Former Girlfriend Details Changes in Bonds

SAN FRANCISCO — Kimberly Bell — who was Barry Bonds’s girlfriend for nine years, spanning his two marriages — walked into the courtroom on Monday to testify at his perjury trial, and nearly everyone there turned to gawk at her.

Everyone except Bonds. As Bell took the witness stand, Bonds’s eyes were fixed on the defense table in Courtroom 10 of the Phillip Burton Federal Building. He knew what was coming.

For more than a decade, baseball and its fans have had to confront certain aspects of the sport’s steroid scandal: the unfair advantage gained by players who were using the drugs; the skepticism that baseball’s drug-testing policy was meaningfully set up to catch anyone; the tainted careers that have left likely Hall of Famers consigned to ignominy instead.

But on Monday, the public was introduced to what prosecutors insist is another side of the scandal: the physical toll of taking steroids, in effect what the athletes who used them were willing to do to their own bodies in pursuit of an advantage, real or imagined.

It was not pretty.

“He developed acne on his upper shoulders and back; his hair was falling out quickly and he ended shaving it all off,” Bell testified of Bonds as the jury sat to her left, rapt. Then her voice grew so faint it was barely audible. “He changed sexually, in his testicles and performance and that.”

Between deep breaths and under unsparing questioning, Bell further testified: “The shape, size of his testicles were smaller, unusual, differently shaped.” Of Bonds, baseball’s official home run king, she testified that he had to resort to using “something” to resolve his trouble maintaining an erection.

For nearly six hours, Bell gave graphic and sometimes tearful testimony in United States District Court about the changes she noticed in Bonds, including a bloated face and belly. Prosecutors said all of it — the changed appearance and behavioral qualities — were documented symptoms of steroid use and thus evidence that Bonds had used them during his career, then lied about that fact under oath when questioned before a grand jury in 2003.

Bonds’s lawyers, in their cross-examination, tried to paint Bell as a vindictive, attention-craving gold-digger who was upset about their breakup. She posed in Playboy for money, was writing a book about her relationship with Bonds and gave at least 20 radio interviews about the subject, the defense pointed out.

Those attempts, to be sure, were aimed at blunting the power of her often explicit firsthand testimony.

Bell said she spoke to Bonds once about his possible steroid use, in 1999, but never pressed him about it because he told her it was common in baseball. Besides, she said he told her, he did not inject himself every day, as some bodybuilders do.

“He mentioned that other players do it and that’s how they got ahead,” Bell, who dated Bonds from 1994 to 2003, said. “That’s how they achieved.”

Bell testified that she had a good reason for never bringing up the subject of steroids with him again: She was afraid of him.

During their later years together, she said Bonds grew irritable and verbally abusive — “almost violent.” The government insists that change in his demeanor was triggered by steroid use.

Bell testified that Bonds threatened “to cut my head off and leave me in a ditch” and said that “he would cut out my breast implants because he paid for them.” He also said he was going to burn her house down, she said.

“I didn’t want to make him angry,” Bell said, growing teary. “I didn’t want him to yell at me.”

Their relationship started differently, she said. Bell first met Bonds in the parking lot of the San Francisco Giants’ stadium in the summer of 1994, then chatted with him the next day at a friend’s barbecue. She took a long drive with him in his new Porsche and spent the night with him that night, beginning their long relationship.

Bell said the first she heard of Bonds using steroids was in 1999, when he talked about an elbow injury he had.

“He said it was because of steroids,” she said, adding that he explained that the muscle and tendons grew faster than the joint, so his elbow simply “blew out.”

Bell said she soon discovered that those achievements came at a cost.

Derrick Williams' late 3-point play helps Arizona knock out Texas

TULSA, Okla. -- Arizona didn't forget how to advance in its one-year absence from the NCAA tournament.

Derrick Williams' three-point play with 9.6 seconds remaining lifted the Wildcats to a 70-69 win over Texas in the third round of the NCAA tournament Sunday night.

The Wildcats (29-7) led by as many as 13 points in the first half and were up for most of the game before J'Covan Brown's jumper put the Longhorns ahead 69-67. Williams misfired on a game-tying attempt with 14.5 seconds remaining, but Texas (28-8) was called for a five-second violation on the inbound pass to give Arizona one more chance.
Replays appeared to show the call came before the count reached five.
Williams took advantage, slipping to the baseline on a pick-and-roll and taking the pass from Kyle Fogg. His shot fell through to tie the game, and his free throw put the Wildcats into the regional semifinals for the first time since last year's absence snapped a 25-year tournament streak.
Brown had one final chance for the Longhorns, driving the length of the court and into the lane. But he was met by a trio of Arizona defenders, including Williams, and his wild shot went high off the backboard and missed. Time expired during the battle for the rebound.
Jordan Hamilton opened the second half by hitting each of his first two 3-point attempts for Texas, which closed to within 38-35 after Cory Joseph curled off a screen for a jumper.
The Longhorns stayed close for the rest of the second half behind Brown, who scored 21 of his 23 points after halftime. He was 13-of-13 from the foul line, making him a perfect 25-of-25 in two tournament games.
Brown's last basket appeared to lift the Longhorns into the regional semifinals for the first time since 2008.
But the five-second call and Williams' score proved too much to overcome. Williams finished with 17 points.
Neither team shot well in the first half, but it was Arizona that made the shots that mattered most.
The Wildcats shot 38.7 percent but were 6-of-11 on 3-point attempts. Jordan Mayes hit all three of his tries from behind the arc and was 4-of-5 overall, with his only miss coming on a fast-break layup attempt.
Williams capped an 11-0 run after he was fouled hard by his former AAU teammate Hamilton on a breakaway and hit two free throws to put Arizona up 19-2.

UConn, Tennessee, Baylor and Stanford No. 1 seeds

Connecticut's path to a third straight national championship could include a renewal of the most heated rivalry in women's college basketball.

The Huskies earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women's basketball tournament Monday night.

For Geno Auriemma to match Tennessee coach Pat Summitt with an eighth national championship he might have to go through her Lady Vols, who earned the top seed in the Dayton region. If both come through their regions, UConn and Tennessee could meet again in the national semifinals at Indianapolis.

Auriemma's Huskies didn't have to face Tennessee during its record 90-game winning streak that was ended by Stanford on Dec. 30. The two pre-eminent teams in the sport broke off their annual matchup in 2007 in a testy split.

First up for UConn is former star Jen Rizzotti and her Hartford Hawks, who won the America East title. The two teams have played each other over the last six years but didn't meet this season. Hartford is winless in 11 meetings against UConn.

Baylor and Stanford were the other two No. 1 seeds. It was the second straight No. 1 seed for the Cardinal, who fell to UConn in the title game last season.

The Huskies will be trying for their third consecutive title, matching their run from 2002-04 and Tennessee's from 1996-98. UConn is one of a record nine Big East teams in the field. The Big East got 11 men's teams in their field announced Sunday.

Unlike the men's bracket that expanded to 68 teams this year, the women decided to stick with 64. Indianapolis will host the Final Four on April 3 and 5.

The last time the Final Four was in Indianapolis, Baylor won the championship as a No. 2 seed.

The Lady Bears, led by sophomore center Brittney Griner, will face No. 16 Prairie View in their opener on Sunday in the Dallas region. No. 8 Houston will play No. 9 West Virginia, No. 5 Wisconsin-Green Bay takes on No. 12 Arkansas-Little Rock, and No. 4 Michigan State plays No. 13 Missouri Valley champion Northern Iowa.

In the other part of the bracket, No. 6 Georgia takes on No. 11 Middle Tennessee State, which is still dealing with the death of Tina Stewart. Her Blue Raiders teammates played, and lost, their lone game in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

No. 2 Texas A&M meets No. 15 McNeese State, No. 7 Rutgers plays No. 10 Louisiana Tech and No. 3 Florida State plays No. 14 Samford.

If the seeds hold, the Aggies and Lady Bears will meet for the fourth time this season. Baylor beat Texas A&M by a total of 15 points in their three meetings - including a three-point win in the Big 12 title game.

Stanford, which opens against UC Davis, could also face UCLA for a fourth time this year. The Cardinal swept the No. 3 seed in Spokane three times, but the Bruins had a late lead in the Pac-10 title game on Saturday.

Tennessee will open at home in the Dayton region against No. 16 Stetson, which needed a 55-footer at the buzzer to advance to the Atlantic Sun tournament championship game. No. 8 Marquette will play No. 9 Texas in the other game in Knoxville.

No. 5 Georgia Tech will play No. 12 Bowling Green and No. 4 Ohio State faces No. 13 Central Florida. The Buckeyes have had a roller-coaster season, winning their first seven games before dropping seven of the next nine. They righted themselves and have won their last nine games capped by a Big Ten tournament title.

No. 2 Notre Dame plays No. 15 Utah and No. 7 Arizona State meets No. 10 Temple. Rounding out that part of the bracket, No. 3 Miami plays No. 14 Gardner-Webb and No. 6 Oklahoma plays No. 11 James Madison. The Sooners have made the Final Four the last two seasons.

In the Spokane region, No. 8 Texas Tech takes on No. 9 St. John's. Fifth-seeded North Carolina plays No. 12 Fresno State, and No. 4 Kentucky faces No. 13 Hampton.

No. 2 Xavier plays No. 15 South Dakota State, and No. 7 Louisville faces No. 10 Vanderbilt. Xavier lost to Stanford last season in the regional finals when the Musketeers missed two layups with the clock running down and the Cardinal hit a shot at the buzzer. No. 6 Iowa plays 11th-seeded Gonzaga while No. 3 UCLA takes on No. 14 Montana.

In the Philadelphia region, No. 8 Kansas State plays Purdue; fifth-seeded Georgetown takes on No. 12 Princeton; and No. 4 Maryland faces No. 13 Saint Francis, Pa. No. 2 Duke hosts 15th-ranked Tennessee-Martin, and No. 7 Iowa State plays 10th-seeded Marist. Finally, No. 6 Penn State hosts No. 11 Dayton and third-seeded DePaul faces No. 14 Navy.

Dynamics for Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith to reach potential CBA agreement are in place: sources

WASHINGTON - Roger Goodell vs. DeMaurice Smith won't fill an 80,000-seat stadium like Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady, but their battle in the negotiating room this week will have a greater long-term impact on the NFL than any game.

Goodell's letter-writing campaign to league executives earned him an entry-level internship in the NFL office in 1982 soon after college and he worked his way all the way up to commissioner in 2006.

Smith was previously a trial lawyer and litigation partner in a Washington law firm. He had no connection to the league other than being a Redskins season-ticket holder before he was elected to succeed Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw as the executive director of the NFL Players Association in March of 2009. Upshaw died of pancreatic cancer on Aug. 20, 2008. He had been the union's executive director since 1983.

Although he was right under Paul Tagliabue on the league's power chart for the last collective bargaining negotiations five years ago, this is the first time Goodell has been in charge in labor talks. Smith is also doing this for the first time for the players.

Goodell and Smith each face tremendous pressure to make the right deal in this showdown between billionaires and millionaires. Goodell has to satisfy 32 powerful owners, whose franchises are worth an average of $1.02 billion, according to Forbes, and Smith must take care of nearly 2,000 players whose average salary last year was $1.7 million and whose average career is only about four years.

"They need to have success and go through pain together to develop the strong relationship that happened with Gene and Tag," said one source.

Goodell celebrated his 52nd birthday on Feb. 19 during the second session in federal mediator George Cohen's office. Smith turned 47 last month. They are each strong family men. Goodell's wife and twin daughters came to Washington for his birthday. And after the seven-day extension was announced Friday, Smith said he would be coaching his daughter's basketball team Saturday.

Goodell and Smith are just getting to know each other, but they are building a solid relationship. They've had many breakfast and lunch meetings over the last two years. They interacted regularly in the mediator's office last week.

And now, with the talks for a new CBA in double overtime with the new deadline Friday at 11:59 p.m., sources said Saturday that the dynamics for a potential agreement are in place. In other words, despite the major differences that still exist on all the important issues, the mood in the room is more conducive for Goodell and Smith to have a realistic chance to start making significant progress when talks resume Monday.