Ray Lewis Reportedly in Sex Video

Ray Lewis, charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of two men after the Super Bowl, appears with a co-defendant in a sexually explicit mail-order video, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday.

The video shows Lewis and Joseph Sweeting watching party guests perform sex acts for money.

The images could make it difficult for Lewis’ lawyers to continue their defense strategy, which has been to portray the Baltimore Ravens linebacker as a devoted family man who hardly knows Sweeting and the other co-defendant, Reginald Oakley.

The videotape, which is available by mail order, is called “Luke’s Freak Show: Cancun 1999” and was produced at a party thrown in the Mexican resort town by rap musician Luther Campbell.

In it, Lewis enters with Sweeting and dances shirtless between two scantily dressed and gyrating women.

Campbell, leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew, told the Journal-Constitution he is as friend of Lewis and Sweeting, a music producer and strip club promoter from Miami. The three met when Lewis was playing football at the University of Miami.

Campbell, who wears Lewis’ No. 52 Raven jersey while promoting videos and CDs on his Web site, called Sweeting “a good friend of Ray’s.”

Oakley, the other co-defendant, does not appear in the video, which has not been mentioned by either side of the case.

At the time of the stabbings, Oakley was a member of Lewis’ limousine party. A would-be record and film producer, Oakley was reportedly trying to make contacts with celebrities attending the Super Bowl.

Lewis, Sweeting and Oakley are accused of murdering Jacinth Baker, 21, and Richard Lollar, 24, during a street fight in Atlanta.

Tennis

Belgium joined the United States, Spain and the Czech Republic in November’s Fed Cup semifinals by defeating Russia, 2-1, at Moscow.

The Belgian women clinched the victory when Els Callens and Laurence Courtois defeated Anna Kournikova and Elena Likhovtseva, 6-4, 6-3, in doubles.

Likhovtseva gave Russia a 1-0 lead, by defeating Courtois, 6-4, 6-4. But 16-year-old Kim Clijsters defeated the 18-year-old Kournikova, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, to set up the decisive doubles match.

Belgium finished 3-0 in the four-team Group C event. France was 2-1, Russia 1-2 and Australia 0-3.

The semifinals and finals will be played Nov. 22-26 in the United States, where the U.S. team will defend its title. A venue has not been announced.

Marat Safin, who last month was thinking of leaving the ATP tour, won the Open Seat Godo 2000 Open at Barcelona, Spain, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

The 20-year-old Russian had 16 aces in what he said might have been his best match.

“I was under control since the first point,” he said. “It was like chess. I knew just where I needed to play each ball. I couldn’t have played better.”

Safin earned $148,000, and Ferrero won $77,900.

John McEnroe needed only 61 minutes to defeat Andres Gomez, 6-2, 6-3, and win the Trigon Champions Senior tournament at Richmond, Va. The victory assured McEnroe of the No. 1 ranking on the tour for the 1999-2000 season, which concludes in June.

Miscellany

Finland posted an opening-match win in the World Hockey Championships at St. Petersburg, Russia, but Russia had the day’s biggest victory when suspended center Alexei Yashin of the Ottawa Senators was ruled eligible to play in the tournament.

The Finns, silver medalists the last two years, routed Italy, 6-0. Niko Kapanen opened the scoring with a short-handed goal four minutes into the game. Jere Karalahti of the Kings made it 2-0 at 10:36. Finland added four goals in the second period with Juha Lind of Montreal, Aki Berg and Marko Tuomainen of the Kings and Esa Tikkanen doing the scoring.

Russia, meanwhile, prevailed in its battle with the NHL when independent arbitrator George Nicolau cleared Yashin to play. That means Yashin can play in Russia’s next game against the United States.

The Russian women’s water polo team got a goal in the final minute and defeated the United States, 6-5, to win the Olympic qualifying tournament at Palermo, Sicily. Both squads had clinched berths in the Sydney Games by winning semifinal matches Saturday.

Brandon Rouse, 20, a reserve defensive lineman for Clemson, died of a heart attack at a movie theater Saturday night in Clemson, S.C.

Jerry Izenberg, columnist for the Star-Ledger of Newark (N.J.), has been selected to receive the Red Smith Award for sports journalism on June 30 from former winners and past presidents of the Associated Press Sports Editors. Izenberg, 69, also will be inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.