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APRIL 2001
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April 30: Teen tennis
phenom and Outsports reader favorite Andy Roddick won
his first ATP event at the Verizon Tennis Challenge in
Georgia, beating Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the final, 6-2,
6-4. At 18, he is the youngest American to win an ATP
event since Michael Chang did it in 1992. You can see
why Outsports readers thinks he's going to be outed by friends
on our Discussion
Board.
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April 30: Three NBA
underdog teams had great chances to go up 2-1 in their
best-of-five series this weekend. None managed to do
it. The Indiana Pacers, Phoenix Suns, and Toronto
Raptors all had split their two games on the road to open
the series. But, back at home, they handed home-court
advantage back to the favored team with a loss.
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April 29: With
Pittsburgh's scoring star, Jaromir Jagr sitting on the bench
with an injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have jumped out
to a surprising 2-0 series lead against the Buffalo Sabres
after a 3-1 victory on Saturday. The Sabres are 0-15
lifetime when losing the first two games of a series.
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April 29: Just six
months after winning the AL West, the Oakland A's are
already essentially out of contention. And it's not even
May. After losing 7-6 to the New York Yankees, Oakland
dropped to 8-16 and 12 games out of first place. This
time it was Tim Hudson, giving up seven runs in six
innings, that doomed the Bay Area boys.
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April 28: Somehow, the Seattle
Mariners continue to the best team in baseball. And
now, they're making a claim to the best April team ever.
With an 8-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday, the
Mariners improved to 19-4 and tied the Major League record for
wins in April. With two more games this weekend at
Chicago, they could pass that record by winning either one.
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April 28: The Miami Heat
have somehow found a way to a new low in
embarrassment. Not only did the #3 Heat get swept by the
#6 Charlotte Hornets, they did it in style, but they lost the
three games by a combined 67 points - and two of them were at
home. The final nail in the coffin was a 94-79 drubbing
at Charlotte in a game that the Heat scored only seven points
in the third quarter. It is the third time in four years
that the Heat failed to get past the first round.
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April 27: In Los
Angeles, they're starting to believe. Not only did the
Lakers pound the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 of their
Western Conference series, but the L.A. Kings went into
Colorado and beat the #3 Avalanche, 4-3 in overtime. It
was the Kings' fifth straight playoff victory and gave the
Kings home ice advantage in their Round 2 playoff
series.
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April 27: For the last few
days, the New York Knicks have been focused on
everything BUT basketball. Whether it was hostages,
racial epithets, or bruises from police officers, the Knicks
seemed far more interested in life outside Madison Square
Garden than inside it. Which is a good thing, since
they've handed home court advantage to the Toronto Raptors,
losing at home badly on Thursday, 94-74.
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April 26: We don't
know if this actually deserves to be a top, but what the
hell. Rickey Henderson, the base-stealing
lead-off hitter, set a Major League record for being
walked. With 2,063 walks, he has been walked more than
any other Major League player. Henderson, now with the
San Diego Padres, passed Babe Ruth with a walk in the ninth
inning of a 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
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April 26: What the
hell happened with the Baltimore police on
Wednesday? As newly crowned heavyweight champ Hasim
Rahman and his family were traveling via convertible with
police escort to the ESPN Zone for an interview, a Volkswagen
hit the convertible. Rahman and his entire family were
thrown from the car and suffered minor injuries. An
officer had, allegedly, tried to stop oncoming traffic despite
the Volkswagen having a green light. Back in January
something similar happened, when Baltimore tried to escort the
bus carrying the Ravens to the airport for the Super Bowl, the
bus hit one of the police cars.
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April 25: For three
consecutive seasons, the Seattle Mariners have lost a
big name player: Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., and
Alex Rodriguez. Good riddance. The Mariners now
have the Major League's best record at 16-4 (.800), and have
already mounted a 6.5 game lead in the AL West - the largest
division lead in MLB. Meanwhile, the three stars' teams
are at even .500.
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April 25: Gustavo Kuerten
is threatening to not play in this year's Wimbledon because
the All England Club has a seeding system that favors
grass-court players. Wimbledon is the only Major that
doesn't stick to the ATP rankings for seeding. Kuerten,
of course, is more of a clay court player. Well,
Wimbledon is played on a grass court. Duh.
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April 24: Hooray for
the Charlotte Hornets, who are about to spare us from
another dull, boring Knicks-Heat match-up. The Hornets
went into Miami and clobbered the Heat for the second straight
game, 102-76. The Hornets now lead the best-of-five
series, 2-0, leading into two games at Charlotte. For
the last three years, the Heat and Knicks have matched up in
the playoffs with the same result - the Knicks winning a
boring series.
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April 24: Dallas Mavericks
coach Don Nelson is being a drama queen. After
his team lost Game 1 of their first round playoff series to
the Utah Jazz, 88-86, on Saturday, "Nelly" whined
about how the Jazz "manipulate referees so well with
their flops" and "abuse the rules." Karl
Malone put it perfectly: "I don't watch soaps, so I
have no desire to talk about soap operas."
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April 23: It seems
like just two years ago she was a washed up former tennis
prodigy. Now, Jennifer Capriati is at the top of
her game, having won the Australian Open in January, and now
the Family Circle championship. She beat Martina Hingis
(she also beat her in the Australian Final), 6-0, 4-6, 6-4, in
the Family Circle final. Capriati has now jumped up to
the #4 world ranking.
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April 23: Only in boxing
could this happen. Mike Tyson has seen more trouble
since losing to Buster Douglas 11 years ago - from a jail
sentence to biting off Evander Holyfield's ear. And now,
somehow, the WBC has matched him up to be new
heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman's next opponent. But,
since he's banned almost everywhere but Antarctica, it may be
hard to find a location to hold the fight.
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April 22: He's done
it many times before, but maybe never so dramatically as
Saturday. Putting the finishing touch on an 18-point
second half comeback, Reggie Miller launched one of his
trademark threes with 2.9 seconds left to lift his #8 Indiana
Pacers over the #1 seeded Philadelphia 76ers, 79-78.
"On the road I always go for 3," Miller said after
the game. It's a philosophy that he has built a
reputation on.
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April 22: It was easy for
Lennox Lewis to come in over confident. He was
facing a 15-1 longshot challenger to his titles - an easy
"oh by the way" on his march to a $100 million
matchup with Mike Tyson. But, Hasim Rahman's right hand
shocked the world on Saturday as he beat Lewis in South Africa
with a knockout in the fifth round. Not since Buster
Douglas beat Mike Tyson has the boxing world seen such an
upset.
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April 21: Friday was a
great day if you needed an NFL fix. First, the San
Diego Chargers shocked the football world by trading the top
pick in today's draft to the Atlanta Falcons, who will use it
to take quarterback Michael Vick. It was a bold move by the
Falcs, a team not known for them. Vick has incredible
potential but some are skeptical he'll ever be a star. Later
in the day, the Kansas City Chiefs finally got a starting QB,
when they traded their first-round pick (12th overall) to St.
Louis for Trent Green.
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April 21: Why do the Tampa
Bay Devil Rays exist? They are baseball's worst team
(4-13), play in an indifferent market and drew only 13,000 in
losing their fifth in a row on Friday. Baseball in Florida
only makes sense in spring training. It should move north with
the tourists.
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April 20: Just what
the New York Yankees ordered to end their skid - a
marathon. After losing four games in a row, New York
finally won a game on the road, beating the Toronto Blue Jays,
6-5, in a game that took 5 hours 57 minutes to
complete. At the completion of the game, at 1:06am ET,
only 1,500 of the nearly 25,000 in attendance remained.
It was the longest game in Blue Jays franchise history.
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April 20: Every year,
the NBA pulls the same stunt when playoff time rolls
around - their schedule department seemingly takes some
Ecstasy and then figures it out from there. Take the
Spurs - Timberwolves series for example. Game 2 is on
Monday. Then they wait five days to play Game 3 on
Saturday. It's just the worst example of a League so
driven by television and searching desperately to schedule as many games on
the weekends for the benefit of NBC.
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April 19: Four games
later, two NHL teams have already advanced to Round 2.
The most surprising of which is the Toronto Maple Leafs,
who were seeded No. 7 and swept the No. 2 Ottawa
Senators. In the West, it was the Colorado Avalanche
sweeping the Vancouver Canucks, winning on the road Wednesday,
4-1.
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April 19: For the now
former Dodger GM Kevin Malone, he simply crossed the
wrong guy at the wrong time. At a game in San Diego a
few days ago, Malone verbally assaulted a Padres fan and
challenged him to a fight. This was simply the
proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Despite
one of the highest payrolls in baseball, Malone has been
unable to lead the Dodgers into the postseason his first two
years as GM.
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April 18: Barry
Bonds became only the 17th man to hit 500 home runs in
Major League Baseball history on Tuesday, belting one out of
the park in the eighth inning of a 3-2 Giants victory over the
Dodgers. With only one other active player in the 500+
list, it's quite possible that Bonds could move into the Top 5
all time on the list. He'll need to get to 587 to do
that.
In Toronto, Raul Mondesi
was making history as the first Blue Jays player ever to steal
home. He did it in a 6-5 victory over the Yanks on
Tuesday.
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April 18: Yes, Michael
Vick is talented. Blah blah blah. But, do you
know how many passes he's thrown in the NFL? None.
You know how many yards he's rushed in the NFL?
None. So, why are he and his two agents, Andre Colona
and Michael Sullivan, demanding a $15 million signing bonus in
his negotiations with the San Diego Chargers?
Greed. A lot of good it did the Chargers' last
quarterback they drafted. That was Ryan Leaf.
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April 17: It hadn't
happened since 1991 that a man other than a Kenyan won the
Boston Marathon. Until Monday. South Korean Lee
Bong-ju pulled away in the final stages, finally finishing
ahead of the pack in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 43 seconds. It
was South Korea's first Boston victory in 51
years.
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April 17: It doesn't happen
all that often, but Mother Nature reared her ugly head
on Monday and forced the Cubs-Phillies game at Chicago to be
canceled because of snow. As the organist played
"Jingle Bells" and "Sleigh Ride" for the
few fans hoping to see a game, it was called 35 minutes before
the first pitch was scheduled.
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April 16: For the
first time since Tiger Woods did it last summer, we have a
back-to-back Top. On Sunday, the Minnesota Twins
elevated their record to 9-2, which is the best start in
franchise history. They did it by beating the White Sox,
4-3. The Twins now have the largest lead in a division
in MLB at four games. Yes, it's only week two - but,
it's still a great start, especially for a team that most
think has no shot at all given their low roster salary.
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April 16: Again, it
was a spring match-up between the Lakers and Trail Blazers.
Again, the Blazers couldn't measure up in the final
minutes. With playoff seedings on the line, Portland led
a one-point lead evaporate allowing Los Angeles to score the
last six points of their 105-100 loss on Sunday. In last
season's Western Conference Finals, the Blazers gave up a
double-digit lead in the fourth quarter to these same Lakers.
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April 15: In the last
30 years, even when they won the World Series, the Minnesota
Twins never started the season so well. After
beating the Chicago White Sox, the Twins improved to 8-2 and
an early 3.5 game lead in the division. Brad Radke
pitched his League-leading third win of the season in routing
the Sox, 9-4, on Saturday.
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April 15: In the inaugural
game of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the
first major women's professional soccer league in the United
States, 1999 World Cup heroine Brandi Chastain made a
big mistake when she fouled Team USA teammate Mia Hamm.
The ensuing penalty kick gave Hamm's Washington Freedom the
only goal of the game as they defeated Chastain's Bay Area
CyberRays, 1-0.
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April 14: After going
to the AFC Championship last year, the Oakland Raiders
have been busy adding some key free agents that have made them
even stronger than last year. The latest acquisition is
running back Charlie Garner, who has rushed for over 1,000
yards the last two years. He replaces Napoleon Kaufman
who retired earlier this week. The Raiders have also
signed former Miami defensive end Trace Armstrong and
Dallas/New England tight end Eric Bjornson.
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April 14: We suppose
that, if you're a Dallas Mavericks fan, you probably think
he's cool. We're not. We don't. Mavs owner Mark
Cuban has simply been an annoying distraction this year,
being fined and suspended more often than Dennis Rodman could
have ever dreamed. The latest is a $100,000 fine and one
game suspension for making a "derogatory gesture"
and criticizing referees during a game earlier this
week. Cuban has now passed the 1/2 million dollar
plateau in fines this year.
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April 13: When it's
overtime, the Sacramento Kings know how to win.
In escaping San Antonio with a 107-105 victory in overtime,
the Kings set an NBA record for overtime wins in a season with
nine.
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April 13: ABC had a
wonderful tradition going with its opening Monday Night
Football games. Every year the Super Bowl Champion
from the previous year hosted a team that was hot on their
heals. Packers-Bears; Broncos-Dolphins;
Rams-Broncos. So, where are the Ravens in Week One of
next year's schedule? At home to the Bears on
Sunday. Instead of giving the Champs their props, they
gave it to the Broncos, opening their new stadium against the
New York Giants. Let's just hope Jason Sehorn has picked
up his jockstrap off the field by then.
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April 12: Two weeks
ago, Outsports baseball insider Charlie In The Trees
predicted that the New York Mets would finish third in their
division, and he drew some harsh criticism from at least one
fan who said CITT didn't know what he was talking about - the
Mets would win the division. So, from time to time,
we're going to check in on how Charlie's prediction is
doing. Eight games in, the New York Mets are in FOURTH
place in the division, already three games back. They're
3-5 against - all against other NL East teams. Not bad .
. . for eight games in.
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April 12: It ain't easy
being Isiah Thomas these days. First he ruined,
in 18 short months, his newly acquired Continental Basketball
Association after more than 50 years in existence. Then he
ruined an Indiana Pacers team that went to the NBA Finals last
year under Larry Bird. On Wednesday, they clinched the
eighth spot in the Eastern Conference - little consolation for
the man with the super ego.
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April 11: Just in
time for the playoffs, David Robinson poured in his
best performance of the season scoring 34 points and grabbing
11 rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs' 91-79 beating of fifth
place Dallas. Robinson's Spurs have a 2 1/2 game lead in
the Western Conference with just four games left.
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April 11: Don't count
on Michigan State making its fourth consecutive Final
Four trip next year. Not only are four seniors leaving
the team next year, but two underclassmen, sophomore leading
scorer Jason Richardson and freshman Zach Randolph,
are also headed to the NBA draft. These two join a herd
of underclassmen leaving school early to make it rich in the
NBA.
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April 10: Troy
Aikman announced his retirement from pro football on
Monday and we applaud the decision. Aikman, who has suffered
numerous concussions the past few years, got out while he
still had his health. He quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys to
three Super Bowl titles and it would have been weird to see
him don a different uniform.
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April 10: Michael Jordan
is about to eclipse even Charles Barkley for false
retirements. And that's impressive. All reports
are pointing to MJ's return to the NBA as a player, this time,
for the Washington Wizards - including a statement by Wizards
majority owner Abe Pollin saying, "the odds are that he's
going to come back." Call us crazy but, to us, a
retirement should mean a retirement, not "until I feel
like playing again."
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April 9: It's hard to
believe that, just six weeks ago, many people were talking
about a Tiger Woods "slump." On Sunday,
though, he became the first person to hold all four Major
titles (U.S., British, PGA, and Masters) at the same time,
winning the Masters for his second green jacket. He
finished two shots ahead of David Duval. Tiger was in
tears after his historic victory. "I've never had
that feeling before," he said.
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April 9: Stop the
bleeding. Arizona's Richard Jefferson, a junior,
is the latest to opt for the NBA draft instead of finishing
his college career. Jefferson averaged 11.3 points and
5.3 rebounds per game this season. "It has been a
lifelong dream of mine to play in the NBA," Jefferson
said. Too bad it won't last very long.
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April 8: 52 years is
a long time to have to wait for anything. A national
title is no exception. But, that's how long Boston
College had to wait before winning its first NCAA
Championship in any sport before they did it on Saturday,
beating North Dakota for the NCAA hockey title, 3-2 in
overtime. It was the Eagles' fourth straight Frozen Four
(hockey's version of the Final Four) appearance. The
school's last hockey title, in 1949, was the last it had won.
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April 8: We were at
the ESPN Action Sports & Music Awards on Saturday
at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles (hey, the tickets
and food were free).
Yikes. The idea is to bring GenX together with the
sports (extreme mostly) and music (grunge mostly) that defines
the generation. But, mix in a 40-minute delay, hosts who
can't read the teleprompter, presenters who screw up the
presentations, and award winners who are high as a kite and
can't get out an acceptance speech and you have . . . GenX.
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April 7: Carlos
Delgado took the early home run lead, belting out two in
his Blue Jays' victory over the New York Yankees, 13-4, on
Friday and lifting his season total to five home runs.
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April 7: When he came to
the Portland Trail Blazers, Shawn Kemp was supposed to
be the trump card for the team to win the NBA
Championship. On Friday that all came crashing down as
Kemp checked himself into a drug rehabilitation center for his
cocaine use. And, while he is to be commended for
identifying his problem himself, he seems to simply be the
latest in a long line of athletes who abuse drugs. Why
won't it just stop?
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April 6: It's one thing to
win a game and clinch a playoff berth. But, to lose a
game and clinch a playoff berth - now that's something.
Last night, the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles
Kings were on opposite sides of the win column, with the
latter losing at Vancouver, 3-2. But, both squads
clinched a playoff berth as the Phoenix Coyotes were
eliminated from the playoff race.
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April 6: Just four games
into the season, the Milwaukee Brewers are already 3.5
games out of first in their division. In losing their
first four games, they were outscored 28-11. They return
home on Friday to play host to Cincinnati who's at .500.
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April 5: Hideo Nomo
is apparently taking well to his shift to the East
Coast. In his first start in a Boston Red Sox uniform,
the pitcher from Japan threw a no-hitter against Baltimore,
3-0. He joins only Cy Young, Nolan Ryan and Jim Bunning
to have thrown a no-hitter in both Leagues.
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April 5: No surprise
here - it's tough being a Los Angeles Clipper these
days. On Wednesday, the Vancouver Grizzlies set a number
of club records against the Clippers, including most wins in a
season (22), most home wins (15), and their ninth win since
the All-Star Break.
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April 4: Finally, the
Portland Trail Blazers have decided to step in.
Rasheed Wallace has set the NBA record for technical fouls in
one year - for the second time in his short career. And
the Blazers have had enough. They handed Wallace a one
game suspension for his latest - a double-technical game from
which he was ejected.
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April 4: Could there be any
more drama surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers? Today it
was announced that conditioning coach Jon Croce,
brother of owner Pat Croce, was dismissed in January for
stealing from Allen Iverson's pants in a locker room. A
surveillance camera had caught him in the act. Now,
we're wondering if Iverson will be fired for stealing the
Leagues' MVP trophy . . . .
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April 3: On Sunday, A-Rod
seemed to crack under the pressure of $252 million. On
Monday, it was Gary Sheffield overcoming his own home
crowd booing him as he belted a homerun in the sixth inning to
lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers,
1-0. Sheffield was raked through the coals in the L.A.
press in recent months for demanding to be traded from the
Dodgers.
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April 3: We have,
unfortunately, probably seen the last of Darryl Strawberry.
The former slugger was arrested in Tampa, Fla., after checking
into a hospital following his four day disappearance from a
drug treatment center - a violation of his probation
warrant. Chances are very good that Strawberry will now
be incarcerated for quite some time.
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April 2: It doesn't sound
right, but it's true: Notre Dame has won a National
Championship in basketball. The Irish topped in-state
rival Purdue on Sunday, 68-66, to capture the Women's NCAA
National Championship as Ruth Riley sank two free
throws with 5.8 seconds to go to win. Riley finished
with 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks.
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April 2: This is why the Texas
Rangers' acquisition of A-Rod won't equal a trip to the
playoffs - Texas still doesn't have defense. After
making a $252 million deal with the short stop, the Rangers
opened the 2001 season by allowing eight runs, losing 8-1 to
the Toronto Blue Jays. For the Rangers' sake, we hope
A-Rod fills those seats despite losing.
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April 1: It was the
day of the comebacks. While the Duke Blue Devils
were coming back from a 22 point deficit against Maryland in
the Final Four, Venus Williams staged a great rally of
her own.. At the Ericsson Open final, she staved off
eight match points, finally beating Jennifer Capriati, 4-6,
6-1, 7-6 (4).
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April 1: Darryl Strawberry
has found himself hunted by the law again. A warrant has
been put out for the multi-time drug abuse offender (and
former MLB pitcher) after he left a drug treatment center
where he was under house arrest in Tampa, Fla.
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