In Brief

BASEBALL

McNamee testifies of giving steroid shots to Clemens

Speaking softly, nervously and in detail, Brian McNamee testified about the life-changing moment when, he said, he first gave Roger Clemens a "booty shot" of steroids.

The government's star witness in the Clemens perjury retrial took the stand in Washington on Monday and told the jury he injected one of baseball's most successful pitchers with steroids "about eight to 10 times" when they were with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998.

"I knew what I was doing was illegal," McNamee said. "I wish to God I could take it back."

Clemens is charged with lying to Congress when he testified in 2008 that he had never used steroids or human growth hormone. The first attempt to try him last July ended in a mistrial when prosecutors showed the jury a snippet of videotaped evidence that had been ruled inadmissible.

The retrial took until its fifth week to get to the heart of the government's case: McNamee is the only person who will claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens using performance-enhancing drugs.

Also: Major League Baseball and the players' union agreed to drop the 100-game suspension imposed on Colorado Rockies catcher Eliezer Alfonzo for a positive drug test because of the same procedural issues that came up in the Ryan Braun case. Alfonzo missed 48 games - the final 15 of last season and the first 33 of this year.

MLB said "Alfonzo's grievance challenging his suspension raised issues that were nearly identical to those resolved in the arbitration involving Ryan Braun. It is not anticipated that any other future cases will be impacted by the circumstances raised in the grievances of these two players."

Major League Baseball management fired Shyam Das, the arbitrator who overturned Ryan Braun's drug suspension in February.

MLB informed Das and the players' association of its decision last week. Das had been baseball's permanent arbitrator since 1999, part of what technically is a three-man panel that also includes representation of management and labor.

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

UNLV softball coach Manarino won't be retained

UNLV softball coach Pete Manarino was told that his contract will not be renewed, the school announced. Manarino coached the Rebels for four seasons.

UNLV went 22-27 overall this season and finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference with a 3-9 record. Manarino's record at UNLV was 113-86, and he took the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament in 2009.

Also: The UNLV track and field team, which placed third at the Mountain West Conference Championships at Air Force Academy, Colo., last weekend, had a record-setting eight individuals and two relay teams named to the all-conference team.

Emily Blok was UNLV's most decorated track athlete, making the team twice as an individual - in the 100- and 200-meter dashes - and as a member of the 4x100 and 4x400 relay squads.

Amanda Bingson was a three-time honoree after winning the hammer throw and earning the meet's Outstanding Performance Award.

Other honorees: Myshauna Alexander (javelin), Christine Lowe (400 hurdles), Erin Morris (100 hurdles), Kelsey Williamson (800), Secoral Yanez (200) and Brett Zorich (400).

Former Brigham Young star quarterback Ty Detmer was selected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

The National Football Foundation announced on ESPN that Detmer, a Heisman Trophy winner, will be part of a class of 14 former players and three former coaches inducted into the Hall of Fame in December. The rest of the class will be revealed today.

Foothill High School junior receiver/safety Tyler Morris made an oral commitment to play college football at San Diego State on Sunday.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 195-pound Morris was a second-team All-Southeast League safety last season for the Falcons (9-3). He also drew interest from Duke, Oregon State, UNLV and Wake Forest.

Also, Coronado senior forward Michael Louder committed to play basketball at Jacksonville State, choosing the Gamecocks over offers from Florida A&M and Houston Baptist, and Findlay Prep senior center Matt Willms signed with Texas-El Paso.

MISCELLANEOUS

Bounty scandal grievance to be heard Wednesday

The NFL Players Association grievance against the league in the Saints bounty scandal will be heard Wednesday.

The union claims NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't have the authority to hand out discipline for player conduct that occurred before the current collective bargaining agreement was finalized last August. The players argue that a CBA arbitrator, and not Goodell, has the right to decide player punishment under such circumstances, as well as rule on any appeals.

Arbitrator Shyam Das will hear the case. While Das was fired as the permanent arbitrator for baseball, that does not affect his status with the NFL and NFLPA.

The union also maintains that appeals for on-field behavior should be heard by appeals officers Art Shell and Ted Cottrell, not the commissioner. Shell and Cottrell are employed by the NFL and the NFLPA as independent hearing officers when players are fined or suspended for flagrant hits during games.

Goodell suspended four players, including linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the entire 2012 season, after a league investigation uncovered a pay-for-hits program at New Orleans that ran from 2009-11. Also suspended were Saints defensive end Will Smith (four games); linebacker Scott Fujita (three games), now with Cleveland; and defensive end Anthony Hargrove (eight games), now with Green Bay.

Also: Gov. Mark Dayton signed off on a hard-fought agreement to build the Minnesota Vikings a $975 million stadium at the downtown Minneapolis site of the team's current home, the Metrodome.

Free-agent running back Tim Hightower re-signed with the Washington Redskins. The 25-year-old Hightower rushed for 321 yards on 84 carries in five games last season before going on injured reserve with a torn ligament in his left knee.

Former UNLV football coach Wayne Nunnely, who went on to become one of the premiere defensive line coaches in the NFL, is retiring after 17 pro seasons, the last three with the Denver Broncos.

Nunnely coached the Rebels from 1986 through 1989, with his signature win a 17-7 victory over Wisconsin before a sellout crowd of 32,207 at Sam Boyd Stadium on Sept. 20, 1986.

Former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier confirmed in a text message to The Associated Press that he signed a three-year contract with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League.

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo considers about 10 men's Olympic team spots set "on paper," with the rest to be determined over two days of practice before the squad is announced July 7.

The Americans were granted an extension to the deadline to select the roster by the U.S. Olympic Committee after four candidates were knocked out by injuries. The team was originally to be picked by June 18, before the end of the NBA season.

Instead, the Americans will hold their first practice July 6 in Las Vegas with a to-be-determined number of players. They'll gather their final 12 at a team meeting the next night.

Dale Hunter quit as coach of the Washington Capitals after less than one full season on the job, telling the team he wants to return to his family in Canada. Hunter stepped down two days after the Capitals were eliminated from the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 7.

The local qualifying round for this year's U.S. Open golf championship will be played at 6:30 a.m. today at DragonRidge Country Club in Henderson. A field of 90 golfers will vie for six spots in the sectional qualifying later this month.

Admission is free.

The winner of the sectional earns a spot in the field for the U.S. Open, set for June 11-14 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.