98.7M watched Super Bowl XLIII
TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- An estimated 98.7 million viewers tuned in to see Sunday's Super Bowl XLIII played in Tampa, Fla., NBC said.
The game was the most watched Super Bowl ever with 151.6 million people catching all or some of the event that saw the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.
NBC also said Sunday's Super Bowl was the most-viewed telecast in U.S. television history.
Last year's Super Bowl XLII when the New York Giants beat New England, 17-14, keeping the Patriots from becoming the Patriots from becoming the NFL's first-ever team to finish a season with a 17-0 record, previously was the most-watched Super Bowl with an average of 97.5 million viewers.
The 1983 series finale of "M*A*S*H" averaged 106 million viewers and is the most-watched television broadcast in history based on average viewership. However, the 151.6 million people who watched all or some of Sunday's game top the estimated 122 million who watched all or some of that "M*A*S*H" finale.
Numbers released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research said that Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa attracted the largest television audience in U.S. history.
"It's always incredibly satisfying to amass large audiences, but this television record simply reaffirms the power of the Super Bowl and the National Football League," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics.
"Everyone associated with the NFL should feel a great sense of pride in this accomplishment and in providing a day of enjoyment to American families -- especially those who are struggling in these difficult times."
Court documents allege Bonds used steroids
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. prosecutors allege in court documents that all-time home run king Barry Bonds tested positive for steroids in both 2000 and 2001.
The allegation was made in hundreds of pages of documents unsealed Wednesday by a federal judge in San Francisco. They are part of the government's criminal complaint against Bonds, who is to go on trial March 2 on charges of lying to a grand jury.
Bonds told members of a grand jury in 2003 that he had never knowingly used steroids.
The court-released documents include the transcript of a taped conversation between Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, and Bonds' former personal assistant, Steve Hoskins.
The transcript quotes Anderson as saying the drugs he had administered to Bonds were "all undetectable."
Bonds' attorneys have been waging an unsuccessful legal battle to have much of the government's case thrown out of court.
LSU, Ohio State pace football recruiting
BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- LSU and Ohio State collected highly ranked recruiting classes Wednesday on the climactic day of college football recruiting.
Although hundreds of high school football players across the country had previously given oral commitments to various colleges, Wednesday was the first day they could sign binding scholarship agreements with a school.
In the always inexact science of grading how those schools fared, one ranking service declared Ohio State to be the winner of this year's recruiting derby. Another one put LSU at No. 1.
The Buckeyes, who have lost three straight BCS post-season games, signed 25 players, highlighted by linebacker Dorian Bell of Monroeville, Pa.
"This class consists of young men who have been successful on the field and in school," Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said. "Nearly all of them were on a playoff team this fall, and overall, they bring close to a 3.0 GPA to Ohio State."
LSU's top signees were quarterback Russell Shepard of Houston and Louisiana receiver Rueben Randle.
Alabama, USC, North Carolina, Texas UCLA, Georgia, Oklahoma and Penn State all received high recruiting grades.
Defending NCAA champion Florida had only 16 scholarships to offer this year.
Ditty to join U.S. Fed. Cup team
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Julie Ditty has been selected to replace the injured Bethanie Mattek on the U.S. Federation Cup team.
The United States is scheduled to take on Argentina in the Fed Cup quarterfinals Friday and Saturday in Surprise, Ariz.
U.S. team captain Mary Joe Fernandez said Mattek, ranked 40th in the world, withdrew from this week's play because of a hip injury. The same problem kept Mattek out of the recent Australian Open.
In addition to Ditty, the U.S. team will include Jill Craybas, Liezel Huber and Melanie Oudin. Craybas, No. 75 in the world, is the highest ranked player among the four.
Last year, U.S. Fed. Cup teams included top-ranked Serena Williams and world No. 6 Serena Williams. But the Williams sisters decided against playing this week.
The United States has a 2-1 career edge over Argentina in Fed Cup meetings. The Argentinians won the latest meeting -- a 1993 series in the World Group quarterfinals.
