BaseballMCGWIRE WINS 3 ESPYS: Mark McGwire hit another home run, winning three ESPYs for shattering the most revered record in sports.
McGwire won ESPN's awards for male athlete of the year, showstopper of the year and baseball's top performer for hitting 70 homers to break Roger Maris' major league record of 61 and reinvigorate an entire sport.
McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who hit 66 home runs, received the loudest standing ovations from the crowd at Radio City Music Hall. Sosa won the Humanitarian Award for his work helping victims of Hurricane Georges in his native Dominican Republic.
FACIAL HAIR FOR REDS: The Cincinnati Reds dropped one of their most distinctive policies, allowing players to have facial hair.
Former Reds general manager Bob Howsam enacted the ban in 1967, and it became so ingrained in club history that only owner Marge Schott had the authority to reverse it. She did so after talking to Greg Vaughn, who lobbied to keep his goatee after he was acquired from San Diego on Feb. 2.
CUBS, DURHAM AGREE: Second baseman Ray Durham avoided an arbitration hearing, agreeing to a $20 million, four-year deal with the Chicago White Sox.
Football
UTLEY WALKS TALL: Mike Utley's legs buckled under him a couple of times, and he had to be steadied by two friends.
Still, the wobbly steps the former Detroit Lions offensive lineman -- paralyzed from the chest and elbows down -- took represented an emotional triumph after seven years of unfailing optimism and exhausting therapy.
On Nov. 17, 1991, Utley was paralyzed with two crushed vertebrae, a horrifying injury sustained in a game against the Rams. He has vowed to walk off the Silverdome turf, from the exact spot where he was injured.
Twice his legs gave way, and the two buddies on each side, retired NFL center Bill Lewis and Lions linebacker Rob Frederickson, had to catch him.
VIKES TRADE JOHNSON TO 'SKINS: Trent Green got too expensive, so the Washington Redskins let him go and traded a package of draft picks to Minnesota for Brad Johnson, a quarterback with a similar story.
Green, who went from third-stringer to starter last year, signed a four-year, $16.5 million contract with St. Louis. To replace him, the Redskins acquired Johnson from the Vikings for first- and third-round draft picks this year and a second-round pick in 2000.
REGGIE RETIRES: Reggie White, the NFL's career sacks leader, turned in his retirement letter to Green Bay general manager Ron Wolf. White, 37, had said last season would be his last.
RAIDERS SIGN GANNON: Former Kansas City quarterback Rich Gannon, the 11-year backup and spot starter, signed a four-year, $16 million contract with Oakland, signaling the end of Jeff George's two-season stay with the Raiders.
Tennis
NATIONAL INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: After upsetting the No. 1 seed on Sunday, Wendell Pierce of Oakland, Calif., beat his doubles partner to capture the men's 45 title in the Bank One National Indoor Tennis Championships.
In the Monday final, Pierce beat Wesley Jackson of Albuquerque, 6-4, 6-4.
In the men's 50 championships, No. 7 seeded David Nash of Bloomington, Minn., made it through five rounds without losing a set to win the title. In the final on Monday at the Snowbird Canyon Racquet Club, he beat Ash Mitha of Kirkland, Wash., the No. 4 seed, 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles, David Bryant and Tommy Connell of Houston beat Pierce and Jackson, 6-4, 6-4, in the men's 45, and the No. 2 seeded team of Peter Bronson and Bob Litwin of New York beat the No. 1 team of David Bryant and Neal Newman of Columbus, Ohio, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).
The tournament, sponsored by Bank One, brought together 150 of the nation's top senior players. This is one of four national surface titles.