Phelps says 3-month suspension fair

Michael Phelps says it’s fair for USA Swimming to suspend him for three months, the latest fallout from a photo showing the Olympic great inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

Phelps was back training at his regular pool Friday, a day after his suspension.

“It’s not my decision. It’s theirs,” Phelps said of USA Swimming’s decision. “I have nothing to say, but if that’s they want to do, that’s their choice. It’s something that USA Swimming came up with. It’s fair. Obviously, for a mistake you should get punished.

“It was bad and stupid judgment, and something I’ll always live with,” Phelps said, minutes before diving into the pool at the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center in Baltimore, where he has trained since he was 7.

Golf

Villegas keeps lead

Camilo Villegas accomplished his goal in the Buick Invitational at San Diego, keeping it around par and keeping the lead while playing the tough South Course in all the elements golfers dread, from rain to wind to cold.

Villegas scrambled for pars, took advantage of a few par 5s and wound up with a 70 that put him at 11-under-par 133.

John Rollins was one shot behind.

Charley Hoffman, who grew up in San Diego and is coming off a playoff loss last week at the FBR Open, shot a 66 on the easier North Course and was at 7-under 137.

Winter sports

Vonn disqualified

Lindsey Vonn began her day with Austrian TV cameras trained on her as she left the team hotel in early light. She then headed to the course as the overwhelming favorite in the super-combi at the world championships in Val d’Isere, France.

All was going according to plan when Vonn led the downhill portion of the race. Hours later, she was disqualified from the slalom for splitting a gate.

Austria’s Kathrin Zettel was the surprise winner, posting the fifth-fastest downhill and third-fastest slalom.

Zettel had a combined time of 2 minutes, 20.13 seconds. Lara Gut, a 17-year-old Swiss, finished second, 0.56 seconds behind, and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was third, 0.88 back. The top U.S. finisher was Stacey Cook in 16th place.

•Albrecht improves: Injured skier Daniel Albrecht is recovering steadily but will not be brought out of his induced coma for at least two more days, the Swiss team said.

The 25-year-old has been kept unconscious by doctors in Innsbruck, Austria, for 15 days since he crashed heavily and suffered brain and lung injuries in downhill training at Kitzbuehel.

•American Hamlin wins luge: American Erin Hamlin stunned the sport of women’s luge, handing the Germans their first loss in 99 races, a streak dating to 1997.

Hamlin broke through with a dominant performance to win the world championships at Lake Placid, N.Y., leading both heats to finish with a combined time of 1 minute, 28.098 seconds.

The German women last lost on Nov. 29, 1997, in Koenigssee, Germany.

NHL

Stars rout Rangers

Mike Ribeiro and James Neal each scored twice to help the Dallas Stars rout the stumbling New York Rangers 10-2 at Dallas.

Brian Sutherby, Brad Richards, Jere Lehtinen, Fabian Brunnstrom, Steve Ott and Darryl Sydor also scored for the Stars, 9-3-2 in their last 14 games.

•Letang’s 2 goals lead Penguins past Columbus: At Pittsburgh, Kris Letang, normally not a scoring threat, had his second two-goal game in 10 days and the Pittsburgh Penguins won successive games for only the second time in 2 1/2 months, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1.

Basketball

Lakers-Celtics big draw

The NBA Finals rematch between Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers drew the highest rating on TNT since a 1996 game featuring Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson during the height of the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty.

The Lakers’ 110-109 overtime victory on Thursday night delivered a 2.7 U.S. rating and was watched by more than 4.3 million viewers. It was the first meeting between the rivals in Boston since the Celtics beat the Lakers in Game 6 of last year’s finals for their 17th NBA championship.

•Durant outplays Oden as Thunder beat Portland: Kevin Durant scored 31 points and outplayed Greg Oden in the first pro meeting between the top two picks of the 2007 NBA draft, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 102-93 at Oklahoma City.

•USF upsets No. 8 Marquette: At Tampa, Fla., Jesus Verdejo scored 21 points and Dominique Jones made a driving layup to put South Florida ahead with 15.9 seconds to go, and the Bulls (8-14, 3-7 Big East) held on for a 57-56 victory over No. 8 Marquette (20-3, 9-1).

Miscellany

Stubblefield sentenced

A federal judge sentenced former NFL player Dana Stubblefield to two years’ probation for lying to investigators about his steroid use.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston cited Stubblefield’s later cooperation with authorities in the BALCO steroids case as she declined to sentence him to three months’ home confinement, which is what federal probation officials had recommended.

•AEG responds to Beckham situation: David Beckham will return to the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 9 unless AC Milan makes an offer for the English midfielder that is substantially better than the one currently on the table. Showing a sudden ability to play hardball when needed, AEG, which owns the Galaxy, said that the Italian club, a seven-time European champion, had little time left to make up its mind.

•U.S. teen picked as No. 2 in Fed Cup vs. Argentina: Teenager Melanie Oudin has been chosen as the No. 2 player for the United States in the first round of its Fed Cup tennis competition against Argentina this weekend at Sunrise, Ariz.