Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - A mom worries about the pressures on her 17-year-old son. A prosecutor frets the problem may be worse than anyone imagines. And a former Mr. Universe predicts law enforcement crackdowns will succeed about as well as Prohibition.
While Marion Jones and Barry Bonds create the biggest headlines in the steroids scandals that have roiled professional sports, many believe the problem is far more prevalent among amateur athletes in America’s schoolyards and gyms, thanks in part to the easy availability of performance-enhancing drugs.
Whipping up a batch of “juice” in your kitchen or a makeshift lab could not be easier; the correct clicks on Internet sites provide not only the raw materials, but instructions on how it’s done.
The magnitude of the problem became clearer last month when federal authorities rounded up 124 suspects and busted 56 steroid labs nationwide. They seized $6.5 million in cash and 11.4 million steroid doses, as well as 242 kilograms of raw steroid powder believed to be from China.
Agents had one of their largest hauls on Long Island, seizing nearly 2.5 million doses of steroids with a street value of $13 million. One group of suspects operated the “Strong Island Underground Lab,” located above an auto body shop.
“People think it’s only the multimillion-dollar athletes, the Barry Bonds,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. “And that’s fine if professional athletes want to do that, but they have to understand they serve as role models for our little kids. I would not be surprised if it turns out that these steroids are going to the local high schools, the high school gyms.”
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In a separate investigation, New York state officials seized $7.5 million of human growth hormone and anabolic steroids from a Brooklyn pharmacy this month. They said that raid was an offshoot of the Albany County District Attorney’s investigation into an Orlando, Fla., company whose client lists reportedly included many professional athletes.
But it appears many others are getting their hands on steroids by more covert means.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of high school students throughout the United States in 2005 found that nearly 5 percent reported using steroids without a doctor’s prescription. And a 2006 Monitoring the Future Study revealed 17 percent of eighth-graders, 30 percent of 10th-graders, and 41 percent of 12th-graders reported that steroids were “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain.
Darlene Iaquinta of Melville said her 17-year-old son A.J. is an athlete who has rejected the lure of performance-enhancing drugs. But she understands that the temptation exists, especially as sports become more competitive.
“I think the pressure for them to excel in their sport is such — to get the scholarship, to go to college — that they’re looking for any edge that they can get,” she said during a break in her own workout routine at a Long Island gym.
“And quite frankly, so are the parents. And if they think steroids will do it, then they’re going to use that, unfortunately.”
Steve Mihalik, a former bodybuilding champion crowned both Mr. America and Mr. Universe in the 1970s, said he too has seen the pressure on young people to “juice.” He recalled a teenage pitcher told to get the speed up on his fastball by a major league scout.
“He comes back to the gym and he’s all buffed up,” Mihalik said. “And he admits to me that he took steroids with his father’s approval, because it means dollars.”
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) - As the glow fades from the Giants' Super Bowl triumph, some New York sports fans are tuning in to basketball and hockey, with the Rangers in first place and the Knicks' overnight sensation, Jeremy Lin, sparking "Lin-sanity.''
Robins: This year, six new breeds will be making their debut on the green carpet for the Westminster Dog Show, which begins Monday.
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
