FOOTBALL

CONGRESS SUMMONS TAGLIABUE

The same congressional committee that conducted hearings into steroids in baseball has asked NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue for information about how football regulates the performance-enhancing substances. The Government Reform Committee also said yesterday it will ask for similar data from the NBA, NHL, NCAA, U.S. Track and Field, and Major League Soccer. Tagliabue responded in a letter that he has directed his staff to be fully responsive to the committee’s request.

The committee asked the NFL to provide details on the testing procedures and how they were negotiated between the league and the union. It also requested summaries of all test results during the time the testing has taken place, although not the names of individual players.

CLARETT SHOWS IMPROVEMENT AT PRIVATE WORKOUT

A month after Maurice Clarett bombed at the NFL combine, he was clocked at around 4.67 seconds in two 40-yard dashes while working out for scouts from eight NFL teams yesterday. Clarett also completed more than an hour’s worth of drills on an indoor field. Clarett unsuccessfully challenged the NFL’s minimum-age requirement in court last year and hasn’t played since leading Ohio State to a national title in 2002 as a freshman. He was suspended the next season for lying to NCAA and university investigators.

BASKETBALL

BROWN RETURNS TO PISTONS BENCH

Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown returned to coach practice yesterday, and will be on the bench Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers after a 10-game absence. Brown’s future with the defending NBA champions became uncertain on Tuesday when he openly questioned whether he’d be able to return. Brown has been unable to coach since undergoing a procedure related to hip surgery, which caused him to miss six games in November. Brown acknowledged that his health problems are not gone, but he stressed that he intends to fully run the team, including practices and road trips.

SOCCER

DONOVAN RETURNS HOME TO PLAY FOR GALAXY

Three-time U.S. national player of the year Landon Donovan is returning to Southern California, where he was a soccer prodigy as a teenager. The 23-year-old Donovan joined the Los Angeles Galaxy yesterday. He spent much of the past 2 1/2 months with Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga, which signed him as a 17-year-old phenom. He had played little, however, and recently was benched.

TENNIS

SHARAPOVA BEATS VENUS IN NASDAQ SEMIFINALS

Maria Sharapova ran off five consecutive games to take the lead, then won a marathon final game and beat Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 yesterday in the semifinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open.

The No. 2-seeded Sharapova advanced to her first Key Biscayne final, where she’ll meet Kim Clijsters, a 6-1,6-0 winner last night over top-seeded Amalie Mauresmo. Williams, seeded eighth, ended a streak of six consecutive losses to her sister Serena in the quarterfinals, but was unable to pull off another upset. Sharapova committed just 12 unforced errors in 115 points.

Top-ranked Roger Federer and six-time champion Andre Agassi advanced to a semifinal showdown tonight. Federer, bidding for his first Key Biscayne title, beat no. 6 Tim Henman 6-4, 6-2. Agassi, seeded ninth, won the final eight games to defeat Taylor Dent 7-5, 6-0.

– Associated Press