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JULY 2000
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7/31/00: Tom Glavine looks
more like an accountant than one of the best pitcher of his
era. But on Sunday, Glavine showed why he's tops, winning his
sixth straight game and becoming only the third active pitcher
to get 200 wins.
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7/31/00: NFL exhibition games (the
league calls them ``preseason'') are nothing but another way
for owners to gouge the public and they provide little
excitement on the field. But they do provide serious injuries
each year as the Saints found out. In their opener against the
Jets, New Orleans lost tight end Cam Cleeland and cornerback
Steve Israel for the season and safety Rob Kelly for six
weeks.
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7/30/00: Kudos to Dave
Hyde, sports columnist for the Ft. Lauderdale
Sun-Sentinel, for his honest and sympathetic portrayal of
Billy Bean, the openly gay ex-major leaguer. Bean told of his
love of baseball and his strong desire to land a front-office
position with a big league team. He would seem to have all of
the qualifications, but the story questioned whether pro
sports is ready for an openly gay administrator. Let's hope
so, but we won't hold our breath. One interesting sidelight:
Bean said current players have told him 90% of guys in the
bigs take steroids. Doesn't surprise us. Guys don't get that
big, hard and cut naturally.
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7/30/00: Super agent Leigh
Steinberg, the man who publicly crafted the images of
clients Troy Aikman and Steve Young, was one of the driving
forces behind eliminating
the rainbow as a symbol of the University of Hawaii's
football team. Steinberg told ESPN a year ago, "I think it would be much easier, in many senses, to be convicted of
robbery and serve time, then come play in major-league baseball or the NFL, than
be gay.''
He's certainly entitled to his opinion, but then he goes about
helping to change a 77-year-old logo because of its perceived
link to homosexuality. Steinberg's just part of the problem
and helps contribute to the homophobic atmosphere in sports.
With his clout and profile he could be doing a lot more to
educate people.
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7/29/00: Super handsome
uber-gymnast Blaine Wilson became the first person to
win five straight U.S. Gymnastics Championships in 59 years,
blowing away the competition as second place fell 1.7 points
behind him. He will compete for a spot on the U.S.
Olympic Team in August. Let's just hope he doesn't have
to pull up lame half-way through the race....
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7/29/00: The British
parliament doesn't get it. They passed a bill on
Thursday that allows the police to prevent anyone suspected of
hooliganism from leaving the country to attend sports
matches. This is in reaction to the brawl caused in
Belgium by British fans earlier this year that the Brits claim
cost them the World Cup 2006 bid. Preventing people who
have not been convicted from doing what they want is not the
answer and will not change the attitude in Britain that has
led to so many problems of violence surrounding soccer.
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7/28/00: The St. Louis
Rams did a very good thing on Thursday by rewarding Super
Bowl and League MVP Kurt Warner with a team record $46.5
million seven-year contract and a $11.5 million
signing bonus. While Warner had just that one great
season, the Rams saw fit to reward their player for bringing
them a Super Bowl Championship.
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7/28/00: What are teams
doing holding pre-season practice on Astroturf? On Thursday,
the Buffalo Bills' Doug Flutie went down with a severe
groin injury when the turf gave out under his right leg. This
leaves the Bills with no backup for injury-prone Rob Johnson.
We knew coach Wade Phillips was clueless, but did no one learn
from last season's slew of turf-based injuries?
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7/27/00: Two teams got big signings that should bolster their chances of
winning it all. The Arizona Diamondbacks, tied
for first in the NL West, traded for pitcher Curt Shilling of
Philadelphia, who
was the All Star starter two years ago. The Tennessee
Titans signed Pro Bowl wide receiver Carl Pickens to a
5-year deal. Pickens is a free-agent from the Cincinnati
Bengals who will bolster the 1999 AFC Champions' receiving
corps.
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7/27/00: Arizona State
quarterback Ryan Kealy has been suspended indefinitely
from the team for undisclosed infractions. The Arizona
Republic says Kealy was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of
suspicion of driving under the influence. Kealy started
all 11 games for the Sun Devils last season and is just 444
yards away from becoming the school's No. 2 all-time
career passing leader.
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7/26/00: Brandy Reed
of the Phoenix Mercury scored 31 points as her team beat the
Cleveland Rockers on Monday to move into third place in the
competitive Western Conference. Reed hit 10 of 16 shots and
pulled down 8 rebounds. The win stopped a two-game losing skid
for the Mercury.
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7/26/00: Major League
Baseball has two huge problems: one is the lack of a
salary cap; the other is the New York Yankees. The Yankees
make more money than any other team in baseball, given the
size of their market and the history of their team. And,
without a salary cap, they are free every year to simply buy
their way into the World Series. They've already bought
slugger David Justice and pitcher Denny Neagle, and now
they're going after left fielder B.J. Surhoff. Another New
York World Championship. Yawn.
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7/25/00: Hats off to HBO's
``Real Sports'' for its sensitive portrayal of Greg
Congdon, a Pennsylvania teen whose life in his small town
was made hell after it was discovered he was gay. Congdon, a
wrestling and football star at Troy High School, became
increasingly depressed as he realized he was gay. Believing he
couldn't go on living this lie in a small town, Congdon tried
to commit suicide in 1998. After telling hospital staffers the
reason for the attempt, Congdon's promised anonymity was
violated by someone and he became a pariah in town, openly
harassed by teammates who were once his friends and driven off
of the teams. Congdon's understandable bitterness comes
through in the HBO piece, and he lives what seems a fairly
isolated life in the town. His supportive parents are suing
the hospital for allegedly violating his
confidentiality. Through it all Congdon has never
lost sight of who he is and is determined never to back down.
Among the on-air interview was one with author and openly gay
coach Dan
Woog, who has a profile on Outsports. Bravo to him and bravo to ``Real Sports,'' which has done two
pieces on gay athletes since May. See Week
in Review for a discussion of the May show. The
Congdon piece airs again this week on Tuesday, Thursday and
Friday.
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7/25/00: A thumbs down to
``Real Sports'' anchor Bryant Gumbel for his insensitivity
following the Greg Congdon piece (see left). He asked the
reporter on the story whether a second suicide attempt by
Congdon was just a cry for help because he ``only'' took a
fistful of Tylenol. As a viewer wrote on HBO's message board:
``Anyone who has had basic first aid knows that Tylenol can be one of the most lethal drugs taken in overdose. A bottle of Tylenol left in the medicine cabinet can kill. Sounds pretty serious, and not just like " a cry for help" to me.''
We agree. And memo to Gumbel and the reporter: Being gay is
not a ``lifestyle.''
7/25/00: Can things get any worse for the Texas
Rangers? A preseason pennant contender, the Rangers have
been mired in last place all season. On Monday they suffered a
devastating blow when star catcher Ivan Rodriguez broke his
thumb and will miss the rest of the season.
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7/24/00: It was quite a day
for the Americans in Europe. In the world's most
renowned cycling race, the Tour de France, it was American Lance
Armstrong repeating as champion. This just a few
years after being diagnosed with cancer and given a 20% chance
of living. Across the English Channel, it was Tiger
Woods ripping up the world's most renowned golfing
event. Woods shot a record -19 at Saint Andrews in
Scotland and won by eight strokes. At the age of 24,
Woods is the youngest golfer ever to win the sport's career
Grand Slam.
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7/24/00: U.S.A. Track &
Field now has a monkey on its back. Due to its
Olympic team selection process, the two best sprinters in the
200- meter dash, including the world record holder and
defending Olympic champion, will not run in Sydney. Both
Michael Johnson and Maurice Green pulled up with injuries
halfway through the race and were unable to finish.
U.S.A. Track & Field chooses its Olympic team solely on
athletes' placing in the qualifying meet. In contrast,
other countries leave room to appoint certain positions on the
team in case a freak accident like this happens.
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7/23/00: It took some extra
special encouragement to keep A's pitcher Barry Zito in the
game on Saturday. In the fifth inning with the bases
loaded and no outs, pitching coach Rick Peterson and
catcher Ramon Hernandez came out to the pitcher's
mound. And, as they calmed him down with their words,
they patted him on the butt. And did it again. And
again. And patted him some more. They touched his
butt so many times, it even prompted ESPN to do a spot on it
on Saturday night. Zito
said, "Peterson came out and reminded me of the time
during spring training when I kept my composure during a
similar situation," Oh, really?
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7/23/00: John McEnroe or no
John McEnroe, the U.S. Davis Cup team put forth an
embarrassing performance in their semi-final appearance
against Spain. The team failed to get any of the top
three American players - Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and
Michael Chang (on clay) - to play and the U.S. got swept, 3-0.
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7/22/00: Soon-to-be
two-time repeat champion Lance Armstrong did something
Friday he hadn't been able to do for the first 18 stages - win
a day at the 2000 Tour de France. He opened a 6+ minute
lead in doing so and, barring a catastrophe, secured his
second tour win in as many years.
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7/22/00: Street &
Smith's magazine is the bible to many of pre-season
college football and the NFL. In order to attract more
attention on the newsstands, they put a regional cover on
their magazine: in the West, they'll use a player in the
West; in the Midwest, a player in the Midwest.... On
their Southeast cover this month, they included Florida's
quarterback wearing #7...Danny Wuerffel...who is long-since
graduated from Florida.
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7/21/00: After taking a
couple detours on the 14th hole at the women's U.S. Open, Meg
Mallon took a 1 shot lead going into Day 2. On the
14th, Mallon tried to hit the ball over a large pond - and
landed the ball in the water; tried to cut a dogleg - and
landed the ball in a bunker; then she cut through the 13th
fairway and said that, if officials didn't like it, they could
put some porta-potties in her way.
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7/21/00: On Thursday the
Washington Redskins became the first team in NFL history to
charge for admission to a team practice. Adults 13 and
over paid $10; kids 12 and under were free. Given 'Skins
owner Daniel Snyder's bank account that's larger than
most small nations, we take this as just a snotty move to
raise a couple bucks that wouldn't even pay for one
incentive-based Bruce Smith sack.
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7/20/00: Lance Armstrong, who
battled back from testicular cancer, is only days away from
his second straight Tour de France win. Armstrong and the top
eight cyclists in the race passed surprised drug tests on
Wednesday and he's in a great position to win again.
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7/20/00: We wish racial
theorist and strident homophobe Reggie White would just
go away. But the former Packer All-Pro defensive end is
serious about his NFL comeback. After not reaching a deal with
Tennessee, White is shopping his services around to Seattle,
Carolina and Philadelphia. Why can't he pick the Canadian
League?
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7/19/00: Recently acquired
Yankees pitcher Denny Neagle won his first game in the
pinstripes, bringing a shut-out into the eighth inning and
beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1.
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7/19/00: The NCAA Men's
Basketball Tournament is headed in the wrong
direction. They have now given another no-name
conference an automatic bid, and are proposing making it a 65
team tournament. Their plan would include one play-off
game the Tuesday before the tournament between the 64th and
65th seeded teams. Ya, just what we needed: a
Lamar vs. Appalachian State tournament
"preview."
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7/18/00: It's hard enough
running 1500 meters in about four minutes. Marla Runyan
did it blind. The first legally blind person ever to make the
U.S. Olympic team in track & field, Runyan came in third
in the qualifying race for the 1500 with a time of 4:06.44.
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7/18/00: The International
Olympic Committee talks a great game about
solidarity and brotherhood, but when it comes to doling out
cash the rich get richer. In the first of a seven-part series
examining the Olympics, the Los Angeles Times detailed how the
IOC gives relatively little to athletes from poor countries
despite appalling training conditions while larding up rich
countries with fat paychecks. Read
the first part of this terrific series, with profiles
of athletes from Peru, Laos and Lesotho along with some
beautiful photos.
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7/17/00: 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.
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7/17/00: 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 - as well they should.
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7/16/00: It's tough to pick
up a 16-pound ball of solid steel, cup it in your hand, spin a
couple of times and launch it without accidentally conking
some guy at the hot dog stand. But that's the job of a shot
putter. Adam Nelson won the U.S. Olympic Trials shot put title
Saturday with a world's best for the year 72 feet, 7 inches.
He was one of three men who threw more than 70 feet at the
meet. Until two weeks ago Nelson (shown
here after his great toss) was working 40 to 60 hours a week for a software
company. That's dedication.
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7/16/00: The farce that is heavyweight
pro boxing continued 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),
held up his right hand after the fight and said, ``I'll show him what he can eat.''
Tyson's response: ``Got A-1?''
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7/15/00: In a stunning
performance late Friday night at Buzz Coffee in West
Hollywood, Napoleon Kaufman and Tyrone Wheatley
combined for more than 320 yards on the ground in a rousing,
bizarre come-from-behind 26-17 victory by 1999 Oakland over the
1997 Kansas City Chiefs in Cyd
& Jim's computer football Silly Season. The
Chiefs have never allowed that many yards on the ground.
Ever. The designer of the computer game must be a Raider fan.
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7/15/00: After racking up
the best record in baseball before the All-Star break, the Chicago
White Sox are showing signs of trouble, losing both of
their post-break games to the St. Louis Cardinals at
home. And we thought it was on the RED Sox who were
chokers....
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7/14/00: He's second in the
Majors over the last two years for game-winning RBI's, so why
not do it again. Brian Daubach of the Boston Red
Sox winded up in the batter's box with two men on in the 9th
inning down 3-2. A clutch double moved both runners
across home plate and gave the Red Sox the win.
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7/14/00: After jumping out
to six wins in six weeks this season, Pedro Martinez
has cooled down. In fact, the Red Sox pitcher hasn't won
a game since June 8, which was a long time ago. Martinez
is 9-3; by comparison, he had 15 wins by the All-Star break
last year.
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7/13/00: After trouble with
the law marred his image earlier this year, Native America
golfer Notah Begay III seemed to be slipping into
infamy. Six months later, he's cleaned up his game, has
won two straight tournaments in consecutive weeks (the only
player to do so this year) and is tied for first in the Loch
Lomond tournament in Scotland - potentially his third straight
championship.
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7/13/00: Radio sports
commentator Jim Rome makes a name for himself by saying
stupid things with an obnoxious style that, for some reason,
attracts many straight sports fans. This morning, he was on
his usual tirade - this time about Ken Griffey, Jr. not
wanting to attend the All-Star Game and not wanting to
participate in the Home Run Derby. Get it together "Romy,"
the game is an antiquated beast that we, like Griffey, would
rather see go away.
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7/12/00: Derek Jeter
hit 3-3 and became the first New York Yankee to be named the
MVP of the Major League Baseball All-Star game. Jeter,
whose team beat the host Braves last year in the World Series,
did not get a warm reception from the crowd.
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7/12/00: If we got choice
#4 for President, we'd end up with someone from the
"Green Libertarians For Peace" Party. The
University of North Carolina got Matt Doherty. After
Roy Williams, George Karl and Larry Brown (all with ties to
the school) withdrew their names from consideration, Doherty,
the Notre Dame head coach, got the job.
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7/11/00: In one of the most
dominant performances in memory, Sammy Sosa beat Ken
Griffey Jr. in the final round to win the Homerun Derby.
Sosa hit an amazing 26 home runs in 56 swings.
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7/11/00: With the Major
League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday, the League faces
a problem: the biggest names in baseball are sitting on
the bench. Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Marc McGwire,
Cal Ripken, Mike Piazza, and several others will sit out with
injuries.
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7/10/00: Seven Wimdledon
titles. Thirteen Grand Slam titles. Both
records. Pete Sampras dispatched 12-seed Patrick
Rafter in four sets on Sunday to win his record title and race
into the stands to hug his daddy.. Now, if only he could
make it past the quarterfinals of the French Open....
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7/10/00: We didn't think a
score like this was imaginable. Chris Webber, a
Sacramento King and, need we remind you, a professional
athlete, posted a horrific score at the American Century
Celebrity Golf Tournament of 165 over par over four rounds -
that's averaging over 113 per round. Heck, even with a
bad back, Charles Barkley managed to keep with 100 of par.
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7/9/00: The New York
Yankees and Mets played a day game at Shea Stadium, then
traveled to the Bronx for a nightcap at Yankee Stadium. It was
the first time since 1903 that a doubleheader was played in
two different stadiums. It was a cool idea, and the Yanks
certainly enjoyed it, winning both games, 4-2.
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7/9/00: The Cleveland Indians were
one inning away from winning the 1997 World Series
before losing. They've spent the past three seasons trying to
get back. But after Saturday's 14-5 pasting by Cincinnati, the
Indians find themselves one game above .500, 11 games out of
first and Cleveland fans waiting for the Browns' season to
start. So much for firing the manager after last year as a
wakeup call to the team.
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7/8/00: It could have been
the bone-head move of all time when the Orlando Magic
unloaded players and draft choices last month. But, with
the announcement on Friday by Grant Hill that he will be
headed to Orlando, Tracy McGrady or Tim Duncan can't be too
far behind - and the Magic could be looking at a little
dynasty of their own in the Eastern Conference of the NBA.
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7/8/00: After jumping out
to a lead in the AL East, the Boston Red Sox have
started their annual collapse early. After losing to the
Atlanta Braves at home Friday, 5-3, their 20-game record
dropped to 7-13, and are now two games behind the division
leading New York Yankees. With series against the
Braves, Mets, Expos, and White Sox, and a West Coast road
trip, coming up in the next month, things aren't going to get
any easier.
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7/7/00: Orel Hershiser had
a dream September and October in 1988 with the LA Dodgers. Her
set a major league record for consecutive scoreless innings,
then was the catalyst as the Dodgers won the World Series.
Hershiser, 41, retired Thursday and he'll be more remembered
for his awesome career then for his shaky performances in the
past year.
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7/7/00: They wuz robbed!
South Africa seemed poised to be voted the 2006 World Cup over
Germany. There was a push by soccer's governing body to move
the event to Africa for the first time, and a German win would
mean another stay in Europe, which has seen its share of cups.
But somebody apparently got to somebody as South Africa was
screwed by one vote. The somebody was New Zealand's rep,
78-year-old Charlie Dempsey, who defied his country's orders
and abstained. Had he voted for South Africa, a soccer
official would have broken the tie in favor of Africa getting
the event. He was not available for comment and officials in
New Zealand were pissed.
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7/6/00: The Los Angeles
Sparks posted their 10th straight win on Wednesday,
beating the Sacramento Monarchs, 76-61. Their present
win streak is the second longest in the short WNBA history.
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7/6/00: We're tired of all
the whining sports reporters who have made fan-voting
in Major League Baseball All-Star team selection a news
story. Who's to say any of them can better choose who's
an All-Star in a game where you're great if you can hit the
ball 3 out of every 10 times you get the chance?
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7/5/00: Randy Johnson beat
the Houston Astros, 10-4, with 12 strikeouts to improve to
13-2. His pitching opponent? See our Bottom
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7/5/00: Jose Lima of the
Houston Astros dropped to 1-13 in being routed by Arizona. He
lasted all of three innings while giving up seven earned runs.
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7/4/00: All the attention
to pitchers this year has gone to Pedro Martinez and Randy
Johnson. But after Monday night, the guy with more wins is the
rotund David Wells of Toronto with 14.
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7/4/00: You would think
that the Ray Lewis murder trial would have sobered athletes
up, but think again. New Orleans police arrested Charlotte
Hornets forward Anthony Mason for allegedly starting a
riot in the French Quarter on Monday. The cause of the fracas?
Two groups of men arguing over women. Typical sex-crazed
heterosexuals.
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7/3/00: David Trezeguet may
never have to buy another meal in Paris as long as he lives.
The 23-year substitute on France's national soccer team scored
the ``golden goal'' in extra time Sunday as France defeated
Italy, 2-1, to win the Euro 2000 tournament. The win set off a
wave of celebration in France, which now must be called the
soccer capital of the world (the French won the 1998 World
Cup). But we were thrilled that there have been no reports of
rioting or looting in Paris. At least the U.S. is still No. 1
in something.
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7/3/00: Call it the
Outsports jinx. Our pick to win the World Series, the Boston
Red Sox, was routed by the Chicago White Sox to drop one
game under .500. But at least the Sox are only 3 1/2 games out
of first. There's still time, but considering they haven't won
it all since 1918 it looks like the Sox collapse is starting
early this year.
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7/2/00: The New York Mets continued
their tear on Saturday, blasting Atlanta, 9-1, for their ninth
win in their last 10 games. This could easily be a preview of
the National League Championship series.
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7/2/00: Does a golf
tournament without Tiger Woods count? Woods has become so
dominant that any tournament he doesn't play in seems to fall
off the radar screen. With him, this weekend's Greater
Hartford Open would have terrific TV ratings and interest.
Without him, does anyone care that Mark Calcavecchia leads
after three rounds?
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7/1/00: Frank Thomas
endured two tough seasons with the Chicago White Sox after
their fire sale. But with the Sox having baseball's best
record, Thomas is having a terrific year. He blasted two home
runs in a 10-4 rout over Boston on Friday. Thomas is batting .331 with 22
homers and 67 runs batted in..
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7/1/00: Damir Dokic is the
tennis father from hell. Jelena's dad was warned to clean up
his act or be banned from Wimbledon. On Thursday, Dokic, who
many witnesses said was drunk, ``stormed around the grounds with an English flag --even though he's Australian
- and then hurled a reporter's cellular phone to the ground,''
the Associated Press said. At a tournament last year he called
officials ``Nazis" and was arrested after jumping on the
hood of a car and blocking traffic.
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