by St. Petersburg Times

Charles Barkley is taking a leave of absence from broadcasting. The announcement by Turner Sports came Friday, a few hours after police said the ex-NBA star was legally drunk (blood-alcohol level of .149) while driving Dec. 31 in Scottsdale, Ariz. His return hasn't been determined. "He was apologetic for the events that transpired, and it was obvious he understood the significance of this situation," David Levy, president of Turner Sports, said in a statement released by the network. Barkley's attorney wasn't available for comment.

CHECK IT OUT

Rays spring tickets become available

Rays spring training tickets go on sale to the general public at 9 a.m. today at the box office at Charlotte Sports Park, Ticketmaster, the Rays' Tampa store (400 N Tampa St.), Tropicana Field box office, toll-free 1-888-326-7297 or raysbaseball.com and raysbeisbol.com.

Bucs face Packers in NFC title game

Bucs fans are in the NFC championship of Chunky Soup's "Click for Cans" competition and face the Packers. The winning city gets 12,000 cans of soup for its local food bank. To vote, go to chunky.com.

NUMBER OF THE DAY

106 Exemptions granted by Major League Baseball in 2008 allowing players with attention deficit disorder to take otherwise banned stimulants. "I've been in private practice for a lot of years. I can count on one hand the number of individuals that have ADD," Dr. Gary Wadler of the World Anti-Doping Agency said Friday. "To say that (7.86 percent) of players have ADD is crying out for an explanation." Said MLB executive Rob Manfred: "We are all male. We are far younger than the general population, and we have far better access to medical care than the general population."

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