Updated:
July 19, 2000
TOP
OF THE WEEK GABE JENNINGS We love free spirits in an athletic world filled with too
many button-down corporate types or conformists. So we were thrilled
to see Stanford's Gabe Jennings win the men's 1,500 meters at the
U.S. Olympic track trials and qualify for the Summer Olympics.
Jennings grew up in rural Northern California in a national forest,
in a house without running water or electricity (by his family's
choice, not because they were poor) and was home-schooled by his
parents. The only TV programs he saw were Sunday NFL games the
family watched on the only set in town. He said he had a ball.
``I think the way a lot of Americans live these days, with TV and being driven to school, makes them
lazy,'' he told Runner's World magazine. ``And since I had chores and had to hike 2 miles every day to clear out the spring to get water, and had to get firewood every day and stuff like that, it's more parallel to the Kenyan lifestyle. I don't know if that makes me
stronger.
``I will never own a TV. First of all, it takes time. It's pollution. Every time I watch it, it just grosses me out, the commercialism. When I am ready to settle down, I'll go back to that simple lifestyle.
Jennings, a music major, also says he raps while he runs, telling
the San Jose Mercury News:
``When you think about it, you've got your lungs: Hooo. Hooo. Hooo. That's a
rhythm. You've got your heart going: Kadoong. Kadoong. Then you've got your legs -- Shoo. Shoo. Shoo -- always pumping. You've got all these rhythms, and you put them together:
``Gottagitah. Gittoo. Gottagitah. Huh. Huh. Gittoo. Hyoo. Shoo. Shoo.''
``Bowing to pressure from swimsuit manufacturers, USA Swimming decided Tuesday night to allow full-length bodysuits at the Olympic trials next month, likely clearing the way for a major assault on the record book in Indianapolis.''
We don't have a problem with new technology is sports. But, frankly, seeing guys in Speedos is one of the side pleasures of watching competitive swimming. Who wants to see someone dressed head to neck like some shark? Not us!
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
BASEBALL
Boston Red Sox stand-out Carl Everett - the one with 24 home runs and a .633 slugging percentage - lost his cool in a game against the New York Mets this weekend and now will get to watch a few games from home. After being ejected from the game by umpire Ron Kulpa for arguing with the size and placement of the batter's box, Everett bumped and head-butted Kulpa as teammates and coaches restrained him. Now Everett will have time to work on his golf swing, as the League is expected to hand down a severe suspension. No suspension was issued as of Wednesday.
BOXING
The farce that is heavyweight pro boxing continued last Saturday as champion Lennox Lewis knocked out Francois Botha in the second round. Botha, sporting a tattoo and an ugly bleach-blond goatee, offered little resistance to Lewis. The champ, still pissed that Mike Tyson wanted to eat Lewis' kids (small detail ... he's single, childless and lives with his mom and poodle), held up his
right hand after the fight and said, ``I'll show him what he can eat.'' Tyson's response: ``Got A-1?''
TENNIS
It's always great to see "one of our own" honored. Martina Navratilova was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, R.I. over the weekend. She was joined at the ceremony by her transgendered former coach, Renee Richards, and fellow lesbian great, Billie Jean King.
Martina's amazing 56 Grand Slam titles in singles and doubles, while it isn't a record, was an amazing fete for an athlete in today's competitive era, and isn't likely to be topped any time soon.
NFL
As training camps opened, Eddie George's agent, Lamont Smith, says his client has signed a six-year contract extension worth $42 million, including a $14 million signing bonus that will be paid out over the next 10 months. Eddie's the man who makes the Tennessee Titans go and he's worth every penny.
We saw Eddie on CNN on Sunday talking about a photo shoot he did with Sports Illustrated for Women, where he frolicked in the surf. George, who boasts of 2% body fat, was carrying a bit more for the shoot (by normal standards he's still amazing) and said his teammates were merciless in ribbing him.
``They killed me,'' the 6-2, 240-pound George said. ``My teammates know me and they know how I can look.''
So much for any idea that jocks look the other way in the dressing room.
After being the defending world champion Houston Comets' No. 1 pick in the 2000 WNBA draft, backup
center Elen Chakirova was just too homesick living away form her native Russia and will return home.
"We will miss her," Comets coach Van Chancellor said. "She is a special person and a great ball player who contributed a lot to this team. I understand how
difficult it is to bring a young child over to a foreign country and I wish her
the best.''