NFL Suspends Vikings’ Smith for the Season

Minnesota Viking running back Onterrio Smith was suspended Tuesday by the NFL for the 2005 season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

The announcement had been expected for several weeks, ever since Viking Coach Mike Tice suspended Smith indefinitely after an embarrassing run-in at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on April 21, when Smith was stopped after his bag set off a screening device. A search found several vials of dried urine and a device marketed as a way to beat drug tests.

Smith told police the gear was for his cousin. He wasn’t charged, and the NFL has said possession of the device alone wasn’t enough to violate league drug policies.

The NFL’s statement did not give a specific reason for Smith’s suspension.

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Running back Jamal Lewis’ request to attend the Baltimore Ravens’ minicamp next week has been denied by the Atlanta halfway house where he is spending two months after a four-month prison term for a federal drug conviction.

Meanwhile, Deion Sanders’ expected return to the Ravens was delayed when the veteran defensive back flew to New York to have his surgically repaired toe examined by the doctor who performed the procedure.

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The New York Giants said they were willing to work out a deal with the Jets to share ownership of a new $750-million stadium at the Meadowlands if the Jets’ plans to build a stadium on the New York City’s West Side fall apart.

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Former Pittsburgh Steeler lineman Terry Long, indicted earlier this year on federal fraud and arson charges stemming from a chicken-processing business he owned, died at 45 at a Pittsburgh-area hospital. No cause of death was given.

Golf

The LPGA has changed its 2006 schedule, adding a playoff system based on points earned during the regular season and ending at a new tournament, the 32-player LPGA Playoffs at the ADT, that will pay a record $1 million to the winner.

Olin Browne shot a 59 at Rockville, Md., and joined 21 other players who qualified for next week’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst, N.C.

Tennis

Top-ranked Roger Federer twice came within two points of losing on grass for the first time since the first round of Wimbledon in 2003 before beating unseeded Robin Soderling, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, to extend his winning streak on the surface to 25 matches at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.

Lleyton Hewitt, playing his first match since March, beat Xavier Malisse, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-5, to reach the third round at the Queen’s tournament in London. Hewitt had been sidelined by a toe injury and cracked rib.

Third-seeded Tim Henman also won, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1, over Robby Ginepri and Mark Philippoussis defeated Raemon Sluiter, 6-4, 6-0, setting up a second-round meeting with defending champion and second-seeded Andy Roddick.

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova defeated Anne Kremer, 6-3, 6-0, to reach the third round of the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England.

Miscellany

Former soccer great Pele acknowledged that his son, Edson Cholbi Nascimento, 35, was among about 50 people arrested on cocaine trafficking charges Monday in Santos, Brazil.

BALCO founder Victor Conte could face additional money laundering charges in connection to the Bay Area sports doping ring, federal prosecutors said in San Francisco.

Conte is already charged with dozens of counts of distributing steroids and human growth hormone and of money laundering.

NHL and NHL Players’ Assn. representatives met for nearly 12 hours in a small-group session in New York. They will meet again today and Thursday, and are believed to be working on details regarding linkage and revenue sharing.

Neither side would comment, but multiple sources have said that an end to the nine-month lockout could be only weeks away.

In an attempt to ensure bigger waves for its X Games telecast, ESPN has moved the surfing competition from Huntington Beach to Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

The competition at Zicatela Beach will take place Aug. 1 or 2, to be shown Aug. 6 at noon on ABC.

Joe Gibbs Racing hired crew chief Mike Ford to oversee the No. 11 NASCAR Nextel Cup Chevrolet driven by Jason Leffler. Ford, released by Robert Yates Racing, replaces Dave Rogers, who has been reassigned on the team.

Florida State defensive tackle Clifton Dickson is academically ineligible for the 2005 season, the school said.

Paul Hamm, who got to keep his gold medal last year after an appeal from a rival gymnast, will testify Thursday at a congressional subcommittee hearing that will review the performance of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

A record $2.5-million bonus will be offered when the Las Vegas Marathon makes its debut Dec. 4 on the Las Vegas strip.

Avenger lineman Silas Demary was chosen the Arena Football League’s defensive player of the year in a vote of the league’s coaches, fans and the AFL Writers Assn. Demary set a league record with 13 1/2 sacks.

Texas junior softball pitcher Cat Osterman and Baylor freshman tennis standout Zuzana Zemenova were voted the nation’s most outstanding athletes in their respective sports, according to results of national balloting among NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards.