Scoreboard

Bonds wins MVP

Barry Bonds won the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in a landslide to cap a record-breaking season in which his 73 home runs broke baseball's most-celebrated season record. The San Francisco Giants outfielder received 30 of 32 first-place ballots in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

"Once you've won it a few times, the standards for you are very high," Bonds said. "It's very difficult to achieve it again." On Tuesday, Bonds, a free agent, can begin negotiating with any team for his services next year.

In the American League, Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki became only the second rookie to win an MVP award, narrowly beating out Oakland's Jason Giambi for the honor.

The New England Patriots' starting quarterback job is Tom Brady's to lose, even though Drew Bledsoe is healthy. And the team's $103-million man isn't happy about it. Still, coach Bill Belichick said Tuesday he "had to make this decision now," making Bledsoe the most expensive backup QB in NFL history.

Bledsoe clearly was angry while talking to reporters, but managed to say, "My reaction was simply to do the same thing I've done for the nine years since I was drafted, and that's to do what I can to help my team win. I look forward to the chance to compete for my job."

From the barren slopes around Park City, Utah, to the warmth of Aspen, Colo., the question is the same: Where's the snow?

Less than three months before the start of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, the warmest November in Colorado since 1979 has forced cancellation of the World Cup downhill - one of the most prestigious ski events in the United States.

A snowless Winter Games would be a disaster. But Nathan Rafferty, director of communications for Ski Utah, an industry trade group, says don't panic. "In three days we'll have three feet of snow," he said, "then nobody will worry about it."