Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and having an open alcohol container.  He accepted a deferred prosecution agreement resulting in six months’ probation and a $200 fine.  A police officer saw him on a sidewalk carrying a plastic cup containing an "amber-colored" liquid, according to a Gainesville police report.  Authorities found the beverage was alcoholic, putting him in violation of city law that prohibits drinking alcohol on the street.  After Noah was taken to the police station, police found a marijuana cigarette in his pocket.  As a first-time offender, he was eligible for the deferred prosecution agreement, the State Attorney’s Office said.  The charges will be dropped in six months if Noah meets the terms of his probation.  Noah also must pay $206 in traffic fines for two citations he received on the University of Florida campus. Noah was ticketed for driving with a suspended license without knowledge and not wearing a seat belt. · A letter purportedly written by a “person of interest” in the fatal shooting of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams says he fired shots into Williams’ limousine when he was killed on New Year’s Day 2007.  The Rocky Mountain News said it obtained the letter, which carries the signature of Willie D. Clark. Denver police have said Clark worked for an alleged gang leader who owned the SUV believed to have been in the shooting.  · The personal doctor to a pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who killed himself, his wife and their 7-year-old son last year, was charged in a new 175-count federal indictment with conspiracy and improperly dispensing drugs.  The new indictment against Dr. Phil Astin replaces a seven-count indictment last July and involves 17 additional patients. Authorities have said Astin prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids to Benoit every three to four weeks for a year leading up to the killings.  The indictment alleges that the prescription drugs dispensed by Astin resulted in death or serious bodily injury to one patient. That patient was not named. · Michael Jordan’s lawyers have asked a judge to permanently bar a western Pennsylvania woman from having contact with him.  Jordan’s lawyers asked a Meadville judge to order a permanent no-contact order against Lisa Miceli. The Meadville woman claims Jordan fathered her 4-year-old son. · Seattle SuperSonics forward Chris Wilcox was arrested on weapons charges.  Wilcox, 25, and another man were charged with two counts of carrying a concealed weapon after being arrested following a routine traffic stop.  Both men were taken into custody and booked into Bladen County Jail before being released on $500 bond. · A former grocery clerk must serve six months in federal prison for making bogus Internet postings warning of terrorist attacks against NFL stadiums.  Jake Brahm must also serve six months under house arrest following his prison term and repay $26,750 incurred in extra security costs at two of the stadiums.

LETS TALK SPORTS

Suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones paid $20,000 to a Las Vegas casino to settle a criminal bad check case.  The money covered three casino markers he received Sept. 3 at Caesars Palace and he also paid $1,675 in fees and penalties. · Kirk Wright, who recently was convicted in a fraud scheme involving professional football players, has committed suicide in his jail cell. He was 37.  A jury convicted Wright on 47 counts of mail fraud, security fraud and money laundering stemming from a hedge fund investment scheme that bilked millions of dollars from numerous clients, including his own mother. · Jose Canseco has been looking for someone to go toe-to-toe with him in a celebrity-boxing match. He had recently been offering $5,000 to get someone to accept the challenge, and for a while, everyone, as they usually do, completely ignored Jose Canseco.  But a brave hero has finally stepped up so that this stupid fight may finally take place. And that hero is former Philadelphia Eagles return man Vai Sikahema.  Canseco claims that he's earned black belts in Kung fu, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai.  He's also going to have a height and weight advantage over Sikahema. · “Inside the NFL” has found a new home on Showtime.  The studio show ended its 31-year run on HBO in February. It was announced that the show will be produced by CBS Sports and NFL Films. CBS owns Showtime.  The program will air on Wednesdays starting Sept. 10 on the cable channel. · Green Bay Packers running back Noah Herron thwarted a would-be burglar by hitting him with a bedpost during a break-in at his home.  The injured intruder remained hospitalized but is expected to recover.  Herron was not injured. · A starting lineman for the New England Patriots worked as an informant for federal drug agents after he was arrested in New York on a charge of carrying the powerful painkiller oxycodone without a prescription, an attorney said.  Nicholas Kaczur, 28, wore a wire to help agents build a case against his alleged supplier, Daniel Ekasala, according to Ekasala’s attorney.  A Drug Enforcement Administration agent said in an affidavit that a cooperating witness—whose name was not revealed in the document—wore a recording device during three drug buys last month. In each of the deals, the witness bought 100 OxyContin pills from Ekasala for $3,900 in cash, the agent wrote.  Kaczur denied to The Boston Globe that he participated in the investigation, telling the newspaper, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, bro.”  · 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 home according to police.  The bodies of Jacobs, 35, and his 30-year-old girlfriend Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell were found by Plano police.  Police spokesman Rick McDonald did not say whether the case was being treated as a double homicide or murder-suicide, and authorities did not immediately 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 steroids and human growth hormone. · People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wants Kentucky’s horse racing regulators and Louisville police to investigate the death of Eight Belles after the Kentucky Derby on May 3. · Pound-for-pound fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has officially retired, stating: "This decision was not an easy one for me to make as boxing is all I have done since I was a child.  "However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport."

SPORTS BIZ

Major League Baseball is making a $10 million donation to “Stand Up to Cancer,” a fundraising charity for cancer research, said commissioner Bud Selig.  “Some people might regard this as a responsibility. I regard it as a privilege,” he said of baseball’s becoming involved with the fundraising.  ABC, CBS and NBC each have allotted a prime-time hour on Sept. 5 to simulcast a fundraiser.  Organizers and the American Association for Cancer Research will decide how to distribute the money.

IF YOU MISSED IT

The Detroit Red Wings hoisted the Stanley Cup, for the fourth time in 11 seasons. 

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