AP - Dwight Howard had 23 points and seven rebounds, and the Magic rolled over the New York Knicks 111-87 Wednesday night in Steve Francis' return to Orlando.

AP - Steve Nash looked good in a different shade of orange.

AP - Steve Vaught is trying to shed unwanted pounds the long, slow way: step by step as he walks across the United States.

AP - Iowa basketball coach Steve Alford has no scheduled interviews with other schools, despite his name being linked with several high-profile openings — including at his alma mater, Indiana.

AP - Former baseball star Dwight Gooden admitted in court Wednesday that he violated his probation by using cocaine and likely faces prison time when he is sentenced next month.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp.'s decision to delay the release of its much-anticipated Vista operating system until after this year's holiday shopping season could hurt consumer electronic and office supply retailers in the fourth quarter, an analyst said on Wednesday.

AFP - French lawmakers have hit the pause button on the iPod, voting to force Apple to make its downloads work on all digital players and not just the US firm's worldwide best-selling device.

AP - Connecticut's star seniors came up big to get the Huskies back to the NCAA regional semifinals in a familiar place: back in their home state.

AP - If a second consecutive blowout win is any indication, No. 4 Duke seems to have solved any confidence issues it brought to the postseason.

AP - Steve Bernier scored two goals and Vesa Toskala made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season in the San Jose Sharks' 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

AP - Prosecutors in one Florida county decided Tuesday to drop charges against a former Tampa teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old middle school student.

Reuters - During the half-dozen years it has taken Doug Atchison's "Akeelah and the Bee" to go from script to screen, that old schoolhouse standby known as the spelling bee suddenly became hot property, informing everything from the documentary "Spellbound" to the novel/film "Bee Season" to the hit Broadway musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

AP - Lamar hired assistant Steve Roccaforte to replace Billy Tubbs as coach Tuesday, one day after Tubbs retired to end a 31-year coaching career.

Reuters - Barbra Streisand is in talks to launch a concert tour in the fall, her first since a brief "farewell" trek in 2000, her manager said Tuesday.

AP - Steve Hutchinson and Tom Condon have seemingly turned the NFL's "transition tag" term into a matter to review.

Yvonne Lee - AHN Staff Reporter Seattle, Washington (AHN) - Seattle is losing guard Steve Hutchinson to the Vikings. The Seahawks declined to match his seven-year, $49 million offer from Minnesota. SI.com reports the Vikings' deal, which includes a $16 million guarantee, is the largest ever...

AFP - A 50-year-old man was sentenced to eight years in jail after he admitted sending hoax letters more than 25 years ago to detectives hunting one of Britain's most notorious serial killers.

Matthew Borghese - AHN Staff Writer Los Angeles, California (AHN) - NBC is announcing plans to air web-only episodes of the sitcom, "The Office," this summer. Each episode will last two minutes, and keep Steve Carell as Michael Scott, based on Ricky Gervais' office manager David Brent, in the...

Matthew Borghese - AHN Staff Writer Salina, Kansas (AHN) - Adventurer, Steve Fossett claims to have set the world's record for closed-circuit flying, by traveling over 40,000 kilometers in three days. Closed-circuit flight is defined as taking off and landing at the same spot, which for...

AFP - Mark and Steve Waugh spring to mind, as do Michael and Ralf Schumacher.