Earnhart’s Word Costs Him Points

A slip of the tongue on TV cost Dale Earnhardt Jr. first place and $10,000, penalties imposed by an increasingly image-conscious NASCAR.

Earnhardt was docked 25 points Tuesday in the Nextel Cup standings for using a vulgarity in an NBC interview after his victory Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, dropping him to second place with seven races left in the season. He will appeal the point penalty.

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John Andretti and ppc Racing, one of the top teams in NASCAR’s Busch Series, will get together on a Nextel Cup team that will begin racing Oct. 16 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Tennis

Vera Zvonareva double-faulted 13 times in a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Elena Likhovtseva in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Top-seeded Nicolas Massu was ousted by Agustin Calleri, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Lyon Open in France.

Fifth-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy was upset, 7-5, 7-6 (5), by Youlia Fedossova in the first round of the Japan Open in Tokyo.

The 2005 Australian Open will feature the first men’s Grand Slam final played at night. That championship match will start at 12:30 a.m. PST., on Jan. 30.

Golf

The U.S. Open will return to Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., in 2011. Congressional also hosted the event in 1964 and 1997.

Congressional also will play host to the 2009 U.S. Amateur championships.

Former U.S. Open and PGA winner David Graham, 58, said he may not play competitive golf again. He has been suffering from heart trouble since June.

Hockey

Buffalo forward Adam Mair, a former King, was arrested in Hamilton, Canada, after a bar fight.

New Jersey signed left wing Dean McAmmond, who had 17 goals and 13 assists in 64 games last season with Calgary, to a contract to play with Albany of the American Hockey League.

Soccer

Major League Soccer signed a 10-year deal with German sportswear manufacturer Adidas that will make the company the U.S. league’s sole official athletic sponsor and licensed supplier. The deal is worth an estimated $150 million.

Cleonicio dos Santos Silva, 28, was shot and killed by thieves apparently trying to steal his car in Rio de Janeiro. The FC Zurich striker, also known as Renato, died Monday.

Arsenal’s new home ground in London -- scheduled to open in 2006 -- will be called Emirates Stadium in a record 15-year sponsorship deal worth more than $178 million. Emirates is a Dubai-based airline.

Vandals splashed red paint on two luxury cars owned by influential Manchester United shareholder Maurice Watkins. Police would not confirm news reports that the vandalism was linked to a possible takeover bid for the club by American businessman Malcolm Glazer.

College Basketball

Connecticut freshman guard A.J. Price was in critical condition at a Hartford hospital with an undisclosed illness.

Ohio State junior guard J.J. Sullinger has been charged with drunken driving and is scheduled to appear in court two days before the Buckeyes start practice.

Miscellany

David Palumbo, a bodybuilder and editor-in-chief of Rx Muscle magazine, pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego to charges of conspiring to distribute a human growth hormone to other bodybuilders.

Palumbo, 36, faces a maximum five years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 17.

Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson was hired as an assistant wrestling coach at Iowa State, where he went 159-0 while winning four NCAA titles.

Mildred McDaniel Singleton, 70, who won a gold medal for the high jump in the 1956 Olympics and was one of the world’s top female athletes in the 1950s, died Thursday in Pasadena of cancer.