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JANUARY 2001
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Jan. 31: Mario Lemieux continues
to amaze. Tuesday night he scored a goal and had two assists
as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Thrashers for
their fourth straight win. Lemieux has 15 goals and 16 assists in his 15 post-retirement
games. And he's a huge draw: Tuesday's crowd in Atlanta (more
than 19,000) was a record for the Thrashers.
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Jan. 31: Allen Iverson was
caught on tape Sunday yelling, ``Go home, faggot'' to a fan at
the Philadelphia 76ers game. The NBA says it's investigating.
The Sixers' general manager Billy King told ESPN: ``"I think there were things that were said to Allen on the
court, and I think Allen responded. And I think a lot of players respond. I don't think Allen was being derogatory
to any group or anything like that. I think it was taunting back and forth between a fan. The fan didn't complain. I think it's a story that's being made out of nothing."
Get a clue, Billy. If a player had used an offensive slur
about any ethnic or religious group you wouldn't be so quick
to say it's nothing. This is the same Iverson who was
reprimanded for his rap lyrics that were derogatory to gays
and women. Wonder if someone has issues with their sexuality?
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Jan. 30: The Missouri
Tigers ended No.3 Kansas' 10-game winning streak, beating
the Jayhawks 75-66 Monday night. It was the fifth
straight time that a ranked Kansas team lost at
Missouri. The Tigers were led by Kareem Rush who
had 27 points and 11 rebounds.
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Jan. 30: The Denver
Broncos are already starting 2001 on the wrong foot.
After ending 2000 with a playoff loss at Baltimore, they have
angered the Mayor of Denver and fans by choosing to sell the
naming rights for their new stadium. Instead of the
fans' choice, "Mile High Stadium," it will be called
"Invesco Field at Mile High." Invesco
Funds Group paid $120 million for the name.
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Jan. 29:
Super Bowl edition
- The Ravens defense was as good as advertised. It
held the Giants scoreless, picked off four passes and never allowed New York inside
its 29. Truly awesome and one of the best ever.
- The three touchdowns in 36 seconds brought life to a
game that was generally dull throughout.
- The amazing Ravens' streak continues: They were 16-0
this season when they scored at least 7 points. In effect, the game was over with 7 minutes to go in the
first period.
- Trent Dilfer is not among
the game's best quarterbacks, but is very classy and seems
genuine. So it was nice to see him get a ring and play
well enough.
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Jan. 29: Super Bowl edition
- Kerry Collins was abysmal (four interceptions;
it easily could have been seven). Has a quarterback ever been
so bad in such a big game? He looked tentative and confused and his pick near the end of the first half
prevented the Giants from getting a field goal that would have put them back in the game.
- CBS had a zillion cameras, yet somehow missed the
game's most important play: the holding call on Keith Hamilton that wiped out a Giants' defensive TD that
would have tied the game. We never saw whom he held and whether it was a good call. But CBS did manage to
show us enough Survivor promos
to make us sick.
- Jason Sehorn is so over. He's vain and
pretentious and on Sunday was just plain awful. He got toasted on
the Ravens' first TD and got beat twice more on what would have been two more TDs, save for Trent Dilfer
overthrowing his receiver.
- Hated the Cingular commercial
featuring the disabled painter. Milking a real human interest story to sell
whatever the hell Cingular sells was creepy.
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Jan. 28: For the
first time in his career, Andre Agassi successfully
defended a Grand Slam crown, winning the Australian Open for
the second consecutive year.
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Jan. 28: Up by 10
with one minute left. At home. Dominating the #2
team in the country. But, on Saturday, the Maryland
Terrapins just couldn't finish off the Duke Blue
Devils. After dominating the game, the Terps fell apart
with one minute left, letting Duke go on a 10-0 run to tie the
game, then losing by two in overtime, 98-96. It was one
of the worst collapses in the last minute in modern history.
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Jan. 27: We've been lauding
her all week, so it's only fitting that we give her one more
round of applause. Jennifer Capriati not only
made her first Grand Slam Final at the Australian Open this
week, she WON her first Grand Slam by beating #1 Martina
Hingis, 6-4, 6-3. She is the first woman, and only the
tenth woman ever
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Jan. 27: What's wrong with
Tiger Woods? On the second round of the Phoenix Open
on Friday, Woods shot an abismal 73 - two whole shots over par
- including four, count them FOUR, bogies. Oh, it also
ended his streak of 52 consecutive rounds at par or better.
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Jan. 26: Fresno State's
victory on Thursday was historical in more than one way.
Not only was it coach Jerry Tarkanian's 750th career
win, but it was the 13th straight win for the team - tying a
20-year-old school record. Plus, in beating UTEP
(seventh in the nation in scoring), 108-56, they handed that
school its worse loss in school history.
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Jan. 26: After reigning as
WBC Champ and going through years of pounding in the ring,
it's ironic that a traffic accident will keep Tim
Witherspoon out of his next fight. His car was
struck by a motorist who ran a red light on Monday. He
had wanted to fight anyway this Saturday, but his doctor will
not cleared him.
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Jan. 25: And what a
comeback tour this is turning out to be. Despite being
the wunderkind of the women's tour in the early 1990's, Jennifer
Capriati never made it to a Grand Slam Final. She
has now. After upsetting Lindsay Davenport in her
semifinal match, 6-3, 6-4, Capriati will play top-seeded
Martina Hingis in the finals. Capriati also caps off a
week that saw women named the Outsports Top of the Day five
consecutive days for the first time ever.
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Jan. 25: To be dissed by a
high school senior. For football powerhouse Penn
State, that's gotta hurt. But, on Wednesday, the top
high school running back in the nation, Cardinal O'Hara High's
(Pa.) Kevin Jones, stunned everyone at the press conference
where he was announcing his intention to play at Penn
State. But, as he picked up a Penn State jersey, he
quickly ripped off the sweatshirt he had on to reveal the
Virginia Tech jersey he was wearing. The local
Pennsylvania crowd was less than thrilled.
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Jan. 24: Michelle Snow of
the University of Tennessee became only the second woman in
the history of NCAA basketball to dunk the ball twice in one
season. Snow, who was already only the third woman to
ever dunk a ball in a game, jammed the ball home with seven
seconds remaining in the game and Tennessee trying to protect
a seven point lead. The dunk sealed the win. Snow
also got a technical foul called on her for the play, as she
hung too long on the rim.
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Jan. 24: At the Super
Bowl Media Day today in Tampa Bay, the Ravens were at it
again, talking about everything but football. Shannon
Sharpe, Ray Lewis, and Brian Billick followed up
Billick's lecture to the press yesterday saying that none of
them should be asked about what happened at the last Super
Bowl that led to the arrest of Lewis on murder charges.
As Billick has said, the team that wins on Sunday will be the
team that can put the distractions aside the best. By
constantly talking about not talking about this issue, Billick
is leading his team down the wrong side of the road.
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Jan. 23: Jennifer Capriati
is starting the 2001 leg of her comeback tour in solid
fashion, knocking off Monica Seles to reach the semifinals of
the Australian Open, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. It was only Seles'
second loss ever at the Australian Open, having won the event
four of the previous five times she entered the
tournament. She will next play either Lindsay Davenport
or Anna Kournikova. This is the first time Capriati has
been in the Australian Open's semifinals since 1991, when she
was 15.
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Jan. 23: Right now,
the men's and women's college basketball polls are topped by
the only two undefeated teams in the country. On the
men's side, it's #1 Stanford; on the women's side, it's #1
Notre Dame. Both Stanford and Notre Dame also beat the
teams that are ranked #2 in their respective polls. Yet,
in every major poll, there are AP and Coaches pollsters
who are voting Duke and UConn (the two #2's) #1 - that is,
despite having LOST to the teams that are still
undefeated. Well, at least now we know this
"creative" voting isn't just football.
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Jan. 22: For the
first time ever, a woman has won the Dakar Rally. Jutta
Kleinschmidt of Germany was the first person to cross the
finish line of the 6,658 mile race that started in Paris on
New Year's Day and ended Sunday in Dakar, Senegal. Kleinschmidt
also made history in 1999 as the first woman to place in the
race, finishing third.
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Jan. 22: It's almost fun to
pick on the Los Angeles Lakers now. The latest
was an 11 point home loss to the Miami Heat. After the
game, Kobe Bryant said his team is out of shape (how does that
happen three months into the season?) and Ron Harper said his
team is not very good (you won the NBA Championship last
season and were supposed to IMPROVE this season). Yikes.
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Jan. 21: If there is a
"Michael Jordan" in women's sports right now, it is Michelle
Kwan. The figure skater won her fourth straight U.S.
Figure Skating Championship, and her fifth overall, on
Saturday after falling behind early. She capped her
Championship performance with a near-perfect free skate that
earned her two scores of 6.0.
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Jan. 21: Arnold
Palmer has been removed from his 25-year position as
honorary chairperson of the USGA's membership program.
Palmer is endorsing a non-conforming driver. USGA
President Trey Holland says the endorsement translates into
Palmer endorsing breaking the rules of the organization.
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Jan. 20: In the end, it was
a shot by Darryl Sydor that ricocheted off of a
defender that ended the game. But, in the Dallas
Stars' 6-5 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins,
it was both teams that put on a show that included the home
team (Stars) coming back from down 2-0 and three tying goals
in the third period alone.
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Jan. 20: In the latest
looming casualty of free agency, Houston Rockets' superstar Hakeem
Olajuwon is reportedly
talking about being traded to the Miami Heat where he can play
for Pat Riley. Remember the days when guys actually
stayed in one place for their whole careers, and didn't retire
then come back the next season? Ah, memories.
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Jan. 19: The Dallas
Mavericks got another win Thursday night as Dirk Nowitzki scored
a career-high 39 points. The Mavs' win came against the
Orlando Magic in overtime, 115-106. The Mavs are now
15-8 since mid-December and have posted back-to-back
come-from-behind wins after losing three straight for the
first time this season.
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Jan. 19: Seattle
Supersonic superstar Gary Payton will be watching
Friday's game from the sidelines after the team suspended him
for conduct detrimental to the team. Payton got into an
angry confrontation with teammate Ruben Patterson during the
Sonics' home loss to Phoenix on Wednesday.
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Jan. 18: In the
battle-tested ACC, only the strong will survive. Maryland
is again proving they make the cut. Their big win over
#8 Wake Forest Wednesday night, 81-71, was their 12th victory
in 13 games and vaults them back into the nation's
elite. Juan Dixon scored 30 points in the Terps'
first win over a ranked opponent this season.
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Jan. 18: It is really
hurting to be a Florida Gators fan right now. By
no fault of their own, the Gators are falling apart.
After temporarily losing starters Teddy Dupay and Brent Wright
to injuries, the Gators lost guard Justing Hamilton on
Wednesday night to what seems to be a torn ACL, which would
end his season. #7 Florida lost to unranked Georgia
along the way, 75-72.
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Jan. 17: Most basketball
teams these days have trouble scoring 100 points in one
night. On Tuesday, though, Dajuan Wagner of
Camden High School in New Jersey scored 100 points himself in
his team's 157-67 victory over Gloucester Township Technical
School. Wagner is the first male high school player in 22
years to break the century mark.
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Jan. 17: After playing just
nine games this season, Mario Lemieux was named to the NHL
All Star team as a reserve. Lemieux has nine goals
and 10 assists since returning to the Penguins.
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Jan. 16: The UConn Lady
Huskies finally lost a game on their trip to Notre Dame
this weekend as they fell to the Irish, 92-76. The loss
ended a 30-game win streak that included last season's
National Championship.
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Jan. 16: We've heard of
guys punching the other team's coach during a game, but
punching your own coach? New York Knick Marcus Camby
threw a swing at Spur Danny Ferry last night, and Knick coach
Jeff Van Gundy got in the way, after Ferry had poked Camby in
the eye. Van Gundy required 12-15 stitches. After
the game, Camby waited outside of the Spur locker room, and
then waited outside of Madison Square Garden, hoping to get
another swing at Ferry.
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Jan. 15: Defense wins
championships. Last year, that model came into question
as the Rams slipped their way past the Bucs and Titans and won
the Super Bowl. All of a sudden, everyone wanted speed
on offense and a quarterback who could get the ball
there. Defense? Who needs it? We'll just
score more points than our opponents. A lot of good it
did Oakland and Minnesota. Now, while the Super Bowl's
final score may be 4-3, it's great to see two teams that
didn't forget that old mantra playing in Tampa Bay for the
Lombardi Trophy. Of course, now everyone wants a Ray
Lewis.
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Jan. 15: We don't
know what games Sports Illustrated was watching this
season, but we just don't understand why they said, in a
recent issue, that Fox commentator Pat Summerall had had a
return to excellence in calling games. Sunday's NFC
Championship game summed up Pat's season for us: getting
guys' names wrong, making bad calls, and at one point saying
that Kerry Collins was trying to quiet the crowd (he was signaling
to his team that they would let the clock run down).
Next they'll be saying how Denny Green is a great playoff
coach.
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Jan. 14: When Jerry
Tarkanian took over the reigns at Fresno State, the former
UNLV head basketball coach/guru had a lot of expectations
riding on his shoulders. While every other year, his
team has started ranked highly and faded fast, this year
they're climbing up the ladder with solid wins - the latest a
six point win over SMU that catapulted the Bulldogs to a 15-2
mark.
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Jan. 14: After a big win
against St. Louis a couple days ago, the Western Conference
leading San Jose Sharks practically forgot to show up
Saturday night, losing at home to the Nashville Predators,
5-3.
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Jan. 13: After 23 years,
Baylor's back in the game. At 13-0, the women's
basketball team has entered the AP Top 25 for the first time
since January 25, 1978. A huge improvement from last
year's 7-20 record, the Bears are being led this year by
junior college transfer Sheila Lambert. Outsports'
women's college ball experts Chip and Mikey B have been
telling us to watch
out for Baylor since November.
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Jan. 13: First
Cris Carter, then Steve Lavin, now Shaq. The
whiny little bitch syndrome is apparently contagious.
After being the focal point of the Magic and Lakers offense
since he entered the NBA, Shaq has been reduced to the role of
support for teammate Kobe Bryant this season. Last
year's League MVP, in frustration, asked to be traded two
weeks ago and has ignited a firestorm of press focusing on the
growingly dysfunctional relationship between Shaq and Kobe.
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Jan. 12: Welcome to the
Nine Lives Of Steve Lavin. The guy should have
been let go after his first "interim" year as UCLA
head basketball coach. But, the guy keeps winning just
enough to save his job. On Thursday, his Bruins beat
cross-town Top 25 rival USC, 80-75, amidst rumors that UCLA is
looking to replace Lavin with Rick Pitino. The win was
good for Lavin. Bad for UCLA.
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Jan. 12: What is
wrong with Cincinnati running back Corey Dillon?
Last November, he fired his agent. Then, on Thursday, he
fired his new agent. Dillon says that he did not
authorize him to pass on an eight year offer from the Bengals.
Now, the Bengals' front office is as confused as ever, after
being dissed by Dillon continually over the last couple of
years, and Dillon sitting out part of this season because he
didn't want to play with the Bengals. The guy needs to
get a grip.
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Jan. 11: The Portland
Trailblazers are on a tear. They have won nine
straight games, and have catapulted themselves to the best
record in the West, at 26-10. The latest was an 18 point
shellacking of the NBA's best team, the Philadelphia 76ers in
Philly.
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Jan. 11: UCLA
basketball coach Steve Lavin has got to be
kidding. When he heard that his athletic director had
spoken to Rick Pitino about coming on to coach the Bruins,
Lavin called Pitino and "opportunist."
Huh? Isn't Lavin the guy who quickly took over the
reigns when Jim Harrick was fired a couple years back?
Pot calling the kettle black, it seems.
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Jan. 10: Can you imagine
doing anything 80 times in a row? Even 80 sit-ups can
give a lot of people fret. But, the Washington
University women's basketball team has won 80 games in a
row, including three Division III National Championship
games. The latest was a 110-55 victory over MacMurray on
Tuesday.
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Jan. 10: He was a
great coach, but Bill Parcells has his problems.
For one reason or another, the guy just can't stay put.
After bailing on the Giants and Patriots after Super Bowl
appearances, and abandoning his coaching position with the
Jets after just three seasons, Parcells has now left his Jets
front office position after just one year. We like his
coaching, but we just wish he'd have picked a place and run
off more than just a couple Super Bowls . . .
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Jan. 9: The Oakland A's made
a very aggressive move to get back into the baseball playoffs
by signing star Kansas City outfielder Johnny Damon as part of
a three-team trade. The deal also sent outfielder Ben Grieve from
Oakland to Tampa Bay and closer Roberto Hernandez from the Devil Rays to the
Royals. While Damon will be a sought-after free agent
following the season, Oakland should be applauded for a
win-now mentality. Guys like Damon don't come along every day.
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Jan. 9: Wade Phillips, the
poster boy for Outsports' Bonehead
Coach of the Week award, was finally fired by the Buffalo
Bills after three seasons of unfulfilled promise. Phillips was
axed after refusing to dismiss special teams coach Ronnie
Jones. Talk about misplaced loyalty. Jones, a good buddy of
Wade, had never coached special teams before being hired
before this season. The Bills special teams regressed in six
of the eight categories kept by the NFL and Jones deserved to
be canned. And Wade will also be remembered as the boob who
benched (and lied to) Doug Flutie prior to the 1999 playoffs
despite Flutie being responsible for taking the Bills to a
wild card spot.
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Jan. 8: In a weekend when
four NFL games pretty much stunk up the joint, it was some
commentary that livened up the show. First, it was Phil
Simms, telling us how "Lamar Smith doesn't look like
much in his underwear." It was just the latest in a
season-long string of odd physique comments from Simms.
Then, when Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair pulled back from
center too early, Dan Dierdorf noted that the center
usually gives up the ball when the quarterback gooses him.
But, John Madden trumped them all when, in the Philly-New York
snoozer, Madden said that Giant Michael Strahan told
him earlier that week, "I was looking at Glen Parker's
body in the shower the other day."
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Jan. 8: Oh, to be the AFC
#1 seed. You get to play every home game, until the
Super Bowl of course, on your home field. But, for the
last 11 seasons, only one AFC #1 seed has won the Super Bowl
(Denver in 1998). This weekend, that streak continued
when the Tennessee Titans failed to win their first home
playoff game since the "Music City Miracle" last
season. Kicker Al Del Greco was the goat of the
game, having two kicks blocked and hitting the left upright on
a third attempt. "He just misses against us,"
Ravens defensive tackle Tony Siragusa said. "I don't know
if we have something to do with it, if it's our
cologne...."
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Jan. 7: The Oakland Raiders
didn't take long to start their rout over the Miami Dolphins,
as defensive back Tory James intercepted a pass on
Miami's first possession and ran it back 90 yards for a
touchdown. It was James' first interception of two on
the game. He also scored on a fumble recovery that was
called back by everyone's favorite NFL referee, Phil Luckett.
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Jan. 7: Viking wide
receiver Cris Carter is a whiny little bitch. His
entire career, this guy has gotten off the field after every
missed reception, run over to the nearest official, and whined
that he was held, interfered with, or looked at funny.
Saturday was no exception. He started early, whining to
the officials in the first half when quarterback Daunte
Culpepper missed him on a couple passes. Then, when he
missed a third reception, he got off the ground and punched
the cornerback who had been defending him. Of course, no flag
was thrown. On another
run into the sidelines, he even clobbered Pam Oliver, the Fox
correspondent. And, for the entire second half, he got
into a jawing match with Saints coach Jim Haslett (who used
the word ``bullshit'' to describe Carter's cheap shot on a
Saint DB). Carter waggled his hand and indicated "first down" to
Haslett every time he caught the ball. Waaaaaaa.
Waaaaaa. He's a great receiver but shows little class. Carter is our reason #1 to hate the Minnesota
Vikings.
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Jan. 6: New Orleans Saints
coach Jim Haslett was named the NFL Coach Of The Year
on Friday after leading his team to an 11-5 record and the NFC
West title - two things NO ONE saw coming. It was his
first season as the (formerly) 'Aints head coach, after Mike
Ditka had failed to do anything with the team except trade
away an entire year's worth of drafts for one player.
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Jan. 6: Imagine scoring 51
points in an NBA game. And imagine backing it up with
another 26 rebounds. All-star performance and a victory
for your team, right? Not if you're Chris Webber, who
did those things and saw his Sacramento Kings lose to
the Indiana Pacers.
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Jan. 5: The NBA has
had enough of Mark Cuban. The Dallas Mavericks owner was
fined $250,000 "for
his outbursts and actions concerning game officials"
after his team's loss on Wednesday. It's good to see the
National Badboys Association finally taking strong stands
against the bad apples.
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Jan. 5: 99-72.
94-77. 82-59. These were some scores from Top 25
men's college basketball on Thursday night as the top teams
rolled in conference openers. Then there was
49-46. You guessed it: Wisconsin Badgers
basketball. Whether they're winning games or not,
it's an ugly way to win: slow down on offense and lull the
opposition to sleep. Unfortunately, they're lulling TV
viewers, too.
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Jan. 4: Who else, but
the Oklahoma Sooners. Coming into the Orange Bowl
ranked #1 in every poll, they were 12 1/2 point underdogs to
Florida State. The Sooners defense held the third
highest-scoring offense to no points in their 13-2 BCS
Championship victory. Quarterback Josh Heupel failed to
get into the end zone, though he threw for 214 yards, 60 fewer
than Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke.
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Jan. 4: We don't mean to
take anything away from Oklahoma's National Championship, but
the BCS just blows. Now all of its supporters
will claim that the system worked - there is only one
undefeated team left. It still doesn't account for the
fact that Washington, Miami, and Oregon State all finished
with one loss and, arguably, deserved to play Oklahoma in the
Orange Bowl. Where is an NCAA
Tournament?
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Jan. 3: We here at
Outsports are not fans of the BCS, and we are loving what
could happen in college football after the Miami Hurricanes
dismantled Florida, 37-20, in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday.
Except for the Hurricanes' mascot, Sebastian the Ibis, who ran
onto the field and incurred a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty
for his team, this team played like champions. It'll be
up to the AP voters as to whether they get a share of the championship or not.
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Jan. 3: Joe Theismann, for
underperforming. At halftime of the Sugar Bowl, Theismann was
paired with a guy with a chance for the guy to win a million.
All Theismann, a former NFL All-Pro, had to so was throw a
football through the opening of a giant cell phone 10 times in
45 seconds to win the guy a guaranteed $100,000. But Joe was
pretty off and managed to hit only six (after guaranteeing
eight). $60,000 is nothing to sneeze at but the game seems
designed to virtually guarantee $100,000. The guy then had one
throw to add a zero to the $60,000. He missed.
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Jan. 2: Pac-10 football had
plenty to celebrate on New Year's Day, as the conference's top
two teams dominated their opponents, both from Indiana. In the Rose Bowl,
the #4 Washington Huskies beat Drew
Brees and the #14 Purdue Boilermakers, 34-24.
Later, it
was the #6 Oregon State Beavers who trounced
10th-ranked Notre Dame,
41-9, in the Fiesta Bowl.
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Jan. 2: What a way to ring
in the New Year. In the wee hours of 2001, Washington
Wizards guard Michael Smith was arrested after a brawl
in Washington's waterfront bar, Zanzibar. He was charged
with assault.
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1/1/01: The seedings in
the NFL playoffs were right on this year. Everyone (including
us) thought these would be the most wide open ever, and the
two Saturday games were terrific and could have gone either
way. But in the end, all four home teams won, the first time
that has happened since the league went to 12 playoff teams in
1990.
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1/1/01: A New Year's wish
is for Fox to finally put NFL announcer Pat Summerall out
to pasture. He gets more awful each week. In calling Sunday's
Tampa Bay-Philly game, Pathetic Pat started early, mis-identifying
the return men on the opening kickoff. Among his other
numerous gaffes was saying ``April'' instead of ``apply.'' He
also set up one situation by saying that Philadelphia was
getting close to the end zone. Pat simply then said ``Brian Mitchell,'' with
no explanation as to why. Maybe it's one of the few names he
can pronounce.
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