OUTSPORTS: The Site for Gay Sports Fans and Athletes

      The NBA learned a valuable way to stop the Laker center: Comp him.
       Forced by the Clippers to buy tickets for his friends, the 7-1 Shaq went on the warpath, scoring an NBA-season high 61 points as the Lakers won their 16th in a row.
      ``Don't ever make me pay for tickets,'' Shaq said later. In response, the other 28 teams each declared ``Shaq's Friends Get in Free'' promotions.

BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
MICHAEL PECA
        No one ever said hockey players were brain surgeons.
        Michael Peca, captain of the Buffalo Sabres, is the linchpin in his team's hopes for an NHL title. But boys will be boys and Peca couldn't resist getting in a fight with Washington's Steve Konowalchuk AFTER the buzzer to end the game.
        The result: Peca dislocated his shoulder and will miss 4-6 weeks. Bye-bye Sabres season.
       Peca said he felt his shoulder pop out just as he was preparing to throw a punch. He also blamed Konowalchuk for a cheap shot, and the Capitals accused Peca of his own low blow earlier.
        But if Peca had acted more like Gandhi and less like Rambo he'd still be playing.

NHL
   From Spiff, Outsports NHL editor:
   The question is whether or not Florida's Pavel Bure has broken the hearts of
thousands of men (and women too, I guess!) and gotten engaged to tennis star,
Anna Kournikova. Rumors began flying last week when it was reported that Bure
had finally taken the big step and proposed to Kournikova at a restaurant in Miami.
    Kournikova would not confirm or deny the rumors, but did say that she wouldn't allow the situation to distract from her playing. Bure certainly hasn't seemed to suffer from any distractions either, playing at his usual high level of performance.
   Kournikova's long-time friend Sergei Fedorov remained tight-lipped about the affair as well, saying only that "What's private, is private". So boys, until the ring is on her finger, and they're leaving the church together, I guess there is always hope!!

NBA
   Vince Carter continues to show fans that he may be the next Michael Jordan. Dubbed ''Air Canada,'' the Toronto Raptors star had an awesome week in leading his team to six wins in a row.
   Carter started by hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in beating Boston. He finished with 35 points as the Raptors crushed Portland at the Rose Garden, where the Blazers had been 24-4.

MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
    This is the one week when it's the little guys who get top billing in college basketball. So, everybody welcome the boys of Valparaiso, Central Connecticut, Iona, Southern Alabama, Butler, and Creighton to the big dance.
     There will be plenty of teams out there who would love to play with you, come next weekend. But, don't fill out your dance cards quite yet - not too many 16 seeds survive past Thursday....

WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Two virgins and an old maid are headed to the tourney.
While they've been there before, Xavier and Duke have never been able to capture their conference crowns, until this week. They'll both be headed to the tourney, begging for the chance to top the Lady Huskies of UConn, who won the Big East for the kajillienth time and are marching toward another National Championship.

GOLF
   Casey Martin won another round against the cretins that run the PGA. A judge upheld the right of Martin to use a golf cart because a painful leg condition.
    The PGA, golf's governing body, has argued that Martin should be forced to walk like the rest of the pros.
    `The central competition in shot-making would be unaffected by Martin's accommodation,'' said Judge William Canby in the 3-0 ruling.
     We agree. We watch Tiger Woods to see his magnificent tee shots and fairway shots, not his walking technique.

BASEBALL
   Imagine having a boss like George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees.
    You've won three of the last four World Series and are heavily favored to do so again. Your manager Joe Torre is loved by all and the players are generally likeable and marvelous team players.
    But that's not good enough for George. He's pissed that the Yankees are losing EXHIBITION games. In March. When it DOESN'T count. He walked out of a recent spring training game muttering, ``Nobody likes losing. I don't like losing.''
    George, we say you lost it long ago.

NFL
   Reports say that Dolphin QB legend (i.e. old and washed up) Dan Marino may join the Minnesota Vikings as their new starter. At least it would give us a reason to watch as Randy Moss squirted Marino each time he overthrew him.