The issue is on the agenda for the owners’ session in Atlanta, where Commissioner Roger Goodell is certain to be asked about Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma’s defamation lawsuit against him. Meanwhile, Goodell’s authority for administering discipline is being challenged by the players’ union, Vilma and three other players suspended for their roles in the pay-for-hits system.

That’s the hot topic, but hardly the only topic. Owners also will discuss several bylaw changes that were tabled in March, including designating one player suffering a major injury before Week 2 of the season as eligible to return from injured reserve, and moving the trading deadline back two weeks to after Week 8.

Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, expects both measures to pass.

“There were good ideas and suggestions, no resistance,” he said at the last meetings. “We’ll work on the language.”

The language from the players punished in the bounty case has been strong and challenging of the league’s findings. Vilma’s lawsuit claims Goodell made false statements that tarnished the linebacker’s reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football. Vilma has been suspended for the 2012 season.

The suit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell, “relied on, at best, hearsay, circumstantial evidence and lies” in making comments about Vilma while discussing the NFL’s bounty investigation.

The union filed a grievance with an arbitrator asserting that Goodell has no power to discipline players for actions that occurred before the league’s current labor agreement was signed last August.

Vilma and current Saints teammate defensive end Will Smith, plus former Saints Anthony Hargrove, a defensive end now with Green Bay, and Scott Fujita, a linebacker now with Cleveland, have appealed their suspensions. Smith got four games, Hargrove eight and Fujita three.

Their appeal asks another arbitrator to decide if the players should be punished for the system that the league says ran for three years and paid improper cash bonuses for hits that injured targeted opponents. The union argues that the arbitrator, Stephen Burbank, and not Goodell should hear the four players’ appeals.

On other issues, the NFL has informally looked at further changes to kickoff returns, considered the most dangerous play in football. It already has altered the defenseless player rules to include offensive and defensive players, and there even have been suggestions about eliminating the three-point stance for line play.

Equipment issues also could be discussed at these meetings, with a close eye on concussions. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the league by former players and their families claiming the league didn’t warn them about the long-term effects of head trauma.

The players are opposed to mandatory use of hip, thigh and knee pads, something the owners are considering for the 2013 season. As it has done in the Saints case, the union could file a grievance, claiming such changes should be bargained, not unilaterally imposed by the league.

Kevin Garnett added 20 points and Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 14 assists for the Celtics, who can advance to the East finals with a victory in Philadelphia in Game 6 on Wednesday. The Sixers would need a win there to force the series back to Boston for a decisive seventh game on Saturday.

Elton Brand scored 19 and Evan Turner had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which led by six points early in the third quarter before Boston scored 14 of the next 16 points. Bass scored eight of them, including back-to-back dunks followed by a steal that set up Ray Allen’s fast-break layup to give the Celtics a 63-57 lead with five minutes left in the quarter.

Boston closed out the third with a 10-2 run over the final 3 minutes and outscored the Sixers 28-16 in the period. The Celtics also scored 16 of the first 22 points in the fourth quarter — seven from Rondo — to put away the game.

Paul Pierce had 16 points — a perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line — and Allen, back in the starting lineup because of an injury to Avery Bradley, had five points.

The Celtics acquired Bass in December in a trade with Orlando for Glen “Big Baby” Davis, and he worked his way into the starting lineup after the All-Star break. Although he solidified the power forward position after Garnett moved to center, he hadn’t done anything spectacular — until Monday.

Bass hadn’t scored more than 22 points in a game this season and he matched his regular-season career high of 27 on Monday night. His playoff high was 19 points, in 2008.

He left the game to a standing ovation with 2 minutes left and the Celtics leading by 18.

Boston tied it 57-all when Bass stole the ball from Thaddeus Young and got to the free throw line, making both foul shots. After a Sixers miss, Rondo found Bass underneath for the dunk. Bass added another crowd-pleasing dunk before knocking loose a ball to start Rondo on a fast break he finished by finding Allen for the layup.

But, really, is that anything new?

IndyCar’s very existence began at a time of war for open-wheel racing, when a group of owners with one set of ideas split from CART in 1996 to join a startup series created by Tony George. Nothing has come easy since, in large part because the team owners typically can’t get out of their own way.

The team principals fight for power with the league, fight with each other over rules and generally search for just about anything to complain about. Unlike Formula One and NASCAR, which both succeed operating as virtual dictatorships, IndyCar has moved closer to the model that ultimately killed CART — the inmates trying to run the asylum.

“You are never happy with a racing association, they’ve all got problems,” A.J. Foyt said Monday. “I don’t care if it’s NASCAR or its SCCA, or whoever. Somebody is always going to be upset with something.”

One can’t help but wonder, though, if there’s been too much back-room politicking going on since Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened its gates May 10 to begin preparations for Sunday’s race. Almost every day since has had some sort of controversy — many bordering on comical — and rumors have run rampant about everything from an alleged owner-led charge to oust CEO Randy Bernard and IndyCar supposedly blocking two teams from fielding cars on Sunday’s bump-less Bump Day.

Then came the long list of penalties announced Sunday night, about 30 minutes after practice had concluded for a four-day off period.

IndyCar found 18 different infractions among 13 teams in pre-qualifying inspection, and track historian Donald Davidson believes the numbers were a one-day record for the series, though fines have never been consistently announced.

Few teams were immune and the entire front row was docked a total of $70,000 for five penalties split between pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe of Penske Racing, and Andretti Autosport teammates James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Briscoe, in Charlotte on Monday to promote the Indy 500, wasn’t sure his Penske team had actually violated the brake rule that brought a $15,000 fine. Penske team president Tim Cindric confirmed on Twitter that Will Power’s car indeed had unapproved brake pads, but claimed the team never would have sent Briscoe out with the same pads once Power’s had been flagged.

Either way, Briscoe believed IndyCar — behind new race director Beaux Barfield and vice president of technology Will Phillips — had taken a huge step in levying so many fines.

“It’s surprising because we haven’t seen much of that in the past,” Briscoe said. “But I think we are seeing a new guy in charge of the rules now, and maybe in the past, some things have been let past, and I think it’s good that teams are being penalized for not abiding by the rules 100 percent. Rules are there to be followed, rules are made to be enforced and they should be.”

That strong stance from the sanctioning body likely came as a shock to team owners — and it came during yet another stretch of off-track drama.

First, Dragon Racing owner Jay Penske filed a $4.6 million lawsuit against engine manufacturer Lotus, a legal maneuver that cost his drivers several days of track time as Penske fought to reach a settlement that would permit him to move to Chevrolet.

It left only two Lotus-powered cars in the field, and they’ve been so far off the pace that many are openly wondering if they should even be allowed in the race. It didn’t help that 47-year-old former Formula One driver Jean Alesi, who has never before raced an oval, said he felt “unsafe” in the car and was “concerned” for his fellow competitors because it is so slow.

Rubens Barrichello, who spent 19 years in F1 before moving to IndyCar this season, believes Alesi is handicapped by his Lotus engine.

“It’s been very unfortunate that the Lotus power is not up to the speed,” Barrichello said. “If we do end up racing with that 10- or 15-mile (speed) difference, it could be a problem for both of the (Lotus drivers). I hope just that he has a safe race.”

IndyCar needs Alesi and Simona de Silvestro in the race to avoid not having a full 33-car field for the first time since 1947, but it’s possible that the two cars will be black-flagged for failing to maintain a reasonable speed.

There was disappointment Sunday when no team owner threw together a last-minute entry to try to bump one of the Lotus cars out of the field. Both Jay Howard and Pippa Mann indicated they were close to putting together deals, but couldn’t get Chevrolet or Honda to give them an engine. That led to rumors it was IndyCar who halted the engines to protect Lotus — an allegation series officials vehemently denied.

Let’s not forget the TurboGate saga, either, with Chevrolet losing two appeals trying to prevent Honda from using a new compressor cover on its turbocharger. The defeat has supposedly left powerhouse owner Roger Penske so infuriated he’s refusing to speak to Bernard, but yet it’s Penske who has a driver on the pole and two more starting on the second row.

Penske, who at least publicly has preached a message of unity and support of IndyCar leaders, goes into the 500 perfect on the season with five poles and four victories. Honda, meanwhile, had only one driver qualify inside the top 10.

So from the outside, it sure looks like a mess for IndyCar. But Bernard is fond of claiming “all press is good press,” and if drama gets fans to tune into Sunday’s race, then maybe IndyCar knows exactly what it is doing.

The government’s case got a needed boost as it hit the homestretch Monday in the sixth week of the perjury trial that will determine whether Clemens lied to Congress in 2008 when the 11-time All-Star pitcher denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

McNamee, Clemens’ former strength coach, is the only person to claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens using steroids and human growth hormone, and his integrity and credibility were attacked relentlessly last week by Clemens’ lawyer. The government embarked on a rehabilitation job with its key witness during follow-up questioning Monday, then moved on to a beer expert who put a date on the infamous Miller Lite can that became a key piece of evidence and a witness who placed Clemens at a pool party at Jose Canseco’s house in 1998.

Lawyers indicated to the judge that the government might wrap up its case this week, even though Tuesday will be a day off because of a conflict with U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton’s schedule. Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin then said he would need seven or eight working days to present the defense’s case. Both sides are working to finish before June 8, when further conflicts with Walton’s schedule could cause the trial to go on recess for a month.

Before Monday, McNamee had not been allowed to say that he provided former Clemens teammates Pettitte and Knoblauch with human growth hormone, or that he helped ex-Clemens teammate Mike Stanton obtain HGH from drug dealer Kirk Radomski. The judge had ruled that such information could prejudice the jury against Clemens.

But Hardin’s grueling cross-examination tipped the balance in the other direction, prosecutors argued. Hardin suggested before the jury last week that McNamee had solely or primarily targeted Clemens, and that no one had been charged in connection with McNamee’s accusations, raising the issue of McNamee’s credibility.

Walton therefore ruled that McNamee could name Knoblauch and Stanton as receiving HGH in 2001 when they were with the New York Yankees, and Pettitte in 2002 when he was with the Yankees. The judge instructed the jury that the names could only be used to help establish McNamee’s “credibility as a witness” and cannot be used to “infer Mr. Clemens’ guilt.”

The government took full advantage, with prosecutor Daniel Butler using all three names repeatedly. McNamee said he was present when all three players used their HGH. Pettitte already has testified that he used HGH in 2002, so now the jury knows that McNamee was the source.

Butler also worked in quick time to build all the sympathy he could for McNamee. The jury had heard last week that McNamee has a medical condition that he wanted to keep secret, but now he revealed what it is: He is a Type 1 diabetic who uses an insulin pump, particularly when under stress. He then looked at the jury and apologized for the extra breaks.

McNamee also said “I lost my job, lost my clients” after he and Clemens were cited in the 2007 Mitchell Report on drugs in baseball. McNamee said he was led to believe that the report would not contain names when he began cooperating with its investigators. He cited his lack of work, saying the only athletes he trains now are two college students who don’t pay him.

McNamee also said his marriage is over, in part due to the fallout from the Clemens case. He is going through a contentious divorce, and he said he sees his children only twice a week and that it will be “rocky road” to rebuild his relationship with them.

While the defense got McNamee to acknowledge that parts of his story have changed over time, he has not deviated from the core of his testimony — that he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing substances in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

With McNamee finished after five-plus days on the stand, prosecutors called a Miller-Coors manager to testify about the beer can McNamee says he used to store waste after an alleged steroids injection of Clemens in August 2001. The witness, Anthony Manuele, looking at markings on the bottom of the can, was able to confirm that it would have been on shelves between August 2001 and Nov. 15, 2001 — coinciding with McNamee’s timeframe.

Hardin, on cross-examination, jabbed prosecutors by asking Manuele: “You don’t sell these beer cans to keep needles, do you?”

The judge sustained a government objection, but not before Manuele could answer: “No, sir.”

One of the charges against Clemens is that he obstructed Congress when he stated in a deposition that he “was not at Jose Canseco’s house on or about June 9, 1998.” That’s the date McNamee says he saw Clemens and Toronto Blue Jays teammate Canseco talking to a mysterious third person at a pool party at Canseco’s Florida home, a person McNamee said he felt had a connection to steroids. McNamee said he first injected Clemens with steroids a few days later.

So the government called Alexander Lowrey, who said he was at the party as a starry-eyed 11-year-old boy and posed for photos with both Clemens and Canseco. Prosecutors showed jurors the photos: One shows the boy on the deck of the pool, next to a smiling Clemens standing in the shallow end of the water. The former pitcher’s hair is bleach-blonde, which is how Lowrey, now 25, said he recalled it.

Clemens’ lawyer tried to play with the potentially faulty memory Lowrey might have of a party that happened 14 years ago. Lowrey couldn’t remember some details and said he had to estimate the times he arrived and left, but he said he had a clear memory of meeting the two major leaguers.

Clemens, in his congressional deposition in February 2008, said: “I never was at the party.” Later in the deposition, he said: “I wasn’t here at this — at a party that he had. I could have gone by there after a golf outing. So — but I was not at this party.”

The day’s final witness was FBI fingerprint expert Elizabeth Fontaine, who testified she couldn’t identify Clemens’ fingerprints on the waste associated with the beer can. But she also said that doesn’t necessarily prove that Clemens never handled the evidence.

Now after easily one of the most tumultuous seasons in their history, they made the first in what promises to be a huge offseason shake-up

The Magic fired coach Stan Van Gundy on Monday and agreed to part ways with general manager Otis Smith, severing ties with two of the architects of one of the most successful runs in franchise history.

Smith and Van Gundy’s relationship with Howard was the centerpiece of drama the team faced all season and following their second straight first-round playoff exit, CEO Alex Martins said the shift was warranted.

“It’s time for a new leadership and a new approach,” Martins said at a news conference to discuss the moves. “We simply came to the decision that we were not on the right track,”

Martins wouldn’t go into many specifics about what he is looking for in replacements, saying only that he and ownership want to fill the general manager post by June’s NBA draft.

He said he would sit down with ownership on Tuesday to begin ironing out the details of both searches.

Phone and text messages left with Van Gundy and Smith by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

Orlando went 37-29 in the regular season but was eliminated in five games by Indiana after a rash of late-season injuries that included back surgery for Howard. Orlando went 5-12 without him.

Martins said those consecutive first-round playoff exits were “simply not good enough.”

In early April, Van Gundy claimed top-ranking team officials had told him that Howard had asked management to fire Van Gundy as a condition of the center signing a long-term contract beyond 2013. Howard denied it.

Martins addressed that dispute directly, saying “At no time during that time did Dwight ask me to have Stan fired.”

With a relationship with Smith dating back to the Magic’s inaugural season when Smith was a player and a five-year relationship with Van Gundy, Martins also called Monday “the most difficult day of my career.”

Both Smith and Van Gundy are under contract through next season and both of their contracts will be honored. The current assistant coaching staff has also been offered the opportunity to stay on for now.

Van Gundy coached the Magic for five seasons. He finished with a 259-135 record, going 31-28 in the playoffs.

Smith departs after six years. He was the architect of Magic teams that made it to the playoffs in each of those seasons, winning the Eastern Conference championship in 2009. But he also made several questionable moves, including trades for Vince Carter and Gilbert Arenas that failed to work out long-term.

The day after the Magic’s season ended with the loss to the Pacers, Smith said that he would need a few days to even decide whether he wanted to return to that position following the tough year, setting it as a “50-50” chance.

Van Gundy said at the time he wanted to return and was hoping that the ultimate decision would be about performance solely.

“When you’re talking a professional relationship, what matters — at least to me — is the results,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t care if it’s a business relationship where two people at work are driving a business to make money, or if it’s a sports relationship, where the object is to win games.”

But both also have acknowledged that this lockout-shortened season was trying for everyone involved.

“This season, and we’ve been digesting it all year, has been the longest, shortest season that we’ve had,” Smith said. “But it’s something that you have to go through. Most sports franchises at some time go through a little bit of uncertainty and this is our time.”

Martins said that ideally the Magic’s next coach will have a championship pedigree, though acknowledged that the search wouldn’t exclude assistants or others who have experience. He said the same was true for the general manager position.

Martins was effusive in his praise as Van Gundy as a “great strategic coach,” but acknowledged that one of the factors they want to see in a new coach is someone who is great at building relationships with players.

“Strategically we may not be able to find anyone better,” he said.

Howard often commented about Van Gundy’s grumpy demeanor on the floor, saying it was at times counterproductive for the team.

This past summer Smith met with Van Gundy and he left that meeting pledging to make improvements. It included him meeting with a Stanford University psychology professor for advice on how to be a better leader.

And it seemed to work, with Van Gundy incurring just one technical during the shortened regular-season, a low during his Magic tenure.

But it wasn’t enough to save his job.

Now the attention shifts to Howard, who remains in Los Angeles recovering from his surgery.

Martins said team officials continue to be in dialogue with the all-star, but hasn’t yet gotten an answer on whether he would like to stay beyond next season when his contract expires.

After a season spent in limbo before Howard finally opted into the final year of his deal, Martins has said the team won’t repeat the same ordeal. That at least leaves open the possibility the Magic could trade him at some point should Howard not agree to sign long-term.

“I think the decision is on Dwight now,” Martins said. “Dwight needs to decide where his future lies.”

The Denver Broncos got their first real taste of Peyton Manning on Monday with a spirited, fast-paced workout, the four-time MVP’s first full practice in more than 16 months.

“It felt good to be out there. It’s been a while for me,” Manning said. “It’s been about a year and a-half since I’ve been in uniform, been in an organized practice. So, it felt good to be out there. And it will be a good film to study.”

Monday also was the first chance for the media to get a look at the progress Manning has made since a series of neck operations sidelined him all of last season and led to his release from the Indianapolis Colts.

And Manning looked great, showing zip and accuracy on his passes, comfort under center, complete command of his offense and no ill effects from the nerve injury that caused weakness in his throwing arm.

“Man, it feels good to know he’s going to be on my side because what I saw today, he’s going to give us some good work,” star cornerback Champ Bailey said. “And we might not see a quarterback like that all year.”

Manning became the most prized free agent in NFL history following his release from the Colts after 14 seasons. His signing in Denver led to Tebow’s trade to the New York Jets, despite a thrilling run to the playoffs guided by the younger QB.

The Broncos and a handful of other suitors watched Manning throw during his whirlwind free agency tour in March, but before Monday, reporters had to rely on his receivers for updates on his progress. Manning had refused to talk about it.

“Well, you guys got to see him today,” tight end Jacob Tamme said.

And he looked like the Manning of old. His throws, most of which were intermediate, were strong and on target. His only deep pass was true, too, hitting Matthew Willis in stride before being broken up by cornerback Tracy Porter at the goal line.

Watching his pinpoint passes zip around Dove Valley, one never would have guessed he’d been forced to take a sabbatical and go under the scalpel multiple times since his last game, a wild-card playoff loss to the Jets in January of 2011.

“Oh, no. Absolutely not,” Bailey said. “You know, it’s not live, but from what I see right now, the guy hasn’t missed a beat.”

Coach John Fox said Manning’s “getting better every day.”

And so are the Broncos, on account of Manning’s presence.

“He definitely raises all boats, that’s for sure, and that’s not just with the young players, (but also) the veterans,” Fox said. “We’re excited where that is and what’s he’s done to raise those boats.”

Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas and the other young receivers have all been refining their route-running so as not to endure Manning’s famous wrath.

“Well, I think they’re on their way,” Bailey said. “Obviously, I want to help them as much as possible, try to sharpen their routes up and things like that, but one thing about them is they get open a little bit, they’re open a lot to him. That’s one thing that’s a big difference this year.”

Manning wouldn’t gauge the progress he’s made in his two months in Denver, first during private workouts at local high schools and then at the team’s training facility.

“It’s hard to say. I try to get better every day, you know, that’s my goal and I really need to use this time,” he said. “I do think there’s a difference when you are on the field in helmets going up against a defense. Up until now, we hadn’t been able to go against a defense. So, this will be great work for me going against Champ Bailey and Von Miller and Elvis (Dumervil) and (Tracy) Porter, Drayton Florence.

“We’ve got three great cover corners to work against. So, until now we’ve been kind of throwing passes versus air, and you can work on your timing with receivers but it’s a great test to go against these corners.”

Manning is clearly more concerned about ironing out the wrinkles in his new offense than what fans seem to be harping on: his health status.

“I’ve always believed you develop your timing for your passing game in the offseason, I don’t think you can just show up in September and expect to be on the same page,” Manning said. “So, what a great opportunity for these receivers going against these corners. I mean, if you can’t get better going against some of these top cover corners, then it’s just not meant to be. So, it’s a great challenge for everybody.”

Monday marked one signpost. Up ahead is putting on the shoulder pads, training camp, taking that first hit in the preseason.

“There’s no question it’s a different mentality for me in these OTAs than it has been in other years because of all the changes,” Manning said. “But I look forward to the challenge and I just can’t tell you how important these OTAs are. I think they’re important for everybody. But when you’re a new player, on a new team, certainly coming off an injury, I think they certainly take added importance, and I thought today was an excellent start.”

Stewart’s family notified the university and said Stewart had been out golfing with the longtime friend who hired him as head coach, former athletic director Ed Pastilong. West Virginia spokesman Michael Fragale said he had no further details, and Pastilong couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“Coach Stewart was a rock-solid West Virginian and a true Mountaineer,” athletic director Oliver Luck said in a statement released by the university. “His enthusiasm and passion for his state’s flagship university was infectious. We join all Mountaineers in mourning his passing.”

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, who was governor at the time Stewart became head coach, said Stewart was a longtime friend who “leaves behind a lifetime of memories and love for our state.”

“Bill was a proud West Virginian in every sense of the word,” Manchin said, “and he was the best cheerleader this state ever had.”

Stewart went 28-12 in three seasons after taking over when Rodriguez left for Michigan after the 2007 regular season, but resigned last summer and was replaced by Dana Holgorsen the same night.

In December 2007, Mountaineer fans unleashed their fury on Rodriguez for breaking his contract early and taking the Michigan job. He left the Mountaineers not long after a painful loss to rival Pittsburgh cost them a shot at the national championship and two weeks before the Fiesta Bowl game against Oklahoma, taking recruits and assistants with him.

It was Stewart, a deeply religious family man, who stepped in and guided the team to a surprising 48-28 victory over the Sooners.

In the euphoric aftermath, he was given the job full-time — to the surprise of many — but the Mountaineers didn’t go to another BCS bowl under his leadership and Stewart couldn’t match the production of Rodriguez. In Stewart’s three seasons, West Virginia averaged at least 79 fewer yards per game than the 2007 team.

In December 2010, Luck — then just months into his tenure — decided to hire Holgorsen as offensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting for the 2011 season. Holgorsen would run West Virginia’s offense while Stewart would coach the team one final season before moving into an administrative job.

Wins and losses weren’t the only issue for the coaching change. Luck said season-ticket sales had declined in the year after Stewart became head coach.

Luck said he’d modeled the transition after those done when Bret Bielema took over at Wisconsin and Chip Kelly assumed control at Oregon. Luck said he had no doubt it would be handled professionally, noting both coaches said they supported the idea.

And Stewart was diplomatic about the hire, saying the team would let Holgorsen “implement ideas and schemes in preparation of getting the finest offensive staff we can compile.”

Six months later, the arrangement had fallen apart, and Stewart’s departure became difficult. Both he and Holgorsen made unwanted headlines in the weeks leading up to the shake-up.

An intoxicated Holgorsen was escorted out of a casino, then a former newspaper reporter said that Stewart had approached him shortly after Holgorsen’s hiring to “dig up dirt” on his eventual successor.

“At the time I thought it made a lot of sense, I thought it was good management practice,” Luck said last June. “With hindsight, folks could certainly disagree.”

In Holgorsen’s first season, the Mountaineers went 10-3, were Big East co-champions and beat Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl.

“The State of West Virginia, our University and our football program has lost a true Mountaineer who gave his native state university a decade of coaching service and a lifetime of guidance and inspiration to thousands of young men over a 33-year career,” Holgorsen said Monday. “Though Coach Stewart achieved many great milestones on the field, we will most remember his kindness and compassion.”

Stewart, a native of New Martinsville, attended Fairmont State and earned a master’s degree in health and physical education from WVU in 1977.

He had assistant coaching stints at seven colleges before becoming head coach at VMI in 1994, going 8-25 in three seasons. After a two-year stint in the Canadian Football League, Stewart was hired by Don Nehlen as an assistant at West Virginia.

“Bill was such a great Mountaineer and a great addition to our staff,” Nehlen said. “It was a terrific hire — he did a great job not only for me, but for Rich and as a head coach. Bill was such a great husband and a great father. Bill Stewart was a great Mountaineer.”

Stewart and his wife Karen, have one son, Blaine.

Stenhouse’s No. 6 car was strong enough to keep the drama and the rest of the field out of reach.

He led 209 of 250 laps and won the NASCAR Nationwide race at the Iowa Speedway on Sunday, his third straight win on Iowa’s short oval.

Stenhouse, who won both races in Iowa in 2011 and took first last August after blowing an engine and being pushed across by Carl Edwards, picked up his third victory of the season. He also extended his lead in the points chase to 28 over Elliott Sadler, who was second.

“It feels good to win three in a row, and it was a lot of fun leading that many laps,” Stenhouse said.

Michael McDowell tied his career best by finishing third, followed by rookie Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch. Danica Patrick failed to finish for the second time this season and Travis Pastrana finished 26th in his third career Nationwide race because of an electrical issue.

For Stenhouse, Sunday’s race was a lot less exciting but a lot more efficient than his last trip to Iowa.

Stenhouse’s 209 laps led tied the track record set by Kyle Busch in 2010. He also became the first Nationwide driver to win three in a row at the same track since Kyle Busch won three at Texas in 2009-10.

“This is the way you want to win. You want to go out here and dominate,” Stenhouse said. “We want to go out there and lead laps, stay up front and get the job done.”

The Sprint Cup event in Charlotte on Saturday kept all Cup regulars except for Kurt Busch out of the field, giving the Nationwide series a rare Sunday in the spotlight.

Busch still showcased his skills as a driver though, briefly taking the lead after starting in the back and saving a top-five finish after being bumped by McDowell on the last lap.

“Stenhouse man, he did a good job (Sunday). The kid is getting really good,” Busch said. “It’s great to sniff the lead, be close to it and just missing a couple little components.”

Sadler started on the pole, but Sam Hornish Jr. quickly took the lead away and held it for 30 laps until Stenhouse took control. Though Cole Whitt, Justin Allgaier and Busch each took turns with the front position, none of them could hold off the charging Stenhouse for more than a few laps.

Sadler bounced back nicely from his late wreck in Darlington last week by starting first and finishing second, but he was still frustrated he couldn’t beat Stenhouse.

“We thought we had a car to win the race when the race started. But I’m proud of my guys for rebounding the way they did after last week. To come back and finish second, a good job on their part,” Sadler said.

Patrick’s promising weekend ended in a wall.

Patrick started ninth, just her fifth top-10 start in 35 career Nationwide races. But Patrick was already in 16th place when she drifted high into a turn and slammed into the wall 114 laps into the 250-lap event.

The No. 7 car suffered damage on its right side that was too extensive for Patrick to continue. Patrick said she was encouraged by the progress she and her team made this weekend, even though it ended poorly.

“I’m bummed out because we were on a good roll and we were having the best short track weekend we’ve had yet,” Patrick said. “These are the things that happen. You can’t control it. You’ve got 34 weekends and they’re not all going to go perfect.”

Darrell Wallace Jr., held his ground in his first career start in the Nationwide series, finishing ninth after starting eighth.

Wallace, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished last in the K&N Pro Series event on Saturday night after hitting the wall just 26 laps in. But that was an aberration for the 18-year-old Wallace, who has won six times in that series.

“He’s somebody with the most promising talent who is an African-American to come through our diversity program. He has been dominant at the K&N. He’s winning,” NASCAR chairman Brian France said about Wallace while in Charlotte on Saturday night. “That’s a breakthrough if that materializes. If not him, there’s going to be somebody who is going to walk in the door and be a star, and it’s going to be very good for us.”

But neither Wallace nor Patrick nor anybody else could steal the spotlight from Stenhouse.

Though McDowell thought that Sadler, Kurt Busch and himself all had stronger cars than the No. 6 at the end, the top spot was already a foregone conclusion by then.

“Nah, they didn’t have a faster race car,” Stenhouse said. “If they had faster race cars, I feel like they should have been there out in front of us. But our race car was solid.”

“My sinker has been key for me all year,” Hudson said. “I was able to keep them off balance.”

Hudson (3-1), who is 8-1 overall against the Rays, retired nine in a row before Ben Zobrist opened the fourth with a line single to right. The right-hander struck three, walked two and got 14 groundball outs.

“That’s what he is, a groundball machine,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He did it pretty efficiently, too.

Ross put the Braves up 1-0 on an opposite-field, solo-homer to right in the third. Jason Heyward made it 2-0 on a two-out, RBI single during the sixth.

Jonny Venters, who replaced Hudson after B.J. Upton had an infield single with two outs in the eighth, loaded the bases by hitting both Matt Joyce and Carlos Pena. The left-hander caught a break when Pena was called out between first and second when he was hit by Luke Scott’s grounder.

“It caught me in mid-stride,” Pena said. “It was just a helpless feeling because I couldn’t go anywhere. I think I was in the air when the ball was hit, and it was a rocket. It was just bad luck. If I played it less aggressively, the wrong way, maybe I’m able to stop, back off and we score two runs. So I think there we got penalized for running the bases right.”

Scott was credited with a single on the play.

“Got lucky and we won the game,” Venters said. “A win is a win.”

Gonzalez called the eighth an interesting inning.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an inning in the major leagues end the way that inning ended, but we’ll take it,” Gonzalez said. “We won’t give it back.”

Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 13th save to complete a five-hitter.

David Price (6-3) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings for Tampa Bay.

“He’s been good all year, and his whole career,” Hudson said. “You knew runs were going to be tough to come by. That two-run lead felt like it was an eight-run lead because you didn’t expect to get a whole lot today.”

The Rays loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth when Zobrist was hit by a pitch, Upton singled and Joyce walked, but failed to score when Pena flew out to deep center.

“That was the ballgame for me,” Hudson said. “I didn’t make a great pitch to him, it wasn’t the best of curveballs, and he just missed it.”

After Sean Rodriguez had a one-out bloop double down the right-field line in the seventh, Hudson got out of the jam by getting consecutive grounders from Will Rhymes and Elliot Johnson.

Rodriguez, playing third, took a hit away from Ross leading off the fifth when he dove into foul territory to field a grounder and then throw the Atlanta catcher out at first.

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game because of a bruised left calf and is day to day. He was hit by Upton’s hard one-hop liner in Friday night’s game.

“He’s walking around better,” Gonzalez said. “Hopefully (he’ll play Monday) or maybe even Tuesday.”

Yes, I’ll Have Another came out of his thrilling Preakness win over Bodemeister in “super shape,” trainer Doug O’Neill said Sunday, and now comes New York for a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

“Bring it on! We’re ready to go. Super pumped!” O’Neill said as he held court outside the stall of his Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. “I can’t put into words how incredible it is. We’re just on Cloud 9. It’s super exciting.”

The colorful and controversial trainer was returning to his home base in California, and making plans for the trip to New York in the next week or so. I’ll Have Another, meanwhile, was loaded onto a horse van at Pimlico and arrived at Belmont Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

O’Neill’s assistant, Jack Sisterson, will oversee the chestnut colt until O’Neill and the rest of his team arrive.

The trainer took time to soak in the moment before leaving Baltimore, though, and to contemplate the pressure-packed days that await leading to the first Triple Crown attempt since 2008. It will be the 12th Triple try since 1978, when Affirmed won thoroughbred racing’s most elusive prize.

“It’s hasn’t completely sunk in yet,” he said. “The party out here at the barn after the race was like wow! I’ve never seen anything like that — everyone so excited about horse racing and I’ll Have Another being 2-for-2. I definitely feel the energy and buzz in the air.”

He hasn’t seen anything yet.

The Triple Crown quest brought some tantalizingly close calls since Affirmed turned back Alydar in the Derby, Preakness and Belmont 34 years ago — the longest drought between Triple Crown champions.

There was Real Quiet in 1998, who looked like a lock to take the Belmont until he was nailed at the wire by Victory Gallop. And there was Smarty Jones, who also seemed golden in the Belmont stretch only to be reeled in by 36-1 shot Birdstone in the final 70 yards.

So can I’ll Have Another win it? Steve Cauthen, who was a fresh-faced, 18-year-old jockey who rode Affirmed into history, believes the colt can deliver. Not only does he see similarities with Affirmed, but “The Kid’” can relate to what “new-kid-on-the-block” rider Mario Gutierrez is experiencing.

“I guess I’m having a flashback,” Cauthen said Sunday from his breeding farm in Verona, Ky. “He’s a new kid on the block like I was. The kid’s got a great attitude and a great smile. And, like me, he’s been put in a position to ride in these kinds of races and a shot at maybe winning the Triple Crown. And the trainer and owner have confidence in him, and that’s important, because Laz (Barrera, Affirmed’s trainer) and Mr. Wolfson (owner Louis Wolfson) were 100 percent behind me.”

As for I’ll Have Another, Cauthen said the colt seems relaxed and takes things in stride, just like Affirmed.

“Horses that seem to come out of their races pretty well, it means they don’t bother themselves, and that’s a huge benefit when you’ve got three tough races,” Cauthen added. “It’s like three title fights in five weeks. You are taking on the best around. With Affirmed, he always did the right thing. He didn’t waste any energy. And when it came down to a battle, he thrived on it.

“This horse looks like he’s got that fighting spirit. He likes a game, and he wants to win and he can’t wait to get another battle. He thrives on it and to me that’s why more than anything he’s got a good chance.”

The race is one thing, the buildup another. Some cave to the pressure, others try to find ways to deal with it. It’s impossible to dismiss. Since Affirmed, no one’s come up with a winning formula.

J. Paul Reddam, who owns I’ll Have Another, would like nothing better than to have his horse join the equine pantheon of Triple Crown heroes that includes Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Citation. He’s just dreading all the time before the race.

“I’m actually not looking forward to the next three weeks at all,” Reddam said. “I know there is going to be a certain amount of tension, and I’m not eager to do a bunch of TV interviews. That’s not me.”

“I am going to tell everyone to try and keep the tension down. Enjoy it. If you want to be in the spotlight, knock yourself out. If you started singing on David Letterman, you probably carried it too far. But this is supposed to be fun.”

O’Neill already has embraced the hoopla, and can’t wait to take Manhattan.

“Like we did in Louisville and Baltimore, when we come to New York we’re going to see the town, enjoy it, soak it in,” he said. “And the reason we’re enjoying it so much is the horse has been thriving so much. If he continues to do good, we’ll have a good time.”

There could be bumpy times, too. O’Neill has been under scrutiny over his many violations for giving his horses improper drugs. He has been accused in California of “milkshaking,” the illegal practice of giving a horse a blend of bicarbonate of soda, sugar and electrolytes. The mixture is designed to reduce fatigue and enhance performance. He was fined $1,000 and suspended 15 days in one incident. He is contesting another and faces penalties ranging from a minimum 90-day suspension and a $5,000 fine to a maximum 180-day suspension and fine of $15,000.

“I can’t talk about all that stuff,” O’Neill said. “I know we play by the rules, and I know we love our horses and we take great care of them.”

He chooses to accentuate the positive.

“One thing we have here is an open-door policy and a backstage pass for everybody,” he said. “And it’s been a great opportunity to share with everybody who loves horse racing to see what goes into trying to take care of a horse. You can say whatever you want about me, but you have to be so amazed at how amazing I’ll Have Another and all of the people around him are in taking care of him.”

After winning the Santa Anita Derby by a nose, the colt purchased by Reddam for $35,000 won the Derby by 1 1/2 lengths with a stretch run that caught Bodemeister in the final 100 yards. I’ll Have Another then produced an even more dramatic finish in Saturday’s Preakness, reeling in Bodemeister in the final strides to win by a neck.

In less than three weeks, it’s the biggest test of all, the grueling, 1 1/2-mile Belmont, the longest of the Triple Crown races known as the “Test of the Champion.”

The wait is on.

“These three weeks will be the longest of their lives,” Cauthen said. “Every day they wake up, they have to make sure nothing goes wrong, that when he comes back from a gallop something doesn’t happen to him, like he steps on a stone or something silly. No matter what you do, there’s always going to be pressure, probably even more so now after 34 years without a Triple Crown.’”

LeBron James brought it back.

And this time, Dwyane Wade helped him.

James scored 40 points, Wade added 30 — 22 in the second half — and Miami’s dynamic duo took over after halftime to get the Heat even in the series with a 101-93 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Sunday.

With Chris Bosh injured and back in Florida, the James-Wade tandem saved the Heat, who will host Game 5 on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“Just survival,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This is what the playoffs are about.”

James was at his MVP best, adding 18 rebounds and nine assists and refusing to let Miami’s season slip away.

“It’s still going to be a dogfight,” James said. “It’s a three-game series now.”

Wade rebounded from the worst playoff game of his career, shaking off a 1 of 8 shooting start and adding nine rebounds and six assists.

Danny Granger scored 20 to lead the Pacers, who had the Heat down but couldn’t put the defending conference champions away.

Down by 10 points in the third quarter, the Heat were in danger of having their championship dreams obliterated by an Indiana team outworking them at both ends and backed by a towel-waving fans.

James would have none of it.

Wade either.

Wade, who scored five points in Game 3 and yelled at coach Erik Spoelstra on the sideline during a third-quarter timeout in Miami’s 19-point loss, came alive in the third when he made all six shots and scored 14 points.

“I’ve been doubted before. I’ll be doubted again,” Wade said.

James added 14 as well in the period as the pair landed a 1-2 punch on the Pacers’ chin.

“We had a terrible performance in Game 3,” James said. “We wanted to redeem ourselves.”

Granger’s 3-pointer had given Indiana a 61-51 and the Pacers, outhustling the Heat to loose balls, appeared poised to take a commanding lead in the series.

But that’s when James and Wade put on a jaw-dropping spectacle, combining for all but two points in a 25-5 run that put Miami up 76-66.

During one sequence, Wade lost his balance and fell and was lucky to push the ball toward James near the top of the key. As Wade scrambled to his feet, James alertly passed him the ball and he calmly knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Heat a 64-63 lead. The pair made easy shots, tough ones and did everything in their power to steer Miami away from a 3-1 hole.

Only eight teams in league history have overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. That’s what the Heat were staring at with a loss in Game 4.

The Heat took a 76-70 lead into the fourth, and every time Indiana got close, either Wade or James responded.

Miami also got a huge lift down the stretch from Udonis Haslem, who hasn’t been a factor in the series but made four big jumpers in the final six minutes despite playing with a large bandage over his right eye after being elbowed by Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough.

Granger’s 3-pointer got the Pacers within 96-91 with 1:33 left, but Haslem hit another short shot and James closed the Pacers out with three free throws in the last 16 seconds.

Leandro Barbosa dropped a layup just before the horn to give the Pacers a 54-46 lead at halftime, closing a second quarter that included another altercation involving Granger.

Wade was fouled hard on a drive with 12.6 seconds left by Hibbert. After the whistle, Miami’s frustrated star slapped off the Indiana center’s arm after the two got tangled. Granger didn’t like that and he confronted Wade nose-to-nose in the foul lane.

Wade turned to one official and pleaded to “get him out of my face.”

Granger was slapped with a technical foul for the second straight game, and as Wade lined up to shoot his free throw, Indiana’s forward kept jawing at him.

“I’m right here,” Granger said, standing near mid-court.

Wade got the message, and he and James returned one of their own in the third.

His team’s dynamic disrupted without Bosh, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra changed his starting lineup for the fourth time in four games, putting Ronny Turiaf at center and starting Shane Battier up front with James for the second straight game. The switch did nothing to stop the Pacers from getting off to another strong start.

Indiana was up 9-0 in a blink and led 19-11 after Granger dropped a 3-pointer.

James, though, got things going for the Heat and had them within 25-18 after one, a deficit that could have been much worse if not for the Pacers missing several wide-open 3-pointers.

What few predicted, though, was that the new format would encourage drivers to take it easy for portions of Saturday night’s $1 million race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now fans are upset winner Jimmie Johnson essentially sandbagged for 60 or so laps before turning it up for a final charge to his third All-Star race victory.

“Everybody knew if you could win that first segment, you could control the night,” said Johnson, who indeed won the first of four 20-lap segments.

Under the format for this year’s race, the winners of each of the first four 20-lap segments lined up 1-through-4 for the mandatory trip down pit road. Once there, it was a race to simply be the first drivers to get back on the track for the final 10-lap sprint to the finish.

So Johnson claimed the first segment, then faded to the back of field for next three segments. Matt Kenseth joined him at the rear after winning the second segment, and although Brad Keselowski was reluctant to follow the same strategy, he also went to the back when his team insisted it was the best strategy after the third segment.

“Obviously there was a debate whether or not to run hard or conserve your stuff,” Keselowski said. “I hate conserving race cars. They’re meant to run hard. I just wanted to make sure that everybody on my team was on the same plan, and they were. So I’ve got to do what they tell me.”

It wasn’t all that popular for race fans, who seemed nonplussed by the three-wide racing through the pack that accentuated several of the opening segments. Instead, many seemed annoyed that Johnson, Kenseth and Keselowski had no incentive to race once they won their segments.

Johnson, who claimed “when the rules came down, every crew chief in the garage area realized the importance of that first segment,” was reluctant to criticize the latest All-Star race format. It was the eighth change to the format since the race was created in 1985.

“That’s going to be tough for me to knock the system after how our night went because it just worked out exactly how we’d hoped,” he said.

But NASCAR has long touted its All-Star event as the only one in professional sports where the participants actually try hard, and Saturday night managed to discredit that theory.

It was clearly difficult for runner-up Keselowski, who made a solid attempt at sugarcoating the strategy of just riding around at the back of the field. He didn’t seem all that believable, though, following his second-place finish.

“I’ll race whatever rules you have,” he said. “I’ll race as hard as it takes to win. That was what it took to win. So, you know, I can’t say I feel great about it. Happy that we were good enough to win one of the segments.”

There are also new questions about the length of the final segment.

The idea of making it just 10 laps was obviously to create a frantic, all-out, sprint to the $1 million prize. But Carl Edwards proved last year that if a driver can get a good start, he can build enough of a lead that can’t be overcome in 10 laps.

After Johnson won the race down pit road on Saturday night, he, too, got a good restart and checked out from the rest of the field. Nobody had a chance to catch him in such a short sprint, but Keselowski said Johnson was so good, he wouldn’t have been able to catch him in 100 laps.

Kenseth, who restarted second and finished third, thought 10 laps gave Johnson a decided advantage.

“You got somebody as fast as him out front, there was no way I was going to have a shot in 10 laps,” Kenseth said. “Ten laps is kind of short, but yet the fastest car was out front. It was hard to beat that.”

Regardless of the format, the consensus among drivers seemed to be that the best car won the race. And for Johnson, it put him alongside the late Dale Earnhardt and teammate Jeff Gordon as the only drivers to win three All-Star races.

Johnson’s win came a week after he gave team owner Rick Hendrick his 200th Cup victory with a win at Darlington. With five Sprint Cup championships on his resume, this latest All-Star win was yet another feat in Johnson’s bid to rewrite the record books.

“I’ve got a lot of years left ahead of myself,” he said. “I want to leave my mark in this sport when I hang up my helmet. We’re doing a great job of that.”

Jimmie Johnson did it for roughly 60 laps Saturday night, and it earned him a cool $1 million payday.

Johnson used a calculated strategy — he drove hard for the first and last segments, and coasted for the three in between — to join Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon as the only three-time winners of NASCAR’s All-Star race.

The five-time champion won the first 20-lap segment of the Sprint All-Star race, then deliberately faded to the back for the next three 20-lap segments at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His plan was to keep the No. 48 Chevrolet out of trouble, then make his play for the win in the fifth and final segment.

“We did a strategy that we thought was best for our team,” he said.

It certainly was, even if it was the antithesis of what race car drivers do for a living.

But it worked for this year’s new format, which guaranteed the winners of the first four segments would be the first four drivers down pit road for a mandatory stop before the 10-lap sprint to the finish. Johnson’s win in the first segment meant he was guaranteed to be the first driver down pit road, and he had the first stall — the reward for his Hendrick Motorsports team winning Thursday night’s Pit Crew Competition.

His race, after winning that first segment, was simply to beat everyone else off pit road. Johnson raced Matt Kenseth down the lane, and edged him across the line.

He then needed a clean and quick restart, which he executed to perfection, to pull away for the win. This win comes a week after his Darlington Raceway victory gave Hendrick Motorsports its 200th Cup win.

“Man, I don’t want this week to end,” Johnson said.

He celebrated by picking up team owner Rick Hendrick, who climbed halfway through the window of the Chevrolet for Johnson’s celebratory lap. It was Hendrick’s seventh All-Star race win.

“He said come pick me up, and once I got to him, he didn’t want the ride,” Johnson said. “I’m like, ‘No, no, I came to get you, Get on the car.’ It was great to take him around.”

It didn’t look very comfortable — or safe.

“That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in racing,” Hendrick said. “I thought I was going to be a busted watermelon.”

Brad Keselowski, winner of the third segment, had no chance to catch Johnson over the closing 10 laps. The final segment was the shortest by 10 laps, but Keselowski didn’t think it mattered.

“I don’t think it was going to make a difference if it was a hundred laps at the end; Jimmie was just that fast,” Keselowski said. “You can’t really steal any of his thunder on that. I was doing all I could to get by, but wasn’t meant to be.”

But Keselowski, who won the third segment, wasn’t all that disappointed.

“It’s all about the restart,” Keselowski said. “The high line on the restart just wouldn’t go. I don’t know if I would have been able to do anything, but I would have liked another shot. We got beat by a five-time champ and two-time All-Star winner, so I think we’re doing pretty good. We didn’t have enough to pull it off.”

Kenseth, winner of the second segment, finished third. He had some tense moments after teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle had engine failures — Biffle’s exploded into a giant fireball — and initially wasn’t all that comfortable following Johnson’s lead of running around the back until the final 10 laps.

“I watched what the 48 did. They won the first one, so they didn’t race until the last 10,” Kenseth said. “They seem to know what they’re doing, pretty smart. We watched that, kind of hung back. There wasn’t any reward for racing up through there. You knew you were coming on pit road second.”

And after losing the race off pit road to Johnson, and the restart, too, Kenseth knew he couldn’t catch the winner. It was Kenseth’s fifth top-five finish in 12 All-Star races.

“For me, you got somebody as fast as him out front, there was no way I was going to have a shot in 10 laps,” Kenseth said. “Ten laps is kind of short, but yet the fastest car was out front. It was hard to beat that.”

Kyle Busch finished fourth and was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the fourth segment and advanced into the All-Star race by winning the qualifying race earlier Saturday night. Busch, the pole-sitter, wasn’t surprised by the finishing order.

“It was exactly like everybody thought it would be; Anybody who wins the first segment will win the race,” Busch said.

The unlikely storyline of an English team beating a German team on penalties in a high-profile match provided a fitting end to a dramatic night, as Chelsea became Europe’s champion club for the first time.

The often theatrical figure of 34-year-old Drogba, playing possibly his last game for the club as his Chelsea contract expires next month, was at the heart of the show.

Drogba sent goalkeeper Manuel Neuer the wrong way to win the shootout 4-3 in front of massed Bayern fans in their home Allianz Arena. Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger missed the previous penalty.

“It was written, I think, a long time ago,” Drogba said to British broadcaster ITV of Chelsea’s turnaround since its turmoil in March. “This team is amazing. They never give up until the end.”

The shootout was needed after Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech saved Arjen Robben’s spot-kick early in extra time.

It was awarded for a foul by Drogba, whose 88th-minute header earned an unlikely reprieve.

After 83 minutes of Bayern domination, Thomas Mueller had broken dogged Chelsea resistance with a header past the outstanding Cech.

Chelsea’s first Champions League title came after losing the 2008 final in a shootout to Manchester United.

Drogba succeeded where his captain John Terry, who was suspended for Saturday’s finale, failed in missing the fifth penalty in Moscow four years ago which would have given the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich the Champions League title he has craved.

Abramovich must now make a fascinating decision on the future of interim coach Roberto di Matteo, who took over from the fired Andre Villas-Boas after a last-16, first-leg defeat to Napoli, and inspired a team which then appeared sulky and fading.

Victory also sealed Chelsea’s last remaining route into next season’s competition which is crucial to its elite status and finances.

Everything seemed stacked against Chelsea when Bayern won the toss to send the shootout to the home, south end of its stadium. Four-time champion Bayern had never lost a penalty shootout in European competition, including its 2001 title against Valencia and its semifinals defeat of Real Madrid last month.

After Bayern captain Philipp Lahm scored first, Juan Mata saw his kick saved by Neuer, who scored with Bayern’s third kick.

Cech then saved Ivica Olic’s fourth penalty for Bayern to put the otherwise excellent Schweinsteiger in the spotlight. He struck the post to Cech’s left and covered his face with his shirt.

Drogba stepped up and sealed victory and awaited the adulation of his onrushing teammates.

“He’s a hero. Without him we’re not here,” said Lampard, who scored with Chelsea’s third penalty. “I’d love him to stay. What he did tonight he’s been doing all his career.”

With seven starters from the two teams suspended, Bayern settled quickly against a visiting team set up to absorb pressure.

The Germans’ tempo was often dictated by Schweinsteiger, who excelled after collecting a needless yellow card in the second minute for handball.

Toni Kroos, Mario Gomez and Robben all missed the target, before Robben, the former Chelsea winger, threatened in the 21st, wriggling through a tiny gap to create a left-footed shooting chance.

So often Chelsea’s Champions League savior, Cech blocked with his right leg and deflected the ball high up against his right post.

Drogba was being kept quiet before he linked with Frank Lampard to create Chelsea’s first good chance in the 37th. Salomon Kalou was teed up to shoot low but Neuer’s save was solid.

Gomez, with 13 goals in the competition this season, then wasted two good chances to draw level with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes stomped back to the bench throwing his hands in the air.

The second half resumed with the same pattern, and Cole’s outstanding defending denied Robben.

The England left-back hunted down Robben’s break, then blocked the Dutchman’s clear sight of goal from 10 yards (meters) in the 54th. The loose ball found Ribery in an offside position before he thought he’d opened the scoring.

Cole repeated his heroics five minutes later, dashing across to block Robben’s shot from 15 yards.

Near the end, Cole was booked for fouling Mueller, who responded by directing a header which Cech gathered.

One minute later, Mueller eluded Cole with a late run and headed down, over Cech and in off the crossbar, to spark delirious celebrations among the Bayern players and fans.

They underestimated Chelsea’s admirable resolve, and Drogba soared to score with a header that Neuer couldn’t keep out.

Drogba’s taste for the dramatic flared up in the third minute of extra time, as he clipped Ribery’s heels in the penalty area.

Referee Pedro Proenca’s decision to point to the spot seemed to stun the Bayern fans, and their anxiety was well founded.

Robben fired low to Cech’s left, and the Czech ‘keeper blocked with his arm and body, then reached across to collect the loose ball.

Bayern came agonizingly close in the 108th, when substitute Olic slipped the ball across the goalmouth but teammate Daniel van Buyten failed to anticipate the simple tap-in.

Jose Arredondo worked out of a ninth-inning jam for his first major league save, Joey Votto hit a three-run homer and Cincinnati held on for a 6-5 victory Saturday.

New York scored twice off Sean Marshall in the ninth, but Baker pulled his regular closer in favor of Arredondo and he got the job done.

“I could have done without the drama, but we did win the game,” Baker said.

Arredondo entered with two on and one out, and Derek Jeter grounded his first pitch to third. Cincinnati nearly turned a game-ending double play, but Jeter just beat the relay. Even Votto thought the Reds had it won — he clenched his fist when he caught the ball at first base, hoping the game was over.

Curtis Granderson then fouled off a 3-0 pitch before topping a slow roller to Votto for the final out.

“It wasn’t fun the way it ended,” Votto said. “Well, I take that back. It was fun the way it ended. Just a little bit nerve-racking at the end, but that’s part of wins and losses and it was nice for Jose to come in and pick us up.”

Brandon Phillips got Cincinnati started with a run-scoring single and the Reds overcame Ivan Nova’s career-high 12 strikeouts to improve to 2-2 during their five-game visit to both New York ballparks this week.

Homer Bailey (2-3) pitched effectively into the seventh inning for the second consecutive outing. Cincinnati then turned it over to its normally lights-out bullpen and held on to hand New York its fourth loss in five games.

“We just didn’t get the last hit that we needed,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s good that we’re able to come back, but it’s frustrating that you get so close and lose.”

Logan Ondrusek retired Jeter on a shallow fly with two on to end the seventh. Cuban flame-thrower Aroldis Chapman, hitting 99 mph on the stadium scoreboard, whiffed Granderson and Robinson Cano in a perfect eighth.

Raul Ibanez doubled to start the ninth and scored on Nick Swisher’s single, snapping New York’s 0-for-22 skid with runners in scoring position. Marshall threw a called third strike past Russell Martin, but Andruw Jones singled to put runners at the corners and Jayson Nix singled to make it 6-5.

That’s when Baker went to Arredondo.

“I didn’t really like the matchup there at the end with all those righties coming up there against Marshall,” said Baker, who hinted that he might consider moving Chapman into the closer role soon.

Martin and Nix homered for the Yankees on a beautiful, 74-degree day when three balls barely cleared the short porch in right field.

Bailey, drafted seventh overall in 2004, was 0-1 in his previous four starts since beating the Cubs on April 20 for the franchise’s 10,000th victory. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out seven and walked one in his first outing at Yankee Stadium.

“Overall, pitched a good game,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said the anticipation wasn’t there. The first couple pitches it looked like the plate was about 100 feet away.”

With the score tied 2-all, No. 9 batter Wilson Valdez singled leading off the Cincinnati fifth and Chris Heisey followed with a bunt single. One out later, Votto got just enough of an inner-half slider from Nova (4-2) to drive it over the auxiliary scoreboard in right-center.

Five of Votto’s seven homers this season have come in the last seven games, including a three-homer performance Sunday against Washington that he capped with a game-ending grand slam.

“I’m starting to make progress,” the 2010 NL MVP said.

Nix homered in the bottom half to cut it to 5-3. An eighth-inning throwing error by Yankees reliever David Phelps led to Mike Costanzo’s sacrifice fly.

Nova had no problem with the bruised and sprained right foot that knocked him out of Monday night’s start at Baltimore in the sixth inning. Flashing a sharp curve, he struck out eight in the first three innings and had 11 strikeouts after five, surpassing his previous career high of 10.

The right-hander got himself in trouble with consecutive walks in the first and Phillips put the Reds ahead with an RBI single. Devin Mesoraco and Heisey both doubled in the second to make it 2-0.

It was an early breakthrough for the Reds, silenced by 39-year-old Andy Pettitte in their first shutout loss of the season Friday night.

Martin homered on the first pitch of the third and New York tied it on Ibanez’s two-out RBI double in the fourth. Nova allowed seven hits and two walks over six innings in his second loss since a 15-game winning streak.

“I don’t care about strikeouts,” Nova said. “I don’t like the way I’m pitching right now. I’m making a lot of mistakes.”

Tony Parker added 23 points, rookie Kawhi Leonard 14 and Manu Ginobili 13 to help the top-seeded Spurs win their 17th in a row and improve to 7-0 in the playoffs.

Blake Griffin had 28 points and 16 rebounds, and reserve Mo Williams added 19 points for the Clippers, who face some daunting NBA history heading into Game 4 on Sunday at Staples Center. No team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

Playing with a left hip injury and a sprained right knee, Griffin missed just three shots in the first half, when he scored 20 points and the Clippers led by 24. Slowed by a strained right hip, Chris Paul finished with 12 points and 11 assists after two previous sub-par efforts in the series.

After a quiet first half in which he scored eight points, Duncan helped the Spurs control the third quarter when they outscored Los Angeles 26-8.

The Spurs took their first lead during a 23-0 run on a fadeaway jumper by Duncan, who scored nine points in the outburst that put them ahead for good. Danny Green added seven and Leonard five. The Clippers’ defense completely faltered and they piled up miss after miss on the offensive end.

The Clippers scored the final four points of the period, which ended with a turnover by Mo Williams, to trail 69-61 heading into the fourth.

San Antonio led by 11 points early in the fourth before the Clippers got within seven on consecutive baskets by Williams. Gary Neal hit a 3-pointer to launch a 13-9 spurt, capped by Parker’s 3-pointer, that extended the Spurs’ lead to 89-78. Paul, so dominant in the final period during the regular season, was limited to four points.

Reggie Evans, a defensive spark for the Clippers off the bench, missed 6 of 8 free throws in the final 3:42.

The Spurs were 9 of 22 from 3-point range, with Leonard hitting three.

Los Angeles came in 2-1 at home in the playoffs and 24-9 during the regular season. With their red-clad sellout crowd on its feet, the Clippers were still shooting 63 percent midway through the second quarter, when Griffin’s one-handed dunk kept them ahead by 20 points.

The Spurs closed the half on a 15-5 spurt, with Parker and Ginobili scoring five each, to trail 53-43 at the break. Griffin missed just three of his 13 shots in the first half, when the Clippers controlled the boards and the paint.

The Clippers opened the game with a rush, outscoring the Spurs 33-11 while shooting 64 percent. Los Angeles ended the first quarter on a 20-2 run, including 14 in a row. Griffin scored 12 points in the spurt, hitting eight straight while the Spurs committed six turnovers and made just five of 20 field goals.

With a breathtaking closing rush, the smooth-striding colt won the Preakness Stakes by a neck at Pimlico Race Course on a sunny Saturday, a nail-biter of a finish that topped his win two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby.

The race unfolded the same way as the Derby, with the speedy Bodemeister moving to the lead under Mike Smith, with I’ll Have Another hanging back in fourth in the 11-horse field. The early fractions were slower than the Derby, but when it came time for Bodemeister to hang on, I’ll Have Another found another gear under young jockey Mario Gutierrez and ran down trainer Bob Baffert’s horse in the shadow of the wire.

“We’re thinking Triple Crown, baby,” an elated trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He’s a special horse. We’ll see how he comes out of it, and if he comes out of it in good shape, we’re heading to New York, baby.”

It’s been 34 years since Affirmed swept the Derby, Preakness and Belmont and became the 11th and most recent Triple Crown champion. Since then, 11 horses have won the first two legs only to come up short in the Belmont. The most recent try came in 2008, when Big Brown was pulled up around the turn for home and did not finish. Before that, Smarty Jones was run down in the final 70 yards by Birdstone in the 2004 Belmont.

With the two victories thrusting the colorful and controversial O’Neill squarely into the limelight, scrutiny is sure to intensify about his violations for giving his horses improper drugs. He was fined $1,000 and suspended 15 days in one incident. He is contesting another.

“We know we play by the rules,” O’Neill said. “It’s all about the horse, and we’re just going to focus on the horse.”

If margins are an indication, perhaps I’ll Have Another has a Triple Crown in his future. Affirmed won the Derby by the identical 1 1/2 lengths over Alydar, and then beat his rival by the same neck margin in the Preakness.

“I didn’t feel confident we were going to get there until 10 yards from the wire,” owner J. Paul Reddam said.

I’ll Have Another, sent off as the second choice at 3-1 over 8-5 favorite Bodemeister, covered the 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.94. The winner returned $8.40, $3.80 and $2.80. Bodemeister returned $3.20 and $2.80, and Creative Cause paid $3.60 to show.

Creative Cause was third, 8¾ lengths behind hard-luck runner-up Bodemeister, followed by Zetterholm, Teeth of the Dog, Optimizer, Cozzetti, Tiger Walk, Daddy Nose Best, Went the Day Well and Pretension.

Baffert, a five-time Preakness winner, thought his colt — named for his 7-year-old son, Bode — could pull off the win.

“I felt really good about where he was,” Baffert said. “I really thought he was going to do it. The winner is a good horse. He should get the respect now that he deserves.”

The chestnut colt has never been favored in any of his seven races, but won five of them along with $2,693,600 after he was purchased by Reddam for $35,000 on the advice of O’Neill’s brother, Dennis.

“He showed he’s the real deal. He’s a real race horse. He gutted it out,” Reddam said. “The other horse was not stopping. He ran a bang-up race, to come and catch him, how can you criticize that? For those who have followed the horse and bet on him, that’s been pretty rewarding. I don’t know if that will be the case next time, though.

Gutierrez, who was riding at Hastings Park in Western Canada until showing up in California last winter, displayed the calm and cunning of a veteran.

“It’s not me, it’s him. It’s all about the horse,” the 25-year-old jockey from Mexico said. “He just keeps proving people wrong. I’m so happy for him because he’s such a great horse. He has a tremendous kick in the end.”

Heck, Wallace even has the perfect NASCAR nickname: “Bubba.”

But Wallace’s undeniable skills aren’t the only reason he’s getting noticed.

In a sport that’s been almost the exclusive domain of white male drivers, it’s impossible to overlook Wallace. He’s one of the most promising African-American drivers to come along in decades and arguably the best talent to come through NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, which was started eight years ago to give women and minorities a better chance of landing a NASCAR seat.

Wallace, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, will be the first black driver to run a Nationwide race since Marc Davis started in Nashville in 2011.

“It’s different. I get looked at a lot more and talked about a lot more, but it doesn’t bother me at all. It’s actually cool. I mean, some people see it as, this is given to me because of skin color,” Wallace said. “But others that have raced with me and have known me for a while have seen that I have the talent and skill, what it takes to run in this series.”

There’s little doubt that Wallace has earned his shot in the Nationwide Series by what he’s done on the track.

Wallace grew up in Concord. N.C., just outside of Charlotte, where he got the nickname “Bubba” from his sister. He started running go-karts when he was nine at the urging of his father, and in 2005 jumped to bandolero cars, winning 35 of the 48 races he ran. Wallace won 11 races in 38 starts in a Legends car circuit a year later and was in late models by 2007.

Wallace signed with JGR in 2009. Team president J.D. Gibbs said it was clear from the way Wallace progressed from series to series with ease that he was a talent.

“It’s not just all of a sudden. Everything he’s done, he’s done it well,” Gibbs said. “When you kind of do it as a younger kid, it usually kind of paves the way for a pretty good career.”

Wallace made it to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2010 and was named the Rookie of the Year, beating out fellow hotshot Cole Whitt by one point. He was the youngest and the first African-American driver to win a race in that series, notching a pair of victories. Wallace won three K&N races in 2011 and has a victory in three starts this spring.

Nationwide is the next natural step. Gibbs said that while Wallace would prefer to be looked at simply as a driver, he’s also well aware that his skin color and his promise have put him in a unique position.

“The one thing about NASCAR is, it doesn’t matter if you’re female, male, (your) background — you have to be really good. But to have someone that’s really good and is African-American in there, it will be real valuable for the sport,” Gibbs said. “I think NASCAR knows it.”

Wallace said he’s gotten a lot of support from the racing community. But he’s also had to deal with some prejudice.

Wallace said that some of his competitors in years past have resented him, assuming he only got his ride because he was black. Wallace said he’s also had racial slurs and taunts thrown his way from the grandstands.

Wallace said that type of criticism serves as motivation for him. He’s also reached out to the family of Wendell Scott, a NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee and the only African-American to win a race in NASCAR’s top series.

“My goal is to look back at what Wendell Scott has done ... hearing all the stuff that he went through is definitely a lot different than what I go through now,” Wallace said. “I’m just trying to carry his torch farther than he did and do it in the right way.”

For now, JGR plans to have Wallace run the No. 20 Toyota in four Nationwide races this season, including a return trip to Iowa in August and dates in Dover and Richmond. Though the possibility exists that Sunday’s race will be seen as just the first in a groundbreaking career for Wallace, it’s still all a bit much for the 18-year-old to take in.

“Right now, I’m just like, ‘OK, cool,’ you know? I don’t think it’s hit me yet. I don’t even know if it will. It takes a lot, and I mean a lot, to get me pumped up. But I mean, this is big,” Wallace said. “The mood I’m in right now is like ready to go. Just kind of ready to see what we’ve got.”

Maybe that’s how it goes between drivers looking to lock down jobs for next year?

Busch is once again in the starring role as NASCAR’s resident villain, this time for a series of incidents involving Newman and his team last week at Darlington Raceway. It’s led to a series of scathing remarks from Newman, who has accused Busch in various interviews of having a “chemical imbalance” and lying about why he ran into the back of Newman’s car after Saturday night’s race.

On Friday, Busch offered his version of events for the first time. He seemed agitated about the entire episode, and characterized it as the kind of “WWE-type action” that fans enjoy.

“This is good for our sport. This is WWE-type action,” Busch said, snapping at reporters gathered behind his team hauler at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “This is fun. This is entertainment, right guys?”

The drama comes as NASCAR heads into Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star race, which is traditionally billed as no-holds-barred event with nothing more at stake than the $1 million prize.

Busch goes into the event fresh off a $50,000 he received Tuesday for what NASCAR said was reckless driving on pit road at Darlington and a post-race incident with Newman’s crew members.

It all began when a flat tire caused Busch to wreck with six laps remaining in the race. Newman, who was running behind Busch at the time, also spun as traffic stacked up trying to avoid Busch.

Busch then headed to pit road, and in his desire to not go a lap down, apparently sped through Newman’s pit stall. Some of Newman’s crew members were over the wall at the time, and complained they couldn’t have been hurt.

Busch insisted Friday no one was in danger. After the race, Busch ran into the back of Newman’s parked car, but said he was taking his helmet off at the time and didn’t see Newman’s car.

He was greeted on pit road by several angry crew members, which led to yelling and slight shoving.

In addition to the fine against Busch, NASCAR also placed Newman crew chief Tony Gibson on probation through June 27 for failing to control his team, and crew member Andrew Rueger was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for failing to comply with a directive from a NASCAR official.

Busch’s motorhome driver, Craig Strickler, was fined $5,000 and placed on probation through the end of the year for interfering with a member of Fox’s broadcast team.

“I didn’t have a problem with Newman. I didn’t have a problem with his crew guys. Then things just really got out of control in a hurry,” Busch said. “I was taking my helmet off. Which Newman said he thought that was a lie. That’s the honest truth.”

Busch and Newman spent three seasons together at Penske Racing, and Busch pushed Newman to the victory in the 2008 Daytona 500. So Busch was initially surprised to hear Newman attack his character after Darlington.

“Newman and I were friends. We were great teammates, and he needs to check his trophy case on the Daytona 500 trophy that I helped him get years ago,” Busch said. “We’ve always been great friends. There was no need for his comments afterward.”

So then why would Newman say such things?

“I think we are both looking at the same scenario coming up here in the next few summer months,” Busch said.

He may be on to something.

Neither driver currently has a job lined up for next season. Newman is in the final year of his contract at Stewart-Haas Racing, and although team co-owner Tony Stewart said this week he’s interested in signing Newman to an extension, there’s no current deal.

Busch, meanwhile, is riding out the season with Phoenix Racing. He landed with the underfunded team after splitting with Penske in December following an angry tirade toward an ESPN reporter in last season’s finale.

Those past situations made Busch an easy target for Newman’s post-Darlington critique.

“It’s easy to see and it’s easy to say that Kurt blew a fuse again,” Newman told SI.com after the race. “I’m not sure why he did it and tried to run over our guys and NASCAR officials. And nobody is ... (Busch was) so frustrated that he doesn’t know how to deal with his anger.”

Busch is struggling to overcome that reputation, which took another hit during last November’s finale. His in-car camera caught him making an obscene gesture, and fan recorded him delivering a profanity-laced tirade toward an ESPN reporter in the garage.

NASCAR fined Busch $50,000 for his behavior, and his split with Penske was announced shortly after.

“I’ve been fined the most probably of any driver, and I’ve probably paid it out of my pocket more than any driver,” Busch said Friday. “Is my strike zone bigger than others? Yeah. It might be bigger than others, but I don’t have a problem with it.”

Which isn’t to say that Bayern Munich against Chelsea is a dull second-best. European club soccer’s most coveted trophy and, in some ways, its soul — not to mention UEFA boss Michel Platini’s ambitions for the future — will all be in play when the sober Bavarian and glitzy west London teams meet at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

A final with the Spanish giants might have produced a better show and a bigger global television audience. But Bayern vs. Chelsea could be more significant, philosophically.

Bayern touts itself as a model for the type of club Platini wants to see and is pushing for: Financially sound and adroitly managed, profitable for the past 19 years, living within its means, not beholden to a rich sugar daddy, and certain to field some homegrown stars on Saturday night.

Chelsea, on the other hand, is Roman Abramovich’s vanity project. Because he can, the Russian billionaire has poured in the region of 800 million pounds (1 billion euros; $1.2 billion) into the club he saved from possible bankruptcy in July 2003.

He has spent tens of millions of pounds on hiring and then firing managers who failed to meet his expectations, hundreds of millions more on players (often buying at inflated prices), and enabled Chelsea to post eye-watering financial losses. And, unlike Bayern, all of Chelsea’s starters on Saturday will likely be players bought in from other clubs.

So, in simplest terms, the final will be a contest of two business models — one, Bayern’s, which purists like Platini believe is both financially and morally right for soccer, against another which many feel is dangerous for the long-term health of the sport.

One shouldn’t be too simplistic. Abramovich isn’t Darth Vader and Bayern isn’t a ragtag bunch of rebels succeeding on determination alone.

Both clubs have spent fortunes to reach this pinnacle match. Bayern’s attacking trio of Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Mario Gomez and its goalkeeper Manuel Neuer didn’t come cheap.

But proponents of the Bayern model argue, somewhat smugly, that its wealth is generated sustainably, from huge commercial revenues, its regularly packed stadium, and on-field success, and that Chelsea wouldn’t be competing at the top in Europe if not for Abramovich’s financial doping.

“Bayern never spends more money than it has,” Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said Friday. “We don’t make debts.”

So a Bayern victory will feel like a cheer, too, for Platini’s Financial Fair Play rules which aim to steer European clubs away from the Abramovich model and wean them off huge losses to make them more financially stable and sustainable.

A loss could also leave Chelsea in a financial hole, by depriving it of Champions League soccer next season and the wealth brought by participation in that competition.

But, on a human level, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and their Chelsea teammates fully deserve to be in this final. What warriors. At 34 for Drogba and 33 for Lampard, they’re proving wrong those who said they were too old.

Chelsea’s semifinal defeat of Barcelona wasn’t pretty. By defending doggedly in numbers and scoring three goals against the run of play, Chelsea offended fans of Barcelona’s artful style and of its master, Messi. But Barcelona isn’t somehow entitled to places in finals simply because it plays the most visually pleasing soccer. Chelsea had the better luck but also put away its chances. Barcelona couldn’t make its superiority count.

Which gives thinking fans something else to ponder on Saturday night: Is it more important to play beautifully or to win? Ideally, of course, neutrals would like to see both. But not all teams can do that. History remembers teams that are engraved on trophies, not always who they beat to get there, how they did it, or that it cost their owner $1 billion to buy the win.

Abramovich has chopped and changed his way through seven managers in nine years. It would be deliciously ironic if the coach who gets him what he wants — Chelsea’s first Champions League trophy — is Roberto Di Matteo, the former assistant and now “interim” coach in charge only because Abramovich ditched the last guy, Andre Villas-Boas, in March.

The big regret Saturday is that six players who should play will be absent.

Bayern’s David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo, and Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires are suspended for one of the biggest matches of their careers.

So, too, is John Terry, Chelsea’s captain. Terry kneed Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez in the back in the semifinal and got sent off.

The other six, however, are banned only because they picked up their third yellow cards of the competition in the semifinals.

That they and Terry, whose offense was far graver, should essentially receive the same punishment — being kept from the final — seems cruel and disproportionate.

So the final will not be a Spanish ‘clasico’ but it will still have plenty for fans to get their heads around.

John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester@ap.org or follow him at http://twitter.com/johnleicester.

After nine straight seasons among Europe’s elite, Chelsea’s sixth-place finish in the Premier League means its only possible entry to next season’s Champions League is as title holder.

The price of defeat is therefore higher, because Chelsea can ill afford to lose Champions League income — more than €50 million ($63.4 million) this season — as UEFA’s financial fair play rules begin to bite and limit bailouts from wealthy owners.

Life will be easier for all at Chelsea next season if it becomes Europe’s champion club for the first time, against four-time winner Bayern playing at home in the Allianz Arena.

“We’re fortunate we have the possibility to do that,” Chelsea captain Frank Lampard said Friday. “The idea of qualification for next season is also there, but it’s not many times you get to the final, and we want to win the match (in order) to be Champions League winners.”

Bayern is under no such pressure, having assured its place in next season’s lucrative 32-team group phase after finishing runner-up to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

Germany’s traditional powerhouse endured its own Champions League exile four seasons ago, when it reached the semifinals of the second-tier UEFA Cup and took a €25 million ($31.7 million) hit in its annual accounts.

Chelsea last played in the UEFA Cup in 2002-03 with club greats like Gianfranco Zola and Marcel Desailly, yet was ousted in the first round by Viking of Norway.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the west London club months later and has known only Champions League football since.

Still, his club has failed to win football’s greatest prize, losing in the semifinals four times and the 2008 final in a heartbreaking penalty shootout against Manchester United in Moscow.

Abramovich fired interim coach Avram Grant after that loss, and victory Saturday might also not earn a permanent contract for Roberto di Matteo despite his inspiring work.

Di Matteo took over when Andre Villas-Boas was fired following a 3-1 defeat to Napoli in a last-16, first-leg match, and his team has looked destined for something special as it defeated Benfica and Barcelona to arrive in Munich.

The Italian coach landed with his team Friday amid headlines that Abramovich covets Pep Guardiola after his resignation at Barcelona, while Fabio Capello has also reportedly been in talks with Chelsea officials.

“It’s going to be difficult to win (Saturday) because Bayern is a tremendous team, and the rest will sort itself out,” Di Matteo said at a news conference.

Di Matteo has been linked with Lazio, the club he left in 1996 to begin a hugely successful playing career with Chelsea.

He could find some sympathy for his situation from the man in the other dugout Saturday.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes was fired by Real Madrid in 1998 days after leading the Spanish giant to its first European title in 32 years.

“I’d tell Abramovich to stick with him,” Heynckes said.

The 67-year-old German seeks to become the fourth coach to lead two different clubs to win the European Cup, which was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992. The others are: Ernst Happel of Austria (Feyenoord 1970; Hamburger SV 1983), Germany’s Ottmar Hitzfeld (Dortmund 1997; Bayern 2001), and Jose Mourinho of Portugal (FC Porto 2004; Inter Milan 2010).

McNamee’s explanations: “I misspoke; I’m sorry” and “It’s never been asked that way to me.”

Clemens’ longtime strength coach endured a fifth day Friday of questioning — he’s now spent some 24 hours in the swivel chair between jury and judge in the perjury trial of the 11-time All-Star pitcher.

Clemens is charged with lying to Congress in 2008 when he said he never used steroids or human growth hormone. McNamee is the only witness who will claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens using performance-enhancing drugs, and he never wavered from that central accusation during Hardin’s cross-examination.

McNamee will return to the stand Monday in a trial moving so slowly that U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton — for the first time in more than three decades on the bench — imposed time limits to speed things up: Only 90 minutes per side for witnesses after McNamee and closing arguments limited to two hours apiece.

“I just can’t let this case meander on forever,” the judge said.

The trial was supposed to last four to six weeks, but it’s just wrapping up its fifth week — and the government said Friday it still has nine witnesses to call, down from the 14 it estimated the previous day. If the trial isn’t done by June 8, Walton said he may have to call a recess for about a month because of various scheduling conflicts.

“And then we’ll have some real unhappy jurors,” Walton said.

Clemens’ attorney Rusty Hardin spent three-plus days of cross-examination portraying McNamee as a chronic liar who frequently changes his story. Toward the end, Hardin raised numerous unsavory personal details: McNamee tampered with a dead body when he was a New York City policeman, he lied to investigators looking into a Florida incident in 2001, he had two driving-under-the-influence arrests in 2002, he got caught up in an Internet fraud investigation after ordering diet pills over the Web in 2004.

“Would you agree that you had a severe drinking problem?” was among the many accusatory questions from Hardin. McNamee answered “No, sir” to that one.

The aim was to take McNamee down little by little, and his weariness showed as he hung his head more than once. During one of many pauses in testimony, a juror reached over and handed McNamee a tissue so the witness could wipe his nose. McNamee also indicated, reluctantly, that he was hypoglycemic, thus explaining why he needed frequent breaks to elevate his low blood sugar.

But Hardin also aimed for a classic “gotcha” moment while asking McNamee about the Miller Lite beer can. McNamee says he put the needle and other waste from a 2001 steroids injection of Clemens into the can, but he also says the can contained remnants from injections related to other players.

When Hardin talked McNamee through a timeline of events dealing with the can, it became apparent that McNamee had not accounted for the actual moment at which he put the items from the other players into the can.

Hardin angrily demanded to know how materials from other players “flew” or “showed up magically” in the beer can. When prosecutors objected, the lawyer said: “Well, how did they get in there?”

“I put them in the can that night” after injecting Clemens, McNamee said.

McNamee went on to say “I misspoke; I’m sorry” when explaining the apparent gap in the story. When Hardin asked whether McNamee ever told government investigators that he put the other players’ material in the beer can that night, McNamee said: “It’s never been asked that way before.”

“Isn’t this,” concluded Hardin, “a classic example of you making up this stuff on the fly?”

McNamee never wavered over his core testimony that he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs from 1998 to 2001, but the government has its work cut out for it as they try to rebuild their key witness in front of the jury. The judge said he would allow only 90 minutes of follow-up questioning from prosecutors, and they used up 20 minutes of that allotment before court adjourned for the weekend.

To bolster McNamee’s credibility, the government hopes to win an argument to include previously barred evidence that shows McNamee supplied drugs to other players who have since acknowledged that they were users. Hardin claimed that would open up a “bunch of minitrials” over each player associated with McNamee and could extend the trial for months.

The judge said he will rule on the matter Monday morning.

Late Friday afternoon, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and its chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, filed a motion to quash Clemens’ subpoenas for Issa’s testimony and committee documents. That committee held the hearing that Clemens testified before in 2008; Issa, a California Republican, was not chairman at the time.

The motion argues that the subpoenas are barred by the Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which protects elected officials from being questioned in a lawsuit about their legislative work.

“In particular, the subpoena to Chairman Issa should be quashed because high-ranking government officials may not be compelled to testify absent extraordinary circumstances, including that the official is uniquely able to offer that testimony, unlike here,” the House general counsel’s office said in its motion.

Beachy (5-1) threw a five-hit shutout, the first of his career, in the first complete game of his career.

He has won five straight decisions since losing his first start. Beachy had no walks and six strikeouts and lowered his ERA from 1.60 to 1.33.

The right-hander had two strikeouts in the ninth to cap Atlanta’s first shutout of the season.

Freddie Freeman homered and Chipper Jones, Michael Bourn, Martin Prado and Tyler Pastornicky each had two hits as the Braves outhit the Marlins 12-5 and split the two-game series.

The Braves improved to 18-5 with Jones in the starting lineup. They are 6-10 in games he did not start.

Ricky Nolasco (4-2) gave up four runs on seven hits in four innings as he was denied his bid for sole possession of the Marlins’ record for career wins. Nolasco, who is tied with Dontrelle Willis at 68 wins, has lasted less than five innings in two straight losses.

Bourn led off the first with a single and scored on Prado’s triple just beyond the reach of centerfielder Emilio Bonifacio.

The Braves added two runs with two outs in the third. Freeman launched a high homer, his seventh, to right field. Dan Uggla walked and scored on Brian McCann’s double past a diving Logan Morrison in left field. The ball skipped past Morrison and bounced to the wall, allowing Uggla to score easily.

Jason Heyward was caught stealing after he was hit by a pitch to open the fourth. The Braves still had a productive inning as Pastornicky singled, moved to second on Beachy’s sacrifice and scored on Bourn’s single up the middle for a 4-0 lead.

With dark clouds hovering and lightning flashing over Turner Field, the Marlins stranded runners on second and third in the fifth. After singles by Gaby Sanchez and pinch-hitter Austin Kearns, Jose Reyes lined out to right field to end the inning.

The Braves added three runs in the fifth off Chad Gaudin, who walked freeman and Uggla to start the inning. Jones, Heyward and Beachy had run-scoring singles.

The Marlins had another scoring opportunity when Giancarlo Stanton led off the seventh with a double. Stanton was left standing on second as Beachy struck out Brett Hayes to end the inning.

Notes: Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, watched the game from a seat near the Braves dugout. ... Beachy’s previous longest start was 7 1-3 innings in two games, most recently on April 20 at Arizona. ... Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he may use Jones and McCann as the designated hitters in the team’s first interleague series at Tampa Bay, beginning Friday night. Gonzalez said it will be a good way to give two of his top hitters a break while keeping their bats in the lineup. ... Morrison is the possible DH for the Marlins’ three-game series at Cleveland. Manager Ozzie Guillen said Kearns may be the DH if the Marlins face a left-hander. ... RHP Tommy Hanson will start for Atlanta against Tampa Bay’s James Shields on Friday night. Marlins RHP Anibal Sanchez will face Indians RHP Jeanmar Gomez.

Hamlin’s team was the two-time defending champions coming into the event and cruised into the finals, but lost to Johnson’s team by three-tenths of a second.

Johnson’s six-member team changed four tires, put in gas and pushed the car 40 yards in 22.3 seconds without a penalty to earn the $80,675 first-place prize and their choice of the top pit stall in Saturday night’s All-Star race.

Johnson’s team included gas man Brandon Harder; front tire changer Dave Collins and carrier R.J. Barnette; rear tire changer Calvin Teague and carrier Matt Tyrrell; and jack man T.J. Ford. Their crew chief was Chad Knaus.

The indoor pit crew competition kicked off a busy 11-day stretch in the Charlotte area that includes Saturday’s All-Star race, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony Wednesday and the Coca-Cola 600 on May 27.

The top 24 crews in the Sprint Cup standings competed in the standings with the top eight ranked teams earning a bye into the second round. The teams faced each other in a head-to-head, single-elimination tournament.

The event consisted of eight similarly marked NASCAR cars, four on opposite sides of the floor at Time Warner Cable Arena The six-man pit crew teams simultaneously changed tires on two cars, filled the gas tank with water — a lot less cleanup and odor than using real gas — on another and a jack man lifted both sides of the fourth car.

After completing their tasks the jack men hustled to the teams’ regular cars, lined up side-by-side at the corner of the arena floor and began pushing their own car 40 yards to the finish as teammates joined to help after completing their tasks.

Teams received time penalties for loose lug nuts, spilled water and other infractions.

For the pit crews, it was a night of fun and a rare chance to shine.

“They are like the special teams like when a field goal kicker comes on to kick a 38-yarder and we all sit on the couch and say ‘Why can’t you kick that 38-yard field goal?’” said veteran driver Jeff Burton. “When (a car) comes in leading the race and they go out in fifth place that’s when they get noticed. But when the car goes in third and comes out first, for whatever reason, when they race is over they don’t get recognized.”

Burton said that’s not particularly fair, sort of like blaming the game on a kicker’s missed chip shot field goal.

“You almost take it for granted they have great stops just like a guy should make that field goal every time,” Burton said.

Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 champion, said this is an event crew members look forward to as they go from behind the wall to center stage.

“That’s for sure,” Bayne said. “It’s like a field day for them, a chance to showcase their talents both individually and as a team. Although this is a little different than our pit stops in a real race the qualifying is exactly what we’d be doing.”

In the individual competition, Jeff Kerr (jack man); Tom Lampe (gas man); Tim Sheets (front tire changer); JD Holcomb (front tire carrier); Jake Seminara (rear tire changer) and Kenny Barnber (rear tire carrier) earned championships.

With the exception of Kerr, all set new individual records.

It was, however, Kerr’s third individual title.

“The biggest thing is to learn to deal with the pressure without making a mistake,” Kerr said. “A pit stop when you’re running first and a pit stop when you’re running 43rd are two completely different things. The people that can do it under pressure are the ones that you want on your team.”

The 5-1 vote followed months of passionate and emotional debate about tolerance and tradition.

The schools have five years to comply with the order or risk losing their state funding. Another seven high schools identified as the Warriors will be allowed to keep their nickname but will have to change mascots or graphics that depict Native Americans. An unknown number of elementary and middle schools also will be affected.

The ban doesn’t apply to colleges, but none in Oregon have Native American mascots after Southern Oregon University and Chemeketa Community College dropped them.

Since the 1970s, more than 600 high school and college teams across the country have done away with their Native American nicknames, including 20 in Oregon.

Critics say Indian mascots are racist, contending they reinforce stereotypes and promote bullying of Native students. Supporters say the mascots are a way to honor Native American history, evoking values of strength and bravery.

“It is racist. It is harmful. It is shaming. It is dehumanizing,” Se-ah-dom Edmo, vice president of the Oregon Indian Education Association, told the board.

In 2006, the Oregon Board of Education adopted a nonbinding recommendation that schools stop using Native mascots. A handful did, but some small communities have resisted the trend, saying the nicknames are a source of pride.

“It’s a chance for us to talk about family and tradition and loyalty,” said Jim Smith, principal of Banks High School — home of the Braves — who grew up on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana.

Banks, west of Portland, has a logo depicting an Indian head on the gymnasium floor and walls, and even on the hurdles used by the track team. When the Star Spangled Banner is played at the beginning of every game, the crowd joins in and tweaks the last stanza: “and the home of the Braves.”

Some critics of the ban said they were concerned about the costs of changing sports uniforms and equipment, school letterhead and street signs.

In some areas, schools have worked with nearby tribes to change their practices without changing their nickname. Roseburg High School, home of the Indians, switched a logo depicting a Native American to a simple feather. Molalla High School changed sports jerseys to say “Molalla” instead of “Indians” and stopped using a mascot dressed like a Native American to lead cheers.

Students and teachers from schools with Native American nicknames packed two public hearings on the topic. Some suggested they be allowed to keep their Indian nicknames if nearby tribes consent.

The board rejected that idea, with board member Artemio Paz describing it as a “search for acceptable levels of racism.”

Oregon Department of Education officials say Wisconsin is the only other state to enact restrictions on Native American mascots. The NCAA limits the use of imagery and names considered hostile and abusive, and a debate still rages over the University of North Dakota’s “Fighting Sioux” nickname and a logo with the profile of an American Indian warrior.

The Oregon Legislature voted in 2001 to eliminate the word “squaw” from geographic names because many Native Americans consider it offensive.