A foot short with the baton. Eight inches short in the sand. Hoping to win a pair of gold medals Friday, Marion Jones was shut out instead. After finishing fifth in the long jump, a botched relay handoff ended her chances of winning even a single medal in Athens — a disastrous finish to her…

Quarterback Quincy Carter signed with the New York Jets on Tuesday, three weeks after his surprising release by Dallas. Carter, who started every game for the Cowboys last season, was released Aug. 4, before the team’s first exhibition game. Reports said he failed a drug test and the NFL Players Association has filed a request…

The U.S. men’s basketball team went on a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter and finally showed signs of hitting top form to beat Australia 89-79 in the men’s Olympic basketball tournament Thursday. Sharply criticized around the world for being a selfish group of individuals, the U.S. team once again fell behind and trailed…

Tim Duncan had fouled out, Allen Iverson was playing with a broken thumb, and Greece had just passed the ball inside with a chance to pull within two points with 18 seconds left. Lamar Odom defended the play perfectly, holding his hand steady and high and getting a piece of Dimitris Pipanikoulaou’s layup attempt. Odom,…

BOSTON (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers resumed their makeover Friday by trading Gary Payton and Rick Fox to the Boston Celtics for Chucky Atkins, Marcus Banks and Chris Mihm. The Celtics also received a conditional first-round draft pick and cash in the deal and sent a second-round pick to the Western Conference champions. The…

NEW KENT, Va. (AP) — Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick pleaded guilty Tuesday to reckless driving and no contest to marijuana possession, shortly after he was suspended from the university for the 2004 season. The younger brother of Atlanta Falcons quarterback and former Hokies’ star Michael Vick was fined $300 and his driver’s license was…

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) � The U.S. men’s Olympic team did more than merely lose. It was embarrassed and exposed like never before in international competition. Losing an exhibition game for the first time when using NBA players, the Americans were completely outclassed by lightly regarded Italy, never even making it close in the fourth quarter…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mike Tyson was knocked out in the fourth round Friday night in a shocking end to the latest comeback of the fighter who once was the most feared heavyweight of his era. Unheralded British heavyweight Danny Williams landed a flurry of punches that sent Tyson sprawling into the ropes, perhaps ending his…

USC is beginning the 2004 season where many felt it should have ended the 2003 campaign — atop the Coaches’ poll. The Trojans went 12-1 last season and routed Michigan in the Rose Bowl but earned just a split of the national championship. All but three of the 63 coaches — obligated to vote for…

The Ricky Williams retirement news was startling to everyone in and around the Dolphins. No exceptions. You want to knock Dave Wannstedt over with a feather? You could have done that Friday afternoon in Naples, the tiny resort town on the west coast of Florida. Here is some insight to how he felt: “I don’t…