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September 2002 |
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TOPS |
BOTTOMS |
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Sept. 30: Hats off again
to the New York Yankees, who finished with baseball's
best record at 103-59. The have set such a standard of
excellence that it's easy to take it for granted. ... Rookie
quarterback Joey Harrington looked like a poised
veteran in leading the previously winless Detroit Lions to a
26-21 upset over the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints.
... Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander
scored an NFL record five touchdowns in the first half in a
48-23 rout of the dismal and inept Minnesota Vikings. |
Sept. 30: The St.
Louis Rams have officially hit rock bottom. Not only did
the Rams fall to 0-4 after losing at home to Dallas, 13-10,
but they lost quarterback Kurt Warner for four to five weeks
with a broken pinkie on his throwing hand. ... With the
baseball regular season over, Tampa Bay and
Detroit tied for the worst record, each going 55-106.
Maybe they should have a playoff. |
Sept. 29: The state of
Iowa had a great day in college football. In Happy Valley,
the visiting Iowa Hawkeyes ran out in front of Penn
State, 35-13, then watched as the game was tied and sent
into overtime. Iowa finally prevailed, 42-35, in the day's
best game. In Ames, Iowa State crushed Nebraska,
36-14. It was the Cyclones' largest margin of victory over
the Cornhuskers since 1899 ... Yes, you read that right,
1899!
In baseball, the San Francisco Giants beat Houston to
clinch the National League wild card spot, eliminating the
Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants will play Atlanta in the
playoffs. |
Sept. 29: The people of
Nebraska have to be shocked at how fast their beloved
Cornhuskers have fallen in college football. They ended
2001 by being blown out by Colorado, then Miami. Two weeks
ago, they lost to Penn State by 33. On Saturday, they lost
to Iowa State (!) by 22. It is the first time since 1976,
Nebraska has lost consecutive regular season games, and the
Huskers will likely fall out of the Top 25 for the first
time since 1981. The new century has not started well in
Lincoln. |
|
Sept. 28: A rousing top
to sports radio host Jim Rome for his dead-on take of
the Jeremy Shockey
anti-gay comments controversy. Using sarcasm, Rome
effectively dismantled Shockey's remarks about showering
with gays and his desire not to have gay teammates. Rome
asked whether Shockey, all 6-5 and 250 pounds of him, was
afraid that "roving bands of homosexuals" would have their
way with him in the shower. And while doubting that a gay
teammate would ever make a pass at Shockey, Rome said that
if he did happen, all Shockey had to do was say two word:
No, thanks. Rome
constantly kept saying how unfunny Shockey's comments were,
calling him "SeinfeldShockey." Rome's humor, which
made Shockey look silly, was more effective than any
indignant screed. |
Sept. 28: Boxer
Fernando Vargas got beat up by longtime nemesis Oscar De
La Hoya in their title fight two weeks ago. Now, he is
facing questions after testing positive for steroids in a
post-fight urinalysis. ``I did not knowingly take any
prohibited substance, much less a steroid,'' Vargas wrote to
the Nevada Athletic Commission, which will have final say in
the matter. |
|
Sept. 27: The Anaheim
Angels finally did it, beating Texas, 10-5, to claim an
American League playoff berth. It is the Angels' first time
in the postseason since 1986. They will likely play the New
York Yankees. |
Sept. 27: Denver Broncos
quarterback Brian Griese sprained his ankle after
being tripped by his dog on some stairs at his house. "I was
walking down the stairs and my dog came barreling down the
stairs after me and clipped me, and I kind of twisted my
ankle on the stairs," Griese said. "These things happen.
Unfortunately, it happened to me." Griese's status for
Monday night's game at Baltimore is uncertain.
Tight end Shannon Sharpe, as usual, has the best comment:
"So the dog stood up on his hind legs and gave him a push?
You might want to get rid of that dog or put him in the
circus, one of the two." |
|
Sept. 26: Never send a man to do a woman's job. Just weeks after the U.S. men stunk up the World Basketball Championships, the
U.S. women were triumphant, beating Russia, 79-74, for their second straight title. "I think we have redeemed them. But we have all learned a big lesson from the men," tournament MVP Lisa Leslie told the AP in China. "We just can't get complacent." The U.S. women have not lost a game in the tournament since 1994. |
Sept. 26: We've been waiting four days to give the
Anaheim Angels a top for clinching their first baseball playoff berth since 1986. But four straight losses, coupled with four straight wins by the Seattle Mariners, have Angel fans sweating. Anaheim only needs one more win to clinch a spot (with four game to play), so champagne is still expected to be popped. But given their disastrous history, one can't blame Angel fans for thinking, "No, not again!"
Hopefully, this bottom will anti-jinx them into the playoffs. |
|
Sept. 25: The San
Francisco Giants are playing their best baseball when it
counts. Barry Bonds hit his 45th home run and Benitio
Santiago drove in four runs as the Giants beat San Diego.
Combined with the Dodgers' loss to Colorado, the Giants are
three up on L.A. for the National League wild card with only
five games left. |
Sept. 25: To paraphrase
bartender Moe from "The Simpsons," Randy Moss is "a
freakin' moron!." Moss, the talented but strange wide
receiver for the Minnesota Vikings is in jail after he
"nudged a traffic control agent for a half-block with his
car before knocking her down during rush hour in downtown
Minneapolis, police said," according to the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune.
The officer, who was slightly hurt, was trying to prevent
Moss from making an illegal left turn. Since he's Randy Moss
and answers to no one, he ignored her and kept on going at a
slow rate of speed, pushing her as she placed her butt on
the car's hood, witnesses said.
"That is the dumbest thing I've ever seen," Robert Nelson
told the paper. "He was in the wrong, and she put herself in
a dangerous position. I think if he had been a madman, he
would have just run over her and kept going." |
|
Sept. 24: Members of the
Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League
saved a woman's life by forming a human chain to catch a
woman who jumped four stories from a burning building. "They
put their arms together to catch me," Teri MacLeod, 24, told
the Edmonton Sun. "They broke my fall.
Fifteen players live in the
apartment building that caught on fire. When they saw the
woman dangling they sprang into action. Another man in the
building died when he also jumped.
"We're not heroes," running back Ron Williams told Sun. We
didn't do anything no one else would have done. "It was
something tragic that happened - even though you save a
life, another was lost. It was just a catch." |
Sept. 24: Don't look now,
but the St. Louis Rams are in huge trouble. Not only
are the Rams 0-3 after being beaten Monday by Tampa Bay,
26-14, but they look lost and dispirited. I don't think Kurt
Warner has smiled all season, Mike Martz is quickly going
from genius to just another overhyped coach and the
offensive line has more leaks than the Pentagon. The
Greatest Show on Turf has scored 51 points in three games,
about half of what the 1999-2001 Rams would have. The
defense is nothing special and neither are the special
teams. Hard to believe this is the same team that went 37-11
the past three seasons. |
Sept. 22-23: Weekend
highlights:
- Notre Dame goes 4-0
under new coach Ty Willingham. The Irish had a great
come-from-behind win over Michigan State and cracked the
Top 10.
- The St. Louis Cardinals,
devastated by the midseason death of pitcher Darrel Kile,
won the National League Central division.
- Atlanta Braves pitcher
Greg Maddux won his 15th game, a number he has tied or
exceeded for 15 straight years.
- The New England
Patriots won a 41-38 overtime thriller over Kansas
City and have not lost since last November.
|
Sept. 22-23: Weekend
lowlights:
- France beat the U.S. in
Davis Cup tennis and we have one question--Does
anybody really care about the Davis Cup? It's an event
long past its prime.
- Tennessee looked
nothing like its #4 ranking, getting drubbed 30-13 by
Florida. The Volunteers fumbled eight times in the game.
- The Cincinnati Bengals
fell to 0-3 with an embarrassing national TV loss to
Atlanta. The Bungles have not had a winning season since
1991.
|
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Sept. 21: The Baltimore
Orioles stink, having lost 23 of their last 27 games. But
their shortstop Mike Bordick is brilliant and he set
a Major League Baseball record Friday by not committing an
error in his 102nd consecutive game. Bordick has 504
consecutive defensive chances without an error and has
committed only one error all season. |
Sept. 21: The New York
press is in a tizzy (isn't it always?), this time over a
report that as many as seven New York Mets have smoked
marijuana. How shocking? People smoking pot? It's an
outrage! It's not as if the front-page Newsday story
accused the players of taking more damaging substances, such
as too much alcohol, chewing tobacco or steroids. However,
the Mets went into full defensive mode, issuing apologies,
including one from a player, rookie Grant Roberts, who was
shown in a 1999 photo smoking from a bong. The team sucks
this year and has more problems than whether some guys
inhaled. |
|
Sept. 20: Randy Johnson
won his 23rd game Thursday night for the Arizona
Diamondbacks, tying teammate Curt Schilling for the major
league lead. Johnson and Schilling are the two key reasons
the Diamondbacks have to be favored to reach the World
Series again. |
Sept. 20: In a bizarre
and violent scene, Kansas City Royals first base coach Tom
Gamboa was attacked from behind by a bare-chested man and
his juvenile son at Comisky Park in Chicago. Gamboa
suffered several large cuts and bruises in what appeared to
be an unprovoked attack at Thursday's game. Players and
coaches from both the Royals and White Sox came to Gamboa's
aid and the two attackers were arrested. Neither their names
nor a possible motive were released.
"It just happened so fast,''
Gamboa said. "When you get in brawls with the other team,
you have a chance to anticipate this type of thing. But not
when it's coming totally unprovoked. And from behind. I'm
just totally stunned.'' |
|
Sept. 19: Barry Zito won
his American League-leading 22nd game, but did not have an
easy time of it in the Oakland Athletics' 7-4 win over the
Anaheim Angels. Zito lasted 5 1/3 innings, one start after
nearly throwing a no-hitter, and was bailed out by a six-run
Oakland fourth. The win kept Oakland and Anaheim tied for
first in the American League West. |
Sept. 19: Wednesday was
further evidence that it's blah time for baseball.
Attendance is off this year and at a higher rate since a
strike was averted in late August than before. The absence
of real pennant races is a big reason. Of the 15 games
played Wednesday, only two (San Francisco-Los Angeles and
Oakland-Anaheim) meant anything. The sport is marking time
until the playoffs, still two weeks away. |
Sept. 18: Serena
Williams, 20, and Martina Navratilova, 45,
bridged the tennis generation gap by teaming up for a
doubles victory in the first round of Toyota Princess Cup in
Tokyo. Williams, who normally plays doubles with her sister
Venus, took a while to settle down. ``I was having a few
withdrawal symptoms from not having Venus here,'' said
Williams. ``But if I've got to be partnered with anyone else
there is nobody better than Martina."
For her part, Navratilova had no problems, telling AP:
``I did think about the generation gap. I mean, I used to
play with Virginia Wade and Billie Jean King and here I am
playing with someone who didn't start playing until 1996.''
|
Sept. 18: The NFL
continued to dig itself into a PR hole of its own making, by
insisting it was right to not allow Indianapolis Colts
quarterback Peyton Manning to wear black high top cleats in
honor of the late John Unitas (see Sept. 14). The NFL
threatened to fine Manning $25,000 if he went ahead with the
tribute. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Chris Redman did wear
black shoes and he is likely to be fined. Unitas played for
the Colts in Baltimore and adopted the Ravens when they
moved from Cleveland.
According to ESPN.com, "The
league's uniform policy stipulates that a team must declare
itself a 'black shoe' team or 'white shoe' team prior to the
season. Both the Colts and the Ravens chose white shoes. Had
they selected black shoes, there would have been no
violation."
The action only makes the NFL
look cold and heartless, especially since Unitas' family
loved Manning's idea. |
|
Sept. 17: Troy Glaus of
the Anaheim Angels hit a first-inning home run against the
Oakland Athletics, giving him home runs in four consecutive
at-bats and tying a Major League record. Glaus had homered
in his final three at-bats Sunday against Texas. Alas for
the Angels, the hero of Monday's game was Oakland's
Miguel Tejada, who singled home the winning run in the
bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 win. Anaheim and Oakland
remain tied for first in the American League West. |
Sept. 17: The Monday
Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and
Washington Redskins was stopped for a while in the fourth
quarter after pepper spray wafted over the Eagles
sideline. A Prince George's County, Md., sheriff used the
spray on unruly customers and cooling fans on the Eagles
sideline dispersed it on the players.
``The first guy that went down
was
Ike Reese,'' Philadelphia coach Andy Reid told AP. ``He
started barfing, and we all just followed right along. We
just walked onto the field, and I just told them to keep
going.''
We've seen our share of
fights at stadiums and question why pepper spray was needed
in the first place. No arrests were made. Most brawling
American fans are too drunk to do much damage except to
themselves. |
Sept. 15-16: A round of
applause this weekend for:
- The Minnesota Twins.
They were set to be eliminated from Major League Baseball.
But the Twins are now playoff-bound after winning the
American League Central title. With their huge advantage
in the Hanky Dome, the Twins will be a playoff factor.
- Penn State. The
Nittany Lions made a college football statement with a
40-7 thrashing of Nebraska.
- Ty Willingham.
After years of uninspired coaching, Notre Dame is thrilled
to have Willingham. By beating Michigan, 25-23, the
Fighting Irish are now 3-0.
- Oscar De La Hoya.
Derided by his opponent Fernando Vargas as a pretty boy
who lacked toughness, De La Hoya got the last word in the
ring. He pounded Vargas into submission to win an
11th-round TKO.
- The New England
Patriots. In the span of six days, the Pats won their
opening two NFL games by a combined 74-21. They are
clearly pro football's best team.
|
Sept. 15-16: Teams who
shined in 2001 had a rough weekend, making 2002 quickly a
year to forget:
- Colorado and
Nebraska, two Big 12 college football powerhouses,
lost by a combined 84-10 to USC (40-3) and Penn State
(44-7) respectively.
- The Seattle Mariners,
who won 116 games a year ago, enter baseball's final two
weeks nine games out of first place and with almost no
chance of making the playoffs.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers
and St. Louis Rams went a combined 27-5 last year
in the NFL. Both lost of home Sunday and are now 0-4.
|
|
Sept. 14: Barry Zito
pitched a gem as the Oakland Athletics kept pace with the
Anaheim Angels in the American League West race. Zito threw
a no-hitter through seven innings and wound up shutting out
the suddenly-hapless Seattle Mariners, 5-0. Zito is now 21-5
and the winningest pitcher in the league. |
Sept. 14: The NFL showed
once again it can be tone-deaf in doing the right thing.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was rebuffed
in his attempt to wear high-top black cleats Sunday in honor
of John Unitas, the Hall of Fame ex-Baltimore Colts
quarterback who died Wednesday. The black high-tops were a
Unitas signature and Manning bought four pairs to wear
Sunday as a tribute. "Somebody's
passed away. I don't want to create a controversy over it,"
Manning said. "I did talk to one of (Unitas') sons, Joe,
last night. He said he thought that it would be great, he'd
love it." The NFL gave no specific reason why Manning was
denied. In 1999, the league forbade players from wearing #34
for one game to honor the late Walter Peyton. |
 Sept.
13:
Alex Kostich is an accomplished swimmer and openly
gay and he has had an awesome month in the water. Kostich
won the 33rd annual Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 miles) on
Labor Day and a week later, the 72nd annual La Jolla,
Calif., Roughwater Swim (3 miles). These are the two biggest
and most prestigious open water races in the country, and
Kostich, 32, became the first man to win them back to back
the same year.
After the Waikiki swim,
Kostich, a creative advertising executive for Warner
Brothers Studio in Burbank, told the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
"I was hoping to see turtles
because everyone always asks what I saw. They don't care
about my time. They care about the sea life.
"I'm happy to report I didn't
see any jellyfish. My mother was concerned. She had heard
about them all the way back in Boston." |
Sept. 13: Cleveland
Browns linebacker Dwayne Rudd has had an awful week.
On Sunday, his helmet toss with play still ongoing cost
Cleveland their opening day game against Kansas City (see
Sept. 9 bottom). On Thursday, Rudd was fined $5,000 by the
NFL, since it's against league rules to throw your helmet.
Cleveland punter Chris Gardocki was also fined $5,000 for
taunting. A punter? |
|
Sept. 12: John Unitas,
who died of a heart attack at 69, was the man who put the
NFL on the map. The quarterback of the Baltimore Colts,
Unitas led the Colts to a 23-17 overtime win over the New
York Giants in the 1958 championship, a game considered the
greatest in league history. The game captured the attention
of the sporting public and propelled the NFL to its current
spot as America's real pastime. Unitas has a record not
likely to be broken--throwing touchdowns in 47 consecutive
games (three years' worth by today's schedule). He played in
an area where defenses could basically mug a receiver and
yet he threw for more than 40,000 yards and was voted the
quarterback on the NFL's 75th Anniversary team. A truly
great one has passed on. As a former player once said about
playing with Unitas, "It was like having God in the
huddle.'' |
Sept. 12: A year ago, Eric
Crouch was the toast of college football, winning the
Heisman Trophy at Nebraska. Now, his career is just toast.
Crouch, sidelined since training camp with a deep thigh
bruise, told the St. Louis Rams he was retiring. Crouch, who
hoped to catch on as wide receiver, told the team he was
going home to Omaha to ponder his future. "I have given this
a lot of thought," Crouch said in a statement. "This
decision was tough and not something I took lightly. |
|
Sept. 11: ESPN should be
applauded for its segment Tuesday on the life of Mark
Bingham, the rugby player who happened to be gay.
Bingham was a passenger on hijacked Flight 93 and was killed
in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. In a segment on
sports since Sept. 11, ESPN feature Bingham and the role
rugby played in his life. It focused on the inaugural
Bingham Cup, a gay-focused rugby tournament held
this June in his honor. The network even showed a brief kiss
between two players, definitely a sign of progress. The
comments were thoughtful and the piece was effective without
being maudlin. |
Sept. 11: Washington
Redskins kicker Brett Conway may not play football again
because of a torn quadriceps muscle. It's a shame any
time a 27-year-old is forced to retire and shows the often
brutal nature of pro sports. "You never want an injury to
force you out of the game. You want to be able to retire on
your own, but sometimes that's not the case," Conway said. |
|
Sept. 10: The New
England Patriots showed that winning the Super Bowl was
no fluke. The Pats, picked by many to finish at .500, began
defense of their NFL title with a 30-14 thrashing of the
Pittsburgh Steelers. The Pats showed they are the
best-coached team in the league when they threw 25
consecutive times against a befuddled Steeler defense,
instead of going by the book. The dimpled one, Tom Brady,
was superb, throwing for 294 yards and three touchdowns. On
the other side, Pittsburgh QB Kordell "Lock Your Sisters Up
Because I'm Not Gay" Stewart was ghastly, throwing three
interceptions and fumbling once. |
Sept. 10: Sacramento
Kings star Chris Webber is in big trouble. Webber was
indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he lied to a
grand jury about his dealings with a University of Michigan
basketball booster from 1989-93. Webber's father and aunt
were indicted on the same charges. If convicted, each faces
up to 10 years in prison. |
|
Sept. 9: Pete Sampras
isn't ready to retire just yet. The 31-year-old Sampras
became the oldest man to win the U.S. Open since 1970 when
he beat Andre Agassi in four sets. It was a remarkable
tournament for Sampras, who last won a major event two years
ago. |
Sept. 9: Dwayne Rudd may
have clinched Bottom of the Year with his incredibly stupid
play that cost the Cleveland Browns their game against the
Kansas City Chiefs on the opening day of the NFL. The
situation:
Cleveland is ahead, 39-37, with five seconds to play and
Kansas City with one play left near midfield. KC quarterback
Trent Green throws the ball behind him in a desperate move
as he's being nearly sacked by Rudd. The ball is caught by
KC tackle John Tait (legal because it was a backwards pass),
who runs 28 yards to the Cleveland 26, but is tackled as
time runs out. Game over and the Browns celebrate.
But wait ... the officials penalize Cleveland 15 yards for
unsportsmanlike conduct. Rudd had taken off and thrown his
helmet before the play had ended (he said he thought he had
sacked Green). That's a 15-yard no-no. Since the game can't
end on a defensive penalty, the Chiefs get one more play.
The penalty yardage puts the ball on the Cleveland 13 and
Morton Andresen kicks the game-winning field goal and KC
wins, 40-39.
Said Cleveland coach Butch Davis: "I'm sick." So are
thousands of fans in Ohio and Rudd's name is Mudd. |
Sept. 8: Pete Sampras and
Andre Agassi will play for the 1995 U.S. Open men's
title today ... oops, we mean 2002. Sampras and Agassi
turned back the clock and will meet in the Open final for
the third time. Agassi, 32, beat 21-year-old defending
champion Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (1), 6-2. Sampras,
31, beat Sjeng Schalken, 26, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2. Break
out the Geritol! ...
On a big day of college football, perhaps the best big game
was Oklahoma's 37-27 comeback win against pesky
Alabama. The Tide led, 27-23, after a fake field goal for a
touchdown. Oklahoma rallied for the go-ahead score, keyed by
a 39-yard shovel pass to Renaldo Works. A fumble return for
a touchdown with less than a minute to go sealed it for the
Sooners. |
Sept. 8: Florida was
drubbed, 40-16, by top-ranked Miami in college football, the
Gators' worst home loss since 1979. Heisman hopeful
Rex Grossman, Florida's quarterback, did not put on a good
performance, going 16 for 32. With the game still close
(27-16) late in the third quarter, Grossman threw a terrible
interception that Miami's Maurice Sikes returned 99 yards
for a touchdown. |
Sept. 7: It's getting to
be old hat, but it's still impressive that Venus and
Serena Williams will meet in the U.S. Open final. The
sisters are playing in their third consecutive women's Grand
Slam final and fourth of fifth. Women's tennis is Venus and
Serena 1 at 1A (not necessarily in that order) and everyone
else playing for third. ...
The Minnesota Twins ended the Oakland Athletics'
20-game winning streak as Brad Radtke threw a shutout. The
A's own baseball's third-longest winning streak and breathed
some life into a sport made moribund by talk of a strike. |
Sept. 7: Jim Fassel gets
the early call for NFL Week 1 bonehead coach and he admits
it. Fassel was slow to use timeouts as the San Francisco
49ers drove for what proved to be the winning field goal
Thursday night against his New York Giants. Fassel ended the
game with one timeout remaining and his clock management
left the Giants with only five seconds left after San
Francisco took a 16-13. Had Fassel been smarter, the Giants
would have had about 40 seconds, time enough to have a
decent shot at getting in game-tying field goal range. "I
played it too close to the vest," Fassel told Newsday. "I
probably should have called a timeout sooner." |
Sept. 6: Pete Sampras
continued his glorious run through the U.S. Open, reaching
the men's semifinals with a 6-3 6-2 6-4 romp over Andy
Roddick in a match that took just 90 minutes. Sampras, who
has not a title of note since 2000, showed the young Roddick
what major-level tennis is all about. "This is all still a
learning experience. I watched what I should be doing on all
the big points because I was on the other side of it," a
stunned Roddick said after. Sampras looked 10 years younger,
regularly pumping his fist and exhorting the crowd. ...
Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez continued to
show why he may be baseball's best player. Rodriguez homered
in his first two at-bats, making him only the fifth player
ever to hit 50 home runs in consecutive seasons. |
Sept. 6: This ain't no
Dream Team. The United States was knocked out of the
any chance for the gold medal at the World Basketball
Championships, losing to Yugoslavia, 81-78. The U.S. team
lost to Argentina the night before and the best the U.S. can
do at the tournament in Indianapolis is fifth. The two
losses are the first for American basketball since pros were
allowed to play in 1992. While the U.S. was minus some top
NBA players like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, the
losses confirmed that basketball is becoming a truly
international game and that any American team must come
ready to play. Yugoslavia has NBA stars Vlade Divac and
Predrag Stojakovic, so it's certainly no slouch. |
|
Sept. 5: While we like
Jennifer Capriati, we do have a soft spot for Amelie
Mauresmo, an out-and-proud lesbian on the tennis tour.
The two hooked up in a great match at the U.S. Open, with
Mauresmo rallying to beat the third-seeded Capriati, 4-6,
7-6 (7-5), 6-3, to reach the semifinals. Venus Williams
crushed Monica Seles and it looks like we'll have another
all-Williams women's final in a couple of days. |
Sept. 5: University of
Wisconsin officials came to their senses and will allow
West Virginia's mascot to fire a musket at the two teams'
college football game this Saturday. West Virginia's
nickname is the Mountaineers and the mascot is basically a
hillbilly who shoots off his musket (said to have the pop of
a starter's pistol). Wisconsin has a sensible policy banning
weapons on campus, but school officials initially went too
far in banning the musket. They reversed themselves
Wednesday. |
|
Sept. 4: In a big day at
the U.S. Open tennis championships, Pete Sampras won
a terrific five-setter over third-seed Tommy Haas to reach
the quarterfinals. On the women's side, Chanda Rubin took
Venus Williams to the third set before falling 7-5. |
Sept. 4: Futility, thy
name is the New York Mets. The guys from Queens set a
National League record with their 15th straight home loss,
after dropping Game 1 of a doubleheader to the Florida
Marlins. The Mets won Game 2 to end the streak. |
|
Sept. 3: The Oakland
A's did it again, scoring in the bottom of the ninth on
a Miguel Tejada single to beat Kansas City for their 19th
consecutive win. The streak ties the American League record.
... Pete Sampras
has had a rough year, but he won a thrilling five-set match
over Greg Rusedski--7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4--to
advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open. |
Sept. 3: The Arizona
Diamondbacks have lost five of six and aren't playing
like World Series champs. The D'Backs got blasted, 19-1, by
the Dodgers, in a game so lopsided that Arizona first
basemen Mark Grace pitched in the ninth inning. Grace gave
up a home run to Dave Ross in a scene so absurd all Grace
could do was laugh. |
|
Sept. 2: All you can say
about the Oakland Athletics is "Wow!" Miguel Tejada's
three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth lifted the A's
over Minnesota, 7-5, for their 18th straight win. It is the
longest winning streak in baseball since 1953.
''While I was running, I
looked up and I saw my dad (in a luxury box),'' Tejada told
AP. ''He was jumping. It was funny to see him jumping.
That's where I pointed.'' |
Sept. 2: It will be a
long season for Carolina Panthers fans. ESPN reports
that the Panthers will start Rodney Peete at quarterback in
place of Chris Weinke. You have to be pretty bad to be
replaced by Rodney Peete. |
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Sept. 1: Nikki Teasley's
3-point basket with 2.1 seconds left lifted the Los Angeles
Sparks to a 69-66 win over the New York Liberty, giving the
Sparks its second consecutive WNBA title. Teasley's basket
came after the Liberty tied it up at 66 and when it appeared
the Sparks were not going to get a good shot off. ...
Lleyton Hewitt and
James Blake put on a tremendous show at the U.S. Open
before top-seeded Hewitt prevailed, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
In the end, Blake's inexperience showed, as the 25th-seeded
American had 86 unforced errors to Hewitt's 40. ...
In college football,
Colorado State stunned No. 6 Colorado, 19-14, for its
third win in four years in the Mile High rivalry. |
Sept. 1: Rick Neuheisel
and the University of Washington coaching staff get
the early jump on bonehead move of the year and it cost the
Huskies dearly in a 31-29 college football loss at Michigan.
The situation: Washington leads,
29-28, with 12 seconds left and Michigan facing a
third-and-10 from the Husky 42. A pass is incomplete,
forcing the Wolverines to try a Hail Mary pass. But wait ...
Washington is flagged for 12 men on the field and gets
penalized 15 yards. With the ball now on the Husky 27,
Philip Brabbs nails a clutch 44-yard field goal and they go
nuts in Ann Arbor.
The Washington staff gets
blame because the too many men penalty occurred after a
Husky timeout and it's simply inexcusable to not have the
players set. It's Coaching 101 and the Huskies flunked big
time. |
Aug. 31: Thanks to a
reader for alerting us that gay softball drag queens
trump even a presidential visit. A
Leah Garchik item in the San Francisco Chronicle
detailed how President Bush's recent visit to Portland,
Ore., took a back seat to the Gay World Series.
Bob Docca, gay softball commissioner emeritus, related the
story to Garchik:
"Many of the players stayed at the Hilton Hotel, and
mid-series, George W. arrived to speechify to Republican
supporters. The ballplayers had booked the Hilton two years
ahead of time, so while the series' amateur drag night went
on as scheduled in the Grand Ballroom, the presidential
party was relegated to the smaller Pavilion Room.
"When Docca arrived for check-in, he says, the site was
ringed with protesters and Secret Service agents. In the
hotel's lobby were large signs welcoming members of the
North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance to the Gay
Softball World Series.
"The signs were taken down before the president and his
entourage arrived, and posted again after his speech." |
Aug. 31: So, baseball
players and the owners reached an agreement without a
strike. Whoop-de-doo! It's nice that the season will
continue, but the negotiations left us caring even less.
From what we see, the pact does little to ensure the Yankees
won't play in the next five World Series. And we can find
nothing that stipulates that a small market team needs to
spend its revenue sharing loot on talent. Expect all this to
reoccur when the agreement expires after 2006. |
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