Sports in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Brady selected AP male athlete of the year

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.—Tom Brady arrives at Gillette Stadium before the sun comes up.

As always, there is work to be done, and no time to waste.

Yes, he is the superstar quarterback with the golden arm and the sharp football mind. Yes, he is in position to break Peyton Manning's single season record of 49 touchdown passes. And yes, he is the main reason the New England Patriots are challenging the 1972 Miami Dolphins' status as the only team to go undefeated for an entire Super Bowl season.

This, however, is what teammates see and respect:

"When you see him here at 6:15 in the morning, lifting weights, watching film and working out, I think that's not a sign of a guy that's getting a big head," safety Rodney Harrison said.

And that is why Brady was both flattered at being selected The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, and determined to spread the honor around.

"I play in a team sport," Brady said. "Everybody I play with is responsible for what each of us accomplishes as individuals and for what we all accomplish as a team."

Brady received 51 votes from members of The AP, 18 more than runner-up Roger Federer, who won his fifth straight Wimbledon and fourth straight U.S. Open tennis tournament in 2007. They were followed by Tiger Woods, Manning, Barry Bonds and Josh Beckett.

Lorena Ochoa selected AP female athlete of year

Lorena Ochoa didn't have a blueprint for becoming the best in the world, and she certainly didn't have a role model. Mexico had yet to produce anything resembling a world-class golfer, and Ochoa did not look like one at age 12.

So it was surprising when she told her coach she wanted to be No. 1.

"At that time, with the way I was playing, and being in Guadalajara, it was a little bit crazy to think that way," Ochoa said toward the end of a historic season. "But I did it. It took me a long time, but I did it."

It might have seemed like a long time from when she was 12, but she took only five years on the LPGA Tour to establish her reign.

She replaced Annika Sorenstam at No. 1 in the women's world ranking. She captured her first major championship at the Women's British Open, making history as the first female to win a professional event at St. Andrews. And she capped off the year with a fearless shot that defines her style, becoming the first LPGA Tour player to top $4 million in one season.

Maybe it wasn't such a crazy dream.

Such was her dominance that for the second straight year, Ochoa was the overwhelming choice as the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. It was the fifth straight year a golfer has captured the Female Athlete award, the longest streak of any sport.

Ochoa received 71 votes from members of The Associated Press, equal to the combined total of the next seven athletes below her on the list.

Justine Henin, who won her third straight French Open title in tennis, was second with 18 votes. Rounding out the top five were New York Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe, Tennessee basketball player Candace Parker and Allyson Felix, the second woman in history to win three gold medals at the World Track and Field Championships.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. mulling switch to MMA

DALLAS—Floyd Mayweather Jr. met with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban this week to discuss competing in mixed martial arts.

"We're definitely going to work together," Cuban told The Associated Press after the Mavericks' game Friday night. "It's just a question of in what capacity. You just don't jump from being a boxer to an MMA fighter overnight. He's got to test the waters."

The story was first reported by ESPN.com.

The 30-year-old Mayweather is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and boxing's No. 1 drawing card. His fights this year with Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya generated 3.25 million pay-per-view buys, more than $200 million in revenue and earned him about $50 million.

Cuban owns a fledgling mixed martial arts promotional company called HDNet Fights. He's put on two events so far, the latest in Dallas on Dec. 15. The bouts are shown on Cuban's HDNet.

"It would be huge," Cuban said. "He's an icon in boxing. He's conquered that world. He is the champ and he wants to be the biggest grossing all-time champ as well. Having him work with MMA and HDNet Fights would be huge. It would take it to a whole other level."

Mayweather and Cuban became friends when they were both contestants this year on "Dancing with the Stars." Cuban was Mayweather's guest at the Hatton fight in Las Vegas on Dec. 8. Mayweather knocked out Hatton to retain his title.

Two Italian tennis players suspended for betting

ROME—The ATP suspended Italians Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali on Saturday for making bets—some as little as $7—on tennis matches involving other players.

The Italian tennis federation denounced the penalties by the governing body as an "injustice," and the players said they have been made scapegoats.

Starace, ranked 31st, was suspended for six weeks and fined $30,000, the Italian federation said. Bracciali, ranked 258th, was banned for three months and fined $20,000. Both suspensions take effect Jan. 1.

The federation said Starace made five bets for a total of $130 two years ago, and Bracciali made about 50 bets of $7 each from 2004-05.

"Injustice is done," the statement said. "These penalties are absolutely, excessively severe compared to the magnitude of the violations carried out by the two players."

Jones doping calendar released in BALCO case

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Marion Jones used several different performance-enhancing drugs over a substantial period of time, according to a detailed doping calendar that was part of several pages of court documents released Friday.

Jones' alleged doping regimen was part of a Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative ledger that featured the names of athletes along with the performance-enhancing drugs they were taking and results of urine tests. The other names on the list are redacted.

After long denying she ever had used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted in October that she'd taken the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. "The clear" has been linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.

The International Olympic Committee formally stripped her of five Olympic medals on Dec. 12, and banned the disgraced American athlete from attending next year's Beijing Olympics in any capacity.