Spitz says he feels sorry for Phelps

Mark Spitz says he feels badly for Michael Phelps. Spitz, whose record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics was broken when Phelps won eight last year, talked briefly about Phelps last night while in Little Rock, Ark., for a speaking engagement. Phelps has been at the center of controversy after a photo surfaced showing the swimming star with a marijuana pipe. "As a fan, I feel sorry and I feel badly for him at this time," Spitz said. "Nobody would want to wish that upon him, I'm sure. He's obviously dealing with it in a way that he feels appropriate, and I'm not one to comment on whether it's right or wrong because I'm not with his management team."

More swimming: Sweden's Therese Alshammar broke her 50-meter butterfly world record in Sydney with a time of 25.44 seconds, taking 0.02 off the record of 25.46 she set in 2007. Alshammar, however, could be disqualified because officials later discovered she was wearing two suits.


College football: Top high school recruit Bryce Brown, a 6-foot, 215-pound running back from Wichita, Kan., signed a letter of intent with Tennessee. ... Florida State will appeal the part of an NCAA sanction that would take away wins in 10 sports, including as many as 14 in football. ... Former Wisconsin running back P.J. Hill was arrested near campus on suspicion of drunken driving and leading police on a chase. ... Nevada running back Luke Lippincott was granted a sixth year of eligibility because of a knee injury that forced him to miss most of last season after leading the Western Athletic Conference in rushing the year before.

College baseball: Towson senior infielder Gary Helmick became the fourth player in school history to hit for the cycle in the Tigers' 13-6 home victory over Yale.

College lacrosse: Kyle Norchi had five goals and two assists to lead Plattsburgh State (4-1) to a 17-7 win over Goucher (4-2) at Christopher Newport University.

Soccer: Police say an Iraqi player was shot dead just as he was about to kick what could have been the tying goal in a weekend amateur game south of Baghdad. Police Maj. Muthanna Khalid said a spectator was arrested. ... The U.S. women will open their 2009 domestic schedule May 20 with a match against Japan in Frisco, Texas.

Tennis: Roger Federer and Andy Murray each were a step closer to a possible showdown in the semifinals with relatively routine victories during third-round matches at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif. Federer, ranked No.2, defeated Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Murray overpowered Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-3, 6-2.

Arena Football League: Players and management reached agreement on a collective bargaining agreement, paving the way for the league to restart play next year. The players union and the league's board must ratify the deal, which would cover 2010 to 2013.

From Sun staff and news services