Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL

Autopsy: Chiefs LB drunk

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he shot his girlfriend nine times and then killed himself in front of his coach and general manager, an autopsy released Monday showed. The Jackson County Medical Examiner report on Belcher, 25, raised new questions about whether police should have done more before the Dec. 1 murder-suicide. Officers found Belcher sleeping in his idling car about five hours earlier, but let him go inside a nearby apartment to sleep it off. At the time of the autopsy, Belcher’s BAC was 0.17, more than twice the limit of 0.08 percent for Missouri drivers, and it was likely higher when he shot girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, 22, at the couple’s Kansas City home. A police report released previously said Belcher had gone out the night before with a woman he was dating on the side while Perkins attended a concert with her friends. Police who found Belcher sleeping in his Bentley outside the woman’s apartment told him to turn off the ignition and he complied, the report said. The report said Belcher “initially displayed possible signs of being under the influence (asleep and disoriented).” But the report added that after a few minutes of being awake his “demeanor and communication became more fluid and coherent.” The report added that officers didn’t smell alcohol on Belcher, and that there were no signs of him being “violent or emotionally unstable.”

Notre Dame running back Cierre Wood announced Monday he is entering the NFL Draft, deciding against returning for a final year of eligibility. The 6-0, 215-pound senior, who did not play as a freshman, was second on the team this past season with 742 yards rushing on 114 carries, including 2 yards on 4 carries in a 42-14 loss to Alabama in the BCS title game. He sat out the first two games of the season after being suspended by Coach Brian Kelly for violating team rules. He rushed for 2,447 yards on 450 carries in three seasons for the Irish.

BASEBALL Melvin gets 2-year extension

Oakland Athletics Manager Bob Melvin received a two-year contract extension Monday that takes him through the 2016 season. Melvin was voted AL Manager of the Year after leading Oakland to a surprising West Division title.

Oakland became the first team in major league history to win a division or pennant after trailing by five games with less than 10 to play, sweeping three games against Texas to win the division over the Rangers. Oakland lost to Detroit 3-2 in a best of-five AL division series. The A’s ended a five-year stretch without a winning record or playoff berth, finishing 94-68. Melvin received a three-year contract from Oakland late in the 2011 season. The A’s went 47-52 after he took over that year.

Reliever J.J. Putz has agreed to a $13.5 million, two-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, a deal that adds a $7 million salary for 2014. Arizona exercised Putz’s $6.5 million option Oct. 20 and he would have been eligible for free agency after the 2013 season. The 35-year-old right-hander had 32 saves in 37 chances and a 2.82 ERA last year, converting 19 consecutive save chances from late May through August. Putz has a 33-31 record with 183 saves in 514 big league games for Seattle (2003-2008), the New York Mets (2009), the Chicago White Sox (2010) and Arizona (2011-2012).

Toronto outfielder Colby Rasmus, Baltimore pitcher Tommy Hunter and Oakland catcher George Kottaras agreed to one year contracts, leaving 133 players eligible to file for salary arbitration Tuesday. Rasmus gets $4,675,000 under Monday’s agreement, Hunter $1.82 million and Kottaras $1 million.

BASKETBALL USC fires O’Neill

Kevin O’Neill took over a troubled Southern California basketball team, getting the Trojans back to the NCAA Tournament after NCAA issues kept them out in his first season while producing winning 1 records twice in 3/2 years. It wasn’t enough. He was fired Monday, with the Trojans 7-10 overall and 2-2 in the Pacific-12 after splitting their road trip last weekend. He had a 48-65 record after going 6-26 last year while setting a USC record for losses. Veteran assistant Bob Cantu will serve as interim coach while USC searches for a successor. O’Neill has a 219-245 record in the college ranks.

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is expected to miss 10-14 days with a left hamstring strain.The Spurs say Ginobili had a magnetic resonance imaging Monday after getting hurt in the second quarter of Sunday night’s game against Minnesota. The 35-year-old Ginobili already has dealt with back spasms, a left quadriceps bruise and a thigh bruise this season, his 11th in the NBA. In 36 games, he is averaging 12.9 points and 4.6 assists per game.

TENNIS Serena advances

Serena Williams tumbled to the court and needed a medical timeout in the first set for treatment on her right ankle. Once she got up, it was all over for Edina Gallovits-Hall. The No. 3-ranked Williams routed Gallovits-Hall 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne despite the scary sequence in the first part of the match. Defending champion Victoria Azarenka also advanced, overcoming a wobble in the second set to beat Monica Niculescu 6-1, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena. Andy Murray won his first match as a major champion, beating Robin Haase of the Netherlands in 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. Asked what it felt like to play after his triumph at the U.S. Open, where he became the first British man since 1936 to win a major title, the third-ranked Murray said: “I can try and focus on the second part of my career now.” The 25-year-old Murray seemed more at ease and relaxed than he has been in previous trips to the season’s first major. “It was a good start, nice to win in straight sets,” he said. “It was the hottest day we’ve had for a while so the court was playing much quicker.” Murray is in the same half of the draw as Roger Federer, who was opening against Benoit Paire of France on Rod Laver Arena immediately after Azarenka played Niculescu. In early women’s matches, 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm upset No. 12-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-2, 6-0 to become the oldest woman to win a singles match at the Australian Open. Former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki won the last six games to beat Sabine Lisicki of Germany 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Former U.S. Open and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her comeback from a knee injury that kept her out of the U.S. Open, ending her run of 40 consecutive majors. Also, No. 14 Maria Kirilenko had a 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Vania King, and China’s Peng Shuai beat Canada’s Rebecca Marino 6-3, 6-0.

CYCLING Source: Armstrong tells Oprah he doped

AUSTIN, Texas - Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey during an interview Monday that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the interview is to be broadcast Thursday on Winfrey’s network.

Armstrong was stripped of all seven Tour titles last year following a voluminous U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report that portrayed him as a ruthless competitor, willing to go to any lengths to win the prestigious race.

USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart labeled the doping regimen allegedly carried out by the U.S. Postal Service team that Armstrong once led, “The most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”

After a federal investigation of the cyclist was dropped without charges being brought last year, USADA stepped in. The agency deposed 11 former teammates and accused Armstrong of masterminding a complex and brazen drug program that included steroids, blood boosters and a range of other performance-enhancers.

A group of about 10 close friends and advisers to Armstrong left a downtown Austin hotel about three hours after they arrived Monday afternoon for the taping. Among them were Armstrong attorneys Tim Herman and Sean Breen, along with Bill Stapleton, Armstrong’s longtime agent, manager and business partner. All declined comment entering and exiting the session.

Soon afterward, Winfrey tweeted: “Just wrapped with (at)lancearmstrong More than 21/2 hours. He came READY!” She was scheduled to appear on CBS This Morning today to discuss the interview.