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Controversial baseball slugger Barry Bonds was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday for perjury and obstruction of justice charges for lying about whether he ever took performance enhancing drugs.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday by federal prosecutors in San Francisco, is the culmination of a four-year federal probe into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury investigating steroid use by elite athletes.

While Bonds was chasing Aaron amid the adulation of San Franciscans and the scorn of baseball fans almost everywhere else, due to his notoriously prickly personality and nagging steroid allegations, a grand jury quietly worked behind closed doors to put the finishing touches on the long-rumored indictment.

Bonds, baseball’s all-time and single season home run leader, is a free agent. He has stated that he wants to play at least one more year. If he plays, he will likely sign with an American League team so he can play designated hitter.

Portland Trailblazers rookie-to-be big man Greg Oden will miss his rookie season after having microfracture surgery today on his right knee in Vancouver, Washington.

“Greg had an arthroscopy and a microfracture surgery today,” team physician Dr. Don Roberts, who performed the surgery, said in a statement posted on the Trail Blazers’ Web site. “He was found to have articular cartilage damage in his right knee. The area of injury was not large and we were able to treat it with microfracture, which stimulates the growth of cartilage.

“There are things about this that are positive for Greg. First of all, he is young. The area where the damage was is small and the rest of his knee looked normal. All those are good signs for a complete recovery from microfracture surgery.”

I think everyone saw this coming except ESPN’s experts and blind Trailblazers fans. Welcome to the second coming of Sam Bowie. Who was selected after Sam Bowie in that same 1984 draft? Oh yeah that Michael Jordan guy. Time for Kevin Durant to take over the NBA and remind the Blazers 4x a year that they shouldn’t have passed on him.

Read More at True Hoop

Lance Armstrong, the greatest cyclist of all-time, and fashion designer Tory Burch have ended their relationship.

Counters a Burch source, “Tory would have moved to Texas for him if he popped the question. But he didn’t want to commit. (Armstrong’s rep had no comment.)

Lance on the other hand claims it was a distance thing (Texas v. NY). I didn’t think any distance was too far for Sir Lance-A-Lot and his magical bike.

Shaquille O’Neal has filed for divorce from his wife of five years, Shaunie.  The two have four children together and six total between them.

Attorney Ira Elegant said the petition was filed on behalf of the Miami Heat center in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear who is representing Shaunie O’Neal in the case.

According to the filing, which was first reported by The Miami Herald on its Web site Tuesday night, Shaquille O’Neal is asking Shaunie O’Neal to provide a “correct accounting of all money, funds, stocks, bonds, and other securities” that she had access to or obtained during the marriage.

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Sexy Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova unveiled her tennis wardrobe for the U.S. Open on Wednesday in New York.

When Sharapova defends her U.S. Open title next week, she’ll be wearing tennis dresses decorated with graphic interpretations of the cityscape on the chest.

The designs, created in collaboration with Nike senior designer Colleen Sandieson, were unveiled Wednesday evening on a rooftop at Rockefeller Center.

Like last year, Sharapova will have one outfit dedicated for day play and another for night matches.

Nice to see all the effort being put in to the fashion of the sport.

Sharapova is still just 20-years-old.

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Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick has agreed to plea guilty over the charges of conspiracy to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture and conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities.

“After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him,” lead defense attorney Billy Martin said in a statement.

“Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter.”

Thank you Mr. Vick for not dragging us all through a very long and public trial. ESPN will be saddened to lose all of those programming hours but the rest of us won’t.

I still believe there wouldn’t be nearly the outrage if he had killed or raped someone.

Two things you dont want to do in life 1. Mess with the IRS, 2. Mess with PETA.

Jeff Gordon is either hated or loved on NASCAR racing tracks, but he is one of the best no matter what you think of him.  Jeff is finally at a place in his life where he is happy.  After a failed first marriage early in his racing career, he has remarried and is a first time father of a baby girl.

“At this point in my life, I’ve accomplished all the things that I’ve ever set out to do. I’m still a competitive person, but I’m not feeling like I’m missing out on something,” Gordon, who turned 36 last Saturday, tells Rochester, N.Y.’s Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.

Gordon became a dad to daughter Ella Sofia on June 20. Mom is Belgian actress Ingrid Vandebosch.

“To me, it’s perfect timing in my life to be a father, because I want to be involved, I want to be there,” says Gordon. “I’m excited about all the aspects of it and the challenges that come along with it, and there certainly are.”

Congrats to Jeff and Ingrid!

Another wrestler has died tragically young.  Crush, birth name Brian Adams, died today at the age of 43.  No cause of death yet but I would make a strong wager that it was steroid related.

According to WWE.com, Crush, aka Brian Adams, was found dead earlier today. A cause of death has not yet been determined. Adams was 43.

Along with legendary wrestlers Ax and Smash, Crush was part of the face-painting, leather strap-wearing, generally bad-ass unit known as “Demolition.”

Congress needs to take a close look at the WWE’s steroid policy which is a joke.  If grown adults want to kill themselves by shooting roids in their butt that is their prerogative, but thousands of kids look up, admire and emulate these beef heads as well.

‘The Natural’ Rick Ankiel did it again on Saturday afternoon for the St. Louis Cardinals. The former pitcher turned slugging outfielder hit two home runs and had three hits in the Redbirds 6-1 win over the punchless Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ankiel homered twice and drove in three runs, the latest power display by the former pitcher, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 on Saturday.

Ankiel, who scored three times, hit the first pitch he saw in the first and seventh innings to right field, giving him three home runs since he was called up from Triple-A Memphis on Thursday.

The home crowd gave Ankiel a standing ovation and demanded a curtain call - as they did Thursday - after his first home run against the Dodgers. The second one was met with a quick doff of the cap, and the right fielder got another standing ovation as he jogged off the field after making two strong defensive plays in the eighth.

Rick will eventually slump like every Major League player but look for him to have some great at bats the rest of this year and be the Cardinals starting right fielder next year.

photo: Christopher Schellenbach

David Beckham finally played a few minutes tonight in the Galaxy’s game against the D.C. United.  He played about twenty minutes and missed a free shot.

The sellout crowd of more than 46,686 at RFK Stadium let out a thunderous roar as the 32-year-old English midfielder with the tender ankle stripped off his warmup jacket and T-shirt, displaying his bare chest in a steady rain. He then put on his No. 23 jersey and entered the game in place of Quavas Kirk with the Galaxy trailing 1-0.

His appearance as a substitute was the latest milestone in his move to the United States, a signing that has created unprecedented publicity for a league that hopes to elevate itself above niche status in a crowded sports landscape. Beckham’s first news conference and first appearance in uniform were huge events by themselves—now he has actually played in a competitive game.

One small step for man, one giant leap for Hollywood!