College Football

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The publisher of Oklahoma's largest newspaper and one of its sports writers have sued a University of Texas employee who admitted posting a bogus article on the Internet about two University of Oklahoma football players.

The Oklahoma Publishing Co., which publishes The Oklahoman newspaper and newsok.com Web site, filed a civil lawsuit Monday against James W. Conradt, a Nebraska football fan who works as a service manager for UT's information technology department.

The 10-count civil lawsuit accuses Conradt of libel, copyright violations and trademark infringements. It seeks unspecified financial damages, according to The Oklahoman.

Conradt, 36, used a template from the newspaper's Web site to publish a fake article on the Internet on July 9 that stated OU quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Landry Jones had been arrested for intent to distribute cocaine, the lawsuit alleges.

Conradt allegedly put a link to the article on his Web site and on an online message board.

The lawsuit claims Conradt used sportswriter Jake Trotter's byline and various trademarks to give the bogus article the appearance of legitimacy.

A telephone message left Tuesday at Conradt's office was not immediately returned, and court records do not indicate if he has hired an attorney. Conradt's Web site has been taken down and replaced by a message apologizing for the hoax.

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas amended coach Mark Mangino's contract on Tuesday, raising his compensation to $2.3 million per year and extending it by two years.

The contract is retroactive to Jan. 1 and will go through 2012.

Mangino, entering his seventh year at Kansas, was named The Associated Press coach of the year after leading the Jayhawks to an 11-1 regular season. He later led Kansas to a 24-21 victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, the Jayhawks' first-ever BCS bowl victory.

Mangino's amended contract will pay him $1,770,100 per year for professional services rendered, an increase of $500,000. Those services could include educational, public relations and promotional duties assigned by the athletic director.

Major League Baseball

MIAMI -- The wife of Alex Rodriguez wants to know if the New York Yankees star hired private detectives or installed wiretaps to spy on her.

Cynthia Rodriguez's lawyers demanded evidence of any such surveillance as part of a routine request filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court last week in their divorce case.

The document asks for any tape recordings, photographs, reports from investigators or results from possible wiretaps "or other electronic surveillance conducted by you or others on your behalf."

Alex Rodriguez's attorney didn't immediately respond Tuesday to an e-mail seeking comment. The 32-year-old third baseman was scheduled to start in the All-Star game on Tuesday night in New York.

Cynthia Rodriguez filed for divorce last week after more than five years of marriage, citing her husband's alleged infidelity. She wants their $12 million waterfront mansion in Coral Gables, a luxury SUV, alimony and financial support for their two young daughters.

NEW YORK -- Baseball owners likely will postpone any effort to institute a worldwide draft until their next labor contract with players begins in 2012, but instant replay appears imminent.

Commissioner Bud Selig said interest in a worldwide draft has increased among management, but Rob Manfred, his executive vice president for labor relations, indicated owners probably wouldn't push for the players' association to reopen the collective bargaining agreement over the issue. The current deal runs through the 2011 season.

Selig, an opponent of instant replay, has softened his opposition to using it to assist umpires' decisions. Baseball is thinking of implementing replay for boundary calls, such as whether home runs are fair or foul, or whether balls clear fences for home runs.

Decisions likely would be made at a central location with access to all replays. Selig said the plan could be ready to implement by the postseason.

NBA

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Clippers acquired center Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday for the option to exchange second-round picks with the Clippers in 2010.

Camby led the NBA in blocked shots with 3.61 per game last season, only the second player in league history to do so in three straight seasons.

He averaged 9.1 points and 13.1 rebounds playing a career-best 34.9 minutes per game for the Nuggets. Camby was the league's defensive player of the year in 2006-07.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Orlando Magic signed veteran free-agent point guard Anthony Johnson on Tuesday.

Johnson will back up starter Jameer Nelson as he enters his 12th NBA season. He played in 69 games last season for the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings.

The 33-year-old guard has played with seven different teams, averaging 5.7 points and 2.9 assists.

NFL

MILWAUKEE -- Brett Favre says he's tempted to show up at the Green Bay Packers' training camp just to call the team's "bluff."

In the second part of an interview with Fox News, the 38-year-old quarterback said he knows his arrival in camp would cause a media circus, but that might not stop him. Packers players are scheduled to report July 27.

"It's tempting just to, as everyone said, you know, call their bluff or whatever," Favre said. "I think it's going to be a circus in itself already, whether I go there, whatever."

The interview on the show "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" was broadcast Tuesday night.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears signed running back Kevin Jones to a one-year deal on Tuesday.

During four years with Detroit, Jones rushed for 3,067 yards and 24 touchdowns on 761 carries. Jones, who played for Virginia Tech, was drafted by Detroit in 2004.

Terms of Jones' deal were not disclosed.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals have signed third-round draft choice Early Doucet to a three-year deal.

Terms weren't disclosed.

The wide receiver led the national champion LSU Tigers last year with 57 receptions for 525 yards and five touchdowns. He made 22 starts in his college career, finishing with 160 catches and 20 touchdowns.

Women's College Basketball

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma starting guard Jenna Plumley has been arrested on a petty larceny charge after allegedly trying to steal makeup from a Wal-Mart store.

Norman police spokeswoman Jennifer Newell says Plumley was stopped by Wal-Mart's security personnel at 11:49 a.m. Monday and signed a ticket that will require her to appear in municipal court.

Newell says petty larceny is a misdemeanor involving theft of items worth less than $500.

Plumley is a 5-foot-4 guard who started all 31 games for Oklahoma last season and averaged 7.8 points.

Track & Field

Track coach Trevor Graham has been banned for life by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for his role in helping athletes obtain performance-enhancing drugs, the Associated Press has learned.

Graham has been banned from participating in any event sanctioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee, the IAAF, USA Track and Field or any other group that participates in the World Anti-Doping Agency program, according to a person familiar with the decision. That person requested anonymity because the official announcement had yet to be made.

He was convicted in May of one count of lying to federal investigators about his relationship to an admitted steroids dealer. He's still awaiting sentencing and has asked a judge to toss out his conviction.

Graham already was banned from all USOC-sponsored facilities and had essentially become a pariah in his sport, connected with too many athletes involved in doping -- Marion Jones and former 100-meter world-record holders Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery to name a few -- and also blew the whistle in what became known as the BALCO case.

It was Graham who anonymously provided a vial of "the clear," a then undetectable steroid to USADA. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Graham acknowledged mailing the drug, saying: "I was just a coach doing the right thing at the time." He did not say why he turned in the syringe or how he got the material.

College Basketball

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A judge has sentenced the son of North Carolina State basketball coach Sidney Lowe to 15 months in a low-security prison farm on dozen charges, including robbery and kidnapping.

Lawyer Locke Clifford said Tuesday that Superior Court Judge Henry Frye Jr. sentenced Sidney Lowe II to a total of 11 years in prison, but then suspended the sentence to 15 months. The judge also ordered that Lowe serve five years of probation.

Earlier in the day, the elder Lowe held back tears as he asked the judge for leniency. His son faced a maximum 23 years on the charges that stemmed from a pair of 2007 incidents.

Soccer

NEWARK, N.J. -- Former U.S. national captain and current New York Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna plans to announce his retirement on Wednesday, less than two seasons after returning from Europe to join Major League Soccer.

Reyna was not immediately available for comment, but a person familiar with Reyna's decision said that the star was retiring from the league.

Bothered by hamstring and back injuries this season, Reyna played in and started six of 16 games. He last played on May 25 in a 5-1 loss to Chicago. The New Jersey native, who will turn 35 on Sunday, has no goals or assists in 461 minutes this season.

He retired from international soccer after the 2006 World Cup. He scored eight goals in 112 appearances and was on the U.S. roster for the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

Wire reports

Comments

(Requires free registration.)

0 comment(s) found!