When the decision was made in November to go with Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin as coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, leading to a UFC light heavyweight title match between the two on pay-per-view television, the idea seemed like pure box office gold.

After months of divorce rumors swirling around Madonna and hubbie Guy Ritchie, Us magazine alleges that the nearly 50-year-old pop star is cavorting with Yankees’ star swinger Alex Rodriguez.

I have cried after only a few moments in my young sporting career, this one was close, my eyes got a little teary.

Five-time champion Roger Federer swept Lleyton Hewitt — the last man to win the title before him — 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-4 to extend his winning streak on grass to 63 matches and 38 in a row at the All England Club. Federer, who served 21 aces, has now beaten his Australian rival in 12 consecutive matches.

Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic was ousted in straight sets in the fourth round by Tamarine Tanasugarn on Monday, leaving the women’s draw without its top three ranked players.

Get ready to cry.

The Nets New Jersey Nets have traded forward Richard Jefferson Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks for center Yi Jianlian and forward Bobby Simmons.

The trade could be interpreted as a way for the Nets to clear salary space for a possible run at LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, who become free agents after the 2009-10 season.

The New Jersey Nets and Milwaukee Bucks are on the verge of a trade that will send Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for forwards Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, according to NBA front-office sources.

Fresno State was smashing in its final performance as college baseball’s team of destiny, winning a championship that would have been impossible to predict.

On the eve of the NBA draft, the Toronto Raptors went forward and accepted a trade with Indiana where Jermaine O’ Neal would go to Toronto in exchange for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the No. 17 pick in Thursday’s NBA draft.

Team officials recently told the Indianapolis Star that O’Neal, a five-time All-Star, and his knee are healthy. O’Neal played in only 42 games last year and at one point missed 33 straight games before returning to the lineup. He had his worst season with the Pacers since 2000-01 as he averaged 13.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg after averaging 19.4 ppg and 9.6 rpg in 2006-07.

Brett Favre stuck to the script, declining to address his public rift with the Green Bay Packers in an appearance at Lambeau Field on Saturday.

Excerpt “The offseason is officially over. The Washington Redskins gathered on Saturday afternoon for a team meeting, and on Sunday morning they’ll be the first NFL team to have a real, live training camp practice in 2008.”

Yeah baby!

The landscape of the mixed martial arts business may have changed Saturday night as the debuting Affliction promotion came out of its debut show with the potential for several of the biggest heavyweight marquee matches in the sport.

Ninth-ranked Andy Murray will represent Britain in singles tennis at next month’s Olympic Games, his first, and partner brother Jamie in the doubles.

Jeremy Wariner set the year’s world-best time in the 400 meters and Blanka Vlasic and Pamela Jelimo won at the Gaz de France meet to remain in the running for the Golden League jackpot on Friday.

Barloworld will end its cycling sponsorship after one of its riders was expelled from this year’s doping-marred Tour de France.

An unidentified boxer on Greece’s Olympic team tested positive in the latest drug scandal for Greek sports leading to the Beijing Games.

Italian rider Riccardo Ricco was fired by Saunier-Duval for testing positive for the banned blood-booster EPO during the Tour de France.

Shayla Worley’s trip to the Beijing Olympics ended in rural Texas.

Dutch steeplechaser Simon Vroemen could be cut from his country’s Olympic team because he failed a doping test he requested after running an especially fast time.

false alarm? click on the link above to find out!

Wall Street is about to launch a new way to trade professional athletes the way you trade stocks. A piece of Tiger, anyone? When financial historians look back and ask why it took Wall Street so long to create the first public stock market that trades in professional athletes, they will see ours as an age of creative ferment.

Cardinals QB Kurt Warner injured his shoulder while attempting to recover a fumble in the first quarter vs. Panthers.

Jason Richardson scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Gerald Wallace had 15 points and 10 rebounds boards, and the Charlotte Bobcats stunned the Boston Celtics 95-83 for just their fourth loss of the season on Wednesday night.

San Diego has acquired wide receiver Chris Chambers from the Miami Dolphins for what it believed a second-round draft choice, FOXSports.com has learned.

This Saturday’s unification bout between UFC light heavyweight champion Jackson and Pride middleweight and light heavyweight champion Henderson could mark the latest in what has been a drawn-out death knell for the Japanese organization.

More info below…

Adrian Peterson weaves his way through the Bears defense for a 67-yd touchdown.

Why Red Sox and Yankee fans are happy they won’t be rooting for the best pitcher in baseball.

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The Dallas Mavericks parted company with coach Avery Johnson on Wednesday, a day following the team’s first-round exit from the NBA playoffs, ESPN.com has learned.

Joe Johnson beasted with 20 in the fourth, Josh Smith added a franchise record 7 blocks in a playoff game. Series tied at 2-2.

Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers reached a preliminary agreement Saturday on an eight-year, $153.3 million contract extension, a source close to Cabrera told ESPNdeportes.com on condition of anonymity.

Overall, it would become the fourth-richest pact ever in baseball history. Cabrera would trail Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez ($275 million), Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter ($189 million) and Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez ($160 million) in the total salary package listing.

Former USC basketball player O.J. Mayo, a projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft, received thousands of dollars in cash, clothes and other benefits in apparent violation of NCAA rules while he was still in high school and during his one year in college, a former Mayo associate told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”

The Oakland Raiders released running back Dominic Rhodes on Monday, two days after using their top draft pick to take big-play back Darren McFadden.

The All-American freshman announced Thursday that he’ll skip his final three college seasons and enter the NBA draft.

Rose, Beasley, Mayo, Lopez, Bayless are the top 5 picks. DJ Augustin falls to 23. Wanna see where your favorite player falls? or who your team drafts? NBAdraft.net is a highly respect draft source, so check out their latest mock.