Updated:
June 28, 2000
TOP
OF THE WEEK DAVID PICHLER
Openly gay diver
David
Pichler, 31, qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney by finishing second in the 10-meter platform at the U.S. diving trials on Sunday. A bad final dive in the springboard cost him a berth in that event three days ago. ``I got in there and fought the whole way. I kind of sabotaged myself the other day," Pichler said. "Today I wasn't going to
let that happen."
BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
MIKE TYSON
Some things just never change. After a career that has looked more like a comic book than anything else, Mike Tyson added two new segments last weekend.
After all the hype of Tyson's match against Lou Savarese in Glasgow, Scotland, no one got what they
paid for. After just 38 seconds in the ring, Savarese went down and the fight was over.
After the match, Tyson started in. First, on himself: "I am the most ruthless, brutal champion ever," Tyson said. "I am Sonny Liston and Jack Dempsey. There is no one who can match me;" then, on Lennox Lewis: "I want your heart," he said in comments aimed at Lewis. "I want to eat your children." Fortunately for Lewis, he doesn't have any children.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
IT'S MILLER TIME
ABC Monday Night Football's new producer Don
Ohlmeyer wanted to make a splash with his new hires for the booth. And he certainly did something that hasn't happened in years: he got people to talk about MNF in June.
The hiring of comedian Dennis Miller to join Al Michaels and Dan Fouts in the booth made it on the front page of just about every sports page in the country. And it landed Miller on the front page of Sports Illustrated. If buzz was the goal, ABC scored.
The choice of Miller, a caustic, sharp, often quite funny comic, will either be brilliant or a disaster. No middle ground. To those purists who wail against a funny man commenting on their sacred sport we say: Get a clue. The NFL is first and foremost about entertainment and the league milks it for all it can get. Unless you think the Super Bowl halftime show is a study in restraint.
We hope Miller succeeds, for then it will show that talking about football doesn't require someone to have spent years in the trenches. Even a non-player can see when a team stinks or a player performs brilliantly.
Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, writing about Miller this week, had a fun bit, imagining Miller going off on a rant:
Miller (as written by Reilly): ``You know, that last jarring tackle by Stinkowitz reminds me of something, Al. Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but why, in this country, are men so willing to plant their face masks squarely in another man's crotch to make a tackle, and yet if the same two men were to approach each other in the frozen-foods aisle at Kroger's after not seeing each other for 30 years and one of them even attempted a homophobic half-shoulder bump-hug, the other would throw a roundhouse right that Tonya Harding would admire?''
TENNIS
Wimbledon, the most genteel of tennis tournaments, kicked off its latest session this week with Pete Sampras chasing history, trying to win a record 13th major. Sampras got some help in Round 1 when Lleyton Hewitt, considered by many to be a big threat to Sampras, was knocked off by American Jan-Michael Gambill. An Outsports reader said Gambill, he of the perfect six-pack, had the
best body in tennis.
WNBA
The U.S. women's Olympic basketball team was rounded out this week with the addition of 1996 gold medalist , many-time WNBA champion, and WNBA leading scorer Sheryl Swoopes of the Houston Comets.
Swoopes joins the 11 other women on the team: Ruthie Bolton-Holifield, Teresa Edwards, Yolanda
Griffith, Chamique Holdsclaw, Lisa Leslie, Nikki McCray, DeLisha Milton, Katie Smith, Dawn Staley,
Natalie Williams and Kara Walters.
BASEBALL
Three of baseball's old guard are close to seeing their careers come to a close.
The Dodgers released 41-year-old pitcher Orel Hershiser, the hero of their 1988 world championship, after he was torched again. Meanwhile, injuries have put Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn on the disabled list.
But a new guard is taking over in the American League, as upstarts Chicago, Toronto and Oakland lead their divisions. It's great to see New York and Cleveland not have playoff spots wrapped up by July 4 and should spur more interest in the sport as we enter the season's second half.
NBA
With the NBA draft upon us, here are a few guys to look for and look at:
-STROMILE SWIFT. The little-publicized power forward from LSU might be the best player in the draft. If the Grizzlies get him, as expected, look for them in the playoffs next year, and for many years after.
-CHRIS MIHM. The center from Texas is a rarity these days - a true center. At 7'0", he has mobility and a real offensive game. And, in a time when centers are rare, he should have a solid impact on the league.
-MARK MADSEN. While he's a popular guy with our readers, you're looking at the bust of the first
round, here. A forward from Stanford, he'll go the way of Adam Keefe and Todd Day.