Updated:
May 17, 2000
TOP
OF THE WEEK THE RACE FOR 30 WINS
No Major League Baseball pitcher has won 30 games since Denny McLain in 1968 (and he wound up in prison, but that's another story). This year both Pedro Martinez of Boston and Randy Johnson of Arizona have a legitimate shot. Martinez is 6-1 with an astounding 1.01 earned run average. Johnson is 7-1 with 110 strikeouts and five complete games. In Johnson's lone loss he gave up one earned run and his team offered no support in being shutout, 2-0. The dominance of both pitchers is amazing considering that just about any .250 hitter worth his salt can hit 30 home runs in the era of juiced up baseballs and launching pads that pass for stadiums.
BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Men's basketball coach Bob Knight has a decades-long history of abuse against players, secretaries, reporters and administrators. His chair-throwing antics have long been a staple of SportsCenter.
Recent allegations that he choked a player, followed by other coming forward with their own tales, seemed to be the final acts that would end Knight's tenure. By Indiana University trustees and school President Myles Brand obviously think throwing a vase at a secretary is standard behavior at an institution of higher learning. So it probably wasn't too much of a surprise when Indiana's ``punishment" of the coach included a fine and short suspension, instead of termination. Knight didn't even bother to attend the news conference where the sanctions were announced. So much for setting an example for students, faculty and staff. About the only thing that will get Knight bounced is another first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
THE HAPPILY
MARRIED TROY?
From Peter King in Sports Illustrated:
``It was a pleasant morning for Troy Aikman last Thursday. He kissed his bride of one month, Rhonda, goodbye, then played in a friendly fivesome at Preston Trail Golf Club in north Dallas. He followed his round with a lunch of prime rib and trout. The day would soon get better: Troy and Rhonda would fly to Palm Springs to shop for a vacation home.''
Let's dissect this: Was the pleasant morning the fact that the kiss was of the ``goodbye'' variety and that he got to play golf with the guys? And we can see why a vacation home in Palm Springs would get him excited. He'd be a hop, skip and a jump from next year's White Party. It doesn't get any better than this.
A WILTED FLOWER
Victoria ``Flower'' Bianco is a topless dancer at a Vegas strip club. She has accused badboy boxer Mike Tyson of hitting her at the club.
But the manager, Lonnie Roybal, said that while Iron Mike yelled obscenities at Flower after she tried to get him to buy a lap dance he never physically threatened her. ``She lost her balance and landed on her butt. That was about it,'' Roybal said. ``She made it very clear her feelings were hurt, but she wasn't touched at all.''
Flower's collapse reminds us of some of Tyson's tomato-can opponents, who themselves fell to the canvas without being touched.
IN HIS VIEW, THE
MAYOR'S NO. 1
Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams apologized
after making a crude gesture at former Houston mayor Bob Lanier. Adams and Lainer had
feuded over getting a new stadium for Adams' Houston Oilers, who moved to Tennessee in 1997.
On an NFL Films video of the Titans' Super Bowl season, Adams showed off a championship ring from the Oilers on one hand and the AFC Championship ring on the other. Asked what he would do if he ever won a Super Bowl ring, Adams held up the middle finger on his right hand and said:
``I'll put it on the middle finger and say to the mayor of Houston to look at it.''
Before this incident, Adams was best known for having the worst toupee among professional sports owners.
THEY'RE
OUT AND PROUD
Outsports.com has published the most comprehensive list of out athletes. The 45 men and women, retired and active,
run the gamut of sports from football and baseball to tennis and rugby.
Ian Roberts, an Australian rugby superstar, has long been out in the macho world of his sport. He had a great answer to the straight world's unfounded fear that sharing a locker room with a gay athlete is an invitation to sex.
"I take offense at the old locker room argument which assumes a man cannot, in any circumstances, control his urges,'' he said. ``Any self-respecting human being can respect the rights and ways of another human being. The idea, then, that gays can convert, or want, heterosexual guys, is ludicrous. We want to play the game, not the field."