Paul J. Weber

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Softly telling five girls to "set aside all your inhibitions," convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was heard Monday giving his child brides instructions on how to please him sexually during a graphic 10-minute tape played for a Texas jury.

An FBI agent testified that the 2004 audiotape, in which Jeffs is heard breathing heavily, preceded Jeffs having sex at the same time with all the girls, who were 15 and younger. Several jurors squirmed or wiped away tears during the sometimes-scratchy recording.

Jeffs faces life in prison after being convicted by the same jury last week of sexually assaulting two of his "brides," who were 12 and 15. The sentencing phase of his trial is expected to finish early this week.

Prosecutors showed a page from one of Jeffs’ journals.

SAN ANTONIO -- Richard Jefferson scored 20 points and the San Antonio Spurs began resting up with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference secured, beating the Utah Jazz 111-102 on Saturday night.

The Spurs (61-19) have two games left and are 11âÑ2 games ahead of Chicago for the NBA's best record. Protecting that lead will likely fall to the bench as San Antonio focuses on keeping fresh for the playoffs.

DeJuan Blair had 12 points starting in place of Antonio McDyess, who got the night off. Coach Gregg Popovich said he won't be overplaying anybody through the next week.

SAN ANTONIO -- NCAA president Mark Emmert on Thursday called for new rules so parents no longer "sell the athletic services" of their children in the wake of backlash following the investigation into Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.

Emmert didn't mention the Heisman Trophy winner during his first state of the association speech at the NCAA's annual convention. But he said the NCAA could vote on new enforcements early as April.

"It's wrong for parents to sell the athletic services of their student athletes to a university, and we need to make sure that we have rules to stop that problem," Emmert said. "And today we don't. We have to fix that. Student athletes trading on their standing as star student athletes for money or benefits is not acceptable, and we need to address it and make sure it doesn't happen."

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Hurricane Alex churned westward through the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday, far from oil spill cleanup efforts but on a collision course with Mexico and the southern Texas coastline.

FORT HANCOCK, Texas -- When black SUVs trail school buses around here, no one dismisses it as routine traffic. And when three tough-looking Mexican men pace around the high school gym during a basketball game, no one assumes they're just fans.