In brief

AP honors Armstrong, Sorenstam as the best

By wire services
Published December 29, 2005

Lance Armstrong takes fewer bike rides these days. He even describes himself as out of shape since retiring after his seventh consecutive Tour de France victory in July. But he remains unbeatable.

Armstrong was honored Wednesday as the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the fourth straight year. He is the only athlete to be selected by sports writers four times since the honor first was awarded in 1931.

In voting for the AP Female Athlete of the Year, there also was no contest. Annika Sorenstam was a landslide winner, making her the first golfer since Babe Zaharias (1945-47) to win the award three straight years.

Armstrong, 34, received 30 of the 83 votes cast. Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush of Southern California was second with 23 votes, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was third with eight, and tennis star Roger Federer and golf's Tiger Woods each had seven.

"It's nice to win," Armstrong said. "I'll never win again."

Sorenstam received 47 of 81 votes, far ahead of Danica Patrick, the rookie race car driver whose fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 was the best ever by a female. She received 17, Maria Sharapova got five for becoming the first Russian-born tennis player to reach No. 1, and Wimbledon champ Venus Williams and 16-year-old golfer Michelle Wie each got four votes.

"I am flattered and honored to be chosen by so many different editors," said Sorenstam.

The Swedish star became the first woman in 19 years to capture the first two legs of the Grand Slam, and won 10 times on the LPGA Tour in 20 starts. No other player had more than two wins. Her scoring average (69.33) was 11/2 strokes better than anyone and she shot under par 74 percent of the time; the next best was 55 percent.

Pitcher Jon Garland agreed to a three-year, $29-million contract with the World Series champion Chicago White Sox. Garland went 18-10 with a 3.50 ERA and led the American League in shutouts last season with Chicago.

METS: Free-agent reliever Chad Bradford agreed to a one-year, $1.4-million contract following a season marked by back surgery and his trade from Oakland to Boston. The 31-year-old right-hander did not allow a run in 23 of his 31 appearances.

ORIOLES: Baltimore and free-agent outfielder Jeromy Burnitz agreed on a two-year contract, pending a physical.

WORLD CLASSIC: Venezuela offered to host part of next year's World Baseball Classic in place of Puerto Rico and suggested moving the final to Canada, proposals aimed at keeping Cuba in the 16-team tournament. Cuba is banned from playing on U.S. soil, and Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth.

Chad Hedrick tuned up for the Turin Olympics by winning the 5,000 meters at the U.S. long track national championships in Kearns, Utah, and finishing second to Nick Pearson in the 1,000. Three-time Olympic medalist Chris Witty won the women's 1,000, and Catherine Raney broke her own American record in winning the 3,000.

SKIING: Defending champion Anja Paerson of Sweden took the lead in the World Cup overall standings for the first time this season with a victory in the giant slalom at Lienz, Austria. American women failed to place a skier among the top 20 for the first time this season.

HOCKEY: Dustin Boyd and Steve Downie each had a goal and an assist as Canada beat Switzerland 4-3 at Vancouver in the world junior championship.

FIGURE SKATING: World champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov won the ice dancing competition at the Russian championships in Kazan. Evgeni Plushenko won the men's competition, and Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov took the pairs event.

[Last modified December 29, 2005, 00:52:13]