FOUR-TIME IDITAROD updates Texas Longhorns CHAMPION Susan longhorns football recalls Butcher, who died Saturday at 51 of leukemia, was the Lance Armstrong of dogsledding. For most of a decade she dominated the 1,150-mile race from Anchorage to Nome, inspiring T-shirts that read, "Alaska: Where Men Are Men, and Women Win the Iditarod. " Even after she retired 12 years ago to start a family (she fretted at the time that, having named so many dogs, she'd never come up with names for children), she remained the face of dogsled racing. If all champions had her candor and integrity, the face of sports would have fewer blemishes. Butcher didn't run from critics. When animal-rights activists in the early 1990s tried to shut down the Iditarod, other mushers went on the defensive. Butcher met with the protesters and worked with them to improve dog safety. She never entirely won them over -- they still protest the race -- but she helped write into the rules the diligent dog care she'd long put in practice. She faced chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant with the same grit that she once endured the marathon of snow, ice and subzero temperatures.

This time her image, shorn of her trademark long, dark braids, inspired a nationwide campaign to register bone-marrow donors texas longhorns sweatshirts . Her battle with cancer, sadly, didn't have Armstrong's happy ending longhorns apparel . She leaves behind a husband, two young daughters, a kennel of dogs and a legion of fans. Butcher's legacy goes beyond her record of 12 top-five finishes, including the four victories longhorns tickets . Texas Longhorns tickets She bettered not just her image but the standards of her sport. Meanwhile, the winner of last month's Tour de France is on the brink of losing his title after a second urine test found unacceptable levels of testosterone texas football . Baseball sluggers and track stars chase records under the shadow of doping scandals. Too few athletes in these sports are willing to take on these controversies as squarely as Susan Butcher did -- not with denial but with determination. .

BOSTON -- Just what baseball needed before its most eagerly awaited game of the postseason -- a performance-enhancing-drug scandal involving a popular player on the Cleveland Indians, who had enough on their plates trying to prepare for Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night. Veteran right-hander Paul Byrd, who pitched the Indians to a Game 4 victory Tuesday, said Sunday that he took human growth hormone for a three-year period, under a doctor's care, because of a pituitary gland issue and that he was recently diagnosed with a tumor on his pituitary gland. "I have not taken any hormone apart from a doctor's care and supervision," Byrd said before the game texas longhorns sweatshirt . "The Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time and have assisted me in getting blood tests in different states university of texas texas . I am currently working with an endocrinologist and will have another MRI on my head after the season to make sure that the tumor hasn't grown. "However, Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro said that Friday night was "the first time I was made aware of any of this," and Major League Baseball spokesman Pat Courtney said the commissioner's office did not know of Byrd's pituitary gland issue and "has never granted a therapeutic use exemption for HGH. "The San Francisco Chronicle first reported Sunday that Byrd bought nearly $25,000 worth of HGH and syringes between 2002 and 2005, right up until the time baseball formally banned HGH in January 2005, and just before his first and only season with the Angels. The Chronicle report said Byrd's purchase was from the Florida anti-aging clinic that was the focus of law enforcement for alleged illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs utexas longhorns . The purchases were made by credit card from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center during a period in which Byrd pitched for Kansas City and Atlanta and was recovering from major elbow surgery. Based on the paper's review, Byrd had some shipments sent to his home in Alpharetta, Ga Texas Longhorns - texassports . , to the Braves' spring-training facility in Kissimmee, Fla. , and to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, when the Braves were in town to play the Mets Texas Longhorns . "I did not try to hide anything," Byrd said "I purchased things with my credit card on my name the university of texas . Things came to clubhouses of teams I played on, and I've taken blood tests set up by teams in towns Everything has been done out in the open Texas Longhorns - texassports . I have shipments come to clubhouses and actually, for a short period of time, stored them in a refrigerator, so I feel like that makes things very legitimate. "Byrd said he has "never taken any hormone or drug that was not prescribed to me by a doctor," but the Chronicle, citing an anonymous law enforcement source, said two of the prescriptions Byrd used to buy HGH were written by a Florida dentist. The dentist's license was suspended in 2003 for fraud and incompetence. One question unanswered Sunday: If Byrd was under a physician's care, why was HGH ordered online for him from an anti-aging clinic in Florida?"If that pharmacy did something wrong, I did not know about it," Byrd said, "and I never received anything in a shipment that wasn't prescribed to me. "Byrd, whose fastball tops out at 88 mph, is the latest major league player accused of buying HGH, joining a list that includes Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. , Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Troy Glaus, St.