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From The Associated Press

NY judge sentences disgraced NBA ref to 15 months

NEW YORK—Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison Tuesday for setting off a gambling scandal that tarnished the league’s reputation and raised questions about the integrity of its officiating.

The sentencing in Brooklyn federal court culminated a case that hung over the league throughout the season and even into the NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. League commissioner David Stern has repeatedly denied Donaghy’s claim that corruption among referees goes beyond him.

Donaghy’s lawyer had asked U.S. District Judge Carol Amon to give his client probation, arguing Donaghy is a pathological gambler. Amon, who could have imposed a sentence of 33 months, gave the former ref credit for cooperating with investigators, but scolded him for disgracing the sport.

“The NBA, the players and the fans relied on him to perform his job in an honest manner,” she said.

In addition to the prison time, the judge ordered Donaghy to serve three years of supervised release.

Folding his arms but showing no other emotion, the 41-year-old Donaghy apologized to the court. “I brought shame on myself and my family,” he said.

Donaghy pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce for taking payoffs from a professional gambler for inside tips on games.

Big deal: Angels acquire Teixeira from Braves

ATLANTA—The Los Angeles Angels acquired slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira from the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, a bold trade that further bolsters the team with the best record in the major leagues.

The Angels, with an 11?-game lead in the AL West and primed for a World Series run, sent first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Steve Marek to Atlanta.

"Hopefully, I can just go over there and be one more piece of the puzzle," Teixeira said before the Braves hosted St. Louis.

Teixeira is making $12.5 million and will be eligible for free agency after the season. Atlanta general manager Frank Wren said the team was rebuffed in spring training when it offered Teixeira a deal that would have made him "one of the highest-paid players in the game."

There were no further contract discussions between Wren and Teixeira's agent, Scott Boras. With Atlanta plagued by injuries and fading in the NL East, Wren thought he had little choice but to get something of value before losing the 28-year-old Teixeira.

"We offered him a very aggressive, multiyear contract," Wren said. "When he didn't take that, we knew we wouldn't be able to re-sign him."

Teixeira said the negotiations with the Braves were nothing more than "one phone call."

Ichiro reaches 3,000 total hits in US, Japan

ARLINGTON, Texas—Ichiro Suzuki reached 3,000 combined hits in the major leagues and the Japanese League with a first-inning single Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers.

The Seattle Mariners leadoff man hit a soft liner to left-center on the game's first pitch from Luis Mendoza. Standing on first base, Suzuki received an ovation from the Texas crowd and tipped his helmet when his achievement was posted on the scoreboard.

The 34-year-old Suzuki has 1,722 hits in 1,224 games during his eight seasons with the Mariners. He had 1,278 hits over 951 games in nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave of Japan's Pacific League.

Only one player in Japanese League history reached 3,000 hits: Isao Harimoto with 3,085. A total of 27 players have compiled at least 3,000 hits in major league history.

"That's a tremendous achievement for the short time he's been over here," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said before the game. "I think that's the most (hits) anyone's ever had in that period of time."

Internet sites still blocked for Olympic reporters

BEIJING—Olympic organizers are backtracking on another promise about coverage of the Beijing Games, keeping in place blocks on Internet sites in the Main Press Center and venues where reporters will work.

The blocked sites will make it difficult for journalists to retrieve information, particularly on political and human rights stories the government dislikes. On Tuesday, sites such as Amnesty International or any search for a site with Tibet in the address could not be opened at the Main Press Center, which will house about 5,000 print journalists when the games open Aug. 8.

“This type of censorship would have been unthinkable in Athens, but China seems to have more formalities,” said Mihai Mironica, a journalist with ProTV in Romania. “If journalists cannot fully access the Internet here, it will definitely be a problem.”

The censored Internet is the latest broken promise on press freedoms. In bidding for the games seven years ago, Chinese officials said the media would have “complete freedom to report.” And in April, Hein Verbruggen and Kevan Gosper — senior IOC members overseeing the games — said they’d received assurances from Chinese officials that Internet censorship would be lifted for journalists during the games.

China routinely blocks Internet access to its own citizens.

NASCAR apologizes for Indianapolis tire fiasco

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—NASCAR apologized Tuesday for the tire fiasco that ruined its prestigious race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and vowed to avoid a repeat.

A durability issue with the tires Goodyear brought to Indy forced NASCAR to call cautions every 10 to 12 laps on Sunday to slow the action and force teams to change their tires before they failed. The longest run under the green flag was 13 laps, and Jimmie Johnson claimed the victory at the end of a seven-lap sprint to the finish in the second-slowest race in the 15 years NASCAR has competed at the Brickyard.

The drivers were disgusted, fans were frustrated and NASCAR is still trying to figure out why things went so wrong.

“I can’t say enough how sorry we are and it’s our responsibility being NASCAR that we don’t go through this situation again,” said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition.

“The race didn’t come off like we had hoped, the fans didn’t get what they exactly wanted and we’ll do everything in our power — it won’t happen again, I can tell you that much.”

But NASCAR must first figure out why Goodyear’s tires struggled so mightily at Indianapolis. The only thing that is certain is that the tire compound Goodyear selected was not strong enough when combined with NASCAR’s current car.

Manning arrives at Colts camp; will he practice?

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.—Peyton Manning finally arrived in town. Where he is or when he’ll practice with the Indianapolis Colts remains a mystery.

The two-time league most valuable player had surgery July 14 to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee but still has not appeared on the Colts’ practice fields. Team officials are keeping his whereabouts hush-hush.

“He’s doing fine. He’s here and he’s immobilized,” coach Tony Dungy said after Tuesday morning’s practice. “We don’t want a lot of people seeing him, so that’s why we’re not saying where he is.”

Manning did not report with the rest of his teammates to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Thursday, though he did answer reporters’ questions during a conference call and said then that it probably wasn’t smart to be around 150 people.

Doctors are taking a cautious approach to Manning’s recovery to lower the risk of infection.

He was initially entrenched at his Indianapolis-area home, his knee compressed and elevated while he took antibiotics intravenously. Dungy’s statement suggests Manning still isn’t able to get around easily and Manning made it clear that if he was going to be immobilized, he’d rather be in Terre Haute where he had quicker access to team trainers.