With so many players coming out of a steroid fog ...

Filed under: Women's Basketball Stanford won't have to go farther than a two-hour bus ride to pave a path back to its third straight Final Four. But the roadblocks are plentiful. The Cardinal (31-1) are the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament by virtue of Sunday's Pac-10 tournament championship in Los Angeles. Stanford is scheduled to play at home for the first two rounds, opening Saturday with No. 16 seed UC Riverside, and is the only team in its bracket with a host bid. Should the Cardinal advance as expected, they will head to Sacramento. Unlike Connecticut , the team that Stanford has been looking up at all year, the Cardinal have had their health issues. Jayne Appel (pictured right) has battled knee, foot and ankle injuries this season. Experienced guards JJ Hones and Mel Murphy have experienced limited playing time with persistent knee swelling. Starting point guard Jeanette Pohlen had an ankle injury. Stanford is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1998, when it made history by becoming the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed when Harvard pulled off the now infamous upset at Maples Pavilion. Texas A&M (25-7) lurks on the other end of the bracket. The Aggies won the Big 12 tournament for the second time in three years last weekend in Kansas City, in the process handing Nebraska its first loss of the season. A&M has won nine of 10 games, the only loss in that span a two-point loss against Baylor in College Station.

Filed under: NHL What a damned, stinking shame that the world's greatest hockey player also is a goon. The NHL needs Alex Ovechkin to be a post-Olympic ambassador, a seductive highlight reel, a daily reason for SportsCenter to feature his goal explosions and transcendent dazzle and flair. Every time he takes a shift for the Washington Capitals , he should respect the soil on which he makes his living, remember how many Americans viewed the gold-medal game on TV -- 34.8 million at the peak hour, or almost nine percent of the national population -- and try to keep selling what's most alluring about the sport. Instead, he's turning into some sort of crazed, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em loon, too eager to crush opponents with hunt-down hits that border on dirty and threaten to sabotage his team's Stanley Cup chances. His latest foolish act, Sunday afternoon in Chicago, landed him a two-game suspension from a league office finally cracking down on thuggery after years of using violence as a marketing tool. Clearly, Ovechkin was taking gratuitous aim at Brian Campbell when he charged up ice and, from the blindside, hammered the veteran defenseman into the end boards and left him sprawled on the ice for several minutes. Campbell might be out for the rest of the season with a broken clavicle and at least one broken rib, a tough blow for a Blackhawks team that has legitimate hopes of winning its first championship in 49 years. "A dangerous hit,'' Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "There's so much of that stuff going on now, it's pretty frustrating the players don't take a stand against something like that and say, 'You know what, we have to respect ourselves a little bit more, and know it's not all about the flashy hit,' '' said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews , who plays the game the right way. "You have to know when there's a dangerous situation and you can really hurt somebody and be smarter about it."

Filed under: Women's Basketball Say you're Ohio State coach Jim Foster and you've coached your Buckeye team to a 30-4 mark, capturing the regular season and tournament champions. Or perhaps you're Sue Semrau, the Florida State coach, whose Seminoles shared the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with Duke . You'd think either coach would feel reasonably comfortable with their chances to reach the Final Four in San Antonio, given they received the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds , respectively in the Dayton regional. That is, until they looked at the top of the bracket and saw who the No. 1 seed was, namely Connecticut . The Huskies' 72-game winning streak -- two of them against Florida State -- appear as daunting a challenge as any contender has faced since the 1999 tournament, when three-time defending champion Tennessee , fresh off an unbeaten 1998 season, entered the field as prohibitive favorites. The Lady Vols were knocked out that year in the regional final by Duke, and Ohio State and Florida State, not to mention Iowa State, the region's fourth seed, will need something miraculous to happen to take out Connecticut.

Filed under: Women's Basketball Four teams that went a combined 123-4 -- Connecticut (33-0), Nebraska (30-1), Stanford (30-1) and Tennessee (30-2) -- were awarded No. 1 seeds Monday night for the 2010 NCAA women's basketball tournament. UConn, winner of a record 72 straight games, will open defense of its national championship March 21 against Southern (23-8) in Norfolk, Va. The Huskies defeated Louisville, 76-54, in last year's title game. The 2010 tournament opens at 16 sites March 20 and 21 and culminates with the national championship game April 6 in San Antonio.

Filed under: Ducks , NHL Injuries Anaheim Ducks forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne (pictured right) --- both forced out of Sunday's 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks --- were listed as day-to-day after each underwent an MRI, the team announced on Monday. Getzlaf, who leads the Ducks in scoring with 66 points, reinjured the left ankle that nearly kept him from participating in the Winter Olympics for Team Canada. An MRI revealed that no further damage was done. Selanne careened into the boards after scoring his 599th career goal and tests showed the he has a slight left shoulder sprain. He will be reevaluated on Tuesday. The team listed both players as "questionable" for Wednesday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks . Selanne already missed two weeks earlier this season after he broke his jaw when a shot deflected into his face. The Ducks also announced that enforcer George Parros , who received cuts and bruises to one side of his head when a puck hit him during Sunday's morning skate, is expected to be available for Wednesday. Entering play Monday, the Ducks were in 13th place and eight points behind eight-place Detroit for the final playoff spot in the West.

If you're eagerly awaiting the next mock draft, please note the big trade in the NFL over the weekend. The most cerebral quarterback in the 2007 draft was reunited -- sort of -- with that year's "next John Elway." Al Davis will hire you as Raiders coach if you can name them. Trent Edwards and Troy Smith ? Moe Howard and Larry Fine? Try JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn . They headlined the 2007 Sugar Bowl, a 41-14 LSU romp over Notre Dame, and not much since. They now find themselves on rival AFC West teams after a Sunday trade sent Quinn to Denver. Their career dives trace back to that January night three years ago. Russell played great. Quinn played like he was already working for the Browns . We could theorize how those performances altered the NFL universe. If Quinn had played like Russell, the Raiders might have drafted him with the first pick. They took Russell, who might have stayed in school if he'd played like Quinn. I don't think it really mattered. The cities might have been different, but the aroma would have been the same. Pee-yew!

Filed under: Sports Media , Sports Business and Media LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An Illinois insurance executive who secretly shot nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison after giving a tearful apology that was harshly rebuked by his victim. Michael David Barrett pleaded guilty in December to interstate stalking after prosecutors accused him of following the reporter to at least three cities and shooting the videos through hotel peepholes. Barrett, 48, of suburban Chicago, agreed to a 27-month prison sentence after pleading guilty but it was up to the judge to decide how long he would actually serve. Andrews urged the judge at the hearing for a harsher sentence and said she fears for her life every time she enters a hotel. "You violated me and you violated all women," Andrews told Barrett. "You are a sexual predator, a sexual deviant and they should lock you up." After the sentencing, she said, "Thirty months isn't enough." Barrett admitted renting hotel rooms next to Andrews three times and shooting two videos of her while she was naked. He was accused of posting the videos online and trying to sell them to Los Angeles-based celebrity gossip site TMZ last year. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real said he gave Barrett the maximum sentence under the law. "The victim, Andrews, will be suffering with this problem for the rest of her life," Real said. "There is no life sentence that can be imposed upon him, except his own guilt." Barrett cried as he addressed Andrews in court, saying he would spend the rest of his life regaining the respect of his friends and family and atoning for his mistakes. "There are no words to tell Ms. Andrews how sorry I am for what I've done to her," he said. "I hope someday she can forgive me." Andrews, visibly nervous as she spoke, said she had no sympathy for Barrett's claim he was publicly humiliated. "It's my body on the Internet," she said. "I'm being traumatized every single day for what he did. ... This will never be over for me." Barrett, who has until May 3 to surrender, was ordered to have supervised probation for three years after his release, during which he will be prohibited from contacting Andrews, her family or friends. He will not be allowed to stay in a hotel without approval of a probation officer and if he accepts employment somewhere, Andrews will be notified. Barrett was also ordered to pay $5,000 in fines and $7,366 in restitution, but the judge said further restitution may be imposed to compensate ESPN. Barrett's lawyer, David Willingham, said his client is undergoing psychological treatment and "has sought the path of redemption." "Mr. Barrett has lost everything he built throughout his life," Willingham said. "He's lost his career, his fiancee and his life savings. He knows that he brought this on himself." Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have agreed not to pursue further charges against Barrett. However, he could face criminal action in other states stemming from other videos he allegedly shot of unsuspecting nude women through peepholes. Andrews' attorney, Marshall Grossman, has said there could be as many as a dozen other women that Barrett taped. A sentencing memo filed last month in federal court says Barrett uploaded videos of 16 other women to an online account. Barrett also allegedly conducted 30 Internet background checks that can produce birthdays and home addresses, the document said. The filing did not name the other alleged victims or say what information he obtained or how he may have used it. Prosecutors claim that 32 videos provided by DailyMotion.com show Barrett "victimized approximately 16 other women in almost precisely the same way that he victimized" Andrews. They did not identify the women. Andrews testified in December that Barrett's actions had a devastating impact on her and her family because she is constantly reminded that his videos appeared online and is subjected to cruel taunts from sports fans when she works as a sideline reporter. Andrews has agreed to appear on the new season of ABC-TV's "Dancing with the Stars" -- an offer she said ABC made before the stalking allegations. She said she doesn't want to seclude herself from the public eye because other victims would get the wrong message. "I did nothing wrong. Just trying to live my life," she said. "I had to deal with a lot of people who said I deserved it, that I had played to a certain audience." Her attorney said she will not file a lawsuit against Barrett. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. Share Previous Erin Andrews News on FanHouse: Erin Andrews Speaks in Court Man to Plead Guilty in Erin Andrews Case Erin Andrews Harassed by Rutgers Fans Erin Andrews' Alleged Stalker Released on Bond Erin Andrews' Lawyer Goes After Hotel FBI Makes Arrest in Erin Andrews Peephole Case Andrews Tells Oprah: "It's Been a Nightmare" Erin Andrews Returns to Toe Line Between Reporter, Vixen

Filed under: NHL Discipline In light of the NHL's two-game suspension of Alexander Ovechkin on Monday , the time has come for Colin Campbell to resign, be re-assigned or outright fired. Not in a year or two. Not after the NHL conducts a drawn-out search for a successor. Not even effective at the start of next season. Now. This is how it works in sports. As Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations, Campbell is the head coach of the NHL's team of discipline judges. Unless a case involving his son Gregory's Florida Panthers has to be viewed, Campbell rules. In the game he loves and the league he has undoubtedly tried his best to protect, Campbell knows coaches get fired all the time when chaos is rampant -- even when the dysfunction is hardly the coach's fault. Like the saying goes, you can't fire the commissioner and every member of the league's large Hockey Operations staff. You say goodbye to the man in charge.

Filed under: Capitals , NHL Discipline Alex Ovechkin's own coach called him "reckless" earlier this season. So, how long before others around the league start using the word "dirty" to describe the Washington Capitals' captain after he was tagged with his second two-game suspension of the season ? "I have never heard the word 'dirty' to describe him," said Darren Eliot, an analyst for Versus and the Atlanta Thrashers. "But as people analyze all the incidents, they are looking at a body of work. I don't know if it's dirty, but if he competes like has has been he's always going to be on the line." Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason told the D.C. Sports Bo g that he has "no problem" the way Ovechkin plays --- and that's coming from a guy who was the recipient of a knee-on-knee hit from Ovechkin. Ovechkin was suspended for two games for that Nov. 30 collision. But Gleason didn't suffer any lasting injuries from the hit, unlike Chicago's Brian Campbell. Campbell broke his collarbone and along with a couple ribs, injuries that will likely end his season after a first-period shove by Ovechkin. Ovechkin was assessed a major boarding penalty and ejected from Sunday's game.

Filed under: Jets , Giants So the Jets and the Giants have built a stadium together in New Jersey, and they plan to co-exist there as they did in the old place. And with what they're going to charge for seats and PSLs, everybody should be able to make enough money that getting along shouldn't be a problem. You'd think. But if the brouhaha that just transpired to determine which team would get to play the first game in the new Meadowlands stadium is any indication, it could be a rockier relationship than expected. At the end of the day, the NFL has determined that the Giants will play the first regular-season game there, but that both teams will play there on the season's opening weekend -- the Giants on Sunday, Sept. 12 and the Jets on Monday night, Sept. 13. Additionally, the Jets will play the first preseason game at the new $1.7 billion place. All sounds fine, but if you've been following the thing in New York for the past couple of days you've been following a mini-soap opera that appears to have been exacerbated by the NFL commissioner's bizarre settlement of the issue.

Filed under: Capitals , NHL Discipline NEW YORK (AP) -- Two-time MVP Alex Ovechkin has been suspended for the Washington Capitals ' next two games for a reckless hit. The forward knocked Chicago's Brian Campbell into the boards in the first period Sunday and received a game misconduct. With the league's leading scorer kicked out of the game, the Capitals later came back from a 3-0 third-period deficit to win 4-3 in overtime. In a team statement, Capitals GM George McPhee commented on the decision. "We have no problem with the way Alex tried to finish his check. Unfortunately, an injury resulted. We are disappointed with the suspension but do not want to comment further." More: Is Ovechkin a Dirty Player? | Colin Campbell Must Go

Filed under: ATP INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- When it was over, and Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi had finished embarrassing themselves, embarrassing tennis by turning a charity event for a country with a quarter of a million dead into a playground to settle their little scores and resolve their little hurt feelings, apparently they were sent to their rooms. They are still there, huffing and puffing, arms-crossed with their bottom lips sticking out. They didn't show up for the post-event press conference to talk about Haiti, and they still haven't emerged. How is it possible that neither of these guys has had the decency to offer an apology yet? We saw on Friday at the Hit for Haiti how small both of them really are, but these two sports giants have only managed to continue shrinking since. "Now being a father,'' Roger Federer said Sunday night, "I thought maybe we'd have to give both guys like a timeout or something.'' I called for a spanking . This was a study in rivalry. But it comes off like a Seinfeld episode, when a charity event turns ugly through self-obsession. For some reason, people seem to want to focus on which one was more wrong Friday night. Well, the he-started-it argument works fine in second grade, but for grownups, it doesn't matter.

Filed under: South Florida , Coaching TAMPA, Fla. -- Former head football coach Jim Leavitt filed a lawsuit Monday against the University of South Florida and the USF Foundation, Inc., "for breach of written contractual promises" made to Leavitt in March 2008 and for refusal to comply with Florida Public Record laws. The lawsuit, filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, indicated Leavitt was seeking "millions of dollars." On Dec. 14, FanHouse reported Leavitt grabbed walk-on Joel Miller by the throat and hit him twice at halftime against Louisville . FanHouse's report prompted an investigation by the school that determined Leavitt had struck Miller, repeatedly lied to investigators and interfered with the four-week investigation, prompting Leavitt's firing on Jan. 8. In a statement issued Monday by Wil Florin, Leavitt's attorney, Florin claims USF's investigation was "biased, flawed and legally unsupportable. USF materially misrepresented statements given by multiple player witnesses, two law enforcement officers and Coach Leavitt himself."

Filed under: NCAA Basketball With all due respect to everyone at CBS and ESPN who is huffing and puffing and raging and bloviating and trying to turn the NCAA tournament into an Armageddon-meets-Avatar extravaganza, can we acknowledge the truth here, please? This hasn't been the most scintillating season for college basketball. Billy Packer, wherever he is, can rest assured he hasn't missed much so far. And there's no need for Dickie V to try on a pair of 3-D glasses, knowing I might shoot myself if he does. Yes, we've seen the brilliance of John Wall , the emergence of Evan Turner , the rise and potential fall of Syracuse , dominance from Kansas and a lot of nice stories, none a bigger relief than Rick Pitino getting through another year without a scene from an Italian restaurant. But with each passing season comes a harsh reminder that the sport isn't as deep or compelling as it once was, before college hoops became a one-year feeder system for the NBA . March always will be fun because of fresh faces, fantastic finishes and the lure of the brackets, which still unite everyone from CEOs to secretaries who ask the mail-room guy about the glories of Wofford and Arkansas-Pine Bluff .