Media: Man pleads not guilty in Erin Andrews videos case

Media

Insurance executive pleads not guilty to interstate stalking of ESPN reporter Andrews: An Illinois insurance executive accused of secretly making nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews pleaded not guilty Monday to interstate stalking.

Michael Barrett, 48, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Barrett is suspected of finding three hotels where Andrews was staying last year. He rented an adjacent room, altered the peephole and shot videos of Andrews in Columbus, Ohio, Nashville, Tenn., and Milwaukee, authorities said.

Barrett is accused of uploading the videos to the Internet and trying to sell them to celebrity gossip site TMZ earlier this year. Several TV networks and newspapers have aired or published images of Andrews taken from the videos.

If convicted, Barrett could face up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. He was scheduled to return to court Jan. 12. Barrett remained free after posting a bond of $100,000 Friday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Turchin set the amount after Andrews' attorney, Marshall Grossman, called Barrett's alleged behavior calculated, cunning and secretive and said he posed a threat to the public.

Barrett's attorney, David Willingham, has said his client has no criminal record and has deep regret for the circumstances that prompted the charges.

Tennis

Swede has consecutive victories over Nadal: Rafael Nadal of Spain lost to Robin Soderling of Sweden for the second consecutive time, falling 6-4, 6-4 in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Soderling, who handed Nadal his first loss on clay at the French Open this year, powered his way through the Group B match by mixing a hard forehand with a solid backhand to keep Nadal running all over the hard court at O2 Arena.

"He is a big player in this surface, so [it] is difficult," Nadal said. "I didn't play really bad. But in the important moments, I didn't have this calm, this necessary calm, to win these matches against the best players of the world."

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic of Serbia rallied from a poor start to beat Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 and move a step closer to the semifinals of the season-ending tournament for the top eight players in the world who are healthy enough to compete.

The second-ranked Nadal can advance, but likely needs to win his two remaining group matches. He also has a chance to claim the year-end No. 1 ranking from Roger Federer of Switzerland, though Monday's loss didn't help.

Nadal missed out on defending his Wimbledon title because of knee injuries and took a second break after the U.S. Open to treat a bothersome stomach muscle.

USTA tax forms show ex-CEO made $9.15 million last year: U.S. Tennis Association tax forms show Arlen Kantarian, former chief executive officer of professional tennis, received $9.15 million in total compensation in 2008, his last year running the U.S. Open.

Kantarian was paid about $1.6 million in base compensation and about $2.3 million in bonus and incentive compensation last year.

"Arlen's departure triggered a one-time contractual obligation," USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said.

Cycling

Armstrong team is announced: Lance Armstrong's new RadioShack racing team is getting ready to ride.

Team manager Johan Bruyneel announced a 26-rider lineup for 2010, including Armstrong's former Astana teammates Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloeden and Yaroslav Popovych.

Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France champion, came out of retirement to race the 2009 Tour with Astana and finished third at age 37.

Da Ros gets 20-year ban: Gianni Da Ros, 23, received a 20-year ban from the Italian Olympic Committee because of doping. He was arrested in March while training with Italy's national team in Padua and immediately suspended by his Liquigas team.

Soccer

League's name sounds familiar: A second-division men's pro league is scheduled to begin play in the spring. It announced its name and it should be familiar to fans in the United States and Canada: the North American Soccer League.

The original NASL lasted from 1968 to 1984 and briefly made a splash with the likes of Pele. NASL franchises included the Seattle Sounders.

The upcoming NASL has nine teams: Carolina RailHawks, Atlanta Silverbacks, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

The league has applied to the U.S. Soccer Federation for sanctioning.

Wigan players offer refund: Wigan players, routed 9-1 by Tottenham in an English Premier League match Sunday, are offering fans a refund.

Wigan defender Mario Melchiot said players wanted to apologize to supporters who traveled to the match by paying the cost of their tickets. "As a group of professionals, we were embarrassed by the way we performed," he said.

NHL

Roloson makes 58 saves: Dwayne Roloson made 58 saves — the most by an NHL goaltender in 18 years — and Josh Bailey scored at 4:18 of overtime to give the New York Islanders a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Seattle Times news services