug-testing agreement between management and the players' union until September 2002 and did not have random testing with penalties until 2004.

Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the players' association, declined comment.

On the Net:

http://www.680thefan.com/audio/John%20Rocker%20021108.mp3

North Carolina tops Clemson in double-OT

Tyler Hansbrough scored 13 of his 39 points in the first and second overtimes to help No. 3 North Carolina rally from a 15-point deficit and beat Clemson 103-93 on Sunday night.

Wayne Ellington added 28 points for the Tar Heels (22-2, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who needed a frantic comeback to keep alive their perfect record against the Tigers in Chapel Hill. North Carolina has won all 53 meetings, setting an NCAA record for the longest home winning streak against one opponent.

Cliff Hammonds scored 31 points to lead the Tigers (17-6, 5-4), who seemed on their way to ending the long-running streak. They led by 11 points with about 3 minutes left in regulation before the Tar Heels ran off a 14-3 run to force the extra periods.

Hansbrough came up a point shy of matching his career-high, going 11-for-16 from the field and 17-of-19 from the foul line while pulling down 13 rebounds. Meanwhile, Ellington — who scored 36 points and hit a last-second 3-pointer to beat Clemson in January — came up with a tough driving shot past Raymond Sykes in the final minute of the second OT to help seal it.

Even Quentin Thomas, the one-time third-stringer pressed into duty with point guard Ty Lawson out with an injury, came up with some key plays for the Tar Heels. Thomas hit a driving shot to force the first overtime and two free throws to force the second.

It was an impressive way to bounce back from Wednesday's 89-78 home loss to second-ranked Duke, and it came with Lawson — who sprained his left ankle last weekend at Florida State — sitting on the bench for the second straight game.

Hansbrough picked up where he left off after tallying 28 points and 18 rebounds against the Blue Devils. He knocked down a straightaway shot off a feed from Thomas to put the Tar Heels ahead to stay, then hit two free throws to make it 94-90 with 3:28 left in the second overtime.

The 6-foot-9 forward also came up with a big defensive play near midcourt, knocking the ball loose from 6-6 guard David Potter and running down the loose ball before drawing the foul. He drained those two free throws to make it 98-93 with 1:33 left.

It didn't look like a comeback was possible early.

North Carolina committed turnovers on its first five possessions, fell behind 8-0 in the first 2 minutes and managed just nine points in the first 9 minutes against the Tigers' fullcourt pressure. Those disastrous opening minutes put a short-handed Tar Heel team already trying to bounce back from the emotionally draining Duke loss in catch-up mode most of the way.

The Tigers, meanwhile, looked relaxed and completely unburdened by their past in Chapel Hill. They led by 11 points at halftime and handed North Carolina its largest deficit of the year in a second half that left the home crowd nothing short of stunned.

Yet the Tar Heels clawed back in it with a frantic rally, getting consecutive 3-pointers from Danny Green to make it 82-80 with 1:10 left. Then, after freshman Demontez Stitt missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 36 seconds left, the Tar Heels tied it on Thomas' driving score with 25.4 seconds left in regulation.

Lawyer: Clemens wasn't at Canseco party

A lawyer for Roger Clemens said Saturday the pitcher can prove he didn't attend a June 1998 party at Jose Canseco's home described by Brian McNamee in the Mitchell Report.

According to McNamee, Clemens first raised the subject of steroids not long after McNamee saw Canseco and Clemens meeting during the party.

Clemens' side has turned over evidence to congressional investigators, including an affidavit from Canseco, to support that the pitcher wasn't present at Canseco's home that day, the attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Hardin said video footage from telecasts of baseball games around the time of the party also were given to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. During the telecasts, Hardin said, TV announcers can be heard discussing Canseco's party and noting that Clemens wasn't there.

A person familiar with the committee's investigation confirmed to the AP the affidavit and video were turned over and are in Clemens' favor. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the investigation.

The House panel is examining former Senate majority leader George Mitchell's report on drug use in baseball, and a public hearing Wednesday is expected to focus on Clemens' denials of what his former personal trainer, McNamee, alleged. McNamee told Mitchell he injected Clemens at least 16 times with steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

"One of the things the committee is going to hear on Wednesday is about this party that is supposed to have started this whole thing," Hardin said. "Roger wasn't even at this party."

Asked about what Hardin said, one of McNamee's attorneys, Richard Emery, replied: "It may be that he wasn't there for the whole time, but he was there at some point. ... His kids were there, his wife was there, and he was there."

The first mention of Clemens' name in the Mitchell Report is on page 167. On the very next page comes McNamee's account of "a lunch party that Canseco hosted at his home in Miami."

"McNamee stated that, during this luncheon, he observed Clemens, Canseco, and another person he did not know meeting inside Canseco's house, although McNamee did not personally attend that meeting," the Mitchell Report says.

The report goes on to say that Canseco told Mitchell's staff "he had numerous conversations with Clemens about the benefits of Deca-Durabolin and Winstrol and how to 'cycle' and 'stack' steroids."

The report continues: "Toward the end of the road trip which included the Marlins series, or shortly after the Blue Jays returned home to Toronto, Clemens approached McNamee and, for the first time, brought up the subject of using steroids. Clemens said that he was not able to inject himself, and he asked for McNamee's help."

Hardin said that last week Clemens' camp sent a lawyer to interview Canseco, whose book about steroids in baseball, "Juiced," prompted Congress to hold hearings in March 2005. According to Hardin, Canseco said Clemens was not at the party.

Canseco did not immediately respond to a telephone message Saturday night.

His lawyer, Robert Saunooke, said he was unaware of an affidavit but added that he could confirm Canseco has spoken to lawyers for Clemens recently.

As described by Hardin, the video footage turned over to the committee includes one announcer making reference to Canseco's party and saying Clemens didn't show up. Another announcer, Hardin said, then adds that he saw Clemens playing golf that day.

Hardin said Clemens has a receipt for greens fees from that day.

Hardin hopes the committee will show the video during Wednesday's hearing, he said, "and let the public see how dramatic and clear it is that Roger obviously was not at the very party that McNamee is testifying started this whole thing. It's the foundation of it."

Clemens raised the discrepancy about the party during at least some of his various face-to-face meetings with representatives Thursday and Friday.

"He told me he was never there," said Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a Pennsylvania Democrat. "They have physical, hard evidence that he was never there."

Kanjorski was one of seven lawmakers Clemens with Friday, raising the two-day total to 19 — nearly half of the 41 on the committee.

"Roger made it clear with all the congressmen he was talking to: He wasn't challenging the Mitchell Report," Hardin said. "He was simply challenging the part of it that dealt with him that's based on what McNamee says."

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

MLB steroids dealer gets probation

Former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski avoided jail and was sentenced Friday to five years' probation after cooperating with baseball's investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Radomski was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston to pay an $18,575 fine after he admitted selling steroids, human growth hormone and speed to dozens of current and former major leaguers.

"These are very, very serious offenses," said Illston, who lectured that some of Radomski's best customers served as role models to children.

Radomski pleaded guilty last April to distributing steroids and laundering money from 1995 until Dec. 14, 2005, when agents raided his Long Island home.

Radomski led investigators to Brian McNamee, the former Yankees strength coach who claimed he injected Roger Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times from 1998-01, an allegation the seven-time Cy Young Award winner vehemently denies.

As part of his plea agreement, Radomski was required to cooperate with federal investigators and former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, who headed baseball's doping probe.

Radomski is required to continue that cooperation. He is scheduled to testify along with Clemens and McNamee on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"It sounds like Radomski provided a lot of information that was helpful to the government," said Earl Ward, McNamee's lead lawyer. "They rewarded him for that."

Radomski's lawyer, John Reilly, said outside court that federal officials interviewed Radomski under oath Thursday, but declined to say whether Radomski was asked about Clemens.

Radomski, who had no prior offenses, had faced no more than six months in prison. Assistant U.S. attorney Matt Parrella recommended that Radomski receive probation because of his extensive cooperation.

There's a culture of "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" when it comes to steroid abuse in sports and Radomski's naming of names "is at least a first step to turning that around," Parrella said.

The 38-year-old Radomski walked timidly into court about 30 minutes before his case was called and was joined in the gallery by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, who sat next to Radomski.

Radomski said little when the judge asked him for his thoughts before meting out his sentence. He apologized to his family and friends and asked the judge for forgiveness.

"Our privacy has been seriously impacted," he said. In a thick New York accent, he declined comment outside court.

Richard Emery, another on McNamee's lawyers, said Clemens and the pitcher's lead attorney should learn from the way Radomski was treated by prosecutors.

"Rusty Hardin and Roger Clemens ought to listen to Matt Parrella loudly and clearly and understand the jeopardy they're putting Roger Clemens in by not cooperating and telling the truth," Emery said.

Radomski's downfall began in February 2005 when a person charged with real estate fraud who had a baseball contact agreed to work undercover with the FBI in exchange for leniency. The informant's contact put that person in touch with Radomski. The informant bought steroids and made numerous telephone calls to Radomski throughout 2005, with federal investigators watching and listening the entire time.

The informant told investigators that Radomski became the biggest steroid supplier to baseball players in 2003 after federal authorities shut down the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which was the headquarters of a performance-enhancing drug ring catering to elite athletes.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

Red Sox, Schilling squabble over surgery

Curt Schilling has an undisclosed injury in his right shoulder, and the pitcher has been squabbling with the Boston Red Sox over whether he should have surgery that could cost him the season or try something less drastic.

Writing on his blog, 38pitches.com, Schilling said Thursday night that he has agreed to abide by the club's request to rely on rest and rehabilitation.

"There have been disagreements these past few weeks in an effort to provide me with a solution that would allow me to pitch as much as possible during the 2008 season," Schilling wrote. "At no time did I ever consider taking a course of action against the club's wishes. In the end, regardless of who agreed with whom, I have chosen the club's course of action and will vigorously pursue any and every option I can to be able to help this team to another World Series title in 2008."

Red Sox officials have declined to comment other than to issue a two-sentence statement Thursday night confirming that Schilling is injured.

"Curt Schilling was examined by Red Sox doctors in January after he reported feeling right shoulder discomfort," the team said. "Curt has started a program of rest, rehabilitation and shoulder strengthening in an attempt to return to pitching."

The Boston Herald first reported Schilling's injury on its Web site, saying the injury was serious enough to consider surgery that could keep him out for the whole 2008 season. The Boston Globe reported later Thursday that even without surgery Schilling would be out until at least the All-Star break.

The dispute over Schilling's treatment went far enough to lead Schilling to consult with the players' union over his rights.

"I have been consulted by Curt and his representative," said Michael Weiner, a lawyer for the players association. "The Red Sox have no basis to take any action against Curt."

According to a side letter to the collective bargaining agreement, a player has the right to seek a second opinion from his own doctor, but it's in dispute what happens when the team's doctor and the player's disagree on the treatment.

Schilling, who spent seven weeks on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis last year, went 9-8 with a 3.87 ERA during the regular season last year. In the playoffs, he went 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA to help the Red Sox win their second World Series in four seasons.

He agreed in November to a one-year, $8 million contract that allows him to earn an addition $5 million in performance and weight bonuses. The 41-year-old right-hander has said that this will be his last year.

Schilling said he passed all physical exams when he negotiated his new contract.

"I knew in my heart of hearts that the extra time I was giving my arm to rest this winter would in fact be the cure for what I went through the entire 2007 season," he wrote. "I had a strong desire to not have to go through multiple cortisone injections in my shoulder for another year. There was absolutely no reason for anyone involved to believe I would be anything other than completely healthy and ready for the 2008 baseball season.

"Things have changed since then."

The co-MVP of the 2001 World Series and a star in both of Boston's recent titles, Schilling became a free agent after the '07 Series but agreed to a deal that included $5 million in weight and performance incentives. The Red Sox questioned whether Schilling's offseason conditioning last winter was responsible for his dropoff in the '07 regular season.

The Red Sox had discussed — and dismissed — the idea of using a six-man rotation this year. With Schilling out for an extended period of time, they are expected to rely on Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield and Clay Buchholz.

No. 2 Duke tops North Carolina 89-78

Duke's depth really took care of short-handed North Carolina, keeping the second-ranked Blue Devils alone atop the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Greg Paulus scored 18 points and was one of six players in double figures in the Blue Devils' 89-78 win over the third-ranked Tar Heels on Wednesday night, ending a three-game losing streak in the heated rivalry.

Jon Scheyer added 17 points for Duke (20-1, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which ran its spread-the-floor offense to perfection most of the night and repeatedly knocked down 3-point shots to control the game almost the entire way. Duke led by as many as 11 points in the first half and never trailed after the break, beating the Tar Heels for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Duke shot 46 percent and went 13-for-29 from 3-point range, with Paulus going 6-for-8 from behind the arc.

Tyler Hansbrough had 28 points and 18 rebounds in what became virtually a one-man effort for the Tar Heels (21-2, 6-2), who looked a step off all night without injured point guard Ty Lawson. Lawson sprained his left ankle in the weekend win at Florida State.

North Carolina twice closed to within a point early in the second half, but Duke never wavered and made it seem like the Tar Heels had to fight the entire way just to stay within reach.

It was a surprisingly one-sided outcome in a rivalry that drew plenty of notable onlookers, including former Tar Heels basketball players Raymond Felton and Sean May, former Tar Heels football star Julius Peppers and even former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

As if the rivalry wasn't intense enough already, it was the first meeting since the flagrant foul from Gerald Henderson that left Hansbrough with a bloodied and broken nose in an ugly scene here last March. The rowdy home crowd obviously hadn't forgotten, booing lustily every time Henderson touched the ball and even holding up "Wanted" signs featuring his picture when he went to the foul line late in the first half.

Hansbrough has repeatedly claimed the incident is behind him, but he played like he hadn't forgotten, either. He scored eight points in the first 5 minutes and ended up surpassing Michael Jordan for 11th on the school's career scoring list.

The problem for the Tar Heels was that no one followed his lead.

Wayne Ellington, who came in second on the team at 16.2 points per game, had a miserable shooting night, finishing with eight points on 3-for-14 shooting, including 0-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc. That included a huge miss late on a 3 that looked good until it rattled around the cylinder and rolled out with the Tar Heels trailing 78-70 with 2:43 left.

Meanwhile, sixth man Danny Green finished with three points on 1-for-10 shooting, far below his season average of 12.1 points.

At least some of that could be attributed to the absence of Lawson, the speedy sophomore who powers the Tar Heels' fast-paced offense and gets them plenty of easy baskets. Quentin Thomas performed capably in Lawson's absence, finishing with 10 points and seven assists with six turnovers.

The Blue Devils, meanwhile, did exactly what they needed to do to offset the Tar Heels' advantage up front. They repeatedly spread the floor on offense and got open looks off penetration and kickouts. Paulus was the biggest beneficiary, hitting his first five 3-pointers. But, unlike Hansbrough, he had plenty of help.

Freshman Kyle Singler had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and DeMarcus Nelson had 13 points. Duke also got a boost inside from Lance Thomas, who had 10 points and five rebounds while battling North Carolina's bigger front line all night.

Henderson finished with 12 points.

New York hails Giants with super parade

On a day for jumping and whooping it up, Michael Strahan showed the throngs of jubilant fans just how it's done, New York Giants style.

The star defensive end fires up his team — a wildly improbable NFL champion — with a leap that he calls "stomping you out." And with that, Strahan jumped skyward on the podium at a Super Bowl rally Tuesday, lifting his knees to his shoulders.

"We would like to extend this to every other team in the NFL and particularly for the last team we defeated, the New England Patriots," he said, his teammates standing behind him. "Because you know what we did to you? We stomped you out!"

Two days after the Giants won the title with a 17-14 victory that ended the New England Patriots' perfect season, fans gathered at City Hall Park after a ticker-tape parade to watch their team get the keys to the city.

And those fans, umbrellas raised in a light rain, made a plea to Strahan, who is contemplating retirement. "One more year!" came the chant as soon as he got to the podium.

"One more year?" Strahan said. "We'll see."

Eli Manning, the MVP of the Super Bowl, said the team was proud to "bring the championship back to New York City."

"It's been an unbelievable journey," he said.

Manning and Strahan were joined by the entire Giants organization in a parade through the "Canyon of Heroes" before hundreds of thousands of fans, many decked out in Giants blue, to celebrate one of the city's great sports triumphs.

After the Manhattan lovefest, the team took buses back to New Jersey, where it was met by a crowd of more than 20,000 fans at Giants Stadium. The crowd saved its loudest cheers for coach Tom Coughlin, who emerged from a tunnel holding aloft the Super Bowl trophy.

"You believed in us and this group of young men believed in themselves," he said. "And that's why we're standing here today."

The crowd burst into cheers when wide receive David Tyree was introduced and pressed a football to his head, simulating his astonishing catch in the final minutes of Sunday's game.

State Senate President Richard J. Codey took a jab at the Patriots when he referred to their videotaping scandal at Giants Stadium against the Jets in September.

"If the Patriots were here today, they could film all they want," Codey said.

Earlier, across the Hudson River, the Giants rode in floats and many players carried video cameras to record the moment. A huge cheer went up when Manning joined Strahan at the front of a float. The float also carried Mayor Michael Bloomberg as well as the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which was cradled like a baby in Strahan's massive arms.

"I've never ever played with a bigger group of goofballs than this group here," Strahan said. "And you know what? We won the Super Bowl!"

Bloomberg gave team officials and players keys to the city after the festivities. Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Sen. Charles Schumer were among the politicians joining Bloomberg at City Hall.

"The Giants may not be perfect but no one is, at least not this year in the NFL," Bloomberg said, taking a shot at the Patriots' 18-1 season.

Schumer said: "Now the Giants aren't just New York's team, they're America's team."

Coughlin thanked the city for the outpouring of enthusiasm.

"That parade and that show of loyalty and the response to our championship season is just something we'll remember for the rest of our lives," he said.

While it clearly was a day for a parade, it was also a day for politics: New York and the 23 other Super Tuesday states were holding primaries.

Near City Hall, signs for Democratic candidate Barack Obama were surrounded by fans wearing Giants red, white and blue. Spitzer told the crowd he had written in Coughlin for his presidential pick, with Manning for vice president.

The parade, featuring 50 tons of confetti, began at the tip of lower Manhattan in Battery Park and proceeded north on Broadway, going past the financial district and the site of the World Trade Center before the City Hall Park finale. Ticker-tape parades in the "Canyon of Heroes" have celebrated everything from Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic flight to sports championships. The last parade was in 2000, when the Yankees won the World Series. This parade was the first for a football team, said Kenneth Cobb, assistant commissioner in the city Department of Records.

Crowds were 20 people deep at some places. Fans threw hats to the players, who signed them and threw them back. Mehdi Machkour, a 26-year-old restaurant worker from Brooklyn, wasn't quite sure which two players signed his hat. The native of Morocco is more of a soccer fan, but this day brought a big change.

"Now I love football," he said.

The presence of children showed that many considered the parade to be worth missing a day of school.

Arlene Remy, 32, of Brooklyn, was with her son and three of his friends.

"They haven't won a Super Bowl since 1991 and I want to be a part of history," she said.

For New Yorkers — or politicians — who still can't get enough: Spitzer announced the availability of a New York Giants Super Bowl XLII Champions custom license plate.

___

Associated Press writers Clare Trapasso in New York and David Porter in East Rutherford, N.J., contributed to this report.

Clemens speaks under oath to Congress

Roger Clemens spoke under oath for about five hours to congressional lawyers Tuesday, then said he told them he did not use performance-enhancing drugs.

"I just want to thank the committee, the staff that I just met with. They were very courteous," Clemens said after emerging from the offices of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"It was great to be able to tell them what I've been saying all along — that I've never used steroids or growth hormone," the seven-time Cy Young Award winner said.

Clemens, wearing a pinstriped gray suit instead of a pinstriped New York Yankees uniform, did not take questions from reporters. Carrying a black briefcase and accompanied by two attorneys, Clemens headed to an elevator to exit the Rayburn House Office Building.

Someone down the marble hallway yelled out the pitcher's nickname, "Rocket!" That drew a quick wave of a hand from Clemens as he stepped into the wood-paneled elevator.

The 45-year-old pitcher ranks eighth in major league history with 354 career wins. He put off retirement yet again in 2007, returning to the Yankees in June and going 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA.

Clemens' closed-door, sworn testimony on Capitol Hill came one day after his Yankees teammate and workout partner, Andy Pettitte, gave a deposition to committee staff for 2 1/2 hours.

Both players' interviews are part of preparation for a Feb. 13 hearing, a public session expected to focus on allegations made in the Mitchell Report by trainer Brian McNamee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with human growth hormone and steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

"I look forward to being here, I guess in this room, next week," Clemens said in his 25-second statement after the deposition.

He has chosen various ways to strongly deny what McNamee said, including a taped TV interview, a live news conference and, repeatedly, through his lawyers.

Tuesday's deposition was the first time Clemens addressed the allegations under oath — meaning it also was the first time he faced legal risk if he were to make false statements.

This is the same House panel that asked the Justice Department last month to look into whether 2002 AL MVP Miguel Tejada lied when he told committee investigators in 2005 that he never took performance-enhancing drugs and had no knowledge of other players using or talking about steroids. The FBI's field office in Washington is handling that inquiry.

One of Clemens' lawyers, Rusty Hardin, had said Monday that the player was "not going to take the Fifth Amendment."

McNamee is to be interviewed by committee lawyers Thursday.

A former Yankees teammate of Pettitte and Clemens, Chuck Knoblauch, spoke to committee staff Friday. The day before, an employee of the sports agency that represents Clemens and Pettitte was interviewed. Another witness, former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski, is to speak to committee lawyers Feb. 12. Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, and is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell's report on drugs in baseball, released in December, contains McNamee's accusations — first told to federal prosecutors, then repeated to Mitchell — that he injected Clemens with HGH and steroids.

Clemens acknowledged he received injections from McNamee, but he said they were for vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine. His repeated rejection of contents in the Mitchell Report drew Congress' attention.

When Mitchell testified at a committee hearing Jan. 15, he was asked whether he was still comfortable with McNamee's credibility.

"We believe that the statements provided to us were truthful," Mitchell said.

One of McNamee's lawyers, Earl Ward, said Monday no decision had been made on whether he would submit to a deposition or transcribed interview Thursday. It is a crime to lie to Congress, whether sworn to tell the truth or not, so the distinction between the two has more to do with the format of the questioning and the confidentiality of the transcript.

McNamee also told Mitchell he injected Pettitte with HGH. Pettitte lent credence to Mitchell's findings by acknowledging two days after the report was released that he did try HGH for two days in 2002 to help deal with an elbow injury.

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Associated Press Writer Sarah Karush contributed to this report.

Twins and Mets finalize Santana trade

Johan Santana was right there in the room as his agent and the New York Mets haggled over a colossal contract. After three straight days of negotiating, the sides were $5 million apart — and time had run out.

Maybe this blockbuster trade between the Mets and Minnesota Twins was going to crumble, just as New York did during the pennant race last September.

"We talked about a worst-case scenario," Mets general manager Omar Minaya recalled, thinking of the team's eager fan base "What are we going to say?"

So agent Peter Greenberg and the Mets asked Minnesota for an extension, a request that was granted by the Twins and approved by the commissioner's office. The deadline for talks was pushed back two hours to 7 p.m. EST Friday, and that was enough time to reach a deal.

"Without that, we wouldn't have gotten it done," Greenberg said.

Santana passed his physical Saturday, finalizing the ballyhooed swap that sent him to New York for four prospects: outfielder Carlos Gomez and right-handers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra.

"We've been lacking what we consider a true No. 1 starter," Minaya said on a conference call. "It doesn't get much better than Johan Santana."

After an offseason of shopping the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner, Minnesota considered hanging onto him. Without a new deal, Santana, who will turn 29 next month, could have become a free agent following this year's World Series. The Twins offered him an $80 million, four-year extension, but he turned it down.

"If we had not gotten an offer that we felt was acceptable, we would've kept Johan for the 2008 season," new Twins general manager Bill Smith said on a separate conference call. "I think it dragged on long enough. You want to get to a point where you can go into spring training knowing what you have. I think everybody just reached a point where we felt this was the best we were going to get."

The Mets and Twins announced the trade one day after Santana agreed to a $137.5 million, six-year contract with New York — record riches for a pitcher. With an option for a seventh season, the deal could be worth $157 million.

The left-hander gets $19 million this year, $20 million in 2009, $21 million in 2010, $22.5 million in 2011, $24 million in 2012 and $25.5 million in 2013, according to terms obtained by The Associated Press.

The Mets have a $25 million option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout, and the option could become guaranteed based on Santana's innings and finish in postseason award voting. Of each year's salary, including the option season, $5 million will be deferred.

As negotiations dragged on, the Mets thought it might help for Santana to meet owner Fred Wilpon and his son, Jeff, the club's chief operating officer. At first, the pitcher didn't want to travel to New York without an agreement in place, Greenberg said. But the Mets arranged a private plane for him, and Santana arrived at the SportsNet New York offices in Rockefeller Center, where talks took place.

"It took 74 hours of hard work, pretty much 24-7," Greenberg said. "We got creative. We tried to work together to make this happen. This was something that both sides wanted."

After each side moved substantially, the Mets were at $135 million and Greenberg at $140 million as Friday's original deadline approached.

"Usually, there's no clock in baseball," Jeff Wilpon said.

After the sides were given an extra two hours, the Mets announced about 30 minutes before the new deadline that negotiations had concluded.

"We would not have traded for him if we didn't go into that very confident that we were going to sign him. We knew what the expectations were," Jeff Wilpon said. "We clearly see signing him as a major event in our franchise's history."

The Mets planned a news conference to introduce Santana at Shea Stadium on Wednesday.

"He's extremely happy. We're all very happy," Greenberg said. "We're still kind of pinching ourselves to make sure this is really true. This is a match made in heaven."

The Yankees and Red Sox also pursued Santana this offseason, initially offering packages that included promising major league players. But those teams dropped out of the chase — just as Minaya anticipated.

"It was just a gut feeling that this was going to come back to us, this was going to be right in front of us at some point," he said.

So when Minaya returned from the winter meetings in December, he told Jeff Wilpon to get ready because there was a chance the Mets could land Santana.

"You owe me a pair of shoes," the GM reminded Wilpon on Saturday.

Santana gives a talented New York team the durable ace it was missing while chasing a pennant the past two years. The Mets came within one win of the 2006 World Series despite an injury-depleted pitching staff, then missed the playoffs last season after blowing a seven-game lead in the NL East with 17 to play.

Now, New York is a National League favorite again in its final season at Shea before moving to Citi Field.

Asked if he expects the Mets to make the 2008 playoffs, Jeff Wilpon deferred to Minaya, who wouldn't offer any predictions. But both know why they brought Santana to the Big Apple.

"He's got his eyes on not only winning but collecting a bunch of Cy Youngs on his way and bringing home some championships for our fans," Jeff Wilpon said.

Notes:@ The Mets also agreed Saturday to a $2 million, one-year contract with RHP Jorge Sosa that avoided an arbitration hearing. New York's payroll is at $136.4 million for 24 players, using midpoints for the two remaining in arbitration: pitcher Oliver Perez and outfielder Ryan Church.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York and AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Knoblauch talks to Congress

Chuck Knoblauch came to Congress toting his toddler Friday, and the former major leaguer met for about 1 1/2 hours with lawyers from a House committee investigating drug use in baseball.

Knoblauch, the 1991 AL Rookie of the Year and one of more than 80 players linked to performance-enhancing drugs in the Mitchell Report, did not reveal what he was asked or what he said.

Asked by a reporter whether there were questions about himself or other players, Knoblauch replied, "I only know about myself."

A committee staffer told The Associated Press that Knoblauch was asked whether he used performance-enhancing drugs, as alleged in former Senate majority leader George Mitchell's report, and also was asked about former New York Yankees teammate Roger Clemens and trainer Brian McNamee.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because staffers are not authorized to make public comments about the specifics of the investigation.

"Everything was fine. He answered all the questions," said Knoblauch's attorney, Diana Marshall.

The closed-door meeting was part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's preparation for a Feb. 13 public hearing. That session is expected to focus on Clemens' denial of allegations by McNamee, his former personal trainer, that he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with human growth hormone and steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens has denied the allegations repeatedly.

In Mitchell's report, McNamee also said he acquired HGH from former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski for Knoblauch in 2001 — and McNamee said he injected Knoblauch with HGH.

Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money. He is scheduled to be sentenced next Friday.

Asked after the interview about his inclusion in the Mitchell Report, which was released in December, Knoblauch said: "It is what it is. I mean, it's an important thing that they're doing here in Congress. I want baseball to be fair and healthy, just like everybody else."

Through a spokeswoman, committee chairman Henry Waxman declined to comment on Knoblauch's Capitol Hill appearance. Keith Ausbrook, Republican general counsel for the committee, also declined to comment.

Congress has pushed baseball to adopt changes to its drug program recommended in the Mitchell Report, and lawyers for the union and owners met this week to discuss those proposals. They hope to meet again next week, depending on the schedule of salary arbitration cases.

Knoblauch, a four-time All-Star who played for the Twins, Yankees and Royals, ended his major league career in 2002, a year after being shifted from second base to the outfield when he developed problems throwing the ball.

He agreed Monday to speak to the committee after a subpoena was issued because he initially failed to respond to an invitation to testify.

Knoblauch arrived Friday shortly before 10 a.m., carrying his 3-year-old son Jake and accompanied by his wife and Marshall. His wife and child did not go into the interview room with him.

"Maybe one day, when he grows up, he won't have worry about drugs in sports," Knoblauch said as he walked through a marble hallway in the Rayburn House Office Building afterward. "That's why I have him here today, to learn a very valuable lesson: If you do something in life, be prepared to talk about it open and honestly. That's it. That's all I have to say."

Current Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, who acknowledged after the Mitchell Report came out that McNamee injected him with HGH twice, is slated to meet with committee lawyers Monday, followed the next day by Clemens' scheduled appearance. McNamee is to appear Thursday, and Radomski on Feb. 12. Those appearances all were announced by the committee.

At least one unannounced interview has taken place. On Thursday, an employee of the sports agency that represents Clemens and Pettitte spoke to committee lawyers.

The agent, Jim Murray, was mentioned several times in a recorded conversation between Clemens and McNamee that the pitcher played at a news conference last month.

"Mr. Murray cooperated fully with the committee," his lawyer, Lawrence Finder, said in a telephone interview Friday.

Knoblauch's initial silence when invited to speak to the committee prompted lawmakers to issue a subpoena, but federal marshals were unable to track him down right away. Knoblauch eventually did make contact, the subpoena was withdrawn, and his interview was rescheduled for Friday.

As they headed to the exit, Knoblauch told his son to say, "Hi!" to the dozens of cameras tracking them.

Knoblauch then was asked if he plans to testify at the Feb. 13 hearing.

"I don't know," he said. "I'll be here if they tell me to be here."