On the first day that NBA teams could officially sign free agents, Ron Artest lifted his new Michael Jackson-inspired jersey for the Los Angeles Lakers, Rasheed Wallace made the first step toward possibly establishing a Big Four with the Boston Celtics, and the Washington Wizards stood on the...

INDIANAPOLIS, July 8 -- Michael Phelps muttered angrily as he got out of the water Wednesday night at the U.S. swimming championships. He spewed extremely unprintable things.

DENVER, July 8 -- If ever there comes a day, years from now, when historians gather up the courage to revisit the 2009 Washington Nationals, perhaps they can begin and end their study with a quick, purposeful look at the 21 1/2 hours between 6:40 p.m. Tuesday and 4:14 p.m. Wednesday.

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was shot four times and killed by his girlfriend, who then used the same gun to shoot herself in the head, according to the official probe.

WASHINGTON -- Santino Quaranta broke a scoreless tie in the 75th minute and Brian Ching followed with a header in the 79th, giving the United States a 2-0 win against Honduras in the Gold Cup on Wednesday night.

John Lannan this season has consistently answered the call, even if he and the Nationals aren't exactly sure what to call him.

When: Saturday, 7 p.m. Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.

Swimmers from the area will be participating in the following events today:

TOUR DE FRANCE

Oleksiy Pecherov had something of a cult following in this town for a guy who hardly played. There were plenty of reasons: He was friendly as heck. His accent was easy on the ears. His basketball skills were legitimately enticing. His name was hard to spell. He was extremely fond of saying, "I ge...

WIZARDS INSIDER Free Agent Signing Period Opens Now, the Wizards are not expecting to sign a starting power forward-center [in free agency], but they do hope to find someone who can play 10-15 minutes off the bench and provide some veteran front-court help for starters Brendan Haywood and Antawn...

Northwest High holds a candlelight vigil for Edwin "Dek" Miller, 16, who died after collapsing at a football practice.

Today's games to watch: Nats at Astros, 6:05, 8:05 (MASN)

Toronto has released one-time closer B.J. Ryan and activated current closer Scott Downs from the 15-day disabled list.

Nationals catcher Josh Bard continues to go about his business -- albeit a bit slowly -- as he attempts to play with an injured groin.

SEATTLE, July 8 -- When George Sherrill took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning to preserve another improbable Baltimore Orioles win, his first baseman was Luke Scott, who had played one inning at the position in his major league career.

In the past five weeks, John Lannan has been the Nationals' best weapon.

INDIANAPOLIS, July 8 -- Towson's Elizabeth Pelton, 15, did it again.

NVFBGL Matches Belmont 30 1/2 , River Creek 23 1/2

Santino Quaranta charged toward one of the few corners of RFK Stadium where there were more red-clad fans than those in blue and white and slid on his knees, arms flexed out to the side, "a million things" rushing through his head.