Responding to a lawsuit by an ex-girlfriend that claims he has full-blow AIDS, former all-star second baseman Roberto Alomar denied he was sick.

"This is a very private, personal matter and I greatly appreciate all the support I have received in the past few days from my family, friends and colleagues in baseball," he said in a statement. "I am in very good health and I ask that you respect my privacy during this time."

Ilya Dall is looking for $15 million in damages saying that Alomar demanded unprotected sex after showing signs of the illness.

VOTE: Is Alomar a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

Correctly anticipating Brett Favre's retirement, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently talked to some other famous NFL quarterbacks about what it's like to leave the game.

Here are some excerpts from the story by Lori Nickel, which is as good as it is long:

Terry Bradshaw, on staying away from Pittsburgh:

"I have no business interests and very few friends (in Pittsburgh).  I didn't need to be in an area where I could be constantly reminded of the Steelers days and how great we were. I don't need that. I was a part of that. I lived that and shared with many people that experience. But when that door closes, in my way of thinking, it closes."

Roger Staubach, on accepting a doctor's advice that he was done, because of repeated concussions:

"I still felt I could throw and run. I kind of had a tough decision . . . I decided that I wanted to leave a little left on the table. And I wanted to remember what I left on the table, too."

Dan Marino, on what you give up:

"That feeling that you're going to be the guy in the stadium - and the fans, the guys on the team, everyone is relying on you . . . Being a quarterback and being the main focus for so many years, there's nothing that's going to replace that for you."

Troy Aikman, on how he gave in to the temptation of making a comeback three years later, with a team he won't name:

"At the end of the day, they decided to go a different route and I didn't do it. But I was training as if I was going to make a comeback . . . In hindsight, with what happened with that team that season, I'm glad it didn't work out."

Not every story about the New York Yankees has to include a mention of A-Rod, A-Fraud or A-Roid.  The team actually generated some good news today when new first baseman Mark Teixeira pledged $500,000 to endow an annual baseball scholarship at Georgia Tech.

"I’ve been very blessed to be in the position I am now," said Teixeira, who signed a $180 million contract with the Yankees in December.  "It’s no coincidence that I signed a contract and Georgia Tech is getting a nice donation now."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Teixeira has donated to Tech every year since the Texas Rangers made him a first-round draft in 2001.

"Georgia Tech is always going to be my home," he said. "My wife graduated from here, and that’s something I plan to do when my career is over."

Even a big-time football program like the one at the University of Miami is taking note of these hard financial times.

Accordingly, the Hurricanes will bus to games next season at Central Florida and South Florida, saving the school $140,000 from what flying would have cost.

The trips to Orlando and Tampa take about three-to-four hours by bus. They're part of a 44-point savings plan that athletic director Randy Shannon says will help get Miami through "a critical economic time."

"You know how the economy is right now. It's really tough," football coach Randy Shannon said. "I look across a lot of the programs in the country and everyone's making these cuts."

School officials also said it has been at least 10 years since the football team didn't fly to a road game.

Yesterday, we posted an item that cast suspicion on the Associated Press report that 56-year-old Jennifer Figge had swum across the Atlantic Ocean.  Swimming from the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa to Trinidad in 24 days just didn't seem possible.

Turns out the doubters were correct and that the math was preposterous.  The AP has run this correction.

In a story on Feb. 7 about Jennifer Figge's long-distance swim in the Atlantic, The Associated Press reported erroneously that she had become the first woman to swim across the ocean. Figge swam only a fraction of the 2,100-mile journey. The rest of the time, she rested on her crew's westward-sailing catamaran. Her spokesman, David Higdon, told The AP on Tuesday that her total swimming distance has not been calculated yet, but that due to ocean hazards including inclement weather, he estimates she swam about 250 miles.

Imagine being a defensive football player, and not knowing until the snap of the ball who is eligible to receive a pass.

For those who like scoring, it sounds great. But California rules-makers may make it illegal, and ban the "A-11 offense" that has made Piedmont High in Oakland the center of a controversy.

Rivals.com explains that Piedmont coach Kurt Bryan's offense takes advantage of a rule that allows prep players with uniform numbers from 1-49 and 80-99 to be eligible receivers.  Piedmont has all of its players wear only those numbers, so that they're all eligible to receive a pass on every offensive play.

Critics say the rule on uniform numbers was intended only for scrimmage kicks, particularly for long snappers.

Says Bryan: "This is standing up for the little guy in football, the schools without the numbers of kids or the big linemen."

Rivals.com explains that the A-11 spreads the defense, seeking one-on-one mismatches, and that:

If a player gets set on the line, and another player lines up outside that player, the inside player is ineligible to catch a pass. What the A-11 can do is have offensive players wait until the final seconds of the play clock and then take positions on the line making it difficult for the defense to know, until the last moment, which receivers are eligible.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association already has declared the A-11 offense "unsporting" and banned it.

Roberto Alomar will be on baseball's next Hall of Fame ballot, but that no doubt isn't his most important issue at the moment.  Earlier today, we posted an item about the lawsuit filed against Alomar by a former girl friend, contending he had sex despite allegedly knowing he has full-blown AIDS.

Going strictly by Alomar's numbers, most analysts rate Alomar as a Hall of Famer, although not necessarily a first-ballot inductee.

If Alomar's health is declining rapidly, voters might take that into account.  Or if the lawsuit allegations prove true, that also could impact voting.

Here's our take on Alomar, the player:

He's an Ozzie Smith-like candidate, and could be the rare Hall of Famer who's elected primarily for his defense, like Bill Mazeroski.  His 10 Gold Gloves are the most for a second baseman, and in his prime he was doing everything at second base that Ozzie did at shortstop. (2004 photo by Tom Hood/AP)

He was a 12-time All-Star, and he had more career hits and RBI than two other Hall-of-Fame second basemen, Joe Morgan and Ryne Sandberg.  His 474 career stolen bases never translated to a single-season title, but he was the runnerup four times.

But overall his hitting stats are pretty similar to those of Lou Whitaker, who hasn't made much of a dent in Cooperstown voting. And Alomar also always will be remembered for the time he spit on an umpire.

Going into tonight's showdown at Durham, North Carolina is on a 5-2 run against arch-rival Duke.  Also, a win tonight will give seniors Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green the rare achievement of having a 4-0 career record at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

And the biggest sign of North Carolina dominance is that the Tar Heels have gone 14-3 in the past four NCAA tournaments, while Duke has struggled at 5-4.

Bob Gibbons, recruiting analyst for All-Star Sports, tells the Charlotte Observer the momentum isn't likely to swing back in Duke's direction anytime soon, because the Blue Devils are simply getting out-recruited.

"Not that Duke has recruited badly, but North Carolina has sort of exceeded them," Gibbons says.  "And the end result is the differential in the game performance."

It will be pronounced again next season, Gibbons says, because North Carolina has "five kids who are potential high school All-Americans.  So based on next year's incomers, again, North Carolina dominates."

Dick Vitale also sees North Carolina having a big edge at the moment, saying, "I don't think there's any question with Carolina, they've got the best starting five in the nation."

Before Carolina's 5-2 run, Duke had won 15 of 17 meetings with the Tar Heels.

If you pay $375,000 for an ad in a magazine you better make sure people are reading you.

When you put the ad in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue you need to stop people from turning the page to see the next model.

Darren Rovell of CNBC applauds Arby's for figuring out a way to stand out among so many standouts.

This week, on his blog at Playboy.com, Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar talks about being undefeated on the team's latest road trip, UCLA taking it to USC and the art of being a metrosexual.

But the No. 1 reason is his embedded link to an interview that Ali-G did with David and Posh Beckham. It is R-rated but funny and an instance where both Beckhams show they can take a joke. Even when it is on them.

Enjoy it over lunch or during an afternoon break. (Photo by Oliver Upton, HBO)

There's more evidence that Alex Rodriguez has a little trouble telling the truth.

In the course of clearing up his lies about never using performance-enhancing drugs, A-Rod also used his ESPN interview to go off on Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts.

But spokespersons for several police departments tell the New York Daily News they have no record of Rodriguez ever reporting the intrusions he claims Roberts made at his properties.  The newspaper checked with police departments in New York, Florida and New Jersey.

VOTE: Should players who test positive lose their MVP and Cy Young awards?

Rodriguez's harshest accusation was that Roberts tried to break into his Miami Beach home, when his daughters were sleeping there, and was cited by police. He claimed to have evidence the incident occurred.

"I haven't been able to find anything that corroborates the statement Alex Rodriguez made to ESPN," Detective Juan Sanchez of the Miami Beach police told the Daily News.

Sanchez said Miami Beach police did file a "miscellaneous incident report" after a security guard asked police whether the island where Rodriguez lives is public or private property.

"She (Roberts) was trying to gain access onto the island, and they had no right to stop her," Sanchez told the Daily News.  "It's a public right of way. She can stand in front of his house and do whatever she has to do as long as she doesn't step on his property. There's no follow-up. She was not arrested. She was not cited. It doesn't go on her record. It's not even entered into our system."

The newspaper says A-Rod's agent, Scott Boras, did not return calls inquiring about A-Rod's statements.

When Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson, it was not just one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, it was one of the most shocking outcomes in sports history period.

We mention that because today is the 19th anniversary of Douglas sending the scariest man on the planet sprawling on the canvas looking for his mouthpiece in the 10th round. (Photo by Tony Triolo, AP)

The challenger was 45-1 for the fight in Japan and Tyson, then 23-years-old, had knocked out 33 of the 37 opponents he had faced. Buster Douglas was considered an appetizer on Tyson's way to a full meal against Evander Holyfield.

Here is video of the 10th round when Tyson went and stayed down.

Joe Torre won't be writing a book titled The Dodger Years.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has made certain of that, putting a no-book clause in his manager's contract.  He says it's a standard procedure for Dodgers personnel, and we're guessing that somebody named Steinbrenner is saying "Gee, wish I'd thought of that."

McCourt will discuss that and other issues in an interview today on MLB Network's Hot Stove show, to be aired at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.  The Los Angeles Times has some excerpts.

On Torre's The Yankee Years book, McCourt says: "The book was something that was in the works prior to the time that we made our deal with Joe. Having said that, in our contract with Joe there is a confidentiality provision that he can't be writing a book about the Dodgers or our team, so that was very important to us. Not because of the book, it's because we have that with all of our uniform personnel."

And an update on the Manny Ramierez situation: "Well hopefully we are going to sign him soon. That is certainly our intention. You know Manny had a tremendous impact on L.A. and made great contributions to our run at the end of last season. I've seldom seen a situation like his with our fans. I mean that love affair was tremendous. It's our intention to try and bring Manny back. We've tried to do that, been unsuccessful to date, but that doesn't mean we are going to stop trying."

ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Ed Werder are reporting that Brett Favre has told the New York Jets he is going to retire.

Favre, who carved out a Hall of Fame career with the Green Bay Packers, played one season with the Jets. His final game came against the Miami Dolphins when the team got knocked out of the playoffs.

In his career, Favre threw for 464 touchdowns and over 65,000 yards.

Favre's email to the New York Jets was complimentary to the Jets organization and the quarterback said his time with New York was "nothing short of outstanding."

In an email to Werder, Favre wrote: "Mike and Woody, as well as the entire organization, have been nothing short of outstanding. My teammates -- Thomas (Jones) and Kerry (Rhodes) included  --were a pleasure to play with. Eric (Mangini) could not have been any better. I enjoyed playing for him. My time with the Jets was short, but I'm honored to be given that chance.''

Rhodes and Jones had been critical of Favre's one year with the Jets.

As this photo (Ellen Ozier/Reuters) from Georgetown's January game at Duke shows, there's no place tougher to play the Cameron Indoor Stadium.

And next time you see Seth Davis sitting in the analyst's chair at CBS, try to imagine him in the middle of that crowd, wearing half of a blue-and-white basketball on his head, with pom-poms attached to the sides.

That was the gimmick that helped get Davis some crowd-shot television time as a freshman at Duke, when he was one of the Cameron Crazies.  Now, he wants other fans to share that feeling of being singled out for their zaniness.

At tonight's Duke-North Carolina game, Davis will help launch the "Coke Zero Taste the Madness contest."  Fans are being asked to submit their offbeat photos and videos by clicking here.

The best of the best will be featured on CBS before the national championship game on April 6.

As a 1992 grad who attended Duke during the Christian Laettner era, Davis naturally suggests an ideal video could be shot outside Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.  "It's really like Woodstock," he says.  "When I get to Cameron there literally will be 300 tents pitched outside."

Two other candidates:

Stanford, which is kind of the Duke of the West.  They just have that sort of obnoxious, but you can't-help-but-laugh, sardonic wit throughout a game."

And St. Joseph's, where the Hawk mascot is under strict orders to keep his wings flapping continually from tipoff to final horn.  "It's a scholarship position," reminds Davis.  "You laugh, but some mom and dad are probably saving $80,000."

Davis also gives a nod to the fans of the Tar Heels, whom he picks to win tonight, 88-80.  Davis says the Chapel Hill crowd treats him respectfully, despite his Durham roots.

"The dirty little secret about this rivalry is how much respect the two sides have for each other, even though they hate them completely."

Atlanta Motor Speedway will again have Racing Roulette. The winning car number of the Sunday's Daytona 500 will determine the price of tickets sold for the March 8 Kobalt Tools 500.

Last year's Daytona winner was the No. 12 car of Ryan Newman.

On the front row to begin the race this year is the No. 1 Chevrolet of Martin Truex Jr., and the No. 5 Chevrolet of Mark Martin.

Ilya Dall, the former girlfriend of baseball star Roberto Alomar, claims in a lawsuit that Alomar has full-blown AIDS.

Dall, 32, lived with Alomar for three years. The infielder played 17 seasons and had stints with seven teams including the Mets, Baltimore, Toronto and Cleveland. (Photo by Winslow Townson, AP)

This from the New York Daily News:

In papers filed in state and federal court, Dall said Alomar finally got tested in January 2006 while suffering from a cough, fatigue and shingles. "The test results of him being HIV-positive was given to him and the plaintiff on or about Feb.6, 2006," the $15 million negligence suit says.

Nine days later, the couple went to see a disease specialist who discovered a mass in the retired second baseman's chest, the court papers say. Alomar's skin had turned purple, he was foaming at the mouth and a spinal tap "showed he had full-blown AIDS," the suit says.

Charles Bach, Alomar's lawyer, called the lawsuit frivolous. He said his client is "healthy and would like to keep his health status private. We'll do our talking in court."

UPDATE: Smoking Gun has posted some of the court documents.

VOTE: Is Alomar a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

Alomar's father, Sandy, a bench coach with the New York Mets, told the Daily News "that's the first time we ever heard of that," and that if his son was sick "I imagine I would know."

Alomar was considered one of the greatest second baseman of his time. But he might be best known for spitting in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck and then saying the umpire was under stress because of the death of his son. The two would later become friends.

Tip of the hat to Sporting News.

This time of the year many of us become interested in the every word and move of the women who appear in the Sports Illustrated swim suit issue.

The issue that hit our doorsteps on Tuesday.

SI.com's Arash Markazi was on the road with cover model Bar Refaeli yesterday while she stopped at the Today Show and rang the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange. Click here for the interview with Darren Rovell of CNBC.

And courtesy of sportsradiointerviews.com, you can click here and listen to Brooklyn Decker, a big sports fan, discuss the Alex Rodriguez situation with Craig Carton of WFAN.

Here is what Refaeli, who admitting to Googling her name last night, had to say about appearing on the front of the magazine. (Photo by Richard Drew, AP)

"That's a pretty dope cover," she said. "My bellybutton looks weird but I love the cover."

Refaeli, along with fellow SI models Tori Praver, Jessica Gomes, Cintia Dicker and Daniella Sarahyba, rang the closing bell.

We make no judgement but the Dow Jones Industrials were down 381 points yesterday.

The Marijuana Policy Project has Michael Phelps' back.

Well, sort of.

The group is calling for a boycott of Kellogg's for dropping the Olympic swimmer. Rob Kampia, the project's executive director, called the company's firing of Phelps "hypocritical and disgusting."

Kampia wonders (and he's not joking) what message the cereal company is sending to our kids.

"Kellogg's had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone," said Kampia. "To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that's safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people."

Kellogg's has been a prime target for the past week. On Saturday Night Live, anchor Seth Meyers ridiculed the company on Weekend Update.

Good morning.

When Jose Canseco admitted, in his 2005 tell-all book, Juiced, that he had taken steroids while he played, Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell had a particular interest in the confession.

“Where’s my MVP?” the runner-up to Canseco in the 1988 vote, asked in the Fort Myers News-Press. “(Canseco’s) an admitted steroid user. I was clean.”

We laughed at the time. Heck, we laughed at Canseco then.

Now, when Canseco says he wants to help Major League Baseball with its problem, we aren't holding our sides.

Things are not quite as funny today and Greenwell’s jibe may be a legitimate question.

Baseball is a game of numbers and fans wrestle over the fact of whether home run kings should be crowned with an * or not. Whether Henry Aaron and Roger Maris should still be at the top of the list.

So this is the question: Should they retroactively take away the MVP, Cy Young and Gold Glove awards from any player, who confesses to, or is proven to, have taken steroids?

While we are hunting for hardware, here is some good work by some good people that we might have missed while we were sleeping or looking elsewhere.

If you took Stump and the over in the Westminster dog show, you are collecting some bones my friend. Kelly Whiteside profiles the 10-year-old winner.

Jack McCallum gets you to laugh with his Week's Worst in Sports list. I mean really laugh.

Is Texas Tech trying to lose Mike Leach? Rivals.com's Tom Dienhart says they heading that way.

Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich makes up his own mind and that makes him unique writes Ken Berger at CBS Sportsline.

J.R. Smith will slam dunk instead of injured Rudy Gay.

Michael Jordan owns up to his management mistakes but....

Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com takes all of our bad predictions during the NFL preseason and prints them. Ouch.

Dexter Pittman is still a big man on campus, just 93 pounds less big. USA TODAY's Marlen Garcia provides a light touch on the University Texas hoopster.

Union head Donald Fehr believes we all need to shut out pie holes on the remaining 103 positive drug tests in Major League Baseball.

SI.com's Andy Staples has an all-star team of college football players the experts forgot on past signing days.

Confession is good for the soul but not for the pocketbook. USA TODAY's Michael McCarthy looks at the endorsement future for Alex Rodriguez.

Add Shaq, lose Stoudemire? That is bad math says ESPN's John Hollinger.

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