The NL Central saw its second star in as many days fall on Wednesday as Cubs' outfielder Alfonso Soriano suffered a minimally displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal on his left hand when he was hit by a pitch by Atlanta's Jeff Bennett. He'll now be sidelined for six weeks, according to the team's website.

"There's nothing I can about it because it's part of the game. I cannot control that situation," Soriano said Thursday. "As soon as the ball hit me in the hand I couldn't move my finger. So I thought it was very bad. We'll see how it is in two weeks. ... They say it's a little broke. They said six weeks, but we'll see what happens. I'm going to do treatment every day, hopefully I'm back soon." 

Soriano, who was the leading vote-getter among National League outfielders in the All-Star balloting, was batting .283. He hit his team-leading 15th home run on Saturday, and was hitting .323 with 13 homers and 35 RBIs in his past 38 games since returning from the disabled list.

It will be interesting to see who manager Lou Piniella settles on as the leadoff hitter with Soriano out of action.

The Cubs currently sport the best record in MLB, an unprecedented 19 games above .500, and atop the NL Central as they hold a three-game lead over the surprising St. Louis Cardinals. While Soriano's loss will surely hurt the team, they've been playing well enough to overcome it. 

The first day of Bengals' mini-camp was overshadowed by the actions of Chad Johnson. Many were questioning whether or not he would show up or not, but those that are smart enough to realize that he's broke and needs the paycheck knew better.

Johnson was pretty low-key from the time he arrived, shunning reporters. After being cleared physically by team doctors, Johnson quickly claimed a back problem and did not participate in the rest of practice.  In a conflicting claim Johnson's agent, Drew Rosenhaus said Johnson has a sore back, but that's not why he's sitting out. The agent said Johnson has an ankle problem that could require surgery.

"Chad is not refusing to practice," Rosenhaus said, in an interview. "He's not practicing because he has an (ankle) injury that easily could lead to an operation." 

The club later released a statement saying Johnson refused to practice after complaining about a back ailment to the training staff — but the team said Johnson had a physical exam earlier in the morning, that he didn’t say anything about a back problem during the exam, and that a team doctor cleared him to practice.

And now the Bengals’ afternoon practice session is underway, and according to Geoff Hobson at Bengals.com, “Johnson took the field on Thursday afternoon and went through drills and receiving lines like it was the old days.” 

“I’m not going to beat around the bush,” head coach Marvin Lewis said in a news conference. “Obviously, all of you guys are here to see if Chad was going to show, and obviously he did. But at some point earlier in the morning, he expressed to the medical staff that he had some sort of ailment, and we’re investigating what kind of ailment it is. They’re going to do some further studying. We’ll see how it goes for the rest of the weekend.

“Anyway, he’s here and went through the meetings and those things, but obviously didn’t take any reps, which is kind of good, because it allows us to continue to move forward. The young guys need the work; it’s good work for them and good opportunity to keep going. I think that’s where we are.”

Check out what some of the nation's top papers are saying about Tim Donaghy's accusations of fixed NBA games:

Stern can't handle the truth
Jay Mariotti, Sun Times
The easiest event to fix in sports, I dare say, is a pro basketball game. There's too much room for hocus-pocus and interpretation, too much gray area for what is and isn't a foul, too much money on high. This always has led to suspicions, first hinted at in Chicago by a fearless Phil Jackson in the '90s, that the NBA conceivably could be in cahoots with its referees to manipulate and extend a playoff series via officiating.

Claims may be bogus, perception is real
William Rhoden, NY Times
N.B.A.Commissioner David Stern can huff and puff all he wants. But the league faces a potential crisis of credibility and needs to do less huffing and more introspection.
......Anyone is capable of lying, and even a convicted felon may be capable of telling some truths. Donaghy will soon have time to think about his actions.The big, bad, sprawling N.B.A. had better start doing some soul-searching of its own.

For NBA, doors blown practically off hinges
The Washington Times
Stern can denigrate Donaghy to his heart's content, stomp on him with all the NBA's multibillion-dollar might, but that still doesn't mean the Rogue Ref, as the commissioner likes to call him, is blowing smoke.

Fix not in
Richard Justice, Houston Chronicle
The problem is that issues of integrity can eat away at a sport's foundation. If fans begin to believe the games aren't called honestly, their cynicism can turn to apathy. Apathy is a killer.

Van Gundy disagrees with ref
Houston Chronicle
"I don't think for an instant games were manipulated to extend the series or for financial reasons," Van Gundy said. "I told the truth then, so to me this has no impact.

Drew Rosenhaus continues to hurt the NFL with his ridiculous contract negotiations for star players and quite frankly I'm tired of the guy.

He helped mess up the Eagles through Terrell Owens and the entire fiasco.

He has created the monster that we all know as Chad Johnson and continues to plague the Bengals.

Recently he emptied Al Davis' pockets by over paying Javon Walker.

Now Plaxico Burress is holding out because his 6-year, $25 million deal isn't enough now that Rosenhaus is his agent.

Some may call him a good agent for getting such deals for his clients.

Personally I think he is a cancer on the NFL.