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Tennis star and multi-Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis announced her engagement to tennis player Radek Stepanek.

A happy Hingis arrived in Queensland yesterday to launch her 2007 campaign as top seed of the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourt championships, which start at the Gold Coast on Sunday.

Stepanek, 28, is ranked No. 19 in the world and seeded fourth for Adelaide’s Next Generation International next week.

FOXSports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that the Baltimore Orioles and 3B/OF Aubrey Huff are close on a three-year contract agreement.

Huff, who recently turned 30, will be the Orioles’ second offensive addition of the off-season, joining free-agent outfielder Jay Payton. The Orioles plan to use Huff mostly in left field, but he also could get at-bats at first base and designated hitter.

***UPDATED***
He has signed with Baltimore.

Tiger Woods and wife Elin announced Saturday they will be expecting the birth of their first child sometime this summer.

“Obviously, we couldn’t be happier and our families are thrilled,” said Woods, who turned 31 Saturday. “I have always wanted to be a dad. I just wish my father could be around to share the experience.”�

Submitted without comment…

(12-29) 18:25 PST Palm Desert, Calif. (AP) –

Harpo T. Clown painted on a happy face, then stood sadly Friday in front of the church where Gerald Ford, the former president he called a friend, was being remembered by family and well-wishers.

The colorful character wore blue and white sequins, a neon green fuzzy wig and white floppy shoes and stood just beyond the police barricade near the church.

The clown, who is mute, nodded when asked if he was sad. He pulled out a scrapbook of photographs showing him standing alongside President Ford at various charitable events and golf tournaments in the area. He also attended the Grand Rapids, Mich., opening of Ford’s presidential museum in 1982.

Harpo, who lives in Palm Springs but won’t divulge his real name, nodded vigorously when asked if he was a Republican and when asked if he missed his friend, President Ford.

When Palm Desert police officers walked up to check him out, he maintained his silence and scribbled down notes which the officers read before walking away.

To get into the church to pay his respects, Harpo would have had to go to a public staging area five miles away for a bus escort. He chose to stay close to the barricades outside the church.

The Newark Star-Ledger is reporting that the New York Yankees on the verge of moving Randy Johnson back to Arizona.� The deal, which may be completed as soon as today, is believed to be centered around reliever Brandon Medders.� Medders would bring more stability to the Yankees bullpen.

It is believed that Arizona would like a negotiating window with Johnson for a possible contract extension to defer money on his already hefty salary.

A baseball official who spoke with one of the teams involved yesterday said a trade that would send Johnson from the Yankees back to the Arizona Diamondbacks was nearing its completion. While several complicated details remained to be worked out — mostly involving deferred money owed to Johnson by the Diamondbacks — the official said those issues could be worked out by today and a deal could be done soon.

The defensive-minded duo of Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer lead the Anaheim Ducks to their first place power ranking, courtesy of Inside Hockey. The top-five listing is an excerpt from their newsletter, sent out to subscribers via e-mail.

1. Anaheim Ducks (1): It�s hard to criticize the Ducks for much of anything, but they do need to find more ice time for Corey Perry. He�s averaging less than 11 minutes per game (18th on the team), yet he�s their fifth-leading goal scorer.

2. Buffalo Sabres (2): Depth on defense is once again going to be the Sabres� Achilles heel. Acquiring a big, mobile blueliner is a must, and either Eric Brewer or Derek Morris would fit quite nicely.

3. Nashville Predators (3): The Preds must give Tomas Vokoun (torn left thumb ligament) the time he needs to make a complete recovery. In the meanwhile, Chris Mason is absolutely fine.

4. San Jose Sharks (4): Mark Bell (eight points in 34 games) has been an enormous disappointment. The Sharks need to acquire a solid power winger to complement Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo; Curtis Brown, currently taking that spot, is better suited to third or fourth line duty.

5. Detroit Red Wings (6): The Wings� defense is stellar, and has given up only 816 shots (the next-closest team is Dallas, with 948). Goal-scoring has been a problem � last night’s seven-goal outburst against Columbus the exception � and they might need some fortification up front in the New Year.

A complete listing is after the jump….

More after the jump »