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■ FOOTBALL

Steroids dealer found dead

David Jacobs, a convicted steroids dealer who told National Football League officials he sold performance-enhancing drugs to several players, was found dead of gunshot wounds at his Plano, Texas, home on Thursday, police said. Police found the bodies of Jacobs, 35, and 30-year-old Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell early Thursday morning. Police spokesman Rick McDonald did not say whether the case was being treated as a double homicide or murder-suicide, and authorities did not say whether a weapon was found at the scene. Jacobs met with NFL security officials two weeks ago and gave them names of players to whom he claimed to have sold performance enhancers.



■ RUGBY UNION

Variations make mark

Like them or loathe them, rugby’s Experimental Law Variations had a significant impact in their first season of application in Super 14. Statistics from the just-completed season showed there were more tries, less lineouts, fewer penalties kicked and the ball was in play longer. There were roughly the same number of scrums, more mauls and many more free kicks. The new rules appear to have reduced the contest for possession by allowing few breakdowns to run their course, but opened attacking possibilities from free kicks and scrums. Former International Rugby Board chairman Syd Millar, who presided over the decision to trial the new laws in the Super 14, summarized their intention. “Defenses are on top at the moment,” he said. “We need to free the game up a bit, make it easier to play, easier to referee, easier to understand and we have to produce more options for the players.”



■ ATHLETICS

Rawlinson may miss Beijing

Australia’s dual world champion Jana Rawlinson said yesterday she would take an enforced rest as she battles to overcome an injury ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Rawlinson’s training has been disrupted by a toe injury that required surgery in January, forcing her to cancel plans to contest the 400m hurdles at two events in Europe this month. The 25-year-old said she was withdrawing in the hope that rest would help the injury heal in time for the Olympics.



■ BASEBALL

Lesbian kiss stirs debate

Most of the time, a kiss is just a kiss in the stands at Seattle Mariners games. But then last week, a lesbian complained that an usher at Safeco Field in Seattle asked her to stop kissing her date because it was making another fan uncomfortable. The incident has exploded on local TV, on talk radio and in the blogosphere and has touched off a debate over public displays of affection in generally gay-friendly Seattle. As the Mariners played the Red Sox on May 26, Sirbrina Guerrero and her date were approached by an usher who told them their kissing was inappropriate, Guerrero said. On Thursday, after an internal investigation, the Mariners said in a news release that their seating staff had acted appropriately, and the couple was approached because of their behavior — which included “making out” and “groping” in the stands — and not their sexual orientation. In the release, the Mariners said the women were told they could continue to kiss, but that they had to “tone it down.” “The women refused to modify their behavior, began swearing at the seating hosts and complained that they were being singled out for their sexual orientation,” the club said. Guerrero denied she and her date were groping each other, saying that along with eating garlic fries, they were giving each other brief kisses.


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