National Digest
Pro Bowl
HONOLULU (AP) — Larry Fitzgerald played as if the Super Bowl never ended.
Fitzgerald caught five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, 44-year-old John Carney kicked two fourth-quarter field goals, and the NFC rallied to a 30-21 victory over the AFC.
The Arizona Cardinals’ All-Pro receiver, coming off a record-breaking postseason and a spectacular Super Bowl in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, earned MVP honors. He caught a 46-yard scoring pass before the half and a 2-yard TD pass from Eli Manning for the go-ahead score with 4:07 to play.
UNI falls
CEDAR FALLS — The University of Northern Iowa basketball team wasn’t interested in the big picture Sunday afternoon.
Ali Farokhmanesh was more concerned about UNI’s 77-71 setback to Creighton than still owning a two-game cushion in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with five games remaining.
“I hate losing so much that you can’t even think about having a lead,” Farokhmanesh said. “We made a lot of mistakes today that we haven’t made in a few months now.”
In front of a season-best crowd of 6,234 at the McLeod Center, UNI saw its school-record 11-game winning streak halted after a sub-par defensive showing and a season-worst 29 percent shooting.
On Saturday, Drake defeated Bradley 68-54; Iowa got past Northwestern 56-51; and Missouri won at Iowa State 82-68.
A-Rod report
NEW YORK (AP) — Sports Illustrated has reported that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.
The magazine says in a story posted on its Web site Saturday that the New York Yankees star tested positive for two anabolic steroids. SI cited four unidentified sources.
SI reports that Rodriguez’s name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancers in a 2003 baseball survey.
Rodriguez declined to discuss the tests when approached by SI.
Rodriguez played for the Texas Rangers in 2003, when he won the AL home run title and MVP award. He was traded to the Yankees in 2004.
Bud Shootout
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Thrilling finish, dramatic wrecks and a record number of lead changes. It was just what NASCAR wanted, and needed.
Kevin Harvick boldly passed Jamie McMurray on the last lap of the exhibition Budweiser Shootout to give a sparse Saturday night crowd at Daytona International Speedway reason to want more. It was Harvick’s first victory in 71 races, dating to the All-Star race in May 2007.
Ocean swimmer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Reaching a beach in Trinidad, Jennifer Figge became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean — a dream she’d had since the early 1960s, when a stormy trans-Atlantic flight got her thinking she could don a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed.
The 56-year-old left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa’s western coast on Jan. 12, battling waves of up to 30 feet and strong winds.
David Higdon, a friend of Figge who kept in touch with her via satellite phone, said she had originally planned to swim to the Bahamas, but inclement weather forced her to veer 1,000 miles off course to Trinidad, where she arrived on Thursday.
Figge plans to continue her odyssey, swimming from Trinidad to the British Virgin Islands, where she expects to arrive in late February. The crew won’t compute the total distance Figge swam until after she completes the journey, Higdon said.
Lakers win
CLEVELAND (AP) — Lamar Odom scored a season-high 28 points, Kobe Bryant added 19 and the streak-breaking Los Angeles Lakers handed Cleveland its first loss at home this season, 101-91 on Sunday.
The Cavaliers came in 23-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, but were stopped by the Lakers, who ended Boston’s 19-game winning streak on Christmas Day and halted a 12-game run by the Celtics earlier this week.
James finished with 16 points on just 5-of-20 shooting for Cleveland, which hadn’t lost at home since Game 5 against Washington in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
BC routed
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Most coaches shy away from extra pressure. Wake Forest’s Dino Gaudio welcomes it.
A promising season was spiraling away from his once-top-ranked team. So, on the night before facing Boston College, the Demon Deacons coach gave his players an unusual pep talk.
“I said, ’You know what, boys? We’ve got a pressure game (Sunday),” Gaudio recalled. “If you feel pressure, I’m glad, because there’s pressure to win.”’
His team wasn’t fazed.
Jeff Teague scored 27 points, Al-Farouq Aminu added a season-high 26 and No. 7 Wake Forest bounced back after a surprisingly lopsided loss by routing Boston College 93-76 on Sunday.
James Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds while L.D. Williams added 11 points for the Demon Deacons (18-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 65.5 percent during the second half, using a big surge during the final 20 minutes to bounce back from a 27-point loss at Miami and claim their second double-digit win over the Eagles.
BASEBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a $54 million, three-year contract on Sunday, avoiding a potentially contentious arbitration hearing.
The 2006 NL MVP will earn $15 million this season, $19 million next year and $20 million in 2011.
Howard led the majors with 48 homers and 146 RBIs last season while helping the Phillies win their first World Series title since 1980. He batted just .251, struck out 199 times and made 19 errors at first base, but also was runner-up to Albert Pujols for MVP.
The 29-year-old has less than four years service time in the majors, so he wasn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2011 season.
Howard asked for $18 million in salary arbitration, the third-highest figure submitted since the process began in 1974. Philadelphia offered him $14 million, a raise of $4 million. A hearing was scheduled for later this week.
Howard won his arbitration case last year when he was awarded $10 million, the highest figure given a victorious player.
FOOTBALL
ATLANTA (AP) — Former Atlanta Falcons running back Jamal Anderson has been charged with felony cocaine possession and misdemeanor marijuana possession after being arrested at an Atlanta nightclub, authorities said Sunday.
Anderson, a fan favorite who created the “Dirty Bird” touchdown celebration dance, played eight seasons for the Falcons before leaving the team with a knee injury in 2001.
Atlanta police spokesman Officer Otis Redmond said Anderson, 36, was arrested early Sunday at the Peachtree Tavern in Atlanta’s trendy Buckhead district. Redmond said a second man, whose name was not immediately available, also was arrested.
Redmond said an off-duty officer working in security at the club alerted police. Redmond said both men allegedly had powder cocaine in their possession and that Anderson also had a suspected marijuana cigarette in his pocket.
BASKETBALL
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Bobcats traded managing partner Michael Jordan’s first draft pick on Saturday, sending struggling forward Adam Morrison and reserve guard Shannon Brown to the Los Angeles Lakers for forward Vladimir Radmanovic.
Jordan’s first major decision after becoming part owner with the final say on all basketball decisions was taking Morrison with the third overall pick in the 2006 draft over Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay and others.
The former Gonzaga star known in college for his shaggy hair and thin mustache never lived up to expectations and had fallen out of favor with first-year coach Larry Brown. He was jettisoned for the 6-foot-10 Radmanovic, who was averaging 5.9 points and 2.5 rebounds a game with the Lakers.
The move is a sign of another failed decision by Jordan, who was widely criticized for selecting Kwame Brown with the No. 1 overall pick in 2001 when he ran the Washington Wizards.
HOCKEY
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Stars placed controversial left wing Sean Avery on waivers Saturday, moving him one step closer toward a possible return to the NHL.
A league person with firsthand knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Avery has completed a counseling program under the NHL/NHLPA behavioral health program and was placed on Dallas’ active roster. The Stars then placed Avery on waivers.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced.
Avery must clear waivers by Monday. A team could claim him before then, but would have to pay the remainder of the four-year, $15.5 million contract he signed this summer.
The New York Post reported Friday that the New York Rangers have had discussions about the possibility of bringing back Avery, who played with the team for a season and a half before signing with Dallas.
Officials from the Stars and Rangers declined to comment on the report Friday.
SOCCER
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Galaxy rejected AC Milan’s initial offer for David Beckham and expects the Italian club to come back with a much higher bid, or the British midfielder will be back in Los Angeles next month.
Tim Leiweke, chief executive of the company that owns the Galaxy, told the Los Angeles Times on Friday he would not consider an extended loan of the 33-year-old England international to Milan, but he was willing to negotiate a purchase deal.
AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani told Sky Italia on Saturday that the two sides are far apart on how much it will cost to buy out Beckham’s contract, but said he’s willing to parley. Neither Galliani nor Leiwecke would talk numbers.
Beckham, on a three-month loan to Milan until March 8, last week announced that he wants to stay with the team.
If no deal is reached with the Italian club, Beckham has agreed to fulfill his contract with the Galaxy, Leiweke said.
