The Annika Sorenstam goodbye tour got off to a great start.
Ryan Dempster struck out a career-high 12 and hit a go-ahead single against Greg Maddux during a four-run fifth inning, leading the Chicago Cubs over the punchless San Diego Padres 4-0 Thursday.
Maria Sharapova will assume the No. 1 ranking in tennis because of Justine Henin's retirement.
A little more than two years ago, coach Michel Therrien _ 11 games into his tenure behind the Pittsburgh Penguins bench _ ripped his club for its evident indifference to defense.
Charles Barkley acknowledged he owes a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas Strip casino and promised Thursday to repay it after a prosecutor said the retired NBA star faced criminal charges. "My mistake," Barkley said in an interview at a pro-am golf tournament in Hoover, Ala. "I'm not broke, and I'm going to take care of it."
