Florida Sentinel Bulletin

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police say former NFL running back Larry Johnson is in jail after he was arrested in a felony domestic violence case involving an ex-girlfriend at a Las Vegas Strip resort.

Police officer Jose Hernandez says the 32-year-old Johnson was arrested early Friday at the Bellagio. It wasn’t clear if the 32-year-old woman received medical treatment.

New Lakers center Dwight Howard responded to Lakers icon Shaquille O’Neal on Thursday, one week after O’Neal put him behind former Lakers center Andrew Bynum and Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez in his center rankings.

“I don’t care what Shaq says,” Howard told reporters after practice Wednesday. “Shaq played the game and he is done. It’s time to move on. He hated the fact when he played that older guys were talking about him and how he played. Now he’s doing the exact same thing. Just let it go. There’s no sense for him to be talking trash to me. He did his thing in the league. Sit back and relax. Your time is up.”

Minnesota Vikings rookie safety Harrison Smith was ejected in the second quarter in the team’s game against the Titans Sunday for making contact with an official.

After Antoine Winfield picked off Tennessee QB Matt Hasselbeck, Smith was engaged in a tiff with receiver Nate Washington. An official stepped in between the two and forcefully pushed Smith several yards away from Washington. Smith then put his hand on the officials’ shoulder and tried to shove him out of the way to continue jawing with Washington.

Smith was flagged 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and thrown out of the game, leaving Minnesota thin in the secondary.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL  — Joe Maddon said he planned to sleep well, regardless of whether the Tampa Bay Rays got the help they need to keep their playoff hopes alive.

“I’ll find out tomorrow morning,” said Maddon, who then was asked if he expected to sleep well. “Absolutely. Like a baby.”

Bad news awaited the manager when he woke up Tuesday — his team was eliminated from postseason contention.

MIAMI — Dwyane Wade will not be wearing Jordan Brand sneakers and apparel.

The Miami Heat guard said Tuesday that he has parted ways with the brand. His contract expired at the end of September and the sides made what Wade called a mutual decision to not extend the agreement.

Wade said his time with Converse and Jordan has been an “unbelievable nine years.”

Wade made the switch from Converse to Jordan Brand in 2009. Both are owned by Nike.

Wade, who counts Michael Jordan as his idol to this day, said Tuesday that he still feels “honored to have represented my favorite player of all time and his brand.”

He has not unveiled plans for what shoe he will wear with the reigning NBA champion Heat this season.

NEW YORK — First, Darrelle Revis. Now, Santonio Holmes.

Holmes has a Lisfranc injury in his left foot, likely leaving the New York Jets‘ struggling offense without its top playmaker for the rest of the season.

Holmes went down on the first play of the fourth quarter of the Jets’ 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday after catching a short pass.

Complete with its water slide, theater and two-story wine cellar, the Windermere home of Super Bowl champion Warren Sapp will be auctioned off Nov. 1 as part of his bankruptcy case.

Designed by architect Terry Irwin and built in 2005 by Akers Custom Homes for $7 million, the 10,000-square-foot house in the Lake Butler Sound gated subdivision includes a dock, lazy river and, inside the Tuscan-style dwelling, four bedrooms.

Fisher Auction Co. of Pompano Beach will handle the auction, which is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. at the Orlando Airport Marriott.

The former star for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said that he filed for bankruptcy to avoid jail time.

Sapp had plans during the home-buying frenzy to build a low-income housing project in Fort Pierce, but the market soured after he had invested in the deal. Because of the debt, his NFL earnings were garnished for 11 months and his bills went unpaid.

So far in the 2012 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have both won and lost a close, low-scoring game—both finished with the score of 16-10—and have been the victim and aggressor in a second-half comeback attempt.

The latest comeback attempt was Sunday at Raymond James Stadium where Tampa Bay erased a 21-6 halftime lead by scoring 16 unanswered points, only to fall to a last-second field goal.

In Week 2 Tampa Bay led the New York Giants 24-13 before New York scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to win by a touchdown.

The Bucs’ most recent loss, Sunday’s 24-22 loss where Billy Cundiff nailed a 41-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to seal Tampa Bay’s fate, answered some questions and still leaves a few to be determined.

Freeman didn’t torch the Redskins defense, but in putting up 299 yards on 61.5 percent passing, the young passer showed his mettle.

Forced into passing action because of their 15-point deficit, the Buccaneers gave Freeman the green light and scaled back the running plays for Doug Martin and LeGarrette Blount.

Williams led the team with 115 yards receiving on four catches. Jackson caught six balls for 100 yards. It was the first time in Freeman’s four-year career he had two receivers reach the 100-yard receiving mark.

If the Buccaneers needed proof that Freeman could handle throwing a lot in a game, Sunday’s performance should lay most of those questions to bed. Still unanswered is how are the Bucs going to improve enough against the pass.

Tampa Bay ranked 30th entering Sunday’s game in pass defense and allowed rookie Robert Griffin, III to throw for 329 yards. That’s the third quarterback in four games to go over 300 yards, and Tony Romo was close at 283 yards passing in Week 3.

The Buccaneers sit at 1-3, tied for second place in the NFC South, and still desperately need to find a way to slow down opposing quarterbacks. Greg Schiano and his staff must address that issue.

CHICAGO — Manager Joe Maddon and the Tampa Rays have been down this road before. Almost out of the race for a playoff spot, yet fighting to the end.

That approach worked a year ago when the Rays staged a stunning final-game rally to beat the Yankees and win the AL wild card. Now, after downing the fading White Sox on Sunday with David Price (pictured) getting his 20th win, the Rays still have a chance to make the postseason.

“It’s always about maintaining a slight mathematical chance. We were in the same boat last year. It could become a little bit better with some cooperation, but either way we just have to go home and play our game,” Maddon said Sunday after his team’s 6-2 victory.

Tampa Bay has played its best ball at the right time, winning 10 of 11 to stay in the race for the second wild card.

Price (20-5) improved to 12-1 with a 2.26 ERA in his last 18 starts, allowing two runs and five hits in seven innings. He became the fourth 20-game winner of the season, joining Washington’s Gio Gonzalez (21-8), the New York Mets ‘ R.A. Dickey (20-6) and the Los Angeles Angels ‘ Jered Weaver (20-4).