Bonds admits to supplements use
MILWAUKEE, July 11 (UPI) -- Shortly after accepting the ESPY Award Wednesday night for Best Moment, Barry Bonds was on another television network, FOX, confirming that he has taken legal supplements on the way to becoming the fourth-most prolific home run hitter in baseball history.
"Sure, with no question in my mind. I take supplements. I have taken creatine, those little protein pills and amino acids," Bonds said on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. "I go to GNC like everyone else."
While the awards show on ESPN was filmed shortly before the All-Star Break in Los Angeles, the interview with FOX's Lisa Guerrero took place shortly before Monday's Home Run Derby at the All-Star festivities in Milwaukee. As he has in the past, Bonds denied ever having used steroids.
"I've never had to and I've never even thought about it," he said. "I'm a good enough ballplayer as it is. I want to live a long life. I don't want to die early."
Bonds did say that he does not agree with random drug testing, as he believes it is an invasion of privacy.
The interview was the only one granted by Bonds during his two-day visit to Milwaukee. He has not spoken to the media for several weeks after his son, Nikolai, was bothered by constant rumors of his steroid use.
"When you affect my family and you have the public believing something that's not true, you affect me," said Bonds. "You can say whatever you want about me personally. I'm a man and I take full responsibility of those actions. But [when] certain things that I don't do come into my home, that is what affects me. That is the only way you can hurt me, personally."
Other topics covered during the interview were Bonds' relationship with his teammate, second baseman Jeff Kent, to whom said he feels closer following a dugout shoving match last month in San Diego, and the pitch that Roger Clemens threw that hit him on his right arm. The veteran righthander had made previous comments that he would "introduce" himself to the protective guard Bonds wears on his right. Bonds said he was unaware of that comment, and that, had he known Clemens had made the statement before hitting him with the pitch, "then me and Roger Clemens would have had a problem."
Bonds also discussed his father, Bobby, whose battle with alcoholism has affected how he deals with the media.
"My dad tells me, 'You know, you're going to have to face [the media] a little bit. You don't have to face it all the time, but you do have to stand up for what your beliefs are ... as a father, as a husband.' I was there when his drinking times were around and I've been very strong-minded for myself and very willing to be the opposite and I've worked very hard at that," said Bonds. "I'm proud of it and I want to stay like that."
Star Wisconsin receiver to miss five games
MADISON, Wis., July 11 (UPI) -- Wisconsin wide receiver Lee Evans, who underwent successful knee surgery on May 27, is likely to be on the sidelines early in the upcoming season.
Evans sustained ligament damage in his left knee while making a catch in the spring football game on April 20. He tore the ACL in the knee, and his availability at the outset of the season has been in question since the surgery.
"I don't want to miss none of the games in the Big Ten, but if I can come back a little earlier I will," Evans said Wednesday. "I won't rush it. I feel I can be ready by then, but if I'm not then I'll wait."
That means he will miss at least the Badgers' first five games -- against Fresno State, UNLV, West Virginia, Northern Illinois and Arizona. Wisconsin plays Penn State at home Sat., Oct. 5, in its Big Ten opener.
He said he's gotten calls from NFL well-wishers like Jerry Rice and Jamal Anderson, and that patience will be his biggest hurdle.
"A lot of people try to come back early and some things don't work out for them," Evans said. "That's probably one of the biggest pieces of advice that they've given to me, which is be patient. You know your body more than anyone else. Your body will tell you when you're ready to come back."
Rehabilitation from ACL surgery takes four to six months. If he's ready for the Penn State contest, it will have been 4 1/2 months since the injury.
He said his recovery period has had its ups and downs and is a bit tedious, but is on schedule.
"Right now I'm able to jog. Jog and run through some routes, do some planting and cutting and catching balls," he said. "I do a lot of work in the pool, just getting some of the circulation and some of the muscle control back. A lot of balance work. I started leg press, trying to gain some muscle back. Those are pretty much the main things I do. I still work on a lot of flexing on my ACL leg, trying to get it back to perfect, where it needs to be. I can do pretty much anything I really want to do next to sprinting and running at full speed."
The 5-11, 192-pound senior said he feels like he will have an impact when he's ready to play.
"There have been people who have come back from ACL tears in less than four months," he said. "I feel I should be able to the same. I have a very competitive attitude that if somebody can do something, I can do it too, if not better."
Evans set a Big Ten Conference record for receiving yards in a season in 2001 with 75 receptions for 1,545 yards. He also was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver.
Since he played as a true freshman in 1999, Evans does have the option of redshirting next season and returning for his fourth year of eligibility in 2003.
Kirsipuu wins Tour's Stage Five
ROUEN, France -- Jaan Kirsipuu of Estonia won the fifth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday while Igor Gonzalez Galdeano of Spain retained the yellow jersey as overall leader.
Kirsipuu, a member of the AG2R Prevoyance team, finished the 123.03-mile leg from Soissons to Rouen in 4:13:33, edging Michael Sandstod of Denmark and Ludo Dierckxens of Belgium in a sprint to the finish line.
"It was a very difficult sprint because everyone attacked in the last kilometers," said Kirsipuu, who has nearly 100 professional victories.
The peleton finished 33 seconds off the pace.
Among those in the group were Galdeano and three-time defending champion Lance Armstrong. Galdeano, who grabbed the overall lead in Wednesday's team time trial, retained his four-second advantage over countryman Joseba Beloki. Armstrong remained third, 17 seconds behind, after one of the flattest stages of the 20-stage event. Friday's sixth stage is more than 123 miles from Forges-les-Eaux to Alencon.
Kirsipuu duplicated his effort of a year ago, when he followed a disappointing team time trial by winning a stage. The Estonian champion was the slowest rider in Wednesday's test after being dropped midway through the leg.
As expected, Thursday's stage began with an early break, led by Russian Vjatceslav Ekimov of Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team. But the peleton caught the escapees shortly thereafter. Surprisingly, another group of riders broke free from the pack midway through the race, with five building a lead of nearly five minutes with a quarter of the race to go.
The peleton halved the lead before a huge crash took out some 20 riders. Despite a series of attacks from the pursuers, the race ended in a group sprint, with Kirsipuu beating Sandstod and Dierckxens to the finish line.
"My legs almost let me down," Kirsipuu said. "At the end, I wasn't a real sprinter anymore. I hadn't any stage victory expectations. It's a great relief for me and for the team, who can now concentrate on the mountains."
Kirsipuu, who turns 33 next week, is fully recovered from a serious knee injury suffered in March, capturing his third career Tour de France stage victory. Galdeano's ONCE team and Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service squad perfectly controlled the race, knowing the breakaway riders could not affect the overall standings.
Holdsclaw's All-Star replacement named
NEW YORK, July 11 (UPI) -- Washington Mystics rookie guard Stacey Dales-Schuman will represent the Eastern Conference as a reserve in the 2002 WNBA All-Star Game, replacing injured player Chamique Holdsclaw.
The replacement was announced Thursday by WNBA President Val Ackerman.
Dales-Schuman has been having a stellar rookie campaign and a key factor in the Mystics' resurgence this season.
Holdsclaw, who also plays for the Mystics and was voted into the starting lineup in the WNBA All-Star Balloting Program, will not play because of a left ankle sprain.
Dales-Schuman was the third overall pick in this year's WNBA Draft out of Oklahoma and also will be appearing in her first WNBA All-Star Game. She is currently second on the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game, along with 3.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds per contest.
"I'm excited about it definitely and honored to be a part of it," Dales-Schuman said in Washington. "It wasn't a goal of mine, (but) it's exciting to be a part of a game of this magnitude.
Holdsclaw's replacement in the starting lineup will be chosen by Eastern Conference Coach Anne Donovan prior to the game.
The 2002 WNBA All-Star Game will be hosted by the Mystics at the MCI Center on Monday, and will be televised nationally on ESPN beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
