FOOTBALL

McNABB TOLD TO HAVE SEASON-ENDING SURGERY

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was told yesterday by team doctors to have surgery to correct a sports hernia that would probably end his season. The five-time Pro Bowl quarterback will miss Philadelphia’s game against the Giants on Sunday with a groin injury, but hasn’t made a decision beyond that.

McNabb has played with a sports hernia most of the season. He re-injured his groin while trying to tackle Cowboys safety Roy Williams following an interception on Monday night. McNabb had planned to have surgery after the season.

GOLF

DUVAL BACK ON TOP IN JAPAN

David Duval went overseas for his final tournament of the year and wound up in truly foreign territory yesterday – atop the leader board by one shot over Tiger Woods at the Dunlop Phoenix in Miyazaki, Japan. Duval kept the ball in play and made eight birdies in his round of 6-under 64, putting him in the lead for the first time in three years.

Woods made one bogey in his round of 65. Jim Furyk shot a 67 and was three strokes back along with Japan’s Tomohiro Kondo and Shinichi Yokota.

BASEBALL

OWNERS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVE STEROID POLICY

It took six months of negotiating for baseball commissioner Bud Selig to get the tough steroid policy he wanted, mere minutes for baseball owners to approve it. Owners voted unanimously yesterday to ratify the new drug deal, which includes a 50-game suspension for a first positive test, 100 games for a second, and a lifetime ban for a third. The players’ association executive board still has to sign off on the deal, but that’s considered a formality.

The union’s executive board will decide when it meets December 5-9 in Henderson, Nev., whether all players should vote to ratify the agreement or if board approval is sufficient. The new policy would start before spring training and could run for several years. Selig said he hopes it can be tied to the next collective bargaining agreement, which won’t be negotiated until next year or 2007.

– Associated Press