Webber pulls plug on his career

Chris Webber burst on the basketball scene nearly two decades ago as a precocious freshman with his baggy shorts and black shoes as part of Michigan's Fab Five. His basketball career came to a much quieter finish yesterday when he made official what seemed inevitable as he struggled to recover from another knee injury in recent weeks. Webber, 35, announced his retirement after 15 NBA seasons, cutting short his comeback attempt with the Golden State Warriors. "It definitely didn't work out the way that I planned," Webber said. "Life is what happens while you're making plans. I'm happy I got a chance to come back here and be reunited with Coach [Don Nelson]." Webber played nine games with the Warriors before being sidelined by a bum left knee. The Warriors are in eighth place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of Denver for the final playoff spot. "I really didn't want to rehab and come back this season because I don't think that was possible," Webber said. "Plus, because the way the team is playing, the chemistry is already great with these guys, they're on a roll. I feel like they're going to win and have a great chance to go very far in the playoffs."

The Carolina Hurricanes signed first-round draft pick Brandon Sutter to a three-year contract and say he will report to their American Hockey League affiliate in Albany. Sutter has a contract that begins with the 2008-09 season. It will pay him $787,500 per season at the NHL level, or $65,000 if he is sent to the minor leagues. Sutter, 19, led his junior team, the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League, with 26 goals and 49 points this season. He's the son of New Jersey coach Brent Sutter and is the ninth member of his family drafted into the NHL.

Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu headed in first-half goals and substitute Eddie Lewis scored in the second half as the United States beat Poland, 3-0, in an exhibition game in Krakow. Landon Donovan, making his 99th international appearance, set up the first two goals . . . Host Barbados beat Dominica, 1-0, in 2010 World Cup qualifying and moved into a second-round matchup with the United States in June. The Bajan Braves won with Dwayne Stanford scoring in the 69th minute, giving Barbados a 2-1 edge in aggregate scoring for the two-game series . . . In Washington, four players scored first-half goals for El Salvador as it routed Anguilla, 4-0, in World Cup qualifying. El Salvador will meet Panama in the next round . . . David Beckham got a yellow card in his 100th international game for England and was taken off in the 62d minute of his team's 1-0 loss at France in Saint-Denis. He becomes the fifth English player to reach the century mark. "I was happy to start the game, but it was more about getting on the pitch, getting that 100th cap," said Beckham, who plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer.

Florida State quarterback Drew Weatherford will likely miss the rest of spring practice with a knee injury suffered last Saturday in a scrimmage. Weatherford said he has a slight tear in the lateral meniscus and is leaning toward having surgery that would put him out a month. "We're probably going to make the decision by the end of the week whether or not I'm going to be able to come back out, and it doesn't look like I'm going to be, so I'm probably going to have surgery as soon as possible," he said . . . With a daughter serving in the military, Randy Shannon understands the importance of supporting American troops. Shannon is among five college football coaches who'll head to Kuwait and other military bases in the Middle East in May to meet with US troops and participate in clinics. He'll be joined by Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, Georgia's Mark Richt, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville, and Yale's Jack Siedlecki.

A key witness in cyclist Tammy Thomas's doping trial testified an illicit steroid lab in Illinois made little money because the potent performance-enhancers could be bought and taken in such small quantities. "Here's the thing: The stuff was so strong, man," said Kelcey Dalton, who helped market the substances developed and manufactured by Patrick Arnold, her then-boyfriend, a chemist. Dalton, testifying on the third day of Thomas's trial in San Francisco, said Arnold told her that athletes would use "really minute doses" because doing so would minimize side effects, and "because they were so strong." Holding her thumb and forefinger 3 inches apart to represent a small vial, Dalton said such a container would fetch $10-$20. "Marion Jones split it with C.J. Hunter and it lasted six months," Dalton said

In Park City, Utah, women's coach Patrick Riml has resigned from the US Ski Team after five seasons that included Lindsey Vonn's World Cup title and Julia Mancuso's Olympic gold medal. Riml, a native of Austria who took over the women's program in 2003, said he plans to spend time with his family. "With the whole support crew we brought the women's team to the top level," Riml said. "I'm comfortable leaving with the girls on top." . . . Art Aragon, boxing's original "Golden Boy," who never won a world title, died at age 80. He suffered a stroke March 15 and died Tuesday in Los Angeles.