Annika Sorenstam shot the lowest round in LPGA Tour history on March 16, putting up a 13-under 59 in the second round of the Standard Register Ping in Phoenix. She is only the sixth person, joining five other men, to ever break 60 in a round in a professional tournament.
BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
TEXAS TECH
The idea that basketball coach Bobby Knight could get another job so quickly after being disgraced shows how important it is to win at some colleges. Texas Tech took the plunge and hired Knight, with the idea of filling its 14,000-seat arena a stated goal. Certainly sends the right message to students.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
ANOTHER NBA STAR USES THE F-WORD
Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers was forced to apologized last month after he called a fan in Indiana a fag. Allen, meet Jason.
When we first heard that Sacramento Kings guard Jason Williams was accused of making ethnic and gay slurs we reserved judgment. We wanted to know more. What has emerged is enough to convince us that Williams is an ignorant punk who has been correctly fined $15,000 by the NBA for hurling slurs at a Golden State Warriors' fan.
The player said the fan, Michael Ching, called him a ``skinhead'' and ``racist,'' charges Ching denies. According to the Sacramento Bee, the third-year point guard allegedly responded with the following: "Are you a fag?" "Are you gay?" "Do you remember the Vietnam War? I'll kill y'all just like that." Williams then pretended to be aiming a rifle and emitting a "rat-a-tat-tat" sound, according to witnesses. "Just like Pearl Harbor," he is said to have added.
This is the second time this season Williams has been fined for verbally lashing at fans. Kings' management said they won't tolerate any more outbursts by
Williams.
His use of homophobic epithets to Ching shows that calling someone a fag is still considered to be the ultimate putdown on the playing field. Enough is enough.
Unfortunately, Kings' fans have risen to Williams' defense, in letters, e-mails and on talk shows. It shows how warped fans can be; you can bet if Williams was a Laker these same Kings fans who be merciless in their venom. It was enough to disturb Bee columnist Ailene Voisin, who wrote:
``By an overwhelming margin, Williams, who has a history of berating fans even when unprovoked, is portrayed as the victim, a troubled young man being picked over by journalists, NBA officials, even members of Kings management.
``In other words, a community that prides itself on its diversity--the city is 16% percent Latino, 14% African American and 14% Asian American--is justifying the Feb. 28 outburst because Jason: (a) was surely baited, (b) is too young (25) to know better, or (c) was unfairly targeted by the media.
``Rubbish, all of it.
``If anything, the league barely slapped his palms. A $15,000 fine? The equivalent of a traffic ticket.''
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL The first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was littered with 13 "favored" teams losing- the mightiest of which was second-seeded Iowa State, who lost to #15 Hampton in the final seconds of the game. And it seemed that every game not involving a top-seeded team came down to the wire - one of the most exciting two days of basketball we can remember.
The second round was more of the same, with the big upset coming from #7 Penn State
surprising #2 North Carolina. But we were most saddened by the early exit of Boston College, whose Jonathan Beerbohm certainly caught our eyes.
Now we turn our attention to the remaining hotties of the tournament - J.D. Simpson and Shane Battier of Duke; Ryan Mendez of Stanford; Gharun Hester of Georgetown; Corey Bradford of Illinois; the Crispin Brothers and Stephan Bekale of Penn State; and Gonzaga's Dan
Dickau.
WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL The sport of women's basketball is still in its infancy and, just as in the earlier days of men's
college basketball, upsets were hard to find. So, when something like this happens in the women's NCAA tournament, you know the sport is developing nicely. In the East Region on Sunday, the 10-seeded Missouri Tigers upset the second seed, Georgia. Consider also that this game was played AT Georgia - not a neutral site. A huge win for the Tigers, and a huge statement
for women's basketball.
GOLF It's been a while since Tiger Woods was a top, but he's back there again. After falling behind to Phil Mickelson late in the final round at the Bay Hill Invitational, Woods rallied to win by one shot by birdying two of the last three holes. On the final hole, as his drive looked to be headed out of bounds, his ball hit a spectator - keeping the ball inbounds and keeping Tiger on pace for the win.
WOMEN'S TENNIS The Williams clan made a big mistake. On March 15, just minutes before the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, were scheduled to meet in the semifinals at Indian Wells, Venus withdrew from the tournament claiming tendonitis. When you pull out of a match just minutes before it's supposed to start, you end up with a stadium full of disappointed people. But, with this situation, the Williams now have fueled the speculation that their father, Richard, orchestrates the outcomes of the matches between the two girls. What ensued in the Finals was a shower of boos from
the crowd - before Serena won the Championship.