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MAY 2000
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5/31/00:
Hurrah to the NHL, which continues to put up an
exciting, unpredictable, post-season. In what was
supposed to be a defensive-minded Stanley Cup Finals, the
Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils opened it up on Tuesday,
scoring a combined 10 goals (7 of them from the Devils - you
do the math). The league, in a ratings slump, certainly
can use a dose of excitement. |
5/31/00:
He has lost his job with three different NFL teams in four
years. Now, he's spending some time in jail.
Perennial headline- and trouble-maker Lawrence Phillips
was arrested by the Beverly Hills Police on Tuesday, charged
with domestic violence and possession of a loaded weapon in a
vehicle. The victim was allegedly Phillips'
girlfriend. He is being held on $500,000 bail. |
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5/30/00:
Something happened on Monday for only the 10th time in MLB
regular season history. Oakland Second Baseman Randy
Velarde turned an unassisted triple play in his team's 4-1
loss to the New York Yankees. "I had it played
perfectly," Velarde said. "Both guys took off, it
was a soft liner. I caught it. Tag, tag, that's it."
5/30/00: ...Speaking of
odd plays - you've seen the dive catches and the leaps up the
fence, but this takes the cake. Arizona Diamondback Luis
Gonzalez didn't just jump up the fence, he jumped up, hung
on, and waited atop the fence until he could reach up and rob
St. Louis Cardinal Ray Lankford of a two-run homer. Now
that's ingenuity. |
5/30/00:
It's hard to give a Champion a rough time 'cause he didn't
pull one out. But, when you've won more than a handful
of Grand Slam events, you're ranked #2 in the world, and you
keep getting bounced early in the same tournament on the same
surface year after year after year, it becomes a cruel
joke. On Monday, Pete Sampras took his annual
early exit from the French Open, this time losing to
Australia's hot young star, Mark
Philippoussis, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 8-6. |
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5/29/00:
The L.A. Lakers had a great trip to the Pacific Northwest.
Tied 1-1 in the NBA Western Conference Finals with Portland
and facing doubt, the Lakers showed this weekend why they were
the league's best in the regular season. On Friday, they came
back from 14 down to beat the Trail Blazers. And on Sunday
they made an amazing 31 for 34 free throws, including 8 for 8
by Shaq, to knock off Portland and take a 3-1 series lead. |
5/29/00:
The Washington Redskins already have some of the NFL's highest
ticker prices. Not they're going to charge to watch practice,
the first team in the league to do so. Blame it all on
snot-nosed new owner Dan Snyder, the kind of guy with a
perpetual smirk on his face. For $10 a head, plus parking,
fans this summer will get to suffer heat stroke watching
players run sprints. Oooh, watching a 350-pound lineman sweat
buckets is our idea of fun. |
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5/28/00:
It's not over until it's over, and the Princeton Tigers
lacrosse team proved that today, coming from behind, down 9-7
at the start of the fourth, to upset #2 Virginia, 12-11, in
the NCAA Semifinal. The coach's son, Brendan
Tierney, scored the game winner with just over two
minutes to play.
5/28/00: After Friday's
9-under 63 at the Masters, Tiger Woods came back
Saturday and shot a 7-under 65 to take a 6 shot lead headed
into the final round. Last year's Masters champ, Tiger
is trying to become the first repeat champion in Masters
history. |
5/28/00:
The Houston Astros become the first multiple day
bottoms within one week in Outsports history as they lost
their 13th one-run game in 14 games this season. This
installment was a 6-5 loss at home to John Rocker and the
Braves. Last year's NL Central winners have the worst
record in the NL. |
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5/27/00:
It came down to the last hole as Team Richmond (VA)
pulled off the upset of Team Ypsilanti (MI) in the Put-Put of
America Junior Championships 2000 in the 11-year-old
category. Ypsilanti had a chance to take the match into
overtime on the 18th hole of the 2nd round but missed a needed
hole-in-one as the ball rimmed the cup. |
5/27/00:
Your teams up by one with 14 seconds left in the third
quarter, so what do you do? If you're Portlant Trail
Blazer coach Mike Dunleavy, you foul Shaq away from the
ball and put him at the line - then you watch him make both
free throws, giving your opponents the lead heading into the
fourth quarter. |
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5/26/00:
Ray Borque came up big in game 6 against the Dallas Stars
as he scored the first goal of the game and provided stellar
defensive play. Borque, traded from Boston to Colorado
to win a Stanley Cup, will have his chance to make it to the
finals this weekend. |
5/26/00:
Paul Abbott was struck in the face by the baseball bat
of Harold Baines as Abbott bent down to grab Baines' infield
hit. The bat had reportedly been stalking Abbott for
days before the game, but no action had been taken. The
bat is in custody in Baltimore awaiting a hearing. |
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5/25/00:
Major League Baseball assessed probably the heaviest set
of suspensions in the history of the league as it handed down
3 to 8 game suspensions for almost two dozen coaches and
players of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is in response
to the Dodgers' outburst last week when the entire team leapt
into the stands and attacked fans after one of the Dodgers'
caps was stolen. |
5/25/00:
The Los Angeles Dodgers quickly filed for a review of
their suspensions. How can we put this again: YOUR
PLAYERS LEAPT INTO THE STANDS AND ATTACKED FANS. Serve
your suspensions and learn your lessons - your grown men, for
God's sake. |
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5/24/00:
Who? Austin Croshere was the 12th player
selected in the 1997 NBA Draft, chosen by the Indiana
Pacers. Since then, nobody's much heard from him ...
until Tuesday night. He single-handedly outscored the
New York Knicks' bench, 22-10, and neutralized Marcus Camby,
pushing the Pacers to a 102-88 win. |
5/24/00:
Pete Sampras has never focused on his nationalistic
matches, in the Davis Cup or in the World Cup. On
Tuesday in the World Cup, he lost to Tommy Haas in straight
sets sending the U.S. to defeat at the hands of Germany, 2-1. |
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5/23/00:
Portland Trail Blazer forward Rasheed Wallace
showed up big time against the Lakers. Playing 46
minutes he shot 8-for-18 and scored 29 points. What's
more is, he didn't get assessed a technical foul the WHOLE
GAME. |
5/23/00:
How much worse could it get for the Houston Astros?
After three consecutive NL Central titles, Houston is now
15-28, the worst record in the NL, after blowing a 7-run lead
in the ninth inning. They lost to the Milwaukee Brewers,
10-9. |
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5/22/00:
It was a grand Sunday in baseball ... literally. A record
six grand slams in one day were hit in the majors. On
second thought, given the lousy pitching and ease of hitting
homers, maybe this isn't something to celebrated too much.
5/22/00: They had a 4%
chance of getting the #1 pick in the NBA Draft, but the New
Jersey Nets saved the best player in the draft, probably
Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin, from going to the Clippers by
winning the Lottery.
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5/22/00:
The refs in Game 7 of the Heat-Knicks likely blew a
crucial call with 2.1 seconds left. Knicks up 1, Latrell
Sprewell snags a loose ball and falls out of bounds. The refs
say Sprewell called a timeout and award the ball to the
Knicks, who run out the clock and advance to the next round.
But later, Sprewell says he never called a timeout and two
other Knicks claim they did. The Heat is furious, but the
result is the same ... they're out. |
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5/21/00:
OK, Cyd & Jim disagree. Cyd's hatred of Shaq and
the Lakers is clouding his judgment and he's scoffing at Jim's
nomination of Shaq (who scored 41 with 11 assists in
Game 1 against Portland) as today's top. But, because
he's a gentleman, he's putting the hacked Shaq (a playoff
record 25 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter) here
anyway. |
5/21/00:
Fusaichi Pegasus turned out not to be such a stud after
all. The Kentucky Derby winner, hailed as Super Horse, ran a
poor second in the Preakness Saturday, losing to Red Bullet.
We heard FP had a bad training period prior to the race and
would occasionally slow up to watch the scenery. Hanging out
in his stretch SUV with his posse the night before the big
race and getting plastered didn't help, either. Typical
spoiled superstar. |
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5/20/00:
Colorado Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy is doing it
again. On Friday he tied an NHL record with his 15th
career playoff shut-out, saving 21 shots en route to a 2-1
series lead over the Dallas Stars. |
5/20/00:
This is becoming a broken record. With their 72-70
game 6, the New York Knicks and Miami Heat tied an NBA
record for the lowest point total in a playoff game.
This just days after they set a record for the lowest point
total in an overtime NBA playoff game. |
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5/19/00:
We're not sure if he's still popping Andro, but he'll have
whatever Mark McGwire is taking. McGwire smashed
three dingers Thursday night to give him 17 for the season and
539 for his career. He passed Mickey Mantle to move into 8th
place all-time. |
5/19/00:
The Italian Open for the women might as well be the
Dubuque Open as far as interest goes. The top three players
are out because of injury with Lindsay Davenport dropping out
Thursday, joining no-shows Martina Hingis and Conchita
Martinez. |
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5/18/00:
Dan Majerle of the Miami Heat has always been a studly
lust object among NBA fans we know. He took center
stage in Game 5 of the NBA playoff series with the Knicks by
scoring 16 points, including consecutive 3-pointers that did
in New York. |
5/18/00:
The UEFA Cup soccer
final in Copenhagen between Galatasaray of Turkey and
England's Arsenal was overshadowed by major violence between
fans. Riot police had to be called out and seven people were
injured. Fans can be real idiots worldwide. |
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5/17/00:
A hop, skip, and jump indeed. Add a leap over tall
buildings, and you have what Outsports co-founder Jim Buzinski's nephew,
Steve Buzinski, did last week in two dual track meets
in Wilkes-Barre, PA. After setting a high school record
in the high jump at 6'5", he broke his own triple jump
record by going 46' 3". Steve's only a junior. |
5/17/00:
The Phoenix Suns shot the basketball like they had
been drinking shots well before game time. In being blown out
(and eliminated) in Game 5 Tuesday against the Lakers, the
Suns at one stretch of the second and third quarters shot 4 of
34. That's 12%. Five chimpanzees with blindfolds could muster
at least 15%. |
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5/16/00:
Turkey's criminals will have a field day on Wednesday.
"Life will stop in Turkey on May 17," said Fatih
Terim, who coaches the soccer club, Galatasaray, that will
play England's Arsenal in the UEFA Cup final. With the
entire country shut down, any non-soccer loving thief can make
the score of a lifetime. |
5/16/00:
What can one say about the cowards at Indiana University
from President Myles Brand to the board of trustees who let
coach Bob Knight off with the equivalent of a speeding ticket
for his years-long pattern of abuse? They deserve each other. |
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5/15/00:
The last time a Chicago Cub stole 5 or more bases in one
game, cars had not yet been invented. Eric Young
stole 5 bases against the Montreal Expos on Sunday, more than
any Cub since 1881.
5/15/00: Tiger Woods
entered the fourth day of the Byron Nelson Classic in Houston
at 3 under, seven back from the leader. When he stepped
off the 18th green he was tied for the lead at 10 under.
Tiger missed a put on 18 that would have given him the
tournament's best round and a spot in a four-way play-off -
but he deserves a top anyway.
5/15/00: The winner of
that Byron Nelson Classic playoff was Jesper Parnevik -
the (presumably) straight guy who gets a kick out of wearing
flashy pink pants in key fourth rounds. If for nothing
other than an apparent self-security in his sexualy, we salute
him. |
5/15/00:
Phil Jackson has coached the L.A. Lakers in four games
this playoff season in which they could have ended a
series. His team has lost three of them. On
Sunday, they were blown away by the Phoenix Suns as it looked
like Jackson's team was unprepared and uninspired to
win. At halftime he refused to talk to his team and
after the game he refused to talk to the press. You've
got one guy to blame, Phil . . . .
5/15/00: College
basketball commentators, from ESPN "expert" Dick
Vitale to radio talk show nobody Bill Werndell, have all come
out in support of Bobby Knight despite video after video and
charger after charge from his players of mental and physical
abuse. Ya, he's won some championships, but a big part
of coaching is developing players and men - not assaulting and
berating them. Bobby Knight has a big personality
problem that doesn't belong in college basketball and these
commentators have got to stop kissing his ass just because
he's "THE Bobby Knight." |
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5/14/00:
Magnus Norman must like being No. 1. A day after taking
the top ranking in men's tennis from Andre Agassi, the
23-year-old from Sweden won the Italian Open by defeating
defending champion Gustavo Kuerten |
5/14/00:
Reggie Miller should know better. The Indiana Pacer star
let his emotions get the best of him in Game 4 of the NBA
playoffs with Philadelphia. Miller got into a fight with the
76ers' Matt Geiger and the result was both were suspended for
Game 5. Let's see ... Miller for Geiger. Looks like the Pacers
got the worst of the deal. |
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5/13/00:
If you've been to Texas, you surely know those hot, sweaty
days when all you want to do is lounge around the house in
your boxers. Well, it was such a day on Friday as Davis
Love III overcame suffocating heat to shoot a 7-under 63
in the Nelson Classic and take a tournament record 4-stroke
lead into the third round. |
5/13/00:
The most controversial bucket of the NBA season was mis-called
by the Referees of the Miami-New York Game Three.
Ya, they were right - Alonzo Mourning didn't goal tend.
But, the shot by Anthony Carter came over the back of the backboard - a clear
violation of NBA rules. Tune in on Sunday when shots
behind half-court count for four points! |
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5/12/00:
Mike Dunleavy, the Al Davis-look alike and Portland Trail
Blazer coach has his team one win away from the NBA Western
Conference finals. The Blazers will likely meet the Lakers
next, which sets up all sorts of revenge scenarios since the
Lakers fired Dunleavy's ass two years ago. |
5/12/00:
Bob Knight. The abusive jerk who coaches Indiana men's
basketball may be on the way out, though it's years overdue.
The school's board of trustees is considering whether to
dismiss Knight after allegations of mistreatment towards other
school employees continue to surface. The fact that Knight's
teams are regularly bounced from the first round of the NCAA
tourney doesn't help his case. |
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5/11/00:
Kobe Bryant had only 15 points, but his last two bailed
out the Lakers at home in Game 2 of their playoff series with
Phoenix. Bryant hit a 15-foot jumper with 2.6 seconds left as
the Lakers won, 97-96. Not bad for a 21-year-old. |
5/11/00:
Victoria ``Flower'' Bianco is a topless dancer at a Vegas
strip club. She has accused badboy boxer Mike Tyson of hitting
her Monday at the club. But the manager, Lonnie Roybal, said
that while Iron Mike yelled obscenities at Flower after she
tried to get him to buy a lap dance he never physically
threatened her. ``She lost her balance and landed on her butt.
That was about it,'' Roybal said. ``She made it very clear her
feelings were hurt, but she wasn't touched at all.''
A wilted Flower. |
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5/10/00:
Just a week ago, the Philadelphia Flyers looked
dead. They had just lost two home playoff games and
trailed the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0. Then they stole one
at Pittsburgh and won an historic five overtime game.
Winning game six on Tuesday at Pittsburgh, they clinched their
advancement to the Eastern Conference Finals. |
5/10/00:
John Rocker got distracted Monday night when he looked
into the stands and saw a gay black immigrant couple kissing
in the stands. With the winning run on third base, he
dropped the ball, stepped back on the pitching rubber, and was
called for a balk that scored the winning run. It was
the first time a pitcher balked in the winning run in seven
years. |
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5/9/00:
Jalen Rose of the Indiana Pacers is a scoring machine. He
scored 30 in Monday's Game 2 playoff win against Philadelphia,
after scoring 40 in Game 1. |
5/9/00:
The Toronto Maple Leafs attempted six shots in their
Game 6 eliminating loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
Six! The Leafs had three shots in the first period, two in the
second and one in the third. Needless to say, it's an all-time
playoff low. |
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5/8/00
- The Astros and Dodgers entered the 10th inning tied at 7
at Chavez Ravine. The Astros batters then put on
a clinic and hit the ball and hit the ball and slammed the
ball and homered the ball and doubled their runs in that first
extra frame, winning the game 14-8. |
5/8/00
- French Cup fairytale team Calais, an amateur team, was
finally knocked out of its run by a cheap foul call by the French
Cup referees. With the game tied at 1 apiece, a penalty
was called on a theatrical dive by substitute Alain Caveglia.
Nantes scored on the kick and won the game, 2-1. |
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5/7/00
- What would you do if your trainer called you
"young, good-looking, athletic, muscular, and
powerful"? We'd just add "hung like a
horse." Fusaichi Pegasus has been described
as all of these and became the first favorite since 1979 to
win the Kentucky Derby. |
5/7/00
- Pedro Martinez did it again; unfortunately, his
teammates did not. Pedro was spectacular against the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays, striking out 17 batters. The Boston
batters managed only 3 hits and the Sox fell to the Rays,
1-0. |
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5/6/00
- Martina Hingis took back the No. 1 spot in the women's
tennis rankings from Lindsay Davenport. Hingis. This will be
her 137th week at the top since March 1997. |
5/6/00
- Thank heavens the first round of the NBA playoffs is
over. These first-round series took forever to play because of
scheduling dictated by television. From now on the pace will
quicken and we hope the games will be better. |
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5/5/00
- Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers showed why he's one
of the best clutch players in the NBA. In decisive Game 5 with
the season on the line Miller scored a career playoff-high 41
points as the Pacers nipped the Milwaukee Bucks, 96-95. |
5/5/00:
Someone get Ervin Johnson of the Milwaukee Bucks a
calculator. 0+1 does not = 2. Johnson was at the free-throw
line in Game 5 vs. Indiana with 5 seconds left, Bucks down by
2. He misses the first; Bucks still down 2. He HAS to
deliberately miss the second shot and hope his team gets the
rebound and a chance to tie. Doh! He MAKES the shot, the Bucks
lose and we don't want Ervin doing our taxes. |
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5/4/00
- Patrick Roy, the Colorado Avalanche goalie, showed again
Wednesday why he's so clutch. In hostile Detroit against the
Red Wings, Roy stopped 25 shots in regulation then made a
spectacular save in OT. The Avs went on to win and take a 3-1
series lead. |
5/4/00
- The Utah Jazz looked like they were missing their
Geritol in the second quarter of their NBA playoff game
at Seattle. The Jazz, who really are showing their age, scored
all of 7 points in the quarter as the Sonics evened the
series. |
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5/3/00 - Chicago
Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood made his triumphant return to
the lineup Tuesday after sitting out the 1999 season with an
injury. In his return, he pitched 6 innings with 4
strikeouts allowing only 1 run and hitting a homerun
himself. The Cubs won, 11-1. |
5/3/00 -
After going up 2 games to 0 against the Sacramento Kings, the Los
Angeles Lakers figured they could put it into cruise
control to finish off the upstart Kings. They were
wrong. The Lakers couldn't come back from an early
12-point deficit and now must beat the Kings in a one-game
playoff when they should be watching film of the Suns by now. |
|
5/2/00 - John
Rocker continued his first post-fiasco road trip Monday night
- this time in L.A., where he got a most ... ahem ...
revealing reception as, in the middle of the ninth inning, a
fan ran out onto the field and mooned Rocker. "I thought it was one of the funniest things I've seen in my life, I was
laughing my butt off," third baseman Chipper Jones said.
No pun intended, right Chipper?
5/2/00 - Allen
Iverson is suffering from a rotator cuff injury, a broken toe, a
bad elbow and shoulder ailments, and most recently a chip to his right ankle.
But the Philadelphia 76er star made the Charlotte Hornets feel
the pain. Iverson scored 26 points and had seven assists at
the Sixers eliminated the Hornets in Round 1 of the NBA
Playoffs.
|
5/2/00 - The
newest entry into the NHL starts play this fall. And it has
one of the lamest nicknames in sport. Are you ready for the
Minnesota Wild? What marketing genius thought of that? We
already can see the puns: Fans go Wild; A Wild Win; Wild goes
Wild. Spare us. |
|
5/1/00 - The
Millenium March On Washington may have had its share of
controversy - but it also had its share of athletes.
Three openly gay athletes - baseball player Billy Bean,
tennis great Martina Navratilova, and high school
football stand-out Corey Johnson - all took center
stage on the Mall Lawn on Sunday and spoke of being an athlete
who is gay. |
5/1/00 -
Toronto Raptors' Coach Butch Carter has been acting
more like "Bitch" Carter during their series against
the New York Knicks, First, he filed a $5 million defamation
suit against the N.Y.'s Marcus Camby, which he withdrew after
enormous criticism. Then he fired verbal broadsides against
HIS OWN TEAM. His players reacted accordingly and the team was
swept Sunday. |
|
4/30/00 - The
San Francisco Giants were 0-6 at their brand spankin' new
Pacific Bell Park going into Saturday's game against the
Montreal Expos. But, in the eighth inning of their
seventh home game of the season, Barry Bonds hit a home
run to give the Giants their first home win.
The U.S. Women's 800 Relay Team of LaTasha
Jenkins, LaTasha Colander Richardson, Nanceen Perry and Marion
Jones set the World Record for the 800 relay at 1 minute 27.46
seconds. |
4/30/00 - The
Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff did something no team
has done in the major leagues in a long long time. In
their last two games against the Houston Astros, the Brewers
walked 25 batters in losing 7-0 and 10-3. Not since 1944
had a team walked as many batters in consecutive games.
Michael Grant got sent to the mat
three times against Heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis in the
first round and finally got KO'd early in the second. |
|
4/29/00 - We are big advocates of free speech,
which is why we applaud the NCAA's decision to strip
the state of South Carolina of any NCAA events if the
Confederate flag continues to fly over the statehouse as of
August 11. |
4/29/00 -
Indiana Pacers starting center Rik Smits was slapped
with a one-game suspension after throwing a nasty elbow in the
Pacers' Game 2 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. With the
series tied 1-1, his team will sorely miss his presence in the
paint. |
|
4/25/00 - It was heartening to hear that
Martina
Navratilova has signed up to play in Wimbledon doubles this year with South Africa's Mariaan de
Swardt. Martina has won 19 Wimbledon titles of some sort and is one shy on the record held by another of our favorite gay athletes, Billy Jean King. You go, girl! |
4/25/00 - Dale Carter, a Denver Bronco cornerback signed to a huge free agent contract a year ago, was
suspended by the NFL for the 2000 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The ban will hit hurt Carter where it hurts most-in the wallet. He is set to lose $3.5 million in base
salary. |
|
4/19/00
- Atlanta Braves
fans can't be accused of not supporting their team.
This season they have offered standing ovations to two
teammates who had troubled offseasons. Andres Galarraga
missed last season in suffering from cancer, and battled it
all off-season before returning to the Braves this season. ... |
4/19/00 - On the flipside, maybe some people don't need to be
cheered. John Rocker's homophobic and racist comments in
the offseason got him plenty of negative publicity.
But, that didn't deter the Atlanta Braves fans who
offered him a standing ovation in his return to the lineup. |
|
4/12/00
- The nationals from
Kenya didn't just win the Boston Marathon, they swept
it. Elijah Lagat won the closest finish ever on the
men's side, crossing the line with the same time as second
place. Catherine Ndereba won on the women's side in not
nearly as dramatic fashion. Of course, leave it to the
guys to draw out the drama.
|
4/12/00 - Alonzo Mourning of the Miami
Heat. he was kept out of
the starting lineup for Friday's crucial game vs. Indiana
because he overslept and missed a shoot-around. Hey, 'Zo, they
have these cool things called "alarm clocks." |