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Spunky Spurrier NBA PLAYOFFS

300 in sight for Big Unit ‘We’re still trying to make L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 94
Giants lefthander Randy Johnson history’ at South Carolina
earned career win No. 299 on Page 6
Wednesday. MLB’s active wins leaders:
Player Wins
Tom Glavine, Braves 305
Randy Johnson, Giants 299
Jamie Moyer, Phillies 249
Andy Pettitte, Yankees 219
Pedro Martinez, free agent 214 THURSDAY
BEN MARGOT / AP John Smoltz, Red Sox 210
MAY 28, 2009
First shot at milestone could come Wednesday, Page 8 SEE A DIFFERENT GAME
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 310

Scoreboard STANLEY CUP FINALS

S GAME 1: PITTSBURGH VS. DETROIT Saturday, 8 P.M. ET, NBC
NBA Playoffs

Penguins get shot at revenge

Western Conference finals
L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 94
(L.A. Lakers lead series 3-2)
NHL Playoffs
Western Conference finals
Detroit 2, Chicago 1, OT
(Detroit wins series 4-1)
Soccer
UEFA Champions League final
Barcelona 2, Manchester United 0
Barca caps great season, Page 34
Baseball
American League
Baltimore 12, Toronto 10, 11 innings
Detroit 8, Kansas City 3
Seattle 6, Oakland 1
N.Y. Yankees 9, Texas 2
Minnesota 4, Boston 2
Cleveland 12, Tampa Bay 7
L.A. Angels 3, Chicago White Sox 1
National League
St. Louis 3, Milwaukee 2
Chicago Cubs 5, Pittsburgh 2
L.A. Dodgers 8, Colorado 6
Florida 6, Philadelphia 2
Cincinnati 6, Houston 1
N.Y. Mets 7, Washington 4
San Diego 8, Arizona 5
San Francisco 6, Atlanta 3
BY CRAIG CUSTANCE
ccustance@sportingnews.com
When asked about a possible oppo-
nent in the Stanley Cup finals, Pitts-
burgh’s Sidney Crosby wouldn’t go
so far as to say he preferred a shot at
revenge against Detroit. His Pen-
guins lost in a six-game finals to the
Red Wings last year, and the most
Crosby would admit was that it
would make for a compelling series.
“There’s a lot more story lines if it
ends up Detroit,” Crosby said after
beating Carolina.
Well, it ended up Detroit.
With the Red Wings’ 2-1 overtime
win over the Chicago Blackhawks in
Game 5 of the Western Conference
finals Wednesday night, the antici-
pated rematch between the Red
Wings and Penguins was finalized.
And like Sid promised, there are
plenty of story lines:
Marian Hossa’s decision: Last July,
Hossa turned down an offer from
the Penguins to sign a one-year deal
Detroit will meet Pittsburgh in the first Stanley Cup rematch since Edmonton beat the Islanders in 1984.
with Detroit. His reasoning was
simple: He wanted to win a Stanley
Cup. “When I look at those two
PAUL SANCYA / AP
teams,” Hossa said on the day he
signed, “I felt like I would have a
little better chance to win the Cup
with Detroit.” We’ll find out soon if
he was right.
Revenge: It’s never easy to lose in
the Stanley Cup finals, but it must
have been a little harder for the Pen-
guins last year. Detroit clinched the
title in Pittsburgh and the Penguins
couldn’t have enjoyed the Red Wings
celebrating a Stanley Cup win in
their building. “Yeah, it would be a
pretty sweet feeling to beat them,”
Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal said.
A fight for dynasty status: If the Red
Wings win another Stanley Cup, it’ll
be their third in seven seasons and
fifth since 1997. The Penguins are
making their second consecutive trip
to the finals and, considering the
young age of core players like Crosby
and Evgeni Malkin, should be com-
petitive for the next decade. Though
they haven’t won a Cup, the Penguins
already are drawing comparison to
Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers teams of the
1980s.
Blackhawks can build on loss, Page 9
MARK J. TERRILL / AP
Lamar Odom shook a playoff slump
with 19 points and 14 rebounds as
the Lakers took a 3-2 lead in the
Western Conference finals.
Page 13
ORLANDO AT CLEVELAND
8:30 tonight, TNT
Magic lead series 3-1
They’ve got two home games
and LeBron James on their side. So
it shouldn’t be impossible for the
Cavaliers to rally from a 3-1 deficit
against the Magic—if, that is, they
do a few things starting tonight in
Game 5:
1. Live by the 3. Mo Williams
and Delonte West got the
Cavs here. Their shots have to start
falling eventually. Don’t they?
2. Involve the big guys. If
the perimeter shooters
remain frigid, the Cavs need to
involve their big men. They lack
classic post-up guys, but the four
bigs have combined to take just
24.8 percent of the shots.
3. Match up. The Cavs can
put James on either Hedo
Turkoglu or Rashard Lewis, but not
both. Cleveland must go small in
order to keep up with Lewis.
— Sean Deveney
Magic don’t fear road, Page 14
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com See a Different Game THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 2

Tune In Today OFF THE FIELD

If you deliver
A quick look at the best sports on TV
— all times Eastern
Clarett wants another shot at NFL it daily, they
Still in prison on armed robbery and illegal
weapons convictions, disgraced former Ohio
NBA

Magic at Cavaliers
State running back Maurice Clarett says he
wants a second chance in the NFL after
washing out with the Denver Broncos,
will come.
8:30 p.m., TNT according to profootballtalk.com.
The numbers clearly favor the Magic to win this series, as teams that In his latest blog post, per Bob Glauber of
have earned a 3-1 advantage in NBA postseason play have won 182 of 190 Newsday, Clarett is thinking about playing
matchups. But if there is a team capable of completing the comeback, it is
one that has LeBron James. If you’re a Magic fan and were watching as James football again when he’s a free man.
hoisted his last-second 3-pointer at the end of Game 4, you had to fear it was “I can’t hold these feelings in anymore,”
going in. James gives the Cavs more than a fighting chance. And if the Magic Clarett said. “I want to play football again. I
start going cold from beyond the arc, this could be a blowout. — Roger Kuznia have a deep desire to play. I love the game. I
have so much penitentiary aggression pinned
SOCCER up inside of me. I want to hit someone. I want
to run the ball. I want to tackle someone. I want
Chicago Fire at Chivas USA to play. I am going to play somewhere. I cannot
10:30 p.m., ESPN2 accept how things ended. I won’t accept how KIICHIRO SATO / AP
It couldn’t get much better in Major League Soccer than a game between they ended. I am 220, rock solid. I am moving Maurice Clarett was a third-round pick by Denver in 2005,
its best offensive team (Chicago) and best defense (Chivas). Back in MLS after a swift, running fast, and jumping high. My but was cut in training camp.
successful run in England, Brian McBride has scored six times for the Fire. Again
a regular after struggling for a couple years with different clubs, Chivas keeper mind is right and my life is in order.”
Zach Thornton has allowed only six goals in 11 games. It’d be nice if the game
weren’t after bedtime, but it could be worth losing some sleep. — Mike DeCourcy Prosecutors: Jail Williams
combined maximum sentence of 13 years in
prison, but Williams was not expected to FREEup!
Prosecutors asked a judge to sentence Jay- receive a term longer than five years, the maxi- Sign
TENNIS son Williams for covering up a fatal shooting at
his mansion in 2002 and cited the former
mum sentence for the most serious charge.
Today!
French Open NBA star’s recent erratic behavior, including Quick hit
Noon, ESPN2 an assault arrest in North Carolina. The NBA’s dream Finals matchup of LeBron
Rafael Nadal is the undisputed king of the French Open, having won the last
four men’s singles titles, and Roger Federer has been his personal whipping
Williams, 41, was acquitted of aggravated
manslaughter in 2004 but convicted on four
James’ Cavaliers against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers
looks like a long shot, which comes as a relief The country’s first and only
daily digital sports newspaper.
boy, having beaten Federer in the last three finals. Will this year be any differ-
ent for Federer? Check out his game as he plays Jose Acasuso in second round counts of trying to cover up the shooting of a to two of the league’s biggest sponsors, adi-
action while Andy Roddick faces Ivo Minar. This is also your chance to hear hired driver at his mansion. The jury couldn’t das and Gatorade, Ad Age reported. James
Dick Enberg call his 23rd French Open. — Roger Kuznia reach a verdict on a reckless manslaughter and Bryant are the “two most prominent
count, and New Jersey Superior Court Judge endorsers of their archrivals,” Nike and
Edward M. Coleman has delayed sentencing Coca-Cola’s Glaceau Vitaminwater. Mean- Delivered via email every morning, 7 days a
week, Sporting News Today is your one-stop
GUIDE GOLF Conference finals, Game pending Williams’ retrial on that charge. while, Magic center Dwight Howard is an adidas
10 a.m. 5, Orlando at Cleveland The four cover-up counts, which include endorser.
destination for breaking sports stories plus
COLLEGE SOFTBALL TGC—European PGA
Tour, European Open, witness and evidence tampering, carry a — SportsBusiness Daily, sportsbusinessdaily.com
1 p.m. SOCCER
news about every team, every game and
ESPN—NCAA Division I, first round, at Kent, 10:30 p.m.
World Series, Game 1, England ESPN2—MLS, Chicago
every score from coast-to-coast.
Washington vs. Georgia, 3 p.m. at CD Chivas USA
at Oklahoma City TGC—PGA Tour, Crowne YOUR TURN
Plaza Invitational, first In his 15th and final attempt, Jim Rice was voted into baseball’s Hall of
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Experience America’s hottest new product.
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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com My Profile
Gary Brackett
Colts linebacker
(What you won’t find on Facebook … even if you are approved as a friend)
Born: May 23, 1980, in Glassboro, N.J.
Alma mater: Rutgers
What’s on TV: 24, SportsCenter, House
What’s in my iPod: Jay-Z, John Legend, Kanye,
50
What I drive: 2006 BMW 750Li
Favorite flick: Life
What I’m reading: The Tipping Point, by Mal-
colm Gladwell
Magazine subscriptions: Ebony, Black Enterprise,
Entrepreneur, ESPN The Magazine
Bookmarks: NFL.com, GaryBrackett.org,
Google.com
Superstition: Look good, feel good, play good
Worst habit: Smacking when eating
On my office walls: Pic of my parents, Super
Bowl pic, college degree
Love to trade places for a day with … The Presi-
dent. I want to know about all of the secret
programs they got going on!
First job: I was 12 in Glassboro, N.J., and I was
a paperboy.
Favorite meal: I’m a simple man. Just good ol’
cheese pizza.
Talent I’d most like to have: To be able to sing
Favorite athlete to watch in another sport: LeBron
James. He’s a beast.
Favorite city to visit: Miami
Favorite team as a kid: Eagles
Favorite value in others: Work ethic
Favorite attribute about myself: My mind
BOB LEVERONE / AP
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 3
THE WORLD’S FIRST DIGITAL
DAILY SPORTS NEWSPAPER
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And least … My abs—or lack thereof ON NEWSSTANDS NOW
Dream date: Beyonce. Sorry, Jay(-Z).
My greatest love: My mom
My hero: Parents
My bucket list: 1. Go to Europe, 2. Visit the
seven wonders of the world, 3. Raise over $10
million for my foundation—GaryBrackett.org
My motto: There’s no monopoly on success!
— Jeff D’Alessio
A Division I head basketball coach at 31? If
anyone can do it, it’s Memphis’ Josh Pastner,
Sporting News college hoops expert Mike
DeCourcy explains in the new magazine.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
NBA prospect takes unusual—but still impressive—career path
Lester Hudson, right, never graduated from junior high, high school or junior college, but he now has a college degree and NBA aspirations.
BY SEAN DEVENEY
sdeveney@sportingnews.com
Across the NBA, the next four
weeks will be spent dissecting the
best 30-plus prospects preparing
to enter this year’s draft. It’s likely
that guard Lester Hudson won’t
quite rank in that class—barring a
big surprise, he’s a second-
rounder—because he lacks the
resume of others in this draft. In
fact, Hudson has one of the stranger
resumes you’ll find among this
year’s crop.
Would you hire someone who
starts out describing his career this
way: “I never graduated from junior
high. I never graduated from high
school. I never graduated from
junior college. A lot of people had to
take a chance on Lester Hudson.”
Forgive him the third-person ref-
erence, because in this case, it’s
apt—it’s almost as if the Lester
Hudson who is now toiling in NBA
workouts is different than the one
who, years ago and on multiple
occasions, needed tough love from
coaches and teachers.
Hudson has all the earmarks of
success in basketball and other-
wise. He averaged 27.5 points last
year at Tennessee-Martin, the
Next Gen: NBA Draft
WADE PAYNE / AP
second-highest average in Division
I. As impressive as his on-court
performance was his in-class per-
formance. Hudson, the kid who did
not graduate from the eighth grade,
buckled down enough in college to
earn his degree.
Hudson grew up in Memphis’
tough Orange Mound neighbor-
hood, and for most of his early life,
treated school as an occasional
diversion. He caught a break,
though, when Andre Applewhite,
coach at Central High in Memphis,
noticed him in the school’s gym and
approached him about joining the
team. All he had to do, Applewhite
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 4
2009 draft order
1. L.A. Clippers
2. Memphis
Five hoping to hear their names called 3. Oklahoma City
Tennessee-Martin’s Lester Hudson isn’t the only player from a 4. Sacramento
5. Washington
untraditional hoops school looking for a place in this draft. Here are 6. Minnesota
five others, ranked by their chance of getting selected: 7. Golden State
8. New York
9. Toronto
1. Eric Maynor, VCU. The Colonial Athletic Association has produced 10. Milwaukee
some quality teams recently, but Maynor—a fringe lottery pick at point 11. New Jersey
12. Charlotte
guard—should be the conference’s highest drafted player in some time. 13. Indiana
2. Josh Akognon, Cal State-Fullerton. He’s extremely fast, but Akognon 14. Phoenix
is generously listed at 5-11, and is more of a scorer than a point man. 15. Detroit
16. Chicago
Still, the same could be said of Earl Boykins. 17. Philadelphia
3. Garrett Siler, Augusta State. Siler is huge, at 7-0 and about 300 18. Minnesota (from Miami)
19. Atlanta
pounds. He needs a lot of work, both physically and in terms of hon- 20. Utah
ing his post game. But his size is a big plus, and could get him into the 21. New Orleans
second round. 22. Dallas
23. Sacramento (from Houston)
4. Russell Hicks, Florida International. He’s a 7-footer, which is always 24. Portland
nice, but he struggled with injuries as a senior. 25. Oklahoma City (from San Antonio)
26. Chicago (from Denver through Oklahoma
5. Cedric Jackson, Cleveland State. He’s a decent-enough point man, but City)
he can’t shoot and is a stretch in the second round. 27. Memphis (from Orlando)
28. Minnesota (from Boston)
— Sean Deveney 29. L.A. Lakers
30. Cleveland
Second Round
31. Sacramento
told him, was come to school each He approached the school’s head 32. Washington
day and get serious about school. coach, Bret Campbell, about 33. Portland (from L.A. Clippers)
34. Denver (from Oklahoma City)
So he did. For a while, at least. He bringing on Hudson. 35. Detroit (from Minnesota)
played his junior year, but because “They told me I would have to sit 36. Memphis
37. San Antonio (from Golden State through
he had been held back in previous out and focus on schoolwork until I Phoenix)
grades, he was 19 as a high school was eligible,” Hudson said. “That 38. Portland (from New York through
Chicago)
senior and ineligible to play. With- was hard to hear. I love basketball, 39. Detroit (from Toronto)
out basketball, Hudson slipped in but if I wanted to play, I had to do 40. Charlotte (from New Jersey through
the classroom and did not graduate this. So I did it.” Oklahoma City)
41. Milwaukee
from Central. Even if Hudson doesn’t walk 42. L.A. Lakers (from Charlotte)
Still, Hudson got a chance at across the stage at the draft, he 43. Miami (from Indiana)
44. Detroit
Southwest Tennessee Community already has walked across another 45. Minnesota (from Philadelphia through
College, earned his GED and was pretty important stage: In April, he Miami)
given a spot on the basketball was in his cap and gown as part of 46. Cleveland (from Chicago)
47. Minnesota (from Miami)
team. He did well for two years, Tennessee-Martin’s graduating 48. Phoenix
but failed to complete the core class. “It was very emotional,” 49. Atlanta
50. Utah
classes needed to get his degree. Hudson said. “My whole family, all 51. San Antonio (from New Orleans through
Again, he left school without my coaches, all the people who took Toronto)
graduating, and if he was to attend risks on me, they were there. My 52. Indiana (from Dallas)
53. San Antonio (from Houston)
a Division I program, he would life for now is basketball, and I am 54. Charlotte (from San Antonio)
need to sit out a year to make him- planning to do that for the next 10 55. Portland (from Denver)
56. Portland
self eligible. So Hudson needed or 12 years, either in the NBA or 57. Phoenix (from Orlando through Oklahoma
yet another person willing to take somewhere. City)
58. Boston
a risk on him, this time Tennes- “But now, there’s more to Lester 59. L.A. Lakers
see-Martin assistant Jason James. Hudson than basketball.” 60. Miami (from Cleveland)
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
New York TE makes call
to play some Beamer ball
Earlier this week, Jerome Lewis
made one fun phone call and a couple
excruciating ones. That’s the nature
of college football recruiting.
The Bishop Kearney (Rochester,
N.Y.) tight end informed the Vir-
ginia Tech coaching staff that he is
committed to the Hokies, he told
Sporting News Today. That was the
enjoyable conversation.
On the flip side, Pitt had been con-
sidered a serious contender for
Lewis’ commitment, and Purdue,
Syracuse, East Carolina and Minne-
sota were among other schools chas-
ing him. He told SN Today that the
Hokies won him over when they
promised he could play tight end.
Still, his excitement about playing
offense didn’t make it any easier to
tell the other coaches he wouldn’t be
coming to their schools.
“The coaches who you’ve made a
strong relationship with are the
toughest to say (no) to,” Lewis told
SN Today. “Some coaches you
might only talk to two or three
times a month, so it’s not as diffi-
cult with them, but when you talk
to coaches every other night and on
the computer and on email, that’s
when it’s tough.”
Lewis (6-4, 232) caught 10 passes
for 348 yards and a touchdown as a
junior. He is rated a three-star pros-
pect by two recruiting services.
“My strength is my size, and my
speed for my size,” said Lewis, who
added that he recently ran the
40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds. “I
started playing football really late, so
I’m still sort of learning the game.”
RECRUITING DISH
COURTESY OF JEROME LEWIS
Jerome Lewis said he recently ran the
40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds.
Battery Creek (Beaufort, S.C.) S
Ricky Chaney (6-3, 195) has committed
to Clemson, Rivals.com reported.
His only offer was from the Tigers.
“It’s a great school,” Chaney told
Rivals.com. “I fell in love with it on
junior day—academics, the football
program—and it’s a place that will
help me in life to be a better person
and better athlete and a better student.
I did well academically this semester,
filled it up with A’s and B’s.”
Luther Burbank Senior (Sac-
ramento, Calif.) CB Terrance Mitchell
(5-10, 160) has committed to Ore-
gon, Rivals.com reported. He also
reported scholarship offers from
Utah and Washington State.
“You can’t beat the combination
of what Oregon offers both on the
Next Gen FHECEJ?ED
field and off the field,” Mitchell’s
father, Terrance Mitchell Sr., told
HIGHEST
Rivals.com. “It’s a great football
program, and they’ve got a very
good academic situation. We really
PERFORMERS
talked things over, and nobody
could offer the type of perfect situ-
ation like Oregon had to offer.”
SWEEPSTAKES
Bishop Montgomery (Torrance,
Calif.) CB Matthew Simmons (6-0, 175) Own a piece of baseball history! Enter for a chance to win one of
has committed to Washington State, twenty 22x28 prints of the game’s legendary heroes taken by the greatest
the school where his late father, Randal
Simmons, played, Scout.com reported. baseball photographer of all time, Charles M. Conlon.
“I’ve grown up loving Washington
State,” Matthew Simmons told Scout.
com. “I love the environment up From 1904 to 1942, Sporting News photographer, Charles M. Conlon,
there. It’s a good campus, and I feel
like I’m at home there. I’ve been going immortalized the sport’s greatest players and created some of baseball’s
there for a long time with my dad.”
most famous photographs. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio,
In Hoops: Kentucky recruit John Wall Ted Williams—these visually stunning, black and white photographs of
pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and
entered a program for first offenders baseball’s golden age are instantly recognized around the world.
which could lead to having his record
cleared, The Associated Press
reported. Wall, 18, pleaded guilty
Wednesday to breaking and enter-
ing. Wake County Assistant District
ENTER TODAY!
Attorney Phillip Cowan said that under sportingnews.com/mlb/draft/sweeps
the terms of the plea, Wall must com-
plete 75 hours of community service,
pay court costs and program fees and
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The 6-foot-4 point guard at Raleigh PURCHASE NECESSARY. For complete rules and regulations, visit sportingnews.com/mlb/
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of intent to play at Kentucky last all entries must be received. Open only to legal residents of the 50 United States/DC, 18
years of age or older as of the date of entry except employees of Sponsors, their immediate
week. He was charged after police
families, and those living in the same household. Void outside the 50 United States/DC and
found him walking out of a vacant where prohibited. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. ARV of 20
house in Raleigh. Wall and two other prizes: $150 each. Sponsor: Sporting News, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10016 and
teenagers were cited. Procter and Gamble Distributing, LLC, Cincinnati, OH 45202.
— Brian McLaughlin
SPORTING NEWS TODAY
Spurrier’s South Carolina legacy could be riding on Garcia’s arm
For the first time in three tries, Stephen Garcia made it through Steve Spurrier’s spring practice at South Carolina.
www.sportingnews.com College Football
DESTIN, FLA.—The irony is,
Steve Spurrier left his last
college job because he was a
victim of his own success.
Now here he is again, at a
different school in a different
situation—with the same
expectations. Only this one
may be his
hardest gig
yet.
“That’s the
c h a l le nge,”
Spurrier said.
“To have that
big year in
Matt Hayes S o u t h
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Carolina.”
And it all
rests on Stephen Garcia.
Spurrier’s teams have won
28 games in four years at
South Carolina, the best four-
season run in school history.
His teams have beaten SEC
heavyweights and he has ele-
vated the program from the
depths of insignificance.
Yet that all pales in com-
parison to the bar he set for
himself and any of his teams:
He hasn’t won a champion-
ship—and he hasn’t found a
quarterback.
This is where Garcia, South
Carolina’s talented yet enig-
matic quarterback, enters the
picture.
The guy who just recently
made it through his first
spring practice in three tries
because he couldn’t stay out
of trouble, is the key to that
“big year.”
The guy who threw three
JOHN RAOUX / AP
interceptions in last year’s
Outback Bowl loss to Iowa
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 6
and looked utterly lost against repeated brushes with the to be a dynamic dual-threat
a mid-level Big Ten team, is law. He somehow found his and expand Spurrier’s pass-
the difference between the way back by completing more happy offense, that made
Gamecocks competing for an than 175 hours of community recruiting Garcia so intriguing.
East Division championship service—“Some of our coaches But because of his problems
or finding a way to win seven said he’d never be able to do off the field—he missed two
games. Again. that,” Spurrier said—and spring drills (30 practices)
“I feel good about where we humbly working his way and one season redshirting—
are,” Garcia said this spring. back. Garcia’s development hasn’t
He may be the only one. His wild hair shaved, his been nearly as quick as
Spurrier, for one, isn’t buying free spirit tamed, Garcia is needed. He still makes high
it. At least not yet. ready to be what Spurrier school mistakes: still tries to
As well as Garcia played hasn’t been able to find since scramble at the first sign of
this spring, he still has to arriving in Columbia on the pressure, still doesn’t go
make it through the sum- heels of Lou Holtz—who said through progressions, still
mer—a stretch of months that he couldn’t change the “cul- doesn’t feel the nuances of the
made guys like Dave Brown ture of losing” at the school. game.
at Duke and Shane Matthews, In four years, Spurrier has But he has a big arm, can
Danny Wuerffel and Rex had quarterbacks who make all the throws and can
Grossman at Florida. Guys couldn’t make good decisions do damage in the run game.
who, after investing time and (Blake Mitchell, Chris In a perfect world, Garcia is
effort when no one was watch- Smelley, Tommy Beecher), beginning his third season as
ing, saw it all play out in the and one who couldn’t throw a starter and as a poor man’s
fall in front of packed (Sylvelle Newton). Tim Tebow. And a young
stadiums. Wouldn’t you know it, the team built around three
His first two years on cam- one who couldn’t throw straight strong recruiting
pus, Garcia couldn’t get it wound up being the most classes is on the verge of
right away from the field and efficient of them all. It was something special.
was kicked out of school for Newton’s running, his ability Instead, Spurrier spent
much of his time here at the
SEC spring meetings respond-
Coaches won’t have to reveal votes in 2010 ing to questions about how
much longer he’ll coach, and
More secrecy, more of the unknown. Why should we be surprised? if his tenure at South Carolina
The American Football Coaches Association announced Wednesday is starting to take the shine
that beginning in 2010, its poll—one of two that decides the human vote
in the BCS ratings—will no longer be transparent. The coaches’ vote will away from all he accom-
be confidential, but coaches will be able to reveal their ballots if they plished at Florida.
choose. Which is sort of like saying Utah has a chance to win the national “I can’t worry about how
championship. Technically, it does—the reality is, it won’t happen. people remember me,” Spur-
“I thought it kept everyone honest,” South Carolina coach Steve rier said. “Whatever I did at
Spurrier said Wednesday at the SEC meetings. “Now there’s a chance for
real hanky-panky.” Duke is history, at Florida is
The coaches’ poll voting was made public in 2005 after a controversial history. We’re still trying to
finish to the 2004 season, when Texas jumped California on the last poll to make history at South
earn a spot in the Rose Bowl. Carolina.”
“I understand the reasons we’re doing it, and they’re valid,” LSU coach This may be his hardest gig
Les Miles said. “But it does kind of seem a little sneaky peek.”
— Matt Hayes yet.
mhayes@sportingnews.com
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com College Football
Top 100 countdown INSIDE DISH
Sporting News Today is counting down its
Top 100 college football teams for 2009,
featuring one team each day leading into
SEC commish: Stop the sparring N?8KK@D<@J@K66

>8D<;8P
the season opener Thursday, Sept. 3.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive

99
didn’t use notes and didn’t know
how long he spoke. His message
to his football coaches and ath-
letic directors Wednesday
couldn’t be clearer: Stop the pub-
lic verbal sparring of the past few
months. Now.
“I had all 5-9, 170 pounds of me
into every word I said,” Slive said
at the SEC meetings in Florida.
Slive hasn’t been happy about
the string of public exchanges
over the past few months, almost
all involving new Tennessee
coach Lane Kiffin.

Joe Paterno says he’d like to

LOUISIANA SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
LB Antwyne Zanders will be expected to
provide leadership during a rough patch.
LOUISIANA-
LAFAYETTE
2008 record: 6-6 overall, 5-2 Sun
Belt
Coach: Rickey Bustle
Outlook: The Ragin’ Cajuns might
need to lean more heavily on
defense with their top two running
backs and quarterback gone—
although center Chris Fisher is
among the nation’s elite. The
pressure will be on veteran
linebackers Daylon McCoy and
Antwyne Zanders, who must lead
the Cajuns through a September
slate that includes games in
consecutive weeks against Kansas
State, LSU and Nebraska.
— Derek Samson
see either Rutgers, Pittsburgh or
Syracuse join the Big Ten.
The legendary Penn State
coach also knows which school
he wants to keep out: Notre
Dame. Paterno met with report-
ers Wednesday at an alumni
event near Allentown, Pa.
Florida State senior WR Rich-
ard Goodman was suspended from
the team after being charged for
his role in a fight on campus last
fall. Goodman turned himself into
the Leon County (Fla.) jail on Tues-
day after he was charged with
aggravated battery with a deadly
weapon causing great bodily harm.
He posted bond and was released.
Coach Bobby Bowden said Wednes-
day that Goodman is suspended
indefinitely “until the matter has
been resolved.”
Authorities say Goodman threw
a chair that struck a woman in the
face during a fight that broke out
between Florida State football play-
ers and members of the Phi Beta
BOB LEVERONE / SN
Richard Goodman didn’t play last season
while recovering from a fractured leg.
Sigma fraternity last fall. The
woman suffered extensive injuries.
New Mexico State coach DeW-
ayne Walker was arrested for sus-
pected drunken driving last
weekend but authorities said the
:FCC<><=FFK98CC =8EK8JP=FFK98CC GIF=FFK98CC
charge was dismissed because his ON SALE 6/2/09 ON SALE 6/9/09 ON SALE 6/23/09
breath-alcohol level was well below
the state’s legal limit for presumed
intoxication. New Mexico police
said the charge was thrown out
because Walker’s breath-alcohol
content tested at .01 percent after
his arrest Saturday. New Mexico’s
threshold for presumed intoxica-
tion is .08 percent.
($/''$*/'$.+'+
Clemson OL Barry Humphries will www.sportingnews.com or www.streetandsmiths.com
miss the first two games of the sea- SHIPPING: + $3.50 for the first magazine + 50¢ each additional magazine
son after a drunken driving arrest.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Overnight Report THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 8
NATIONAL LEAGUE AMERICAN LEAGUE
San Francisco 6, Atlanta 3 Giants 6, Braves 3
Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
L.A. Angels 3, Chicago White Sox 1
D.Hernandez ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .200

First shot at 300 could come Wednesday Kotchman 1b 4 0

C.Jones 3b
Prado 2b
4 0
4 1
1 1
0 0
0 0
0 0 .272
0 4 .306
0 0 .239
Abreu’s power starts to show
M.Diaz lf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .288
Francoeur rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .253
D.Ross c 2 0 0 0 0 1 .254 ANAHEIM—The Los Angeles Angels 3, White Sox 1
b-McCann ph-c 1 0 1 0 1 0 .320 Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
CHICAGO—When Randy Johnson finally Schafer cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .209 Angels hoped that Bobby Podsednik lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .282
Kawakami p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .188
stepped to the edge of history at the San Moylan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Abreu could fill the big hole left Al.Ramirez ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .240
Dye rf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .276
Francisco Giants’ foggy ballpark with c-G.Anderson ph 1 0 1 2 0 0 .267 in their lineup with the depar- Thome dh 4 0 2 0 0 0 .252
O’Flaherty p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
his 299th victory, the 45-year-old Acosta p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- ture of Mark Teixeira. Konerko 1b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .309
Totals 32 3 5 3 2 7 Pierzynski c 3 0 1 0 1 0 .274
lefthander allowed himself to savor the Nowhere near the power hit- Bri.Anderson cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .274
view for just about as long as it took to San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg. ter that Teixeira is, Abreu took Getz 2b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .246
Rowand cf 4 2 2 1 0 0 .279 J.Nix 3b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .209
change out of his uniform. Renteria ss 3 0 1 0 2 0 .248 a big first step to making up for Totals 31 1 5 1 2 8
“I don’t know what it’s going to be Winn rf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .279 the loss of the free agent.
Schierholtz rf 2 0 1 1 0 0 .250 Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
like,” Johnson said. “I can’t anticipate B.Molina c 5 0 1 0 0 0 .253 Jered Weaver and Brian Figgins 3b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .298
things until they happen. I’m just grate- F.Lewis lf 3 1 0 0 1 1 .267 Fuentes combined on a five- Abreu rf 3 1 2 2 1 1 .309
Valdez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Guerrero dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .227
ful I’m in this position. It’s been a lot of e-Frandsen ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 hitter, Abreu had two RBIs, Hunter cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .315
B.Wilson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
hard work, with the back surgeries and Ishikawa 1b 4 1 2 0 0 1 .262 and the Los Angeles Angels K.Morales 1b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .279
J.Rivera lf 3 0 2 1 0 1 .293
the knee surgery. ... I just like going out Uribe 3b 3 1 2 1 1 0 .304 rallied to beat the Chicago M.Izturis ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .260
Burriss 2b 4 1 3 1 0 0 .271
there and pitching and doing well.” Ra.Johnson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .067 White Sox 3-1 on Wednesday. Kendrick 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .234
a-Aurilia ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .175 Mathis c 3 1 1 0 0 1 .229
The Big Unit then got back to busi- Medders p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
“This is really my first game Totals 29 3 7 3 2 8
ness. Even after 22 years in the big Affeldt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 where I felt like I really helped
d-Torres ph-lf 1 0 1 1 0 0 .300 Chicago 000 100 000 — 1 5 0
leagues, he’s always thinking ahead to Totals 35 6 14 5 4 3 them with the bat. I hope more Los Angeles 000 003 00x — 3 7 0
his next start—and he knows it’s an of those are coming,” said
Atlanta 000 001 200—3 5 0 LOB: Chicago 6, Los Angeles 4. 2B: Thome (7),
awfully big one. San Francisco 011 002 20x—6 14 1 Abreu, who is hitting .309 with Abreu (8), J.Rivera (6). RBIs: Konerko (31), Abreu
Johnson pitched six impressive a-grounded out for Ra.Johnson in the 6th.
19 RBIs, but just one homer. 2 (19), J.Rivera (17). SF: Konerko. Runners left
innings against the Braves, yielding Weaver (4-2) improved to 4-0 in scoring position: Chicago 2 (Bri.Anderson,
b-walked for D.Ross in the 7th. c-singled for
Moylan in the 7th. d-singled for Affeldt in the 7th. J.Nix); Los Angeles 4 (K.Morales 2, M.Izturis 2).
three hits and one run in the Giants’ 6-3 e-flied out for Valdez in the 8th. against Chicago while striking DP: Chicago 2 (Al.Ramirez, Getz, Konerko), (Al.
win Wednesday night. E: Burriss (4). LOB: Atlanta 5, San Francisco 11. out eight in eight innings. He Ramirez).
2B: D.Hernandez (1), McCann (6), Rowand 2 (13),
Johnson (4-4) retired the Braves’ first Burriss (5). RBIs: Kotchman (23), G.Anderson 2 gave up four hits and one run. Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
nine hitters and 15 of the first 16 in a per- (11), Rowand (22), Schierholtz (4), Uribe (7), Bur- Weaver has now given up just Floyd L, 3-5 8 7 3 3 2 8 102 6.12
riss (10), Torres (2). SB: Rowand (3), Renteria (3), Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
formance reminiscent of the Big Unit in F.Lewis (4). S: Kawakami, Ra.Johnson. one run in four of his last five Jer.Weaver W, 4-2 8 4 1 1 2 8 103 2.36
Runners left in scoring position: Atlanta 3 Fuentes S, 13-15 1 1 0 0 0 0 15 4.08
his inimitable prime, although the big (Prado, D.Hernandez, Schafer); San Francisco 6 starts.
lefty has less power and more precision (B.Molina 2, F.Lewis, Renteria 3). “I was trying to make some IBB: off Floyd (K.Morales), off Jer.Weaver (Pier-
BEN MARGOT / AP Runners moved up: Kotchman, B.Molina, zynski). WP: Jer.Weaver. Umpires: Home, Brian
these days. F.Lewis, Aurilia. GIDP: B.Molina. good pitches early, trying to get O’Nora; First, Fieldin Culbreth; Second, Gary Ceder-
The five-time Cy Young Award win- Should he beat Washington next Wednesday, Randy Johnson will be the 24th major leaguer with 300 wins. DP: Atlanta 1 (D.Hernandez, Prado, Kotchman). some early outs, and I was able to strom; Third, Jim Wolf. T: 2:05. A: 40,169 (45,257).
ner struck out five to run his career total locating it well, and using both sides of pitching? He’s not that far away, but it’s Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA do that for the most part,” Weaver
Kawakami L, 3-6 5 2⁄3 9 4 3 4 2 98 4.73
to 4,843, second-most in baseball his- the plate. Good command, and he had going to be a long time before we see Moylan 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 4 5.06 said. “Those guys can hurt you at
tory. He didn’t walk a batter and allowed one of his better sliders.” another guy reach 300.” O’Flaherty 1⁄3 4 2 2 0 1 19 3.18 any time, so you’ve just got to
Acosta 1 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 13 0.00
his only run on Casey Kotchman’s RBI Johnson likely will get his first chance Some of Johnson’s children and a few San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA keep making your pitches, and
single in the sixth, which he finished by to become the 24th major leaguer with Bay Area friends will make the journey, Ra.Johnson W, 4-4 6 3 1 1 0 5 79 5.71 mix it up a little bit.”
Medders H, 2 1-3 0 2 0 1 0 9 3.05
striking out Chipper Jones for the third 300 victories next Wednesday at which he acknowledges is more than Affeldt H, 9 2-3 1 0 0 1 1 12 2.05 Fuentes pitched the ninth to
Valdez H, 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 3.07
time. Washington. just another business trip. B.Wilson S, 10-13 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 4.43 pick up his 13th save of the
“The thing about Randy, he used to be “I’m sure he’s been waiting for this “Anxiety? A little nervous? Yeah, I season.
Inherited runners-scored: Moylan 2-1, Acosta
a power pitcher,” San Francisco man- moment all year,” Bochy said. “The way suppose,” Johnson said. “I’d love to do it 2-0, Affeldt 2-2. HBP: by Kawakami (Rowand). Teixeira left after signing a
ager Bruce Bochy said. “He studies the the game is, it’s tougher for these start- here in front of family and friends and WP: Kawakami. PB: D.Ross. $180 million, eight-year con-
Umpires: Home, Bill Miller; First, Dale Scott;
game and hitters, and he made great ers, with the way they’re being used, to the ownership. Of all the trips to do it Second, Jerry Meals; Third, Mike DiMuro. tract with the Yankees and the
T: 2:59. A: 27,744 (41,915).
adjustments today. ... He kept the ball get the wins and reach 300. (Jamie) on, it had to be on the East Coast one.” Angels signed Abreu.
down. He had a good fastball, was Moyer, who knows how long he’ll keep — The Associated Press — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Detroit 2, Chicago 1, OT
Gutsy loss gives young ’Hawks something to build on
DETROIT—The sting of another overtime
playoff loss to the Red Wings was still
fresh. The blank stares from players
stuffing hockey equipment into giant
duffle bags following the last game of
the 2008-09 season revealed the
disappointment.
But after dreams of a
Stanley Cup arriving in
Chicago ahead of sched-
ule for the talented
young Blackhawks
were erased by a Dar-
ren Helm overtime
goal, Chicago captain
Craig Custance Jonathan Toews had
HOCKEY the sense to realize
exactly what he just
went through.
“This is a career experience,” Toews
said. “Something you can definitely use
down the road.”
Nobody expected Chicago’s road to
lead as far as it did so quickly. And when
the world of hockey was already antici-
pating a rematch between the Penguins
and Red Wings in the Stanley Cup
finals, the Blackhawks produced their
gutsiest effort of the series.
It wasn’t a win, and there are no Cups
handed out for gutsy efforts, but even in
the loss—and the series loss—the Black-
hawks will find plenty to build on.
Patrick Kane scored his first goal of
the series with a beautiful backhand
past Detroit goalie Chris Osgood. Chi-
cago goalie Cristobal Huet bounced
back from an ugly performance in Game
4 to nearly steal a game and extend this
series back to Chicago.
And Toews? Well, he earned the
respect of the opposing coach with his
refusal to quit.
“He’s a will machine,” Detroit coach
Though his team went down in five games, Chicago C Jonathan Toews earned the respect of his adversary.
Mike Babcock said. “He keeps coming
and keeps coming.”
NHL
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
PAUL SANCYA / AP
In a few short days, we’ll find out how
much the Penguins learned in being
eliminated from the playoffs by the Red
Wings last spring.
It’ll take a little while longer to dis-
cover what the Blackhawks learned, but
the growth this franchise made during
its playoff run is more valuable than any
of the headline moves the Blackhawks
made in the last year.
If nothing else, this team will remem-
ber the bitter taste of coming this close
and not winning. And never want to
repeat it.
“There’s always going to be this feel-
ing of unfinished business in this dress-
ing room,” Toews said. “We can use this
as motivation. This sinking feeling
stings quite a bit. I think we’ll remem-
ber that for a long time.”
But there is more than pain to remem-
ber from this loss in Game 5. Kane scored
one of the prettiest goals of the playoffs
with his game-tying backhand. The goal
also meant one of the game’s most-skilled
young stars won’t have to answer ques-
tions about not scoring a single goal in the
Western Conference finals.
Huet made one of the best saves of the
playoffs by getting a pad on a Johan Fran-
zen shot in the final seconds of regulation.
Huet, the likely starter next year for the
Blackhawks, will ultimately look back at
his impressive 44-save performance in a
more positive light than he was able to
immediately after the loss.
But it was the man who had been here
before—the Blackhawks coach—who was
best able to sum up the entire experience.
“I think we should all be proud of the
year we had,” Joel Quenneville said.
“They matured. They developed. But it
was a really good working experience.
We got to find out what playoff hockey
is all about.”
ccustance@sportingnews.com
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 9
NOTEBOOK
Hossa: Same ending,
but different jersey
For a guy who didn’t score a goal or have an assist,
there certainly were a lot of cameras, microphones
and notepads surrounding Marian Hossa after the
game.
He’d better get used to it.
Hossa will be the focus of the buildup for the Stanley
Cup finals after leaving the Penguins to sign a one-year
deal last summer with the Red Wings, admittedly
because he wanted to win a Stanley Cup. Now, the Pen-
guins stand in the way of achieving that goal.
“It’s a unique situation right now, this doesn’t hap-
pen often,” Hossa said.
No, it doesn’t. A free agent turning down millions
of dollars to sign a short-term deal to win a Cup is one
thing. Having to beat his former team to do it raises
the story to another level.
“It is a little ironic, unique situation,” Hossa said,
finally smiling. “Back-to-back finals, same teams.
Right now, I’m on this team and looking to help this
team win a Cup.”
Is there extra motivation to beat his former
teammates?
“Being in the finals, that’s the motivation,” Hossa
said.
Injuries pile up for Red Wings
The morning of Game 5 against Chicago, Detroit
coach Mike Babcock announced that Pavel Datsyuk,
Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper wouldn’t play
because of injuries. Then, shortly before the game,
the Red Wings announced that defenseman Jonathan
Ericsson wouldn’t play after being diagnosed with
acute appendicitis and having to undergo surgery.
The team said Ericsson is expected to return in time
for Saturday’s Stanley Cup finals opener against the
Penguins.
“Well, today was a bit of a shocker, to say the least,”
Babcock said. “Hopefully you’re going to get some
guys back.”
Babcock said before the game that Datsyuk and
Lidstrom were close to being able to return.
— Craig Custance
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Detroit 2, Chicago 1, OT
Wings ride role players to Conference-clinching victory
DETROIT—Darren Helm and Dan Cleary
are far from marquee players for the Detroit
Red Wings.
The banged-up Red Wings, playing with-
out stars Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Dat-
syuk, needed Helm and Cleary to eliminate
the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 5 of the
Western Conference finals Wednesday night.
Helm scored 3:58 into overtime, and
Cleary had a goal in the third period in the
defending champion Red Wings’ 2-1 vic-
tory over Chicago that set up a Stanley Cup
finals rematch with Pittsburgh.
“We lose guys and we keep getting the
job done,” defenseman Brett Lebda said.
Detroit won 4-1 in a series that needed
overtime in three of the last four games.
“We blew them out one game, but by no
means was it easy,” said goalie Chris
Osgood, who made 30 saves.
The Red Wings and Penguins, coming
off a four-game sweep over Carolina in the
East, will open the championship series
Saturday night in Detroit.
The series will start nearly a week ahead
of schedule because NBC and the NHL
didn’t want a long layoff to stunt the excite-
ment about the matchup.
One of the intriguing stories will be
Detroit’s Marian Hossa playing against the
team he left behind as a free agent. Hossa
turned down a long-term, lucrative deal
from the Penguins last summer for a one-
year contract because he believed the Red
Wings had a better shot to win it all again.
“It’s a unique situation right now, definitely
this doesn’t happen often,” Hossa said. “I try
to make the best of the situation for myself
and try to help the team win a Cup.”
The Red Wings are matching up with
Pittsburgh in what is the NHL’s first Stan-
ley Cup rematch since the Edmonton Oilers
beat the New York Islanders in 1984 after
losing to them the previous year.
Darren Helm, right, scored his third goal of the playoffs 3:58 into overtime and clinched Detroit’s Western Conference title.
“To have the opportunity against Pitts-
burgh should be a lot of fun,” Detroit coach
Mike Babcock said. “There will be a lot of
hype.”
The Red Wings, the first defending
champion to get back to the finals since
New Jersey in 2001, are trying to become
the first team to repeat since they accom-
plished the feat in 1997 and ‘98.
In the Western Conference finale, both
teams were missing key players.
Detroit was without six-time Norris
NHL
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
Trophy-winning defenseman Lidstrom; his
replacement, Jonathan Ericsson; MVP final-
ist Datsyuk; and four-time Cup-winning for-
ward Kris Draper.
“Everybody picked up the slack,” said
47-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios, who
played only because Detroit’s blue line was
so thin.
In addition to Khabibulin, Chicago faced
elimination—for the first time this postsea-
son—without star forward Martin Havlat.
Goalie Cristobal Huet kept the
PAUL SANCYA / AP
Blackhawks in the game, but a bad bounce
for them and a fortunate one for Detroit
ended the game.
Detroit sent the puck behind Huet, Tomas
Holmstrom got it across the crease after the
carom and, after fanning with a shot attempt
from the edge of the crease, Helm was cred-
ited with the series-clinching goal after it
went in off his skate.
“Those are the kind of goals you score in
the later stages in playoffs,” Chicago coach
Joel Quenneville said. “We got hemmed in
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 10
their end. It was a tough one.”
Despite helping Chicago reach the playoffs
for the first time since 2002 and the confer-
ence finals for the first time since 1995, Jona-
than Toews took the season-ending loss
hard.
“It’s pretty hard kick to the ribs,” Toews
said. “It stinks quite a bit, but maybe it’s the
motivation and experience we needed.”
Cleary opened the scoring 6:08 into the
third period, and Chicago’s Patrick Kane tied
it with 7:07 left in regulation with his first goal
of the series.
Huet made 44 saves for the Blackhawks.
He forced overtime with a spectacular stop
from his stomach, lifting his right leg to
knock away Johan Franzen’s shot in the
closing seconds.
“He played great,” Quenneville said. “He
is to be commended. The game he played
kept us in it.”
— The Associated Press
Series glance
(Detroit wins series 4-1)
May 17: Detroit 5, Chicago 2
May 19: Detroit 3, Chicago 2, OT
May 22: Chicago 4, Detroit 3, OT
May 24: Detroit 6, Chicago 1
Wednesday: Detroit 2,
Chicago 1, OT
Chicago 0 0 1 0 — 1
Detroit 0 0 1 1 — 2
First Period: None. Penalties: Sharp, Chi (hooking), 8:34; Chicago bench, served
by Brouwer (too many men), 16:34.
Second Period: None. Penalties: Eager, Chi, misconduct, 8:00; Fraser, Chi (rough-
ing), 8:00; Holmstrom, Det (roughing), 8:00; Hossa, Det (slashing), 8:31; Lebda, Det
(hooking), 11:24; Keith, Chi (slashing), 14:31; Holmstrom, Det (tripping), 15:04.
Third Period: 1, Detroit, Cleary 8 (Lebda, Filppula), 6:08. 2, Chicago, Kane 9 (Sea-
brook, Bolland), 12:53. Penalties: None.
First Overtime: 3, Detroit, Helm 3 (Holmstrom, Lebda), 3:58. Penalties: None.
Shots on Goal: Chicago 9-11-11-0: 31. Detroit 21-10-11-4: 46.
Power-play opportunities: Chicago 0 of 3; Detroit 0 of 3.
Goalies: Chicago, Huet 1-2-0 (46 shots-44 saves). Detroit, Osgood 12-4-0 (31-30).
A: 20,066 (20,066). T: 2:41. Referees: Eric Furlatt, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Greg
Devorski, Shane Heyer.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
STANLEY CUP FINALS
S GAME 1:
Young Penguins say they’re ready to be champs
PITTSBURGH—Gretzky, Crosby.
Messier, Malkin. Oilers, Penguins?
The 1983 Edmonton Oilers, led by
Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier,
were widely hailed as hockey’s team
of the future. Cast against the three-
time defending champion New York
Islanders in the Stanley Cup finals,
they looked inexperienced and
overmatched in the first two games
and ended up being swept.
A year later, a transition from old
to new took place as Gretzky and
Messier led the Oilers to a Stanley
Cup championship, ending the
Islanders’ lengthy reign atop the
NHL while beginning another.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, led by
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin,
are the first team since those Oilers to
return to the Stanley Cup finals a sea-
son after losing in them. And they’re
eager to make a similar break-
through—while getting revenge in a
rematch against the champs.
With Detroit’s Game 5 win over
Chicago Wednesday night, that
rematch became part of the fitting
story line—one that players from
both teams seemed to view as inevi-
table. Like the Islanders of yester-
year, the Wings have won multiple
Stanley Cups—four since 1997.
“They’re the champs, and they’ll
be a big challenge for us,” forward
Miroslav Satan said.
But the Penguins believe they’ll
be much better prepared than they
were last spring, when the Red
Wings overwhelmed them in the
first two games at Detroit and went
on to win in six games. Then, as
defenseman Brooks Orpik said,
PITTSBURGH VS. DETROIT
A year ago, Evgeni Malkin (71) and the Penguins looked overmatched against Detroit. Now, they’ll get their chance for revenge.
“We didn’t know what to expect, it
all happened so quick, and we were
down 2-0 before we knew it.”
Much like the Carolina Hurricanes
were before being swept in the East-
ern Conference finals by the Pen-
guins, who closed them out Tuesday
night by winning 4-1 in Game 4.
There were numerous signs in the
series against the dead-tired Hurri-
canes that the Penguins are likely to be
much better focused in these finals,
NHL
Saturday, 8 P.M., NBC
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was
Pittsburgh’s best player Tuesday with
30 saves. Crosby (two goals, five
assists against Carolina) and Malkin
(six and three) are playing like stars
are supposed to play when titles are
decided. They already have combined
for more points (56—28 each) in three
rounds than they had in four last year.
The difference in these Penguins is
the absence of Marian Hossa, a top-
line winger who defected to Detroit in
To Crosby, such comparisons are
not valid—at least not yet.
“They’ve won cups and … we’ve
yet to do that,” Crosby said. “So we
still have some things to prove. It’s a
compliment, and we’ll try to keep
playing the same way.”
Or the way they have played since
mid-February, when former coach
Michel Therrien was fired and Dan
Bylsma took over. The Penguins are
30-8-4 since then, 12-5 in the playoffs.
Now it’s time to show they can
extend that success all the way to the
finish. And they will be sure to draw
from the lessons of last year’s finals.
“We learned a lot ... I think we took
a lot away from it,” Orpik said. “We
didn’t know what to expect, but this
year is much more of a relaxed feel.
This year, we’re a lot better prepared
for everything.”
— The Associated Press
Say it again …
Here’s a look at the times the same teams have played for the Stanley Cup in
GERRY BROOME / AP back-to-back seasons since the NHL assumed control of the Stanley Cup after 1926
(winner in parentheses):
the offseason. Now playing alongside 2009: Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
Crosby is 38-year-old Bill Guerin, 1978: Montreal vs. Boston (Canadiens)
who has seven playoff goals and one 1969: Montreal vs. St. Louis (Canadiens)
each in four of his last six games. 1964: Toronto vs. Detroit (Maple Leafs)
That the Penguins have returned 1960: Montreal vs. Toronto (Canadiens)
to the finals isn’t a surprise to the 1958: Montreal vs. Boston (Canadiens)
21-year-old Crosby, who has been 1955: Detroit vs. Montreal (Red Wings)
compared to Gretzky since he was a 1949: Toronto vs. Detroit (Maple Leafs)
pre-teen. Crosby and Malkin also 1933: N.Y. Rangers vs. Toronto (Rangers)
are being linked to Mario Lemieux
and Jaromir Jagr, who led the Pen-
guins’ 1991-92 Stanley Cup runs.
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 11
Stanley Cup finals
Saturday: Pittsburgh at Detroit, 8
p.m., NBC
Sunday: Pittsburgh at Detroit, 8
p.m., NBC
Tuesday, June 2: Detroit at
Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., Versus
Thursday, June 4: Detroit at
Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., Versus
Saturday, June 6: Pittsburgh at
Detroit, 8 p.m., if necessary, NBC
Tuesday, June 9: Detroit at
Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., if necessary,
NBC
Friday, June 12: Pittsburgh at
Detroit, 8 p.m., if necessary, NBC
2008: Detroit vs. Pittsburgh (Red Wings)
1977: Montreal vs. Boston (Canadiens)
1968: Montreal vs. St. Louis (Canadiens)
1963: Toronto vs. Detroit (Maple Leafs)
1959: Montreal vs. Toronto (Canadiens)
1957: Montreal vs. Boston (Canadiens)
1954: Detroit vs. Montreal (Red Wings)
1948: Toronto vs. Detroit (Maple Leafs)
1932: N.Y. Rangers vs. Toronto (Canadiens)
— Ken Bradley
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Roy rejects Avs offer; Coyotes process accelerated
Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy
has rejected an offer to return to
Colorado and lead the Avalanche
back to respectability.
Roy had been considering an
offer to replace Tony Granato as
coach, though for several weeks
neither he nor the team would
confirm it. The Avalanche are
reeling from their worst finish
since moving to Denver in 1995
and The Denver Post reported Roy
also had been offered the vacant
general manager job.
“All I can say is that the Ava-
lanche’s offer was more than inter-
esting,” Roy said at a news conference
to report he would stay with the
Quebec Remparts, the junior league
club Roy co-owns and coaches.
Roy phoned Avalanche president
Pierre Lacroix late Tuesday night to
tell him he won’t accept the team’s
offer, citing family reasons.
“My quality of life here in Quebec
City is extraordinary,” he said. “I
adore this adventure, I adore work-
ing with youth. For me it’s a daily
challenge, working to help these
youths realize their dreams.”
Roy declined to reveal details of
his discussions with the Avs but
said he mulled their offer for two
weeks.
The Post reported that Roy wasn’t
shutting the door on ever returning
to the Avs, the team he led to Stan-
ley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001.
U.S. bankruptcy court judge
Redfield Baum has accelerated the
schedule for determining whether
Canadian Jim Balsillie can buy the
Phoenix Coyotes and move them to
Patrick Roy, left, with business partner Jacques Tanguay, said he wasn’t prepared to leave his life in Quebec City for duties with the Avalanche.
southern Ontario over the objection
of the NHL.
At a Wednesday hearing, Baum
called the relocation issue “the
10,000-pound elephant in the
room” and said it needed to be
resolved quickly. He set a hearing
for June 9 and promised a ruling
shortly thereafter.
The relocation hearing had been
scheduled for June 22, but Balsillie
said Tuesday he will withdraw his
$212.5 million offer if the sale is not
completed by the end of June. NHL
deputy commissioner Bill Daly said
the league will appeal if it loses at
the bankruptcy court level, but he
NHL
INSIDE DISH
expressed confidence that won’t be
necessary.
“We’re confident in what the law
says,” he told the Associated Press,
“and the law is pretty clear with
respect to our rights to control both
the identity of our owners and the
location of our franchises.”
The judge set two tentative dates
for the auction of the team, depend-
ing on how he rules on the reloca-
tion issue—June 22 if Balsillie gets
his way and Sept. 10 if the NHL
prevails.
Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs said
Wednesday he expects the NHL’s
JACQUES BOISSINOT / AP
third annual outdoor Winter Classic
to be played New Year’s Day at Bos-
ton’s Fenway Park, home of the Red
Sox.
Jacobs told reporters in a confer-
ence call he hasn’t received official
confirmation from the league, but
said an announcement should come
in July.
“It’s probably been the worst
kept secret in Boston, but they
won’t tell me,” Jacobs said, refer-
ring to NHL officials. “So until
they can confirm it to me, which
they won’t before the middle of
July, we’ll just have to go on the
basis that we think it’s going to
happen and I believe it’s going to
happen.”
The Star Tribune reports that
Peter Laviolette, the coach who guided
Carolina to a 2006 Stanley Cup
championship, has expressed inter-
est in the Wildís coaching vacancy.
Laviolette was fired earlier this sea-
son by the Hurricanes and replaced
by Paul Maurice. While no interview
has been scheduled with new Wild
G.M. Chuck Fletcher, itís expected a
meeting will happen soon.
“It’s a terrific, prime position for
whoever gets the opportunity there,
but nothing at this point officially
has happened yet,” Laviolette told
The Star Tribune. “I’m definitely
interested in coaching again. Minne-
sota is one of the premier jobs out
there. “
The Vancouver Canucks
announced Wednesday they have
signed F Rick Rypien, a cousin of
Super Bowl-winning quarterback
Mark Rypien, to a two-year contract
extension.
Terms of the deal were not dis-
closed, but the signing keeps Ryp-
ien from becoming an unrestricted
free agent on July 1.
Rypien is an energy player, a hard-
hitting 5-11 grinder who’s not afraid
to take on larger opponents. His big-
gest problem has been staying
healthy in an NHL career that has
touched four seasons and 41 games.
“Rick plays with intensity and
energy every time he steps on the
ice, Canucks G.M. Mike Gillis said.
“He is an important part of our
team and a valued teammate.
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 12
Playoff glance
CONFERENCE FINALS
(Best-of-7)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
(Pittsburgh wins series 4-0)
May 18: Pittsburgh 3, Carolina 2
May 21: Pittsburgh 7, Carolina 4
May 23: Pittsburgh 6, Carolina 2
May 26: Pittsburgh 4, Carolina 1
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Chicago vs. Detroit
(Detroit wins series 4-1)
May 17: Detroit 5, Chicago 2
May 19: Detroit 3, Chicago 2, OT
May 22: Chicago 4, Detroit 3, OT
May 24: Detroit 6, Chicago 1
Wednesday: Detroit 2, Chicago 1
NHL calendar
Through May 30—NHL
Combine, Toronto.
June 5—Stanley Cup finals
begin at Western Conference
champion.
June 18—NHL awards show at
Las Vegas.
June 26-27—NHL draft,
Montreal.
July 1—Free agency signing
period begins.
July 5—Deadline for player-
elected salary arbitration.
July 6—Deadline for club-elected
salary arbitration.
July 10—Deadline for
eligible players to elect Group 5
free agency.
July 20-Aug. 4—Salary arbitra-
tion hearings
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com NBA THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 13
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 94 Series glance

Lakers reclaim series lead with Kobe as decoy

(L.A. Lakers lead series 3-2)
May 19: L.A. Lakers 105,
Denver 103
LOS ANGELES—Kobe Bryant offered when a series is tied 2-2. May 21: Denver 106,
himself up as bait and the Denver “The games that we’ve lost, they L.A. Lakers 103
Nuggets bit. That freed up Lamar had an advantage on the inside,” May 23: L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 97
Odom and Pau Gasol on the inside, Anthony said. “The games that we’ve May 25: Denver 120,
where the Lakers’ big men won, we had an advantage. We had to L.A. Lakers 101
dominated. go to a smaller lineup tonight and Wednesday: L.A. Lakers 103,
With Bryant luring double cover- they kept their big lineup on the Denver 94
age then passing to his teammates, court. That kind of hurt us a little bit. Friday: L.A. Lakers at Denver,
the Lakers owned the fourth quarter We’ve got to do a better job of keeping 9 p.m., ESPN
in a 103-94 victory Wednesday night our big men out of foul trouble.” Sunday: Denver at L.A. Lakers,
that gave them a 3-2 lead in the West- Anthony hit a jumper to get Denver 8:30 p.m., if necessary
ern Conference finals. to 96-91 with 1:24 remaining. But the
Bryant scored 22 points—on just 13 Nuggets went cold from the field over
shots—while Odom had 19 points the final 3:38, while the Lakers capi- Denver 25 31 20 18 — 94
and 14 rebounds despite an aching talized at the line. Los Angeles out- L.A. Lakers 25 31 20 27 — 103
lower back and Gasol added 14 points scored Denver 10-5 in that span, DENVER Min FG FT Reb A PF PTS
and 10 rebounds. including making six of eight free Anthony 40:14 9-23 12-13 0-4 4 3 31
“It was a big gamble for me coming throws. Martin 36:07 6-15 0-0 0-5 1 3 12
Nene 25:52 1-3 2-2 4-8 2 6 4
in, but I wanted to change my This time, it was Denver coach Billups 39:02 4-7 1-1 1-3 5 5 12
approach this game and be more of a George Karl’s turn to complain about Jones 15:02 2-8 5-8 4-4 1 2 9
Smith 29:13 3-13 0-1 1-3 4 2 7
decoy,” Bryant said after adding eight the officiating. Lakers coach Phil Andersen 24:27 1-4 0-0 3-8 0 4 2
assists, several out of double-teams Jackson and his organization were Carter 10:58 3-4 0-0 1-3 0 2 7
Kleiza 19:05 3-6 3-5 0-5 0 3 10
in the fourth quarter. “The past cou- fined $25,000 each for griping after Totals 240:00 32-83 23-30 14-43 17 30 94
ple games they really were loading to Game 4. Percentages: FG .386, FT .767. 3-Point Goals: 7-24, .292 (Bil-
my side and I figured I could be a “I thought they got the benefit of lups 3-6, Carter 1-1, Kleiza 1-3, Anthony 1-4, Smith 1-10). Team
decoy and try to give chances to my the whistle,” Karl said. “Every player Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 16 (20 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5
(Andersen 4, Martin). Turnovers: 14 (Anthony 5, Billups 3, Nene 2,
teammates.” in my locker room is frustrated, from Jones 2, Andersen, Smith). Steals: 11 (Anthony 2, Billups 2, Nene
Game 6 is Friday in Denver, where guards to big guys. Gasol goes after at 2, Smith 2, Carter, Jones, Martin). Technical Fouls: Andersen, 9:43
fourth; Nene, 9:33 fourth.
the Lakers lost Game 4 by 19 points. least 20 jump shots, 20 shots to the
“That place is going to be rocking rim and gets one foul; our big guys L.A. LAKERS Min FG FT Reb A PF PTS
Ariza 32:25 4-7 4-6 0-5 4 4 12
and rolling,” Bryant said. “We have have 16. Nene has six fouls, three or Gasol 45:00 5-8 4-5 1-10 4 1 14
to stay focused and poised and try to four of them don’t exist.” Bynum 18:53 4-9 1-3 1-2 1 4 9
Fisher 27:11 4-9 4-4 0-0 2 5 12
cut them up. Be cold-blooded, go out Karl said he didn’t want to get him- Bryant 44:54 6-13 9-10 1-5 8 3 22
there and execute.” self fined before agreeing with Odom 32:07 7-15 4-7 4-14 3 2 19
Farmar 6:35 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 0 2
Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy, Vujacic 3:32 1-2 0-0 0-1 1 1 3
hitting 12 of 13 free throws, and MARK J. TERRILL / AP whose team leads Cleveland 3-1 in the Walton 15:09 2-5 0-0 2-4 2 2 4
Brown 14:14 3-5 0-0 0-0 0 0 6
Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Bil- Pau Gasol, right, was an active presence on both ends of the court, scoring 14 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking five shots. Eastern Conference finals. Totals 240:00 37-76 26-35 10-42 25 22 103
lups added 12 points each for the “In the postgame we’re lobbying Percentages: FG .487, FT .743. 3-Point Goals: 3-16, .188 (Odom
Nuggets. Bryant, Odom and Gasol teamed the shot clock. close to 93-89. Linas Kleiza scored for the league to help us with the ref- 1-1, Vujacic 1-2, Bryant 1-6, Brown 0-1, Ariza 0-2, Farmar 0-2, Fisher
The teams were tied after the first, for all but seven of the Lakers’ 27 “He came in, gave us a huge spark seven straight and Anthony had six ereeing,” he said. “This is too good of 0-2). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 16 (14 PTS). Blocked
Shots: 12 (Gasol 5, Odom 4, Ariza 2, Walton). Turnovers: 15 (Bry-
second and third quarters for just the points in the fourth. They opened on and that’s what you need,” Bryant in the spurt. a series. It’s too good of teams com- ant 7, Fisher 2, Gasol 2, Walton 2, Bynum, Odom). Steals: 5 (Gasol
fourth time in NBA playoff history. an 11-0 run for their first lead of the said of Brown. “It’s about who con- But then the Lakers regained con- peting that we’re sitting here just 2, Ariza, Bryant, Walton). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second,
3:10 first; Brown, 9:43 fourth.
So it all came down to the final 12 second half and it was capped by trols momentum.” trol and finished off the victory. They confused by the whistle.”
minutes. Shannon Brown’s jumper that beat The Nuggets used a 13-6 run to improved to 20-0 in Game 5s at home — The Associated Press A: 18,997 (18,997). T: 2:40. Officials: Monty McCutchen, Ron Gar-
retson, Tom Washington.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Magic one win from making Cavs go ‘poof’, returning to Finals
ORLANDO—Dressed in black, the
imposing 7-footer sat near the floor
for Game 4 like a casual NBA fan.
He was hardly one.
Around here, Shaquille O’Neal
means much more.
He represents the link to Orlan-
do’s glorious past, however brief it
may be. Shaq, a basket-breaking
behemoth with the power of several
men, led the Magic to their only
NBA Finals appearance in 1995, a
short visit that ended with an
embarrassing sweep by Houston.
The Magic and their fans have
longed for a second shot.
They can almost touch it.
Orlando moved within one win
of ending its 14-year Finals drought
on Tuesday night as Dwight How-
ard, the Magic’s present-day Diesel,
scored 27 points—10 in overtime—
in a 116-114 win over the Cleveland
Cavaliers to take a 3-1 lead in the
Eastern Conference finals and
shove LeBron James and his not-so-
supportive cast to the edge of an
early summer break.
A razor-thin series—two one-
point games, and a two-pointer in
OT—where the last team with the
ball usually emerges victorious,
could end tonight. Maybe.
“We’re up 3-1, but we can’t relax,”
said Rashard Lewis, whose catch-
and-shoot 3-pointer with 4.1 sec-
onds left in regulation was easily
Game 4’s most dramatic shot. “Any-
thing can happen. We got to go to
Cleveland looking to try and close
these guys out.”
The Magic got more good news
Wednesday when the NBA
rescinded Howard’s Game
It’s been 14 years since the Magic last made it to the NBA Finals, and they can get back there again by winning Game 5 in Cleveland.
4 technical foul, his sixth of the
playoffs. Under league rules, How-
ard would’ve been automatically
suspended for one game had he
received a seventh technical during
the postseason.
Orlando heads into Game 5 with
no fear of the road. It finished off
the defending champion Boston
Celtics on their famed parquet floor
in a Game 7 in the previous round
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
and have a chance to end Cleve-
land’s dream season on the court of
King James.
The MVP, who is averaging 42.3
points, 7.3 rebound and 7.3 assists
in the series, won’t go quietly.
“I’m up for the challenge,” James
said. “And I think my play, my lead-
ership has spoke for that. So I will
be ready, and I think our guys will
be ready also.”
STEPHEN M. DOWELL / AP
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy,
who doesn’t sleep well even when
things are going great, knows if
anyone can turn this series around
it’s the magnificent James.
“This thing is a long, long, long
way from over, just like the games
in this series have been,” he said.
“When you’ve got a guy as great as
him on the other side, you’re a long
way from done.”
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 14
The road least traveled
Of the 190 teams to face a 3-1 deficit in an NBA playoff series, only eight have
rallied to win.
2006: Phoenix beats L.A. Lakers (first round)
2003: Detroit beats Orlando (first round)
1997: Miami beats New York (East semis)
1995: Houston beats Phoenix (West semis)
1981: Boston beats Philadelphia (East finals)
1979: Washington beats San Antonio (East finals)
1970: L.A. Lakers beats Phoenix (West semis)
1968: Boston beats Philadelphia (East finals)
— Los Angeles Times
After Wednesday’s practice in When the Cavs have concentrated
Ohio, Cavs coach Mike Brown on stopping Howard down low, the
agreed. Magic make 3-pointers (they hit 17
“This is about as even of a series of 38 in Game 4), and when Cleve-
as you can ask for. They’ve just land focuses its defense on guard-
made one or two plays down the ing the perimeter, Howard destroys
stretch more than us. But I still feel them near the basket.
the confidence, I still feel the togeth- “They’re playing their best bas-
erness and I still feel like we have a ketball of the season right now,” said
chance to win this,” Brown said. Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
The odds are stacked against the “They’re playing better than they
Cavaliers. played against Philly and Boston.”
In the NBA’s 62-year postseason — The Associated Press
history, 190 teams have taken a 3-1
lead in a series and 182 of them have
won. More daunting for the Cava-
liers is that the Magic have won 10 Today’s game
of the past 14 meetings between the (Best-of-7)
teams, and were one of three teams Orlando at Cleveland, 8:30
to win at Cleveland’s Quicken p.m., ET, TNT
(Orlando leads series 3-1)
Loans Arena this season.
James and Co. are running out of Betting line
time and answers. Today
Cleveland’s matchup problems FAVORITE ..........LINE ... O/U .........UNDERDOG
at Cleveland .............7½.... (190) .................Orlando
are glaring: Height, depth, speed.
You name it, Orlando more of it.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
NBA takes back Howard’s Game 4 technical
Magic C Dwight Howard had his
technical foul from Game 4 of the
Eastern finals rescinded by the
NBA. Howard was given his sixth
technical of the playoffs for taunt-
ing Anderson Varejao after a layup in
the fourth quarter of the Magic’s
116-114 overtime victory Tuesday
night. Varejao had draped his arms
around Howard in a failed attempt
to stop him from scoring.
Under league rules, Howard
would have been automatically sus-
pended for one game if he received
a seventh technical during the
playoffs.
“I wasn’t taunting Varejao or
anything,” Howard said after the
game. “My thing, it was a tough
play. He grabbed me around the
neck and I made the shot.”
The 76ers interviewed Dallas
assistant Dwane Casey for a second
time about their coaching position,
according to The Associated Press.
Casey interviewed for the first time
last week with Sixers president Ed
Stefanski.
Casey led Minnesota to a 33-49
record in 2006-07 and was fired
40 games into the 2007-08 season.
Casey spent this season on Rick
Carlisle’s staff in Dallas.
The other known candidates are
Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, for-
mer Washington Wizards coach
Eddie Jordan and Sixers scout Chris
Ford. The Sixers informed Lakers
assistant Kurt Rambis this week he
was no longer a candidate. Accord-
ing to the Philadelphia Daily News,
the team also reached out to ESPN
studio analyst Avery Johnson, but one
source said ‘’the timing isn’t right.’’
Although the Kings announced
they will interview Thibodeau for
their head coach opening this week,
the meeting could be pushed to next
week because of the NBA predraft
camp in Chicago, which is also this
week, The Boston Globe reported.
Hornets C Tyson Chandler had
arthroscopic surgery on his left
ankle and left big toe late last week,
and F James Posey had a procedure
on his right knee, The Times-Pica-
yune reported. Chandler’s surgery
was done in an attempt to lessen
inflammation and irritation that
hampered him throughout last sea-
son, when he missed 29 regular-
season games because of the ankle
injury. A midseason trade to Okla-
homa City was rescinded by the
Thunder because of concerns over
the toe, though Chandler did not
miss any games this season because
of it. Both are expected to be fully
recovered by the time training
camp begins in October.
Celtics C Kendrick Perkins and PG
Rajon Rondo will not participate in
USA Basketball’s minicamp in Las
Vegas because of Perkins’ wedding,
The Boston Globe reported. Perkins
is getting married July 25, and
Rondo is one of the groomsmen.
The minicamp includes a meeting
July 22, practice July 23-24, and an
intrasquad scrimmage July 25.
Restricted free agent Jamario
Moon told The Miami Herald that
Heat officials told him ‘’they are
NBA
INSIDE DISH
really impressed with me’’ but
haven’t said if they will re-sign him
because of the luxury tax. Moon is
recovering from sports hernia sur-
gery can resume playing in July.
EA Sports will become the
presenting partner of the 2009
NBA draft, SportsBusiness Journal’s
Eric Fisher reported. EA Sports
will use the event to unveil the cover
athlete for NBA Live 10, the latest
version of its annual basketball
simulation title scheduled for a fall
release. In addition to the branding
for the draft, EA will also gain inte-
gration on NBA.com and the
league’s other digital assets. Online
content plans include the creation
of an EA Sports virtual green room
that will provide behind-the-scenes
coverage of likely draftees.
A Suns-76ers exhibition game
will be held in Monterrey, Mexico,
on Oct. 18. The preseason game will
mark the NBA’s second visit to
Monterrey and the 18th game in
Mexico overall.
TNT is averaging 4.3 million
viewers through 40 NBA playoffs
telecasts through Sunday, up 18.7
percent for 39 telecasts at the same
point last year, SportsBusiness Daily
reported. Meanwhile, ESPN’s 16
postseason telecasts have averaged
4.0 million viewers, up 10.1 percent
from 18 telecasts at the same point
last year. ESPN’s 5.7 cable rating
and 7.9 million viewers for Thurs-
day’s Nuggets-Lakers Game 2 also
marked the net’s second-most
viewed basketball game ever.
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 15
Playoff glance
CONFERENCE FINALS
(Best-of-7), all times ET
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Cleveland vs. Orlando
(Orlando leads series 3-1)
May 20: Orlando 107, Cleveland 106
May 22: Cleveland 96, Orlando 95
May 24: Orlando 99, Cleveland 89
May 26: Orlando 116,
Cleveland 114, OT
Today: Orlando at Cleveland,
8:30 p.m.
Saturday: Cleveland at Orlando, 8:30
p.m., if necessary
Monday, June 1: Orlando at
Cleveland, 8:30 p.m., if necessary
WESTERN CONFERENCE
L.A. Lakers vs. Denver
(L.A. Lakers lead series 3-2)
May 19: L.A. Lakers 105, Denver 103
May 21: Denver 106, L.A. Lakers 103
May 23: L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 97
May 25: Denver 120, L.A. Lakers 101
Wednesday: L.A. Lakers 103,
Denver 94
Friday: L.A. Lakers at Denver, 9 p.m.
Sunday: Denver at L.A. Lakers, 8:30
p.m., if necessary
NBA calendar
June 4—NBA finals start date
(possible move-up to June 2).
June 15—NBA draft early entry
entrant withdrawal deadline (5 p.m.
ET).
June 18—NBA finals latest possible
end date.
June 25—NBA draft.
JACOB LANGSTON / AP
Dwight Howard was on the verge of a suspenion before the league rescinded a technical.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Cardinals G.M.: Glaus’ return probably less than 50-50
Cardinals general manager John
Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
that his “gut feeling” is there is “prob-
ably less than a 50-50 chance” that
3B Troy Glaus will return from offsea-
son shoulder surgery in 2009. The
team is expected to learn more about
Glaus’ progress next week, but Moze-
liak admitted, “It’s like we’re losing
the hope factor.” He added that the
team will be proactive in its search
for a righthanded bat if the news on
Glaus is bad. The newspaper specu-
lated the Cardinals could pursue a
trade for Rockies 3B Garrett Atkins or
Indians 3B Mark DeRosa.
In other Cardinals news, the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch reported P Kyle
Lohse is expected to miss his sched-
uled start Friday. He still has some
forearm weakness after being hit
by a pitch in his most recent start.
After playing five innings of
defense in an extended spring train-
ing intrasquad game Wednesday,
Yankees C Jorge Posada (hamstring)
told reporters he hopes to rejoin the
Yankees’ lineup Friday. Posada said
his hamstring no longer is an issue.
Also, CF Melky Cabrera is expected
to miss four games with a strained
right shoulder after he crashed into a
wall trying to make a catch in Texas
on Tuesday night.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre told
reporters that suspended OF Manny
Ramirez would play 7-10 days in the
minors before rejoining the Dodg-
ers’ lineup. Ramirez, who is eligible
to return July 3, has been working
out on his own and soon could head
to the team’s spring training facility
in Glendale, Ariz.
INSIDE DISH
If Troy Glaus cannot play this season, the Cards will need another power bat.
Although he left Tuesday’s
game after being hit on the right
wrist by a pitch, Brewers OF Ryan
Braun was back in the starting lineup
Wedneday. Also back in action for
Milwaukee: SS J.J. Hardy, who had
missed the previous four games
because of back spasms.
With trade rumors beginning to
swirl, Nationals 1B Nick Johnson told
the New York Daily News he would
welcome a trade to the Mets. New
York has a need at the position after
1B Carlos Delgado’s hip surgery. In other
Mets news, P Oliver Perez (knee) told
The Buffalo News that he expects to
make another minor league rehab
Baseball
M. SPENCER GREEN / AP
start. In his first outing Tuesday, he
allowed one earned run in 4 1/3
innings, though he walked five.
After his second rehab start
Tuesday, Red Sox P John Smoltz
(shoulder) told The Boston Globe that
he needs three more rehab starts
before joining the Red Sox’s rota-
tion. Smoltz’s next rehab start will
be Sunday at Class A. In other Red
Sox news, Yahoo! Sports reported
the team has been scouting Braves
OF Jeff Francoeur.
Finally shedding some light on a
possible cause for his offensive strug-
gles this season—at least in terms of
batting average—The Plain Dealer in
Cleveland reported Indians OF Grady
Sizemore is suffering from elbow pain.
Manager Eric Wedge, while not ruling
out a trip to the disabled list for
Sizemore, said he will continue to use
Sizemore at DH in order to prevent
him from having to throw. And speak-
ing of DH, mlb.com reported Travis Haf-
ner (shoulder) could be back from the
disabled list as soon as Sunday.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
reported the Pirates likely will wait
until Friday before deciding whether
to place P Matt Capps (elbow) on the
disabled list. Capps was hit by a line
drive in Monday’s game but was able
to play long toss Wednesday.
Royals manager Trey Hillman
served a one-game suspension
Wednesday. The discipline was a
result of Hillman’s ejection for
arguing balls and strikes in Mon-
day’s game.
According to The Arizona Repub-
lic, there is some progress to report
on Diamondbacks P Brandon Webb
(shoulder). Webb, who hasn’t pitched
since opening day, is building up
enough strength to play long toss. But
manager A.J. Hinch admitted, “Once
we do that, it’s like starting over. We’ll
have to build his pitch count, similar
in how we do in spring training.”
Banished to the minor leagues
after going 0-5 with an 8.19 ERA in
six starts for the White Sox, P Jose
Contreras could get a chance to regain
his roster spot in the majors. The
Chicago Sun-Times speculated Con-
treras is an option to pitch in the
White Sox’s June 8 doubleheader.
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 16
THE LAUNCHING PAD
What to expect in the major leagues today
CHRIS CARLSON / AP
Juan Pierre and the Dodgers hope to make life miserable again for the Cubs in L.A.
A painful reminder
The last time the Cubs set foot in Dodger Stadium, they suffered the final
loss in their 2008 NLDS sweep. They’re back tonight, and if the struggling
Cubs are to make another postseason run—Sporting News’ official preseason
prediction had Chicago beating Los Angeles in this season’s NLCS—now
would be a great time to build some momentum. Meanwhile, the first-place
Dodgers have a stranglehold on the N.L. West, despite Manny Ramirez’s
suspension. That’s due in large part to the outstanding offense provided by
Juan Pierre, who is filling in for Manny, and third baseman Casey Blake, who
was the Dodgers’ “other” trading deadline acquisition in 2008. Of course,
L.A.’s pitching also has been strong, and lefthander Randy Wolf (2-1) will try
for his seventh quality start in 11 outings tonight.
Mauer power
How hot is Twins catcher Joe Mauer? Even when he got a day off in the
first game of this series against Boston, he delivered a pinch-hit, two-run
homer in the ninth inning. And in this month alone, he has surpassed his
home run total from all of 2008. Tonight, he’ll face a resurgent Josh Beckett
(2-0, 2.67 ERA in four May starts).
Wins in the West
The Braves begin the second leg of their West Coast swing tonight at Chase
Field. In order to salvage this seven-game trip, they’ll need to play better at
Arizona than they did at San Francisco. Prior to their struggles against the
Giants, the Braves had won their past four road series, so they are capable of
turning it around. It will help to have ace Derek Lowe on the mound tonight.
From 2005-08 with the Dodgers, Lowe posted a 3.66 ERA in 17 starts against
the Diamondbacks. He was 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA against them in 2008.
— Chris Bahr
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Q&A with ... Rays 3B Evan Longoria
‘I know we haven’t hit the way we can hit collectively as a group’
Fresh off his A.L. rookie of the year season in
2008, Longoria has continued to bash. Instead of
battling a sophomore slump, Longoria is making an
early push at a Triple Crown. He recently appeared
on Sporting News Radio to discuss his hot hitting,
the Rays’ recent lineup-card gaffe and his outlook
on the season.
Q: You’re No. 20 on Sporting
News’ top 50 players list. That’s
quite an honor, isn’t it?
A: Yeah, it is. The list is pretty short,
and to be included with those guys
is really an honor. To be included in that
category and to be brought up in that sort
of a list, it lets you know your hard work is
paying off a little bit and you are being
recognized for all the hard work that you
put in.
Q: It really has been a miraculous
year for you, hasn’t it?
A: Going back even further from when
I signed in ’06, it’s all been pretty
much high speed, to say the least. At this
time now it’s probably been the first time
that I’ve been able to just relax and settle
into a situation. I bought my first place in
Tampa, and this will be my first full year
in the big leagues. And now it seems like
things are coming a little slower. So it’s a
good sign.
Q: You’re from Southern
California. You went to Long
Beach State University. Do you have a
sense for how much you’re respected
there?
A: I love Southern California. I love
the people I grew up with and
played with in Long Beach. Any time I
have the chance to go home or the chance
to do something in that community, I
always jump on the opportunity, because
where you grow up is your roots.
Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 17
A: I don’t even know where to start.
We got mixed up in the dugout
and I was getting ready the whole time,
and they said, “You’re going to hit.” But
they didn’t tell me where I was going to
hit. It’s not their fault; I was ready to hit
anyway. But it was so last-minute, and I
was throwing my gloves on as I was
running to the plate. Obviously, I
wanted to be in that situation to give us
the chance to win that game. The
pitcher was pretty good, too. He was
throwing about 94 with a cutter and a
split. It was a tough, tough plate appear-
ance, but it was fun nonetheless. I
enjoyed it.
Q: You guys seemed to have fun
with the recent lineup mishap
(pitcher Andy Sonnanstine had to
serve as the DH and bat third). What
was that like?
A: After the initial shock of the
situation wore off, we were all
right with it. If there were any other
starting pitchers around here, they’d be
upset with me. But if I had to pick one, I
would definitely pick Sonny to hit in that
spot. We got lucky in that respect, I
guess. It ended up working out all right
in that we won and nobody had to get
yelled at after the game.
Q: How do you feel about where
you are in the division
STEVE NESIUS / AP considering what you guys have gone
Last season, Evan Longoria won A.L. rookie of the year despite fracturing his wrist, and he’s picked up where he left off—the 23-year-old is hitting .324 with 11 HR and 49 RBIs. through thus far?
Q: It really takes a lot of hard
work and a lot of support to get
Granted, I was blessed being a top pick.
You get all the opportunities in the
There’s still a lot of work involved. A: We definitely haven’t played the
kind of baseball that this team can
play. I know we haven’t hit the way we can
to where you are, doesn’t it?
A: You’ve got to understand that
everybody who makes it to the
world to succeed as a top pick, and some
guys’ roads are a lot tougher. But that
doesn’t mean it was a free pass for me or
Q: When you walked up to the
plate in the WBC, wasn’t that
one of the most difficult plate
hit collectively as a group. We’re just a few
clicks away from being right where we
want to be.
big leagues, it’s not an easy road. anyone else who gets drafted high. appearances you ever had?
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 18
Fantasy Focus LEAGUE LEADERS
American League Standings
Batting Average Home Runs East W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Stock Watch Boston 27 20 .574 — — 5-5 L-2 17-6 10-14
A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L. New York 27 20 .574 — — 7-3 W-1 14-9 13-11
Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Toronto 27 23 .540 1½ 1½ 1-9 L-9 16-6 11-17
Mi.Cabrera Detroit .374 Beltran New York .367 C.Pena Tampa Bay 16 Ad.Gonzalez San Diego 18 Tampa Bay 23 26 .469 5 5 4-6 L-4 11-10 12-16
Baltimore 21 26 .447 6 6 5-5 W-3 14-11 7-15
Bartlett Tampa Bay .373 Pence Houston .352 Teixeira New York 15 Ibanez Philadelphia 17
V.Martinez Cleveland .362 Hudson Los Angeles .347 Bay Boston 14 Dunn Washington 16 Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Ad.Jones Baltimore .359 Tejada Houston .346 Morneau Minnesota 14 Bruce Cincinnati 14 Detroit 26 19 .578 — — 7-3 W-1 15-7 11-12
Minnesota 24 24 .500 3½ 3½ 6-4 W-2 19-10 5-14
A.Hill Toronto .344 DWright New York .345 Kinsler Texas 13 Pujols St. Louis 14 Kansas City 23 24 .489 4 4 4-6 L-1 15-12 8-12
Morneau Minnesota .343 CGuzman Washington .340 6 tied at 12 Reynolds Arizona 13 Chicago 21 25 .457 5½ 5½ 6-4 L-1 12-10 9-15
I.Suzuki Seattle .343 Ibanez Philadelphia .339 2 tied at 12 Cleveland 20 28 .417 7½ 7½ 6-4 W-3 10-11 10-17
West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Runs Stolen Bases Texas 27 19 .587 — — 5-5 L-1 15-8 12-11
NAM Y. HUH / AP Los Angeles 24 22 .522 3 2½ 6-4 W-1 13-10 11-12
Seattle 22 26 .458 6 5½ 4-6 W-1 12-12 10-14
Alexei Ramirez hit .355 last June. A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L.
Oakland 18 26 .409 8 7½ 5-5 L-1 11-13 7-13
Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team
A quick look at who’s moving up B.Roberts
Scutaro
Baltimore
Toronto
42
41
Ibanez
Pujols
Philadelphia
St. Louis
38
38
Crawford
Ellsbury
Tampa Bay
Boston
30
21
Bourn
Taveras
Houston
Cincinnati
16
12
National League Standings
and down in the fantasy world: East W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Ad.Jones Baltimore 39 Zimmerman Washington 38 Figgins Los Angeles 19 Burriss San Francisco 11 New York 26 20 .565 — — 5-5 W-3 15-8 11-12
Morneau Minnesota 39 Hudson Los Angeles 37 Abreu Los Angeles 15 Fowler Colorado 11 Philadelphia 25 20 .556 ½ 1 6-4 L-1 9-14 16-6
▲ Alexei Ramirez, 2B/SS, White Sox. 4 tied at 37 A.Soriano Chicago 36 Bartlett Tampa Bay 14 Jose Reyes New York 11 Atlanta 23 22 .511 2½ 3 5-5 L-2 11-12 12-10
The preseason sleeper disap- Ad.Gonzalez San Diego 35 BUpton Tampa Bay 14 D.Wright New York 11
Florida 22 26 .458 5 5½ 4-6 W-1 9-14 13-12
Washington 13 33 .283 13 13½ 2-8 L-3 7-16 6-17
pointed owners with a .214 2 tied at 33 2 tied at 11 2 tied at 10
average in April, and he likely Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
St. Louis 28 19 .596 — — 7-3 W-2 17-9 11-10
was dropped in some leagues. RBIs Pitching (3 decisions) Milwaukee 27 20 .574 1 — 4-6 L-2 13-9 14-11
Ramirez has picked it up, so pick Cincinnati 26 20 .565 1½ ½ 6-4 W-4 13-12 13-8
A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L. Chicago 23 22 .511 4 3 2-8 W-2 14-8 9-14
him up. He had four hits, three Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Pittsburgh 21 26 .447 7 6 5-5 L-2 11-9 10-17
RBIs and three runs scored Longoria Tampa Bay 51 Ibanez Philadelphia 44 Palmer Los Angeles 5-0 1.000 Martis Washington 5-0 1.000 Houston 18 27 .400 9 8 2-8 L-7 9-15 9-12
Monday—a reminder of how fast Bay Boston 48 Fielder Milwaukee 43 Greinke Kansas City 8-1 .889 Broxton Los Angeles 5-0 1.000 West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
he fills up a stat sheet. Ramirez is Morneau Minnesota 44 Dunn Washington 42 Halladay Toronto 8-1 .889 Cain San Francisco 5-1 .833 Los Angeles 33 15 .688 — — 8-2 W-3 18-5 15-10
Hunter Los Angeles 40 Pujols St. Louis 40 Slowey Minnesota 7-1 .875 Stults Los Angeles 4-1 .800 San Diego 24 23 .511 8½ 3 9-1 W-1 17-6 7-17
warming up in time for June, a San Francisco 22 23 .489 9½ 4 4-6 W-2 15-8 7-15
C.Pena Tampa Bay 40 Hawpe Colorado 36 Buehrle Chicago 6-1 .857 Pelfrey New York 4-1 .800 Arizona 20 27 .426 12½ 7 6-4 L-1 10-17 10-10
month in which he hit .355 with Markakis Baltimore 39 Loney Los Angeles 36 Penny Boston 5-1 .833 Lincecum San Francisco 4-1 .800 Colorado 18 28 .391 14 8½ 4-6 L-3 7-13 11-15
three homers and 17 RBIs in Teixeira New York 39 2 tied at 35 Baez Baltimore 4-1 .800 LiHernandez New York 4-1 .800 z-first game was a win
2008.
HIts Strikeouts Pitching Matchups Today’s games (All times Eastern)
▼ Mike Napoli, C, Angels. Napoli is A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L. American League The Line
mired in a 1-for-20 slump and Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Tampa Bay (Niemann 4-3) at Cleveland (D.Huff 0-1),12:05 p.m. TB -115 at Cle +105
homerless since May 13. A.Hill Toronto 75 Hudson Los Angeles 68 Verlander Detroit 85 J.Santana New York 86 Boston (Beckett 4-2) at Minnesota (Swarzak 1-0),1:10 p.m. Bos -115 at Min +105
With Vladimir Guerrero back, V.Martinez Cleveland 68 Zimmerman Washington 65 Greinke Kansas City 81 Peavy San Diego 84 Detroit (Galarraga 3-4) at Baltimore (D.Hernandez 0-0),7:05 p.m. Det -110 at Bal +100
Napoli will have fewer at-bats at Mi.Cabrera Detroit 64 Tejada Houston 64 Halladay Toronto 68 Lincecum San Francisco 84
designated hitter. It’s worth Cano New York 62 Beltran New York 62 F.Hernandez Seattle 66 J.Vazquez Atlanta 78 National League The Line
Crawford Tampa Bay 62 F.Sanchez Pittsburgh 60 Lester Boston 62 Billingsley Los Angeles 69 L.A. Dodgers (Wolf 2-1) at Chicago Cubs (R.Wells 0-1), 8:05 p.m. at Chi -110 LA +100
noting that Napoli hit .215 at Morneau Minnesota 62 Ibanez Philadelphia 59 Garza Tampa Bay 60 Haren Arizona 63
catcher and .471 at DH (through Atlanta (D.Lowe 6-2) at Arizona (Haren 3-4), 9:40 p.m. at Ari -125 Atl +115
3 tied at 61 D.Wright New York 59 A.Burnett New York 57 Jo.Johnson Florida 59
Tuesday). Napoli remains a better
option than teammate Jeff Mathis, Doubles Saves
but that’s not a strong A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L.
endorsement. Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team
— Bill Bender Longoria Tampa Bay 20 F.Sanchez Pittsburgh 17 Fuentes Los Angeles 13 Bell San Diego 14
M.Young Texas 17 Tejada Houston 17 Papelbon Boston 12 Fr.Rodriguez New York 13
MORE COVERAGE Byrd Texas 16 Hudson Los Angeles 16 Sherrill Baltimore 10 Cordero Cincinnati 13
Callaspo Kansas City 16 Kotchman Atlanta 16 F.Francisco Texas 10 Franklin St. Louis 12
Get everything you need to Lind Toronto 16 Beltran New York 15 Jenks Chicago 10 Hoffman Milwaukee 11
dominate your fantasy league at B.Roberts Baltimore 16 F.Lopez Arizona 15 Ma.Rivera New York 9 Broxton Los Angeles 11
sportingnews.com/fantasy/baseball 3 tied at 15 Ha.Ramirez Florida 15 2 tied at 8 Qualls Arizona 11
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 19
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N.Y. Yankees 9, Texas 2 Minnesota 4, Boston 2

Yankees now share A.L. East lead with Red Sox Twins benefit from Dice-K’s wildness
Yankees 9, Rangers 2 MINNEAPOLIS—Daisuke Matsu- Twins 4, Red Sox 2
New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS—A.J. Burnett used a Jeter ss 4 1 3 1 2 0 .297 zaka and the rest of the Red Sox Ellsbury cf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .307
simple plan to end six weeks of Damon lf 5 0 0 0 0 3 .302 righties tied a modern-day Pedroia 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .339
Teixeira 1b 5 1 2 2 0 1 .275 J.Drew rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .257
struggles. A.Rodriguez 3b 4 0 1 0 1 0 .258 record with six wild pitches Youkilis 1b 2 0 0 1 1 1 .373
Burnett pitched six shutout innings to R.Pena 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .246 while Twins starter Kevin Bay lf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .281
Cano 2b 5 2 2 1 0 0 .320 D.Ortiz dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .193
win for the first time since April 14, H.Matsui dh 4 2 2 3 1 1 .257 Slowey was the picture of con- Lowell 3b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .309
Hideki Matsui homered twice and the 1-Berroa pr-dh 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 trol in Minnesota’s 4-2 victory Kottaras c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .179
Swisher rf 4 1 1 0 1 1 .223 N.Green ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .299
New York Yankees gained a share of the Gardner cf 5 1 2 0 0 2 .277 over Boston. Totals 32 2 6 2 2 6
A.L. East lead by beating the Texas Cash c 4 1 2 2 0 0 .231 Matsuzaka (0-3) tied a fran-
Totals 40 9 15 9 5 8 Minnesota AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Rangers 9-2 Wednesday night. chise record set 80 years ago Span cf-lf 4 2 4 0 1 0 .316
The righthander, who was 0-2 with a Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg. with four wild pitches, while Mauer c 3 0 1 1 1 0 .425
Kinsler 2b 4 1 1 2 1 0 .282 Morneau 1b 5 1 1 0 0 2 .343
6.04 ERA over his past seven starts, M.Young 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .335 relievers Manny Delcarmen Kubel dh 3 1 2 1 2 0 .340
said he wanted to stay aggressive against Hamilton cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .241 and Justin Masterson also sent Cuddyer rf 4 0 1 1 0 3 .284
An.Jones dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .288 B.Harris 3b 5 0 2 1 0 0 .264
a hard-hitting Rangers lineup. N.Cruz rf 2 0 0 0 2 1 .293 catcher George Kottaras scram- Delm.Young lf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .253
“I basically went after them,” Burnett Dav.Murphy lf 2 0 0 0 1 0 .221 bling. It was just the fifth time 1-Gomez pr-cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .225
C.Davis 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .203 Tolbert 2b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .194
said. “I didn’t leave anything over the Saltalamacchia c 4 1 1 0 0 2 .252 since 1900 that a team threw Punto ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .187
plate. That’s a big difference. When you Andrus ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .284 six wild pitches in a game. Totals 34 4 13 4 5 7
don’t make mistakes, they can’t Totals 31 2 5 2 5 10 “A lot going on around the Boston 001 001 000 — 2 6 1
capitalize.” New York 210 003 201 — 9 15 0 dirt area,” Red Sox manager Minnesota 003 001 00x — 4 13 1
Burnett (3-2) allowed three hits, Texas 000 000 200 — 2 5 1 Terry Francona said. “George’s 1-ran for Delm.Young in the 7th. E: Kottaras (1),
walked four and struck out seven to 1-ran for H.Matsui in the 9th. E: Holland (2). LOB: Canadian background came Punto (5). LOB: Boston 6, Minnesota 14. 2B:
New York 10, Texas 8. 2B: Jeter (11), A.Rodriguez Morneau (14), Kubel (12), Cuddyer (11). HR: Bay
snap his longest winless drought since (4), Cano (13), Cash (2), An.Jones (8), Saltalamac-
into play there. He looked like a (14), off Slowey. RBIs: Youkilis (29), Bay (48),
the end of the 2005 season. chia (6). HR: Teixeira (15), off Holland; H.Matsui goalie at times. There were a lot Mauer (32), Kubel (25), Cuddyer (32), B.Harris (9).
(6), off Holland; H.Matsui (7), off Madrigal; Cano SB: Ellsbury (21), Pedroia (7), Span (11), Punto
After winning 18 games with the (9), off Benson; Kinsler (13), off Veras. RBIs: Jeter
of balls bouncing.” (5). S: Tolbert. SF: Youkilis, Mauer. Runners left
Toronto Blue Jays in 2008, Burnett won (22), Teixeira 2 (39), Cano (28), H.Matsui 3 (18), Slowey (7-1) gave up two runs in scoring position: Boston 3 (Youkilis, Bay,
Cash 2 (3), Kinsler 2 (35). SB: M.Young (4). CS: J.Drew); Minnesota 8 (Cuddyer, Delm.Young,
his first two starts in pinstripes before Andrus (1). Runners left in scoring position:
on six hits with five strikeouts Morneau, Tolbert, B.Harris 3, Mauer). DP: Boston 1
his lengthy slump. New York 4 (Damon, Cano 2, A.Rodriguez); Texas and just one walk in six (Pedroia, N.Green, Youkilis); Minnesota 1 (Tolbert,
3 (An.Jones, C.Davis 2). DP: Texas 2 (Holland, Punto, Morneau).
“That’s the A.J. we all know and love,” Andrus, C.Davis), (N.Cruz, N.Cruz, Saltalamacchia).
innings.
said Mark Teixeira, who hit his 15th Speedy Denard Span had Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Matsuzaka L, 0-3 5 9 3 3 3 6 102 8.82
homer. “It all starts with starting pitch- A.Burnett W, 3-2 6 3 0 0 4 7 118 4.78 four hits, a walk and two runs Delcarmen 2⁄3 2 1 1 1 1 18 1.25
ing. If we get good starting pitching, we L.M. OTERO / AP Veras 1⁄3 2 2 2 1 0 23 6.41 scored for the Twins. Five of Masterson 2 1⁄3 2 0 0 1 0 42 4.24
D.Robertson 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 8 2.84 Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
have a chance to win every single night Brett Gardner, right, and the Yankees have won 12 of the past 15 games to climb to the division lead. Wang 2 0 0 0 0 2 26 the wild pitches came with him Slowey W, 7-1 6 6 2 2 1 5 99 4.11
with this offense.” 20.45 on base. Mijares H, 5 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 17 2.35
Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Guerrier H, 7 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 2 3.75
The Yankees, who have won 12 of 15, Holland L, 1-2 5 10 6 5 2 5 88 5.70 Matsuzaka was all over the Nathan S, 8-10 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 2.45
are tied atop the division with Boston. It ers 23-10 in the three-game series. runs in five innings. Jennings 2⁄3 1 0 0 1 1 22 3.86 place in his second start off the
Madrigal 1 1⁄3 2 2 2 0 0 23 9.00 Inherited runners-scored: Masterson 3-1,
is the first time this season New York Alex Rodriguez was 7-for-13 with four “It’s definitely a little different facing Guardado 1 0 0 0 1 1 19 5.06 disabled list. He gave up three Guerrier 1-0. IBB: off Delcarmen (Kubel). HBP: by
has been in first place in the A.L. East. RBIs in his first series in Texas since the Yankees,” Holland said. “Each one Benson 1 2 1 1 1 1 25 8.53 runs on nine hits in five innings Masterson (Cuddyer). WP: Matsuzaka 4, Delcar-
men, Masterson. Umpires: Home, Chris Guccione;
“It’s about the team,” Burnett said. admitting earlier this year that he used was a tough out.” Holland pitched to 3 batters in the 6th. Inherited with three walks and six First, Todd Tichenor; Second, Jerry Layne; Third,
“As long as I take a positive step for- steroids while playing for the Rangers. Matsui, who was in a 3-for-23 funk runners-scored: D.Robertson 1-0, Jennings 2-2, strikeouts. Tony Randazzo. T: 3:10. A: 28,221 (46,632).
Madrigal 2-0. HBP: by A.Burnett (Dav.Murphy),
ward, the wins will come.” For the third straight game, he was coming into the series, homered on the by Benson (Cash). Umpires: Home, Mike Much- This was the first time Kot-
Derek Jeter was 3-for-4 and reached greeted with loud boos every time he first pitch of the sixth inning from Hol- linski; First, Phil Cuzzi; Second, Tom Hallion; Third, taras, who is Tim Wakefield’s
Jerry Crawford. T: 3:23. A: 38,409 (49,170).
base five times, and Teixeira added his came to the plate. land. He added a two-run shot in the normal catcher, was behind the
12th homer in May. The Yankees had 15 Derek Holland (1-2) lost in his second seventh off Warner Madrigal. plate for a start by Matsuzaka.
hits and outscored the first-place Rang- career start, allowing 10 hits and six — The Associated Press — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 20
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland 12, Tampa Bay 7 Baltimore 12, Toronto 10, 11 innings

Sonnanstine’s struggles with Francisco ruin Rays O’s rally, extend Jays’ slide
BALTIMORE—The Toronto Blue Orioles 12, Blue Jays 10, 11 innings
Indians 12, Rays 7 Toronto AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
CLEVELAND—Ben Francisco smiled, Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Jays did just about everything Scutaro ss 5 3 2 2 1 0 .291
shrugged his shoulders and had no B.Upton cf 4 1 1 0 1 2 .191 necessary to end their misera- A.Hill 2b 6 2 2 2 0 0 .344
Crawford lf 5 1 1 0 0 0 .313 Rios rf 6 0 2 1 0 1 .262
explanation for his success against Longoria 3b 5 2 2 2 0 2 .326 ble losing streak. V.Wells cf 5 1 2 1 0 1 .269
Tampa Bay righthander Andy C.Pena 1b 5 0 1 0 0 2 .243 They got a fine performance Lind dh 4 1 0 0 2 2 .283
W.Aybar 2b 4 1 2 1 1 0 .274 Rolen 3b 4 1 1 1 1 1 .297
Sonnanstine. Zobrist ss-rf 3 2 2 1 2 1 .297 from ace Roy Halladay, reached Millar 1b 4 1 1 2 1 1 .286
Francisco homered and drove in four Dillon dh 2 0 0 0 1 1 .000 double figures in runs for the first Barajas c 5 0 1 0 0 0 .296
a-Gross ph-dh 1 0 0 0 1 0 .256 Bautista lf 5 1 1 1 0 1 .287
runs for Cleveland and the Indians Kapler rf 3 0 1 2 0 0 .197 time since May 6 and twice had Totals 44 10 12 10 5 7
earned their first three-game winning b-Brignac ph-ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .214 an apparently secure lead.
M.Hernandez c 5 0 1 0 0 1 .286 Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
streak of the season by defeating the Totals 39 7 11 6 6 10 And still, the Baltimore Ori- B.Roberts 2b 5 0 1 1 0 1 .302
Rays 12-7 Wednesday night. oles rallied for an unlikely 12-10 Ad.Jones cf 6 0 3 2 0 1 .359
Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Markakis rf 6 1 2 1 0 0 .303
“It’s a big win for us, to finally get A.Cabrera ss 5 0 2 1 0 0 .317 victory Wednesday. A.Huff 1b 6 1 2 0 0 2 .269
three straight,” Francisco said. “We’re Sizemore dh 5 1 1 1 0 1 .222 Nolan Reimold hit a three- Mora 3b 4 3 2 0 1 0 .268
V.Martinez c 4 1 1 2 1 0 .362 Scott dh 4 2 2 3 2 0 .311
all feeling confident.” Choo rf 4 1 1 2 1 2 .294 run homer in the bottom of the 1-C.Izturis pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .246
Francisco extended his domination Jh.Peralta 3b 4 1 1 0 1 0 .268 11th inning, providing the Ori- Pie lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .195
DeRosa lf 4 2 1 0 1 1 .266 a-Reimold ph-lf 3 1 1 3 0 2 .265
against Sonnanstine (3-5) with a three- Crowe cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182 oles with their first three-game Moeller c 2 1 0 1 1 1 .200
run homer and RBI single as Cleveland Garko 1b 4 2 2 1 0 0 .269 winning streak of the season b-Zaun ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .214
B.Francisco cf-lf 5 2 3 4 0 0 .255 Andino ss 5 2 4 1 0 1 .262
overcame a 5-0 deficit. On Monday J.Carroll 2b 3 2 2 1 1 0 .320 and extending the Blue Jays’ Totals 45 12 18 12 4 10
night, the Indians came back from 10-0, Totals 38 12 14 12 5 4 skid to nine games.
beating the Rays with a seven-run ninth “Been a long time since we Toronto 100 601 000 02 10 12 0
Tampa Bay 501 100 000 — 7 11 0 Baltimore 020 010 050 04 12 18 1
inning, 11-10. Cleveland 053 040 00x — 12 14 1 had a lot of fun like that,” said
“We gave up two huge leads here and Baltimore manager Dave Trem- One out when winning run scored. a-struck out
b-flied out for Kapler in the 6th. E: Jh.Peralta (4). for Pie in the 8th. b-struck out for Moeller in the
have to do a better job of pitching,” Rays LOB: Tampa Bay 11, Cleveland 8. 2B: Zobrist (11), bley, shortly after Reimold had 9th. 1-ran for Scott in the 11th. E: R.Hill (1). LOB:
Sizemore (10), V.Martinez (15), B.Francisco (9). Toronto 7, Baltimore 9. 2B: Scutaro (14), Rios
manager Joe Maddon said. 3B: Zobrist (2). HR: Longoria (12), off Z.Jackson; his postgame interview inter- (11), Bautista (6), B.Roberts (16), Markakis (14).
Greg Aquino (1-0) pitched two score- B.Francisco (5), off Sonnanstine; Choo (6), off rupted by a shaving-cream pie HR: A.Hill (12), off Baez; Scott (6), off Halladay;
J.Nelson. RBIs: Longoria 2 (51), W.Aybar (11), Reimold (4), off Wolfe. RBIs: Scutaro 2 (24), A.Hill
less innings for the win—Cleveland’s Zobrist (25), Kapler 2 (5), A.Cabrera (27), Sizemore in the face, courtesy of team- 2 (37), Rios (22), V.Wells (23), Rolen (16), Millar 2
sixth in eight games. It was the right- (30), V.Martinez 2 (34), Choo 2 (28), Garko (22), mate Robert Andino. (16), Bautista (8), B.Roberts (21), Ad.Jones 2 (36),
B.Francisco 4 (19), J.Carroll (1). SB: Zobrist (5). Markakis (39), Scott 3 (18), Reimold 3 (9), Moeller
hander’s first win since June 19, 2006, Runners left in scoring position: Tampa Baltimore trailed 8-3 when (2), Andino (2). S: Mora. SF: V.Wells, B.Roberts.
for Arizona. Luis Vizcaino worked three Bay 7 (B.Upton 3, Dillon, Longoria 2, Brignac); Halladay left after seven, and Runners left in scoring position: Toronto 2
Cleveland 7 (V.Martinez, Sizemore 2, B.Francisco (Bautista, Lind); Baltimore 4 (Markakis 3, Zaun).
scoreless innings for his first save since 2, A.Cabrera, Jh.Peralta). 10-8 after Aaron Hill hit a two- GIDP: Moeller. DP: Toronto 1 (Scutaro, A.Hill,
Sept. 29, 2004, with Milwaukee. run homer in the top of the 11th. Millar).
Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
“Those two did a tremendous job run- Sonnanstine L, 3-5 3 9 8 8 2 3 75 7.66 But after Luke Scott hit an Toronto IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
ning through five innings,” Indians J.Nelson 2 4 4 4 2 1 44 6.43 RBI single off Brian Wolfe (1-1) Halladay 7 8 3 3 2 5 102 2.63
Isringhausen 2 1 0 0 1 0 28 3.60 Carlson 1⁄3 3 5 5 1 1 18 4.85
manager Eric Wedge said. MARK DUNCAN / AP Thayer 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 5.06 to put runners at the corners Downs BS, 1-6 2⁄3 2 0 0 0 0 10 2.57
The Rays lost their fourth straight for Ben Francisco, above, is 8-for-9 with five homers and 12 RBIs against Andy Sonnanstine. Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA with one out in the 11th, Reimold Frasor 2 1 0 0 1 4 35 2.41
Z.Jackson 4 8 7 6 4 4 88 9.35 B.J.Ryan H, 1 1⁄3 1 1 1 0 0 7 9.28
the first time this season and have Aquino W, 1-0 2 2 0 0 2 2 48 0.00 sent a 1-1 fastball over the wall Wolfe L, 1-1 BS, 1-1 0 3 3 3 0 0 11 5.68
dropped 16 in a row in Cleveland since a Cleveland’s five-run second was his Wadsworth, Ohio, about 40 miles Vizcaino S, 1-1 3 1 0 0 0 4 40 1.80 in left-center, his fourth homer Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
R.Hill 3 1⁄3 6 7 6 3 3 73 6.14
1-0 win on Sept. 29, 2005. But the Indi- third in three at-bats against Sonnan- southwest of Progressive Field. HBP: by J.Nelson (Garko). WP: Sonnanstine. in 13 games since being recalled Bass 1 2⁄3 2 0 0 1 1 34 4.22
ans are a long way from matching their stine this year and fourth straight off “I try not to think about it and don’t Umpires: Home, Tim Welke; First, Jim Reynolds; from Class AAA Norfolk. C.Ray 2 1 1 1 1 2 42 9.39
Second, Angel Hernandez; Third, Bill Welke. T: Walker 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 4.09
team record for consecutive home wins the righthander. want to talk about it too much,” Fran- 3:16. A: 19,335 (45,199). “I didn’t see the replay, how Baez W, 4-1 3 3 2 2 0 1 36 3.58
over a team. They beat the St. Louis Francisco also homered off him in cisco said, fearful that he may jinx his much of the plate it got, but he
Wolfe pitched to 3 batters in the 11th. Inherited
Browns/Baltimore Orioles 27 straight Cleveland on July 10. Francisco is 8-for-9 streak. “Some guys you just have suc- definitely went down and got runners-scored: Downs 3-3, Wolfe 1-1, Bass 1-1.
times in Cleveland from 1952-54. with five homers and 12 RBIs against cess against and others you don’t.” it,” Wolfe said. IBB: off Frasor (Scott). HBP: by Carlson (Moeller).
PB: Moeller. Umpires: Home, Rob Drake; First,
Francisco’s three-run homer in the 26-year-old who grew up in — The Associated Press — The Associated Press Mark Wegner; Second, Tim Timmons; Third, Jeff
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 21
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit 8, Kansas City 3 Seattle 6, Oakland 1
Branyan’s homer boosts Bedard
Cabrera, Polanco power Porcello Tigers 8, Royals 3
OAKLAND—Manager
Wakamatsu is finally seeing
Don Mariners 6, Athletics 1
Seattle
I.Suzuki rf
AB R H
4 0 3
BI
0
BB
1
SO
0
Avg.
.343
KANSAS CITY—Rick Porcello is comfort- his Seattle Mariners do the lit- Y.Betancourt ss 4 0 0 1 0 1 .258
Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
able now, all settled in after a shaky start J.Anderson lf 5 1 4 1 0 0 .302 tle things at the plate: working Beltre 3b 5 0 0 0 0 1 .212
Polanco 2b 5 1 2 3 0 0 .269 Griffey Jr. dh 4 1 0 0 0 2 .218
to his big league career. the count, making adjustments, Branyan 1b 4 2 2 2 0 1 .311
Ordonez dh 5 0 1 0 0 0 .263
Porcello won his fifth straight start, Mi.Cabrera 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .374 taking consistent swings. Cedeno 2b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .173
Granderson cf 2 2 1 0 2 0 .247 Ro.Johnson c 3 1 2 0 1 0 .211
Placido Polanco homered and drove in It was a pretty sight for Erik En.Chavez lf 4 2 2 1 0 1 .272
Inge 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .274
three runs and the Detroit Tigers beat Laird c 3 1 0 0 0 0 .242 Bedard. Russell Branyan hit a F.Gutierrez cf 4 0 2 2 0 0 .273
Raburn rf 4 1 2 1 0 1 .250 Totals 36 6 11 6 2 9
the slumping Kansas City Royals 8-3 on go-ahead two-run homer in the
Everett ss 3 1 1 1 0 1 .297
Wednesday. Totals 35 8 12 7 2 2 sixth inning, Bedard won for Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
O.Cabrera ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .240
Porcello (6-3) allowed two runs and the first time in five starts and K.Suzuki c 3 0 0 0 1 0 .286
Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
four hits in six innings. The 20-year-old Maier cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .293 Seattle beat the Oakland Ath- Holliday lf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .273
DeJesus lf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .244 Giambi dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .212
rookie lost three of his first four starts. letics 6-1 on Wednesday to Kennedy 2b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .388
Butler 1b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .283
But in his last five, covering 30 innings, J.Guillen rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .288 avoid a sweep. Crosby 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .225
Jacobs dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 .257 R.Sweeney rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .246
he’s allowed five runs and struck out 20 “That was nice to put up a R.Davis cf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .162
Teahen 3b 4 2 3 1 0 1 .274
while beating Minnesota, Cleveland, Callaspo 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .306 couple hits in a row,” Bedard Hannahan 3b 3 0 2 0 0 0 .212
J.Buck c 3 0 0 0 1 2 .226 Totals 32 1 5 1 2 6
Oakland, Colorado and Kansas City. His said. “Hopefully it will continue
Lu.Hernandez ss 4 0 1 1 0 2 .200
ERA over the span is 1.50. Totals 34 3 8 3 2 9 and we’ll win more games.” Seattle 010 002 102 — 6 11 0
Oakland 010 000 000 — 1 5 1
“He’s been watching film, watching Bedard (3-2) and A’s rookie
Detroit 020 033 000 — 8 12 0
tape of the hitters,” manager Jim Leyland Kansas City 100 100 100 — 3 8 1 Trevor Cahill (2-5) both had E: Kennedy (3). LOB: Seattle 6, Oakland 6. 2B: I.Suzuki
(5), Ro.Johnson 2 (6), F.Gutierrez 2 (5). 3B: En.Chavez
said. “He does his homework. He wants to strong outings, similar to their (1). HR: Branyan (11), off Cahill; Crosby (1), off Bedard.
E: Teahen (3). LOB: Detroit 4, Kansas City 6. 3B: DeJesus
learn, and that’s always a good sign.” (4). HR: Mi.Cabrera (10), off Davies; Polanco (1), off matchup here in April. Bedard RBIs: Y.Betancourt (15), Branyan 2 (23), En.Chavez
Davies; Teahen (6), off Porcello. RBIs: J.Anderson (10), (10), F.Gutierrez 2 (19), Crosby (10). SB: I.Suzuki (8). CS:
The righthander is the first Detroit hadn’t won since April 24 against I.Suzuki (4). SF: Y.Betancourt. Runners left in scoring
Polanco 3 (21), Mi.Cabrera (37), Raburn (11), Everett
rookie to record five wins in May since (17), Butler (21), Teahen (17), Lu.Hernandez (1). SB: the Angels in Anaheim. position: Seattle 4 (Griffey Jr., F.Gutierrez, Y.Betancourt
J.Anderson (10), Granderson (7). S: Laird, Everett. Run- 2); Oakland 1 (O.Cabrera). DP: Oakland 1 (R.Sweeney,
at least 1954. He’s the first Tigers pitcher Oakland’s Bobby Crosby R.Sweeney, K.Suzuki).
ners left in scoring position: Detroit 2 (Mi.Cabrera,
with five wins in May since John Ordonez); Kansas City 3 (Teahen, Maier, Lu.Hernandez). snapped a career-long 72-game,
DP: Detroit 1 (Everett, Polanco, Mi.Cabrera); Kansas Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Doherty in 1994. 243 at-bat homerless streak with Bedard W, 3-2 6 2⁄3 5 1 1 2 5 108 2.48
City 2 (Callaspo, Lu.Hernandez, Butler), (Lu.Hernandez,
“I just think I’m doing a better job of get- Callaspo, Butler). a drive in the second that tied it White H, 2 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 11 1.90
Aardsma 1 0 0 0 0 1 11 1.19
ting my breaking ball over for strikes and ORLIN WAGNER / AP at 1, but Oakland could do little Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
kind of giving hitters a different look that Placido Polanco drove in three runs and had his first HR of the season. Porcello W, 6-3 6 4 2 2 1 4 82 3.48 else against Bedard. Crosby’s Cahill L, 2-5 6 6 3 2 1 5 105 4.45
Seay 2⁄3 1 1 1 0 1 11 5.14 Ziegler 1 1 1 1 1 0 20 3.98
way, to keep them of my fastball a little last longball came on Aug. 12, Breslow 1 0 0 0 0 3 16 5.40
Zumaya 1 1⁄3 1 0 0 1 1 19 3.07
bit,” Porcello said. “I think that’s the big- after a promising April and early May, hitter, had four hits. He singled in Ryan Rodney 1 2 0 0 0 3 29 3.32 2008, against Tampa Bay. Springer 1 4 2 2 0 1 23 5.89
gest thing so far. I’m just going to keep have lost 13 of 18. Raburn in the fifth before Polanco con- Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Crosby’s homer came in his
Davies L, 2-4 5 2⁄3 10 8 5 2 1 91 5.09 Inherited runners-scored: White 2-0. IBB: off
working on it and getting better.” Bench coach John Gibbons managed nected against Kyle Davies (2-4) to give Ho.Ramirez 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 7.36 99th at-bat of the year. Ziegler (I.Suzuki). Umpires: Home, Doug Eddings; First,
R.Colon 1 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 12 0.00 Hunter Wendelstedt; Second, Brian Knight; Third, Dana
Porcello said he is gaining confidence the Royals while Trey Hillman served a Detroit a 5-2 lead. “My swing’s feeling good, DeMuth. T: 2:37. A: 30,012 (35,067).
Farnsworth 1 0 0 0 0 1 14 3.71
with each win. one-game suspension imposed by Major Miguel Cabrera clubbed a towering J.Cruz 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 3.00 that’s the thing,” he said. “After
“I’ve had a couple of starts now and I’m League Baseball for spitting in the face home run off a 3-2 pitch from Davies we went on the road, that
Ho.Ramirez pitched to 1 batter in the 6th. Inherited
able to settle in a little better out there and of umpire Paul Emmel on Monday. leading off the second. runners-scored: Zumaya 1-1, Ho.Ramirez 1-0, R.Colon Tampa Bay series I really
focus. And all the jitters are kind of gone,” “Porcello was very good,” Gibbons said. Davies gave up eight runs and 10 hits 2-1. Umpires: Home, Bill Hohn; First, Bruce Dreckman; struggled and didn’t feel that
Second, Paul Emmel; Third, Angel Campos. T: 2:41. A:
he said. “I think I’m getting a little more “He’s got that dominating sinking fastball. in 5 2-3 innings, letting the leadoff batter 16,568 (38,177). great. Came back here and
comfortable with each start.” Sometimes, it is tough to do anything with reach every time he went to the mound. worked on some things and
In taking two of three from the Roy- that. He comes as advertised. He’s a big Three of the runs were unearned started to feel a lot better.
als, the Tigers lost only to Zack Greinke arm out of high school, a young kid that because of third baseman Mark Tea- Today’s just a bonus to hit a
and increased their lead over K.C. in the got here fast. He’s impressive.” hen’s error in the three-run sixth. home run.”
A.L. Central to four games. The Royals, Josh Anderson, the Tigers’ leadoff — The Associated Press — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 22
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chicago Cubs 5, Pittsburgh 2 St. Louis 3, Milwaukee 2

Zambrano likely to be suspended for tantrum Atypical cleanup hitter lifts Cards
MILWAUKEE—Nick Stavinoha Cardinals 3, Brewers 2
CHICAGO—Carlos Zambrano’s tantrum Cubs 5, Pirates 2 said all the right things when St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
kept escalating. The emotional ace of the Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg. asked about Cardinals manager Br.Ryan ss 3 2 1 0 2 0 .242
Morgan lf 5 1 2 0 0 0 .286 Duncan lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .257
Chicago Cubs went wild, throwing a Delw.Young 2b 4 0 0 0 1 3 .294 Tony La Russa’s preference to Pujols 1b 2 0 0 0 2 2 .318
ball into the outfield, heaving his glove McLouth cf 5 0 0 0 0 2 .257 use veterans over rookies. Stavinoha rf 3 1 1 2 0 1 .250
Ad.LaRoche 1b 2 1 1 0 2 0 .228 Motte p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
and then whacking a dugout drink dis- An.LaRoche 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .297 He did lose his composure a D.Reyes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
penser with a bat. Moss rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .263 bit when asked if he was sure he Franklin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
R.Vazquez ss 4 0 3 1 0 1 .224 Barden 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .247
It was an outpouring of anger Jaramillo c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .271 didn’t belong in the cleanup role. LaRue c 4 0 1 1 0 1 .276
Wednesday that likely will lead to a sus- Duke p 3 0 1 0 0 1 .250 “I’m definitely not your typi- Thurston 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .246
J.Chavez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Wellemeyer p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .150
pension for the excitable righthander. S.Burnett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 cal cleanup hitter, that’s for T.Miller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
As he argued a close play at the plate, c-F.Sanchez ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .326 sure,” he said with a smile. C.Perez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Totals 34 2 8 1 5 8 a-K.Greene ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .200
Zambrano appeared to nudge umpire Maybe not, but the 27-year-old Rasmus cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .232
Mark Carlson and was ejected. Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg. outfielder with 90 career at-bats Schumaker cf-rf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .310
A.Soriano lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 .253 Totals 30 3 7 3 6 8
That set off the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Theriot ss 3 1 3 0 0 0 .287 had two RBIs and scored the go-
righthander in the seventh inning of the Bradley rf 3 1 1 1 1 0 .200 ahead run to lead St. Louis to a Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
D.Lee 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .242 Counsell 2b 5 0 2 0 0 1 .323
Cubs’ 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Re.Johnson cf 4 1 1 2 0 0 .239 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Hardy ss 5 1 3 0 0 0 .247
Pirates. Soto c 4 1 1 0 0 1 .216 Brewers on Wednesday, push- Braun lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .315
Freel 3b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .152 Fielder 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .265
“I overexaggerated after that play to Fontenot 3b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .223 ing the Cardinals back into first M.Cameron cf 3 1 0 0 1 2 .285
throw the ball and to do the other things, Blanco 2b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .250 in the N.L. Central. Catalanotto rf 3 0 2 2 0 0 .333
Zambrano p 2 0 1 0 0 1 .261 b-McGehee ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .237
you know,” Zambrano said after the A.Guzman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Stavinoha, who hit his first Gamel 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .174
game. “Hopefully MLB will review the a-Hoffpauir ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .278 career homer in Tuesday Kendall c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .206
Marmol p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Coffey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
play and we’ll see what happens.” b-Fox ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 1.000 night’s 8-1 win, certainly won’t Stetter p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
With the Cubs leading 2-1 and Zam- CHARLES REX ARBOGAST / AP Gregg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- be protecting slugger Albert c-Gerut ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .217
Totals 34 5 12 5 2 3 M.Parra p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .063
brano closing in on his 100th career Carlos Zambrano, right, got in the face of umpire Mark Carlson during his tirade. Pujols once outfielder Ryan Mi.Rivera c 2 0 0 0 0 1 .308
win, Nyjer Morgan led off the seventh Pittsburgh 000 100 100 — 2 8 1 Ludwick returns, but La Russa Totals 36 2 8 2 2 8
Chicago 200 000 03x — 5 12 1
with a single to left and went to third kicked me out, I should have gone to the around here it seems,” said Cubs man- was pleased with his effort. St. Louis 101 001 000 — 3 7 1
when the ball got by Alfonso Soriano for clubhouse and kept watching the game,” ager Lou Piniella who’s been known to a-popped out for A.Guzman in the 7th. b-doubled for “Albert will be happy to get Milwaukee 000 200 000 — 2 8 0
Marmol in the 8th. c-walked for S.Burnett in the 9th.
a two-base error. Zambrano said. “I apologize to throw throw bases and kick dirt during tan- E: Delw.Young (1), A.Soriano (4). LOB: Pittsburgh 10, Ludwick behind him, but a-grounded out for C.Perez in the 7th. b-flied out for
When a Zambrano wild pitch the ball and do other things. trums. “Just kidding.” Chicago 8. 2B: A.Soriano (10), Blanco (1), Fox (1). 3B: Stavinoha gives you a chance Catalanotto in the 8th. c-popped out for Stetter in the
Bradley (1). HR: Re.Johnson (2), off J.Chavez. RBIs: 9th. E: Pujols (6). LOB: St. Louis 7, Milwaukee 9. 2B:
bounded a short distance from catcher “I should have control of myself in Piniella said he would meet with R.Vazquez (7), Bradley (14), Re.Johnson 2 (10), Blanco because he’s so competitive,” Br.Ryan (5), Stavinoha (2), Thurston 2 (11), Hardy (7).
Geovany Soto, the speedy Morgan that situation.” Zambrano today. (1), Fox (1). S: Theriot. Runners left in scoring posi- the manager said. 3B: Catalanotto (1). RBIs: Stavinoha 2 (8), LaRue (2),
tion: Pittsburgh 4 (Duke 2, An.LaRoche 2); Chicago 4 Catalanotto 2 (2). SF: Stavinoha. Runners left in scor-
broke for the plate. Zambrano went to Carlson was not available for comment “He’s got to tone it down a little,” Pin- (Soto, Re.Johnson, D.Lee, A.Soriano). DP: Pittsburgh St. Louis has won seven of its ing position: St. Louis 4 (Schumaker, LaRue, Stavinoha
cover and took the throw. Morgan slid after the game. iella said. “He cares, but gosh you can 1 (An.LaRoche, Delw.Young, Ad.LaRoche); Chicago 1 last nine and hasn’t allowed 2); Milwaukee 5 (Gamel, Braun 2, Kendall, Hardy). DP:
(Bradley, Blanco, D.Lee). Milwaukee 2 (Hardy, Fielder), (Counsell, Hardy, Fielder).
as Zambrano blocked the plate and It was the Cubs’ second run-in with the argue a little bit, get your point across to more than three runs in any
Carlson called him safe. crew in the series. Lefty Ted Lilly was the umpire that he thought the runner Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA game in the stretch. St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Duke 7 8 2 2 2 3 105 2.75 Wellemeyer W, 5-4 5 1⁄3 6 2 2 1 5 88 5.02
Zambrano jumped up, argued the call ejected Monday by Bob Davidson from a was out and just get back and go out and J.Chavez L, 0-2 1⁄3 2 2 2 0 0 7 2.70 Cardinals starter Todd Wel- T.Miller H, 4 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 9 3.09
and appeared to make contact with game in which he wasn’t even pitching pitch.” S.Burnett 2⁄3 2 1 1 0 0 18 3.32 lemeyer (5-4) and the bullpen C.Perez H, 3 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2.63
Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Motte H, 10 1 1 0 0 0 2 15 3.32
Carlson, prompting the ejection. after questioning a ball-strike call from Morgan said he was safe because he Zambrano 6 1⁄3 7 2 1 3 6 114 4.22 showcased the best team ERA D.Reyes H, 8 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 9 3.21
He then pointed in Carlson’s face and the dugout. beat Soto’s throw by getting his arm in A.Guzman 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 8 3.05 in the majors (3.58) by silencing Franklin S, 12-13 1 1⁄3 1 0 0 1 0 24 1.42
Marmol W, 1-1 1 1 0 0 0 1 17 3.43 Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
gave him the ejection sign. Earlier this season, outfielder Milton before Zambrano tagged him. Gregg S, 7-8 1 0 0 0 2 1 22 5.12 the struggling Brewers, who M.Parra L, 3-6 6 2⁄3 7 3 3 5 6 108 5.57
Zambrano wasn’t finished. He threw Bradley was suspended after an angry “I just reacted and just ran,” Morgan struck out 27 times in the three- Coffey 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 19 2.70
Inherited runners-scored: S.Burnett 1-1. IBB: off Stetter 1 0 0 0 1 1 13 4.40
a ball into left, slammed his glove against dispute with Larry Vanover. said. “I was still safe. I don’t know which Zambrano (Ad.LaRoche). WP: Zambrano. Umpires: game series and have lost five
a dugout fence and whacked the drink The suspension was later reduced hand it was. I was in there way before Home, Mark Carlson; First, Tim Tschida; Second, of six to drop out of first for the Inherited runners-scored: T.Miller 1-0, C.Perez 2-0,
Bob Davidson; Third, Jeff Nelson. T: 2:38. A: 38,314 Coffey 3-0. IBB: off M.Parra (Pujols, Pujols). Umpires:
dispenser on his way to the clubhouse. from two games to one. the ball got there.” (41,210). first time in two weeks. Home, Paul Schrieber; First, Ed Rapuano; Second,
“I apologize to him. Like I say, after he “I’m the only calm, cool, collected one — The Associated Press — The Associated Press Chad Fairchild; Third, Paul Nauert. T: 2:54. A: 40,226
(41,900).
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 23
NATIONAL LEAGUE
L.A. Dodgers 8, Colorado 6 Dodgers 8, Rockies 6
Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Cincinnati 6, Houston 1
Pierre lf 5 1 3 2 0 1 .404
Again, Bruce shines on May 27
Pierre steps up as L.A.’s spark plug Loretta 3b
Belisario p
Ohman p
Broxton p
Hudson 2b
3 2 1 1
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
4 1 1 0
1 0 .333
0 0 .000
0 0 .500
0 0 ---
1 0 .347
CINCINNATI—Jay Bruce thought Reds 6, Astros 1
Loney 1b 5 0 2 4 0 1 .293
Martin c 5 0 0 0 0 2 .261 Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
DENVER—Juan Pierre has stepped to the about his major league debut Bourn cf 3 1 1 0 1 1 .286
Ethier rf 3 2 2 0 0 0 .257
fore as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offen- Kemp cf 3 1 2 0 1 0 .296 with the Cincinnati Reds, when Tejada ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .346
J.Castro ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 .385 Berkman 1b 3 0 0 1 0 0 .229
sive catalyst since becoming a fixture in he got three hits and had 17,000 Ca.Lee lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .316
Kershaw p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .118
the lineup in place of suspended out- a-Blake ph-3b 1 0 0 0 1 1 .307 fans screaming his name. Pence rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .352
Totals 35 8 12 7 4 6 Keppinger 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .314
fielder Manny Ramirez. On the one-year anniversary, Maysonet 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .200
He was at it again Wednesday, joining Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg. he did it all again. Quintero c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .222
Fowler cf 3 0 1 0 2 2 .266 F.Paulino p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .111
Mark Loretta to hit successive RBI sin- Bruce homered twice and Arias p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Tulowitzki ss 5 0 0 0 0 3 .227
gles with two outs during a seventh- Helton 1b 4 0 0 1 1 0 .327 tripled home another run a-Michaels ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .176
Murton lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .278 Sampson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
inning rally, and the Dodgers then held Wednesday night, and Bronson Totals 28 1 5 1 1 3
c-Hawpe ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333
off the Colorado Rockies 8-6 for a three- Spilborghs rf 3 2 2 2 1 0 .273 Arroyo pitched a five-hitter to Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Atkins 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .195 Taveras cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .272
game sweep. help the Cincinnati Reds beat Hairston Jr. 2b 4 1 2 2 0 0 .264
Corpas p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
“J.P. had that base hit off the second R.Flores p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- the Houston Astros 6-1 for a Votto 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .360
Embree p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- L.Nix lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .286
baseman’s glove, and we were off to the three-game sweep on the out- Bruce rf 4 2 3 4 0 0 .241
Street p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
races after that,” Dodgers manager Joe b-S.Smith ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 .272 fielder’s special day. Ale.Gonzalez ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .211
Barmes 2b 3 1 0 0 1 3 .234 A.Rosales 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .247
Torre said. “He had some injuries last year “I was telling somebody earlier: Hanigan c 3 0 2 0 1 0 .328
P.Phillips c 3 1 1 1 1 0 .500
and lost his starting job. A lot of stuff went Jimenez p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .231 It’s awesome,” Bruce said, refer- Arroyo p 4 0 1 0 0 2 .105
on for this kid that he handled and it’s cer- Stewart 3b 0 0 0 0 2 0 .187 ring to his success on May 27. Totals 35 6 11 6 1 7
Totals 31 6 7 5 8 9
tainly paying dividends for us now.” Bruce was in a 1-for-18 slump Houston 100 000 000—1 5 1
Losing pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez Los Angeles 110 000 510 — 8 12 0 when he hit a solo shot off Felipe Cincinnati 101 102 01x—6 11 0
Colorado 001 200 003 — 6 7 1
acknowledged what other pitchers fac- Paulino (1-4) in the fourth, get- a-popped out for Arias in the 8th.
ing Pierre have already discovered—he’s a-struck out for Kershaw in the 7th. b-tripled for ting the 17,602 fans to yell E: Quintero (3). LOB: Houston 3, Cincinnati 6. 2B:
Street in the 9th. c-grounded out for Murton in Tejada (17), Arroyo (1). 3B: Bruce (1). HR: Hairston
one tough out. the 9th. E: Jimenez (1). LOB: Los Angeles 6, Colo- “BRUCE!” as he rounded the Jr. (6), off F.Paulino; Bruce 2 (14), off F.Paulino 2.
“He was battling out there,” Jimenez rado 7. 2B: Pierre (10), Loney (10), Murton (5), bases. The cheer was even louder RBIs: Berkman (28), Hairston Jr. 2 (14), Bruce
P.Phillips (1). 3B: S.Smith (2). HR: Spilborghs (4), 4 (29). SB: Bourn (16). CS: Keppinger (1). S:
said. “I was throwing inside, away. The off Kershaw. RBIs: Pierre 2 (20), Loretta (8), Loney when his two-run homer off the F.Paulino. SF: Berkman.
last pitch was a good pitch, but it was 4 (36), Helton (32), Spilborghs 2 (22), S.Smith right-hander made it 5-1 in the Runners left in scoring position: Houston 2
(11), P.Phillips (1). SB: Ethier (3). CS: Fowler (4). (Tejada, Ca.Lee); Cincinnati 3 (Hairston Jr., Votto,
high.” S: Kershaw, Jimenez. Runners left in scoring sixth and put the Reds in position Arroyo).
In the 19 games Pierre has started in position: Los Angeles 4 (Pierre, J.Castro, Martin, for their first sweep of the Astros Runners moved up: Tejada, Berkman, Taveras.
Belisario); Colorado 3 (Tulowitzki, Hawpe 2). DP: GIDP: Berkman, Arroyo.
left field since Ramirez’s suspension, he Los Angeles 1 (Loretta, Hudson, Loney); Colorado 3 in Cincinnati since May 2004. DP: Houston 1 (Keppinger, Maysonet, Berkman);
has batted .421 (35 for 83). He went (Jimenez, Tulowitzki, Helton), (Jimenez, Barmes), Cincinnati 1 (Hairston Jr., Ale.Gonzalez, Votto).
Both homers came on first-
(Tulowitzki, Barmes, Helton).
3-for-5 with two RBI for a second pitch fastballs. Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA F.Paulino L, 1-4 6 7 5 4 0 4 84 6.75
straight game and hit .500 in the series “I was just trying to put the Arias 1 2 0 0 0 2 19 4.35
Kershaw W, 3-3 6 4 3 3 4 4 98 4.34
against the Rockies (8-for-16) with a pair Belisario 2 1 1 1 1 3 34 2.43 ball in play,” Paulino said. “He Sampson 1 2 1 1 1 1 27 2.17
Ohman 0 1 1 1 0 0 5 5.84 Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
of triples, a double and seven RBI. got me. I feel really great now. Arroyo W, 7-3 9 5 1 1 1 3 92 5.12
Broxton 1 1 1 1 3 2 38 1.50
Pierre did not comment following the Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA I’m healthy, I know I can throw
Jimenez L, 3-6 6 2⁄3 9 5 4 2 5 109 4.37 Umpires: Home, Mike Estabrook; First, Brian Gor-
game but one of his teammates had Corpas 0 1 2 2 1 0 8 6.65
my pitches. What happened man; Second, C.B. Bucknor; Third, Mike Everitt.
plenty to say. R.Flores 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 8 0.00 today—it happens. Two pitches, T: 2:08. A: 17,602 (42,319).
“J.P. has been on fire ever since he’s Embree 1 1 1 1 1 0 21 7.62 two homers. Nothing I can do.”
Street 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 3.26
been starting,” winning pitcher Clayton The 22-year-old outfielder
Kershaw said. “But everybody is step- Corpas pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. Belisario completed his breakout game
pitched to 1 batter in the 9th. Ohman pitched to
ping up. I can’t say enough about this 1 batter in the 9th. Inherited runners-scored: with a run-scoring triple in the
team. I give all the credit to them. They Ohman 1-1, Broxton 1-1, Corpas 2-1, R.Flores eighth off Chris Sampson. Cin-
3-3. HBP: by Embree (Ethier). Balk: Kershaw.
bailed me out today.” DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP Umpires: Home, Scott Barry; First, Ted Barrett; cinnati has won four in a row.
— The Associated Press Dodgers OF Juan Pierre is batting .421 in 19 games as a starter since Manny Ramirez’s suspension. Second, Tim McClelland; Third, Andy Fletcher. T: — The Associated Press
3:23. A: 22,271 (50,449).
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 24
NATIONAL LEAGUE
N.Y. Mets 7, Washington 4 Mets 7, Nationals 4
Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Florida 6, Philadelphia 2 Marlins 6, Phillies 2
Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
C.Guzman ss 4 1 0 1 1 3 .340 Bonifacio ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 .246
N.Johnson 1b 5 0 3 1 0 1 .337
Badenhop solid
Another replay helps Mets seize division lead Zimmerman 3b
Dunn rf
Willingham lf
Belliard 2b
3
4
3
3
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0 2 3
2 0 2
0 1 2
0 1 0
.333
.283
.228
.164 in first start;
Coghlan lf
Uggla 2b
Cantu 1b
Hermida rf
4 1 1 0
4 2 3 2
4 0 0 0
4 0 0 0
0 0 .211
0 1 .216
0 0 .270
0 0 .260
Maxwell cf 2 0 0 0 1 2 .150 B.Carroll rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143

NEW YORK—Daniel Murphy and the

b-W.Harris ph-cf 1
Nieves c
Zimmermann p
4
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 0 0
0 0 1
0 1 1
.261
.283
.000
Myers injured C.Ross cf
Jo.Baker c
Helms 3b
4 3 3 2
3 0 1 0
2 0 1 1
0 0 .263
1 1 .276
1 0 .242
New York Mets have become big fans Villone p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Badenhop p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000
of instant replay. K.Wells p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Meyer p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Colome p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Calero p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Murphy’s tiebreaking homer, a call Hanrahan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- PHILADELPHIA—Burke Baden- Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
d-A.Hernandez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .278 b-R.Paulino ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .246
overturned by umpires in yet another Totals 32 4 5 4 7 15
hop might find a permanent
Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
review benefiting New York, led an home in the starting rotation Totals 34 6 10 6 2 6
New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
uncharacteristically wild Johan San- Pagan cf 4 2 2 0 1 1 .323 with more starts like his first
Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
tana to a 7-4 win over the Washington Castillo 2b 2 2 2 0 3 0 .295 one. Rollins ss 4 0 0 0 1 0 .223
D.Wright 3b 5 1 1 0 0 4 .345
Nationals on Wednesday night. Sheffield lf 2 1 1 2 2 0 .295 Badenhop pitched five sharp Victorino cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .280
Putz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Taschner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Five times this season a disputed c-Valdez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
innings, Dan Uggla and Cody Utley 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .289
home run call has gone to video replay Fr.Rodriguez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Ross homered and the Florida Howard 1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .263
Dan.Murphy 1b 4 1 3 5 0 1 .262 Ibanez lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .339
during a Mets game—four in the past R.Castro c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .253 Marlins beat the Philadelphia Werth rf-cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .255
five contests. Two were reversed, and F.Martinez rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Phillies 6-2 on Wednesday Feliz 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .307
R.Martinez ss 3 0 1 0 1 1 .121 Ruiz c 4 1 1 1 0 0 .280
all five rulings ended up favoring New J.Santana p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .067 night. Myers p 2 0 1 0 0 1 .222
a-Tatis ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .275 Condrey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
York. Parnell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Making his first start of the
a-Stairs ph-rf 1 1 1 1 1 0 .300
“This game is a weird game,” Gary Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- season, Badenhop (3-2) allowed 1-Bruntlett pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .118
Reed lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .298 Totals 34 2 8 2 3 7
Sheffield said. “They seem to be going Totals 33 7 11 7 7 12 one run and five hits. Matt
our way. I’ve seen it a couple times and Lindstrom retired Jimmy Roll- Florida 000 113 001 — 6 10 1
Washington 000 300 001 — 4 5 0
I still couldn’t tell.” New York 201 002 20x — 7 11 1 ins on a liner to center with the Philadelphia 000 010 010 — 2 8 0
Murphy had a career-best five RBIs a-lined into a double play for J.Santana in the 6th.
bases loaded to end it. a-homered for Condrey in the 8th. b-singled for
and Sheffield hit an early two-run dou- b-grounded out for Maxwell in the 8th. c-grounded out “Badenhop was fantastic,” Nunez in the 9th. 1-ran for Stairs in the 9th. E:
for Putz in the 8th. d-flied out for Hanrahan in the 9th. Cantu (5). LOB: Florida 4, Philadelphia 8. 2B:
ble off rookie Jordan Zimmermann E: Dan.Murphy (4). LOB: Washington 8, New York 9. 2B: Marlins manager Fredi Gonza- Coghlan (1), Uggla (8), C.Ross (13), Howard (12),
(2-2), helping the injury-ravaged Mets Sheffield (5), Dan.Murphy (5), R.Castro (5), R.Martinez lez said. “He set up the whole Feliz (13). HR: Uggla (9), off Myers; C.Ross (7),
(2). HR: Dunn (16), off J.Santana; Dan.Murphy (4), off off Myers; Ruiz (2), off Badenhop; Stairs (3), off
finish a three-game sweep. Zimmermann. RBIs: C.Guzman (12), N.Johnson (26), game for us. To give us five Nunez. RBIs: Uggla 2 (32), C.Ross 2 (28), Helms
Dunn 2 (42), Sheffield 2 (19), Dan.Murphy 5 (17). CS: (11), R.Paulino (7), Ruiz (9), Stairs (8). SB: Helms
Despite playing without Carlos Del- Castillo (2).
innings was great.”
(1), Rollins (7), Victorino (7). CS: Helms (1). SF:
gado, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran Runners left in scoring position: Washington 3 (Will- Brett Myers (4-3) gave up five Helms. Runners left in scoring position:
ingham, N.Johnson 2); New York 6 (R.Castro 2, F.Martinez Florida 2 (Bonifacio 2); Philadelphia 7 (Ibanez 2,
(for two games), New York has over- 2, Valdez 2). runs and seven hits in 5 2/3
Werth, Howard 2, Rollins 2). DP: Florida 2 (Uggla,
taken Philadelphia for the N.L. East GIDP: Belliard. innings for Philadelphia before Bonifacio, Cantu), (Uggla, Bonifacio, Cantu); Phila-
DP: Washington 1 (C.Guzman, Belliard); New York 1
lead by winning five of six following a (Putz, R.Martinez, Dan.Murphy). leaving with right hip inflam- delphia 1 (Feliz, Utley, Howard).
four-game skid. Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
mation. He allowed just six Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
The only lowlight: Top prospect Fer- ZimmermannL,2-2 5 8 5 5 2 8 100 6.07 runs in 21 innings in his previ- Badenhop W, 3-2 5 5 1 1 1 3 81 4.97
Villone 1⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 9 0.00 Meyer 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 14 2.57
nando Martinez, playing his second K.Wells 2⁄3 1 2 2 1 0 14 6.35 ous three starts. Calero 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 7 2.35
big league game, failed to run out an Colome 1 1 0 0 1 2 1711.25 Myers said his hip has been Nunez 1 1 1 1 1 1 33 3.70
Hanrahan 1 1 0 0 2 2 31 5.64 Lindstrom 1 2 0 0 1 0 20 5.85
infield popup that was dropped. The New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA bothering him for a while, but Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
J.Santana W, 7-2 6 3 3 3 6 11 120 1.77 Myers L, 4-3 5 2⁄3 7 5 5 1 3 94 4.66
20-year-old was booed his next time Parnell H, 9 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 2 12 2.21
he doesn’t expect to miss a
Condrey 2 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 2 22 2.00
up. Feliciano H, 7 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 4 2.41 start. Taschner 1 2 1 1 1 1 18 3.92
Putz 1 0 0 0 1 0 12 3.42
“I promise that will never happen Fr.Rodriguez 1 1 1 0 0 1 20 0.79 “Today was the worst it’s
Inherited runners-scored: Condrey 1-0.
again,” he said. “I’m sorry, to my fans.” been,” he said. “It was hard to Umpires: Home, Wally Bell; First, Marty Foster;
Zimmermann pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.
Adam Dunn hit a mammoth homer K.Wells pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. finish pitches. It’s tough, but Second, Marvin Hudson; Third, John Hirschbeck. T:
Inherited runners-scored: Villone 1-0, K.Wells 2-0, 2:57. A: 45,256 (43,647).
estimated at 465 feet for woeful Wash- Colome 2-2, Feliciano 1-0. IBB: off Colome (Sheffield).
you have to power through it. I
ington, which fell 20 games below .500 Balk: Colome. wasn’t going to quit. I hope it’s
Umpires: Home, Sam Holbrook; First, Adrian Johnson;
only 46 games into the season. KATHY WILLENS / AP Second, Larry Vanover; Third, Dan Iassogna. nothing serious.”
— The Associated Press Daniel Murphy’s sixth inning home run was finally ruled as such after umpires gathered to watch replays. T: 3:21. A: 40,171 (41,800). — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 25
NATIONAL LEAGUE Attendance Report
Through May 26
San Diego 8, Arizona 5 Padres 8, Diamondbacks 5
San Diego AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Giles rf 4 1 1 0 1 1 .190

Gonzalez hits league-best 18th HR Eckstein 2b

Hairston cf
Ad.Gonzalez 1b
Kouzmanoff 3b
Headley lf
4
5
4
2
3
3
2
2
0
0
3
2
2
1
0
1 1 1
0 0 2
3 1 0
1 1 1
1 1 2
.239
.326
.285
.234
.237
AMERICAN LEAGUE
HOME GAMES ROAD GAMES
DATES TOTAL AVG DATES TOTAL AVG
C.Burke ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .219
a-Macias ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .278 Baltimore 24 515,349 21,473 22 607,753 27,625
Jo.Wilson ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167
Blanco c 4 0 1 1 0 0 .182 Boston 23 869,461 37,803 23 733,650 31,898
Peavy p 3 0 1 0 0 0 .095 Chicago White Sox 22 561,637 25,529 23 525,926 22,866
Gregerson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
b-Gwynn ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Cleveland 20 418,044 20,902 27 766,983 28,407
Mujica p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
G.Burke p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Detroit 22 613,589 27,890 22 639,479 29,067
Bell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Kansas City 26 571,581 21,984 20 573,216 28,661
Totals 34 8 11 7 5 9
L.A. Angels 22 894,411 40,655 23 691,654 30,072
Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
G.Parra cf 4 1 2 2 0 0 .291
Minnesota 28 727,445 25,980 19 546,752 28,776
Montero c 4 1 1 0 0 1 .219 N.Y. Yankees 23 1,026,625 44,636 23 763,699 33,204
Vasquez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Rauch p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Oakland 23 398,867 17,342 20 527,292 26,365
c-C.Young ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .172
J.Upton rf 4 1 3 2 0 0 .335
Seattle 24 653,625 27,234 23 577,086 25,091
S.Drew ss 3 0 2 1 1 0 .209 Tampa Bay 21 501,794 23,895 27 651,524 24,131
Reynolds 3b-1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .257
Tracy 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .184 Texas 22 568,184 25,827 23 572,378 24,886
L.Rosales p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Snyder c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .231
Toronto 22 487,138 22,143 27 629,712 23,323
Byrnes lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .202 AL Totals 322 8,807,750 27,353 322 8,807,104 27,351
R.Roberts 2b-3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .356
Buckner p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Zavada p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Ojeda 2b 2 1 2 0 0 0 .272
Totals 36 5 11 5 1 7 NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Diego 200 003 030 — 8 11 0
Arizona 000 003 101 — 5 11 2 HOME GAMES ROAD GAMES
a-struck out for C.Burke in the 8th. b-grounded into a DATES TOTAL AVG DATES TOTAL AVG
fielder’s choice for Gregerson in the 8th. c-flied out for
PAUL CONNORS / AP Rauch in the 9th. E: L.Rosales (1), J.Upton (2). LOB: San
Arizona 26 704,399 27,092 20 510,210 25,511
Padres SS Chris Burke dives to grab a grounder by Arizona’s Ryan Roberts, and turns it into an out. Diego 5, Arizona 6. 2B: G.Parra (2), S.Drew (5), Ojeda (5). Atlanta 23 551,184 23,965 22 677,177 30,781
3B: Giles (1), G.Parra (3), J.Upton (4). HR: Ad.Gonzalez
(18), off Buckner. RBIs: Eckstein (14), Ad.Gonzalez 3 (34), Chicago Cubs 21 828,469 39,451 23 876,570 38,112
Kouzmanoff (19), Headley (19), Blanco (6), G.Parra 2 (13),
J.Upton 2 (29), S.Drew (15). SB: J.Upton (5). SF: Kouz-
Cincinnati 24 533,181 22,216 21 529,849 25,231
PHOENIX—One day after battling the in a wild series between N.L. West “That’s how we play in this division,” manoff, G.Parra. Runners left in scoring position: Colorado 19 526,262 27,698 26 719,779 27,684
flu, Adrian Gonzalez didn’t need a note rivals. San Diego rallied from a six-run said Gonzalez, who also singled and San Diego 4 (Hairston, C.Burke, Giles 2); Arizona 3 (Tracy,
Florida 23 412,786 17,947 24 686,156 28,590
Snyder, C.Young). DP: Arizona 2 (S.Drew, R.Roberts,
from his doctor to return to the San deficit to win the opener, then nearly drove in three runs. “We play each other Tracy), (Ojeda, S.Drew, Reynolds). Houston 24 719,279 29,970 21 504,057 24,003
Diego Padres’ lineup. climbed out of a six-run hole in the sec- tough. There are no easy wins.”
San Diego IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA L.A. Dodgers 23 1,014,063 44,090 24 758,756 31,615
“He was a ‘go’ from the time that he ond game. San Diego CEO Jeff Moorad, a former Peavy W, 5-5 6 1⁄3 8 4 4 1 5 95 3.67
walked into the clubhouse, poked his On Wednesday night, San Diego Diamondbacks executive, dropped in Gregerson H, 6 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.54 Milwaukee 21 763,552 36,360 25 777,416 31,097
Mujica 1 1 0 0 0 2 19 2.59 N.Y. Mets 22 852,378 38,744 23 790,195 34,356
head in here and poked his thumb in the opened a 5-0 lead behind Jake Peavy on Black’s postgame interview. G.Burke 2⁄3 2 1 1 0 0 17 1.50
air,” manager Bud Black said. (5-5), then watched Arizona pull within “Just keep winning series,” Moorad Bell S, 14-14 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.46 Philadelphia 22 949,608 43,164 22 684,433 31,111
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Gonzalez soon added another poke— 5-4 before putting the game away with said, grasping his manager’s hand. Buckner L, 1-1 5 7 5 5 1 5 95 7.16 Pittsburgh 20 313,365 15,668 26 800,055 30,771
his major league-leading 18th home three runs in the eighth inning, taking “You got it, brother,” Black said. Zavada 1 1 0 0 0 1 22 0.00 San Diego 23 597,758 25,989 23 827,813 35,992
L.Rosales 1 1 3 3 4 0 26 6.23
run—to lift the Padres to an 8-5 victory advantage of four walks and two errors. The Diamondbacks just keep losing Vasquez 1 1 0 0 0 2 20 6.46 San Francisco 23 782,479 34,021 22 722,488 32,840
over the Arizona Diamondbacks on The Diamondbacks cut the deficit to series—especially at home, where they Rauch 1 1 0 0 0 1 16 6.86
St. Louis 26 1,050,968 40,422 20 505,994 25,300
Wednesday night, their 11th win in 12 8-5 with two outs in the ninth, forcing have dropped seven of nine series, Buckner pitched to 3 batters in the 6th. L.Rosales pitched Washington 24 483,872 20,161 22 713,301 32,423
games. Black to call on ace closer Heath Bell, including all three under new manager to 5 batters in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored:
Gregerson 2-1, Bell 1-0, Zavada 2-2, Vasquez 3-1. IBB: NL Totals 364 11,083,603 30,449 364 11,084,249 30,451
David Eckstein added three hits and who got the final out for his major A.J. Hinch. off L.Rosales (Ad.Gonzalez). Umpires: Home, Chuck
MLB Totals 686 19,891,353 28,996 686 19,891,353 28,996
an RBI as the Padres took two of three league-leading 14th save in 14 chances. — The Associated Press Meriwether; First, Laz Diaz; Second, Eric Cooper; Third,
Mike Reilly. T: 3:04. A: 18,264 (48,652).
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com NFL THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 26
Q&A with ... Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams

‘Stats only matter if we’re winning’

Despite sharing the workload with
rookie Jonathan Stewart, Panthers run-
ning back DeAngelo Williams broke out
in 2008, rushing for 1,515 yards and scor-
ing a league-high 20 TDs in his third sea-
son. At the end of Carolina’s OTA session
Wednesday, Williams talked to Sporting
News Today’s Vinnie Iyer about the new
nickname for the team’s running combo,
his plans for this season and why he likes
Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic
over LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
going to try our best. In the sense
of making it back to the playoffs, I
definitely feel we can do that. But
stats only matter if we’re
winning.
Q: How does it feel to have
the same five on the
starting offensive line?
A: We do have the same horses
back up front, the same
offensive system. Coach (offensive
coordinator Jeff) Davidson has
in that game (divisional playoffs
against Arizona). I know if I’m
having a bad game one time, they’ll
be calling for my head.
Q: Was it hard not being
able to help much in that
game after you fell behind
early to the Cardinals?
A: It wasn’t difficult. Each
game takes on a different
meaning. It didn’t bother me at all.
We tried our best, we gave our all,

Q: We’ve heard you and

Stewart would like to be
called “Double Trouble”? Are
you committed to that
nickname this season?
established himself. We’ve also got
our established quarterback in
Jake (Delhomme), who has been
and unfortunately for us, we came
out on the short end of the stick.
We’ll make a strong push this year
here for a long period of time now. and see where it gets us.
Last year, he was coming off

A: We are. We’re “Double

Trouble.” We’re committed
to it. It’s trademarked by us, and
not by somebody else. So, yeah,
we’re officially “Double Trouble,”
and we’ll let that be a thing.
Tommy John surgery, so he’ll be a
lot better this year. We’ll feel better
about throwing the ball, running
Q: What do you think of
your team’s young
running backs, especially
the ball and blocking. fourth-pick Mike Goodson?
Q: Are you concerned
about a potential lack of
A: I like him. I like all our
young backs. They’re all
fast, quick and can move. Jonathan

Q: Is this a response to
Titans’ running backs
Chris Johnson and LenDale
depth on that line?

A: No, it doesn’t make me

White possibly “stealing” your
“Smash and Dash” nickname
last season?
nervous at all. Our offen-
sive line coach does a great job of
coaching those guys up. Our
running backs coach does a great
is still big and quick. But all the
tailbacks we’ve got in this year
definitely have to work hard.
Because at any given time, God
forbid, if (Stewart or myself) goes
down, the coaching staff (has to be)

A: No. (We’re) professional. We

don’t take it to heart or
anything, but we did in a sense,
job of coaching up the running
backs. ... Just as a unit, I can’t tell
you how it will play out.
comfortable enough to put one of
those guys in.

make (it) “Smash and Dash” from

our Monday night performance
Q: What has been the Q: What was the highlight
of your offseason?
(when Williams and Stewart
combined for 301 yards rushing
against the Buccaneers in Decem-
players’ response to Jake
Delhomme getting his contract
extension?
A: Probably the Magic beating
the Cavs (Tuesday) night.
I’m going to get my Dwight
ber). But I’m not going to trash talk.
A: We love Jake. That’s our
quarterback, contrary to
Howard jersey tonight, so I’ll
probably be wearing it tomorrow

Q: How do you look back on

what was a smashing
success of a season?
what our fans believe. He’s a great
quarterback. He knows the system
in and out. Every guy has a bad
under my practice jersey. ... I’m not
a LeBron guy. I respect everything
he (does) on the court, but I’m more

A: I don’t know if we can

encore it or not, but we are
game at some point in his career.
Unfortunately for him, it happened
of a Dwight Howard guy, without
the (technical foul) stuff.
BOB LEVERONE / SN
DeAngelo Williams, above, and Jonathan Stewart—aka ‘Double Trouble’—combined for 2,351 yards out of the Panthers’ backfield last season.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Scouts’ views
Safety rankings: Reed, Polamalu are pure playmakers
The salty veterans still lead this group, but there
are some promising young players on the rise.
Several have made the list while several others just
missed. With the next generation emerging, this list
could look a lot different a year from now.
RealScouts, SN Today’s team of former NFL scouts,
rank their top 20 safeties for ‘09:
1. Ed Reed, Ravens. Reed was the only
unanimous selection to the 2008
All-Pro team. He led the NFL with nine
interceptions—two of which he returned
for touchdowns—and tacked on two more
picks and another TD in the playoffs. The
system won’t change in Baltimore this
year, and Reed is on his way to a Hall of
Fame career.
2. Troy Polamalu, Steelers. A year ago,
Polamalu was healthy for all 16 games
and the postseason for the first time since
2005 and turned in a career-high seven
interceptions. He’s a high-energy player
who can do it all, from blitzing to tackling
to playing in coverage. He can attack from
anywhere on the field.
3. Adrian Wilson, Cardinals. Wilson is not
quite as dominant as he was earlier in
his career, but he still can excel in most
aspects of the game. Wilson is at his best
playing close to the line, but he also makes
plays in coverage. He has great size and
can deliver big hits with the best of them.
4. Bob Sanders, Colts. Sanders played in just
six games in 2008, and there is a
chance he might not be healthy for the start
of ’09. He is a game-changing player who
has great range and is a punishing tackler,
but he has struggled to stay healthy
throughout his career.
5. Chris Hope, Titans. Returning from a
neck injury in 2007, Hope earned Pro
Ed Reed’s ability to take interceptions the distance helps make him the game’s top safety, SN scouts say.
Bowl honors last season. He’s not a flashy
player but consistently plays at a high level.
He’s willing in run support and shows
good range and route recognition in
coverage.
6. Nick Collins, Packers. Collins is a four-year
starter who stepped up in 2008 with
seven interceptions, including three for
scores. He has excellent range as a center
field-type safety and has the speed to cover
a lot of ground and make plays with the
ball in his hands. A Pro Bowler last season,
he should excel in Green Bay’s new zone
schemes.
7. Brian Dawkins, Broncos. Though he still
can play at a high level, Dawkins, 35, is
NFL
ROB CARR / AP
closer to the end of his career than he
would like to admit. He’s a strong tackler
who is excellent near the line.
8. Michael Griffin, Titans. His seven inter-
ceptions were tied for second in the
NFL last season, and he earned a Pro Bowl
spot as an injury replacement for Reed.
Griffin is emerging as one of the NFL’s best
young safeties, with a combination of size,
speed and athleticism that makes him
excellent in coverage.
9. Donte Whitner, Bills. Pending legal issues
aside, Whitner is an instinctive
playmaker who can play in traffic or space.
He is a rising young player who has a
physical style and is strong in run support.
10. Kerry Rhodes, Jets. He is a playmaker
who can excel in coverage or make
an impact near the line as a run defender
or blitzer. He figures to benefit from Rex
Ryan’s aggressive scheme and likely will
align all over the field in a Reed type of
role.
11. Ken Hamlin, Cowboys. He has great
range and can track down a lot of
balls playing center field. He is at his best
jumping routes in zone coverage but also
can match up with tight ends and wideouts
in the slot.
12. Oshiomogho Atogwe, Rams. A ball-
hawk, Atogwe has intercepted 13
passes and recovered four fumbles over
the past two seasons. He also has increased
his tackles each year in the league and has
forced 13 fumbles over the past three
seasons. He will get even more opportuni-
ties to make plays in Steve Spagnuolo’s
defense.
13. Jermaine Phillips, Buccaneers. Injuries
have affected Phillips’ numbers in
recent seasons, but he is still a physical
defender in the run game and has more
ball skills than most safeties.
14. Sean Jones, Eagles. This former Pro
Bowler is a ferocious tackler who
had 14 interceptions over his last three
seasons in Cleveland. He can play either
safety spot and, if healthy, can deliver 100
tackles and five picks.
15. Quintin Mikell, Eagles. Mikell is coming
off his best season. Though he’s a
physical player who likes contact and is at
his best near the line, he has the instincts
and speed to play a free safety role.
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 27
16. LaRon Landry, Redskins. Landry is
another versatile player who has
the pop to handle run support and the
agility and speed to play in deep coverage.
He was slowed by injury last year, but he
should become one of the top young
safeties in the league this season.
17. Brandon Meriweather, Patriots. He came
on strong late in 2008 as the injury
replacement for Rodney Harrison. Meri-
weather is a tough, hard-working run
defender who eventually will excel as a
deep safety, where his explosive speed and
ball skills will be highlighted.
18. Darren Sharper, Saints. Sharper’s skills
have declined sharply as he heads
toward age 34. The Saints will use more
blitz packages under new coordinator
Gregg Williams, which means Sharper
should have a chance to make plays on the
ball as a deep cover player.
19. Tanard Jackson, Buccaneers. A former
cornerback, Jackson has excellent
ball skills and the burst and speed to make
plays on the ball. He’s also a willing run
defender, and though he hasn’t excelled in
any one area, he is gaining valuable experi-
ence as a starter. He’s a player to watch.
20. Roy Williams, Bengals. Williams has
been reunited with coordinator
Mike Zimmer. The two worked together
for many years in Dallas, and Zimmer
knows Williams’ strengths and weak-
nesses like the back of his hand. That,
combined with Williams’ eagerness to
prove he still can play at a high level, will
make him a player to watch.
— RealScouts, a team of former NFL scouts, analyzes NFL and college
players, coaches and teams exclusively for Sporting News Today.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Umenyiora feels ‘explosive’ in return; Jones rejoins Jets
Giants DE Osi Umenyiora was back
on the field practicing with team-
mates Wednesday for the first time
since suffering a knee injury last
summer that cost him the season.
The Giants kicked off OTAs, and
Umenyiora was pleased with the
condition of his knee after a long
rehab process.
“I was a little rusty, but I felt good
at the same time,” Umenyiora said
via the team’s website. “I think all
the work that I’ve put in the past
year or so has really paid off. I feel
explosive. I feel good.”
Jets RB Thomas Jones rejoined his
teammates Wednesday after boycot-
ting voluntary workouts in a contract
dispute. Jones, who led the AFC with
1,312 yards rushing last season, was
on the field for organized team activi-
ties after sitting out the Jets’ previous
six OTAs and minicamp.
The Pro Bowl running back is
entering the third year of a four-year,
$20 million deal, which was front-
loaded with $13.1 million over the first
two seasons. He’s scheduled to make
$900,000 in base salary this season.
Meanwhile, Pro Bowl RB/KR
Leon Washington is still sitting out
OTAs in a contract dispute. He
hasn’t been at the Jets’ facility since
the workouts began two weeks ago.
The greatest QB in Vikings
history is less than thrilled about
the possibility that the greatest QB
in Packers history will be decked
out in purple next season, the Min-
neapolis Star-Tribune reported.
Appearing on a radio show in
Atlanta, Fran Tarkenton lashed out at
Brett Favre’s comeback drill and his
treatment of the Packers:
“I think it’s despicable. What he
put the Packers through last year
was not good. Here’s an organiza-
tion that was loyal to him for (16)
years, provided stability of organi-
zation, provided players. It just
wasn’t about Brett Favre.
“In this day and time, we have glo-
rified the Brett Favres of the world so
much, they think it’s about them. He
goes to New York and bombs. He’s 39
years old. How would you like Ray
Nitschke in his last year (playing for)
the Vikings, or I retire, and go play
for the Packers? I kind of hope it hap-
pens, so he can fail.”
According to Larry Kennan, execu-
tive director of the NFL Coaches
Association, recently retired coaches
Tom Moore and Howard Mudd can return
immediately to the Colts as paid con-
sultants, ESPN.com reported. How-
ever, they are not eligible to go back
into the pension plan for six months.
Kennan said clarification was
provided by an attorney working
on behalf of ERISA—the Employ-
ment Retired Income Security Act,
the government agency that regu-
lates pension plans. “As long as
Howard and Tom pay their own
taxes for the next six months, they
can return to the Colts as paid con-
sultants, I’d say effective right away,
based on what the ERISA attorney
just told me,” Kennan said.
WR/KR Josh Cribbs attended the
Browns’ OTAs after previously
threatening to hold out for a new
contract. Cribbs sat out last week’s
voluntary minicamp but had a face-
to-face discussion with new coach
NFL
INSIDE DISH
Osi Umenyiora anticipates having no problems with his surgically repaired knee.
Eric Mangini last week and decided to
rejoin the team.
If Cowboys QB Tony Romo doesn’t
want to refer to Terrell Owens by name
these days, that’s fine with T.O.
“Dude, I could care less,” Owens said
with a laugh after the Bills’ voluntary
minicamp practice Wednesday. “I
mean, he doesn’t mention my name,
that’s fine. What about it?”
Owens spoke in response to a
question regarding Romo, who
declined to refer to the receiver by
BILL KOSTROUN / AP
name after the Cowboys practiced
last week for the first time since
Dallas released Owens in March.
Bills starting CB Terrence McGee
hurt his right arm when he tumbled
to the turf while defending Owens
during a voluntary minicamp prac-
tice Wednesday. McGee was hurt
about 30 minutes into the 90-min-
ute session and did not return after
entering the trainer’s room. Bills
coach Dick Jauron did not have an
update on the injury.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus reported on
his Twitter page that an unidentified
third team has “serious interest” in his
client, WR Plaxico Burress. The Jets and
Bucs have already expressed interest.
The Patriots boosted their depth
at inside linebacker by signing for-
mer Lion Paris Lenon. The Patriots
needed linebacker help after third-
round pick Tyrone McKenzie tore a knee
ligament at rookie minicamp earlier
this month. Lenon (6-2, 235) started
48 consecutive games for the Lions
the past three years.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh told
The Baltimore Sun that he expects WR
Derrick Mason (shoulder) to ready for
most, if not all, of training camp.
Mason previously said he may not be
able to participate in training camp.
The agent of Steelers OLB James
Harrison said the player’s 2-year-old
son has been released from a Pitts-
burgh hospital after recovering from
an attack by his father’s pit bull.
The NFL Players Association
plans to appeal a judge’s ruling in
the case of five players facing sus-
pensions over positive drug tests.
The union filed its notice of appeal
Wednesday with the 8th U.S. Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals.
The players association wants the
appeals court to reconsider a judge’s
dismissal last week of a lawsuit
filed by the union on behalf of
Vikings DTs Kevin Williams and Pat
Williams, and three Saints. U.S. Dis-
trict Judge Paul Magnuson last
week threw out most claims by the
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 28
Minicamp schedule
A listing of upcoming NFL
minicamps (all include rookies and
veterans unless otherwise noted):
Buffalo—June 9-11
Cincinnati—June 18-20
Cleveland—June 11-13
Dallas—June 16-18
Denver—June 12-14
Detroit—June 23-25 (voluntary)
Green Bay—June 23-25
Houston—June 15-17
Indianapolis—June 5-7
Kansas City—June 5-7
Miami—June 12-14
Minnesota—Friday-Sunday
New England—June 10-12
New Orleans—June 5-7
N.Y. Giants—June 16-18
N. Y. Jets—June 9-11
St. Louis—June 5-7
San Francisco—June 5-7
Seattle—June 10-12
Tampa Bay—June 16-18
Note: Teams are allowed to have
rookie minicamps separate from
the full-squad minicamp, and
teams with first-year head coaches
are allowed to add up to two
voluntary minicamps.
Williamses and all claims involv-
ing the Saints. This is the second
appeal from that order.
The Cowboys officially opened
the doors for their new stadium on
Wednesday. Hundreds showed up
to celebrate, including several former
Cowboys players. The team also
unveiled the official price tag at $1.15
billion for the 80,000-seat stadium.
That’s slightly higher than the long-
presumed number of $1.1 billion.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com NFL THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 29
DEFENSE
Remaining free agents
A quick look at the remaining NFL free agents by position
(R-restricted free agent, F-franchise tagged player):
Defensive ends—Kevin Carter, Tampa Bay; Earl Cochran,
Houston; Sean Conover, NY Jets; Nick Eason, Pittsburgh;
Kalimba Edwards, Oakland; Ebenezer Ekuban, Denver;
Bucs have ‘one bone’ for a pack of QB candidates
John Engelberger, Denver; Simon Fraser, Atlanta; Roderick TAMPA—Raheem Morris charac- front about his desire to create
OFFENSE Green, San Francisco; Travis LaBoy, Arizona; Jayme Mitchell,
Quarterbacks—Brooks Bollinger, Dallas; Ken Dorsey, Minnesota; Jerome McDougle, NY Giants; Julius Peppers
terizes the competition for the competition for the starting job
Cleveland; Gus Frerotte, Minnesota; Charlie Frye, Seattle; (F), Carolina; Josh Savage, New Orleans; Anthony Weaver, Buccaneers’ starting quarterback and that he was not surprised by
Drew Henson, Detroit; Quinn Gray, Kansas City; Trent Green, Houston; James Wyche, Jacksonville. job in seven words. the signing of Leftwich or draft-
St. Louis; Rex Grossman, Chicago; Brad Johnson, Dallas; J.P. Defensive tackles—Kenderick Allen, Minnesota; Gary
Losman, Buffalo; Jamie Martin, San Francisco; Craig Nall,
“One bone. Five dogs,” the first- ing of Freeman, who is expected
Gibson, Carolina; La’Roi Glover, St. Louis; Vonnie Holliday, year coach begins. “Best man wins.” to be brought along slowly.
Houston; Marques Tuiasosopo, Oakland; Anthony Wright, NY Miami; Antwan Lake, New Orleans; Langston Moore, Detroit;
Giants. Kindal Moorehead, Atlanta; Dewayne Robertson, Denver; Luke McCown feels good about McCown doesn’t view his inex-
Running backs—Darian Barnes, New Orleans; Tatum Bell, Orpheus Roye, Pittsburgh; Hollis Thomas, New Orleans; Josh his chances. Byron Leftwich rel- perience as a hindrance. “Nobody
Denver; Brian Calhoun, Detroit; Jesse Chatman, NY Jets; P.J. Thomas, Indianapolis; John Thornton, Cincinnati; Casey Tyler, ishes the prospect of being a No. 1 knew what New England had in
Daniels, Baltimore; Reuben Droughns, NY Giants; Warrick Dallas; Darwin Walker, Carolina; Ellis Wyms, Minnesota; Brian
Dunn, Tampa Bay; DeShaun Foster, San Francisco; Samkon again, and veteran Brian Griese, Matt Cassel. You just don’t know
Young, New Orleans; Jeff Zgonina, Houston.
Gado, St. Louis; Nick Goings, Carolina; Ahman Green, Houston; Linebackers—Rufus Alexander, Indianapolis; Jason Babin,
second-year pro Josh Johnson and until you get out there and play,”
Andre Hall, Denver; Kay-Jay Harris, NY Giants; Maurice Hicks, Kansas City; Rocky Boiman, Kansas City; Derrick Brooks, Tampa first-round pick Josh Freeman McCown said. “And not three
Minnesota; Edgerrin James, Arizona; Rudi Johnson, Detroit; Bay; Khary Campbell, Washington; Anthony Cannon, Detroit; could figure in the battle, too. games. You’ve got to play eight,
Deuce McAllister, New Orleans; Travis Minor, St. Louis; Chris Dan Cody, Baltimore; Rosevelt Colvin, New England; Donte’
Perry, Cincinnati; Andrew Pinnock, Denver; Michael Pittman,
Morris expects to take four 10, 12 games in a row to get that
Curry, Carolina; Donnie Edwards, Kansas City; Keith Ellison (R),
Denver; P.J. Pope, Denver; Cecil Sapp, Houston; Aaron Stecker, quarterbacks to training camp in experience, to get that confidence,
Buffalo; Troy Evans, New Orleans; Gilbert Gardner, Chicago;
New Orleans; Selvin Young, Denver. Curtis Gatewood, Kansas City; Morlon Greenwood, Houston; July. “It’s a competition,” said to get that respect.”
Wide receivers—Drew Bennett, St. Louis; Marty Booker, Marques Harris, San Diego; Napoleon Harris, Minnesota; Abdul Leftwich, who signed with the Leftwich, a former first-round
Chicago; Drew Carter, Oakland; Jason Carter; Carolina; Keary Hodge (R), Cincinnati; Mike Humpal, Pittsburgh; Brad Kassell, Bucs in April after receiving pick with the Jaguars, has 49
Colbert, Detroit; Jayson Foster, Denver; D.J. Hackett, Carolina; NY Jets; Jason Kyle, Carolina; Teddy Lehman, Buffalo; Wesly
Dante Hall, St. Louis; Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis; Ike assurances that he would be given career starts. He appeared in five
Mallard, Seattle; Jim Maxwell, Cincinnati; Willie McGinest,
Hilliard, Tampa Bay; Darrell Jackson, Denver; Nate Jackson, Cleveland; Marques Murrell (R), NY Jets; Ryan Nece, Detroit;
a chance to win the job that Jeff games with the Super Bowl cham-
Denver; Matt Jones, Jacksonville; Joe Jurevicius, Cleveland; Shantee Orr, Cleveland; Antwan Peek, Cleveland; Carlos Polk, Garcia held the past two seasons. pion Steelers last season, throw-
Ashley Lelie, Oakland; Brandon Lloyd, Chicago; Dane Looker, Dallas; Junior Seau, New England; Matt Sinclair, Washington; Morris decided against bring- ing for 303 yards, two touchdowns
St. Louis; Marcus Maxwell, Baltimore; Anthony Mix, Tampa Gary Stills, St. Louis; Terrell Suggs (F), Baltimore; Dontarrious
Bay; Ben Obomanu (R), Seattle; Tab Perry, Miami; Jerry Porter, ing Garcia back but wanted to re- and no interceptions.
Thomas, Minnesota; Pisa Tinoisamoa, St. Louis; Marcus
Jacksonville; Kevin Robinson, Kansas City; Koren Robinson, sign McCown, who has been a He, too, signed a two-year deal
Washington, Washington; Nate Webster, Denver.
Seattle; Edell Shepherd, Denver; Travis Taylor, Detroit; Amani Cornerbacks—David Barrett, NY Jets; Fakhir Brown, St. backup in Tampa Bay the past knowing there was a chance the
Toomer, NY Giants; Kelley Washington, New England; Todd Louis; Terry Cousin, Cleveland; Jason Craft, St. Louis; Travis four seasons. Bucs also might take a quarter-
Watkins (R), Oakland; Harry Williams, Houston; Reggie
Williams, Jacksonville; Wallace Wright (R), NY Jets.
Fisher, Detroit; Reynaldo Hill, Tennessee; William James, Leftwich, who played behind back high in the draft. In addition
Jacksonville; Michael Lehan, New Orleans; Sam Madison, Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh to trying to win the starting job,
Tight ends—Courtney Anderson, Houston; Adam Bergen, NY Giants; Ricky Manning Jr., St. Louis; Derrick Martin (R),
Denver; Mark Bruener, Houston; Scott Chandler, San Diego; Baltimore; Chris McAlister, Baltimore; Mike McKenzie, New
last year, has been a starter with he vowed to do everything he can
Owen Daniels (R), Houston; Nate Lawrie, Cincinnati; Michael Orleans; R.W. McQuarters, NY Giants; Deltha O’Neal, New Jacksonville and Atlanta. The to help Freeman.
Merritt, Kansas City; Chad Mustard, Denver; Rob Myers, NY England; Dunta Robinson (F), Houston; Lewis Sanders, Steelers were open to his return, “I remember when I was in that
Jets; Jeff Robinson, Seattle; Derek Schouman (R), Buffalo; New England; Duane Starks, Jacksonville; Brandon Sumrall,
Stephen Spach (R), Arizona; Daniel Wilcox, Baltimore; Kris and the 29-year-old also attracted situation,” Leftwich said, adding
NY Giants; DeJuan Tribble, San Diego; Jason Webster, New
Wilson, San Diego. interest from Washington. he’s also eager to work with a
England; Jimmy Williams, Houston; Stanley Wilson, Detroit.
Offensive tackles—Tyson Clabo (R), Atlanta; Anthony Safeties—Oshiomogho Atogwe (F), St. Louis; Michael Morris sold him on Tampa Bay, group of playmakers that includes
Davis, St. Louis; Jon Dunn, Detroit; Wayne Gandy, Atlanta; Boulware, Minnesota; Mike Brown, Chicago; Oliver Celestin, promising that the best quarter- receiver Antonio Bryant, tight end
Kwame Harris, Oakland; Jonas Jennings, San Francisco; Levi
Jones, Cincinnati; James Marten (R), Oakland; Fred Miller,
Kansas City; Corey Chavous, St. Louis; Will Demps, Houston; back will play. “All anybody can NAM Y. HUH / AP Kellen Winslow and running
Mike Doss, Cincinnati; Hiram Eugene, Oakland; Mike Green, ask for on this football team is that back Derrick Ward.
Chicago; Rob Petitti, St. Louis; Jon Runyan, Philadelphia; Brian Griese is just one of five competitors for Tampa Bay’s QB job.
Washington; Rodney Harrison, New England; Terrence Holt,
Charles Spencer, Jacksonville; Barry Stokes, New England; New Orleans; Dexter Jackson, Cincinnati; Sammy Knight, NY
if I go out here and I play well, and “I’m going on my seventh year,
Mark Tauscher, Green Bay; Mark Wilson (R), Oakland. Giants; Marquand Manuel, Denver; Marlon McCree, Denver; if I’m playing better than anybody starter, with four of his seven starts 27-year-old decided to remain in and I realize as a quarterback in
Guards—Lennie Friedman, Cleveland; Pete Kendall, Lawyer Milloy, Atlanta; Chad Nkang, Jacksonville; Jarrad Page else, will I have the opportunity to coming a rookie with Cleveland in Tampa Bay. this league you can’t do it by your-
Washington; Matt Lentz, Detroit; Terrence Metcalf, Chicago; (R), Kansas City; Pierson Prioleau, Jacksonville; Chris Reis (R),
Edwin Mulitalo, Detroit; Chris Naeole, Jacksonville; Grey be the guy?” Leftwich said. 2004, and only attempted one pass “This has been a long time com- self. When I was a rookie, and my
New Orleans; Dwight Smith, Detroit; Jimmy Williams, San
Ruegamer, NY Giants; Kendall Simmons, Pittsburgh; Rob Sims “The toughest thing in the world while getting limited playing time ing for me, and I’m not letting any- second year, I thought I could. I’m
Francisco; Cameron Worrell, Chicago.
(R), Seattle; Jason Whittle, Buffalo. is being in a situation where no in two games last season. body take it from me,” McCown smarter now. I realize it takes a lot
Centers—Brennen Carvalho, Green Bay; Jean-Philippe SPECIAL TEAMS matter what you do, you know you Nevertheless, McCown views said. “This is my first real oppor- of different elements for you as a
Darche, Kansas City; Melvin Fowler, Buffalo; Matt Lehr, New Kickers—John Carney, NY Giants; Matt Stover, Baltimore.
Orleans; Andy McCollum, Detroit; Jeremy Newberry, San
won’t have a chance to get out on himself as the front-runner, even tunity to compete to be the starter. quarterback to go out there and
Punters—Mitch Berger, Pittsburgh; Mike Dragosavich, the field.” though Leftwich and Freeman, I look at it as mine, and you’re play well. I think the Buccaneers
Diego; Scott Peters, Arizona; Cory Withrow, St. Louis. Indianapolis; Sam Koch (R), Baltimore; Kyle Larson, Cincinnati;
Ryan Plackemeier, Cincinnati. McCown has appeared in 12 the 17th overall pick in the draft, going to have to shoot me.” have all the elements.”
games in five seasons. He’s 1-6 as a have been brought in since the He said Morris has been up — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Q: Villanova’s Jay Wright says no
thanks to the Sixers. What
current college coach will be next in
becoming an NBA head coach?
DeCourcy: When Rick Pitino, John Calipari
and Lon Kruger made their cash runs to the
NBA roughly a decade ago, the league was
paying obscene salaries to coaches, and the
colleges merely were paying huge salaries.
Pitino and Calipari, in particular, received life-
changing paydays by accepting NBA jobs.
The current trend in the league is moving
away from the “star” coach (unless that coach
happens to be named Jackson or Popovich)
and toward guys who get lesser paydays and
shorter contracts. Miami’s Erik Spoelstra
and Chicago’s Vinny Del Negro might be con-
sidered prototypes.
It doesn’t make sense for a college coach
with a contract term that might run as long
as a decade at $2 million per to run after an
NBA job where he might get four years for
roughly the same money.
One college coach with appeal to an NBA
team who would be interested in taking
such a job would be Pitino. His interest in
getting back to the league would be less
about money or security and more about
being away from Louisville as the court
case related to an alleged extortion attempt
against him becomes a Jon-and-Kate type
of obsession in the city.
It still makes me laugh, though, that peo-
ple think the NBA is too complicated for
college coaches. Jim O’Brien won 10 games
combined in his final two seasons at Day-
ton. He’s been a head coach in the pros for
seven seasons. Cavs assistant John Kuester
was drawing up plays for LeBron James
and Co. at the end of Game 4 of the Eastern
Conference finals. His next-to-last team as
George Washington head coach went 1-27.
Q: What’s been the biggest
offseason transfer so far?
DeCourcy: There are scores of players
STARTING FIVE
Jay Wright is the latest big-name college coach to turn down overtures from the NBA, instead choosing the job security and salary available at Villanova.
who’ve announced transfers, most with
names we’d barely recognize.
A few reasonably prominent players
opted to change schools—forward Malcolm
White from Ole Miss to LSU, for instance.
He averaged 7.2 points and 5.7 rebounds
last season. Guard Nick Williams averaged
8.9 points as a freshman at Indiana but will
resume his career at Ole Miss. It’s possible
neither will become a star.
The biggest name to change schools, then,
is Liberty’s Seth Curry. He’s a big name pri-
marily because his brother, Stephen, was an
College Basketball
Sporting News Today college basketball columnist
Mike DeCourcy addresses five topics currently in his sport’s headlines
All-American at Davidson. Whether Seth
can succeed at Duke is debatable. When he’s
eligible to play in November 2010, the Devils
will have veterans Nolan Smith and Elliot
Williams at his position. It’s not clear Seth is a
great pure shooter; he only hit 34.7 percent
from 3-point range, though he did make 102
3-pointers as a freshman.
Q: So three Kentucky players
suddenly won’t return? Strange
how John Calipari was able to find
scholarships for all the high-profile
CARLOS OSORIO / AP
recruits he is attracting, isn’t it?
DeCourcy: I said a week ago this is the inevi-
table consequence of moving out two coaches
in three years. Calipari was not hired
because he was going to make an immense,
immediate X’s and O’s difference in the
Wildcats. There was nothing technically
wrong with the coaching done by Tubby
Smith and Billy Gillispie. UK struggled, by
its standards, because they didn’t attracting
the necessary talent.
The three players Kentucky announced
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 30
would be leaving—Jared Carter, A.J. Stewart
and Donald Williams—scored a combined
68 points last season. They couldn’t play for
the Wildcats before DeMarcus Cousins and
John Wall arrived.
Athletes rarely want to be part of a situa-
tion where they have no chance to get in
games. That’s why they play college bas-
ketball—to play. They invest too many
hours and too much sacrifice to not get the
reward of game night. The three players
moving on will be happier than if they were
nailed to the UK bench another year.
Q: What do you think of Florida’s
Nick Calathes agreeing to a
contract to play in Greece?
DeCourcy: Few players volunteer to play for
less money in a lesser pro league. If Calathes
didn’t think he was ready to be a first-round
pick, he should have stayed with the Gators.
Q: Rubio or Griffin?
DeCourcy: Is that a serious question? Blake
Griffin will be one of the top athletes ever
to play his position, and he is enormously
competitive. He could use more skill with
the ball, but he’ll be an excellent power
forward. Ricky Rubio is a spectacular
passer, but he is neither a great athlete nor a
great shooter. His defense could be suspect,
and he’ll be easier to defend on the pick-
and-roll than somebody who can make a
shot, like Deron Williams or even Ty Law-
son. If my team didn’t have a point guard,
Rubio would be a good one to get, but I
wouldn’t consider him with the No. 1 over-
all pick.Can anyone answer this question,
by the way: If the European developmental
system is superior to what we have in the
U.S. because the players get to spend so
much more time in the gym, how come
Rubio shot only 39.1 percent from the field
this season?
mdecourcy@sportingnews.com
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Report: Memphis accused of violations
MEMPHIS—The University of Mem-
phis reportedly is responding to an
NCAA notice of allegations accus-
ing the men’s basketball program of
major violations during the 2007-
08 season under John Calipari.
According to The Commercial
Appeal, the allegations include “know-
ing fraudulence or misconduct” on an
SAT exam by a player on the 2007-
08 team, which finished runner-up
in the NCAA Tournament.
Lamar Chance, spokesman for
the basketball program, declined
comment Wednesday night when
contacted by The Associated Press.
The player’s name was redacted
in the report, obtained by The Com-
mercial Appeal through the Free-
dom of Information Act, due to
privacy laws.
The player has subsequently
denied the charge, according to uni-
versity personnel.
The only player on the roster who
competed during that season was
Derrick Rose, who subsequently
was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft
last June, the newspaper reported.
If proven to be true, the Tigers
could be forced to forfeit their
NCAA-record 38 victories and
Final Four appearance.
Memphis, which received the
notice of allegations Jan. 16, is
scheduled to appear before the
NCAA Committee on Infractions
June 6. Calipari, who left Memphis
for Kentucky on March 31, is not
named in the report, The Commer-
cial Appeal said on its website
Wednesday night.
It is also alleged that Memphis
provided $2,260 in free travel to
road games for an associate of a
player. Those names also were
redacted in the report due to
College Basketball
MARK J. TERRILL / AP
John Calipari is not named in the report, but the NCAA has requested his presence at a June 6 hearing.
privacy laws, the newspaper about the allegations. “We’re doing
reported. a thorough investigation.”
“We take it very seriously. We Johnson said the university is
don’t condone it,” athletic director still working on its response to
R.C. Johnson told the newspaper. the NCAA notice of allegations.
He declined to comment in detail — The Associated Press
Gillispie sues UK for $6M
Former Kentucky men’s basket-
ball coach Billy Gillispie sued the school
Wednesday, seeking at least $6 mil-
lion he says he is owed on his deal for
being fired without cause.
Gillispie, who was dismissed
last spring, was working under a
memorandum of understanding
but hadn’t signed a formal contract
during the two years he coached at
Kentucky.
He contends that under that
memorandum, he should be paid
$1.5 million a year for four of the
five years left on the deal. The suit
also asks for an undisclosed
amount of punitive damages,
attorneys’ fees, court costs and
interest. The lawsuit filed in federal
court in Dallas contends the school’s
athletics association is in breach of
contract and has committed fraud
because the university never
intended to honor the agreement.
“Rather than honor its written,
signed deal with coach Gillispie,
defendant prefers instead to pre-
tend as though no deal was ever
reached,” the lawsuit says.
University attorneys expressed
surprise over the lawsuit.
“The university was continuing
to negotiate a separation in good
faith and his counsel had asked for
more time,” they said in a
statement.
Kentucky athletics director Mitch
Barnhart, reached by The Associ-
ated Press on Wednesday at the
Southeastern Conference meet-
ings in Destin, Fla., said he had no
comment.
“I just got off the phone with our
attorneys and I can’t say any-
thing,” Barnhart said.
INSIDE DISH
Billy Gillispie contends he should be paid
$1.5 million a year for four of the five years
left on his deal with Kentucky.
Jimmy Stanton, a spokesman for
University of Kentucky President
Lee Todd, also declined comment
because the matter involves pend-
ing litigation.
Clemson is losing its top
3-point threat to Europe. Sopho-
more G Terrence Oglesby told the
coaching staff that he plans to give
up his final two seasons of eligibil-
ity and play overseas. Tony Oglesby
told The State of Columbia, S.C.,
that his son would travel to Italy
on Saturday and begin negotia-
tions with the 15 teams from Italy
and Spain.
“This is nothing really against
Clemson,” Tony Oglesby told the
newspaper. “It’s just an opportu-
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 31
nity he didn’t want to turn down.”
Oglesby averaged 13.2 points.
He has dual citizenship in the
United States and Norway, where
he was born and his father played
basketball.
Playing for Vanderbilt means
C A.J. Ogilvy is stranded a long way
from Australia each winter, but
later this summer it’ll give him the
chance to make a trip back home.
The Commodores will make their
third international trip under
coach Kevin Stallings this August,
but their first to Australia. They
will fly into Melbourne and travel
around the country before finish-
ing the tour in Sydney.
Teams are allowed to make such
playing tours once every four
years, and Stallings twice has
taken his team to Europe, but hav-
ing a star player from Australia
made this a logical time to travel a
different route.
“Those were wonderful trips,
but we were looking to do some-
thing different this time,” Stall-
ings said. “It just made sense to
incorporate something over
there. A.J. is thousands of miles
away from home all school year
long, so this was a nice opportu-
nity to go over there and give
him a chance to play at home.”
Stallings is looking forward to
the trip and also to improving his
team with some tough games.
Almost exclusively composed of
sophomores and freshmen, the
Commodores were 19-12 last sea-
son, with Ogilvy leading the team
with 15.4 points and 7.1 rebounds.
— Mike DeCourcy
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Autism
Speaks 400
at Dover International
Speedway, Dover, Del.
Top 5 and 5 to watch
When: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET
TV: FOX, 1:30 p.m.
Radio: MRN/Sirius XM Satellite Ch. 128
Track layout: 1-mile oval
Race distance: 400 laps/400 miles
2008 winner: Kyle Busch
2008 polesitter: Greg Biffle
BY ROGER KUZNIA
rkuznia@sportingnews.com
Here’s a look at the top five in points and five
drivers to watch in Sunday’s Autism Speaks
400 at Dover International Speedway. All statis-
tical references are for Sprint Cup races at Dover
unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is
based on the past eight points races at the track.
1. Jeff Gordon, 91.4 driver rating. When it comes
to racing at Dover the past three years,
Gordon is like Flo from Progressive.com—
always on. His average start in that span is 7.5,
and his average finish is 7.8. While Gordon has
two pole positions, he has not won at the Monster
Mile since 2001. The fact he led 30 laps in the fall
race could signal he’s ready to win again.
2. Tony Stewart, 65.5. Used to be that Dover
was one of Stewart’s best tracks. No
more. Stewart’s subpar driver rating is due to
his one Top 10 finish in the last eight races. It
hasn’t helped that he has three DNFs due to
wrecks in that span. If Stewart somehow man-
ages a Top 10 finish this weekend, it would be
another fantastic story to an already-unbeliev-
ably strong first season as an owner/driver.
3. Kurt Busch, 91.0. Busch made his Sprint
Cup Series debut at Dover in 2000
with current FOX analyst Jeff Hammond as
his crew chief, finishing 18th. A mechanical
issue and a wreck kept Busch from having
Roush Fenway driver Greg Biffle has the highest driver rating at Dover, a place where he won last September.
what he anticipated to be good runs in the two
races last year, so don’t be surprised to see the
Deuce a part of this Sunday’s storyline.
4. Jimmie Johnson, 102.9. Johnson has the
fourth-highest driver rating at Dover,
trailing only Roushketeers Greg Biffle, Matt
Kenseth and Carl Edwards (more on them
later). Along with teammate Gordon, Johnson
led laps in last year’s fall race. If the Roush trio
is to have any competition, this Hendrick duo
appears best positioned to provide it.
5. Denny Hamlin, 73.9. Hamlin’s rating has
been crushed by finishes of 38th, 43rd
and 38th in the past three races. He did qualify
well in two of those three races (third each
time), so there’s hope.
Five to watch
7. Ryan Newman, 98.4. No driver is hotter
than Newman, with four straight top-
five finishes this season. He even won his first
pole position in over a year last week at Lowe’s,
an additional indicator that the Newman of the
early 2000s may be showing up. Newman has
won four poles and three races at Dover.
9. Matt Kenseth, 114.5. Kenseth has been
much more dominant in the fall races,
NASCAR
MARY ANN CHASTAIN / AP
leading 602 of his 686 laps in those races.
However, his finishes in the June event are
just as strong, with a win, a fifth and a fourth
in his last three.
10. Greg Biffle, 116.6. Biffle’s victory in last
year’s fall race over Kenseth and Carl
Edwards was perhaps the best race of the year.
All three led laps in the final 100 miles before
Biffle led the last nine circuits. Biff has just one
finish outside the Top 10 in his last eight races,
a 13th in 2005.
11. Carl Edwards, 105.7. In the past five Dover
races, Edwards has finished no worse
than third, and he won the fall race in 2007.
The 285 laps he’s led at Dover are his third
most, trailing only Texas (499) and Atlanta
(299). But Edwards has had fewer success sto-
ries this year, so it’s hard to expect a dominant
outing Sunday.
12. Mark Martin, 100.6. If Martin performed
well at Dover in DEI equipment the past
two years, think of what he’ll do in his Hendrick
car. Martin has three Top 10 finishes in the past
four Dover races and has led more laps in his
career at Dover than any driver on the circuit.
The latter part of that sentence is partly due to
the fact he’s 50. But he’s plenty good too.
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 32
INSIDE DISH
Robby Gordon penalized
for Coke 600 infractions
Owner/driver Robby Gordon has been
penalized 50 championship owner
points and 50 championship driver
points for a rear axle housing infrac-
tion discovered by NASCAR inspec-
tors after Monday’s rain-shortened
Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speed-
way, in which Gordon finished third.
Kirk Almquist, crew chief of the No. 7
Toyota driven by Gordon, was fined
$50,000 for the violation. Specifi-
cally, the rear axle housing exceeded
the allowable toe of plus or minus
one degree. In layman’s terms, the
axle was canted too far to the right, TERRY RENNA / AP
which can facilitate corner entry and Robby Gordon’s No. 7 Toyota had a rear axle
improve a car’s ability to turn issue discovered in post-race inspection.
through the corner.
Believing there might be an issue Ryan Newman will take a turn in
with the housing, based on post-race
inspection at LMS, NASCAR
the JR Motorsports Nationwide
Series entry this weekend at Dover
impounded the part and took it to the
research-and-development center in
Concord, N.C., for further examina-
International Speedway.
Newman is making the first of his
four scheduled starts in the car,
tion. The penalties were announced which he will also drive at Chicago-
Wednesday afternoon. land Speedway (July 10), Bristol
Gordon earned $208,985 for his Motor Speedway (Aug. 21) and Kan-
third-place finish, which he earned
by staying on the track under caution
sas Speedway (Oct. 3).
— SceneDaily.com
after rain hit the speedway. When
the rain persisted, NASCAR called
the race after 227 laps.
TomTom Inc. announced
Wednesday that it will become an asso-
NASCAR also announced on ciate sponsor of Earnhardt Ganassi
Wednesday that Andrew Crnkovic, a crew Racing for both the Sprint Cup Series
member for the No. 07 team in the
Camping World Truck Series, has
been suspended indefinitely for viola-
and the IndyCar Series this year.
The navagation-system company
will be the primary sponsor for mul-
tion of NASCAR’s substance abuse tiple races of the No. 1 Chevrolet
policy, based on findings from a drug
test administered during Sprint All-
Star Race weekend (May 15-16).
driven by Martin Truex Jr. in the Cup
series and the No. 10 Honda Dallara
driven by Dario Franchitti in the Indy-
— Reid Spencer writes for the
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Car Series.
— SceneDaily.com
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com NASCAR THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 33
AVG. RUNNING POSITION LAPS IN TOP 15 POINTS STANDINGS
Sprint Cup statistics
(Through 12 of 36 races)
Sum of driver position on each lap
divided by the laps run in the race
Season to date laps: 3,848
RK. DRIVER PTS.
PTS.
ST. WINS T-5 T-10 DNF
LAPS
BACK LED
RK. DRIVER PCT. LAPS
RK. DRIVER ARP 1. Jeff Gordon 1,722 -- 12 1 6 8 0 496
1. Jeff Gordon 84.6 3,257
1. Jeff Gordon 10.02 2. Tony Stewart 1,678 -44 12 0 5 8 0 54
2. Denny Hamlin 79.7 3,068
2. Jimmie Johnson 10.03 3. Kurt Busch 1,607 -115 12 1 3 6 0 322
3. Jimmie Johnson 78.7 3,029
3. Kurt Busch 10.04 4. Tony Stewart 76.2 2,933 4. Jimmie Johnson 1,594 -128 12 1 5 7 1 319
4. Denny Hamlin 10.28 5. Kurt Busch 76.0 2,925 5. Denny Hamlin 1,575 -147 12 0 2 4 0 479
5. Tony Stewart 10.69 6. Mark Martin 75.6 2,908 6. Kyle Busch 1,540 -182 12 3 4 5 1 789
6. Kyle Busch 11.22 7. Carl Edwards 69.1 2,660 7. Ryan Newman 1,538 -184 12 0 4 6 0 137
7. Carl Edwards 13.33 8. Kyle Busch 68.5 2,634 8. Jeff Burton 1,472 -250 12 0 2 5 0 67
8. Mark Martin 14.21 9. Jeff Burton 66.4 2,556 9. Matt Kenseth 1,460 -262 12 2 3 5 1 171
9. David Reutimann 15.37 10. David Reutimann 64.4 2,480 10. Greg Biffle 1,448 -274 12 0 3 6 2 267
10. Greg Biffle 15.39 11. Greg Biffle 56.8 2,187 11. Carl Edwards 1,431 -291 12 0 2 5 1 42
11. Jeff Burton 16.14 12. Ryan Newman 54.1 2,080 12. Mark Martin 1,428 -294 12 2 3 6 3 215
12. Brian Vickers 16.17 13. Brian Vickers 52.0 2,001 13. David Reutimann 1,422 -300 12 1 2 3 0 47
13. Juan Montoya 16.60 14. Juan Montoya 50.8 1,953 14. Juan Montoya 1,397 -325 12 0 0 4 0 8
14. Ryan Newman 17.35 15. Kevin Harvick 47.5 1,827 15. Kasey Kahne 1,351 -371 12 0 1 3 0 46
15. Martin Truex Jr. 17.57 16. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 46.1 1,775 16. Brian Vickers 1,348 -374 12 0 2 5 2 59
16. Kasey Kahne 17.64 17. Kasey Kahne 45.9 1,767
HAROLD HINSON FOR SN 17. Matt Kenseth 17.74 17. Clint Bowyer 1,319 -403 12 0 3 4 1 16
18. Clint Bowyer 45.0 1,732
Jeff Gordon finished a lackluster 14th in the Coca-Cola 600, but he’s still the points leader. 18. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 17.90 18. Martin Truex Jr. 1,238 -484 12 0 0 3 1 109
19. Jamie McMurray 44.2 1,700
19. Jamie McMurray 19.58 19. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,225 -497 12 0 1 3 1 90
20. Matt Kenseth 42.1 1,620
20. Clint Bowyer 19.92 20. Marcos Ambrose 1,216 -506 12 0 1 2 2 0
DRIVER RATING 21. Jamie McMurray 1,168 -554 12 0 0 3 1 0
FASTEST LAPS RUN PERCENTAGE OF LAPS 22. Casey Mears 1,168 -554 12 0 0 1 0 2
Formula combining the following categories: Wins, finishes, top-15 finishes, average Number of laps where driver had the RUN ON LEAD LAP 23. Kevin Harvick 1,149 -573 12 0 2 2 1 9
running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most fastest speed on the lap. Season to date laps: 3,848
Total green flag laps: 3,135 24. Reed Sorenson 1,148 -574 12 0 0 1 0 0
laps, lead-lap finish. Maximum: 150 points per race. Must have raced in 75 percent of
scheduled point-paying races. RK. DRIVER PCT. LAPS 25. Joey Logano 1,145 -577 12 0 0 3 2 25
RK. DRIVER PCT. LAPS 1. Kurt Busch 96.9 3,728 26. David Stremme 1,136 -586 12 0 0 0 2 3
RK. DRIVER MAKE TEAM RATING 1. Jeff Gordon 9.5 299 2. Denny Hamlin 94.4 3,633 27. Bobby Labonte 1,134 -588 12 0 1 1 3 5
1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 107.5 2. Greg Biffle 8.1 255 3. Jimmie Johnson 91.9 3,537 28. Elliott Sadler 1,129 -593 12 0 1 1 0 29
2. Kyle Busch Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing 107.1 3. Kyle Busch 7.5 236 4. Carl Edwards 91.0 3,501 29. AJ Allmendinger 1,126 -596 12 0 1 2 0 0
3. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 101.7 4. Kurt Busch 7.2 227 5. Jeff Gordon 90.0 3,462 30. Sam Hornish Jr. 1,113 -609 12 0 0 2 2 3
4. Denny Hamlin Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing 100.0 5. Jimmie Johnson 6.9 217 6. Tony Stewart 86.8 3,339 31. Michael Waltrip 1,095 -627 12 0 0 1 1 5
5. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Stewart-Haas Racing 99.6 6. Mark Martin 6.6 206 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 86.8 3,338 32. David Ragan 1,089 -633 12 0 0 1 3 3
6. Kurt Busch Dodge Penske Racing 99.3 7. Denny Hamlin 5.2 164 8. Mark Martin 86.2 3,316 33. Paul Menard 1,033 -689 12 0 0 0 2 3
7. Mark Martin Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 96.4 8. Tony Stewart 4.4 139 9. Jeff Burton 86.1 3,313 34. Robby Gordon 1,017 -705 12 0 1 1 3 2
8. Carl Edwards Ford Roush Fenway Racing 89.7 9. Carl Edwards 3.7 116 10. David Reutimann 84.7 3,260 35. Scott Speed 865 -857 11 0 1 1 2 13
9. Greg Biffle Ford Roush Fenway Racing 89.5 10. Brian Vickers 3.4 106 11. Juan Montoya 80.3 3,088 36. John Andretti 743 -979 10 0 0 0 0 2
10. Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull Racing 83.9 11. Jeff Burton 2.7 84 12. Ryan Newman 78.6 3,024 37. David Gilliland 731 -991 11 0 0 0 3 0
11. Jeff Burton Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 82.9 12. Kasey Kahne 2.6 82 13. Greg Biffle 78.3 3,012
38. Regan Smith 573 -1,149 6 0 0 0 0 0
12. Juan Montoya Chevrolet Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 82.7 13. Matt Kenseth 2.6 80 14. Brian Vickers 77.9 2,996
13. David Reutimann 2.6 80 39. Brad Keselowski 479 -1,243 4 1 1 2 0 1
13. Ryan Newman Chevrolet Stewart-Haas Racing 82.5 15. Clint Bowyer 77.5 2,982
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2.2 70 40. Joe Nemechek 466 -1,256 9 0 0 0 7 2
14. David Reutimann Toyota Michael Waltrip Racing 82.2 16. Kyle Busch 75.7 2,911
15. Matt Kenseth Ford Roush Fenway Racing 81.8 16. Ryan Newman 2.1 67 41. Aric Almirola 451 -1,271 7 0 0 0 2 0
17. David Stremme 74.9 2,881
16. Kasey Kahne Dodge Richard Petty Motorsports 79.2 17. Martin Truex Jr. 1.9 59 18. Kasey Kahne 72.7 2,797 42. Scott Riggs 448 -1,274 8 0 0 0 3 3
17. Jamie McMurray Ford Roush Fenway Racing 77.9 18. Juan Montoya 1.8 56 19. Martin Truex Jr. 70.4 2,710 43. Dave Blaney 382 -1,340 9 0 0 0 8 3
18. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 76.3 19. Marcos Ambrose 1.6 49 20. Jamie McMurray 69.6 2,677 44. Bill Elliott 346 -1,376 4 0 0 0 1 0
19. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 76.3 20. Clint Bowyer 1.4 45 45. Max Papis 317 -1,405 5 0 0 0 0 0
20. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 74.8 46. Travis Kvapil 292 -1,430 4 0 0 0 1 0
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Barcelona 2, Manchester United 0
Barcelona caps fantastic year with Champions trophy
ROME—Barcelona gave an emphatic
answer to who is the best soccer team in
Europe, dispatching Manchester United
with a dazzling and dominating display
to win the Champions League title for
the second time in four seasons.
Samuel Eto’o scored 10 minutes in
and Lionel Messi connected in the 70th,
leading the Spanish champions to a one-
sided 2-0 victory Wednesday night that
prevented the English power from
becoming the first team in 19 years to
win consecutive European titles.
“This is the most important victory of
my life,” Messi said. “When the second
goal came, that calmed us down a lot.”
Eto’o took a pass from Andres Iniesta,
cut around defender Nemanja Vidic and
beat Edwin van der Sar from 8 yards.
The goalkeeper got a touch on the right-
footed shot but couldn’t keep it from
going in at the near post.
“The victory is much more important
than the goal,” said Eto’o, a three-time
African player of the year from
Cameroon.
Messi, a 21-year-old star of Argenti-
na’s national team, easily won the glam-
our duel with reigning FIFA player of
the year Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi, who
is 5-foot-7, was wide open when he
scored on a header from about 6 yards
off a cross from Xavi Hernandez, who
had hit a post with a free kick 17 minutes
earlier. It was Messi’s tournament-high
ninth goal and his first in 11 games
against English opponents.
Messi set off colorful celebrations at one
end of Stadio Olimpico, filled with 62,467
fans, and left English supporters in silence
as Manchester United’s European
unbeaten streak ended at 25 games.
In Rome, Barcelona supporters
splashed, fully clothed, in the Trevi
Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o, second from right, scored 10 minutes into the game, giving the Spanish champs a lead they never relinquished.
Fountain. Before the match, a Manchester
United fan was hospitalized after sustain-
ing a stab wound and 15 people, including
United and Barcelona fans, were arrested
in separate incidents.
“Lionel Messi is the best player in the
world, absolutely,” Barca coach Pep
Guardiola said of the Argentine, who
scored 38 of Barcelona’s 153 goals this
season. “I think right now he is adding
his name to the Golden Ball.”
Ronaldo had United’s only two on-
target shots and six overall. Wayne
Rooney managed just one shot.
“This is one of the biggest disappoint-
ments of my career,” Ronaldo said. “The
Soccer
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
game was between Manchester and
Barcelona. It wasn’t a duel between any-
one in particular.”
Manchester United, which won its
third straight Premier League title and
added the English League Cup and Club
World Cup, was trying to become the
first team to win consecutive European
crowns since AC Milan in 1989-90. The
Red Devils also won the tournament in
1968 and 1999.
In its first season under Guardiola, a for-
mer Barcelona star who began as a ball boy
at Camp Nou, the Catalan power won
Europe’s top club competition for the third
time following victories in 1992 and 2006.
ALESSANDRA TARANTINO / AP
“When I won as a player I was young
and it was magnificent,” said Girardiola,
who played for Barcelona’s 1992 team.
“But now winning the treble at the first
attempt is marvelous.”
Barcelona also swept Spain’s La Liga
and Copa del Rey. After the victory, fans
in the Spanish city honked horns and
set off flares.
“I’ve been waiting for so long to get
this title,” said Barcelona forward Thi-
erry Henry, who played for the Arsenal
team that lost to Barcelona in the 2006
final. “The last five minutes were the
longest of my life.”
— The Associated Press
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 34
Ronaldo doesn’t know
if he’ll stay with Man U
ROME—Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Manchester
United became uncertain again when he wouldn’t
say whether he will remain with the English champi-
ons next season.
When asked after United’s loss to Barcelona in the
Champions League final whether he would be at Old
Trafford next season, the reigning world player of the
year said: “I don’t know.”
Real Madrid has been trying to obtain the 24-year-
old Portuguese winger for nearly two seasons and
former president Florentino Perez is on the verge of
heading the club again.
A lifelong Madrid fan, has three seasons remain-
ing on his current contract and has said he’d like to
play for Real Madrid at some point.
United manager Alex Ferguson has labeled Real
Madrid “a mob” for repeatedly trying to get Ronaldo
to make a move.
Perez, responsible for bringing Zinedine Zidane
and David Beckham to Real Madrid during his six
year tenure, has said he is ready to spend three years’
worth of money on players this summer alone.Messi
wins duel vs. Ronaldo
Messi wins duel
Lionel Messi didn’t use his usual scoring method—
a deft touch from his quick feet—to settle the debate
over whether he or Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to be
called the world’s best player.
Instead, the Barcelona forward settled it with his
head.
Messi’s 70th-minute header helped Barcelona defeat
Manchester United on Wednesday, a victory that puts
Barcelona in exclusive company as only the fifth Euro-
pean club to win three major trophies in a season.
All eyes had been on the Ronaldo vs. Messi matchup
after Ronaldo edged Messi for both the FIFA world
player of the year and Golden Ball award last season.
A historic season for Barcelona is likely to be
enough to see Messi dethrone King Cristiano.
Messi was instrumental in much of Barcelona’s play,
just as he was in securing the Spanish league title with a
record points haul and a 25th Copa del Rey trophy.
— The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Glance
PARIS—A look at the French
Open on Wednesday:
Weather: Rainy in the morn-
ing, sunny in the afternoon. High
of 63 degrees.
Attendance: 35,459.
Men’s seeded winners: No. 1 Rafael
Nadal, No. 3 Andy Murray, No. 7 Gilles
Simon, No. 8 Fernando Verdasco,
No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 13
Marin Cilic, No. 14 David Ferrer, No.
17 Stanislas Wawrinka, No. 18 Radek
Stepanek, No. 23 Robin Soderling,
No. 30 Victor Hanescu, No. 31 Nicolas
Almagro.
Men’s seeded losers: No. 20 Marat
Safin, No. 21 Dmitry Tursunov, No.
28 Feliciano Lopez.
Women’s seeded winners:
No. 1 Dinara Safina, No. 8 Ana
Ivanovic, No. 9 Victoria Azarenka,
No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova, No.
21 Alize Cornet, No. 22 Carla
Suarez Navarro, No. 25 Li Na, No.
27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,
No. 29 Agnes Szavay, No. 32 Iveta
Benesova.
Women’s seeded losers: No. 11
Nadia Petrova, No. 15 Zheng Jie.
Stat of the day: 2 — Total number
of games lost by Safina through
two matches in the tournament.
Quote of the day: “I need to
stop and just get out of this tennis
circuit to be able to understand
what’s going on in my life.” —
Safin, after losing to French wild-
card entry Josselin Ouanna 10-8
in the fifth set. Safin is retiring at
season’s end.
On court today: No. 2 Roger
Federer vs. Jose Acasuso, No.
4 Novak Djokovic vs. Sergiy
Stakhovsky, No. 6 Andy Roddick vs.
Ivo Minar; No. 2 Serena Williams vs.
Virginia Ruano Pascual, No. 4 Elena
Dementieva vs. Jelena Dokic, No.
5 Jelena Jankovic vs. Magdalena
Rybarikova.
Today’s forecast: Cloudy. High
of 70 degrees.
Today’s TV: Tennis Channel, 5
a.m.-noon EDT; ESPN2, noon to
6:30 p.m. EDT.
— The Associated Press
Sharapova pulls through in third set
PARIS—On a day of
adieus at the French
Open, Maria Sharapova
managed to stick around.
Trailing through most of
the third set in her tough-
est test since shoulder sur-
gery, Sharapova pulled out
a 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 victory over
11th-seeded Nadia Petrova
on Wednesday to reach the
third round at Roland Gar-
ros, her return to Grand
Slam tennis.
“I kind of started stum-
bling away. Things went in
the wrong direction,” said
Sharapova, who missed
the U.S. Open and Austra-
lian Open. “I was just glad
I could pick myself up and
keep fighting.”
That she did: Five times,
Petrova was one point away
from serving for the match.
But Sharapova didn’t allow
her to convert those chances.
“She really showed, even
though she has been out
for a while, she’s willing to
compete till the end,”
Petrova acknowledged.
Sharapova’s French Open
continues, as does Rafael
Nadal’s winning streak at
Roland Garros—which he
extended to a tournament-
record 30 matches—but
there will be no more trips
to the clay-court major for
Marat Safin or Fabrice San-
toro. Both are retiring at sea-
son’s end, and both bowed
out Wednesday.
At dusk, Venus Wil-
liams lost the first set of
Maria Sharapova beat 11th-seeded Nadia Petrova in the second round.
her match against Lucie
Safarova. They were told
to pack up, because there
wasn’t enough light.
Winners included No. 3
Andy Murray, No. 7 Gilles
Simon—who eliminated
Robert Kendrick, making
Andy Roddick the only
U.S. man left—No. 8 Fer-
nando Verdasco and
Tennis
FRENCH OPEN
BERNAT ARMANGUE / AP
Lleyton Hewitt, who faces
Nadal next. Safin’s
younger sister, No.
1-ranked Dinara Safina,
won in straight sets, as did
defending champion Ana
Ivanovic and 16-year-old
Michelle Larcher de Brito
of Portugal, who upset No.
15 Zheng Jie of China.
— The Associated Press
Results
Wednesday
At Stade Roland Garros
Paris
Purse: $21.8 million (Grand Slam)
Surface: Clay-Outdoor
Singles
Men First Round
Arnaud Clement, France, def. Dmitry Tursunov (21), Russia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4,
6-1.
Christophe Rochus, Belgium, def. Fabrice Santoro, France, 6-3, 6-1, 3-6,
6-4.
Second Round
Andy Murray (3), Britain, def. Potito Starace, Italy, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Fernando Gonzalez (12), Chile, def. Rui Machado, Portugal, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Victor Hanescu (30), Romania, def. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, 7-5, 7-5, 7-5.
Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, def. Feliciano Lopez (28), Spain, 6-7 (9), 6-4, 7-6
(4), 6-3.
Nicolas Almagro (31), Spain, def. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3,
6-2.
Gilles Simon (7), France, def. Robert Kendrick, United States, 7-5, 6-0, 6-1.
Marin Cilic (13), Croatia, def. Dudi Sela, Israel, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.
Fernando Verdasco (8), Spain, def. Philipp Petzschner, Germany, 6-1, 6-2,
6-3.
Stanislas Wawrinka (17), Switzerland, def. Nicolas Massu, Chile, 6-1, 6-1,
6-2.
Radek Stepanek (18), Czech Republic, def. Mathieu Montcourt, France,
6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, Russia, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, def. Andrey Golubev, Kazakhstan, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.
David Ferrer (14), Spain, def. Nicolas Kiefer, Germany, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 3-6,
6-2.
Josselin Ouanna, France, def. Marat Safin (20), Russia, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6,
3-6, 10-8.
Robin Soderling (23), Sweden, def. Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, 6-4, 7-6
(4), 6-4.
Nikolay Davydenko (10), Russia, leads Diego Junqueira, Argentina, 4-6,
6-3, 6-0, 2-2, susp., darkness.
Women First Round
Alize Cornet (21), France, def. Maret Ani, Estonia, 6-4, 7-5.
Second Round
Dinara Safina (1), Russia, def. Vitalia Diatchenko, Russia, 6-1, 6-1.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27), Russia, def. Julie Coin, France, 6-2, 7-6
(2).
Victoria Azarenka (9), Belarus, def. Kristina Barrois, Germany, 7-6 (1), 7-5.
Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan, def. Arantxa Rus, Netherlands, 6-0,
6-2.
Li Na (25), China, def. Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerland, 6-1, 6-4.
Aravane Rezai, France, def. Polona Hercog, Slovenia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Agnes Szavay (29), Hungary, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia, 6-2, 6-0.
Carla Suarez Navarro (22), Spain, def. Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic,
6-2, 6-4.
Iveta Benesova (32), Czech Republic, def. Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, 6-1,
6-2.
Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal, def. Zheng Jie (15), China, 6-4, 6-3.
Ana Ivanovic (8), Serbia, def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, Thailand, 6-1, 6-2.
Olga Govortsova, Belarus, def. Akgul Amanmuradova, Uzbekistan, 6-3,
6-7 (3), 7-5.
Dominika Cibulkova (20), Slovakia, def. Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium, 6-1,
6-0.
Maria Sharapova, Russia, def. Nadia Petrova (11), Russia, 6-2, 1-6, 8-6.
Gisela Dulko, Argentina, def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, 7-6 (5),
0-6, 6-2.
Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, leads Venus Williams (3), United States,
7-6 (5), susp., darkness.
Doubles
Men First Round
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski (6), Poland, def. Sebastian
Prieto and Martin Vassallo Arguello, Argentina, 6-4, 6-3.
Marc Lopez and Tommy Robredo, Spain, def. Juan Ignacio Chela and
Eduardo Schwank, Argentina, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer, Austria, def. Oscar Hernandez and
Albert Montanes, Spain, 6-4, 6-1.
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 35
Bruno Soares, Brazil, and Kevin Ullyett (5), Zimbabwe, def. Jeremy Chardy
and Marc Gicquel, France, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Frantisek Cermak, Czech Republic, and Michal Mertinak (12), Slovakia,
def. Simon Greul, Germany, and Allesandro Motti, Italy, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, and Sergio Roitman, Argentina, def.
Rohan Bopanna, India, and Jonathan Erlich, Israel, 6-4, 7-6 (10).
Jan Hernych, Czech Republic, and Christophe Rochus, Belgium, def.
Andreas Beck, Germany, and Jean-Claude Scherrer, Switzerland, 6-7 (3),
6-2, 6-4.
Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, France, def. Jerome Haehnel and
Florent Serra, France, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Dusan Vemic, Serbia, and Mischa Zverev, Germany, def. Michael Llodra
and Fabrice Santoro, France, 6-4, 6-4.
Andrei Pavel and Horia Tecau, Romania, def. Rajeev Ram and Bobby
Reynolds, United States, 6-2, 7-5.
James Cerretani, United States, and Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, def.
Nicolas Almagro and Ivan Navarro, Spain, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Jose Acasuso, Argentina, and Fernando Gonzalez, Chile, def. Stephen
Huss, Australia, and Ross Hutchins (13), Britain, 6-4, 6-2.
Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov, Russia, def. Marcelo Melo and Andre
Sa (10), Brazil, 6-4, 7-5.
Travis Parrott, United States, and Filip Polasek (15), Slovakia, def. David
Martin and Sam Querrey, United States, 7-5, 7-5.
Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay, and Luis Horna (8), Peru, def. Arnaud Clement
and Nicolas Devilder, France, 6-2, 7-6 (2).
Wesley Moodie, South Africa, and Dick Norman, Belgium, def. Max
Mirnyi, Belarus, and Andy Ram (7), Israel, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Christopher Kas, Germany, and Rogier Wassen, Netherlands, def. Martin
Damm, Czech Republic, and Robert Lindstedt (16), Sweden, 6-7 (6), 7-6
(5), 7-5.
Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, and Leander Paes (3), India, def. Sebastien
de Chaunac and Benoit Paire, France, 6-1, 6-3.
Women First Round
Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, def. Sophie Lefevre and
Aurelie Vedy, France, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Julie Ditty, United States, and Maria Emilia Salerni, Argentina, def. Marta
Domachowska, Poland, and Tamira Paszek, Austria, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2.
Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic, and Lisa Raymond (2), United States, def.
Tathiana Garbin and Roberta Vinci, Italy, 6-2, 6-4.
Ekaterina Dzehalevich, Belarus, and Andreja Klepac, Slovenia, def. Eva
Hrdinova and Nicole Vaidisova, Czech Republic, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.
Mathilde Johansson and Pauline Parmentier, France, def. Violette Huck
and Laura Thorpe, France, 6-2, 6-3.
Chuang Chia-jung, Taiwan, and Sania Mirza (14), India, def. Ipek Senoglu,
Turkey, and Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, 7-5, 6-1.
Cara Black, Zimbabwe, and Liezel Huber (1), United States, def. Melinda
Czink, Hungary, and Natalie Grandin, South Africa, 6-3, 7-6 (2).
Vera Dushevina, Russia, and Anastasia Rodionova, Australia, def. Nathalie
Dechy, France, and Mara Santangelo (15), Italy, 6-1, 6-1.
Maria Kirilenko, Russia, and Flavia Pennetta (8), Italy, def. Sorana Cirstea,
Romania, and Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 6-4, 6-4.
Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs (4), Australia, def. Tsvetana
Pironkova, Bulgaria, and Selima Sfar, Tunisia, 6-2, 6-2.
Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, and Arantxa Parra Santonja, Spain, def.
Mariya Koryttseva, Ukraine, and Galina Voskoboeva, Kazakhstan, 6-0,
7-6 (0).
Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, and Peng Shuai (9), China, def. Liga Dekmeijere,
Latvia, and Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada, 6-3, 6-1.
Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, and Ai Sugiyama (7), Japan, def. Emilie
Loit and Kristina Mladenovic, France, 7-5, 7-5.
Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, and Elena Vesnina (12), Russia, def. Stephanie
Cohen-Aloro and Alize Cornet, France, 6-1, 6-3.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, and Francesca Schiavone, Italy, def.
Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (6), Spain, 7-6
(3), 6-4.
Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska, Poland, def. Viktoriya Kutuzova,
Ukraine, and Aravane Rezai, France, 6-2, 6-1.
Maret Ani and Kaia Kanepi, Estonia, def. Kinnie Laisne and Stephanie
Vongsouthi, France, 6-1, 6-1.
Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual (3), Spain, def.
Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia, and Virginie Razzano, France, 6-2, 6-4.
Jelena Dokic, Australia, and Alisa Kleybanova, Russia, def. Petra Cetkovska,
Czech Republic, and Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain, 6-3, 6-2.
Jill Craybas and Carly Gullickson, United States, def. Yaroslava Shvedova,
Kazakhstan, and Tamarine Tanasugarn, Thailand, 6-2, 6-2.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY
Fresh off win overseas, Casey brings new No. 3 ranking to Colonial
Paul Casey has had quite the season thus far, winning twice overseas and finishing second in the Accenture Match Play Championship.
www.sportingnews.com Golf
FORT WORTH, TEXAS—Paul Casey
arrived at the Crowne Plaza Invita-
tional a bit overwhelmed.
His body was worn out from flying
to England last week, winning the
prestigious BMW PGA Champion-
ship with birdies on the final two
holes, hoisting a few glasses in cele-
bration and then getting on a plane
and flying back to the United States.
There also was the head-spinning
part.
With that victory, Casey—who
started the year ranked No.
41—vaulted to No. 3 in the world
rankings, behind only Tiger Woods
and Phil Mickelson. That’s keeping
some pretty good company. So is this:
He joined Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian
Woosnam and Colin Montgomerie as
the only British players to climb that
high since the world rankings began.
“I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet,” he
said.
Adding to the commotion this week
is the fact Casey will be playing a
tournament at the Colonial Country
Club for the first time.
He arrived Tuesday at the historic
venue known as Hogan’s Alley, but
opted not to play a morning round (“I
figured my bed was more inviting.”)
He was back Wednesday for the pro-
am and, today, will be eager to try
building on a breakout season that
also includes a runner-up finish at
the Accenture Match Play Champi-
onship and a victory at the Abu Dhabi
Championship.
Casey has a list of reasons for this
kick-start to his career. There are
swing improvements, like better
approach shots and more touch with
his putter, to being in better shape.
All told, it’s left him with a better atti-
TOM HEVEZI / AP tude, “sort of a little bit of belief in my
own game that I could, you know,
Crowne Plaza
Invitational at Colonial
Site: Fort Worth, Texas
Schedule: Today-Sunday
Course: Colonial Country Club (7,054
yards, par 70)
Purse: $6.2 million. Winner’s share:
$1,116,000
TV: Golf Channel (Today, 3-6 p.m.,
8:30-11:30 p.m.; Friday, 12:30-3:30
a.m., 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.;
Saturday, 2-5 a.m.) and CBS
(Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.)
win more frequently, certainly win
on the PGA Tour.”
“The win in Abu Dhabi help fuel
all of that,” he said. “Without the win
in Abu Dhabi, I doubt I would have
finished second at the Match Play.
And the second at the Match Play
really helped with the win at Hous-
ton. And the win at Houston sort of
helped for last week, so it sort of
snowballed.”
Now comes a new heat to try melt-
ing that snowball—the expectations
that come with being the world’s best
player not named Tiger or Phil.
“It’s kind of fun,” said Casey, who
in his days at Arizona State erased
Pac-10 records set by Woods and
Mickelson. “I think it’s a little bit of
responsibility that goes with (being
No. 3) and pressure. I have had that
before, but not in the U.S. I’ve had
that in Europe quite a bit. I think it
assists me in some respects because I
do take that very seriously. I feel like I
need to perform. ... I will be quickly
overtaken if I take my focus off the
ball.”
Mickelson is the defending cham-
pion in Fort Worth and a two-time
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 36
recipient of the plaid jacket that goes
to this tournament’s winner, but
he’s taken an indefinite leave to be
with his wife after announcing last
week that she has breast cancer. A
“pink out” will be held Saturday,
with golfers, caddies and others
wearing pink to support Amy Mick-
elson and to help raise money to
fight the disease.
Instead of Mickelson, the most
recent Colonial winner teeing off
today will be 2007 champ Rory Sab-
batini, who also comes in fresh off
winning the Byron Nelson Champi-
onship last weekend.
Sabbatini already has joined Ben
Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead,
Mickelson and Sergio Garcia among
the 14 golfers to win both events in
their careers. Only Hogan won both
the same year, doing so in 1946.
Sabbatini has a lot going for him.
There’s the momentum of last week,
memories of his third-round 62 in
2007 and, perhaps most of all, his
familiarity with the changes made
to the course since last year. Geoff
Ogilvy described them as subtle
but tricky, like a lowered tee box on
No. 3 and a bunker on No. 14 that’s
gone from outside the dogleg to the
inside, bringing it much more into
play.
“I don’t live too far from here so
I’ve played it quite a numerous times
since the redesign,” said Sabbatini,
who moved to Fort Worth from
another nearby suburb less than two
years ago and considers Colonial one
of his two home clubs. “They’ve done
a wonderful job. They kept a lot of
the succinct intricacies about the golf
course out here so that makes it chal-
lenging and just toughened it up a
bit.”
— The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com College Baseball THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 37
NCAA Division I regionals glance
At Clark-LeClair Stadium At McKethan Stadium
All times ET, double elimination

At Alex Box Stadium At UFCU Disch-Falk Field

After a near half-century wait,
Utes back in NCAA tournament
Greenville, N.C. Gainesville, Fla. Baton Rouge, La. Austin, Texas
Friday Friday Friday Friday
Game 1 : South Carolina (38-21) vs. George Game 1 : Miami (36-20) vs. Jacksonville (36-20), Game 1 : LSU (46-16) vs. Southern U. (30-15), Game 1 : Texas State (41-15) vs. Boston College
Mason (42-12), 3 p.m. 1 p.m. 2 p.m. (33-24), 2 p.m.
Game 2 : East Carolina (42-17) vs. Binghamton Game 2 : Florida (39-20) vs. Bethune-Cookman Game 2 : Minnesota (38-17) vs. Baylor (29-24), Game 2 : Texas (41-13-1) vs. Army (34-19), 7 p.m.
(29-20), 7 p.m. (32-26), 6:30 p.m. 7 p.m. Saturday
Saturday Saturday Saturday Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m. SALT LAKE CITY—Utah is back in the
Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m. Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1 p.m. Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m. Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner,
Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m. NCAA baseball tournament for the
6 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 7 p.m. Sunday first time in nearly 50 years.
Sunday Sunday Sunday Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m.
Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m. Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 1 p.m. Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m. Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, The Utes are ending a 49-year
Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m. drought by playing this weekend in
6 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 7 p.m. Monday
Monday Monday Monday Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 the NCAA regionals, a berth they
Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m., if necessary
p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary claimed with an upset run through
At Packard Stadium the Mountain West Conference
At Boshamer Stadium At Dick Howser Stadium At L. Dale Mitchell Park Tempe, Ariz.
tournament.
Chapel Hill, N.C. Tallahassee, Fla. Norman, Okla. Friday
Friday Friday Friday Game 1 : Oral Roberts (31-13) vs. Cal Poly “We want to prove that we’re a
Game 1 : Coastal Carolina (46-14) vs. Kansas Game 1 : Georgia (37-22) vs. Ohio State (40-17), Game 1 : Arkansas (34-22) vs. Washington State (37-19), 5 p.m.
(37-22), 2 p.m. Noon (31-23), 2 p.m. Game 2 : Arizona State (44-12) vs. Kent State good program and show the nation
Game 2 : North Carolina (42-16) vs. Dartmouth Game 2 : Florida State (42-16) vs. Marist (31-26), Game 2 : Oklahoma (41-18) vs. Wichita State (42-15), 10 p.m. we deserve this bid,” said second
(27-16), 6 p.m. 4 p.m. (30-25), 8 p.m. Saturday
Saturday Saturday Saturday Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 5 p.m. baseman Corey Shimada, a senior
Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1 p.m. Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, Noon Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m. Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, whose career has been extended by
Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 10 p.m.
5 p.m. 4 p.m. 8 p.m. Sunday at least two games.
Sunday Sunday Sunday Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 4 p.m. The Utes open their first NCAA
Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 1 p.m. Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, Noon Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m. Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner,
Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 9 p.m. tournament since 1960 on Friday
5 p.m. 4 p.m. 8 p.m. Monday when they play Cal State Fullerton,
Monday Monday Monday Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 9
Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 8 p.m., if necessary the No. 2 national seed and host of
p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary
At Anteater Ballpark the four-team regional. While the
At Doug Kingsmore Stadium At Jim Patterson Stadium At Reckling Park Irvine, Calif. Titans are regulars in the regionals,
Clemson, S.C. Louisville, Ky. Houston Friday
Friday Friday Friday Game 1 : Virginia (43-12-1) vs. San Diego State the Utes have gone generations SCOTT G. WINTERTON / AP
Game 1 : Alabama (37-19) vs. Oklahoma State Game 1 : Middle Tennessee (43-16) vs. Vanderbilt Game 1 : Kansas State (41-16-1) vs. Xavier (40-21), 7 p.m. between appearances. Brian Budrow, right, and the Utes are the only team without a winning record in the tourney.
(32-22), 3 p.m. (34-25), 3 p.m. (38-19), 3 p.m. Game 2 : UC Irvine (43-13) vs. Fresno State
Game 2 : Clemson (40-19) vs. Tennessee Tech Game 2 : Louisville (44-15) vs. Indiana (32-25), Game 2 : Rice (39-15) vs. Sam Houston State (32-28), 11 p.m. The last time Utah made it this
(30-22-1), 7 p.m. 7 p.m. (36-22), 7 p.m. Saturday far there was no “ping” of the bat— among the 64 schools still playing. Utah blew an 8-1 lead in the
Saturday Saturday Saturday Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 7 p.m.
Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3 p.m. Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3 p.m. Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3 p.m. Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, hitters still were using wooden Utah went 5-1 in the conference eighth inning of a 9-8 loss to San
Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 11 p.m. bats—and there was no such thing tournament, winning three straight Diego State last Thursday, but beat
7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. Sunday
Sunday Sunday Sunday Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 7 p.m. as a designated hitter. after falling within one loss of end- the Aztecs Friday and Saturday in
Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m. Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m. Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m. Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, One of the only things that hasn’t ing the season. two games that mattered much
Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 p.m.
7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. Monday changed in the 49 years is the Col- “The winning has kept us relaxed. more.
Monday Monday Monday Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 lege World Series is still played in We’ve got nothing to lose,” senior “We had a devastating loss. For
Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m., if necessary
p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary Omaha. The Utes are still a long pitcher Brian Budrow said. “We’ll us to come back and play the way
At Goodwin Field way away from Rosenblatt Sta- go in there and try to get three we did, with the determination that
At Russ Chandler Stadium At Oxford-University Stadium At Lupton Baseball Stadium Fullerton, Calif.
Atlanta Oxford, Miss. Fort Worth, Texas Friday dium, but much closer than anyone straight wins and move on.” we had was really special to watch,”
Friday Friday Friday Game 1 : Georgia Southern (42-15) vs. Gonzaga
Game 1 : Elon (40-16) vs. Southern Mississippi Game 1 : Missouri (34-25) vs. Western Kentucky Game 1 : Texas A&M (36-22) vs. Oregon State (35-16), 6 p.m. would have predicted at the end of Why not? The Utes are already coach Bill Kinneberg said.
(35-23), 3 p.m. (39-18), 4 p.m. (35-17), 3 p.m. Game 2 : Cal State Fullerton (42-14) vs. Utah the regular season. the first No. 6 seed to win the Moun- Utah hit .308 in the tournament
Game 2 : Georgia Tech (35-17-1) vs. Georgia State Game 2 : Mississippi (40-17) vs. Monmouth, N.J. Game 2 : TCU (36-16) vs. Wright State (33-28), (26-29), 10 p.m.
(39-20), 7 p.m. (32-23), 8 p.m. 7 p.m. Saturday Utah was the bottom seed in the tain West tournament in its 10-year and scored 38 runs in the six games,
Saturday Saturday Saturday Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 5 p.m. Mountain West tournament—No. 6 history, beating top-seeded TCU 24 coming with two outs. The Utes
Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3 p.m. Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m. Game 3 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3 p.m. Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner,
Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Game 4 : Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 9 p.m. in a six-team field that included five twice on the Horned Frogs’ home had only four errors and other than
7 p.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. Sunday teams with NCAA regional field. The Utes finished off the tour- the disastrous performance in the
Sunday Sunday Sunday Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 5 p.m.
Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m. Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m. Game 5 : Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m. Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, aspirations. nament with two straight wins over loss to San Diego State, Utah’s pitch-
Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Game 6 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 9 p.m. Only three made it and one of the Aztecs, who needed just one ers came through with some of their
7 p.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. Monday
Monday Monday Monday Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 9 them was Utah, which at 26-29 is victory in the double-elimination best outings of the season.
Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 8 Game 7 : Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m., if necessary the only team with a losing record format to win the title. — The Associated Press
p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary p.m., if necessary
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Arrested man claims he sold steroids to athletes
TAMPA—A central Florida man
arrested with thousands of anabolic
steroid pills told investigators he sold to
professional athletes, including players
on the Washington Nationals and Cap-
itals, authorities said Wednesday.
Richard Thomas boasted about sell-
ing steroids to professional baseball,
hockey and football players, saying,
“You name the sport, and I’ve sold ste-
roids to athletes who play it,” the Polk
County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities said Thomas didn’t name
specific players, and they have no evi-
dence he sold to members of those
teams.
Investigators who searched Thomas’
house in Lakeland on Tuesday recov-
ered thousands of anabolic steroid
pills, injectable liquids and syringes
with an estimated wholesale value of
$100,000, said Carrie Eleazer, a
spokeswoman with the sheriff’s office.
They also found several weapons,
including loaded semiautomatic
handguns.
Thomas and his wife, Sandra, were
charged Tuesday with several counts of
possession of illegal steroids, firearms,
and maintaining a dwelling for drug use.
Thomas and his wife were booked into
the Polk County Jail on $215,000 each.
Sandra Thomas posted bond and was
released on Wednesday. Richard
Thomas remained in jail and was
expected to appear in court today. Sher-
iff’s records did not list an attorney.
Capitals players passed three rounds
of drug tests during each of the past
two seasons, and neither the team nor
officials from the National Hockey
League had reason to believe Thomas’s
claims, the league and the team said in
a joint release Wednesday.
A spokesman for Major League Base-
ball, which also randomly tests for
Back Page
IN BRIEF
Major League Soccer
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L
Chicago 4 0
D.C. 3 1
Toronto FC 4 3
Kansas City 4 4
Columbus 2 2
New England 2 3
New York 2 6
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W L
Chivas USA 7 1
Seattle 4 2
Houston 4 2
Colorado 3 2
Real Salt Lake 3 5
Los Angeles 1 1
FC Dallas 1 6
San Jose 1 7
NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.
Wednesday’s game
Columbus 2, San Jose 1
Today’s game
Chicago at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Colorado at New York, 7:30 p.m.
D.C. United at New England, 7:30
p.m.
Toronto FC at Houston, 8:30 p.m.
JAE C. HONG / AP
Chad Dawson, right, easily dispatched Antonio Tarver earlier this month.
again. That’s exactly what I hoped for.”
steroids, said the organization is look- rematch against Antonio Tarver earlier Armstrong is still regaining his form
ing into the matter. this month. Rather than defend against after 3½ years of retirement and break-
Cloud, the hard-punching 26-year-old ing his collarbone in March.
Boxing is reportedly eyeing a fight with former Armstrong eventually dropped back
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA—Light heavy- champ Glen Johnson, whom Dawson for the rest of the climb behind defend-
weight champion Chad Dawson has beat in a close unanimous decision ing Tour de France winner Carlos Sas-
decided to vacate his IBF title after the early last year. tre, with two-time Giro winner Gilberto
organization refused to grant an excep- Simoni in tow. Armstrong sits 12th,
tion to an immediate defense against Cycling 12:17 behind.
mandatory challenger Tavoris Cloud. BLOCKHAUS, ITALY—Seven-time Tour de
Promoter Gary Shaw informed the France winner Lance Armstrong fin- Golf
IBF of Dawson’s decision at its annual ished 10th in the 17th stage of the Giro ROCKFORD, MICH.—A 9-year-old golfer
convention Wednesday. d’Italia on Wednesday, 1 minute, 59 from suburban Grand Rapids has
“No major television network was seconds behind stage winner Franco recorded his first hole-in-one. Jake
willing to buy the fight, (and) the IBF Pellizotti. When Armstrong attacked O’Dette of Rockford used an 8-iron
left us little choice,” Shaw said in a on the uphill finish, he left the race Monday to score the ace on the 91-yard
statement. “I respect the IBF’s decision, leaders behind and got as close as 25 seventh hole at Tustin Trails Golf
but the fight they were forcing us to do yards behind leader Pellizotti. Course, about 10 miles south of
was commercially unviable.” “It was a nice try,” Armstrong’s team Cadillac.
Dawson (28-0, 17 KOs) easily director Johan Bruyneel said. “Defi- The third-grader started golfing at 5.
defended his IBF and IBO titles in a nitely he is coming to another level — The Associated Press
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 38
TRANSACTIONS
USA TRACK & FIELD: Named Jill Geer chief
public affairs officer and Ivan Cropper
senior director of marketing and com-
Chiara and CB Reggie Sullivan.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Signed LB Paris
Lenon.
munications. NEW YORK JETS: Claimed TE Martrez
Milner off waivers from the N.Y. Giants.
BASEBALL Waived OL Kyle Link and TE Rob Myers.
T Pts GF GA
6 18 17 11 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Suspended PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: Signed DT Trevor
Kansas City manager Trey Hillman one Jenkins.
7 16 17 15
4 16 16 16 game and fined him an undisclosed Canadian Football League
3 15 15 13 amount for his inappropriate actions dur- WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS: Signed OL
6 12 14 16 ing the bottom of the eighth inning of the Mike Morris, OL Adam Bestard, RB Peter
4 10 8 16
3 9 10 13 Royals game against Detroit on May25. Quinney and LB Thaine Carter.
American League
T Pts GF GA BALTIMORE ORIOLES: Placed RHP Koji HOCKEY
3 24 15 6 Uehara on the 15-day DL. Activated DH National Hockey League
4 16 14 8 Luke Scott from the 15-day DL. MONTREAL CANADIENS: Signed F Mikael
3 15 11 7 CLEVELAND INDIANS: Recalled LHP Zach Johansson to a one-year contract.
4 13 13 11
Jackson from Columbus (IL). Optioned NEW YORK RANGERS: Agreed to terms
2 11 14 13
8 11 12 12 LHP Rich Rundles to Columbus. with F Andres Ambuhl.
3 6 9 17 LOS ANGELES ANGELS: Placed RHP Scot VANCOUVER CANUCKS: Signed F Rick
2 5 10 21 Shields on the 15-day DL. Recalled RHP Rypien to a two-year contract extension.
Rich Thompson from Salt Lake (PCL).
OAKLAND ATHELTICS: Placed INF Nomar MOTOR SPORTS
Columbus at Seattle FC, 10:30 Garciaparra on the 15-day DL, retroactive NASCAR: Suspended indefinitely Andrew
p.m. to May 24. Recalled RHP Jeff Gray from Crnkovic, crew member of Truck Series
Kansas City at Los Angeles, 10:30
p.m. Sacramento (PCL). driver Chad McCumbee, for failing a
Real Salt Lake at San Jose, 10:30 National League random drug test on May 15.
CHICAGO CUBS: Placed INF Aaron Miles on
p.m.
Sunday’s game the 15-day DL. Optioned LHP Neal Cotts SOCCER
FC Dallas at Chicago, 3 p.m. and INF Bobby Scales to Iowa (PCL). Re- Major League Soccer
called INF Jake Fox from Iowa. Purchased MLS: Suspended San Jose D Chris Leitch
the contracts of INF Andres Blanco and for one game and fined him $250 for his
LHP Jason Waddell from Iowa. conduct in a game on May 23.
FLORIDA MARLINS: Optioned Chris Leroux NEW YORK RED BULLS: Acquired a 2010
to Jacksonville (SL). Recalled OF Brett first-round draft pick and a 2011 second-
Carroll from New Orleans (PCL). round draft pick from Houston for F
WASHINGTON NATIONALS: Recalled C Luke Dominic Oduro. Waived G Terry Boss.
Montz from Harrisburg (EL). Designated
RHP Daniel Cabrera for assignment. COLLEGE
Midwest League CLEMSON: Announced G Terrence Oglesby
QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS: Announced is leaving the men’s basketball team to
RHP Ben Zawacki has been transferred play professionally overseas.
from extended spring training. MASSACHUSETTS: Announced the retire-
Atlantic League ment of women’s soccer coach Jim Rudy.
LONG ISLAND DUCKS: Announced RHP NEW ENGLAND: Named Dan Letellier
Ken Ray has been signed by the Cleveland softball coach.
Indians who assigned him to Columbus OSWEGO STATE: Named Adam Stockwell
(IL). men’s basketball coach.
United League PRAIRIE VIEW: Signed Cynthia Cooper-
EDINBURG ROADRUNNERS: Signed LHP Dyke, women’s basketball coach, to a
Brian Martin and C Cameron McGuire. four-year contract.
SAN ANGELO COLTS: Signed C Matt SEATTLE PACIFIC: Named Ryan Looney
Acevedo and INF Butch Ballez. Released C men’s basketball coach.
Chad Clemons. UNION, N.Y.: Named Marianna Locke
women’s assistant ice hockey coach.
FOOTBALL VASSAR: Named Antonia Sweet men’s
National Football League volleyball coach.
CAROLINA PANTHERS: Signed S Paul