Gold medalist Phelps pleads guilty to DUI

Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps avoided jail time on Friday when a judge placed him on probation for pleading guilty to a drunken driving charge for the second time in 10 years. The punishment came with a warning.

“You don’t need a lecture from the court,” Baltimore District Judge Nathan Braverman told Phelps. “If you haven’t gotten the message by now, or forget the message, the only option is jail.”

Probation allows the most decorated Olympian ever to focus on training for the 2016 Games in Rio De Janeiro, which would be his fifth. The 29-year-old came out of a year’s retirement with his sights set on Rio, and the plea is not expected to have any ill effect on those plans.

The swimmer was contrite in court, with his attorney detailing his pursuit of sobriety since his arrest, including 45 days of inpatient treatment in Arizona. A letter from his doctor there was glowing, saying he was forthright and cooperative.

Phelps’ attorney, Steve Allen, told the judge that Phelps had already made tremendous progress, and is continuing with therapy in Maryland and has enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous.

“Mr. Phelps is a wonderful person,” Allen said. “He’s a gifted athlete, but he’s also a person who gives back to the community. Mr. Phelps gets it: He gets what he did, he gets that he has a problem. He’s had nothing but remorse for his mistake.”

Documents show Phelps was stopped on Sept. 30 for speeding and crossing the double yellow line while driving in the Fort McHenry Tunnel. Police say Phelps registered a .14 percent on a blood-alcohol test. The legal limit is .08 percent in Maryland.

An officer said he pulled Phelps over for going 84 mph in a 45 mph zone.

MLB Dodgers end Yanks’ payroll streak, owe most tax

The Los Angeles Dodgers have ended the New York Yankees’ 15-year streak as Major League Baseball’s biggest spenders and owe more than $26.6 million in luxury tax.

The Dodgers finished with a record payroll of $257,283,410, according to final calculations made by Major League Baseball on Friday and obtained by The Associated Press. That is more than $20 million above the previous high, set by the Yankees last year.

For the first time since the current luxury tax began in 2003, the Yankees won’t be paying the most. The luxury tax was put in place as a slowdown on spending by high-revenue teams, and teams pay based on the amount they are over the $189 million threshold.

The Dodgers owe $26,621,125 based on a $277.7 million payroll for purposes of the tax, which calculates payroll based on the average annual value of contracts for players on the 40-man roster and includes benefits. That raises the team’s two-year total to $38 million.

Los Angeles pays the tax at a 30 percent rate because it has gone over the threshold for the second straight year. The Dodgers’ rate would increase to 40 percent if they go over in 2015, which is likely.

The Yankees cut their payroll and owe $18.3 million in tax, down from $28.1 million for 2013. New York originally hoped to get under the threshold but wound up more than $36 million over. The Yankees have gone over every year, totaling nearly $271 million. New York pays at a 50 percent rate, the highest called for in baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.

Checks to the commissioner’s office are due by Jan. 21. Tax money is used to fund player benefits and MLB’s Industry Growth Fund.

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL Hancock leads Penn State into final vs. BYU

Micha Hancock could finish a standout career in storybook fashion.

The Penn State senior setter will try to win her second consecutive national championship just a few miles from where she played high school volleyball in Edmond. The Nittany Lions (35-3) will face Brigham Young (30-4) on Saturday for the title.

Hancock said she has faced extra distractions this week being so close to home, but she composed herself for the semifinal. She had 55 set assists in a victory over No. 1 seed Stanford on Thursday night, and now, she’s completely locked in on winning the championship.

“It was a great atmosphere last night, and I loved seeing PSU fans and all my OKC people,” she said. “I see it as one more game. We’re trying to go back-to-back defending our title. The biggest thing is to stay focused.”

Penn State coach Russ Rose said even before the semifinal that he expected Hancock to be able to handle the extra attention.

“I think what Micha is, first and foremost, is a really competitive young person,” he said. “So I think she has the ability to separate the noise from the opportunity to really go out and compete and do the things she does well.”

Hancock leads the nation’s leader in ace serves, and it’s not close. Her jump serve, which creates unique velocity and spin, is a weapon unlike any in the college game.

“I didn’t really develop that sidespin until college,” she said. “That was something that I used more to manage the ball. I ended up getting a couple of aces with it, so I was like, ‘This might be a good tool to learn how to learn how to go line with.”’ So I just kind of built off of that.”