NBA REF SUSPENDED

In an AP story out of New York, one of the NBA's top referees, Joey Crawford was slapped with an indefinite suspension by commissioner David Stern after Crawford apparently challenged San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan to a fight.

Crawford called a second technical foul on Duncan while the Spurs star center was sitting on the bench, thereby automatically ejecting him from the game.

Crawford's suspension will last at least through the NBA finals. Stern, in a statement, criticized Crawford's lack of professionalism as well as game management.
It seems this is not the first time Crawford's actions on the court have come under question.

DAVE BURKEY
daveywriter@yahoo.com

NFL ADDS MORE TESTING

The NFL and the NFLPA have come to an agreement to have their players more thoroughly tested for performance-enhancing drugs. In addition, they have added EPO, a blood-boosting substance to the NFL's list of banned substances.

Even more significantly however, players suspended for using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs will forfeit a prorated portion of their signing bonuses.

The new policy makes the NFL the only North American sports league to regularly test for EPO. In 2005, major league baseball did a round of testing for EPO but no violators were detected.

One provision of the agreement increases the unpredictability of random testing during the season and offseason, making it harder for players using performance-enhancing substances to regulate their usage because they won't know when they might be tested.

Dave Burkey