Briefs | NBA: Shaq to play two more seasons, then retire

NBA

Shaq will play out contract, retire: Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O'Neal knows his life will change in exactly 735 days.

"My basketball career will be over in 735 days," O'Neal told a television station in Orlando, Fla. "And being an educated man, I've always had things to fall back on. So one of my options is law enforcement."

Magic's Garrity retires: Orlando Magic forward Pat Garrity, 32, is retiring after 10 seasons in the NBA, nine with Orlando.

Heat re-signs Quinn: The Miami Heat has re-signed guard Chris Quinn, who averaged 14.4 points and 5.9 assists in the final 17 games last season.

NHL

Staal agrees to $57M deal with Hurricanes: The Carolina Hurricanes signed Eric Staal to a seven-year contract extension. The deal worth $57.75 million will pay the center an average of $8.25 million starting in 2009-10 and will last through the 2015-16 season.

The 23-year-old two-time All-Star, MVP of last year's All-Star Game and a key component of the Carolina team that won the 2006 Stanley Cup, had been discussing the new deal with team officials all summer.

Montreal to retire Roy's number: Goalkeeper Patrick Roy will have his No. 33 retired by the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 22 before the team's game against the Boston Bruins.

Roy, who previously had his number retired by Colorado, is the NHL's only three-time winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Horse racing

Big Brown draws No. 4 post: Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, will face 10 rivals today in the $200,000 Monmouth Stakes on turf at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

The value of the race will increase to $500,000 if Big Brown starts.

Big Brown drew the No. 4 post position and will likely be the strong favorite in the 1-1/8-mile race for horses 3-years-old and up.

The switch to grass also could help Big Brown adjust to a synthetic surface — the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic will be run on Santa Anita's new synthetic surface Oct. 25.

Paralympics

More gold for swimmers: Natalie Du Toit of South Africa, one of two athletes who also competed in the Beijing Olympics, captured her third gold medal of the Paralympics, setting a world record for her disability class in the 200-meter individual medley.

Erin Popovich, the American team captain, won her fourth Paralympic gold, taking the 400-meter freestyle.

In track and field, Americans Jeremy Campbell and Jeff Skiba (from Sammamish) finished one-two in the men's pentathlon. Campbell set a world record with 4,662 points, while Skiba had a personal-best 4,274.

Two power lifters were banned for two years for failing doping tests, bringing to four the number of athletes caught using illegal substances.

Weightlifting

Bulgarians banned: Two members of Bulgaria's national team were banned for life and nine others suspended in a doping scandal that barred the team from the Beijing Games.

Auto racing

Trucks champ admits receiving steroids, HGH: Ron Hornaday Jr., the defending NASCAR Craftsman Trucks champion who is second in this year's standings, admitted using testosterone for more than a year before it was added to the sport's banned list.

Hornaday, 50, told ESPN he received shipments of testosterone and human growth hormone from December 2004 to January 2006.

Cycling

Bettini wins 12th stage of Spanish Vuelta: Paolo Bettini of Italy won the 12th stage of the Spanish Vuelta in Suances, while Egoi Martinez of Spain kept the overall lead.

Barry wins Missouri stage: Canadian Michael Barry pulled away from a group of four riders to win the fourth stage of the Tour of Missouri in Rolla, while Christian Vande Velde maintained his overall lead.

Soccer

Revolution routs Chivas USA: Steve Ralston set up two goals and scored in the 93rd minute to lead the host New England Revolution to a 4-0 Major League Soccer victory over Chivas USA.

The victory was just the second in the past seven matches (2-3-2) for the Revolution (12-7-5), who moved into second place in the Eastern Conference.

Chivas USA (8-10-6) had its three-match (2-0-1) unbeaten streak snapped while getting shut out for the eighth time this season.

Ex-Brazil striker Dodo gets two-year doping ban: Former Brazil striker Dodo, 34, was suspended for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport over a failed doping test.

People

It's a boy for Ali, Conway: Boxer Laila Ali and her husband, former Chicago Bears receiver Curtis Conway, are new parents of a baby boy whose name packs a familiar punch: Curtis Muhammad Conway Jr. was born Aug. 26.

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