Senate Steroid Plan Eases Up on Penalties

Aiming for a Senate vote on steroid legislation this week, lawmakers eased the proposed penalties Tuesday, calling for a half-season suspension the first time an athlete tests positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., and John McCain, R-Ariz., contains a one-season ban for a second steroid offense and a lifetime ban for a third. It would apply to Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL and baseball’s minor leagues.

Several bills that would standardize steroid rules across U.S. professional sports have been proposed in the House and Senate in recent months. Most -- including the original version of the Senate measure -- were based on the Olympic model: a two-year suspension for a first drug offense, a lifetime ban for a second.

BASEBALL

Urbina Arrested; Charge of

Attempted Murder Pending

Philadelphia Phillie pitcher Ugueth Urbina was arrested and held pending a formal charge of attempted murder in Caracas, Venezuela.

Last month, Urbina and a group of men allegedly attacked five workers with machetes and poured gasoline on them in an attempt to set them on fire. All five were injured, some of them with cuts and one with burns on the back and right arm, police said. Urbina, who was detained late Monday, has insisted he had nothing to do with the violence at his family’s ranch Oct. 16.

The New York Yankees let Tino Martinez go, declining their $3-million option on the first baseman. Martinez, 38, returned to New York last season and batted .241 in part-time duty with 17 home runs and 49 runs batted in.

Infielder Neifi Perez and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a $5-million, two-year contract. Perez, 32, batted .274 with nine homers and 54 RBIs last season.

The San Diego Padres exercised their 2006 option on right-handed reliever Akinori Otsuka but declined their option on infielder-outfielder Eric Young.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Arizona’s McClellan

Loses Academic Appeal

Arizona sophomore swingman Jawann McClellan had his appeal from academic ineligibility rejected by the NCAA. A key reserve in Arizona’s run to the Elite Eight last season, McClellan became academically ineligible after his father’s death from a heart attack this summer.

Syracuse defeated Bethune-Cookman, 68-37, in the first round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at Syracuse, N.Y. The Orangemen will play Cornell, which defeated St. Francis, Pa., 75-54.

Indiana forward D.J. White is expected to be out six weeks because of a broken left foot suffered during the Hoosiers’ exhibition victory over St. Joseph’s, Ind., on Friday.

Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma leads the list of those to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame this spring, Associated Press reported. The other inductees are former Texas All-American Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil, Louisiana Tech star Janice Lawrence Braxton, former Georgia player Katrina McClain Johnson, Bentley College coach Barbara Stevens and Brazilian Olympian Maria Paula Goncalves da Silva.

AUTO RACING

Rudd Says This Season

Is Last as Full-Timer

After 31 seasons and 786 consecutive starts, Ricky Rudd is just about done racing.

Rudd, 49, said he was stepping aside from full-time Nextel Cup racing after this season, bringing an end to a streak that began in 1981.

“I have not taken a vacation or sick day in nearly 30 years of racing, and with my contract with the Wood Brothers expiring at the end of this race season, it seemed like the perfect time to step back and take a break,” Rudd said.

MISCELLANY

Academic Reforms

Are Having an Impact

The first official scorecard of the Academic Progress Rate, which measures the retention and graduation rates of men’s and women’s Division I teams in all sports, is due shortly, and Britton Banowsky, Conference USA commissioner and chairman of an NCAA academic subcommittee, said the move to spark academic reform was off to a promising start.

“We’re seeing institutional behavior changed. We’re seeing more student athletes on track to graduate,” he said.

Teams need an APR of at least 925 to pass. Teams that don’t make the grade could lose scholarships and eventually be banned from postseason tournaments.

D.C. United midfielder Freddy Adu was fined $500 by Major League Soccer for a reckless foul against Chicago’s Logan Pause in a playoff game last month.

Center Petr Sykora will return to his club in the Czech Republic after playing in 10 games with the Washington Capitals.

Nashville Predator forward Scott Walker will be out up to 10 weeks after surgery for a hernia.