Carolina Players Linked to Illegal Steroid Probe

Investigators probing an alternative medicine doctor want to speak to at least nine current or former members of the Carolina Panthers about possible illegal steroid prescriptions, a Columbia, S.C., newspaper reported.

James Shortt, a West Columbia physician, is under investigation for allegedly prescribing steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, the State said in Sunday editions. The newspaper based its story on court records and sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

Federal agents subpoenaed the Panthers for the addresses and contact information of several players as part of the probe.

“We’ve known about the investigation into Dr. Shortt for a short period of time and we are still trying to retrieve enough information to comment on it,” Panther General Manager Marty Hurney said Sunday. “We certainly are not aware of any of our players testing positive for steroids.”

Sources familiar with the investigation told the newspaper that some of the players were on the Panther squad that competed in the 2004 Super Bowl.

Winter Sports

Anja Paerson of Sweden held off Janica Kostelic of Croatia to win the overall World Cup title in a competition that came down to the final skier in the final race of the season -- a giant slalom -- at Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who already had clinched the slalom championship, won the giant slalom title.

Maria Jose Rienda Contreras of Spain, the last skier of the day, won the race in 2 minutes 20.18 seconds. Poutiainen was second in 2:20.48, and Nicole Hosp of Austria was third in 2:20.69.

Mario Matt of Austria won the final World Cup slalom of the season -- his first victory in more than four years. Matt, the 2001 world champion, completed the course at Lenzerheide in a combined time of 1 minute 22.81 seconds.

Overall champion Bode Miller completed a slalom for just the second time this season, finishing sixth.

Matti Hautamaki of Finland won his fifth consecutive World Cup ski jump competition, finishing nearly 10 points ahead of runner-up Bjorn Einar Romoren of Norway. Hautamaki had two consistent jumps of 127.5 and 128 meters for 281.4 points.

Romoren, jumping in front of his home fans in Oslo, hit 124 and 128 meters for 272.1 points. Michael Uhrmann of Germany was third with 270.6 points (124.5 and 127.5).

Hannu Manninen of Finland beat Magnus Moan of Norway by 1.3 seconds to win the World Cup Nordic combined season finale at Oslo.

Manninen, who clinched his second consecutive overall title last weekend at Lahti, Finland, finished the 7.5-kilometer cross-country ski race in 18 minutes 4.3 seconds.

World Cup runner-up Ronny Ackermann of Germany finished third, 5.6 seconds back. Austrian Felix Gottwald was fourth, beating Todd Lodwick by two spots to pass the American for third place in the final overall standings.

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway won the 15-kilometer mass start race at the biathlon world championships at Hichfilzen, Austria. Bjoerndalen, who also won the sprint and pursuit individual events as well as the relay team gold with Norway, crossed the finish line in 40 minutes 51.99 seconds.

Motor Racing

Americans Bill Auberlen and Justin Marks, driving a BMW, won the first Grand Am Cup Series race outside North America, surviving the heat and a power outage midway through the race at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The race was temporarily stopped near the halfway point when the outage knocked out the track’s computer system.

The lost time in the middle of the competition meant the race was stopped at the three-hour time limit instead of 125 laps. The drivers completed 121 laps averaging 140 mph on straightaways.

Americans Rob Finlay and Michael McDowell, also driving a BMW, finished second. Canadians Scott Maxwell and David Empringham, in a Ford Mustang GT, came in third.

With temperatures at 86 degrees, 36 cars with alternating drivers raced around Santo Domingo’s 1.6-mile oceanfront racetrack at speeds reaching 160 mph.

Soccer

American goalkeeper Brad Friedel needed to make only one save, and it was enough to help Blackburn defeat Leicester, 1-0, and reach the English FA Cup semifinals for the first time in 45 years. Friedel stopped a header from Dion Dublin in the 47th minute.... Kristine Lilly scored two goals, leading the U.S. women’s team to a 4-0 victory over Denmark and a berth in the Algarve Cup final at V.R. Santo Antonio, Portugal.

Pro Football

Matt George kicked a 20-yard field goal as time expired to give the Tampa Bay Storm a 59-56 victory over the Arizona Rattlers in an Arena League game at Tampa, Fla. Shane Stafford threw seven touchdowns passes for the Storm. Arizona’s Sherdrick Bonner threw eight touchdown passes.... Todd Hammel passed for 348 yards and six touchdowns to lead the visiting Chicago Rush to a 48-45 victory over the Grand Rapids Rampage.

Joe Hamilton threw six touchdown passes and rushed for another to lead the Orlando Predators to a 63-52 victory over the New Orleans VooDoo at New Orleans.... Clint Stoerner threw five touchdown passes to help the visiting Dallas Desperados beat the Austin Wranglers, 52-28.

Top-ranked Tulane avoided a three-game sweep by No. 3 Cal State Fullerton, beating the Titans, 13-9, in New Orleans. Fullerton (14-3) had won nine in a row.

The Green Wave (15-3) beat Fullerton for the first time in 12 games.