Sports

The year after a Summer Olympics is supposed to be a time when the stars of the previous Games catch their breath while the likely stars of the next Winter Games give the Olympic world some breathless anticipation. So it was no surprise to see alpine skier Lindsey Vonn emerge as, so to speak, the Michael Phelps of the upcoming 2010 Winter Games, a woman clearly capable of winning four of her sport's five events. But we also saw Phelps being Phelps all over again, saving a sport whose brain-dead leadership allowed decades of history to be washed away by its failure to rein in technology.

Tiger Woods was never the sort of athlete to get involved with social issues, not like Muhammad Ali protesting the Vietnam War or Martina Navratilova championing gay rights. But the scandal enveloping the superstar golfer has prompted national debate on several fronts, touching upon the intersection of celebrity and private life, raising questions about whether any athlete should be considered a role model. Now comes a new topic: Sex addiction. A spate of unconfirmed news reports and blog items this week have Woods checking into a private clinic in Mississippi to treat an alleged addiction to sex. Regardless of whether the reports are true, they have people talking about something that ranges far outside the world of sports.

John Daly left Torrey Pines on Friday saying he was done with golf. He had missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open and he said in the parking lot, "I can't compete. I can't play like I used to." Since he left, though, Daly has been busy on Twitter telling his 42,000 followers that he is not retiring. Daly's "I'm done" comment was said to a producer for his soon-to-debut Golf Channel reality show, "Being John Daly." On Saturday, Larry Jackson, chief executive of Loudmouth Golf, the maker of Daly's attention-grabbing pants, told reporters at a PGA merchandise show in Orlando, Fla., "John's an emotional guy. He's not quitting, he's already said he just needs some time.

What the Indianapolis Colts' offense needs to concentrate on to combat the New Orleans Saints' defense in Super Bowl XLIV. Beat the clock Peyton Manning is the best in the business when it comes to squeezing every last second out of the play clock to figure out what the defense is doing. The NFL is all about disguise, and the Saints defense will want to hide whether it's in man or zone coverage because Manning can exploit that. You frequently see Manning pointing across the line of scrimmage, often at a linebacker.

If the marvelous mare Zenyatta were Michael Jordan, she would have sauntered onto the track at Santa Anita wearing a sign that read: "I'M BACK!" In horse racing, it's that big. On Saturday, a star was reborn. The announcement that Zenyatta would race again, as a 6-year-old, was much less ostentatious than that. Early Saturday afternoon, word circulated that Zenyatta owners Jerry and Ann Moss were in attendance and had something to say. The parade of reporters began and, one by one, the Mosses revealed what they had decided.

In a long-awaited response to allegations that former basketball star O.J. Mayo received improper cash and gifts while in school, USC will penalize its team by forfeiting victories and money, forgoing postseason play and curtailing recruiting. "When we've done something wrong, we have an obligation to do something about it and that is exactly what we are doing here," Athletic Director Mike Garrett said in a statement on Sunday. The action comes as USCalso faces allegations that two prominent football players -- current tailback Joe McKnight and former tailback Reggie Bush -- accepted improper benefits.

Manny Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, announced Tuesday that HBO pay-per-view will televise the March 13 Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey welterweight fight at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. More than 1,500 fans plus the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders greeted Pacquiao and Clottey for their news conference Tuesday inside the stadium. Both fighters entered the stadium through the players' tunnel and said they felt like football players. "It was a fun announcement," Cowboys and stadium owner Jerry Jones said.

Herschel Walker used to tell friends at the University of Georgia that he aspired to be considered one of the greatest athletes in history. "And not just in football," Walker recalled this week. Since running the Bulldogs to the 1980 national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy in 1982, Walker rushed for more than 13,000 yards in the USFL and NFL, then retired in 1997 with the second-most all-purpose yards in NFL history. During his pro football career, he also earned a spot on the 1992 Olympic two-man bobsled team, and won television's "Superstars" event three times.

Staples Center has made a guaranteed $20-million offer to host the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. mega-fight that has been tentatively agreed on by the boxers to be fought March 13. "This is the biggest boxing event ever, and we're prepared to step up in a big way," said Dan Beckerman, chief financial officer for AEG, which runs Staples Center. Pacquiao and Mayweather have not officially agreed to the fight, but their promoters are already looking to secure a site for the lucrative bout that is the talk of the boxing community.

The bride had red hair, so who was going to look twice when the world's most famous snowboarder found his place at the table, had a piece of cake and ended up slow-dancing with the woman in the wedding gown? Olympic gold medalist Shaun White . . . wedding crasher? Pretty funny when his day job is all about avoiding crashes. "I just said I was Uncle Ned's kid," White said, laughing, making a reference to the movie "Wedding Crashers." (Hmm . . . maybe Owen Wilson, with a hair-color switch to red, does play White in the Shaun White movie.

If anyone needed an early-season boost in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year it was Kevin Harvick. The Bakersfield native had a miserable 2009, finishing 19th in the point standings, his worst showing in seven years, and he hasn't won a points-paying race since nipping Mark Martin to win the Daytona 500 in 2007. But Harvick again demonstrated his prowess at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night by winning his second consecutive Budweiser Shootout, a non-points exhibition race that precedes the Daytona 500 and marks the unofficial start to the Cup season.

Peyton Manning doesn't like to waste time. So, for instance, when the Indianapolis quarterback runs on the treadmill, he doesn't just chug along like everyone else. He practices the two-minute drill while jogging, gesturing and calling out plays as he racks up the miles. "The first time I saw that I was like, 'What is he doing?' " Colts guard Ryan Lilja said. "I'd never seen that before, but then I realized it makes perfect sense. This guy is a next-level thinker." For one NFL team -- either Manning's Colts or the New Orleans Saints -- the next level is just four quarters away.

Rk. Team Rec. Result Next 1. KANSAS 22-1 d. Nebraska, 75-64 at No. 9 Texas, Monday Cole Aldrich sparks a 16-1 run and Jayhawks win 55th in a row at home. 2. VILLANOVA 20-2 l. to G'town, 103-90 at No. 6 W. Virginia, Mon. Wildcats commit 16 first-half turnovers and suffer first Big East loss. 3. SYRACUSE 22-1 Did not play at Cincinnati, today 4. KENTUCKY 22-1 d. LSU, 81-55 Alabama, Tuesday DeMarcus Cousins has sixth consecutive double-double (17-12)

Saints' run offense vs. Colts' run defense The Saints had the sixth-ranked ground game this season, and the Colts finished 24th against the run. Still, this isn't the mismatch those numbers suggest. The Colts improved dramatically in that department as the season went on, and their numbers only got worse again when they mailed in games at the end of the season. Edge: Colts. Saints' pass offense vs. Colts' pass defense It all starts with Drew Brees, and he has so many weapons and ways to get them the ball.

Normalcy (shudder) returns to Lakerdom. Normalcy (shudder) returns to Lakerdom, or a funny thing happened on the way to another parade. . . . If the question in Lakerdom is, what could go wrong, the answer is: Everything that has happened recently. Lost in last week's excitement over one-of-the-best-Lakers-ever Kobe Bryant passing Jerry West and most-stubborn-Laker-ever Kobe flaming out against the Nuggets, the last hope for a 70-win season faded to black. Friday's loss was the Lakers' 13th, mathematically ending hope of a 32-0 finish, making this the second season in a row in which, after Lakers players as well as talk show hosts talked about winning 70, they won't come close.

Every once in a while, UCLA-bound Tyler Lamb of Santa Ana Mater Dei wishes he could help his future Bruins teammates right now. "I love how my senior year is going and how our team is playing," he said. "I don't mind waiting, but there's always the urge to go to college now." With UCLA Coach Ben Howland watching, Lamb scored 26 points to help top-ranked Mater Dei hold off Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, 82-76, Saturday night in the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei. Besides Lamb, Mater Dei (22-1)

Steady rain and poor track conditions caused Santa Anita to cancel its race card for Saturday, when five stakes events were supposed to have been held. Three of the stakes -- the Las Virgenes, the Robert Lewis and the Strub -- have been rescheduled for next Saturday. Poor weather conditions also caused cancellations at several tracks around the country. It's the fourth time during the current meeting that weather and track conditions have forced Santa Anita to cancel races. "We had a lot of rain, and the thing doesn't drain as it's supposed to," track spokesman Mike Willman said.

Former NFL star Warren Sapp was arrested Saturday following an alleged domestic violence incident at a Miami Beach hotel, police said. Sapp was charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic battery and is expected to appear before a Miami-Dade County judge Sunday, Miami Beach police spokesman Juan Sanchez said. Shortly after police officials confirmed the charge, NFL Network spokesman Dennis Johnson said in an e-mail to the Associated Press that Sapp -- who is an analyst -- wouldn't be part of the Super Bowl coverage for Sunday's game between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints.

Danica Patrick proved this much Saturday: Her desire to drive stock cars is not a novelty act. Despite a collision with another car that briefly dropped her deep in the field and her unfamiliarity with the famed "drafting" at Daytona International Speedway, Patrick drove an impressive race and stormed back to finish sixth in her first stock car race. "I had so much fun in a race car today," an ebullient Patrick told a media swarm that greeted her in the garage after the race.

Steve Stricker saw deer and coyotes and plenty of birdies Saturday at Riviera Country Club at the Northern Trust Open after spotting a Kardashian sister Friday night at the Lakers game. Stricker needed Google to find out it was Khloe K. hanging at Staples Center, but the 42-year-old needed no search engines to find his way around Riviera. Through 14 completed holes Saturday, Stricker recorded four birdies and no bogeys and opened up a five-shot lead after almost three rounds of the tournament were completed.