Roundup

NATIONALS: : Washington purchased the contract of left-hander Ron Villone, 39, from Triple-A Syracuse and designated lefty reliever Mike Hinckley, who has a 4.66 ERA, for assignment.

Report: Favre tells Vikes he's still retired

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Three-time NFL Most Valuable Player Brett Favre called Brad Childress on Wednesday or early Thursday and told the Minnesota Vikings' coach he wants to stay retired, Yahoo Sports reported. Favre's longtime agent, Bus Cook, reiterated for the second straight day that the quarterback hadn't changed his plan to stay out of the game, though the agent added that Favre could change his mind in the future.

NHL: : Andrew Ladd tipped in teammate Dave Bolland's long shot from less than three minutes into overtime to give the host Chicago Blackhawks a 2-1 comeback victory over the Vancouver Canucks, tying the Western Conference semifinals at 2.

TELEVISION: : MASN will host a live online video chat with Cal Ripken Jr. at 6 tonight on MASNsports.com. The video chat will begin the network's exclusive broadcast of A Shortstop in China, an hourlong documentary about Ripken's first diplomatic trip as an American public diplomacy envoy for the State Department. The documentary begins around 10:30 p.m., immediately after Orioles Xtra and will re-air throughout the week. ... Matt Millen, architect of the NFL's first 0-16 team, is joining ESPN, where he will be a college football analyst and work on NFL studio shows.

NASCAR: : Virginia police say former driver Kevin Grubb died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at a Richmond-area motel. Grubb, 31, was suspended from NASCAR indefinitely in 2006 because he refused to submit to a random drug test after a Busch Series race.