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Sports Briefs: Largest steroids bust in history leads to more than 120 arrests
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | No comments posted.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Federal authorities announced the largest crackdown on illegal steroids in the nation’s history, arresting more than 120 people and raiding dozens of labs that manufactured growth hormone for sale on the black market.
Agents seized 56 labs, many of which were located in dirty basements, and recovered 11.4 million doses of steroids, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
U.S. investigators were helped by governments of nine other countries, including China, which is hosting the 2008 Olympics. Among those facing charges are a Chinese manufacturer accused of smuggling human growth hormone into the U.S. and others who allegedly got steroids from China and sold them to U.S. customers.
The probe targeted manufacturers of raw materials needed to produce steroids, as well as underground steroid labs in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
BASEBALL
Padres seek help from Lane
SAN FRANCISCO — Needing a fast fix in their injury-depleted outfield, the San Diego Padres acquired Jason Lane from the Houston Astros on Monday for a player to be named or cash.
Lane was batting .178 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs for the Astros this season. He has 61 homers and 189 RBIs in 494 major league games from 2002-07.
The Padres are tied with Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead after a 9-4 loss Monday night in San Francisco. They lost two everyday players to injuries Sunday: left fielder Milton Bradley and center fielder Mike Cameron.
Offerman pleaded not guilty
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Former major league All-Star Jose Offerman pleaded not guilty to charges that he attacked a pitcher and catcher with his bat during a minor league game.
Offerman is scheduled back in Bridgeport Superior Court on Oct. 17.
Offerman, who is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, charged the mound after he was hit with a pitch while batting for the Long Island Ducks on Aug. 14. He was accused of hitting two Bridgeport Bluefish players and indefinitely suspended the next day. The 38-year-old Offerman last played in the majors in 2005 with the New York Mets. He batted .273 during 15 seasons in the majors and was an All-Star infielder in 1995 with the Dodgers and in 1999 with Boston.
PRO BASKETBALL
Officials file lawsuit to keep Sonics in Seattle
SEATTLE — Seattle officials filed a lawsuit to keep the SuperSonics from leaving town, saying the team’s profitability in much-maligned KeyArena is more linked to poor play than the venue itself.
The lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court just a few days after new Sonics chairman Clay Bennett issued a demand for arbitration, seeking to buy out the remainder of the team’s lease unless an agreement on a new arena is reached by the end of next month. The complaint asks that a judge force the Sonics to stay through the end of the lease, in 2010.
Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr and former Republican U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, the city’s legal big gun, said the issue is simple: In exchange for $74 million in renovations to the old Seattle Coliseum in the mid-1990s, the Sonics agreed to play all of their home games there through 2010.
BOXING
Tyson pleaded guilty to charges
MESA, Ariz. — Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession and driving under the influence stemming from a traffic stop last year as he was leaving a nightclub.
Tyson quietly acknowledged to a judge that he had cocaine and was impaired when he was stopped for driving erratically in Scottsdale on Dec. 29.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Russian sets world record
BANGKOK, Thailand — Russian weightlifter Oxana Slivenko set a world record and won two gold medals at the World Weightlifting Championships.
The 21-year-old Slivenko, in the 152-pound category, topped the world record by two pounds with a total of 607 for the gold medal. She lifted 343 in the clean and jerk for the gold, and 264 in the snatch for the silver.
Slivenko broke the record set at the 2004 Olympics by Liu Chunhong of China.
Agents seized 56 labs, many of which were located in dirty basements, and recovered 11.4 million doses of steroids, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
U.S. investigators were helped by governments of nine other countries, including China, which is hosting the 2008 Olympics. Among those facing charges are a Chinese manufacturer accused of smuggling human growth hormone into the U.S. and others who allegedly got steroids from China and sold them to U.S. customers.
The probe targeted manufacturers of raw materials needed to produce steroids, as well as underground steroid labs in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
BASEBALL
Padres seek help from Lane
SAN FRANCISCO — Needing a fast fix in their injury-depleted outfield, the San Diego Padres acquired Jason Lane from the Houston Astros on Monday for a player to be named or cash.
Lane was batting .178 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs for the Astros this season. He has 61 homers and 189 RBIs in 494 major league games from 2002-07.
The Padres are tied with Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead after a 9-4 loss Monday night in San Francisco. They lost two everyday players to injuries Sunday: left fielder Milton Bradley and center fielder Mike Cameron.
Offerman pleaded not guilty
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Former major league All-Star Jose Offerman pleaded not guilty to charges that he attacked a pitcher and catcher with his bat during a minor league game.
Offerman is scheduled back in Bridgeport Superior Court on Oct. 17.
Offerman, who is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, charged the mound after he was hit with a pitch while batting for the Long Island Ducks on Aug. 14. He was accused of hitting two Bridgeport Bluefish players and indefinitely suspended the next day. The 38-year-old Offerman last played in the majors in 2005 with the New York Mets. He batted .273 during 15 seasons in the majors and was an All-Star infielder in 1995 with the Dodgers and in 1999 with Boston.
PRO BASKETBALL
Officials file lawsuit to keep Sonics in Seattle
SEATTLE — Seattle officials filed a lawsuit to keep the SuperSonics from leaving town, saying the team’s profitability in much-maligned KeyArena is more linked to poor play than the venue itself.
The lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court just a few days after new Sonics chairman Clay Bennett issued a demand for arbitration, seeking to buy out the remainder of the team’s lease unless an agreement on a new arena is reached by the end of next month. The complaint asks that a judge force the Sonics to stay through the end of the lease, in 2010.
Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr and former Republican U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, the city’s legal big gun, said the issue is simple: In exchange for $74 million in renovations to the old Seattle Coliseum in the mid-1990s, the Sonics agreed to play all of their home games there through 2010.
BOXING
Tyson pleaded guilty to charges
MESA, Ariz. — Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession and driving under the influence stemming from a traffic stop last year as he was leaving a nightclub.
Tyson quietly acknowledged to a judge that he had cocaine and was impaired when he was stopped for driving erratically in Scottsdale on Dec. 29.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Russian sets world record
BANGKOK, Thailand — Russian weightlifter Oxana Slivenko set a world record and won two gold medals at the World Weightlifting Championships.
The 21-year-old Slivenko, in the 152-pound category, topped the world record by two pounds with a total of 607 for the gold medal. She lifted 343 in the clean and jerk for the gold, and 264 in the snatch for the silver.
Slivenko broke the record set at the 2004 Olympics by Liu Chunhong of China.
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