OUTSPORTS: The Site for Gay Sports Fans and Athletes

Sometimes greatness is taken for granted. It becomes so routine we nod when it happens and move on. Such may be the case with Tiger Woods, who is so dominating golf that it's news when he doesn't win.

Tiger won again Sunday, routing the Bay Hill Invitational field in Florida. It was his third win in sixth tournaments this year and sixth of nine since late last year. Those numbers are unheard of in an era when every Seve, Colin and David are thrilled to be just in the money.

``Remember how he used to grade himself? He's about an A-minus
right now, every week,'' Davis Love III said of Tiger. ``And an A-plus some weeks.''

Let's appreciate Tiger for what he is-the most dominant athlete in any sport today.

The Indiana men's basketball coach has been such a bully and jerk for so long that he's become like white noise. And not winning a title since 1987 makes his way seem as outmoded as a 286 computer.

But Knight was back in rare annoying form, playing the martyr after a former player accused Knight of choking him. Hearing Knight defend himself, one would have thought Mother Teresa was being attacked, not a foul-mouth juvenile basketball coach whose public antics are legendary.

The one charge that Knight never denied was the one that had him showing the team soiled toilet paper because they were playing like ... you know what. Real class.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

OLYMPICS
A Queen has been dissed, and this time we mean the female kind.

Queen Elizabeth, technically the head of state in Australia, has not been invited to the Summer Olympic games in Sydney. Normally, the head of state opens the games. But the subject of royalty is touchy Down Under so the Queen will be mum on the subject.

Speaking of royalty, the queen's husband caused a bit of a stir. We know the following, from the London Independent, has nothing to do with sports, but it's so bizarre and funny we had to reprint it:

"A large vat of cheese may have to be destroyed because the Duke of Edinburgh refused to wear a protective hairnet and coat while inspecting a cheese-making laboratory at an agricultural school in Wagga Wagga, 300 miles south-west of Sydney.

"The laboratory manager, Barry Lillywhite, said afterwards that the vat
was probably contaminated. He also expressed concern about a sniffer dog in the sterile area."

BASEBALL

Marriage, such a sacred institution. We certainly can't let a committed male or female couple spoil such a wonderful thing, can we? Not when we have such fine straight examples as Al Martin. From the Associated Press:

''The San Diego Padres' low-key spring training turned bizarre when outfielder Al Martin was accused of being a bigamist and charged with exchanging punches with a woman who claims she became his wife in a Las Vegas wedding.''

On another baseball front, Adrian Hernandez denied he was in drag when he fled Cuba for America last year.

"I don't know where that rumor started. I'd make a very ugly woman,'' Hernandez said. You decide.

NHL
The next time you're in Dallas pose as a cop and arrest Dallas Stars goalie Eddie Belfour. He may make you rich.

Roaring drunk and beligerent, Belfour cursed, spit and kicked at cops who arrested him after he attacked a hotel employee. Belfour then calmed down and offered the cops $100,000, then $1 billion if they didn't arrest him.

The cops, being too honest, turned him down and took him in, but not before he threw up over an officer. Eddie Belfour ... he shoots, he scores!

MEN'S BASKETBALL
A good "seed" is supposed to mean you've got a good "shot" at winning the NCAA basketball tournament. But, this year, top seeds like Arizona, Temple, Stanford, St. John's, and Cincinnati have already fallen victim to upsets. What gives?

One of teams on the opposite sides of those upsets has been the Gonzaga Bulldogs, hailing from the state of Washington. Last year's "Cinderella" team, Gonzaga has returned a year, and 300 trips to the gym, later looking hotter, and buffer, than ever - but, the slipper still fits the cute feet of Matt Santangelo, Casey Calvary, and Matt Frahm just as well.

One of Stanford's players, freshman Casey Jacobsen, was lamenting the fact that, after being upset by North Carolina, he wouldn't get the chance to play with senior Mark Madsen ever again. We sympathize....

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
What's going on with these girls? At Wisconsin, the Badgers suspended seven players, offering no reason to the media, the week before they started their NIT campaign. We guess girls just wanna have fun.

In the NCAA, defending national champions, the Purdue Boilermakers, lost in the second round with their new coach, Kristy Curry. Last year, Carolyn Peck left the team to coach the WNBA expansion Orlando Miracle.

WNBA
Jennifer Azzi of the Detroit Shock has left the WNBA, insulted by the offer to play another year just abover her present salary of $44,000. We could see why: Shaquille O'Neal makes that every time he hits a free throw.

TENNIS

Two hot studs and two prime divas took center stage at the Masters-Indian Wells championship matches last weekend.

A hotter matchup couldn't have been dream on the men's side, as Spain's Alex Corretja pounded Sweden's Thomas Enqvist, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday.

On Saturday, it was Lindsay Davenport topping Martina Hingis, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. After the match, Davenport let the world in on the secret of her relationship with Hingis: "The only way to beat Martina is to overpower her; I'm able to do that." We'll take note of that.