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NFL

Old masters Thumbs up for Cox

Thum
Sporting News Today’s former NFL Georgia QB Joe Cox solidified
Geor
scouts rank their top defensive Randy Johnson beats his spot as Matthew Stafford’s
coordinators: Nats, is 24th pitcher replacement.
replace
Dick LeBeau to get milestone win “It w
would be very difficult to
1. Page 20 knock
knoc him out of the box,”
Steelers
Georgia
Geo coach Mark Richt tells
Jim Johnson SN Today.
2.
Eagles

Leslie Frazier FRIDAY Richt Q&A, Page 16

3. JUNE 5, 2009
Vikings
SEE A DIFFERENT GAME
Jim Bates VOLUME 1 ISSUE 318 JOHN BAZEMORE / AP
4.
Bucs

Dom Capers
5.
Packers NBA FINALS GAME 1: L.A. LAKERS 100, ORLANDO 75 STANLEY CUP FINALS GAME 4:
S PITTSBURGH 4, DETROIT 2
Full list, Page 30

Scoreboard Lakers open with domination Cup chase down to best-of-3

NBA
Finals
L.A. Lakers 100, Orlando 75
(L.A. Lakers lead series 1-0)
NHL
Stanley Cup finals
Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 2
(Series tied 2-2)
Baseball
American League
L.A. Angels 6, Toronto 5
Boston 6, Detroit 3
N.Y. Yankees 8, Texas 6
Minnesota 11, Cleveland 3
Oakland 7, Chicago White Sox 0
Tampa Bay 3, Kansas City 2
National League
Pittsburgh 11, N.Y. Mets 6
San Francisco 5, Washington 1, 1st game
San Fran. 4, Washington 1, 6 inn., 2nd game
Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, ppd., rain
Florida 4, Milwaukee 3
Colorado 10, Houston 3
St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1
Philadelphia 3, L.A. Dodgers 0
LOS ANGELES—Finally. It’s taken time, but it
seems the team many expected the Lakers to
be—a big, strong bunch capable of dominat-
ing at both ends—has arrived for good.
That version of the Lakers has made only
cameo appearances this postseason, but in
The Finals opener, the Lakers were back,
winning handily, 100-75.
As Magic coach Stan Van
Gundy said, “We were totally
dominated at both ends of the
floor and on the boards.”
Three things we
learned
The Magic will reconsider
Sean Deveney
PRO BASKETBALL
1. the plan on Kobe Bryant.
Orlando attempted to put
Bryant in single coverage,
focusing on stopping the players around him.
But Bryant killed Orlando’s defense in pick-
and-rolls, tallying 40 points, and the Magic
couldn’t keep L.A.’s supporting cast in check.
“Offensively, Kobe was amazing tonight,”
forward Lamar Odom said. “Defensively,
too.”
Jameer Nelson will be a factor. Nelson’s
2. return to action after more than three
months off was a bit of a surprise in Game 1,
MARK J. TERRILL / AP
Kobe Bryant hit 16 of 34 shots for 40 points and added
eight rebounds and eight assists in L.A.’s rout.
and he carried himself well, scoring six points
and giving out four assists in 23 minutes.
3. The Lakers will lean on their bigs. L.A. did a
terrific job shutting down Orlando’s front
line, and the Lakers outscored the Magic in the
paint, 56-22. “We’ve got to keep that up,” forward
Pau Gasol said. “No let-up. This is just the first
game.”
sdeveney@sportingnews.com
PITTSBURGH—After the game, Sidney Crosby
could admit it. It felt good to get that first goal
of the Stanley Cup finals. The fact that it was
the game-winner? Even better.
With their 4-2 win over Detroit, the Penguins
evened the finals, 2-2, and seized momentum in
a series that once looked like a Detroit lock.
“Both teams held serve at home, now it’s a
best of three,” Pittsburgh’s
Mark Eaton said.
Three things we
learned
1. Pittsburgh’s
clicking:
stars are
Crosby had his
HOCKEY
best game of the series with
Craig Custance a goal and a pretty assist on
Tyler Kennedy’s goal in the
GENE J. PUSKAR / AP
Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the finals as the
Pens evened the series.
second period. “I was happy
to see one go in,” Crosby said. Evgeni Malkin
scored his 14th goal of the playoffs and, at
times, was the most dominant player on the
3. Marc-Andre Fleury has emerged: After get-
ting outplayed by opposing goalie Chris
Osgood earlier in the series, Fleury was sharp
ice. in Game 4 and finished with 37 saves. “He
The Red Wings are worn out: Detroit wasn’t
2. crazy about playing back-to-back games
to open the series and looked exhausted on
knows when the important time is to make
you a big save,” Crosby said. “He’s been huge
for us.”

Loss in ‘08 Finals drives Lakers, Page 10

Thursday, the fourth game in six nights.
“Tonight, they had more energy than us,”
Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.
ccustance@sportingnews.com

Pens pumped, Wings wilting, Page 13

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com See A Different Game FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 2
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Florida St. NBC—French celebrities such as Oscar-nominated Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy
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Division I, Super (same-day tape)
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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com My Profile FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 3
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Federer Express:
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Roger Federer enters a record 20th con- 1994 Conn Smythe Trophy winner with Rangers
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Garros against No. 5-ranked Juan Martin del (What you won’t find on Facebook … even if you are approved as a friend) PRESIDENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Whitney Shaw
Potro. During Federer’s incredible run, he has PUBLISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ed Baker
lost to only three players: rival Rafael Nadal (six Born: March 3, 1968, in Corpus Christi, back of my bike. Only had a couple crashes EDITOR-IN-CHIEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeff D’Alessio
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Grand Slam tournaments. Here is a breakdown Alma mater: Boston College ave: Good singing
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of his finishes entering today’s action: What I’m up to these days: Enjoying spending voice, play guitar VP, INTEGRATED MARKETING & SALES .Stuart Marvin
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Love to trade places for a day with … Eddie And least … My balding ing head and
2007 Spurs 1 (Tim Duncan, 20.0 ppg) Vedder on the day of a concert. Would love to expanding waistline
2006 Heat 2 (Dwyane Wade, 27.2 ppg and see if the nerves are the same pre-concert as Favorite value in others: Loyalty
Shaquille O’Neal, 20.0 ppg) pre-NHL game and would love to be able to Dream date: Heidi Klum um
2005 Spurs 1 (Tim Duncan, 20.3 ppg) sing, play guitar and feel the energy of the My heroes: My mom and dad
2004 Pistons 0 (Richard Hamilton, 17.6 ppg) crowd for those 2-plus hours. Would want to My bucket list: 1. Attendnd a practice
2003 Spurs 1 (Duncan, 23.3 ppg) see if the feeling after a concert is the same or round or Thursday round ound at the
better than after an NHL victory. Masters; 2. Play golf for or a week
2002 Lakers 2 (O’Neal, 27.2 ppg, Kobe
First job: Paper route, 11 or 12, Cheshire, in Ireland w/ friends
Bryant, 25.2 ppg)
CT. Had to deliver 35 papers over a 6-mile — Jeff D’Alessio
2001 Lakers 2 (O’Neal, 28.7 ppg, Bryant,
28.5 ppg)
route. I’d bungee-cord the papers to the
PETER NEWCOMB FOR TSN
2000 Lakers 2 (O’Neal, 29.7 ppg, Bryant, A Division I head basketball coach at 31? If
22.5 ppg) anyone can do it, it’s Memphis’ Josh Pastner,
Sporting News college hoops expert Mike
— World Features Syndicate DeCourcy explains in the new magazine.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Overnight Report FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 4

Philadelphia 3, L.A. Dodgers 0

NATIONAL LEAGUE
If you deliver
Phils win 7th in row behind dominant Hamels it daily, they
LOS ANGELES—Cole Hamels turned back the
calendar to last October, when he and the
Phillies 3, Dodgers 0
Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
will come.
Rollins ss 5 0 0 0 0 0 .224
Philadelphia Phillies left Dodger Stadium as Utley 2b 3 1 1 0 2 1 .299
the newly crowned National League Werth cf 4 1 2 1 1 0 .257
Howard 1b 2 0 0 1 1 1 .263
champions. Ibanez lf 4 0 1 1 0 2 .335
Hamels turned in another dominant per- Feliz 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .297
Bruntlett rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .122
formance against Los Angeles on Thursday Ruiz c 3 1 2 0 1 1 .303
night, pitching a five-hitter for his third Hamels p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .154
Totals 31 3 7 3 5 7
career shutout, and the defending World
Series champions extended their winning Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Pierre lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .367
streak to seven games with a 3-0 victory. Furcal ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .239
Hamels was the MVP of last year’s NLCS Hudson 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .324
Blake 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .290
and World Series. He won both starts against Loney 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .285
Los Angeles in the playoffs, including a 5-1 Martin c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .263
Ethier rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .263
decision at Chavez Ravine that wrapped up Kemp cf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .311
the Phillies’ first pennant since 1993. Kershaw p 1 0 1 0 0 0 .167
Belisario p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
For those wondering what the 25-year-old a-Loretta ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .283
left-hander could possibly do for an encore
FREEup!
Wade p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Leach p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
this season, this was a good start. Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
“That’s always something that kind of gets b-Hoffmann ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .158 Sign
Today!
Totals 29 0 5 0 0 5
in your mind,” said Hamels, 4-0 with a 2.84
ERA over his last seven outings. “I mean, you Philadelphia 000 101 100 — 3 7 0
Los Angeles 000 000 000 — 0 5 0
don’t have the type of time off to really gather
your thoughts and get prepared for another a-popped out for Belisario in the 6th. b-flied out for

The country’s first and only

Mota in the 9th. LOB: Philadelphia 9, Los Angeles 2.
season. I had a little bump in the road with 2B: Utley (9), Ibanez (14), Feliz (14), Ethier (13). RBIs:
the elbow soreness, and that kind of delayed Werth (28), Howard (46), Ibanez (53). SB: Ruiz (3).

daily digital sports newspaper.

some things. But I’m ready to go now.”
Hamels (4-2) threw 97 pitches, retiring 18
of his last 20 batters and allowing only two
runners as far as second base—one of them
on defensive indifference in the ninth. He
became the first opposing pitcher to throw a
shutout at Dodger Stadium since Arizona’s
Brandon Webb on Aug. 5, 2007.
Hamels, whose 196 strikeouts last season
were the third-most among lefties behind for-
mer Cy Young Award winners CC Sabathia
and Johan Santana, fanned five and walked
none while lowering his ERA to 4.40.
“Sometimes I’ll have a lot of strikeouts and
sometimes I won’t. But I don’t want to be the
Johnson wins No. 300, Page 20
S: Hamels 2. SF: Howard. Runners left in scoring
position: Philadelphia 5 (Rollins 2, Bruntlett, Howard,
LORI SHEPLER / AP Werth); Los Angeles 2 (Pierre, Furcal). DP: Philadelphia
2 (Rollins, Utley, Howard), (Rollins, Howard).
Cole Hamels threw only 97 pitches and gave up just five hits for his fourth victory of the season.
Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
big strikeout guy because it’s hard on you In his May 14 start against the Dodgers at Hamels W, 4-2
Los Angeles IP
9 5
H
0 0 0 5 97 4.40
R ER BB SO NP ERA
Delivered via email every morning, 7 days a
and that really pushes up your pitch count,”
Hamels said. “My past three or four games
Philadelphia, Hamels gave up two runs in
seven innings and settled for a no-decision in
Kershaw L, 3-4
Belisario
5 1⁄3
2⁄3
4
0
2 2 3 5 105 4.26
0 0 0 0 4 2.18 week, Sporting News Today is your one-stop
Wade 2⁄3 2 1 1 1 0 16 5.12
I’ve been going 110 pitches and only getting the Phillies’ 5-3 loss. Leach
Mota
2⁄3
1 2⁄3
0
1
0 0 0 1 8 5.19
0 0 1 1 18 6.04
destination for breaking sports stories plus
through the sixth. So pitch efficiency is some- “The kid is good. What can you say? When
thing I’ve been trying to work on.” he’s on the mound, he ain’t got time to be put- Inherited runners-scored: Belisario 2-0, Leach 2-0. news about every team, every game and
IBB: off Mota (Utley), off Wade (Utley), off Kershaw
The complete game was Hamels’ fifth in 94
career starts, and the first this season by the
ting guys on base. He lets them make contact
and he trusts his defense,” Orlando Hudson
(Ruiz). Umpires: Home, Chris Guccione; First, Todd
Tichenor; Second, Mike Winters; Third, Tony Randazzo.
every score from coast-to-coast.
T: 2:31. A: 33,839 (56,000).
Phillies’ staff. said. “He throws strikes, he doesn’t walk
“This is one you just forget about, basically, anybody, he trusts his offspeed pitches and
and chalk it up to the fact that he pitched does a great job of moving the ball up and Experience America’s hottest new product.
well,” Juan Pierre said. “He threw strikes
and we couldn’t put any heat on him.”
down and in and out.”
— The Associated Press
Sign up at sportingnewstoday.com. It’s free.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Q&A with ... Tanner Scheppers, St. Paul Saints/Fresno State
‘I just kind of threw hard and that was that’
Tanner Scheppers appeared on his way to being
a Top 10 selection in the 2008 draft, but a shoulder
injury at Fresno State sidelined him and he dropped
to the second round, 48th overall, to Pittsburgh.
The two sides couldn’t come to terms and he’s
back in ’09, considered a first-round choice again.
Spending some time with the Independent league
St. Paul Saints, Scheppers caught up with Sporting
News Today’s Ken Bradley to discuss his career and
Tuesday’s draft.
Q: Out of Dana Hills High School
in California, you were a
shortstop. Fresno recruited you as a
shortstop. How’d you become a
pitcher, much less one who’s a likely
first-round draft pick Tuesday?
A: My pitching coach at Fresno
when I got there, Bobby Jones,
sat me down after the first month and
he’s like, “you have a great arm and
everything and I know we recruited
you as a shortstop, but I really feel like
your future is pitching and maybe you
should shut down shortstop and make
pitching your ideal focus. I took a few
days to think about it and I wasn’t
really getting too much playing time at
shortstop my freshman year with
Christian Vitters there at short. So I
decided I’d give it a shot and start
pitching.
Q: Did you pitch some in high
school?
A: Yeah I did. I pitched—I think it
was like 30 innings throughout
my high school career. I just kind of
threw hard and that was that.
Q: Now that you’re a pitcher, you
ever miss the chance to swing
the bat?
A: (Laughs) No, no. I haven’t missed
that in a long, long time.
Next Gen: MLB Draft
Tanner Scheppers was a second-round pick by the Pirates in last June’s draft, but the sides could not come to an agreement.
Q: So you don’t think Coach Jones
was trying to get you to switch A: The Pirates gave me a program they
wanted me to follow—where they
because of your work at the plate, do
you?
wanted me to be by the time I went to Pitts-
burgh and pitch for them. During all of that, I
A: (Laughs) I don’t really know. I
wasn’t good enough to play my
had one of their scouts following me for about a
month, videotaping me and being with me
freshman year, so maybe … during all my workouts. To all my knowledge, I
did exactly what they wanted me to do. When I
Q: A May 2008 shoulder injury
dropped you from a potential
Top 10 pick to a second-round
went up there, they said I wasn’t where they
wanted me to be, so there was some confusion
there. Then we just couldn’t come to an
selection last year. You didn’t sign.
Why was that?
agreement. My advisor, my agent Greg Genske
advised me not to sign. So I didn’t and I’m
lucky enough to play here at St. Paul.
LENNY IGNELZI / AP
Q: Was it difficult for you
realizing you were not going to
be pitching at Fresno or in the minors
for a full year? Was there any panic?
A: You know, there really wasn’t any
panic on my part. In my heart I
knew my arm was fine and everything
was going to be OK. Pittsburgh just didn’t
want to take that chance on me and now
I’m here in this current situation.
Q: What have you done the past
year to stay in shape and keep
your arm strong?
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 5
A: I was at Athletes’ Performance for
about four months out in Carson,
California, out in L.A. It’s a pretty respected
program. A lot of big-league guys have gone
through there. I worked out with (Yankees
pitcher) Phil Hughes, (Blue Jays pitcher) Ricky
Romero, during the offseason Chase Utley,
Milton Bradley, a couple people like that. They
had me on a food plan, a nutritionist—I gained
15-20 pounds and really just kind of got me
ready for this season.
Q: At what point in your career did
you start thinking you had what
it took to be a Major League pitcher?
A: (Laughs) Probably my junior year
(at Fresno). I didn’t think too much
of it until then.
Q: How many teams and scouts
have been coming to see you
pitch for the Saints?
A: Normally around 20 on average.
Q: You get the impression most are
wanting to see how the
shoulder is holding up?
A: Obviously they’re watching my
every move and making sure
everything is all right. It’s their job to do
that and they’re more than welcome. I’ve
been more than happy for them to be at all
my private workouts when I wasn’t here in
St. Paul. I’m definitely not hiding
anything.
Q: Your bio says Ichiro is your
favorite player. He’s on a
27-game hitting streak right now.
Think you have an idea how to get him
out?
A: I think I’d just try to challenge him
and hope he makes a mistake. He’s
a tough one.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Next Gen: MLB Draft FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 6
Q&A with ... Aaron Crow, Fort Worth Cats/Missouri
Draft order
‘You can’t really control which team picks you’ First round
1. Washington Nationals
2. Seattle Mariners
3. San Diego Padres
Aaron Crow is a familiar name—he was and 127 strikeouts in 107.1 4. Pittsburgh Pirates
taken ninth last year and likely will improve innings and Big 12 pitcher of the 5. Baltimore Orioles
on that this year after not reaching an year? 6. San Francisco Giants
7. Atlanta Braves
agreement with the Nationals. The 6-foot-3
righthander has spent some time with the
Fort Worth Cats of the American Association
A: When I was a freshman, the
thing was repeating my
delivery. I was throwing strikes, but
8. Cincinnati Reds
9. Detroit Tigers
10. Washington Nationals (9B, for
independent league team recently, fine- they were belt high all the time. The unsigned 2008 No. 9 overall pick Aaron
tuning his game for Tuesday’s MLB Draft. whole time I was in college, I was Crow)
11. Colorado Rockies
He recently caught up with Sporting News working out and getting better and 12. Kansas City Royals
Today’s Ken Bradley to talk about the draft. stronger. My delivery was getting 13. Oakland A’s
better. By my sophomore year, I was 14. Texas Rangers

Q: You were the ninth

overall pick last year by
the Washington Nationals but
never reached an agreement. Do
you still feel good about your
decision to sit out and re-enter
the draft this year?
A: I’m happy with where I’m at
right now. I’m enjoying my
time in Fort Worth. The time
between now and last August, I’ve
gotten in a lot better shape, put on
some weight. I’m just glad to be back
playing again.
throwing harder and my location
was better. It was a progression—I
made a pretty big jump from my
15. Cleveland Indians
16. Arizona Diamondbacks
17. Arizona Diamondbacks (from
Dodgers - Orlando Hudson)
freshman to junior years. 18. Florida Marlins
19. St. Louis Cardinals
Q: When it became reality
that you weren’t going to
20. Toronto Blue Jays
21. Houston Astros
22. Minnesota Twins
sign, what went through your
mind—you were finished at
Missouri, wouldn’t be in the
23. Chicago White Sox
24. Los Angeles Angels (from Mets—
Francisco Rodriguez)
minors anywhere. What went 25. Los Angeles Angels (from Yankees—
through your mind? Mark Teixeira)
26. Milwaukee Brewers
A: The thing I realized this past
year is that you can’t really
control which team picks you. You
27. Seattle Mariners (from Phillies—Raul
Ibanez)
28. Boston Red Sox

Q: Did things really start

coming together in the
Cape Cod League in 2007 when
you were dominant (3-1, 0.67
ERA) playing for Falmouth?
just go out and put together the best
body of work you can—you can’t
control the rest. Whoever drafts me
29. New York Yankees (28B, for unsigned
2008 No. 28 overall pick Gerrit Cole)
30. Tampa Bay Rays
31. Chicago Cubs
this year, I’m sure they’ll be happy 32. Colorado Rockies (from Angels—
with what I can do. Brian Fuentes)

A: Playing up in Cape Cod was

awesome. It was probably the
best team I’ve ever played on—we
had like five guys on that team taken
in the first round and (then-Mis-
souri teammate) Kyle Gibson. It was
a real confidence booster going into
my last season.
Q: Who’s the one major
leaguer you’re looking
Compensation round A
33. Seattle Mariners (Raul Ibanez)
34. Colorado Rockies (Brian Fuentes)
forward to getting the 35. Arizona Diamondbacks (Orlando
opportunity to face? Hudson)
A: The first one who comes to
mind is Albert Pujols
because he’s the best hitter in
36. Los Angeles Dodgers (Derek Lowe)
37. Toronto Blue Jays (A.J Burnett)
38. Chicago White Sox (Orlando Cabrera)
39. Milwaukee Brewers (CC Sabathia)
baseball. His numbers are stupid— 40. Los Angeles Angels (Mark Teixeira)

Q: What happened between

your first year at Mizzou
(1-4, 4.06 ERA, 60 strikeouts in
77-plus innings) to 2008 when
you were 13-0 with a 2.35 ERA
he’s the best hitter I’ve seen in my
whole life. It would be great to say I
had a chance to pitch against a guy
who’s going to be in the Hall of Fame
one day.
41. Arizona Diamondbacks (Juan Cruz)
42. Los Angeles Angels (Francisco
Rodriguez)
DAVID ADAME / AP
Aaron Crow went from 1-4 as a freshman to 13-0 in his sophomore season at Missouri.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Q&A with ... SG Marcus Thornton
‘I am blessed to be in this position’ Curry sees himself at point, as a Knick
Marcus Thornton might be the embodi-
ment of a bubble player in this year’s
draft—he has first-round talent, is a very
good shooter and averaged 21.1 points
for LSU this year. But, because he’s only
6-4, most scouts consider him a late
first-rounder, or possibly an early second-
rounder. Sporting News Today’s Sean
Deveney talked to Thornton about han-
dling the workout circuit, and about his
attempts to prove some of his detractors
wrong.
Q: You have something in
the range of 4 percent
body fat. Do you only eat
salads, or what?
A: No, no, it’s nothing like
that. I eat like a kid.
Snacks, candy, all of that. My mom
always warns me about that. But I
don’t put a whole lot of weight on,
for some reason.
Q: You went to junior
college and then to LSU
and now you’re trying to get
drafted. You’ve kind of done
this the hard way. Can that be
beneficial now, as you go
through the process?
A: I took the long route, but I
don’t think that is a bad
thing. I had to prepare myself to get
to this position. But obviously it
worked out for the best, and I am
blessed to be in this position. Going
to junior college, that’s not the usual
path, but I think, school-wise, it
worked out for me, and in the end, it
has made me become a better man. I
am grateful for that.
Q: Do you hear the things
scouts say about you,
the negative things?
LSU’s Marcus Thornton had to go the junior-college route, but feels it made him a better man.
A: I see all of that. I can take
constructive criticism, that
is how I look at it. That motivates
me every day, to see the things that
people think I can’t do. I saw a
couple of things, like my ballhan-
dling. OK, when the time comes, I
will show them that I can do that.
Q: Is there a team you want
to go to?
A: Any team that needs
scoring. Any team that
needs a guy to go to when they need
a basket. Any team that needs a
winner, too. I feel I can help any
team that needs that. Whatever
Next Gen: NBA Draft
BILL FEIG / AP
team gets me, I can say this: They’ll
be getting a special player.
Q: Have you been able to
speak much to your old
friend and former LSU player
Tyrus Thomas?
A: Yes, I talked to him. When
I have free time, I go to his
house and hang out and joke
around. We grew up together, so
it’s good to have him behind me.
Going through this process, he is
like my big brother. He has been
telling me the ins and outs of all
the stuff I am going through,
because he went through it, too.
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 7
Q&A with ... G Stephen Curry
In three years, Stephen Curry went from
too skinny for the ACC to more than ready
for the NBA draft. Curry recently spoke
with Sporting News Today’s Dave Curtis
and other reporters about his pedigree,
his recruitment, and his potential future
destinations:
Q: How much has your dad
(former NBA player
Dell Curry) influenced your
basketball career?
A: He’s meant so much. From
the beginning, I’ve tried to
follow his model in a lot of ways. I
remember being 7 years old and
going to his practices, throwing up
NBA 3s and trying to be like my
dad. In high school and college, I
went to him for advice so many
times.
Q: Given how everything
turned out for you, are
JEFF SINER / AP
Stephen Curry, a projected Top 10 pick in the draft, doesn’t fault ACC schools for passing on him.
you surprised you weren’t
recruited harder out of high
school? Q: What about a position in
the NBA? Where do you
playing in the Garden 41 games
every year. That’s a legacy. How
A: Not really. You know, I
probably wasn’t that
see yourself?
A: I’m a true point guard. It’s
can you beat that?
attractive to a lot of the bigger
schools. If I was a coach, and I was
something I’ve been
working toward, and I’ve really Q: What’s most appealing
about the Garden?
recruiting a guy like myself—
scrawny, 150 pounds—as an ACC
coach, it would be tough to take a
focused on my ballhandling and
my shooting to be able to do that. A: All the great players who
have played there before.
The great games, the crowds, the
chance on a guy like that. …
Physically, I’m sure they thought, Q: Everybody’s linking you
to the Knicks, including
big city. When we played there in
college, it was so much fun. And I
“could he get through the season?” yourself. What’s the lure?
A: Mike D’Antoni’s system.
played maybe the worst 35 min-
utes of basketball before I made
Q: What’s your biggest
memory from the NCAA
They run, get up and down,
and that’s what I’ve done my whole
some shots down the stretch and
we ended up beating West Vir-
Tournament run in 2008?
A: The best part was probably
seeing that sea of red at Ford
life. They need a point guard who
can shoot. And the other part is
ginia. Maybe I can pick up right
where I left off.
Field. You would look up into the
crowd, and it really sunk in, what
we were doing and how big it was.
MORE COVERAGE from sportingnews.com
Video of Curry’s putback dunk in Bobcats workout: sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Five-star CB Milliner
chooses Crimson Tide
Stanhope Elmore (Millbrook,
Ala.) CB Demarcus Milliner committed
to Alabama during a press confer-
ence Thursday afternoon.
Listed as a five-star prospect by
two recruiting services, Milliner
(6-1, 180) said he chose the Crim-
son Tide over Auburn, LSU, Geor-
gia and South Carolina.
“I am going to be wearing that
Crimson jersey,” Milliner told The
Tuscaloosa News. “I love the tradi-
tion of the program. I will get a
great education at Alabama. I will
have a great opportunity for play-
ing time. Those were some of the
main reasons I decided to commit
to Alabama.”
As a junior, Milliner had seven
interceptions and scored two
touchdowns on returns. He also
had 57 tackles and returned three
kicks for scores.
“He has so much range that he can
cover a large amount of ground and
be dangerous from any part of the
field,” Stanhope Elmore coach Jeff
Foshee, a former Alabama player, told
the newspaper. “He’s basically the
air traffic controller coming out of
the defensive backfield.
“Demarcus can cover receivers
and also be a sure tackler.”
Another four-star offensive
lineman is heading to Happy Valley.
North Allegheny (Wexford, Pa.) OL
Thomas Ricketts has committed to Penn
State, he told Sporting News Today.
Ricketts (6-6, 265) is the son of Tom
Ricketts, who played college football
for Pitt in the late 1980s and went on
RECRUITING DISH
BETH HALL / AP
Tide coach Nick Saban has landed CB Demarcus
Milliner, who had seven picks as a junior.
to a five-year NFL career.
The younger Ricketts said his
final choices were Penn State,
Maryland and Pitt. His final top
six also included Boston College,
Florida State and Stanford.
“I’m excited,” Ricketts told SN
Today. “From this point on, it’s the
start of something big. I’m really
excited for what the future holds.
“... In the end, this was going to
be the school I picked. I was always
sure that I wanted to be at Penn
State when I visited.”
Ricketts said fellow Penn State
OL recruits Miles Dieffenbach and
Next Gen: Recruiting / College Basketball
Luke Graham had been working on
getting him to commit to the Nit-
tany Lions. Dieffenbach made his
announcement earlier this week.
Ricketts and Dieffenbach are rated
four-star prospects by Scout.com.
“Aggressiveness is something I
like to pride myself on,” Ricketts told
SN Today. “I like being in the other
guy’s face; I’m mean on the field.
“I’d like to get better as an ath-
lete—stronger, faster.”
Jake Heaps of Skyline (Samma-
mish, Wash.), Sporting News’ top-
rated quarterback for 2010, made
his commitment to BYU official
Thursday during a press confer-
ence in Salt Lake City.
What wasn’t expected were com-
mitments to BYU from two other
highly-touted prospects.
Ross Apo, a wide receiver from
Oakridge School in Arlington,
Texas, dropped his commitment to
Texas and announced he was going
to BYU during the same press con-
ference that Heaps revealed his
decision. Apo is rated a four-star
prospect by Rivals.com.
Zac Stout, a linebacker out of Oaks
Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.)
also committed to the Cougars.
Stout is rated a four-star recruit by
two recruiting services. He is a
high school teammate of QB Nick
Montana, son of Joe Montana, and
SN100 players Erik Kohler (OL) and
Malcolm Jones (RB).
Heaps, Apo and Stout are partici-
pating in junior day at BYU today.
— Brian McLaughlin
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 8
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
INSIDE DISH
Mizzou’s Anderson joins USA Basketball staff
Missouri coach Mike Anderson will
work as a USA Basketball assistant
after leading the Tigers to a school-
record 31 wins in the 2008-09 sea-
son. Anderson will help train 40
athletes trying to earn spots on the
national teams for the U19 World
Championship and the World Uni-
versity Games.
Team trials take place later this
month at the U.S. Olympic Training
Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Anderson’s fellow assistant
coaches include John Beilein of
Michigan, Gonzaga’s Mark Few and
Herb Sendek of Arizona State. Pitts-
burgh’s Jamie Dixon is the under-19
team’s coach, with Bo Ryan of Wis-
consin leading the university
team. ANDRES LEIGHTON / AP
Also, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski Missouri coach Mike Anderson will help train players trying to make the U19 team.
will stay involved with the U.S.
Olympic Team and may be Team strength and conditioning coach Former Kentucky walk-on
USA’s head coach in London in 2012, while former G Michael Neal will serve Landon Slone wants to appeal the
The Charlotte Observer reported. as a graduate assistant manager. NCAA requirement that he sit out
“I’m going to be with the Olym- Szendrei played mostly as a the upcoming season following a
pic Team in some capacity,” reserve for Oklahoma on teams transfer to Morehead State, the
Krzyzewski said during his K that made it to the Final Four in Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Academy camp at Duke. 2002 and Elite Eight in 2003. Neal Slone said the transfer is invol-
was a starter in the Sooners’ back- untary, forced on him by the new
Washington State’s Charlie court from 2005 to 2007. coaching staff.
Enquist has been awarded a scholar- “It was kind of set on me,” he told
ship for next season after he spent Tom Green, who won more than the newspaper. “I had to leave.”
last season as a walk-on. The Cou- 400 games in 26 seasons as basket-
gars also announced that Fabian ball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson, has Wisconsin-Platteville, a Division
Boeke will end his playing career been fired, the Star-Ledger of Newark, III school, is interviewing Will Ryan, a
due to continuing back problems N.J., reported. No decision has been North Dakota State assistant and the
and freshman Nick Witherill has been made yet on a replacement. Green son of Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, for its
released from his scholarship. took over as Fairleigh Dickinson’s head coaching job. Bo Ryan compiled
coach in 1983 and who guided the a 353-76 record at Wisconsin-Platte-
Two former Oklahoma players team to seven 20-win seasons, four ville with four NCAA Division III
are returning to campus to join coach NCAA Tournament berths, and two national championships from 1984 to
Jeff Capel’s staff. Former Sooners C appearances in the NIT. He leaves 1999. The basketball floor is called “Bo
Joszef Szendrei will be the team’s new with a career record of 407-35. Ryan Court.”
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Lee an example of NCAA’s superior development
Courtney Lee was a star in high
school, no question about that. As a
junior, he was a key member of a state
championship team at Indianapolis
Pike. He was second-team all-state as
a senior and played for Indiana in its
traditional all-star series against the
best players from
Kentucky.
But all that got
him a ticket to the
Sun Belt Confer-
ence, where he
played four years
for Western Ken-
Mike DeCourcy tucky. Why?
COLLEGE BASKETBALL Because at the
time there
appeared to be better prospects for
the big-timers to pursue. Talent
scout Dave Telep remembers Lee
as a “three-star recruit … thought
he’d be good, but not top 100.”
So how does Lee go from maybe
the 120th player in his high school
class to the No. 22 pick in the 2008
NBA draft to the sixth-leading
scorer for the Orlando Magic, who
opened the NBA Finals on Thurs-
day night?
Hard work, athletic gifts, quality
coaching and, for the purposes of
this discussion, the too-often-over-
looked developmental value of
NCAA basketball.
“He needed time to mature, like
probably every 18-year-old—over-
all, not just as a player,” said Darrin
Horn, who coached Lee’s four
seasons with the Hilltoppers and
now is South Carolina’s head coach.
“The other thing is he got in a sit-
uation that was great for him. And I
think that can be different for every
kid. He got to contribute right away
and developed while playing and
gained confidence by producing.”
The story of Lee’s ascendance is
not entirely uncommon here in the
United States. Jameer Nelson was
not an elite recruit but exploded to
excellence in four years at Saint
Joseph’s, where he became national
player of the year. After missing
much of the season with injury,
Nelson joins Lee for the Magic in
their series against the Lakers.
Delonte West, an essential part of
Cleveland’s league-best regular sea-
son, was even less esteemed upon
entering St. Joe’s than Nelson. Miami
Heat guard Dwyane Wade was not a
top-100 prospect out of high school
but became an NBA great after three
years under Tom Crean at Marquette.
Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah
was ranked No. 75 by Rivals.com in
his high school class. Upon leading
Florida to consecutive NCAA titles,
he became the No. 9 selection in the
2007 draft.
They’re not working this sort of
magic—oops, sorry—anywhere else
in the world. There suddenly is a
fantasy being pitched to particular
young players that signing profes-
sional contracts in Europe is a supe-
rior means of preparing for an NBA
WEEKDAYS 10AM–1PM ET
Listen on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 127, online at SportingNews.com
or check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.
College Basketball
While some preps are opting for Europe over college, Orlando’s Courtney Lee (11) has proven his four years at Western Kentucky made him NBA ready.
career. Point guard Brandon Jen-
nings played last season in Italy. Big
man Jeremy Tyler is passing up his
senior year of high school to pursue
a pro deal overseas.
Aside from the obvious lure of
being paid to play, what is stressed
most often as Europe’s advantage is
the unrestricted practice time the
players experience. But all that
practice isn’t turning out an over-
whelming number of excellent NBA
players. There are important play-
ers in these Finals, certainly, that
have been imported from that sys-
tem. But what you’re getting is basi-
cally the absolute best from a variety
of nations: Spain (Pau Gasol), Tur-
key (Hedo Turkoglu), Poland (Mar-
cin Gortat).
Practice drills can help to improve
skill, and the NCAA certainly
needs to abandon its archaic rules
against coaches working with their
DAVID RICHARD / AP
players during summer months.
What college offers, though, is the
opportunity to play important min-
utes in meaningful games. There is
no substitute for that experience,
and college puts young players in
that position more frequently.
The better European leagues are
not built for development. These
are professional teams trying to
win meaningful championships.
That’s why the average age of
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 9
Jennings’ teammates with Roma
was 28. The two players younger
than him, both from Italy, played a
combined 52 minutes all season.
The basic U.S. structure—high
school to college to pro—frequently
transforms young men such as Lee
from prospects into players.
“By the time he was a junior, he
was on the NBA’s radar. Not a can’t-
miss, but definitely on the radar,”
Horn said. “As a senior, it wasn’t
his game so much. It was, ‘We just
want to see him dominate. We want
to see him mature. We want to see
him be aggressive.’ And as a senior,
he was finally able to take that step.
“I think there’s LeBron, D-Wade,
Kobe and those guys—and every-
body else is trying to make a living.
You might never dominate a game,
but if you can’t prove you can domi-
nate a game on the college level and
change games you’re going to strug-
gle to make an impact in the league.”
Lee went from Pike’s state cham-
pionship to Western Kentucky’s
2008 Sweet 16 appearance to the
NBA Finals in his rookie season.
“I don’t think he’s ever been on a
team that didn’t win a bunch of
games,” Horn said.
Had Lee tried his luck as a teen-
ager in Spain, that sentence might
have been translated to: I don’t think
he’s ever been on a team where he didn’t
watch them win a bunch of games.
See the difference?
decourcy@sportingnews.com
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com NBA FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 10
NOTEBOOK
NBA FINALS GAME 1: L.A. LAKERS 100 ORLANDO 75
Playing Nelson a tough decision

Last year’s Finals loss still driving Lakers
LOS ANGELES—The Lakers had been
waiting for this for nearly a year.
They remembered, all too well, the
sting of losing the NBA Finals to Bos-
ton last year, a six-game series that
included a 39-point loss in the finale.
“It definitely made us hungry,” said
forward Pau Gasol.
“We’re mad, obvi-
ously. We’re upset
about losing in The
Finals, especially
the way we lost.”
And so there was
something cathartic
Sean Deveney about finally getting
PRO BASKETBALL a shot at redemp-
tion, starting Tues-
day night in Game 1 of this year’s NBA
Finals. Certainly, the Lakers played
like a team with a year’s worth of
frustration tugging at their shoulders,
crushing Orlando, 100-75, in a game
that was as much about erasing the
pain of last year as it was taking a 1-0
lead in this year’s series.
“Of course last year is something
that still motivates us,” forward
Lamar Odom said. “That is some-
thing we had talked about since train-
ing camp.”
Which made this an especially sat-
isfying win for the Lakers. They
dominated in every facet. They held
the Magic to 29.9 percent shooting.
They outrebounded the Magic, 55-41.
They were credited with 18 assists,
compared to just 10 for Orlando. They
held Dwight Howard—who scored
40 in his last outing—to a measly 12
points on 1-for-6 shooting, and lim-
ited the deep-shooting tandem of
Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu
to just three 3-pointers. In the paint,
the Lakers outscored the Magic,
56-22.
Most of all, though, it was Kobe
Bryant’s night. Bryant has been espe-
cially short with the media lately, and
he admits that his kids are calling him
“Grumpy” at home. “Like in the seven
dwarfs,” Bryant said. “I have been a
grouch.”
He’s been a grouch because he’s
made this series all about erasing the
sting of last year’s Finals. “I just want
it so bad, that’s all,” Bryant said.
He got off to a good start. He scored
40 points, adding eight rebounds and
eight assists. He was as intense as he’s
been in the playoffs. At one point,
Bryant committed a reaching foul on
Dwight Howard in the third quarter,
which caused him to grimace, slam
his foot and chirp at referee Dan
Crawford. His reaction might have
been expected in the heat of a tight
game. But the Lakers were up by 25 at
that point.
“We understand how much he
wants this,” Odom said. “We all know
how badly he wants this
championship.”
And, because of that, there won’t be
much dwelling on the blowout win in
Game 1. The Lakers are well aware
that Orlando has a history of digging
holes and climbing out of them, hav-
ing bounced back from a 2-1 deficit in
the first round and a 3-2 deficit in the
second. The Lakers were dominant,
they were looking like themselves
again and they were able to start mak-
ing amends for last year’s Finals
Pau Gasol, right, and the Lakers are hungry to redeem their poor showing against Boston.
performance. But there’s still a long
way to go.
“The best thing we can do with this
win is forget about it,” Bryant said.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy agonized over the decision
to activate point guard Jameer Nelson and use him in the
Finals—choosing to play him was, according to Van Gundy,
actually the more difficult way to go. “The easiest decision,
the one that would create no problems, would have been
not to play him,” Van Gundy said. “He would have under-
stood, it wouldn’t have upset our rotation or any of our
players and I wouldn’t open myself to any criticism not
playing him.”
What was especially difficult was moving point guard
Anthony Johnson to third on the point guard depth chart,
and bumping Tyronn Lue onto the inactive list. “I tell you
what, it was really, really tough to take two great veteran
guys and tell them, to take Ty Lue and tell him he was going
to be on the inactive list and to tell Anthony Johnson that, at
least in the beginning here, I am going to play Jameer ahead
of him,” Van Gundy said. “That’s a very, very difficult thing
to do.”
Nelson played 23 minutes in Game 1, finishing with six
points and four assists. Johnson did not play.
Jackson knows Magic’s situation
Speaking of Nelson, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was in a
similar situation last year, when he brought back small for-
ward Trevor Ariza from a broken foot and played him in the
conference finals and The Finals. Ariza did not play more
than nine minutes in any game, however. “I didn’t think
(Ariza) felt comfortable, otherwise we probably would have
played him more,” Jackson said.
LeBron: My bad
NBA commissioner David Stern spoke to the media before
the game, and he said Cavs star LeBron James understood
why he was fined $25,000 for skipping his media obligation
after Cleveland lost the conference finals.
“He expressed to me that when the left the building and did
not meet the media or did not congratulate the Magic, he was
wrong,” Stern said.
CHRIS CARLSON / AP Always time for sports
Van Gundy did see that President Obama picked the Lak-
ers to win The Finals in six games. “I hope that President
“We have to move on. This is a resil- Obama, with what’s going on with our economy and over-
ient Orlando Magic team. We still seas, I hope he’s got a lot more things to be concerned about,”
have a lot of work to do.” Van Gundy said.
sdeveney@sportingnews.com — Sean Deveney
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com NBA FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 11
Glance
NBA FINALS GAME 1: L.A. LAKERS 100 ORLANDO 75 (Best-of-7) All times, ET
(L.A. Lakers lead series 1-0)

Thursday: L.A. Lakers 100,

‘Black Mamba’ lethal, sparks blowout with 40 Orlando 75

Sunday: Orlando at L.A. Lakers,
8 p.m., ABC
Tuesday: L.A. Lakers at Orlando, 9
LOS ANGELES—Kobe Bryant has used that humiliation to motivate
p.m., ABC
waited a year, a long year, for them all season and throughout
Thursday, June 11: L.A. Lakers at
another chance at NBA title. He’s these playoffs.
Orlando, 9 p.m., ABC
not about to let this one slip away. They are on a mission.
Sunday, June 14: L.A. Lakers at
The Olympic gold medal was The Magic, who went 2-0 against
Orlando 8 p.m., if necessary, ABC
nice. Not nearly enough. the Lakers in the regular season,
Tuesday, June 16: Orlando at L.A.
He covets another golden trophy. appeared a touch overwhelmed in
Lakers, 9 p.m., if necessary, ABC
“I just want it so bad, that’s all,” their first finals appearance since
Thursday, June 18: Orlando at L.A.
Bryant said. “I just want it really 1995. Not even the return of All-
Lakers, 9 p.m., if necessary, ABC
bad.” Star point guard Jameer Nelson
Bryant, playing like a man pos- from a four-month layoff following
sessed, scored 40 points and the shoulder surgery could help the
Orlando 24 19 15 17 — 75
Los Angeles Lakers, who have Eastern Conference champions. L.A. Lakers 22 31 29 18 — 100
waited nearly one year for a chance Orlando center Dwight Howard
ORLANDO Min FG FT Reb A PF PTS
to erase bitter memories of a Bos- was engulfed by two and three Turkoglu 33:05 3-11 6-6 0-4 2 2 13
ton beatdown and a championship Lakers every time he touched the Lewis 35:32 2-10 2-2 2-5 0 4 8
Howard 34:58 1-6 10-16 5-15 2 3 12
they felt belonged to them, pounded ball and scored 12 points—10 on Alston 24:32 2-9 2-2 0-2 1 1 6
the Orlando Magic 100-75 in Game free throws—on just 1-of-6 Lee 22:45 3-10 0-0 1-1 0 3 7
Pietrus 32:25 5-13 1-3 1-3 0 4 14
1 on Thursday night. shooting. Battie 5:24 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 2
This year, nothing short of a 15th And the Magic’s outside shoot- Gortat 20:06 2-4 0-0 1-8 0 3 4
Nelson 23:28 3-9 0-0 0-2 4 1 6
title will do for the Lakers. ers, so deadly while eliminating Redick 7:45 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 3
And with the sensational Bryant MVP LeBron James and the Cleve- Totals 240:00 23-77 21-29 10-41 10 21 75
out front, they may be on their land Cavaliers in the conference Percentages: FG .299, FT .724. 3-Point Goals: 8-23, .348 (Pietrus
way. finals, were off the mark. 3-5, Lewis 2-4, Redick 1-1, Turkoglu 1-3, Lee 1-4, Nelson 0-2, Alston
0-4). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 8 (11 PTS). Blocked
Game 2 is Sunday night at star- The Magic went just 8-of-23 on Shots: 8 (Gortat 4, Howard 2, Battie, Turkoglu). Turnovers: 8
studded Staples Center, where actors 3s and shot only 30 percent (Turkoglu 4, Howard 2, Lee, Nelson). Steals: 8 (Gortat 2, Howard 2,
Alston, Lee, Redick, Turkoglu). Technical Fouls: None.
Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio overall.
and rapper Kanye West had front- “We’ve never had a shooting L.A. LAKERS Min FG FT Reb A PF PTS
Ariza 23:47 1-4 0-0 1-2 2 3 3
row seats to see another virtuoso night this bad,” Howard said. Gasol 37:18 7-12 2-2 3-8 3 3 16
performance by Bryant, who scored “We’ve just got to come out and Bynum 22:23 3-8 3-4 3-9 0 4 9
Fisher 32:00 4-6 0-0 1-3 1 3 9
18 points in the third quarter as the play a lot harder than we did Bryant 37:58 16-34 8-8 1-8 8 1 40
Lakers opened a 26-point lead and tonight.” MARK J. TERRILL / AP Odom 31:39 5-11 1-2 2-14 0 3 11
Walton 24:13 4-5 1-2 1-2 2 3 9
embarrassed the Magic. Orlando is facing some daunting Kobe Bryant, right, and the Lakers stayed a step ahead of Dwight Howard and the Magic, dominating the visitors after the first quarter. Farmar 12:32 0-3 0-0 0-2 1 1 0
The last time the Lakers were odds, too. Vujacic 5:18 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 2 0
Powell 2:50 1-2 0-0 2-4 0 0 3
seen in the finals, they were head- Lakers coach Phil Jackson, seek- adverse situations before. This is Nothing worked. “He was great. He was tremen- Brown 8:12 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
ing toward their locker room in ing a record 10th title, is 43-0 in nothing new to them. We’ve got to The self-proclaimed “Black dous,” said Van Gundy, who felt his Mbenga 1:50 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Totals 240:00 41-89 15-18 15-55 18 23 100
Boston last June and summer break series in which his team wins forget about this and move on.” Mamba” slithered around Magic team did a poor job defending the
after being drubbed by 39 points in Game 1. On the dry-erase board in Orlan- defenders with ease. Bryant scored Lakers’ pick and roll. “We were Percentages: FG .461, FT .833. 3-Point Goals: 3-9, .333 (Fisher
1-1, Powell 1-1, Ariza 1-2, Bryant 0-1, Farmar 0-1, Odom 0-3). Team
a series-ending Game 6 by the Celt- Bryant, who added eight do’s locker room, coach Stan Van an effortless 18 points in the first giving him too much space on his Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 9 (8 PTS). Blocked Shots: 7 (Bryant
ics. The renewed rivalry between rebounds and eight assists, knows Gundy, in handwriting as neat as a half and then took over in the third pull-up jumpers and he did a good 2, Gasol 2, Ariza, Bynum, Odom). Turnovers: 8 (Gasol 2, Odom 2,
Bryant, Farmar, Mbenga, Vujacic). Steals: 4 (Bryant 2, Odom, Wal-
the league’s superpowers never the Magic are still dangerous. schoolteacher’s, devoted two sec- quarter, scoring 18 of L.A.’s 29 job of attacking us. I know this: We ton). Technical Fouls: None.
panned out. “This is a resilient team,” he said. tions on how he wanted his team to points with an assortment of jump- are a lot better than we showed.”
A: 18,997 (18,997). T: 2:28. Officials: Dan Crawford, Joe DeRosa,
Bryant and his teammates have “They’ve been through a lot of defend Bryant. ers, fadeaways and layups. — The Associated Press Ken Mauer.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
NBA FINALS GAME 1:
Howard: ‘We just weren’t fighting’
LOS ANGELES—Rashard Lewis
clanged jumpers, Dwight Howard
was anything but Super.
And once their two top threats
couldn’t get going, the Orlando
Magic had nowhere to look for
offense.
The Magic shot just 29.9 percent
from the field in their return to the
NBA finals and were overmatched
by the Los Angeles Lakers in a 100-
75 loss in Game 1 on Thursday
night.
“Our effort tonight, it just wasn’t
there,” Howard said. “Nobody’s
effort was there. We didn’t go for
any loose ball, we just weren’t fight-
ing. That’s not Magic basketball.”
Orlando led early, sparked by the
return of Jameer Nelson, but the
momentum was quickly lost under
a flurry of missed shots. The Magic
weren’t far from the worst shooting
effort in finals history, Syracuse’s
27.5 percent performance against
Fort Wayne in 1955.
Nelson was a rusty 3-of-9, but
that counts as a good night for the
guys in blue uniforms.
Howard had 12 points and 15
rebounds, but was only 1-of-6 from
the floor. Lewis managed only eight
points, going 2-of-10.
Howard averaged 25.8 points in
the conference finals against Cleve-
land, capped by a 40-point perfor-
mance in Orlando’s Game 6 clincher.
The Lakers never let him get going in
Game 1, sending two or three defend-
ers anytime Superman caught the
ball too close to the basket.
He took only two shots, missing
both, and scored two points in the
L.A. LAKERS 100
Dwight Howard was held to 12 points Thursday after averaging 25.8 in the previous series.
pivotal third quarter, when the
Lakers extended a 10-point half-
time lead to as much as 26.
Orlando’s offense flows best when
Howard forces teams to double him,
so he can kick it out to the Magic’s
plethora of perimeter threats. But he
didn’t have many options when he
threw it back out Thursday.
Hedo Turkoglu was 3-of-11,
Courtney Lee 3-of-10, Rafer Alston
2-of-9, and Mickael Pietrus 5-of-13.
“I thought Dwight made some
good passes out. Second half we
weren’t able to make any shots out
of that,” Orlando coach Stan Van
Gundy said. “But I thought we had
a lot of trouble getting the ball
NBA
ORLANDO 75
MARK J. TERRILL / AP
inside. I thought they did a good job
making that difficult, and we’ve got
to find a way to get better ball
movement.”
Lewis was averaging 19.4 points
in the postseason, causing matchup
nightmares for opponents as a
6-foot-10 3-point threat.
The Lakers forced Lewis to put
the ball on the floor, and he’s not as
comfortable shooting off the drib-
ble. He made two 3-pointers but
was 0-for-6 inside the arc.
“It’s only one game. Game 2 we’re
going to go back, watch film, figure
out a way to move the ball a lot
better.”
— The Associated Press
INSIDE DISH
Bosh planning
free-agent route
Raptors PF Chris Bosh doesn’t plan to sign a contract
extension this summer and is preparing to become a
free agent at the end of next season.
Bosh is in the final year of a deal that will pay him
$15.7 million. While Raptors general manager Bryan
Colangelo has spoken optimistically in the past about
signing Bosh to an extension this summer, Bosh said
that isn’t his intention.
“(When) I signed a three-year (extension in 2006)...
I had a goal in mind, and that was to put myself in the
best position (in 2010) ... I’m thinking I just want to
stick to my goal, stick to what I was doing,” Bosh told
reporters. “That’s a part of the plan ... I just want to
address things (after) next season. There’s a reason
why I did things the way I did them back then.”
Before Game 1 of The Finals, commissioner David
Stern defended the work of the referees, adding they
will eventually be helped by expanded instant replay,
and said the technical foul system in which players
are suspended a game in the postseason after accu-
mulating seven, is working. However, NBA president
Joel Litvin told ESPN.com that he anticipates an inter-
nal re-evaluation after the season to determine if that
number should be increased.
“Certainly given the attention that this rule has
received, I have no doubt that we’ll be discussing this
after the playoffs,” Litvin said.
Celtics PF Kevin Garnett’s recovery from knee surgery
apparently is going well—so well that he’s making bold
statements about the Celtics’ future. According to The
Boston Globe, Garnett told team owner Wyc Grousbeck that
the Celtics would bring home titles the next two seasons.
“I talked to (Garnett) and he guaranteed the cham-
pionship in 2010 and in 2011,” Grousbeck said. “He
was as fired up as he’s ever been.”
Garnett isn’t the only one making title predic-
tions. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert told reporters, “We will
win a championship in Cleveland, Ohio. It will hap-
pen.” Gilbert said he met with general manager Danny
Ferry and coach Mike Brown all day on Wednesday as
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 12
AMY SANCETTA / AP
LeBron James was fined $25,000 for skipping postgame interviews.
the organization begins to review the season and look
ahead to the draft, free agency and next season.
Gilbert, who said the team was in the “break-even
neighborhood” financially, pledged to do whatever it
will take to win that title.
Stern said LeBron James has been fined $25,000
for skipping the postgame news conference after
Cleveland lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference
finals. Stern said Thursday night that he spoke with
the Cavaliers star on Wednesday and that James
admitted he was wrong to not congratulate Orlando’s
players and coaches after the loss.
Heat G Dwyane Wade has sued a former business
partner for $100 million, claiming the man maligned
his reputation by making false allegations of illegal drug
and steroid use in an e-mail to team president Pat Riley.
Wade’s lawsuit accuses Richard von Houtman of libel and
slander. According to the lawsuit, von Houtman accused
Wade and other unnamed Heat players in a March 15
message of smoking marijuana and using cocaine and
steroids. Wade flatly denies the allegations.
Pacers G Mike Dunleavy had minor arthroscopic sur-
gery on his left hip. The team said the operation was
done to clean up a long-standing injury and was not
related to Dunleavy’s rehabilitation of his right knee,
which forced him to miss all but 18 games last season.
Dunleavy also had surgery in March to remove a bone
spur that had damaged the patellar tendon in the knee.
Hornets G Devin Brown has exercised a player’s
option in his contract to return to New Orleans next
season. The team did not release financial terms of
the contract. Brown averaged 5.2 points and 1.9
rebounds in 13.8 minutes for the Hornets last season.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
STANLEY CUP FINALS
S GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 4
Exhausted Wings can’t catch energized Penguins
PITTSBURGH—It was something he has
seldom seen from the Detroit players, and
Brooks Orpik is getting to know these
Red Wings pretty well.
On their way to a series squaring 4-2
win, the Penguins took a one-goal lead
when Sidney Crosby scored his first goal
of the Stanley Cup
finals.
Fellow defenseman
Mark Eaton nudged
Orpik and told him to
check out Detroit’s
bench after Crosby’s
goal.
Craig Custance The players were
HOCKEY slumped over.
Exhausted. Nothing
close to the dominant,
immovable force the Penguins saw last
year.
“They looked frustrated, looked like
they had no energy,” Orpik said. “When
you see that, you feed off it.”
When Tyler Kennedy scored to open
the Pittsburgh lead to two goals later in
that same period, Orpik saw something
else from the Red Wings he had never
seen. They were talking more, mixing it
up after the whistle. The kind of stuff
opponents like to do to Detroit, but some-
thing in which the veteran, professional
Red Wings rarely engage. Even worse,
Orpik said he noticed Red Wings players
getting on each other.
“Which you never see out of those
guys,” he said. “It’s something you don’t
expect from them or see too often. I guess,
a good sign for us.”
Yes, a good sign. There were a lot of
good signs in that pivotal second period.
It started with Jordan Staal’s short-
handed goal, the first one the Red Wings
DETROIT 2
have allowed during these playoffs. The
period also marked the return to form of
Sidney Crosby, who scored his first goal
of the finals and made a pass few others
can make in feeding Kennedy for the
fourth goal of the game.
But most telling, it was the period in
which Orpik noticed that the reigning
champs were starting to crack—for the
first time in a long time.
If the Penguins go on to win the Cup,
it’ll be because of Thursday’s second
period.
“If you do the math, it definitely shifted
the game, and by winning this game some
of the momentum has shifted,” Eaton
said.
Yeah, some. How about all of it?
After losing the first two games, the
Penguins maintained they were a confi-
dent team and this was similar to the
second-round series they won in seven
games over the Washington Capitals
after dropping the first two games.
The Red Wings aren’t the Capitals, but
the Penguins are treating them the same
way.
Factor in the feeling that Pittsburgh
actually outplayed Detroit and deserved
to win one of the first two games at Joe
Louis Arena, and this series could easily
be a 3-1 Pittsburgh advantage.
But they’ll take 2-2 and the momentum,
especially with the way everything came
together Thursday.
With Crosby’s arrival on the scoresheet,
both Pittsburgh stars—Crosby and
Evgeni Malkin—are playing at a high
level.
Detroit, meanwhile, is still waiting for
Pavel Datsyuk’s finals debut and a Stan-
ley Cup finals goal from Marian Hossa.
“We have the luxury of having two
NHL
Penguins D Mark Eaton could sense the Wings were missing their usual jump.
very, very good players that can, on any
given night, get two points and add to the
win,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said.
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 13
NOTEBOOK
Datsyuk warms up,
but is held out again
Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk said his injured
foot continues to feel better and was hoping to
play Thursday night. But even though he went
through a brief warmup before the game, he was
held out again.
Datsyuk hasn’t played since Game 2 of the
Western Conference finals.
“Pavel was pushing it to try to go,” coach Mike
Babcock said. But the Hart Trophy candidate
ultimately didn’t get clearance from the team’s
medical staff.
Datsyuk had an extended skating session dur-
ing the morning skate and afterward said he felt
as good as he had since injuring it.
“I feel much better today,” Datsyuk said.
His optimism and quality time in practice left
teammates to believe Datsyuk should be ready
to go in Game 5 Saturday.
“We’re hoping to get him back in the next
game,” Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said.
“If he comes back for the next one, he just adds
that extra dimension to our team. He works
really hard defensively. He’s just tough to play
against.”
Draper returns
The Red Wings got one of their injured play-
ers back on the ice when veteran center Kris
Draper replaced rookie Justin Abdelkader in the
lineup. Draper had been out with a groin injury
that has limited him throughout this playoff
run.
Draper played 8:10 in his first game back,
skating primarily with Kirk Maltby and Ville
Leino. He won 55 percent of his faceoffs.
GENE J. PUSKAR / AP The veteran admitted that all the practice time
in the world doesn’t simulate playing in a Stan-
ley Cup finals game.
“There’s nothing like going out and doing it in
“If we play the right way, we give our-
a game,” Draper said before taking the ice.
selves a pretty good chance to win.”
“Especially in this atmosphere.”
ccustance@sportingnews.com — Craig Custance
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
STANLEY CUP FINALS
S GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 4
Staal’s goal starts comeback
PITTSBURGH—The Pittsburgh Pen-
guins’ fresh legs and fast feet changed
the Stanley Cup finals in a flash, and
now a series that looked to be over is
only getting started.
Jordan Staal’s shorthanded goal
during back-to-back Detroit power
plays started Pittsburgh’s comeback,
and the Penguins scored three goals
in less than 6 minutes of the second
period Thursday night to win 4-2 and
tie the series at 2.
Evgeni Malkin, enjoying the best
postseason scoring run since Wayne
Gretzky’s in 1993, and Sidney Crosby
had a goal and an assist each to help
rally the Penguins from a 2-1 deficit a
year to the day Detroit raised the
Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh by win-
ning Game 6.
Tyler Kennedy also scored and
Marc-Andre Fleury, with his second
successive excellent game, made 37
saves. All the Penguins’ goal scorers
are 22 or younger—Sid isn’t their
only kid—and it may have made a big
difference as the older Red Wings
played their fourth game in six
nights.
“It seemed like all their guys were
really slumped over tired and looked
like they were frustrated, really,”
defenseman Brooks Orpik said.
“When you see that you just kind of
feed off of it.”
Until Game 4, the finals followed
the same pattern as last year’s: Detroit
won the first two at home, then
dropped Game 3 in Pittsburgh. But
the Red Wings couldn’t follow up
their 2-1 road victory in Game 4 of
last year, one decided largely when
they killed off a lengthy Pittsburgh
5-on-3 advantage, and now these
finals are the best-of-three.
Game 5 is Saturday night in Detroit,
with Game 6 in Pittsburgh on Tues-
day night after the series’ first two-
day break. Game 7 would be June 12
in Detroit.
“It’s a race to four (wins) now,”
Pittsburgh’s Pascal Dupuis said.
The Red Wings certainly lost all
the races in Game 4, done in by a bad
second period and dreadful special
teams. Pittsburgh has converted on 4
of 9 power plays, and this game
swung when the Penguins scored—
and the Red Wings didn’t—during
3:59 of continuous Detroit power-
play time. Detroit was 0-for-4 with
the man advantage.
With Detroit up 2-1 following goals
by Darren Helm and Brad Stuart less
than 3 minutes apart to end the first
and start the second, Staal—who had
only two goals in 20 playoff games—
got loose after Max Talbot’s up-ice
pass.
The 6-foot-4 Staal used his lengthy
stride to thread defenseman Nicklas
Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski and
beat Chris Osgood at 8:35 of the sec-
ond. Staal had a record-tying seven
short-handed goals as an 18-year-old
rookie in 2006-07, but had only one
since.
“Max made a great play. I saw Lid-
strom and Rafalski both kind of flat-
footed,” Staal said. “I kind of just
buried my head, went for it and kind
of snuck it in.”
Staal’s goal instantly changed a
major opportunity by Detroit to seize
NHL
DETROIT 2
Jordan Staal’s second-period, shorthanded goal tied the game and, ‘was a big momentum changer for us,’ teammate Max Talbot said.
control not only of the game but the
series into a tie game, and the 17,132
jammed into a suddenly rocking Mel-
lon Arena sensed how big the play
might be.
“That was a big momentum
changer for us,” Talbot said. “The
building was so loud, it gave us a lot
of emotion.”
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said,
“They have a chance to go up 3-1, but
Jordan speeds up ice, makes a strong
move to the net like he can with his
big body and scores a great goal for us
... and kind of got us rolling.”
The Penguins killed the second
FRANK GUNN / AP
power play and, less than a minute
later, Crosby and Malkin—their sig-
nature stars—worked a 2-on-1 rush
for Crosby’s 15th of the playoffs and
30th point.
Kennedy, a Staal linemate who had
no goals in five games, finished it off
with Pittsburgh’s third goal in a span
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 14
Stanley Cup finals
(Best-of-7), All times ET
(Series tied 2-2)
May 30: Detroit 3,Pittsburgh 1
May 31: Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 1
June 2: Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 2
Thursday: Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 2
Saturday: Pittsburgh at
Detroit, 8 p.m., NBC
Tuesday: Detroit at
Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., NBC
Friday, June 12: Pittsburgh at
Detroit, 8 p.m., if necessary, NBC
Detroit 1 1 0 — 2
Pittsburgh 1 3 0 — 4
First Period: 1, Pittsburgh, Malkin 14 (Letang, Staal), 2:39 (pp). 2,
Detroit, Helm 4, 18:19. Penalties: Kronwall, Det (tripping), 1:12;
Eaton, Pit (cross-checking), 11:09; Ericsson, Det (high-sticking),
16:27; Guerin, Pit (high-sticking), 16:37.
Second Period: 3, Detroit, Stuart 3 (Zetterberg, Rafalski), :46. 4,
Pittsburgh, Staal 3 (Talbot, Eaton), 8:35 (sh). 5, Pittsburgh, Crosby
15 (Malkin), 10:34. 6, Pittsburgh, Kennedy 4 (Crosby, Kunitz), 14:12.
Penalties: Malkin, Pit (hooking), 5:44; Orpik, Pit (tripping), 7:43.
Third Period: None. Penalties: Kronwall, Det (hooking), 18:27;
Cleary, Det (tripping), 20:00; Orpik, Pit (roughing), 20:00.
Shots on Goal: Detroit 19-9-11: 39. Pittsburgh 11-11-9: 31.
Power-play opportunities: Detroit 0 of 4; Pittsburgh 1 of 3.
Goalies: Detroit, Osgood 14-6-0 (31 shots-27 saves). Pittsburgh,
Fleury 14-7-0 (39-37).
A: 17,132 (16,940). T: 2:31.
Referees: Marc Joannette, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Steve Miller,
Jean Morin.
of 5:37 by scoring off two quick passes
by Crosby and Chris Kunitz. Ken-
nedy won the race to a loose puck
with Henrik Zetterberg, who may be
wearying from shadowing Crosby
and Malkin shift after shift.
“They had some 3-on-2s and 2-on-
1s, and we can’t do that against them
because they’re too skilled,” Zetter-
berg said.
On the Detroit bench, a sour-faced
Mike Babcock had the look of a coach
wondering if the compressed schedule
is favoring the younger Penguins.
“We were playing all right, but the
power play hurt us for sure,” Babcock
said. “It sucked the life out of us.”
— The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
STANLEY CUP FINALS
S GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 4
Fast-moving Avalanche hire Sacco as coach
Joe Sacco envisions himself as the
coach of a fast and feisty team that
attacks and stays aggressive—in
other words, an extension of the
way he played the game for five
NHL teams over 13 seasons.
Sacco was introduced as the new
coach of the Colorado Avalanche
Thursday, a day after the club fired
Tony Granato and shook up its front
office.
Flanked by newly appointed
general manager Greg Sherman and
new assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre,
Sacco talked about carving out a
new identity for a team coming off
its worst finish since moving to
Denver in 1995.
“We want to be a team that plays
with a lot of energy. We want to
play on our toes, we don’t want to
play on our heels,” Sacco said. “We
want to be a team that attacks, we
want to be a team that doesn’t sit
back.”
Most of all, Sacco wants this
team to return to the glory associ-
ated with Avalanche teams that
have consistently challenged for
Stanley Cups. Sherman shares
that vision.
“We all want the Avalanche to
return to the standards that made
this franchise so successful,” he
said. “There will be no shortcuts to
return to those standards.”
Sacco, 40, was promoted from
the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate. He
coached the Lake Erie Monsters
for the last two seasons and has
been employed by the franchise for
NHL
DETROIT 2
INSIDE DISH
DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP
Joe Sacco, left, served the past four seasons with three of the Avalanche’s minor-league affiliates.
four seasons. regular season.
Boston G.M. Peter Chiarelli told The Minneapolis Star Tribune,
The Boston Globe that star F David citing sources, reported that Todd
Krejci had successful hip surgery Richards appears to be the leading
Thursday—only a few days after candidate for the Wild’s coaching
Krejci signed a three-year, $3.75 vacancy.
million contract extension. But G.M. Chuck Fletcher also has
‘’In the old days, it would have interviewed former Edmonton
been a far more major, invasive coach Craig MacTavish and shown
operation,’’ Chiarelli told the interest in Peter Laviolette and Detroit
newspaper. assistant Paul MacLean.
“But they were able to noodle the The newspaper also said Fletcher
scope into the joint and knock out flew to California last week to inter-
the impingement fairly easily.’’ view Richards, an assistant under
Still, Krejci will be sidelined at San Jose coach Todd McLellan and a
least four months and probably former University of Minnesota
miss the first few weeks of the star. Fletcher reportedly has had
additional contact with Richards.
According to the Toronto Sun, if
Maple Leafs G.M. Brian Burke’s efforts
to move up in the draft and grab
projected No. 1 pick John Tavares fail,
he might instead try to move up
high enough to get C Brayden Schenn,
the younger brother of Leafs’ young
D Luke Schenn.
Brayden Schenn, who played last
season for the Brandon Wheat
Kings of the WHL, projects as a top
five pick, which means Burke still
would have to move up at least two
slots from No. 7.
“We would have interest in (the
Schenn) scenario,” Burke admitted
to the newspaper. “But it’s not our
top priority right now.”
Buffalo G Patrick Lalime told read-
ers on the Sabres’ website Wednes-
day that his 2008-09 season ended
early because of injuries that resulted
in two postseason surgeries.
Lalime, commenting for the first
time since coach Lindy Ruff ruled him
out for the final three weeks of the
season, said he had a sports hernia
procedure after first undergoing
arthroscopic surgery on his hip.
“A couple of surgeries back-to-
back, but we’re doing good now,”
said Lalime, who said he should be
ready for training camp. “We’re two
months in, basically, and we’re
looking at another month before we
can play and feel good again.”
Lalime was 5-13-3 in his first Buf-
falo season with a 3.10 goals-against
average.
Fleury takes back seat
to offense in 2nd period
PITTSBURGH—Marc-Andre Fleury
saved the Pittsburgh Penguins in
the second period in Game 3 of the
Stanley Cup finals.
His offense took care of him in
Game 4.
Just 46 seconds into the middle
frame Thursday night, Detroit’s
Brad Stuart scored through a
double screen to give the Red
Wings a 2-1 lead. Two nights ear-
lier, Fleury kept the Penguins
locked in a 2-2 tie despite Pitts-
burgh being outshot 14-4.
They called it their worst period
in the playoffs, but because Fleury
was on top of his game, Pittsburgh
pulled out a 4-2 win in Game 3.
The Penguins rallied from a
hole this time and took over with
three quick goals that changed
the game.
“Well, you can’t really compare
them,” Penguins forward Bill
Guerin said of the two second
periods. “One was awful, one was
really good. It’s something that
we’ve tried to work on because
we’ve had that problem before—a
good first but a bad second.
“We’re just trying to focus and
play 60 minutes because the sec-
ond period is so big and (creates)
momentum for the third period.”
It appeared Fleury wouldn’t be
able to steal another second period
when Stuart’s shot from the right
point sailed past Pittsburgh’s Ser-
gei Gonchar and Guerin, who
blocked his view, and found the
net. The Penguins’ early 1-0 lead
was gone as Detroit connected
twice in a 2:27 span bridging the
first two periods.
Jordan Staal turned it around
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 15
with a short-handed goal at 8:35
that tied it. Sidney Crosby and
Tyler Kennedy also scored to
complete the surge of three goals
in 5:37 that built the Penguins’
edge to 4-2.
“We want to make sure we
make life on him as easy as possi-
ble,” Crosby said of Fleury. “We
don’t always do that, but you
know we try to. We did a good job
of putting a lot of pressure in the
offensive zone and creating some
good chances. That’s a big key for
our team. That’s where we want
to play.
“We definitely owed him one
for sure.”
The final 20 minutes were
scoreless and the Penguins skated
off with their second straight 4-2
victory. They sent the series back
to Detroit tied 2-2 and guaranteed
it would return to Pittsburgh for
Game 6.
“They took a lead 2-1 early in
the second, and to see my team-
mates respond and get three goals
against that team in the second
was huge,” Fleury said
After the early hiccup on Stu-
art’s drive, Fleury finished the
second with eight saves. His task
wasn’t nearly as difficult in this
middle period because the offense
kept the puck at the other end of
the ice for the majority of it.
“They got that goal in the first
minute of the second period, and
I’m sure there were more people
than myself thinking, ‘Oh good-
ness,’ ” Penguins coach Dan
Bylsma said. “Give credit to our
guys.
— The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Q&A with ... Georgia coach Mark Richt
In SEC, ‘We all know we have to win, but it’s pretty civil’
Mark Richt has averaged 10 wins a
season in eight years as coach at Georgia,
including SEC Championships in 2002 and
2005. This fall, he begins his ninth season
as the longest tenured coach in the league
(at the same school). Sporting News Today
college football columnist Matt Hayes
recently caught up with Richt:
Q: The quarterback situation
this season looks very
familiar to a few years ago when
a senior (Joe Tereshinki) started
and was eventually replaced by a
high-profile freshman (Matt
Stafford). Do one or both of the
freshmen—Aaron Murray, Zach
Mettenberger—have enough to
push starter Joe Cox?
A: Not to say Aaron Murray
and Zach Mettenberger
aren’t fine quarterbacks, but I
really believe Joe Cox’s situation is
where it would be very difficult to
knock him out of the box.
Q: Has the team rallied
around Cox?
A: He played against Colorado a
couple of years ago and led us
to a big win, and that adds to his
credibility with the staff and his
teammates. They know he under-
stands the system well, they know he
puts team first and they can see how
accurate of a passer he is every day in
practice. They believe in Joe. We have
exit meetings with each player after
spring practice to talk about
Mark Richt said he turned down Pitt’s offer five years before taking the Georgia job because he didn’t think he was ready to be a head coach.
strengths and weaknesses. And we
always ask the question: Who are the
leaders on this team? They could
years ago, and everyone on the team
says he’s the guy.
write one guy or five guys, and 107
guys wrote Joe Cox. Here’s a guy who
started one game in his career three
Q:
between coaches in the SEC?
College Football FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 16
responsibility. We all know that Maybe FSU will have the same
any given day, something could kind of success in their appeal.
happen that could change our
professional lives in a hurry. We
all know we have to win, but it’s
pretty civil.
Q: You vote in the coaches
poll. We hear stories of
coaches having others vote for
them and other shenanigans.
Q: You were a highly
regarded assistant at
What’s your process, and would
you mind the vote being public?
Florida State. Was it a matter
of waiting for the right job to
come along?
A: I vote myself. I don’t give it to
a graduate assistant. I
usually don’t sleep after a game,
A: I didn’t plan it; I just put it to
prayer. Five years prior to me
taking the job, I really believed that I
anyway. I might call in my vote at 1
or 2 in the morning sometimes. I try
to make it make sense. I want to be
was going to be a head coach. I felt able to defend it every week whether
the spirit tell me that. I had an offer it’s public or not. But obviously what
to coach Pitt five years earlier, but to you don’t want is to have to defend it
me, God was saying, “You’re not every week. If that happened, I’m
ready. But you better get ready,
because your time is coming.” So I
had time to think about what was
out. Not because I’m worried about
my integrity; it’s more about defend-
ing it every week: Why did you vote
the right place, a place that you didn’t this way or that way, or for that team
look at as a steppingstone. I wanted over this team, or that team ahead of us?
to make one move from Florida You just don’t have time for it all
State, and that’s it. I wasn’t in a rush week long.
to become a head coach because I
know it comes with a price.
Q: You began last season
Q: FSU is appealing the 14
wins stripped from
ranked No. 1 in the
nation. Is that a good or bad
thing for teams in that
Bobby Bowden’s record because position?
of NCAA sanctions stemming
from academic fraud. Is it fair to
punish a coach for the misdeeds
A: I’d just as soon not be
preseason No. 1. But I guess
if you’re around there every year you
of players? get used to it. I’d really be for voting
ED REINKE / AP
A: I hate that for Coach
Bowden. I love Coach
Bowden. I haven’t followed it, and
after four or five games have been
played. It’s a better starting point for
the polls. As a voter, I’d like that. But
A: The first SEC meetings I
went to, I thought I’d just
keep my mouth shut and listen and
there’s a camaraderie I didn’t
think would exist. I thought it
would be more intense. It’s just a
I don’t know exactly what hap-
pened. But there’s a little precedent
there. At Oklahoma a couple of
as a fan, I can see where it generates
a fair amount of interest.
Has too much been made
of the offseason bickering
learn. It’s a little intimidating for
any coach walking into the great-
est conference in America. But
bunch of guys doing a very diffi-
cult job, and we need to watch
what we say. We all have a huge
years ago, the NCAA was getting
ready to strip wins, and they
appealed and it was overturned.
MORE COVERAGE
More with Richt: 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 Gundy to sign extension N?8KK@D<@J@K66

>8D<;8P
the season opener Thursday, Sept. 3.

91
Oklahoma State coach Mike
Gundy still hasn’t signed a contract
extension that was approved last
December and bumped his com-
pensation to more than $2.2 mil-
lion per season through 2015.
Athletic director Mike Holder
said in an e-mail to Tulsa World
that there would be no problems
with Gundy signing the contract.
“The process is ahead of sched-
ule. (Gundy’s) original contract
agreed upon in January of 2005
was not signed until October or MATT SLOCUM / AP
November of 2005,” Holder Oklahoma State’s A.D. expects coach Mike
wrote in the e-mail. “I remember Gundy to re-up soon.
because I signed it as athletic
director, but it was negotiated understanding is that the NCAA
when I was coaching golf. There did not move from its position that
are no issues, and it will be signed Florida State must vacate victories
in the next few weeks.” in 10 sports, including as many as
Gundy is 27-23 in four seasons 14 in football.
at his alma mater.
CHARLIE NEIBERGALL / AP Nebraska’s Sept. 19 game at
Despite throwing for nearly 2,800 yards, QB Former Florida LB John Jones is Virginia Tech will be televised
Austen Arnaud ranked ninth in the Big 12. transferring to Tennessee State regionally by ABC. Kickoff is
and will be eligible to play this fall. 3:30 p.m. ET.
He told The Tennessean he wants
IOWA STATE more playing time. Jones played North Carolina C/G Aaron Stahl

2008 record: 2-10 overall, 0-8 Big 12

Coach: Paul Rhoads
Outlook: The coach swap—Au-
burn took Iowa State head coach
Gene Chizik and the Cyclones
answered by hiring Rhoads,
Auburn’s defensive coordinator—is
the primary story line in Ames. QB
Austen Arnaud returns after
throwing for 2,792 yards last year
(32nd in the nation). Unfortunately
for the Cyclones, he ranked ninth
in the passing-crazed Big 12, which
devoured ISU’s secondary.
— Derek Samson
in 11 games for the Gators last
season and had 18 tackles.
The NCAA denied a request
by Florida State to release its
response to the school’s appeal of
sanctions from an academic
cheating scandal, according to
university president T.K. Wetherell.
“It’s not us, it’s the NCAA”
Wetherell said in a report by the
Tallahassee Democrat. “We don’t
want to keep it private.”
Betty Steffens, the school’s general
counsel, told the newspaper she
had not seen the document, but her
has decided to forego his final year
of eligibility. He graduated in May
with a bachelor’s degree in exercise
:FCC<><=FFK98CC
and sports science.
Stahl played in all 13 games last
ON SALE 6/2/09
season and started six at either
center or guard. He had shoulder
surgery in January.
New Wyoming coach Dave ($/''$*/'$.+'+
Christensen won’t get to face Mis- www.sportingnews.com or www.streetandsmiths.com
souri, where he was offensive SHIPPING: + $3.50 for the first magazine + 50¢ each additional magazine
coordinator, in 2011 as was previ-
ously scheduled because the
Cowboys are moving the two-
game series to 2017 and 2018.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Mets say Reyes has hamstring tear, Putz hurting
The Mets got a double dose of bad
news Thursday: injured SS Jose Reyes
now has a tear in his right hamstring
and reliever J.J. Putz is experiencing
pain in his elbow.
Reyes, who has been on the dis-
abled list since May 21 with right calf
tendinits, felt the hamstring injury
Wednesday during a rehabilitation
game.
“(An) MRI revealed a small tear in
his right hamstring tendon, a new
injury. Reyes will rest for two days
and then resume treatment,” the
Mets said in a statement.
Putz will leave the team and return
to New York to be examined by team
doctors today after experiencing
“sharp pain” in his right elbow while
pitching in a game against the Pitts-
burgh Pirates on Thursday.
Putz, acquired in an offseason
trade with Seattle to be a dominant
eighth-inning presence, has given up
eight runs and nine hits in a com-
bined 1 1/3 innings during his past
three outings, seeing his ERA climb
to 5.22.
Yankees SP A.J. Burnett was sus-
pended six games Thursday for
throwing high and tight to the Rang-
ers’ Nelson Cruz earlier this week. Bur-
nett, 4-2 with a 4.69 ERA in 11 starts,
appealed Major League Baseball’s
penalty, which was to have taken
effect immediately. He can continue
to pitch until a hearing is conducted.
“You kind of expect something to
happen when the ball comes that
close,” Burnett said Thursday
before the Yankees’ series finale
against the Rangers.
Burnett sailed a fastball near
Cruz’s head in a 12-3 win Tuesday.
INSIDE DISH
Earlier in the game, Texas P Vicente
Padilla twice had hit Mark Teixeira.
Burnett and Padilla were fined
undisclosed amounts by MLB.
Meanwhile, the Rangers have
placed Padilla on outright waivers,
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The move was supposed to be
confidential, but the newspaper’s
sources indicated that the Rangers
could have two motives: to free up
money that could be used later in
the season to upgrade the team, and
to rid themselves of Padilla’s incon-
sistent competitiveness on the
mound.
Still, Padilla (3-3 with a 5.57 ERA)
remains on Texas’ active roster and
is scheduled to pitch Sunday against
the Red Sox.
Rangers CF Josh Hamilton
(abdominal strain) will meet with a
hernia specialist Monday in Phila-
delphia for a second opinion. Ham-
ilton, placed on the 15-day disabled
list Tuesday, is resting and taking
anti-inflammatory medication with
the hope that he can avoid surgery.
If surgery is required, Hamilton
could be out until September.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen
confirmed to the Chicago Tribune
that P Jose Contreras would return
from the minors to start one game
of Monday’s split doubleheader
against the Tigers and that he
would stay on the major-league ros-
ter if he pitches well.
Mike Scioscia won’t promise a
permanent spot in the rotation to
SP Ervin Santana, 0-2 with a 9.50
ERA in four starts since coming off
Baseball
Yankees P A.J. Burnett would miss one start if MLB upholds his suspension.
the D.L., but the Angels manager
won’t yank him after today’s game
in Detroit, even if he pitches poorly
for a third consecutive game, the
Los Angeles Times reported. “One
and done? That’s not the case,” Sci-
oscia told the newspaper.
Within hours of P Tom Glavine’s
release Wednesday by the Braves,
three clubs had contacted the
lefthander’s agent, FOXSports.com
reported. But Glavine—who has
305 career victories and had gotten
his arm strength back enough to
throw his typical 83-86 mph in his
minor league rehab starts—is not
sure he wants to continue pitching.
Friend and former Atlanta team-
mate John Smoltz, now pitching for the
Red Sox after a less-than-friendly
breakup with the Braves, told
KATHY WILLENS / AP
FOXSports.com that it was unfair to
release Glavine after his minor league
rehab assignments but before he had
a chance to show what he could do
with the big club. “That’s not how
you treat people. He didn’t have a
chance to fail at that level.”
Rays 3B Evan Longoria, who left
Tuesday’s game with tightness in
his left hamstring, is likely to return
to the lineup by Saturday in New
York. Longoria didn’t start for the
second straight day Thursday
against Kansas City but said before
the game that he’d be ready in “a
day or two.”
Miguel Cabrera (.351, 10 HRs, 38
RBIs) left the Tigers’ game Thurs-
day against the Red Sox with a left
hamstring injury.
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 18
THE LAUNCHING PAD
What to expect in the major leagues today
TONY DEJAK / AP
David Price will test the homer-happy new Yankee Stadium tonight.
Price vs. pinstripes
Last September, Rays phenom David Price made his major league debut
at Yankee Stadium, pitching 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball in relief. Tonight,
Price will make his new Yankee Stadium debut. The Rays won both of their
games at the new park in early May. The first was a 10th-inning win, and the
second came after Tampa Bay scored twice in the ninth inning (with two solo
homers off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera). New York will counter with an
exceptional lefthander of its own, with CC Sabathia scheduled to start. After
a slow start with his new team, Sabathia has won his past four decisions.
Mr. Automatic
We won’t be treated to a classic Cy Young showdown between Zack
Greinke and Roy Halladay in this weekend’s Royals-Blue Jays series, but
Greinke will try to tie Halladay for the major league lead in wins (nine) tonight.
Greinke fanned eight Blue Jays en route to a win in late April (at the time,
both teams had at least a share of first place in their respective divisions).
Kansas City won three of the four games in that series, which was played at
Kauffman Stadium. Greinke leads the majors with five complete games and
still hasn’t allowed a home run this season.
Going streakin’
These days, only a scheduled off day can slow down Mariners outfielder
Ichiro Suzuki. Seattle was off Thursday, but Ichiro will take his 27-game hit-
ting streak into tonight’s game against Minnesota. Ichiro already has set a
Mariners record with his streak and is just three games shy of this season’s
longest hitting streak (Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit in 30
consecutive games from April 8-May 16). On the mound for the Twins will
be struggling lefthander Francisco Liriano, against whom Ichiro is 6-for-15
(.400) in his career.
— Chris Bahr
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 19
Fantasy Focus LEAGUE LEADERS
American League Standings
Batting Average Home Runs East W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Start ’Em, Sit ’Em Boston 32 22 .593 — — 6-4 W-4 17-6 15-16
A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L. New York 32 22 .593 — — 7-3 W-1 16-10 16-12
Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Toronto 30 26 .536 3 3 3-7 L-2 19-9 11-17
Bartlett Tampa Bay .373 Beltran New York .356 CPena Tampa Bay 17 AdGonzalez San Diego 22 Tampa Bay 28 28 .500 5 5 5-5 W-3 16-11 12-17
Baltimore 24 30 .444 8 8 6-4 L-2 16-13 8-17
MiCabrera Detroit .354 Tejada Houston .350 Bay Boston 16 Ibanez Philadelphia 19
ISuzuki Seattle .353 Hawpe Colorado .348 NCruz Texas 16 Pujols St. Louis 17 Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Morneau Minnesota .348 Pujols St. Louis .346 Teixeira New York 16 Dunn Washington 16 Detroit 28 24 .538 — — 4-6 L-3 15-10 13-14
Minnesota 27 28 .491 2½ 5½ 5-5 W-1 21-12 6-16
VMartinez Cleveland .346 HaRamirez Florida .342 Morneau Minnesota 15 Howard Philadelphia 16 Chicago 25 28 .472 3½ 6½ 6-4 L-3 13-13 12-15
AdJones Baltimore .345 Pence Houston .339 Dye Chicago 14 Bruce Cincinnati 14 Kansas City 23 30 .434 5½ 8½ 2-8 L-7 15-15 8-15
MYoung Texas .338 Ibanez Philadelphia .335 Kinsler Texas 14 Three tied 13 Cleveland 23 33 .411 7 10 5-5 L-1 12-14 11-19
ELISE AMENDOLA / AP West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Runs Stolen Bases Texas 31 22 .585 — — 5-5 L-1 18-9 13-13
Jason Varitek has 10 homers this season. Los Angeles 27 25 .519 3½ 4 5-5 W-2 14-12 13-13
A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L. Seattle 26 28 .481 5½ 6 6-4 W-2 14-13 12-15
Oakland 22 30 .423 8½ 9 5-5 W-3 11-13 11-17
Start Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team
Jason Varitek, C, Red Sox. Some Crawford Tampa Bay 43 Ibanez Philadelphia 44 Crawford Tampa Bay 34 Bourn Houston 18 National League Standings
owners haven’t noticed Varitek Damon New York 43 Pujols St. Louis 43 Ellsbury Boston 22 DWright New York 13 East W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
has 10 homers, just three off his Morneau Minnesota 43 Zimmerman Washington 40 Figgins Los Angeles 20 Kemp Los Angeles 12 Philadelphia 32 20 .615 — — 8-2 W-7 12-14 20-6
Pedroia Boston 43 AdGonzalez San Diego 39 BUpton Tampa Bay 17 Taveras Cincinnati 12 New York 28 24 .538 4 2 5-5 L-3 17-9 11-15
total from 2008. He also is BRoberts Baltimore 43 Hudson Los Angeles 39 Abreu Los Angeles 15 Six tied 11 Atlanta 26 26 .500 6 4 4-6 L-1 12-13 14-13
10-for-24 (.417) lifetime against Scutaro Toronto 43 Utley Philadelphia 39 Bartlett Tampa Bay 14
Florida 26 29 .473 7½ 5½ 6-4 W-1 12-15 14-14
Washington 14 38 .269 18 16 2-8 L-2 8-18 6-20
Texas’ Kevin Millwood. AdJones Baltimore 42 Victorino Philadelphia 38 Span Minnesota 12
Pedro Feliz, 3B, Phillies. Feliz’s Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
Milwaukee 31 23 .574 — — 5-5 L-1 16-9 15-14
average is hovering around .300, RBIs Pitching (5 decisions) St. Louis 31 23 .574 — — 5-5 W-1 19-11 12-12
and he is 6-of-11 (.545) with a homer Cincinnati 28 25 .528 2½ 2½ 5-5 L-1 13-12 15-13
A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L. Chicago 26 25 .510 3½ 3½ 5-5 W-1 16-10 10-15
against Los Angeles’ Eric Milton. Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Pittsburgh 25 28 .472 5½ 5½ 6-4 W-3 15-11 10-17
David Price, SP, Rays. The Yan- Longoria Tampa Bay 55 Ibanez Philadelphia 53 Palmer Los Angeles 5-0 1.000 Broxton Los Angeles 5-0 1.000 Houston 23 29 .442 7 7 5-5 L-1 12-16 11-13
kees are hitting .308 against left- Bay Boston 53 Fielder Milwaukee 52 Feldman Texas 5-0 1.000 Cain San Francisco 7-1 .875 West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
ies, but Price had success against Morneau Minnesota 50 Pujols St. Louis 48 Halladay Toronto 9-1 .900 Martis Washington 5-1 .833 Los Angeles 37 19 .661 — — 6-4 L-1 20-7 17-12
Teixeira New York 47 Howard Philadelphia 46 Greinke Kansas City 8-1 .889 JoJohnson Florida 5-1 .833 San Francisco 27 25 .519 8 3 7-3 W-2 18-9 9-16
New York in a relief appearance San Diego 25 28 .472 10½ 5½ 4-6 L-3 17-9 8-19
TorHunter Los Angeles 43 AdGonzalez San Diego 43 Slowey Minnesota 8-1 .889 LiHernandez New York 4-1 .800 Arizona 23 31 .426 13 8 4-6 L-2 12-19 11-12
last season. Don’t bench a poten- CPena Tampa Bay 42 Dunn Washington 42 Penny Boston 5-1 .833 Lincecum San Francisco 4-1 .800 Colorado 21 32 .396 14½ 9½ 3-7 W-1 9-14 12-18
tial 10-strikeout performance. Two tied 41 Three tied 41 Baez Baltimore 4-1 .800 Gallardo Milwaukee 5-2 .714 z-first game was a win

Sit HIts Strikeouts

Pitching Matchups Today’s Games (All times Eastern)
Michael Cuddyer, OF, Twins. Cud- A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L. American League The Line
dyer is nursing a finger injury, and Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team L.A. Angels (E.Santana 0-2) at Detroit (Verlander 6-2), 7:05 p.m. at Det -165 LAA +155
he is 2-for-18 (.222) against Seat- AHill Toronto 77 Tejada Houston 76 Verlander Detroit 90 Lincecum San Francisco 91 Tampa Bay (Price 1-0) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 5-3), 7:05 p.m. at NYY -200 TB +185
tle’s Felix Hernandez. VMartinez Cleveland 74 Hudson Los Angeles 71 Greinke Kansas City 88 JSantana New York 89
Kansas City (Greinke 8-1) at Toronto (R.Romero 2-2), 7:07 p.m. KC -130 at Tor +120
Chone Figgins, 3B, Angels. Figgins Crawford Tampa Bay 73 Ibanez Philadelphia 69 Halladay Toronto 82 JVazquez Atlanta 86
Texas (Millwood 4-4) at Boston (Penny 5-1), 7:10 p.m. at Bos -135 Tex +125
is 1-for-11 (.091) with seven strike- Morneau Minnesota 72 Zimmerman Washington 69 Lester Boston 74 Billingsley Los Angeles 85
ISuzuki Seattle 72 HaRamirez Florida 67 FHernandez Seattle 72 Peavy San Diego 84 Cleveland (Pavano 5-4) at Chicago White Sox (Danks 4-3), 8:11 p.m. at ChW -140 Cle +130
outs in his past encounters with Ellsbury Boston 70 FSanchez Pittsburgh 67 Beckett Boston 68 Haren Arizona 78 Baltimore (Guthrie 4-4) at Oakland (Braden 4-5), 10:05 p.m. at Oak -125 Bal +115
Detroit’s Justin Verlander. MYoung Texas 70 Two tied 65 Garza Tampa Bay 66 JoJohnson Florida 72 Minnesota (Liriano 2-7) at Seattle (F.Hernandez 5-3), 10:10 p.m. at Sea -150 Min +140
Ervin Santana, SP, Angels. Don’t
start the struggling Angels pitcher. Doubles Saves National League The Line
He’s 2-2 with a 7.17 ERA in four A.L. N.L. A.L. N.L.
N.Y. Mets (Redding 0-2) at Washington (Martis 5-1), 7:05 p.m. at Was -125 NYM +115
career starts at Comerica Park. Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Chicago Cubs (Zambrano 3-2) at Cincinnati (Owings 3-6), 7:10 p.m. ChC -135 at Cin +125
— Bill Bender Lind Toronto 21 Tejada Houston 20 Fuentes Los Angeles 14 Bell San Diego 15 San Francisco (Zito 1-6) at Florida (Volstad 4-4), 7:10 p.m. at Fla -160 SF +150
Longoria Tampa Bay 20 FSanchez Pittsburgh 19 Papelbon Boston 14 Cordero Cincinnati 14 Milwaukee (Gallardo 5-2) at Atlanta (Jurrjens 5-2), 7:35 p.m. at Atl -130 Mil +120
MORE COVERAGE MYoung Texas 20 AdLaRoche Pittsburgh 18 Jenks Chicago 12 FrRodriguez New York 14 Pittsburgh (Karstens 2-2) at Houston (Hampton 3-4), 8:05 p.m. at Hou -125 Pit +115
Byrd Texas 19 Hudson Los Angeles 17 MaRivera New York 12 Hoffman Milwaukee 14 Colorado (De La Rosa 0-6) at St. Louis (Wainwright 5-3), 8:15 p.m. at StL -175 Col +165
Get everything you need to Callaspo Kansas City 17 HaRamirez Florida 17 FFrancisco Texas 12 Four tied 13 Arizona (D.Davis 2-6) at San Diego (Gaudin 2-3), 10:05 p.m. at SD -115 Ari +105
dominate your fantasy league at Lowell Boston 17 Three tied 16 Sherrill Baltimore 11
sportingnews.com/fantasy/baseball Philadelphia (Moyer 4-5) at L.A. Dodgers (Milton 2-0), 10:10 p.m. at LAD -130 Phi +120
Morneau Minnesota 17 Two tied 10
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 20
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Giants 5, Nationals 1 Giants 4, Nationals 1, 6 innings
San Francisco 5, Washington 1, 1st game; San Francisco 4, Washington 1, 6 innings, 2nd game First Game Second Game

San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg. San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Rowand cf 3 1 1 1 1 0 .294

Johnson on 300: ‘It’s a career achievement’

Rowand cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .293
Renteria ss 4 1 1 0 0 2 .245 Renteria ss 3 1 1 0 0 0 .247
Winn rf 4 1 1 2 0 0 .283 Torres lf 3 1 1 0 0 2 .250
B.Molina c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .247 Sandoval 1b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .301
F.Lewis lf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .276 Aurilia 3b 3 0 2 1 0 0 .221
c-Sandoval ph-1b 0 0 0 1 0 0 .301 Whiteside c 3 0 1 1 0 0 .300
WASHINGTON—The emotions finally flowed did it 10 years ago,” Johnson said. Ishikawa 1b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .264 Schierholtz rf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .242
d-Torres ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .231 Burriss 2b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .273
for Randy Johnson when the final out was It was hardly the ideal setting for a historic Cain p 3 0 1 0 0 1 .263
Uribe 3b 4 0 0 1 0 0 .299
made. moment. The crowd was small and the Burriss 2b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .272 Totals 27 4 10 4 1 5
A hug for his son, who was serving as bat- weather was wet. Some of the few thousand Ra.Johnson p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .059
Medders p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
boy. Hugs for every teammate, plus a really fans who witnessed the feat—the Nationals Affeldt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 C.Guzman ss 3 1 1 0 0 1 .326
B.Wilson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 N.Johnson 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .330
big one for his manager. The game ball pre- have trouble drawing a crowd for anything Zimmerman 3b 1 0 1 1 1 0 .321
Totals 33 5 7 5 0 9
sented to his wife as his three daughters these days—chanted “Randy! Randy!” in the Dunn lf 2 0 0 0 1 2 .261
Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Dukes rf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .270
beamed with pride. A news conference that bottom of the ninth, and he tipped his hat to W.Harris cf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .273
Alb.Gonzalez ss 4 1 0 0 0 0 .271
lasted a half-hour from a player who usually them all. N.Johnson 1b 2 0 1 1 2 0 .330 J.Bard c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .212
Zimmerman 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .318 A.Hernandez 2b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .287
doesn’t have much to say. Someone even Family and friends from all over flew in Detwiler p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000
Dunn lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .263
spotted a smile. for the occasion to see Johnson (5-4) become Dukes cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .275 Totals 19 1 5 1 2 7
The Big Unit admits he can come across as the first pitcher to get 300 on his first try Kearns rf 3 0 0 0 1 3 .218
Belliard 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .178 San Francisco 000 130 — 4 10 0
surly, and he did his best over the past few since Tom Seaver in 1985. Nieves c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .279 Washington 100 00x — 1 5 0
weeks to downplay his pursuit of 300 wins. “He’s become one of the dinosaurs with Zimmermann p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-A.Hernandez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .283 LOB: San Francisco 7, Washington 6. 2B: Sandoval (15),
Once he got there—with a steady, six-inning the other 23, and he didn’t want to make a big Villone p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Schierholtz (4), Burriss (6), C.Guzman (11), A.Hernandez
MacDougal p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- (6). 3B: W.Harris (2). RBIs: Rowand (25), Sandoval
performance in the San Francisco Giants’ deal out of it,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy (22), Aurilia (12), Whiteside (2), Zimmerman (38). SB:
b-C.Guzman ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .325
5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals said. “But you could see after the game—I’m Hanrahan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Torres (2). SF: Zimmerman. Runners left in scoring
Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- position: San Francisco 1 (Whiteside) Washington 4
in the opener of a doubleheader Thursday— sure he’s had his eye on this 300 for a while. (W.Harris 2, C.Guzman, Detwiler). Runners moved
Totals 31 1 4 1 4 8
he was free to express that, yes, it really is a He’s done an incredible job with keeping his up: Sandoval, Dukes.
big deal. self in shape, pitching at 45 and still throw- San Francisco 020 000 003 — 5 7 1
Washington 000 001 000 — 1 4 0 San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
“I think it kind of hit me when I walked on ing the ball the way he’s throwing is quite an Cain W, 7-1 5 5 1 1 2 7 82 2.27
a-grounded out for Zimmermann in the 6th. b-flied out Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
the field,” Johnson said. “It’s a long-range accomplishment.” Detwiler L, 0-2 52⁄3 10 4 4 1 5 76 5.23
for MacDougal in the 8th. c-hit a sacrifice fly for F.Lewis
achievement. It’s not a one-game or a one- Johnson had to leave the game because of in the 9th. d-flied out for Ishikawa in the 9th. E: Renteria
(5). LOB: San Francisco 2, Washington 7. 2B: Renteria WP: Cain. Umpires: Home, Rob Drake First, Jeff Kel-
year achievement, it’s a career achievement. what he called a “senior moment”—his deci- logg Second, Mark Wegner Third, R.J. Thompson. T:
(8), Winn (15), Ishikawa (4), N.Johnson (8). RBIs: Winn 2
Who knows how many teammates I’ve had sion to go after a comebacker that he knocked (23), Sandoval (21), Uribe (10), Burriss (12), N.Johnson 1:37 (Rain delay: 1:07). A: 16,787 (41,888).
over my 21 years, but they had a great deal to down in the sixth inning. The 6-foot-10 John- (27). SF: Sandoval. Runners left in scoring position:
Washington 4 (Nieves, Dunn 3). Runners moved up:
do with my success. I’m going to think about son barehanded the ball while falling for- Uribe, Alb.Gonzalez, Zimmerman. GIDP: Belliard. DP:
this for a long time.” ward to throw out the runner and bruised San Francisco 1 (Burriss, Renteria, Ishikawa).
In the nightcap, the Giants completed a his pitching shoulder on the play. He’s San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
sweep with a rain-shortened 4-1 victory. The expected to make his next start. Ra.Johnson W, 5-4 6 2 1 0 2 2 78 5.12
Medders H, 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 14 2.66
game was called with two outs in the top of San Francisco led 2-1 when Johnson Affeldt H, 13 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 9 1.88
the sixth after a 67-minute delay. departed, but he nearly wound up with a no- B.Wilson S, 13-16 11⁄3 1 0 0 1 4 34 3.86
Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Johnson became the 24th pitcher to reach decision. The Nationals loaded the bases Zimmermann L, 2-3 6 3 2 2 0 7 92 5.71
the 300-win milestone, and he did it as a with two outs in the eighth before Adam Villone 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 0.00
MacDougal 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 8.53
mature pitcher, not the overpowering tangle Dunn was called out on strikes with a full Hanrahan 0 4 3 3 0 0 9 6.66
of arms and legs who was all about strike- count on a knee-high fastball from reliever Beimel 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 4.64
outs early in his career. He walked two, Brian Wilson. Hanrahan pitched to 4 batters in the 9th. Medders
struck out two, allowed only an unearned The 45-year-old Johnson is the sixth pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited runners-
scored: Affeldt 1-0, B.Wilson 2-0, Beimel 2-1. PB:
run and threw 50 of his 78 pitches for strikes. lefthander to win 300 games and the second- B.Molina. Umpires: Home, Tim Timmons; First, R.J.
He faced four batters above the minimum oldest pitcher to reach the milestone. Knuck- Thompson; Second, Jeff Kellogg; Third, Mark Wegner.
T: 2:30. A: 0 (41,888).
and got shutout relief from his bullpen. leballer Phil Niekro was 46 when he won his NICK WASS / AP
“I get more gratification out of that because 300th with the New York Yankees in 1985. Randy Johnson is the sixth lefty to win 300 games and, at 45, the second-oldest
of the way I’m doing it now than the way I — The Associated Press behind 46-year-old Phil Niekro.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 21

300 Wins List Winningest active pitchers

1. Cy Young, 511
2. Walter Johnson, 417 Pitcher Age Wins-losses
3. Grover Cleveland Alexander, 373 Randy Johnson 45 300-164
3. Christy Mathewson, 373 Jamie Moyer 46 250-190
5. Pud Galvin, 365 Andy Pettitte 36 220-128
6. Warren Spahn, 363 John Smoltz 42 210-147
7. Kid Nichols, 361 Tim Wakefield 42 184-160
8. Greg Maddux, 355 Bartolo Colon 36 153-101
9. Roger Clemens, 354 Livan Hernandez 34 151-140
10. Tim Keefe, 342 Tim Hudson 33 146-77
11. Steve Carlton, 329 Kevin Millwood 34 146-115
12. John Clarkson, 328 Mike Hampton 36 144-109
13. Eddie Plank, 326 Roy Halladay 32 139-67
14. Nolan Ryan, 324
14. Don Sutton, 324
16. Phil Niekro, 318
17. Gaylord Perry, 314 Johnson career stats
18. Tom Seaver, 311 Regular Season
19. Hoss Radbourn, 309 Year, Team IP W-L BB SO ERA
20. Mickey Welch, 307 1988, Mon 26 3-0 7 25 2.42
1989, Mon 29.2 0-4 26 26 6.67
21. x-Tom Glavine, 305 1989, Sea 131 7-9 70 104 4.40
22. Lefty Grove, 300 1990, Sea 219.2 14-11 120 194 3.65
1991, Sea 201.1 13-10 152 228 3.98
22. Early Wynn, 300 1992, Sea 210.1 12-14 144 241 3.77
22. x-Randy Johnson, 300 1993, Sea 255.1 19-8 99 308 3.24
1994, Sea 172 13-6 72 204 3.19
(x-active) 1995, Sea 214.1 18-2 65 294 2.48
1996, Sea 61.1 5-0 25 85 3.67
1997, Sea 213 20-4 77 291 2.28
Winningest 1998, Sea
1998, Hou
160
84.1
9-10
10-1
60
26
213
116
4.33
1.28
lefthanders 1999, Ari
2000, Ari
271.2
248.2
17-9
19-7
70
76
364
347
2.48
2.64
Warren Spahn 363 2001, Ari 249.2 21-6 71 372 2.49
2002, Ari 260 24-5 71 334 2.32
Steve Carlton 329 2003, Ari 114 6-8 27 125 4.26
Eddie Plank 326 2004, Ari 245.2 16-14 44 290 2.60
2005, NYY 225.2 17-8 47 211 3.79
Tom Glavine 305 2006, NYY 205 17-11 60 172 5.00
Lefty Grove 300 2007, Ari 56.2 4-3 13 72 3.81
2008, Ari 184 11-10 44 173 3.91
Randy Johnson 300 2009, SF 58 5-4 21 56 5.12
Totals 4097.1 300-164 1487 4845 3.29

Milestone Wins
1st Win: Sept. 15, 1988 vs. Pittsburgh (with Montreal).
100th Win: April 6, 1996 vs. Milwaukee (with Seattle).
200th Win: Oct. 2, 2001 vs. Colorado (with Arizona).
250th Win: May 18, 2004 at Atlanta (with Arizona).
Randy Johnson hugs son Tanner after the 300th Win: June 4, 2009 at Washingotn (with San Francisco).
Giants beat Washington 5-1 for Johnson’s
300th career win.
NICK WASS / AP

BASEBALL COVERAGE IS OUR BREAD & BUTTER

35"3#2)"%4/$!9!.$3!6%
/.%9%!2*534s   sWWWSPORTINGNEWSCOM
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 22
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Q&A with ... Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman Colorado 10, Houston 3

‘To get a hit every day, a lot of things have to happen right’ Atkins gets it right
Although his team continues to languish DiMaggio’s record?
in the N.L. East cellar, Zimmerman has been
making headlines for all the right reasons. His
30-game hitting streak, which ended May 13,
A: That record and the consecu-
tive games played are going to
be really hard to break. Not to take
HOUSTON—Garrett
couldn’t get himself to stop
making bad swings for more
Atkins Rockies 10, Astros 3
Colorado AB R
Spilborghs cf-lf 4 2
H BI
2 2
BB
0
SO
0
Avg.
.263
Barmes ss 4 1 2 1 1 0 .266
captured the attention of the baseball world. anything away from what DiMaggio than a month. He got it right Helton 1b 4 1 2 1 1 2 .315
Murton lf 5 0 1 2 0 3 .267
That streak has been part of a torrid start did, because it’s unbelievable. At the twice on Thursday night and Grilli p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
for Zimmerman. Sporting News Today’s Bill end of my streak, I still had a month hopes he can finally put his Embree p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Hawpe rf 5 1 1 1 0 0 .348
Eichenberger recently spoke with the slick- left to go to catch DiMaggio. But sluggish start behind him. Atkins 3b 4 2 2 3 0 0 .194
fielding, 24-year-old third baseman about during his 56-game streak, I read Atkins broke out of a slump Quintanilla 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .217
Stewart 2b-3b 5 1 3 0 0 0 .205
the streak, his defense and a couple of his where he faced 40-some pitchers. with two home runs and the Bellorin c 4 1 1 0 1 1 .250
boyhood teammates who also have reached During my 30-game streak, I faced Colorado Rockies snapped a Hammel p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .000
c-Fowler ph-cf 0 1 0 0 1 0 .255
the majors. 50-some pitchers. But it doesn’t four-game losing skid with a Totals 39 10 14 10 4 8
matter if you’re facing the same 10-3 win over the Houston
Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Q: Why are hitting streaks

like the one you just had
so hard to put together?
pitcher 56 games in a row, to get a hit
every game is pretty unbelievable.
Astros.
Ryan Spilborghs and Brad
Hawpe added solo homers and
Bourn cf
Tejada ss
Pence rf
5
5
4
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
.297
.350
.339
Ca.Lee lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .315

A: Hitting is hard. To get a hit

every day, a lot of things have Q: Did you see your fast start
coming?
Jason Hammel pitched seven
effective innings for the Rock-
Berkman 1b
I.Rodriguez c
Blum 3b
3
4
3
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
.242
.266
.271
to happen right. Some days you are
going to hit a couple of balls hard and
they might get caught. A lot of luck is
A: Not really. I just never had
gotten off to a good start. The
first three years of my career it has
CHARLES DHARAPAK / AP
ies, who avoided a sweep and
stopped Houston’s four-game
winning streak.
Maysonet 2b
W.Rodriguez p
a-Kata ph
R.Ortiz p
4
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
.382
.043
.000
.200
involved, I guess. You get jam shots, been .200-something Aprils and Ryan Zimmerman batted .382 during his 30-game hitting streak. Atkins came into the game b-Erstad ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .137
Backe p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
shots off the end of the bat, things battling from there. To be able to get I’ve matured into the hitter that I success all three of you have batting .188 and had only 11 hits d-Michaels ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167
Totals 34 3 7 3 3 6
like that. off to a nice start and have a base to guess everyone thought I could be. experienced so early in your in his last 86 at-bats. He never
go off has been a lot better. I’m still very young and have a long major league careers? lost his confidence at the plate Colorado 004 120 030 — 10 14 1
Houston 001 000 110 — 3 7 0

Q: Are there factors that

make it more difficult to
keep a hitting streak going today
than when Joe DiMaggio set the
record, hitting in 56 straight?
Q: How big of a boost has it
been having Adam Dunn
way to go. But this is the first year
where I have ... not figured it out but
have more of an idea of what I want
A: I think we all know how hard
it is to be good at this level.
But we all also know that we can get
and didn’t make any adjust-
ments before Thursday’s game.
“Just kept believing in myself
a-flied out for W.Rodriguez in the 5th. b-walked for
R.Ortiz in the 7th. c-walked for Hammel in the 8th.
d-popped out for Backe in the 9th. E: Atkins (7). LOB:
hitting cleanup behind you every to do at the plate. I don’t feel lost ever, better, and we all work hard at it. that it was going to turn,” Colorado 7, Houston 8. 2B: Spilborghs (13), Stewart (5),
Bourn (10), Berkman (8). 3B: Barmes (3). HR: Atkins 2
day in the lineup? or searching for answers. I guess it’s Atkins said. “As long as you (5), off W.Rodriguez 2; Spilborghs (5), off W.Rodriguez;

A: I think the game has changed.

Now from the sixth and
seventh inning on, you are going to
A: It’s helped me. He’s one of the
best power hitters in the
game for the past five years, and to
part of growing up and learning
yourself.
face a guy who is specialist. Off the
starter, you get two or three at-bats
against a guy that you might be good
have a presence like that behind you
affects everything throughout the
whole lineup.
Q:
Upton, your former summer ball
Q: With the five-year, $45
million contract you
signed this spring, you are
believe in yourself, you’re likely
to turn it around.”
Colorado manager Jim Tracy
Hawpe (8), off W.Rodriguez. RBIs: Spilborghs 2 (25),
Barmes (20), Helton (36), Murton 2 (6), Hawpe (41),
Atkins 3 (20), Bourn (13), I.Rodriguez (24), Maysonet
(6). CS: Barmes (3). S: W.Rodriguez. SF: Spilborghs.
Runners left in scoring position: Colorado 3 (Hawpe
Do you stay in touch with
David Wright and B.J.
committed to the Nationals
through 2013. How close is this
team to turning it around?
only wants Atkins to watch his
two home run swings on video
before the Rockies open a series
2, Hammel); Houston 4 (Tejada, Bourn 2, Blum).

Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Hammel W, 2-3 7 4 2 2 2 4 96 4.50
against or bad against. But after that,
the other team is going to match up
and put someone out there against Q: How does it feel to finally
have people talking more
teammates in Virginia?

A: We talk a lot during the

offseason, but during the
A: I think it’s real close. ... We’re
young, we’re talented, we’re
growing up and maturing together.
in St. Louis this weekend. And
Atkins probably will.
“Hopefully, these swings
Grilli
Embree
Houston
W.Rodriguez L, 5-5
1
1
IP
5
2
1
H
10
1 1
0 0
R ER
7 7
1 1 26 6.05
0 1 15 6.19
BB SO NP ERA
2 7 98 2.97
R.Ortiz 2 1 0 0 0 1 24 4.46
whom you don’t have the best chance about your hitting than your season not as much. We text back Once it clicks, I think it is going to be today, I can kind of get that Backe 2 3 3 3 2 0 28 15.00
to be successful. fielding? and forth and stay in touch that way. exciting. ... Like I’ve told everyone, I muscle memory going that way
IBB: off Backe (Helton), off W.Rodriguez (Bellorin).

Q: How hard will it be for

someone to break
A: It’s kind of weird because my
fielding has always been the
headline. This is the first year that
Q: Do you have an
appreciation for the
wouldn’t have signed if I thought we
were going to lose 100 games every
year.
and continue it on for a nice lit-
tle streak,” Atkins said.
— The Associated Press
Umpires: Home, Lance Barksdale; First, Randy Marsh;
Second, Marvin Hudson; Third, James Hoye. T: 2:47. A:
26,671 (40,976).
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 23
NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1
McLouth surprised at trade, ready to help
Carpenter gets rare complete game ATLANTA—Nate McLouth embraced his new oppor-
tunity with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday only after
an emotional departure from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
ST. LOUIS—Chris Carpenter liked what Cardinals 3, Reds 1 McLouth said he was excited about the chance to
he saw right from the start. Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg. win in Atlanta but was sad to be dealt from the Pirates,
Carpenter took advantage of Cincin- Hairston Jr. 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .260 his only professional home before the trade. He said
Dickerson cf 3 0 2 0 0 0 .250
nati’s free swingers, pitching a three- B.Phillips 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .285 Wednesday’s trade for three minor league players—
hitter for his first complete game in Bruce rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .212 outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and pitchers Charlie
R.Hernandez 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .276
more than two years, and Albert Pujols L.Nix lf 3 1 1 1 0 0 .288 Morton and Jeff Locke—“was shocking.”
took care of the offense with a two-run Ale.Gonzalez ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .215 “It was the last thing on my mind, to be honest with
Hanigan c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .316
homer and RBI double as the St. Louis Harang p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .167 you,” McLouth said Thursday before the Braves
Cardinals beat the Reds 3-1 on Thurs- a-Gomes ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .316 played the Cubs. “To get a call from a G.M. on your
Totals 28 1 3 1 0 3
day night. cell phone is pretty rare, so I knew something was up
“They showed it from the beginning St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg. when I got the call. He told me I was coming on over
Schumaker 2b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .302
of the game that they were going to be Barden 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .242 here.”
aggressive early in the count, they Rasmus cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .248 Wednesday’s call from Pirates general manager
Pujols 1b 4 1 2 3 0 0 .346
weren’t going to let me get deep,” he Ludwick rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .240 Neal Huntington led to an emotional send-off Thurs-
said. “I was able to make good quality Ankiel lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .226 day morning.
Y.Molina c 2 0 0 0 1 0 .259
pitches down in the strike zone. That’s Thurston 3b-2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .261 McLouth fought back tears, wiped his eyes, sniffled
what happens when you get an aggres- C.Carpenter p 3 0 1 0 0 0 .083 repeatedly and paused a few times when speaking
Br.Ryan ss 3 0 1 0 0 1 .281
sive team that wants to hit and you’re Totals 29 3 8 3 2 4 with reporters while cleaning out his locker in Pitts-
able to make quality pitches, you’re burgh. He said he was surprised because the trade
Cincinnati 000 000 010 — 1 3 1
going to be able to get quick outs.” St. Louis 002 001 00x — 3 8 0 deadline is still about eight weeks away and because
The victory gave St. Louis a split of he signed a three-year contract less than four months
a-popped out for Harang in the 9th. E: B.Phillips (4).
the four-game series and put the Cardi- TOM GANNAM / AP LOB: Cincinnati 0, St. Louis 4. 2B: Pujols (13). HR: L.Nix ago.
nals in a tie for first in the National (7), off C.Carpenter; Pujols (17), off Harang. RBIs: L.Nix After his arrival in Atlanta, McLouth’s thoughts
Chris Carpenter limited the Reds to three hits. (18), Pujols 3 (48). Runners left in scoring position:
League Central with Milwaukee, which St. Louis 4 (C.Carpenter 2, Y.Molina, Schumaker). GIDP: and emotions were still mixed.
lost to the Florida Marlins. mistake the whole game and Nix is B.Phillips 2, Schumaker, Pujols, Y.Molina, C.Carpenter. “Pittsburgh’s the only organization I had ever been GENE J. PUSKAR / AP
DP: Cincinnati 4 (Hairston Jr., B.Phillips, R.Hernandez),
Carpenter (4-0) needed just 95 pitches swinging the bat really good, took (Ale.Gonzalez, B.Phillips, R.Hernandez), (B.Phillips, Ale. with; they drafted me out of high school almost 10 Nate McLouth had spent his entire career with Pittsburgh.
for his 26th complete game and first advantage and hit it out of the park.” Gonzalez, R.Hernandez), (R.Hernandez, Ale.Gonzalez, years ago,” he said. “I got to know a lot of great people.
R.Hernandez); St. Louis 2 (Thurston, Schumaker, Pujols),
since September 11, 2006, at Houston. Carpenter had retired 12 straight (Thurston, Schumaker, Pujols). That’s going to be the hard part, the relationships and hitter, but after talking with manager Bobby Cox he
With the help of two double plays, he before Nix’s hit. He struck out three, the people.” agreed to hit fourth to accommodate McLouth.
Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
faced the minimum through 7 2-3 walked none and singled in the seventh Harang L, 5-6 8 8 3 3 2 4 115 4.11 But there was little time for looking back. McLouth “I talked to Bobby about it and told him I was open
innings. Carpenter’s ERA rose to 0.71 for his first hit of the year. He gave up St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA was in Thursday night’s starting lineup as the No. 3 to whatever is best for the club,” Jones said. “I don’t
C.Carpenter W, 4-0 9 3 1 1 0 3 95 0.71
ERA. singles to Chris Dickerson in the first hitter and the starting center fielder, although the know if this is permanent. We’ll see. If I get more RBI
Laynce Nix spoiled the shutout bid and third, but got Brandon Phillips to Umpires: Home, D.J. Reyburn; First, Jim Joyce; Second, game was rained out. opportunities out of it, I’ll be happy with it. I make no
Brian Runge; Third, Derryl Cousins. T: 2:05. A: 39,249
with his seventh homer to right field in ground into double plays both times to (43,975). McLouth said the opportunity to win “is what every bones about it, I’d prefer to hit third but I’ve always
the eighth. end the inning. player wants.” been willing to try to do what’s best for the club.”
Since returning from the disabled list Aaron Harang (5-6) went the distance “The people are going to be hard to leave, but I lost a Jones has hit .316 in 5,726 career at-bats as the No. 3
May 20 with an oblique injury, Carpen- in losing his second straight. He gave lot of games there and that’s hard to do as an athlete,” hitter and .297 in 1,643 at-bats hitting fourth.
ter has allowed three earned runs and up eight hits, striking out three and he said. “When you talk about winning, the Atlanta The 27-year-old McLouth set career highs last sea-
14 hits in 28 innings. For Pujols, it was walking two in eight innings. He han- Braves are one of the top organizations that come to son with a .276 batting average, 26 homers and 94
another Carpenter gem that didn’t com- dled the Cardinals well in a 8-3 victory mind. To be a part of it is something special.” RBIs. Atlanta outfielders have only 10 homers
mand too much analysis. May 9 at Busch, spreading seven hits in Chipper Jones has been a fixture as Atlanta’s No. 3 through 52 games. McLouth has nine homers and 34
“It’s not rocket science,” Pujols said. seven innings and striking out seven. RBIs and is hitting .256.
“Look at the job he did. He made one — The Associated Press Cubs at Braves was postponed — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 24
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Florida 4, Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 11, N.Y. Mets 6

Johnson helps himself with three-run shot McCutchen has huge debut
PITTSBURGH—Prized prospect Pirates 11, Mets 6
Marlins 4, Brewers 3 New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
MIAMI—Winning a game with his arm Andrew McCutchen did his best Cora ss 5 0 1 1 0 0 .321
was nothing unusual for Josh Johnson. Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg. to make the Pittsburgh Pirates L.Castillo 2b 4 1 1 1 1 0 .284
Counsell 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .305 Beltran cf 4 1 2 1 1 1 .356
Hitting a big home run was. Hardy ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 .238 forget about Nate McLouth—at Sheffield rf 5 0 0 0 0 1 .269
Johnson hit a three-run shot for his Braun lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .316 least for now. D.Wright 3b 3 2 2 1 2 0 .326
Fielder 1b 4 1 3 3 0 0 .286 Dan.Murphy 1b 4 0 1 1 1 0 .248
first career homer and pitched into the M.Cameron cf 4 0 0 0 0 4 .282 A day after the team traded the F.Martinez lf 4 1 2 1 0 0 .222
Hart rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .251 Santos c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .261
eighth inning Thursday night, leading All-Star outfielder, McCutchen Pelfrey p 2 1 0 0 0 0 .059
Hall 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .211
the Florida Marlins to a 4-3 victory over c-Gerut ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .209 had a productive major league Takahashi p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Mi.Rivera c 2 0 0 0 1 2 .303 a-Brown ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
the Milwaukee Brewers. debut to help Pittsburgh complete S.Green p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Bush p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .150
“I kind of ran into a ball and got pretty a rain-shortened, three-game Putz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
a-Gamel ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .229 b-Reed ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .322
lucky,” Johnson said. “But I’ll take it.” Stetter p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- sweep of the New York Mets with Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Coffey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 37 6 10 6 5 2
John Baker had an RBI single in a four- Totals 32 3 7 3 1 10 an 11-6 victory Thursday. Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
run fourth for the Marlins, who took “Everybody’s talking about the McCutchen cf 4 3 2 1 1 0 .500
Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Morgan lf 4 2 2 1 0 0 .280
three of four from the Brewers. Coghlan lf 3 0 1 0 0 2 .205 future. We’re not looking to the F.Sanchez 2b 5 0 0 0 0 1 .321
Johnson (5-1) allowed two runs and b-B.Carroll ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .214 future. This is the now,” Pirates Ad.LaRoche 1b 3 2 1 1 2 0 .245
Bonifacio 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .246 An.LaRoche 3b 3 2 1 2 0 1 .298
five hits in 7 2/3 innings. He walked one, Ha.Ramirez ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .342 manager John Russell said. S.Jackson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Cantu 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .280 c-Monroe ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .229
struck out eight and hit a batter with a “We’re very excited about where J.Chavez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Hermida rf-lf 2 1 1 0 1 1 .265
pitch in earning his first home victory Uggla 2b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .216 we’re at, and we added a very tal- Moss rf 4 1 1 1 1 1 .264
Jo.Baker c 3 1 1 1 0 0 .261 Jaramillo c 4 0 2 4 0 0 .282
since April 12. ented player.” R.Vazquez ss 4 1 4 1 0 0 .270
C.Ross cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .259
He connected off Dave Bush (3-2) in Jason Jaramillo drove in a Ohlendorf p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .048
Jo.Johnson p 3 1 1 3 0 1 .107 Gorzelanny p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
the fourth to give Florida a 4-1 lead. Meyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 career-high four runs, Ramon S.Burnett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Hinske 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .267
“I saw (center fielder Mike) Cameron Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Vazquez went 4-for-4 and Andy Totals 36 11 13 11 4 6
running and I said, ‘Please, drop ... do Totals 29 4 7 4 2 7 LaRoche had two RBIs and New York 030 110 001 — 6 10 1
Pittsburgh 410 400 20x — 11 13 0
something,’ ” Johnson said. “As soon as I Milwaukee 000 100 020 — 3 7 0 scored twice for Pittsburgh, a-grounded out for Takahashi in the 5th. b-grounded
saw him get to the fence I was like, ‘OK, I Florida 000 400 00x — 4 7 0 which roughed up Mike Pelfrey out for Putz in the 8th. c-struck out for S.Jackson in the
8th. E: Dan.Murphy (5). LOB: New York 9, Pittsburgh
got it.’ ” a-struck out for Bush in the 7th. b-struck out for Coghlan to win its fourth in five games. 7. 2B: Cora (5), Beltran (16), D.Wright (13), F.Martinez
in the 7th. c-grounded into a double play for Hall in the (3), Ad.LaRoche (18). 3B: Morgan (5). HR: Beltran (7),
Johnson earned a curtain call from the Wednesday night’s game was off Ohlendorf. RBIs: Cora (5), L.Castillo (13), Beltran
9th. LOB: Milwaukee 5, Florida 3. 2B: Braun (11), Cantu
crowd of 11,623 but needed to be pushed J PAT CARTER / AP (11), C.Ross (14). 3B: Fielder (2). HR: Fielder (13), off rained out, but at about the time it (32), D.Wright (31), Dan.Murphy (18), F.Martinez
Meyer; Jo.Johnson (1), off Bush. RBIs: Fielder 3 (52), (4), McCutchen (1), Morgan (18), Ad.LaRoche (24),
out of the dugout by his teammates. was supposed to start the Pirates An.LaRoche 2 (27), Moss (13), Jaramillo 4 (12), R.Vazquez
Josh Johnson (55) picked a pretty good time to hit his first career homer, a three-run blast in the fourth. Jo.Baker (20), Jo.Johnson 3 (5). CS: Hermida (2). S: (8). SB: D.Wright (13), McCutchen (1), R.Vazquez (1). S:
“Pretty much everyone in the dugout Bush. Runners left in scoring position: Milwaukee 3 dealt an All-Star outfielder for Morgan. Runners left in scoring position: New York
was laughing or smiling, one of the two,” “It wasn’t a cheap one. He hit it to one Bush gave up four runs and seven hits (Counsell, Hart 2); Florida 2 (Jo.Johnson 2). DP: Milwau- the second consecutive season. 6 (Sheffield 3, Pelfrey, Brown, Dan.Murphy); Pittsburgh
kee 2 (M.Cameron, Hardy, Fielder), (Mi.Rivera, Mi.Rivera, 4 (Ohlendorf 2, An.LaRoche, F.Sanchez). DP: New York 1
he said. of the deepest parts of the ballpark,” in six innings. He walked two and struck Counsell); Florida 1 (Uggla, Ha.Ramirez, Cantu). The move made room for the (Pelfrey, Santos, Dan.Murphy).
Jorge Cantu led off the inning with a Bush said. out four. 22-year-old McCutchen, a speedy New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Pelfrey L, 4-2 3 2⁄3 9 9 8 4 3 83 4.85
double into the left-field corner. He held Johnson gave way to Dan Meyer with Fielder’s run-scoring triple gave the Bush L, 3-2 6 7 4 4 2 4 84 4.52 center fielder who was immedi- Takahashi 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 10 2.77
at second when Jeremy Hermida reached two outs and a runner on first in the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Fielder Stetter 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 10 3.78 ately called up from Triple-A S.Green 2 0 0 0 0 1 16 5.96
Coffey 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 14 2.36 Putz 1 3 2 2 0 0 23 5.22
on an infield single to shortstop. After eighth. Meyer promptly gave up Prince finished with three hits. Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Indianapolis. Feliciano 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 2.42
Jo.Johnson W, 5-1 7 2⁄3 5 2 2 1 8 107 2.63 Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Cantu went to third on Dan Uggla’s fly- Fielder’s 13th home run, a two-run drive J.J. Hardy opened the fourth with a Meyer 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 2.63
He went 2-for-4 with three Ohlendorf 4 1⁄3 9 5 5 3 1 84 4.85
out to deep center, Baker lined a run- that cut Florida’s lead to 4-3. bloop single and advanced to second on Nunez H, 10 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 5 3.33 runs, a walk, an RBI and a stolen Gorzelanny 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 6 6.75
Lindstrom S, 11-13 1 1 0 0 0 1 10 5.56 S.Burnett 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 3.04
scoring single to center to tie it 1-all. “I don’t know what (Meyer) was think- Ryan Braun’s groundout. Fielder then base against the Mets. S.Jackson W, 1-0 2 0 0 0 1 0 30 0.00
After an out, Johnson hit a pitch over ing. He threw a fastball and I got it,” hit a liner to right, and Hermida charged “With what happened J.Chavez 1 1 1 1 1 0 17 3.13
Meyer pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited Inherited runners-scored: Takahashi 2-1, Gorzelanny
the wall in straightaway center. His Fielder said. but failed to make the catch. The ball runners-scored: Meyer 1-1. HBP: by Jo.Johnson (Mi. (Wednesday), this was a big win 1-0. IBB: off Pelfrey (Ad.LaRoche). HBP: by Pelfrey (An.
Rivera). Umpires: Home, Damien Beal; First, Mike LaRoche). WP: J.Chavez. Umpires: Home, Tim McClel-
homer was the first by a Marlins pitcher Matt Lindstrom pitched a scoreless rolled past him, allowing Fielder to reach DiMuro; Second, Dale Scott; Third, Jerry Meals. T: 2:25. for us as a team and for the city,” land; First, Adrian Johnson; Second, Scott Barry; Third,
since Dontrelle Willis connected against ninth for his 11th save in 13 opportuni- third. A: 11,623 (38,560). LaRoche said. Ted Barrett. T: 2:49. A: 20,683 (38,362).
Atlanta on Aug. 29, 2007. ties. The game took 2 hours, 25 minutes. — The Associated Press — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 25
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N.Y. Yankees 8, Texas 6 Boston 6, Detroit 3

Wang’s struggles don’t slow down Yankees Tigers left guessing in sweep
DETROIT—The Detroit Tigers Red Sox 6, Tigers 3
NEW YORK—Chien-Ming Wang bounced Yankees 8, Rangers 6 started the week getting frus- Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Pedroia 2b 4 1 1 0 1 0 .325
a few sinkers, slipped on the mound and Kinsler 2b 4 2 1 1 1 2 .282 trated by Daisuke Matzusaka J.Drew dh 1 1 0 1 4 1 .253
watched his final pitch sail far over the M.Young 3b 5 0 3 0 0 0 .338 and overpowered by Josh Youkilis 1b 1 1 0 1 1 0 .362
Blalock dh 5 0 2 1 0 1 .262 a-Kotsay ph-1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000
fence. N.Cruz rf 5 1 1 1 0 3 .295 Beckett. Bay lf 5 1 1 2 0 2 .283
David Robertson took a more simple Dav.Murphy lf 4 1 1 0 1 1 .240 On Thursday, they were Lowell 3b 4 0 2 1 1 0 .302
Byrd cf 3 1 1 0 1 1 .296 Baldelli rf 3 0 1 1 1 0 .265
approach. C.Davis 1b 4 1 2 2 0 1 .198 baffled again by Tim Ellsbury cf 3 1 1 0 0 1 .313
Melky Cabrera hit a tiebreaking, two- Teagarden c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .239 Wakefield. Lugo ss 3 1 0 0 1 1 .266
Andrus ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .277 Kottaras c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .188
run homer in the eighth inning and the Totals 37 6 11 5 3 11 The 42-year-old knuckle- Totals 31 6 6 6 9 7
New York Yankees overcame yet another baller beat the Tigers for the
New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
poor start by Wang to beat the Texas Damon lf 3 2 1 1 1 0 .297 16th time—the most by any Thomas rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .247
Rangers 8-6 Thursday. Swisher rf 3 1 2 1 1 1 .251 active pitcher—and the Boston Santiago 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .306
1-Gardner pr-cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265 Ordonez dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .275
The Yankees rallied from a 5-1 deficit Teixeira 1b 4 1 2 3 0 0 .284 Red Sox beat Detroit 6-3 to fin- Mi.Cabrera 1b 1 1 1 0 0 0 .354
and took two of three from the A.L. West A.Rodriguez 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .250 ish a three-game sweep. Larish 1b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .224
Cano 2b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .305 Granderson cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .271
leaders. Robertson threw only one pitch H.Matsui dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 .256 Wakefield (7-3) gave up three Inge 3b 4 1 3 2 0 0 .280
and wound up with the win. Me.Cabrera cf-rf 4 1 1 2 0 1 .311 runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 Raburn lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .265
Cervelli c 4 1 1 0 0 1 .283 Everett ss 3 0 0 1 0 1 .267
“Never knew it was going to come out R.Pena ss 3 1 1 0 1 1 .243 innings. c-Polanco ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250
like that,” Robertson said. “Every now Totals 31 8 10 8 5 4 “He’s been a blessing for us,” Sardinha c 2 0 1 0 0 1 .115
and then you’re going to catch a lucky Red Sox manager Terry Fran- b-Laird ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .224
Texas 002 211 000 — 6 11 1 Totals 34 3 10 3 1 6
one.” New York 100 050 02x — 8 10 1 cona said. “He’s a good pitcher.
Cabrera kept up his run of big hits and He’s unconventional, but that’s Boston 006 000 000 — 6 6 0
1-ran for Swisher in the 7th. E: Dav.Murphy (1), Cervelli Detroit 030 000 000 — 3 10 0
helped the Yankees win for the 17th time (1). LOB: Texas 8, New York 4. 2B: M.Young (20), Byrd OK.”
(19), C.Davis 2 (6), Swisher (13), Teixeira 2 (14). HR: a-flied out for Youkilis in the 4th. b-struck out for
in 22 games. They did it despite Wang’s FRANK FRANKLIN II / AP N.Cruz (16), off Wang; Kinsler (14), off Aceves; Damon Wakefield allowed three Sardinha in the 8th. c-grounded into a fielder’s choice
wobbles. Melky Cabrera’s two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a 6-6 tie. (11), off McCarthy; Me.Cabrera (6), off C.Wilson. RBIs: runs in the second inning, but for Everett in the 9th. LOB: Boston 8, Detroit 5. 2B: Bay
Kinsler (41), Blalock (29), N.Cruz (41), C.Davis 2 (26), (14), Inge (8), Raburn (2). RBIs: J.Drew (27), Youkilis
Wang returned to the rotation and Damon (33), Swisher (32), Teixeira 3 (47), A.Rodriguez shut down the Tigers after (34), Bay 2 (53), Lowell (36), Baldelli (7), Inge 2 (35),
produced his best start of the season. ton at Fenway Park. sixth tied it at 6. (22), Me.Cabrera 2 (22). SB: Dav.Murphy (4), Cano (3). that. Everett (18). CS: Inge (3). Runners left in scoring
CS: R.Pena (1). S: Teagarden. Runners left in scoring position: Boston 3 (Kotsay, Pedroia 2); Detroit 2
Too bad for him, it was another stinker The former ace lost his first three C.J. Wilson (3-3) relieved to begin the position: Texas 4 (N.Cruz, Kinsler, C.Davis, Dav.Murphy); “After that inning, I felt (Everett, Polanco). DP: Boston 2 (Pedroia, Kotsay),
as his sinkers were either too high or too starts of the season. He went on the dis- eighth and issued a leadoff walk to Rob- New York 3 (Cano, Me.Cabrera 2). DP: Texas 3 (N.Cruz, really comfortable,” he said. “I (Wakefield, Pedroia, Lugo, Kotsay); Detroit 2 (Everett,
N.Cruz, Andrus), (Kinsler, Andrus), (Kinsler, Andrus, Santiago, Mi.Cabrera), (Inge, Santiago, Larish).
low. abled list with a 34.50 ERA because of inson Cano. One out later, Cabrera C.Davis). only needed 80 pitches, so
Texas tagged him for five runs and weakness in the muscles in his hips and launched a drive over left fielder David that’s great, and I got some Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Wakefield W, 7-3 6 2⁄3 8 3 3 0 3 80 4.50
seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. Nelson Cruz came back with three solid relief Murphy’s leap. McCarthy 4 6 6 6 3 3 79 4.92 offensive support.” Masterson H, 2 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 11 4.20
chased him with a long home run—the appearances. “It was a deep fly ball to short left Jennings 3 3 0 0 1 0 41 3.12 Three Boston relievers fin- Okajima H, 9 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 10 2.25
C.Wilson L, 3-3 1 1 2 2 1 1 16 3.47 Papelbon S, 14-15 1 1 0 0 1 0 21 2.25
first by a righthanded hitter off Wang in Wang said he felt OK and was excited field,” Wilson said. New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA ished, with Jonathan Papelbon Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
22 starts, since Adrian Beltre connected to make this start. Robertson (1-0) relieved with two outs Wang 4 2⁄3 7 5 5 1 5 69 14.46 pitching the ninth for his 14th Willis L, 1-3 2 1⁄3 0 5 5 5 3 53 6.84
Aceves 1 2⁄3 2 1 1 2 2 34 2.95 Miner 4 4 1 1 2 2 67 5.29
in September 2007. “It’s not the Wang I’m used to seeing,” and none on in the eighth and retired Coke 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 19 4.50 save in 15 attempts. The Tigers Perry 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.27
“I thought he pitched better than his Texas manager Ron Washington said. Elvis Andrus on a fly ball, and Cabrera D.Robertson W, 1-0 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2.08 put two runners on base, but Zumaya 1 2 0 0 1 1 24 2.65
Ma.Rivera S, 12-13 1 2 0 0 0 2 24 2.38 Rodney 1 0 0 0 1 1 24 2.86
numbers indicated,” Yankees manager “I’m sure he’s got some things to work delivered in the bottom half. Dustin Pedroia’s diving stop at
Joe Girardi said. on. But I thought he threw pretty well.” “He has a knack of doing it,” Girardi McCarthy pitched to 5 batters in the 5th. Inherited second base helped Papelbon Inherited runners-scored: Masterson 1-0, Miner 3-3,
runners-scored: Jennings 1-1. WP: Wang. Umpires: Perry 1-0. HBP: by Willis (Ellsbury). Umpires: Home,
“I’m not making excuses,” he said. “I It was another game of home run said. Home, Brian Knight; First, Dana DeMuth; Second, Doug escape unscathed. Jeff Nelson; First, Mark Carlson; Second, Tim Tschida;
was happy with what I saw. I know peo- derby at the new Yankee Stadium. Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for Eddings; Third, Hunter Wendelstedt. T: 2:58. A: 45,713 “I was just trying to get an Third, Bob Davidson. T: 2:53. A: 31,353 (41,255).
(52,325).
ple are going to say, ‘Oh boy, he gave up Johnny Damon started it with a leadoff his 12th save in 13 chances. With runners out,” Pedroia said. “I didn’t
five runs.’” shot for New York, Cruz finished Wang at the corners, he struck out Cruz and want the tying run to come to
Wang will make his next start as in the fifth with a long drive and Ian retired Murphy on a popup to end it. Yankees P suspended six the plate.”
scheduled, Tuesday night against Bos- Kinsler’s solo homer for Texas in the — The Associated Press games, Page 18 — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 26
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 3, Kansas City 2 L.A. Angels 6, Toronto 5

Upton helps Rays make most of few chances Kendrick feeling better now
TORONTO—A difficult series Angels 6, Blue Jays 5
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.—B.J. Upton turned a Rays 3, Royals 2 for Howie Kendrick ended Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
game of missed opportunities into a vic- Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg. with a daring dash for home Figgins 3b 4 1 2 1 1 1 .307
Crisp cf 4 1 0 0 0 1 .228 E.Aybar ss 5 0 0 0 0 2 .275
tory for Tampa Bay. Callaspo 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .298 plate. Guerrero dh 5 1 2 1 0 1 .271
Upton hit a go-ahead two-run homer Pena Jr. ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .059 Kendrick raced home with Tor.Hunter cf 4 1 2 1 0 2 .312
Butler 1b 4 0 3 2 0 0 .288 J.Rivera rf-lf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .301
in the eighth and James Shields allowed Jacobs dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 .232 some bold baserunning, scor- K.Morales 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .278
two runs over eight innings as the Rays J.Guillen rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .255 ing the go-ahead run on a Napoli c 4 1 1 1 0 2 .270
Teahen 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .277 Quinlan lf 3 1 1 0 0 1 .238
completed a three-game sweep of the Olivo c 3 0 0 0 0 3 .239 ninth-inning double play to Matthews Jr. rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .257
Kansas City Royals with a 3-2 win DeJesus lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .237 help the Los Angeles Angels Kendrick 2b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .229
Bloomquist ss-2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .286 Totals 36 6 10 5 3 9
Thursday. Totals 32 2 6 2 0 9 beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5
“It was great to see,” Tampa Bay man- on Thursday. Toronto AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Scutaro ss 3 0 0 1 1 0 .294
ager Joe Maddon said. “I really felt we B.Upton cf 4 1 1 2 1 1 .218 Mired in a 1-for-17 slump A.Hill 2b 5 0 0 1 0 1 .316
were going win somehow.” Crawford lf 4 1 2 1 1 1 .327 coming in and still stinging Rios cf 5 0 0 0 0 5 .266
W.Aybar 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .252 Lind lf 5 2 5 0 0 0 .313
Upton’s two-out shot off Jamey Wright C.Pena 1b 2 0 0 0 2 1 .226 from his blunder in the series Millar dh 4 1 1 0 1 0 .267
(0-2) helped the Rays overcome an 0-for- Zobrist 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .296 opener, when he lost track of 2-V.Wells pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .257
Joyce rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .240 Overbay 1b 5 1 2 3 0 1 .282
13 performance with runners in scoring Dillon dh 4 0 3 0 0 0 .333 the number of outs and was Bautista 3b 3 1 0 0 2 3 .265
position. Carl Crawford homered in the M.Hernandez c 4 1 1 0 0 0 .286 doubled off first base, Kend- R.Chavez c 3 0 2 0 0 0 .282
Brignac ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .233 1-Jo.McDonald pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .211
seventh for the Rays’ first run. Totals 32 3 8 3 6 5 rick was all smiles after spark- Barajas c 1 0 1 0 0 0 .289
“Whatever happened we just knew we ing the game-winning rally. Inglett rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .154
Kansas City 002 000 000 — 2 6 0 Totals 37 5 12 5 5 10
had to keep grinding at the end,” Rays left Tampa Bay 000 000 12x — 3 8 0 “I ain’t going to lie to you—I
fielder Crawford said. “B.J. hitting the was happy,” said Kendrick, Los Angeles 300 101 001 — 6 10 0
LOB: Kansas City 3, Tampa Bay 11. 2B: Butler (16), Toronto 000 100 130 — 5 12 1
homer at the end, that’s from us just keep- STEVE NESIUS / AP DeJesus (10). 3B: Brignac (1). HR: Crawford (4), off held out of the lineup Wednes-
ing at it. We just didn’t worry about what B.J. Upton, right, hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that scored Michel Hernandez Meche; B.Upton (3), off J.Wright. RBIs: Butler 2 (25), day. “It feels good after the ups 1-ran for R.Chavez in the 7th. 2-ran for Millar in the 9th.
B.Upton 2 (13), Crawford (26). SB: Crawford (34), E: Bautista (1). LOB: Los Angeles 6, Toronto 11. 2B:
we did earlier in the game.” and gave Tampa Bay the lead for the first time. Zobrist (6). Runners left in scoring position: Kansas and downs. I felt like today was J.Rivera (8), Lind 3 (21), Overbay (14). HR: Napoli (8),
Upton has two consecutive games with City 1 (Jacobs); Tampa Bay 7 (Zobrist, B.Upton 2, Joyce a good day.” off Tallet. RBIs: Figgins (14), Guerrero (6), Tor.Hunter
3, Crawford). DP: Tampa Bay 2 (J.Shields, M.Hernandez, (43), J.Rivera (21), Napoli (21), Scutaro (26), A.Hill (38),
two RBIs after not having a multiple RBI consecutive starts, allowing four runs season-high seven games. C.Pena), (W.Aybar, C.Pena). Facing righthander Brandon Overbay 3 (27). SB: Guerrero (1), Tor.Hunter (11), Bara-
effort in his previous 46 games this year. over 15 innings. Billy Butler had a two-run, two-out League (1-2), Kendrick opened jas (1). SF: Scutaro. Runners left in scoring position:
Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Los Angeles 2 (Napoli, E.Aybar); Toronto 8 (Bautista 2,
“The important thing is we got a win,” “That’s what this team is all about. It double to put the Royals ahead 2-0 in the Meche 6 6 1 1 5 2 110 4.08 the ninth with a bunt single A.Hill 3, Overbay, Rios 2). DP: Los Angeles 1 (Kendrick,
Upton said. brings back memories of last year,” third, which ended Kansas City’s stretch Bale H, 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 19 6.23 and went to third on Chone E.Aybar, K.Morales); Toronto 1 (A.Hill, Scutaro, Overbay).
J.Wright L, 0-2 BS, 3-3 1 2 2 2 0 1 20 4.05
Upton’s homer came on a first pitch Shields said. of 15 scoreless innings. The double came Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Figgins’ single to right. Erick Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
sinker and made it 3-2. The defending A.L. champion Rays after Alberto Callaspo had hit into a J.Shields W, 5-4 8 6 2 2 0 8 107 3.40 Aybar grounded into a 4-6-3 Lackey 7 7 2 2 3 6 113 5.13
Howell S, 2-5 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 2.28 Oliver 0 3 3 3 0 0 15 3.18
“I’ve thrown that pitch a million times returned to the .500 mark at 28-28. bases-loaded double play. double play, but Kendrick J.Speier W, 2-1 BS, 1-1 1 1 0 0 1 1 21 5.06
and it’s been fouled off and hit into the Tampa Bay has lost four times previ- Tampa Bay threatened in each of the Meche pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. WP: Meche. raced home as the second out Fuentes S, 14-17 1 1 0 0 1 3 22 5.03
Umpires: Home, Dan Iassogna; First, Sam Holbrook; Toronto IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
ground a million times,” Wright said. ously when having an opportunity to first six innings, but failed to score after Second, Charlie Reliford; Third, Larry Vanover. T: 2:41. was made at first, sliding in Tallet 6 6 5 5 3 6 109 4.54
“He just got underneath it and crushed climb above .500 since starting the sea- going hitless in 12 at-bats with runners in A: 16,103 (36,973). ahead of the throw from first Hayhurst 1 2 0 0 0 2 12 0.00
League L, 1-2 2 2 1 1 0 1 21 4.01
it.” son 4-3. scoring position. The Rays left 10 run- baseman Lyle Overbay, who
The Rays finally got on the scoreboard “We need to maintain our traction and ners on base over the stretch. hesitated after making the Oliver pitched to 3 batters in the 8th. Inherited
runners-scored: J.Speier 1-1. WP: Lackey, Oliver.
when Crawford hit a leadoff homer in the keep moving it forward,” Maddon said. “It wasn’t an easy six innings,” said catch and didn’t appear to see Umpires: Home, Bill Welke; First, Tim Welke; Second,
seventh that ended the day for Kansas The Rays have won five of six following Meche, who is winless in his last six that Kendrick had made a late Jim Reynolds; Third, Angel Hernandez. T: 3:00. A:
31,163 (49,539).
City righthander Gil Meche. Three of a season-high five-game losing streak. starts. “The good thing was I kept getting break for the plate.
Crawford’s four homers this season have J.P. Howell pitched the ninth for his sec- out of it. I just kept waiting to get through “Howie reacted and made a
come in the last six games. ond save. a couple innings that somehow weren’t so great read,” Angels manager
Shields (5-4) gave up six hits and had Meche gave up one run and six hits in tough, and it just never happened.” Mike Scioscia said.
eight strikeouts. He has won two six-plus innings. The Royals have lost a — The Associated Press — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 27
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota 11, Cleveland 3 Oakland 7, Chicago White Sox 0

Kubel leaves Indians feeling pain with blasts Beckham blanked in debut
CHICAGO—Visiting pitchers are Athletics 7, White Sox 0
MINNEAPOLIS—Jason Kubel didn’t want Twins 11, Indians 3 supposed to have trouble Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
O.Cabrera ss 3 1 0 1 1 0 .225
to make another trip to the disabled list Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg. against the Chicago White Sox. Kennedy 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .333
with knee pain. If he continues to hit the B.Francisco rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .263 Not this year. Holliday lf 3 2 2 0 1 1 .280
J.Carroll 3b 3 1 1 1 0 2 .304 Giambi dh 4 1 1 3 0 0 .220
way he did Thursday, he won’t have to Barfield 2b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .750 Jason Giambi hit a three-run K.Suzuki c 3 0 1 1 0 0 .284
worry about any down time. V.Martinez c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .346 homer and Brett Anderson Crosby 1b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .207
Garko 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Cunningham rf 3 1 1 2 1 1 .143
Kubel hit a pair of three-run homers Choo lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .297 pitched seven impressive R.Davis cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .188
to back Scott Baker, who pitched seven Jh.Peralta ss-3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .263 innings, sending the Oakland G.Petit 3b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .269
DeRosa dh 4 0 1 0 0 2 .264 Hannahan 3b 0 0 0 0 1 0 .179
effective innings for the Minnesota Gimenez 1b-c 4 1 2 1 0 1 .500 Athletics to a 7-0 victory over Totals 31 7 8 7 4 4
Twins in an 11-3 victory over the Cleve- Crowe cf 3 0 1 0 1 2 .182 Chicago on Thursday.
Valbuena 2b-ss 3 1 1 0 1 1 .203 Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
land Indians. Totals 34 3 7 2 2 13 The White Sox are batting Podsednik lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .284
Kubel injured his left knee chasing a Minnesota AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
just .220 at home, and five of Al.Ramirez ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 .254
Dye rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .278
fly ball at Chicago on May 21 and missed Span lf 4 2 1 1 1 0 .307 their major league-worst eight Konerko 1b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .302
the next three games. Since he returned, Mauer dh 4 4 3 0 1 0 .436 shutouts have come at their Pierzynski c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .297
Morneau 1b 3 3 3 3 2 0 .348 Fields dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .239
he was 4-for-26 until hitting a single in Kubel rf 4 2 3 6 1 0 .322 hitter-friendly park. Wise cf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .182
the fourth inning Wednesday night. Crede 3b 4 0 1 1 0 1 .232 “That’s a terrible stat,” Paul Beckham 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000
B.Harris ss 5 0 1 0 0 1 .279 J.Nix 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .214
On Thursday, Kubel’s first homer Redmond c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Konerko said. “Some statistics Totals 32 0 7 0 0 7
capped a four-run first against Fausto Gomez cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .218 lie—that one doesn’t. That’s
Tolbert 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .179 Oakland 000 103 003 — 7 8 0
Carmona. The cleanup batter followed Totals 36 11 13 11 5 2 bad.” Chicago 000 000 000 — 0 7 1
an inning later with his second to give Cleveland 000 002 100 — 3 7 0
Aaron Cunningham added a
Minnesota a 7-0 lead. two-run shot in the ninth for E: Dye (2). LOB: Oakland 4, Chicago 6. 2B: Holliday (9),
Minnesota 430 003 01x — 11 13 1 R.Davis (1), Konerko (13). HR: Giambi (8), off Buehrle;
“The swing’s come back and that’s all E: B.Harris (1). LOB: Cleveland 6, Minnesota 7. 2B:
Oakland, which won the final Cunningham (1), off Dotel. RBIs: O.Cabrera (17), Giambi
I can ask for,” Kubel said. three games of the four-game 3 (27), K.Suzuki (18), Cunningham 2 (4). SB: Crosby (2),
DeRosa (11), Valbuena (7), Morneau (17), Kubel (13), Podsednik (5). S: Kennedy. SF: O.Cabrera, K.Suzuki.
It was his fourth career two-homer B.Harris (8). HR: Gimenez (1), off S.Baker; Kubel 2 series. The White Sox fell to Runners left in scoring position: Oakland 1 (Cun-
(7), off Carmona 2; Span (4), off Ohka; Morneau (15), ningham); Chicago 5 (Konerko, J.Nix, Podsednik, Pier-
game and second of the season. off Ohka. RBIs: J.Carroll (4), Gimenez (1), Span (24), 13-13 at home. zynski, Fields). DP: Oakland 2 (Bre.Anderson, O.Cabrera,
“He was out of whack a little bit, get- Morneau 3 (50), Kubel 6 (31), Crede (23). SB: Choo Top prospect Gordon Beck- Crosby), (Kennedy, O.Cabrera, Crosby); Chicago 2 (Bueh-
JIM MONE / AP (9). SF: Crede. Runners left in scoring position:
ting his legs underneath him,” Twins ham made his major league rle, Konerko), (Buehrle, Al.Ramirez, Konerko).
Minnesota’s Jason Kubel hit two three-run homers to account for more than half of his team’s RBIs. Cleveland 3 (Crowe, Jh.Peralta, Valbuena); Minnesota 3
manager Ron Gardenhire said. “I think (Gomez, B.Harris 2). debut at third base for Chicago, Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
he was rolling over balls and it looked Bre.Anderson W, 3-5 7 6 0 0 0 4 109 4.97
Baker (3-6) has felt different his past Baker struck out a career-high 10 and Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA going 0 for 3 with a strikeout. Wuertz 1 0 0 0 0 2 14 2.42
like he got a little pull happy because of few starts. walked just one. He allowed three Carmona L, 2-6 2 5 7 7 3 1 54 7.42 He hit into a fielder’s choice in S.Casilla 1 1 0 0 0 1 13 5.75
Ohka 5 6 3 3 1 0 82 5.40 Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
that. But he says he’s feeling better. And The right-hander took advantage of runs—two earned—and six hits. J.Lewis 1 2 1 1 1 1 19 5.46 his first at-bat. Buehrle L, 6-2 8 5 4 4 3 4 101 2.91
he doesn’t want to go on the DL, so that the early run support, staying around “I threw down about as well as I have Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA White Sox manager Ozzie Dotel 2⁄3 3 3 3 1 0 21 2.41
S.Baker W, 3-6 7 6 3 2 1 10 106 5.88 Whisler 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.00
always motivates people to swing the strike zone and retiring his first all season,” Baker said. “I left a couple Henn 2 1 0 0 1 3 36 2.57 Guillen likes Beckham, but is
better.” eight batters. He didn’t allow a hit until pitches up, but we’re human beings. IBB: off J.Lewis (Kubel). Umpires: Home, Joe West;
already sick of the hype sur- Inherited runners-scored: Whisler 1-0. IBB: off
Buehrle (Holliday). HBP: by Bre.Anderson (Wise). WP:
Kubel had surgery on his left knee the fifth inning while winning for the That’s just part of it. It’s definitely a First, Paul Nauert; Second, Paul Schrieber; Third, Chad rounding the promotion. How Buehrle, Dotel. Balk: Bre.Anderson. Umpires: Home,
and missed the entire 2005 season. second time in three starts. game of adjustments and as long as you Fairchild. T: 2:40. A: 20,897 (46,632). did Guillen think Beckham Dan Bellino; First, Phil Cuzzi; Second, Tom Hallion; Third,
Jerry Crawford. T: 2:15. A: 18,219 (40,615).
After recovering from the injury, he Baker credited a small change in his continue to make those adjustments you looked?
broke through with 20 home runs last mechanics—standing taller in his deliv- should be fine.” “Really bad,” Guillen said.
season. ery—for a victory against the Brewers Meanwhile, Carmona (2-6) failed to “He struck out, what am I going
Assured of an everyday spot in the on May 24, but then allowed four runs reach the third inning for the second to say? He was good? That kid’s
lineup this year, Kubel has responded. and seven hits in a loss to Tampa Bay in time in three starts. He’s allowed four or going to be all right. ... He’s just
“Just from the beginning of the sea- his last start. more runs in his last five starts, and has another player. He had a bad
son, it’s been a different feeling,” he Against Cleveland, he appeared to be walked 24 batters in his last six. day, just like everyone else.”
said. back in good form. — The Associated Press — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com NFL FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 28

NFL hot topics ...

with Tony Dungy & Rodney Harrison
This week, NBC announced that two recent NFL retirees—former Colts coach
Tony Dungy and former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison—will join its weekly
pregame show, Football Night in America. Considering their outspoken and pas-
sionate natures, it’s no surprise that they were chosen for national TV work. Here
are some of the opinions Dungy and Harrison shared with Sporting News Today’s
Vinnie Iyer on the hot offseason topics:

L.M. OTERO / AP WINSLOW TOWNSON / AP

Former Colts coach Tony Dungy says Michael Vick, above, deserves a Rodney Harrison says his ex-teammate Tom Brady, above, would
second chance. not air the team’s dirty laundry in public.

Tony Dungy: ‘I would definitely give (Vick) an opportunity’
Topic: Jim Caldwell, his replacement as Colts coach.
Dungy: “He is going to have a challenging schedule
early on (Jacksonville, at Miami, at Arizona, Seattle,
at Tennessee before the bye), and dealing with those
expectations of being able to go on the road and win is
going to be the test. They are going to be up to it, but
it’s funny how the schedule has been
laid out. Those challenges are right
there early, and it’s going to be
important for them to get off to a
good start because if they don’t, it’s
going to be, ‘Coach Dungy would
have done this, would have done this
differently.’ ”
Tony Dungy
Topic: QB Peyton Manning vents about the
Colts’ coaching turnover.
Dungy: “I was a little surprised to see some of the
remarks in public. One of our things was to keep
everything in-house. I’m pretty sure Peyton regrets
now some of those comments getting out because you
don’t want to air your laundry; you want to keep it
in-house.”
Topic: Michael Vick possibly returning to the NFL.
Dungy: “I do hope Michael gets the opportunity to
come back for a number of reasons. I think that he has
paid for his crime, and I think that he deserves a sec-
ond chance. He is a talented young man, and he has a
great story to tell. If he does come back and make it, it
can be very inspiring to young people who make a mis-
take to realize that one mistake doesn’t doom you. If I
were running a team, what I know about Michael Vick
and what I’ve seen from him, I would definitely give
him an opportunity to play. If I needed a quarterback,
I would not be afraid of his past.”
Topic: Vince Young says he wants to start or be traded.
Dungy: “I am a big Vince Young fan, and I have got-
ten to know him from playing against him twice a year.
He did a tremendous job at the University of Texas
leading that program, and he was on his way in Ten-
nessee but some things happened. He is going to have
to recover and rebound and reestablish that leader-
ship. Right now, I think the team does look at Kerry
Collins as being the leader and that is going to be a hill
(Young) is going to have to climb. It will be interesting
to see if he does it.”
Topic: Team of the decade.
Dungy: “The Patriots. They (are) the team everyone
is chasing.”
Topic: His role on Football Night in America.
Dungy: “Trying to bring a coach’s view of the big
picture to the fans. I think one of the enticing things
about this is that we are going to do a lot of explaining
why things happen.”
‘Give Brady the edge over Manning in terms of leadership’
Topic: QB Peyton Manning vents about the Colts’ coaching
turnover.
Harrison: “That really gives Tom Brady the edge over
Peyton Manning in terms of leadership because he’s a
guy that if this went on in New England he wouldn’t
come out publicly and he wouldn’t make a big fuss about
it. I think as a leader on a team, you
being Peyton Manning, a Hall of
Famer, you need to keep it in-house.
You have so many guys looking up to
you and once they see the panic on
your part, then all of a sudden they
start getting nervous.”
Rodney Topic: Arizona Cardinals, find or fluke?
Harrison Harrison: “As long as you have
the ingredient (quarterback) in
place, you have a chance to win. They re-signed Kurt
Warner and have a young, fast defense. The biggest
issue is combing back strong. It only takes a little lack
of focus to finish 7-9.”
Topic: Vince Young says he wants to start or be traded.
Harrison: “Unfortunately for Vince Young, this is
not the University of Texas, this is the National Foot-
ball League. ... I think what happened to him is that
he got caught up in somewhat of the dark side, party-
ing, not prioritizing and making football his No. 1
thing. ... So this is a critical time for him. If he doesn’t
become a starter in the next two years, you’ll find him
as a career backup.”
Topic: Team of the decade.
Harrison: “ The Patriots. Look at all the transition.
Then you look at their consistency, the Super Bowl
victories.”
Topic: Covering his former team, the Patriots.
Harrison: “If there is a question in Week 8 or Week
10—when the Patriots play against the Colts—and
Tom Brady is not performing, everyone is going to
question his knee. And if I feel like it’s his knee that is
bothering him, then I’m going to have to mention that
and Tom would have to respect that. As a player, you
have to respect the fact that you are going to be criti-
cized. And that’s something that I’m not afraid to
bring. When I played, I didn’t have many friends and
I’m sure I’m not going to make a lot of friends now.”
Topic: His role on Football Night in America.
Harrison: “Just like I played the game, I’m going to
be honest and I’m going to be forthright and I’m going
to do it with passion. Certain guys you definitely
respect their opinions, but other guys I felt like they
were afraid to come out and really tell the hard truth.
And as an analyst, it is your job be fair but honest.
And sometimes you have to be brutally honest with
guys who you have played with.”
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Ryan’s bravado rubbing off on confidence-starved Jets
FLORHAM PARK, N.J.—Still months from coach-
ing his first Jets game, Rex Ryan is talking a
good game.
NFL head coaches are supposed to speak in
bland clichés, but Ryan is all about bold state-
ments. He expects to win big. Just ask him.
“I’m not here for the security of it,” Ryan
said. “I want to be special.
“This (practice) facility
that (owner) Woody (John-
son) put together was not to
go .500. It’s to win champi-
onships and multiple cham-
pionships. We’ll see if I’m
the right guy for it.”
Clifton Brown Ryan has difficulty mak-
PRO FOOTBALL ing it through an interview
without a proclamation.
Wednesday on WFAN radio in New York,
Ryan said among other things, “I never came
here to kiss Bill Belichick’s, you know, rings.”
At his introductory Jets press conference,
Ryan made reference to visiting the White
House, an invitation given to the Super Bowl
champion every year.
If nothing else, Ryan has added swagger to
the Jets’ culture, and the players are buying
in. When current Browns coach Eric Mangini
was fired after the Jets’ collapse in December,
nose tackle Kris Jenkins called the move a
mistake. Now, Jenkins feels differently.
“At the time they let Mangini go, we didn’t
know about Rex Ryan,” Jenkins said. “All we
knew is that our coach had got fired. Now? It’s
not a situation where I’m going to slight my
old coach or put him down. But I’m going to
give credit where credit is due. Rex is a heck of
a football coach.”
Jenkins’ assessment is based partially on
what Ryan accomplished last season as the
Ravens’ defensive coordinator. Only the Steel-
ers and Titans allowed fewer points than the
Ravens, who never surrendered more than 13
points at home.
John Harbaugh was a rookie head coach
with the Ravens last season, and according to
Jets linebacker Bart Scott, Ryan naturally
assumed a bigger role.
“He has been groomed for this,” Scott said.
“Last year, with a young coach, he took more
responsibility. He had to be more of a head
coach. He was the more the interpreter of
what Harbaugh wanted to accomplish. He
settled that whole situation down.”
Ryan said he coached the Ravens’ defense
with a daring attitude last season, thinking he
might never get the chance to become a head
coach. Following the ’07 season, Ryan inter-
viewed for head coach vacancies in Baltimore,
Atlanta and Miami—only to see someone else
get the job.
“I thought I was right for a particular team
and was passed over,” Ryan said. “But it made
me focus. I told the G.M. of that team that I
would make the league pay.”
All of Ryan’s tough talk will not change
serious questions about the Jets. Their start-
ing quarterback either will be a rookie, Mark
Sanchez, or Kellen Clemens, who has just
eight career starts. Their two best backs,
Thomas Jones and Leon Washington, are
both unhappy with their contracts and
skipped recent voluntary practices.
Having not been to the Super Bowl since
1969, the Jets fight for respect everywhere—
around the league, in the AFC East and in
New York. Jets guard Alan Faneca likes the
way Ryan has barged through the front door,
rather than tiptoeing through the back.
“He’s a breath of fresh air, putting his stamp
on this team,” Faneca said. “He is who he is.
He’s not going to change.”
Ryan clearly hopes his bravado and confi-
dence rubs off on a franchise starving for sus-
tained success. Coaches can’t win NFL games
in June but can establish a winning chemistry,
something the Jets felt they had last season
before blowing a playoff spot in December.
Having yet to coach a game with the Jets,
Ryan sounds and looks the part of a coach
who means business. That will keep things
interesting until September. From that point,
only how the Jets play will matter.
cliftonbrown@sportingnews.com
NFL FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 29
Questions for
rookie coaches
The Jets’ Rex Ryan is not the
only first-year coach facing
questions. Here’s a quick look
at the other rookie coaches and
their most daunting question:
Tom Cable, Raiders: Can he
turn a struggling franchise
back into a winner?
Jim Caldwell, Colts: Will he
continue the consistency estab-
lished by Tony Dungy?
Todd Haley, Chiefs: Can he
succeed without Larry Fitzger-
ald, Anquan Boldin and Kurt
Warner?
Eric Mangini, Browns: Which
quarterback will he start,
Derek Anderson or Brady
Quinn?
Josh McDaniels, Broncos: Can
he prove that trading Jay Cut-
ler was not a major mistake?
Jim Mora, Seahawks: Was last
year an aberration, or the
beginning of a rebuilding
project?
Raheem Morris, Bucs: Will
this job make the NFL’s young-
est head coach feel old?
Jim Schwartz, Lions: Can he
resist the temptation not to
rush QB Matthew Stafford into
action?
Mike Singletary, 49ers: Will
he become that rare great
player who also becomes a
great coach?
Steve Spagnuolo, Rams:
Things cannot get much worse,
but can he make them much
better?
— Clifton Brown
BILL KOSTROUN / AP
Rex Ryan hasn’t coached a game yet for the Jets, but the players are already praising his approach.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Scouts’ views
Defensive coordinator rankings: Steelers’ LeBeau still the best
It seems the whole league is changing
to a 3-4 these days, and there are plenty
of those system gurus on this list. But the
best coordinators are the coaches who can
adapt the talent at their disposal and attack
an offense in a variety of ways.
RealScouts, Sporting News Today’s team
of former NFL scouts, ranks its top 20
defensive coordinators:
1. Dick LeBeau, Steelers. LeBeau
perfected the zone blitz, and
you’ll see Pittsburgh continue to
run this defense as long as he’s the
coordinator. He likes to mix looks
and bring pressure from different
points on the field. He lacks a great
secondary, so he attacks offenses
with all-out pressure.
2. Jim Johnson, Eagles. Another
disciple of the zone blitz,
Johnson likes to bring pressure
from up and down the line and
asks defensive backs to jam
receivers and play physical.
Typically, he prefers quicker one
gap-shooting linemen and active
linebackers. The ’09 Eagles have
upgraded the athleticism in the
front seven, and here’s hoping
Johnson recovers from his illness
to coach this improved group.
3. Leslie Frazier, Vikings. He has the
horses up front to send a nice
pressure package at quarterbacks,
and he likes to play some mixed
zones behind it with CB Antoine
Winfield more often in press
coverage. With DE Jared Allen
joining the team last year, the blitz
package is a thing of the past,
though it could return if the
Williams Wall misses significant
time.
4. Jim Bates, Bucs. Look for the
Bucs to move away from the
traditional Tampa-2 zone scheme
and have defensive backs making
more plays on the ball, while the
defensive front will be less about
stunts and twists and more about
getting pressure off the edges.
5. Dom Capers, Packers. He is a
diehard believer in the 3-4
scheme, even though the ’09
Packers might not have the pieces
to make it work well. Capers has
been through the transition before
and can guide Aaron Kampman,
A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett and
others through struggles.
6. Greg Blache, Redskins. He relies
on pressure at every level. He
likes to get a big push inside from
his tackles, explaining the Albert
Haynesworth signing. Blache also
likes linebackers who run to the
ball and corners and safeties who
press and play close to the line.
Expect Washington to harass the
QB consistently in ’09.
7. Mike Nolan, Broncos. He will have
a challenge this season, but if
anyone can turn around a moribund
defense it’s Nolan. An ardent 3-4
man, Nolan must employ a hybrid in
’09. His priority is shoring up the
run defense. He must rely on a
strong secondary to play well in
coverage while he figures out how to
generate pressure.
8. Dean Pees, Patriots. He is learn-
ing from the master, Bill
Belichick. No team does a better
job of adapting personnel and
playing the matchup game. With
NFL
upgrades in the secondary, Pees
will have more options in the pass
rush. Pees is a name to watch.
9. Mike Zimmer, Bengals. The
Bengals likely will continue to
employ a 4-3 scheme as it has
throughout Marvin Lewis’ tenure.
Cincinnati has a lot of linebackers
and converted college ends, so
Zimmer could tinker with some
3-4 alignments.
10. Paul Pasqualoni, Dolphins. Bill
Parcells and Tony Sparano
love him, and after watching that
turnaround last year who are we to
argue? Pasqualoni has the knowl-
edge and adaptability skills to be
an asset within any scheme, but he
is an old-time coach who can teach
technique on a one-on-one level.
Joey Porter’s career was over until
Pasqualoni arrived in Miami.
11. Clancy Pendergast, Chiefs. He is
unpredictable—at times
unorthodox—and is tough to game
plan against. The Chiefs will use a
3-4 scheme as their base defense,
but liberal usage of the 4-3 in nickel
sets keeps opponents guessing.
12. John Marshall, Raiders. Mar-
shall, who comes to Oakland
after a six-year stint as Mike Hol-
mgren’s defensive coordinator in
Seattle, is all about pressure. He likes
to mix coverages and formations, so
versatility in the front seven is
critical. There is talent on the
Raiders’ roster, so don’t be surprised
to see more success in ’09.
13. Gregg Williams, Saints. He uses
a lot of stunts and twists
Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau created and honed the zone blitz.
with his linemen. Speed at
defensive end is important. In the
secondary, New Orleans will
utilize a mixture of zone and
man-to-man schemes with a lot of
cornerback man-to-man cover-
ages with safety help over the top
in combination schemes.
14. Ron Rivera, Chargers. He has
experience coaching the
4-3, the Tampa-2 and now the 3-4
scheme. Although the Chargers
will remain a 3-4 front, Rivera
incorporates aspects of the other
schemes. That means more aggres-
sive play-calling in terms of blitzes
GENE J. PUSKAR / AP
and letting Shawne Merriman
loose behind a more talented front.
15. Gunther Cunningham, Lions.
Big and physical is the way
Cunningham and new coach Jim
Schwartz like defensive players.
The first priority is stopping the
run and solidifying the front
seven. Look for plenty of aggres-
sive calls and blitz schemes.
16. Perry Fewell, Bills. He runs a
conservative version of the
4-3 scheme, blitzing sparingly. He
likes to utilize a lot of cover-2 zone
schemes. Fewell uses some
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 30
pre-snap movement to confuse
opponents, but after the snap he
keeps it pretty basic.
17. Larry Coyer, Colts. A former
defensive line coach, he will
emphasize the importance of line
play—in pressuring the quarter-
back and defending the run.
18. Rob Ryan, Browns. Look for a
lot of different formations
and movement within the Browns’
3-4 scheme, which will look a lot
like brother Rex’s hybrid scheme
made famous in Baltimore. We
will see a lot of press coverage by
the cornerbacks and be aggres-
sive, mostly using man-to-man.
19. Greg Manusky, 49ers. He
emphasizes a 3-4 press-type
style with lots of different looks and
frequent shifting of personnel.
Frequent blitzing by cornerbacks
and safeties is a staple—as well as
lots of man-to-man coverage—but
the main pass rush must come from
the outside linebackers. His defense
will resemble the Steelers’ at times,
and don’t be surprised if LB Patrick
Willis becomes a star in ’09.
20. Ron Meeks, Panthers. He likes
to play zone schemes
behind stunting linemen, using
constant movement to confuse
blockers. The back seven play it
sound and simple; they try to keep
everything in front of them and
prevent big plays. Meeks doesn’t
blitz much and shouldn’t have to if
DE Julius Peppers returns.
— RealScouts analyzes NFL and college players,
coaches and teams exclusively
for Sporting News Today.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Fisher: QB Young will be Titans’ starter ‘eventually’
Titans coach Jeff Fisher says that if
Vince Young can remain patient, he’ll be
the team’s starting quarterback
sooner or later. Earlier this week,
Young said he wanted to start or be
traded.
“Let me say this: I didn’t bat an eye
at it,” Fisher told WDKF Radio.
“When I saw Vince today, we didn’t
bring it up. He was in the weight
room working out, had a great work-
out. He knows there is no potential
for us to move him. Kerry is our
starter, but Vince is eventually going
to be our starting quarterback and
the quarterback we drafted him to
be, period.”
The NFL Players Association
has reached a $26.25 million settle-
ment with retired players who had
successfully sued the union for cut-
ting them out of lucrative market-
ing deals. Hall of Fame cornerback
Herb Adderley, who filed the suit, con-
firmed the settlement on Thursday,
telling The Associated Press that
he’s “elated that this thing is com-
ing to a close.”
Bucs LG Arron Sears, who sus-
tained a concussion midway through
last season, still hasn’t been cleared
to participate in practice drills.
Recent neurological exams report-
edly haven’t been promising.
“Obviously, we are all concerned
about Arron,” coach Raheem Morris
told reporters. “Realistically, it’s a
private matter. I would respect
Arron enough not to even talk
about that. I’ll leave it as concerned
and as a private matter.”
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
Titans coach Jeff Fisher says Kerry Collins (5) is the starter, but Vince Young is staying put.
returned to practice Thursday, a
day after he limped off the field fol-
lowing a collision with RB Willie
Parker during practice. Roethlis-
berger had his left knee wrapped
Thursday but apparently did not
require treatment.
The NFL Players Association
is investigating how new Browns
coach Eric Mangini is conducting
“voluntary” practices, according to
The Plain Dealer of Cleveland.
Mangini sent 19 rookies on a
10-hour bus trip each way last
weekend, to work his football camp
in Hartford, Conn. The NFLPA
also is concerned about the length
of his spring practices and the
amount of hitting involved.
Jaguars Pro Bowl DT John Hen-
derson wants to make it clear: He’s
not faking an injury. He missed his
NFL
INSIDE DISH
MARK HUMPHREY / AP
third consecutive practice Thurs-
day because of a dislocated shoul-
der, an injury coach Jack Del Rio
questioned earlier in the week.
“I was a little upset, but we talked
about it and everything is all right,”
Henderson said. “We talked like
men. I let him know about the
shoulder. He saw the X-rays.”
Packers ILB Nick Barnett, who
underwent surgery Nov. 20 to repair
a torn ACL in his right knee, took
part in walkthrough portions of
practices this week but says he might
not be ready to participate fully in
practice until after training camp
begins Aug. 1.
“By the time the regular season
pops, I should be 100 percent. I
feel good,” Barnett said. “We’re
headed in the right direction. I
think I’ll be feeling very good in
late July.”
Packers coaches can’t decide
whether B.J. Raji fits better at nose
tackle or defensive end, and their
indecision is having a negative
impact on their first-round pick.
“I’m not going to lie—at times, it’s
overwhelming,” Raji told the Green
Bay Press-Gazette. “But at this level,
you have to grasp a lot. That’s just
the nature of this game. All I can do
is keep studying my playbook and
trying to stay as attentive in meet-
ings as I possibly can.”
The Cardinals signed S Adrian
Wilson to a five-year contract exten-
sion through the ’13 season. Wil-
son, 29, is the hard-hitting leader of
the defense and was a ’06 Pro Bowl
selection. His old contract was to
expire after the ’09 season.
The Cardinals also signed
rookie fifth-round pick Herman John-
son (6-7, 382) to a three-year contract.
LT Joe Staley has agreed to a six-
year contract extension with the
49ers that will keep him with the
club through ’17. Staley, a ’07 first-
round pick, started every game at
right tackle as a rookie before shift-
ing to the left side last year to
replace injury-prone Jonas Jennings.
Staley has not missed a snap in his
two-year career.
If troubled but talented WR
Plaxico Burress can escape or delay
prison and/or an NFL suspension,
teams will be lining up to sign him
for the ’09 season. The Bears, Jets
and Bucs all are viable options.
New Bears QB Jay Cutler has been
lobbying Burress, and WR Devin
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 31
Bills’ Wilson makes odd choice
for Hall of Fame induction
Ralph Wilson, the nonagenarian owner of the Bills, has selected
ESPN’s Chris Berman to be his presenter when Wilson is inducted
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August. Wilson noted that Ber-
man is a longtime friend who “really embodies the Bills fans.”
That’s fine. Wilson is entitled to select whomever he wants to pres-
ent him. But any of these three men would have been more appropri-
ate choices:
Marv Levy. He had a 123-78 regular-season record in 12 seasons as
Buffalo’s coach and led the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl
appearances. Levy was inducted into the Hall in ’01.
Jim Kelly. The former Bills quarterback was the trigger-man for
those Super Bowl teams. He also is in the Hall.
Bud Adams. A fellow member of the “Foolish Club,” the original
group of American Football League team owners, Adams has owned
the Titans/Oilers as long as Wilson has owned the Bills. And this is
the 50th anniversary of the AFL.
— Dennis Dillon
Hester and TE Desmond Clark seconded of a friend’s mother. Winfield had
Cutler’s motion this week. been participating in the offseason
“Talent is talent,” Clark told the strength and conditioning program
Chicago Sun-Times. “But the one until talks broke off.
thing you don’t want are bad guys.
Just from people I talk to, every- The Eagles and QB Donovan
body says he is a really, really good McNabb could be getting closer to a
guy. ... If a guy like that gets in trou- contract extension, according to the
ble and he’s not around the team, if Philadelphia Inquirer and Comcast
people didn’t like him they would SportsNet. McNabb, who turns 33 in
take their shots at him right there. November, has two years remaining
Nobody took a shot at Plaxico. He’s on a deal signed in ’02. He is sched-
going to sign with somebody, no uled to make $9.2 million this year
doubt, because he is a great talent.” and $10 million in ’10, but those sala-
ries are not guaranteed.
Pro Bowl CB Antoine Winfield is
skipping the Vikings’ voluntary The Patriots signed RB Patrick
practices this week as negotiations Pass, a member of the team from
on a contract extension have stalled. 2000-06, on Thursday. He appeared
He missed a mandatory minicamp in one game with the ’07 Giants and
last weekend to attend the funeral was out of football in ’08.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
As Boldin sits, Breaston emerges as Cardinals’ next star receiver
TEMPE, ARIZ.—As Anquan Boldin
stays away in a contract dispute,
Steve Breaston has confidently
moved up to the No. 2 wide receiver
spot for the Cardinals.
Breaston, entering his third NFL
season, knows the importance of
these spring/summer “voluntary”
practices. It was a year ago, in the
searing Arizona heat, that Breaston
opened the coaches’ eyes.
“When it came to game time, they
could trust in me,” Breaston said.
“They could rely on me to do good
things.”
Breaston went on to become Ari-
zona’s third 1,000-yard receiver in
’08, catching 77 passes for 1,006
yards, an average of 13.1 yards per
catch. That compares with 96
catches for 1,431 yards for Larry
Fitzgerald and 89 catches for 1,038
yards for Boldin.
In four playoff games last season,
Breaston caught 13 passes for 148
yards.
Boldin, in a long contract dispute
with the Cardinals, didn’t partici-
pate in last month’s mandatory mini-
camp because of what he said was a
sore hamstring. He has not taken
part in any of the subsequent volun-
tary workouts.
That has cleared the way for Breas-
ton to work with QB Kurt Warner
and the first-team offense.
“I’ve just got more opportunities
now,” he said. “Just with Q not being
here—and it’s trouble him not being
here—but it’s good for me getting
more reps. It’s good for everybody.
Everybody gets a lot more.”
The team’s other receivers—Jer-
heme Urban, Early Doucet and
Lance Long—also have had more
chances to impress the coaches.
If they need an example of how the
summer can make a career, they
In just his third season in the NFL, Steve Breaston is already going to be counted on to fill some big shoes as Arizona’s No. 2 receiver.
need look no farther than Breaston.
Breaston was no sure bet to even
make the team when he was drafted in
the fifth round out of Michigan in ’07,
the 142nd player chosen overall. He
was looked upon as perhaps a kick
returner, but there were questions
about his ability to catch the ball.
He returned kickoffs and punts as
a rookie, including a 73-yard punt
return for a touchdown against the
Steelers, but saw only sparse time on
offense (nine caches, 82 yards). He
vowed to show last summer that he
was more than just a kick returner.
“I think the biggest thing was I
was reliable,” Breaston said. “Going
against DBs, making plays, I think
that’s important, even in OTAs
NFL
(voluntary workouts). It carries over
to the games.”
As the season went on, Warner
gained more and more confidence in
his young receiver.
“There was so much pressure, but I
embraced the pressure, just playing
alongside Anquan and Larry,” Breas-
ton said, “just how good of receivers
they are. You don’t want that big drop-
off. You want to keep going.”
Warner said Boldin’s absence will
help all the young receivers.
“So much of this game is getting
reps and seeing things live,” Warner
said. “It’s one thing to talk about it in a
meeting room or draw it on a board or
see it on film, it’s completely another
thing to see it in front of you. That’s
ROSS D. FRANKLIN / AP
where it gets valuable for Steve run-
ning with the No. 1 against the No. 1
defense, but also for the guys that are
moving up a step behind him.”
Now, all those doubts about
whether Breaston could catch seem
ancient history.
“I told a lot of people that once I left
my school there was a big cloud
lifted,” Breaston said. “What they
said back in college or what I did in
college, it doesn’t determine where
I’m going or what I’m going to do in
this league. When I got here, I had a
chip on my shoulder but the cloud
was gone. No matter what people
say, they can’t determine the out-
come I will have in the NFL.”
— The Associated Press
Remaining free agents
A quick look at the remaining NFL free agents by posi-
tion (R-restricted free agent, F-franchise tagged player):
OFFENSE
Quarterbacks—Brooks Bollinger, Dallas; Ken Dorsey,
Cleveland; Gus Frerotte, Minnesota; Charlie Frye,
Seattle; Quinn Gray, Kansas City; Trent Green, St. Louis;
Rex Grossman, Chicago; Drew Henson, Detroit; Brad
Johnson, Dallas; J.P. Losman, Buffalo; Jamie Martin,
San Francisco; Craig Nall, Houston; Marques Tuiasosopo,
Oakland; Anthony Wright, NY Giants.
Running backs—Shaun Alexander, Washington;
J.J. Arrington, Denver; Darian Barnes, New Orleans;
Tatum Bell, Denver; Jon Bradley, Detroit; Brian Calhoun,
Detroit; Jesse Chatman, NY Jets; P.J. Daniels, Baltimore;
Reuben Droughns, NY Giants; Warrick Dunn, Tampa Bay;
DeShaun Foster, San Francisco; Samkon Gado, St. Louis;
Nick Goings, Carolina; Ahman Green, Houston; Andre
Hall, Denver; Kay-Jay Harris, NY Giants; Maurice Hicks,
Minnesota; Edgerrin James, Arizona; Rudi Johnson,
Detroit; Deuce McAllister, New Orleans; Travis Minor, St.
Louis; Chris Perry, Cincinnati; Andrew Pinnock, Denver;
Michael Pittman, Denver; P.J. Pope, Denver; Cecil Sapp,
Houston; Aaron Stecker, New Orleans; Selvin Young,
Denver.
Wide receivers—Drew Bennett, St. Louis; Marty
Booker, Chicago; Drew Carter, Oakland; Jason Carter;
Carolina; Keary Colbert, Detroit; Biren Ealy, New
Orleans; D.J. Hackett, Carolina; Dante Hall, St. Louis;
Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis; Ike Hilliard, Tampa Bay;
Darrell Jackson, Denver; Nate Jackson, Denver; Matt
Jones, Jacksonville; Joe Jurevicius, Cleveland; Ashley
Lelie, Oakland; Brandon Lloyd, Chicago; Dane Looker, St.
Louis; Marcus Maxwell, Baltimore; Anthony Mix, Tampa
Bay; Tab Perry, Miami; Jerry Porter, Jacksonville; Koren
Robinson, Seattle; Edell Shepherd, Denver; Travis Taylor,
Detroit; Amani Toomer, NY Giants; Reggie Williams,
Jacksonville.
Tight ends—Courtney Anderson, Houston; Adam
Bergen, Denver; Mark Bruener, Houston; Owen Daniels
(R), Houston; Nate Lawrie, Cincinnati; Marcus Pollard,
Atlanta; Jerame Tuman, Arizona; Daniel Wilcox,
Baltimore.
Offensive tackles—Anthony Davis, St. Louis; Jon
Dunn, Detroit; George Foster, Detroit; Wayne Gandy,
Atlanta; Kwame Harris, Oakland; Jonas Jennings, San
Francisco; Levi Jones, Cincinnati; Fred Miller, Chicago;
Rob Petitti, St. Louis; Jon Runyan, Philadelphia; Charles
Spencer, Jacksonville; Barry Stokes, New England; Mark
Tauscher, Green Bay.
Guards—Lennie Friedman, Cleveland; Pete Kendall,
Washington; Matt Lentz, Detroit; Terrence Metcalf,
Chicago; Edwin Mulitalo, Detroit; Chris Naeole, Jack-
sonville; Grey Ruegamer, NY Giants; Kendall Simmons,
Pittsburgh; Jason Whittle, Buffalo.
Centers—Brennen Carvalho, Green Bay; Jean-Philippe
Darche, Kansas City; Melvin Fowler, Buffalo; Matt
Lehr, New Orleans; Andy McCollum, Detroit; Jeremy
Newberry, San Diego; Scott Peters, Arizona; Cory
Withrow, St. Louis.
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 32
DEFENSE
Defensive ends—Kevin Carter, Tampa Bay; Earl
Cochran, Houston; Sean Conover, NY Jets; Nick Eason,
Pittsburgh; Kalimba Edwards, Oakland; Ebenezer
Ekuban, Denver; John Engelberger, Denver; Simon
Fraser, Atlanta; Roderick Green, San Francisco; Travis
LaBoy, Arizona; Jayme Mitchell, Minnesota; Jerome
McDougle, NY Giants; Julius Peppers (F), Carolina; Josh
Savage, New Orleans; Anthony Weaver, Houston; James
Wyche, Jacksonville.
Defensive tackles—Kenderick Allen, Minnesota;
Gary Gibson, Carolina; La’Roi Glover, St. Louis; Vonnie
Holliday, Miami; Antwan Lake, New Orleans; Langston
Moore, Detroit; Kindal Moorehead, Atlanta; Dewayne
Robertson, Denver; Orpheus Roye, Pittsburgh; Hollis
Thomas, New Orleans; Josh Thomas, Indianapolis; John
Thornton, Cincinnati; Casey Tyler, Dallas; Darwin Walker,
Carolina; Ellis Wyms, Minnesota; Brian Young, New
Orleans; Jeff Zgonina, Houston.
Linebackers—Rufus Alexander, Indianapolis; Jason
Babin, Kansas City; Rocky Boiman, Kansas City; Derrick
Brooks, Tampa Bay; Khary Campbell, Washington;
Anthony Cannon, Detroit; Dan Cody, Baltimore;
Rosevelt Colvin, New England; Donte’ Curry, Carolina;
Donnie Edwards, Kansas City; Greg Ellis, Dallas; Gilbert
Gardner, Chicago; Curtis Gatewood, Kansas City; Morlon
Greenwood, Houston; Napoleon Harris, Minnesota; Brad
Kassell, NY Jets; Jason Kyle, Carolina; Teddy Lehman,
Buffalo; Wesly Mallard, Seattle; Willie McGinest,
Cleveland; Ryan Nece, Detroit; Shantee Orr, Cleveland;
Antwan Peek, Cleveland; Carlos Polk, Dallas; Junior
Seau, New England; Matt Sinclair, Washington; Gary
Stills, St. Louis; Terrell Suggs (F), Baltimore; Dontarrious
Thomas, Minnesota; Marcus Washington, Washington;
Nate Webster, Denver.
Cornerbacks—David Barrett, NY Jets; Fakhir Brown,
St. Louis; Terry Cousin, Cleveland; Jason Craft, St. Louis;
Travis Fisher, Detroit; Reynaldo Hill, Tennessee; William
James, Jacksonville; Adam Jones, Dallas; Michael
Lehan, New Orleans; Sam Madison, NY Giants; Ricky
Manning Jr., St. Louis; Chris McAlister, Baltimore; Mike
McKenzie, New Orleans; R.W. McQuarters, NY Giants;
Deltha O’Neal, New England; Dunta Robinson (F),
Houston; Lewis Sanders, New England; Duane Starks,
Jacksonville; DeJuan Tribble, San Diego; Jason Webster,
New England; Jimmy Williams, Houston; Stanley
Wilson, Detroit.
Safeties—Michael Boulware, Minnesota; Mike
Brown, Chicago; Oliver Celestin, Kansas City; Corey
Chavous, St. Louis; Will Demps, Houston; Mike Doss,
Cincinnati; Mike Green, Washington; Terrence Holt,
New Orleans; Dexter Jackson, Cincinnati; Sammy
Knight, NY Giants; Lawyer Milloy, Atlanta; Chad Nkang,
Jacksonville; Pierson Prioleau, Jacksonville; Dwight
Smith, Detroit; Jimmy Williams, San Francisco; Cameron
Worrell, Chicago.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kickers—John Carney, NY Giants; Matt Stover,
Baltimore.
Punters—Mitch Berger, Pittsburgh; Kyle Larson,
Cincinnati; Ryan Plackemeier, Cincinnati.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
INSIDE DISH
Double-file starts
return to NASCAR
NASCAR announced Thursday that it
will implement double-file lead-lap-car
restarts with this weekend’s NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.
The double-file restarts will be used for
all restarts at all tracks for the Sprint Cup
Series. Implementation for the Nationwide
and Camping World Truck series will come
in the near future.
The former restart procedure had lap-
down cars on the inside, and the lead-lap
cars on the outside for the restarts.
“We’ve heard the fans loud and clear: ‘Dou-
ble-file restarts—shootout style’ are coming to
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,” NASCAR
Chairman and CEO Brian France said in a news
release. “This addition to the race format is
good for competition and good for the fans.”
— Bob Pockrass, SceneDaily.com
Hendrick Motorsports tops Forbes.
com’s annual ranking of NASCAR teams by
estimated value, with an estimated value of
3
for the
road
The 14th race of the
Sprint Cup season
is Sunday at Pocono
Raceway. Three
Sprint Cup drivers discuss their
experiences at the 2.5-mile track
nicknamed the Tricky Triangle.
1. Jamie McMurray: “Due to the unique lay-
out of the track, it forces us to look at a few
different aspects of our racecar for this weekend’s
race. Horsepower is the key at Pocono, and you
need to have a fast and powerful car since there
are three different straightaways.”
HAROLD HINSON FOR SN
NASCAR reacted to fans who called for a shootout style.
$350 million. To assess the value, Forbes uses a
formula that involves adding up what teams
receive from sponsors, their winnings and
funds from any businesses such as engine-leas-
ing programs. It applies multiples ranging from
1.25 to 1.80 based on past relevant deals in
the formula.
The top 10 teams, and their projected value
in millions that follow Hendrick are Roush
Fenway Racing ($270), Richard Childress
Racing ($167), Joe Gibbs Racing ($144), Rich-
ard Petty Motorsports ($131), Penske Racing
($111), Michael Waltrip Racing ($100), Stew-
art-Haas Racing ($80), Earnhardt Ganassi
Racing ($70) and Red Bull Racing ($55).
— SceneDaily.com
2. Denny Hamlin: “To get the two wins in my
rookie season was an incredible start. At the
time, because the car was so good and I felt really
comfortable here, I probably took those wins for
granted a little. I was still new and didn’t have
a good sense of how hard it is to win in the Cup
series so as more and more time passes, just how
cool it was to win both those races, and do it from
the pole both times, has really sunk in.”
3. Bobby Labonte: “The front straightaway
there, you come off the corner which is
pretty slow but you pick up so much speed down
the front straightaway that it is just forever, forever,
forever. And then you just say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve
got to let off here, I’m probably going about 205
(mph). And it’s hard on the brakes getting it to turn
and everything. You’ve got a lot of time to think
about Turn 1. Best thing to do is probably to not
NASCAR
Goodyear officials say more than 1,200
laps were completed during the tire manu-
facturer’s three-day test at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway this week.
Nine teams participated, including Roush
Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle, Richard Childress
Racing’s Jeff Burton, Tommy Baldwin Racing’s
Patrick Carpentier, Wood Brothers Racing’s Bill
Elliott, Robby Gordon Motorsports’ Robby Gor-
don, Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne,
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya,
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Tony Stewart and Penske
Racing’s David Stremme. After the session,
Goodyear officials said that all results indi-
cated they were on target with the tire that will
be used in this year’s Allstate 400.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. will return to the Mac-
Donald Motorsports No. 81 in this week-
end’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Federated
Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeed-
way, Hamilton’s hometown track. He drove
for the team at Dover International Speed-
way last weekend and finished 15th.
Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano will
compete in the Bennett Lane Winery 200
Camping World West Series race on June 20.
— SceneDaily.com
TERRY RENNA / AP
Bobby Labonte understands the challenges of Turn 1.
think about it, but it’s a long enough straightaway
that you can’t ignore that you’re going to be haul-
ing butt when you get down there.”
Skinner: ‘We
generally run
good at Texas’
BY TIM TUTTLE
For Sporting News Today
Mike Skinner has a robust record at
Texas Motor Speedway in the Camping
World Truck Series, but it comes with a
tinge of frustration, too, that he’d like to
end today with a victory in the WinStar
Casino World 400.
Skinner has three second-place finishes,
two thirds and a fourth at the high-banked
1.5-mile track in Fort Worth. He has an
average finish of 5.5, the best among the
drivers entered for the eighth race of the
season, and has led 458 laps in his 10 starts.
Skinner has also completed all 1,580 laps
in the truck races he has run at Texas.
“The racetrack has really been good to
me at times and it has been bad to me at
times, but it is definitely on my top-five
list of favorite racetracks we go to,” Skin-
ner said. “We generally run good at Texas.
I don’t want to sound like a broken record,
but to win any one of these races at any
track is special, but to win at Texas would
be a little more special. It would be like
winning at Daytona. I have a Bristol win
and that is such a prestigious race to win,
so I would love to add a win at Texas.”
Skinner has had an outstanding start
in his first season with Randy Moss
Motorsports, particularly considering
the effort wasn’t put together until Febru-
ary. Skinner, the 1995 series champion,
had to scramble after his previous orga-
nization, Bill Davis Racing, was sold in
the offseason and the new owners shelved
the racing portion of the business.
Skinner drove RMM’s Toyota to its first vic-
tory in the rain-shortened fifth race at Kansas
and five top fives have him in second place in
the points, 27 behind leader Ron Hornaday Jr.
Hornaday had back-to-back wins at Texas
last season and will be driving the same
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 33
WinStar Casino World 400
Where: Texas Motor Speedway; Fort Worth
When: Today, 9 p.m. ET
TV: SPEED, 8:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN/Sirius XM Satellite Ch. 128
Track layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race distance: 167 laps/250.5 miles
2008 winner: Ron Hornaday Jr.
2008 polesitter: Justin Marks
Points leaders: 1. Ron Hornaday Jr., 1,056;
2. Mike Skinner, 1,029; 3. Matt Crafton,
1,027; 4. Kyle Busch, 1,000; 5. Brian Scott,
949; 6. Todd Bodine, 946; 7. Terry Cook,
920; 8. Chad McCumbee, 916; 9. David
Starr, 903; Johnny Benson, 887.
KHI truck, chassis No. 024. The three-time
series champion drove that same truck to
victory at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.
Hornaday is the all-time leader in the
truck series with 40 wins, but he has never
put together three straight at one track.
“To win three races in a row at the same
place shows just how dominant a team
can be there,” Hornaday said. “Brendan
(Gaughan) won four in a row (at Texas) a
few years ago, so I guess I would just be
trying to catch him.”
Toyota driver Todd Bodine has four of his
16 career wins in the truck series at Texas.
“When Germain Racing takes the Copart
Tundra to Texas, we know we can win
there,” Bodine said. “We know how to get
around that track. It’s still up to us to make
sure we have the Copart Tundra set up to do
it, but, obviously with that history, you
know what you are capable of at Texas.”
Kyle Busch, in fourth place in the
points, will miss his second truck race of
the season because he’s racing in the
Sprint Cup race at Pocono and the Nation-
wide race at Nashville Superspeedway
this weekend. Brian Ickler will replace
him in the No. 51 Billy Ballew Motor-
sports Toyota. Ickler finished fifth at
Kansas in his previous race in the No. 51
with crew chief Doug George. He also has
driven Ballew’s No. 15 at Lowe’s, finish-
ing 16th, and at Dover, finishing 25th.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Golf FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 34

Donald needs just 20 putts to set record Memorial

Site: Dublin, Ohio.
Member of NCAA champs
DUBLIN, OHIO—Tiger Woods hardly missed a fairway, a Schedule: Through-Sunday. helping Hamilton as caddie
big improvement. Luke Donald hardly missed a putt, Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (7,366 yards, par 72).
and that was far more rewarding Thursday at the Purse: $6 million. Winner’s share: $1.08 million. DUBLIN, OHIO—Todd Hamilton’s caddie at the Memo-
Memorial. TV: Golf Channel (Today, 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.; rial Tournament is a kid from back home who’s had a
Donald set a tournament record by taking only 20 Saturday, 12:30-2:30 p.m., 9:30-11:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-2 better last couple of weeks than Hamilton has.
putts, which allowed him to tie a tournament record by p.m., 9:30-11:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, Conrad Shindler, a 20-year-old sophomore, was on
opening with an 8-under 64 and a three-shot lead over 2:30-6 p.m.). the Texas A&M team that captured the NCAA team
a group that included Jim Furyk and Jason Day, who championship last Saturday with a dramatic victory
James Nitties 37-36—73 +1
bogeyed his last two holes. Leaderboard Webb Simpson
K.J. Choi
37-36—73
35-38—73
+1
+1
over Arkansas.
What seemed like a normal round at Muirfield Vil- Thursday Dustin Johnson 34-39—73 +1 Shindler and Hamilton are both members at Vaquero
At Muirfield Village Golf Club Nick Watney 34-39—73 +1 Golf Club in Westlake, Texas. Even though Hamilton
lage turned extraordinary for Donald when he rapped Dublin, Ohio Chris DiMarco 37-36—73 +1
in a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 Purse: $6 million Shaun Micheel 36-37—73 +1 is an Oklahoma graduate, he asked the Aggie to fill in
Yardage: 7,366; Par: 72 (36-36) Nick O’Hern 35-38—73 +1 when his regular caddie took some time off.
eighth hole, starting a streak of six consecutive birdies. Bart Bryant 36-37—73 +1
He one-putted nine straight holes until a routine par on
First Round Matt Kuchar 36-37—73 +1 “It’s a great experience,” Shindler said. “I plan on
Luke Donald 34-30—64 -8 Alex Cejka 37-36—73 +1
the 18th hole to match the lowest opening round at the Jim Furyk 33-34—67 -5 Jose Maria Olazabal 37-37—74 +2 being out here someday, so it’s kind of a way to get the
Ted Purdy 32-35—67 -5 Hunter Mahan 35-39—74 +2 inside access of it.”
Memorial. MIKE MUNDEN / AP Jason Day 31-36—67 -5 Scott McCarron 37-37—74 +2
“That doesn’t happen very often,” Donald said. Thomas Aiken 34-33—67 -5 Richard Sterne 35-39—74 +2 On Monday, Shindler is set to play 36 holes in the
While all eyes were on Tiger Woods, it was Luke Donald, above, who Steve Marino 34-34—68 -4 Brett Quigley 33-41—74 +2
Even rarer is the sight of Woods spending so much stole the thunder and the early lead with his first-round 64. Stewart Cink 35-33—68 -4 Bill Haas 37-37—74 +2 U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus. His caddie?
Mark Wilson 34-34—68 -4 Billy Mayfair 35-39—74 +2 Hamilton will return the favor.
time in the middle of the fairway. Troy Matteson 35-34—69 -3 Greg Owen 38-36—74 +2
Woods went with a slightly higher loft in his driver “It was just kind of a normal, everyday round until I Johnson Wagner 31-38—69 -3 Marc Leishman 37-37—74 +2 “Whatever he asks me to do, I’ll do,” Hamilton said.
Kevin Sutherland 35-34—69 -3 Jeff Quinney 38-37—75 +3
(10 degrees) and continued to make strides with his got to the eighth and made a nice putt from the fringe. Nicholas Thompson 36-33—69 -3 Lucas Glover 38-37—75 +3 “If he says, ‘Hey, don’t say anything until I say some-
Rod Pampling 35-34—69 -3 Padraig Harrington 36-39—75 +3 thing, that’s fine with me. I’m the same way.”
swing. He didn’t miss a fairway until his 3-wood on the That kind of sparked off a run of six birdies. Just really Tiger Woods 33-36—69 -3 Vijay Singh 36-39—75 +3
18th hole deflected off a tree and landed in a bunker. got on a hot streak.” Mike Weir 33-36—69 -3 John Mallinger 38-37—75 +3
Scoring starts with the putter, however. Woods He made eight birdies over the last 11 holes. And his
Jonathan Byrd
Reinier Saxton
34-35—69
33-36—69
-3
-3
Ryan Moore
Tim Herron
37-38—75
36-39—75
+3
+3 Head shot
Steve Stricker 35-35—70 -2 Ian Poulter 36-39—75 +3 David Duval was on a roll. He was 5 under as he teed
missed an 8-foot par putt on the final hole, and his score was an eyesore for those teeing off in the Will MacKenzie 36-34—70 -2 Charles Howell III 39-36—75 +3
other bogey came on a three-putt at the 13th. He had to afternoon. Ernie Els 37-33—70 -2 Woody Austin 35-40—75 +3 off on the par-4 ninth hole, and was leading the Memo-
Ryuji Imada 34-36—70 -2 Mark Brooks 38-37—75 +3 rial Tournament.
settle for a 69, and few complaints. “That’s rough when you walk to the first tee and Bubba Watson 34-37—71 -1 D.A. Points 38-37—75 +3
“Everything felt pretty good to some degree,” Woods you’re already eight behind,” defending champion
David Duval 31-40—71 -1 Jeff Klauk 37-39—76 +4 But Duval’s ball sailed just to the right of the fairway,
John Senden 32-39—71 -1 Billy Andrade 38-38—76 +4
said. “My swing felt good. Even my putting stroke felt Kenny Perry. He finished the day eight shots behind Charley Hoffman 36-35—71 -1 George McNeill 37-39—76 +4 and his round was never the same afterward.
Camilo Villegas 34-37—71 -1 Steve Lowery 37-39—76 +4 Duval’s drive struck a spectator near the large bun-
good. A couple of bad pitches here and there, but over- after two late bogeys have him a 72. Chez Reavie 36-35—71 -1 Tim Petrovic 38-38—76 +4
all, I felt like I controlled the ball well all day. With the Stewart Cink was among those at 68, while those at Martin Kaymer 36-35—71 -1 Ken Duke 39-37—76 +4 ker that gobbles up shots to the right of the fairway.
Kevin Na 35-36—71 -1 Jeff Overton 36-40—76 +4
wind blowing like this, you have to hit it flush. I did 69 with Woods included Mike Weir and British Ama- Zach Johnson 36-35—71 -1 Sean O’Hair 39-37—76 +4 The ball hit the man in the head and what Duval con-
Ben Curtis 34-37—71 -1 Richard S. Johnson 37-39—76 +4 fronted when he reached the ball was enough to leave
that all day. I didn’t miss any shots.” teur champion Reinier Saxton. Tom Lehman 34-37—71 -1 Fredrik Jacobson 38-39—77 +5
Furyk, who won the Memorial seven years ago, bird- Woods has a streak of 16 consecutive top 10s in Tom Pernice, Jr. 35-36—71 -1 Jason Dufner 38-39—77 +5 him shaken.
Matt Bettencourt 34-37—71 -1 Peter Lonard 41-36—77 +5
ied three of his final four holes for a 67. He was joined stroke play, but scrutiny followed him home from The Jerry Kelly 36-36—72 E Charles Warren 41-36—77 +5 “It’s easier to swallow if there’s not blood coming out
Robert Allenby 37-35—72 E Adam Scott 38-39—77 +5 of somebody’s head. And the guy was shook up,” said
by Ted Purdy, Thomas Aiken and Day, the 21-year-old Players Championship last week because he played in Davis Love III 38-34—72 E James Driscoll 34-43—77 +5
Australian who missed a playoff by one shot last week the final group and couldn’t break par. Geoff Ogilvy 37-35—72 E Chris Stroud 37-40—77 +5 Duval, who said he was with the 60-year-old Colum-
Stuart Appleby 37-35—72 E James Kamte 38-39—77 +5
at Colonial. Day was at 7 under with three holes to play, He has said he is still making adjustments because of Mark Calcavecchia 36-36—72 E Kevin Streelman 37-40—77 +5 bus-area man until he received medical attention.
Erik Compton 37-35—72 E Brian Davis 38-40—78 +6 Duval said he was told the man was OK.
but made bogey from the bunkers on his final two surgery last year on his left knee, and has said for the Michael Letzig 37-35—72 E Aaron Baddeley 38-41—79 +7
holes. last month that he is still missing his power. But he is Kenny Perry 36-36—72 E Danny Lee 40-39—79 +7 The last time Duval said he had struck a fan with a
Daniel Chopra 36-36—72 E Cliff Kresge 42-37—79 +7 shot was 10 years or so ago at The Players
All of them were chasing Donald throughout a day back to hitting balls on the range, which is where he Marc Turnesa 37-35—72 E Scott Piercy 37-42—79 +7
that began cool and breezy and became warm and could be found late Thursday afternoon. And he
Lee Janzen 34-38—72 E Chris Wilson 38-41—79 +7 Championship.
Charl Schwartzel 34-38—72 E John Rollins 43-37—80 +8
blustery. painted an optimistic view of his immediate future. Rocco Mediate 37-36—73 +1 Ryan Palmer 40-40—80 +8 Duval, winless since capturing the 2001 British
Paul Casey 36-37—73 +1 Justin Rose 41-39—80 +8 Open, admitted that he was rattled for a couple of holes.
Donald, who had only two sub-70 rounds at Muir- “The swing is starting to come around,” he said. “I’m Y.E. Yang 36-37—73 +1 Jesper Parnevik 40-41—81 +9
field Village, hit the opening tee shot and made bogey. starting to feel good now. It’s been a long time. I’m Todd Hamilton 37-36—73 +1 Bo Van Pelt 40-41—81 +9 He bogeyed the 10th hole and double-bogeyed the 12th,
Carl Pettersson 35-38—73 +1 Parker McLachlin 39-42—81 +9
He was headed for another bogey on the second hole starting to get my power back. Everything is starting Steve Flesch 36-37—73 +1 J.B. Holmes 40-42—82 +10 shooting a 4-over 40 on the back and finishing at
D.J. Trahan 34-39—73 +1 Brad Faxon 41-42—83 +11 1-under 71.
until he chipped in from 80 feet short of the green. to come around now.” Mathew Goggin 34-39—73 +1 Kevin Chappell 42-44—86 +14
“I guess all good rounds start with a bogey,” he said. — The Associated Press — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Tennis FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 35
FRENCH OPEN
Solovieva, Russia, 6-2, 7-5.
Results
Thursday
At Stade Roland Garros, Paris
Kristina Mladenovic (9), France, def. Chanel
Simmonds, South Africa, 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Daria Gavrilova, Russia, def. Bianca Botto,
Peru, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
French final, Russian accent: Safina-Kuznetsova
Purse: $21.8 million (Grand Slam)
Surface: Clay-Outdoor
Singles
Junior Doubles Glance
Boys, Quarterfinals
Women, Semifinals A look at the French Open on Thursday:
Marin Draganja and Dino Marcan, Croatia,
Dinara Safina (1), Russia, def. Dominika Weather: Sunny. High of 68 degrees.
def. Evan King and Denis Kudla (5), United
Cibulkova (20), Slovakia, 6-3, 6-3.
States, 6-0, 7-6 (4). Attendance: 16,622.
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7), Russia, def.
Patrk Brydolf, Sweden, and Radim Urbanek, Women’s semifinals: No. 1 Dinara
Samantha Stosur (30), Australia, 6-4, 6-7
Czech Republic, def. Devin Britton and Jordan Safina def. No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova
(5), 6-3.
Cox, United States, 2-6, 6-2, 10-6 tiebreak. 6-3, 6-3, No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova def.
Guilherme Clezar, Brazil, and Huang Liang- No. 30 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Doubles
chi (4), Taiwan, def. Hiroyasu Ehara and
Men, Semifinals Stat of the day: 0-2 — Safina’s
Shuichi Sekiguchi (7), Japan, 6-2, 6-3.
Wesley Moodie, South Africa, and Dick record in Grand Slam finals heading into
Dominik Schulz, Germany, and David Souto
Norman, Belgium, def. Bob and Mike Bryan Saturday’s championship match against
(6), Venezuela, def. Karim Maamoun, Egypt,
(2), United States, 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Kuznetsova.
and Nikila Scholtz, South Africa, 6-1, 3-6,
Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, and Leander Quote of the day: “Doesn’t matter
10-6 tiebreak.
Paes (3), India, def. Daniel Nestor, Canada, if I won 15 times before or she won
Girls, Quarterfinals LIONEL CIRONNEAU / AP
and Nenad Zimonjic (1), Serbia, 7-6 (4), 15 times before. It’s a completely new
Ksenia Kirillova, Russia, and Martina
7-6 (5). Dinara Safina is one match from joining brother Marat Safin as the only brother-sister team to win a Grand Slam. day. Everything could be different.” —
Trevisan, Italy, def. Isabella Holland and
Mixed Kuznetsova, who is 4-7 against Safina in
Olivia Rogowska, Australia, walkover.
Championship
Elena Bogdan, Romania, and Noppawan
PARIS—Dinara Safina cursed at herself in but she stumbled a bit before getting past No. tour-level main-draw matches.
Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan (1), United English, muttered to herself in Russian and 30 Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-4, 6-7 (5),
Lertcheewakarn (2), Thailand, def. Beatrice Men’s semifinals today: No. 2 Roger
States, def. Vania King, United States, and
Marcelo Melo, Brazil, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-7.
Capra and Lauren Embree (7), United States, generally carried on in much the same man- 6-3. Federer vs. No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro,
6-1, 6-4. ner of older brother Marat Safin. “She’s going to be favorite to win,” Kuz- No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez vs. No. 23 Robin
Yana Buchina and Ksenia Pervak (6), Russia, Soderling.
Legends Doubles Safina’s face bears a striking resemblance netsova said, looking toward her match with
def. Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Silvia Today’s forecast: Sunny. High of 70
Round Robin to Safin’s, and she shares his broad shoulders, Safina. “She’s No. 1. She played an unbeliev-
Njiric (4), Croatia, 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 tiebreak. degrees F.
Men Under 45 too. Both have been ranked No. 1—the only able season.”
Timea Babos, Hungary, and Heather Watson
Pat Cash, Australia, and Emilio Sanchez,
(3), Britain, def. Katarena Paliivets, Canada, Today’s TV: NBC, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. all
Spain, def. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, and brother-sister combo to do so—and now Safina holds a 7-4 career edge over Kuz- CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP
time zones; Tennis Channel, 4-11 p.m. ET
and Chanel Simmonds, South Africa, 6-3, Safina is one victory from joining Safin as a netsova, including a win in last year’s
Michael Stich, Germany, 6-3, 2-6, 10-5 Svetlana Kuznetsova has won just four of 11
6-4.
tiebreak. Grand Slam champion. French Open semifinals. The two go back matches against Dinara Safina.
Paul Haarhuis, Netherlands, and Cedric Yearning to justify her ranking and live about a decade, to age 12 or 13, when Kuz-
Wheelchair
Pioline, France, def. Sergi Bruguera, Spain,
and Richard Krajicek, Netherlands, 2-6, 7-6
Singles up to her bloodlines by winning a major netsova was living in St. Petersburg, and Grand Slam and tie Pete Sampras’ record of Cibulkova did well in long exchanges at the
Men, Semifinals title, the top-seeded Safina overcame a poor Safina in Moscow, where her father was 14 major titles. Federer lost to Rafael Nadal baseline, where much of the match took place:
(4), 10-5 tiebreak.
Shingo Kunieda (1), Japan, def. Michael
Men Over 45
Jeremiasz, France, 6-1, 6-2.
start Thursday and held her temper in the director of a tennis club and her mother in the past three finals at Roland Garros, but Each woman won 15 points that lasted at least
Andres Gomez, Ecuador, and Victor Pecci, check enough to beat No. 20 Dominika was a coach who started Safin on his way the Spaniard is no longer around this year 10 strokes.
Stephane Houdet (2), France, def. Nicolas
Paraguay, def. Peter McNamara, Australia,
Peifer, France, 7-5, 6-2. Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3 and reach a second con- to titles at the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 after being upset by Soderling in the fourth Safina won five consecutive games to go
and Ilie Nastase, Romania, 6-2, 6-1.
Women, Semifinals secutive French Open final. Australian Open. round. ahead 5-2, and that was pretty much that.
Korie Homan (2), Netherlands, def. Sharon “I’m trying to control my emotions,” Safina “I had no chance playing against her. I “At this stage, I expected I would be in Her grunts growing louder and longer
Junior Singles
Walraven, Netherlands, 6-0, 6-2.
Boys, Quarterfinals
Esther Vergeer (1), Netherlands, def. Florence said. “I’m not playing my best, but still, it’s not remember, I lose to her 6-1, 6-0 or something,” semifinals,” Federer said, “but I was not with each game, Safina double-faulted
Dominik Schulz (14), Germany, def. easy to beat me.” Kuznetsova said. “She was very good then, expecting Rafa to be out before the seven times and made more unforced errors
Gravellier, France, 6-2, 6-2.
Guilherme Clezar, Brazil, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Daniel Berta, Sweden, def. Richard Becker,
Doubles Not lately: Safina has won 20 of 21 and then her brother was huge. I was coming semifinals.” than Cibulkova—marking many mistakes
Men, First Round matches since rising to No. 1 in April. The to Marat, ‘Hey, I know your sister, Dinara. Can The women’s semifinals figured to be mis- with some sort of yell.
Germany, 6-3, 6-3.
Robin Ammerlaan and Maikel Scheffers,
Henri Laaksonen, Finland, def. Filip Horansky,
Netherlands, def. Shingo Kunieda, Japan,
only woman to defeat her in that span, 2004 you give me autograph?’ ” matches: Neither Stosur nor Cibulkova had At least twice, Safina said something in
Slovakia, 6-3, 6-4. U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, In the men’s semifinals today, No. 2 Roger been past the fourth round at any Grand English that prompted an announcer on a
and Stefan Olsson (2), Sweden, 6-7 (2), 6-2,
Gianni Mina (11), France, def. Andrea
10-8 tiebreak. will get another crack at Safina on Saturday Federer plays No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, Slam tournament until this week—and nei- European broadcast to apologize to listen-
Collarini (3), Argentina, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Women, First Round in the third all-Russian major final in ten- and No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez meets No. 23 ther has won a singles title on tour. ers. When she plopped one backhand into
Girls, Quarterfinals
Annick Sevenans, Belgium, and Aniek Van
Sloane Stephens (15), United States, def. nis history. Robin Soderling. The 5-foot-11½ Safina has an 8½-inch height the clay at her feet, Safina opted for sarcasm,
Koot, Netherlands, def. Florence Gravellier,
Silvia Njiric (11), Croatia, 6-2, 6-2.
France, and Jiske Griffioen (2), Netherlands, The seventh-seeded Kuznetsova seemed Federer is trying to win his first French advantage over Cibulkova, who surprised saying: “That was a great shot.”
Ksenia Pervak (3), Russia, def. Valeria well on her way to an easy semifinal victory, Open championship to complete a career Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. Yet — The Associated Press
6-4, 7-6 (5).
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
UNC, Texas open with in-state foes
A look at the matchups for the eight best-of-3 NCAA Super Regionals
TCU (39-16) at
TEXAS (44-13-1)
UFCU Disch-Falk Field; Austin,
Texas.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: TCU won Forth
Worth Regional: beat Wright State
6-3; beat Oregon State 13-1; beat Ore-
gon State 5-4. Texas won Austin
Regional: beat Army 3-1; beat Bos-
ton College 3-2 in 25 innings; beat
Army 14-10.
COACHES: TCU, Jim Schlossnagle
(250-118, sixth season). Texas, Augie
Garrido (561-266-2, 12th season).
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST):
TCU, eight (2008). Texas, 53
(2008).
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
TCU: 3B Matt Carpenter (.335, 9,
45), OF Jason Coats (.335, 6, 31), OF
Chris Ellington (.342, 6, 52), RHP
Paul Gerrish (6-2, 4.00), RHP Greg
Holle (5-2, 3.89), RHP Tyler Lock-
wood (4-1, 4.41), RHP Eric Marshall
(2-2, 1.30, 8 saves), 1B Matt Vern
(.363, 15, 50), RHP Kyle Winkler
(7-0, 3.95).
Texas: 1B Brandon Belt (.338, 8, 38),
RHP Cole Green (5-2, 2.98), RHP
Taylor Jungmann (7-3. 2.45), OF
Kevin Keyes (.305, 6, 37), SS Bran-
don Loy (.307, 0, 26), OF Connor
Rowe (.276, 6, 33), RHP Chance Ruf-
fin (9-2, 2.95), C Cameron Rupp
(.282, 8, 39), LHP Austin Wood (5-1,
2.03, 15 saves).
SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
(38-24) at FLORIDA (42-20)
McKethan Stadium; Gainesville,
Fla.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Southern Miss
won Atlanta Regional: beat Elon
17-15; beat Georgia Tech 10-7; lost to
Georgia Tech 10-3; beat Georgia
Tech 12-8. Florida won Gainesville
Regional: beat Bethune-Cookman
8-7; beat Miami 8-2; beat Miami
16-5.
COACHES: Southern Miss, Corky
Palmer (456-279, 12th season). Flor-
ida, Kevin O’Sullivan (76-44, second
season).
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST):
Southern Miss, 10 (2008). Florida,
25 (2008).
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Southern Miss: 1B Joey Archer (.310,
10, 58), RHP J.R. Ballinger (6-3,
3.92), OF Kameron Brunty (.347, 7,
52), RHP Collin Cargill (4-3, 3.25, 11
saves), OF Bo Davis (.367, 13, 52), 2B
James Ewing (.298, 3, 39), RHP Todd
McInnis (9-4, 3.21), DH Corey Ste-
vens (.330, 8, 55), 3B Taylor Walker
(.306, 3, 29).
Florida: 2B Josh Adams (.343, 8,
50), OF Avery Barnes (.359, 8, 42),
RHP Billy Bullock (3-2, 2.12, 11
saves), LHP Tony Davis (5-0, 2.27),
RHP Anthony DeSclafani (6-3,
4.98), OF Matt den Dekker (.297, 5,
35), LHP Stephen Locke (5-2, 4.02),
3B Brandon McArthur (.337, 2, 37),
1B Preston Tucker (.357, 14, 83).
College Baseball
NCAA SUPER REGIONAL PREVIEWS
CLEMSON (44-20)
at ARIZONA STATE (47-12)
Packard Stadium; Tempe, Ariz.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Clemson won
Clemson Regional: beat Tennessee
Tech 5-4; lost to Oklahoma State 3-2;
beat Tennessee Tech 10-0; beat
Oklahoma State 15-1; beat Oklahoma
State 6-5. Arizona State won Tempe
Regional: beat Kent State 17-6; beat
Oral Roberts 4-1; beat Oral Roberts
8-3.
COACHES: Clemson, Jack Leggett
(724-329-1, 16th season). Arizona
State, Pat Murphy (625-282-1, 15th
season).
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST):
Clemson, 34 (2007). Arizona State:
33 (2008).
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Clemson: OF Wilson Boyd (.349, 3,
46), LHP Chris Dwyer (5-5, 4.85),
2B Mike Freeman (.338, 4, 44), LHP
Casey Harman (7-3, 3.78), OF Kyle
Parker (.263, 12, 52), 1B Ben Paulson
(.369, 13, 60), OF Jeff Schaus (.326,
12, 49), RHP Graham Stoneburner
(7-3, 3.19), RHP Matt Vaughn (4-1,
2.30, 4 saves).
Arizona State: RHP Seth Blair (7-2,
3.16), OF Kole Calhoun (.297, 9, 39),
OF Jason Kipnis (.387, 15, 68, 24
SBs), LHP Mitchell Lambson (8-3,
2.81, 4 saves), RHP Mike Leake (15-
1, 1.23, 143 Ks), SS Drew Maggi (.305,
0, 21, 20 SBs), DH Matt Newman
(.310, 7, 51), C Carlos Ramirez (.341,
18, 69), LHP Josh Spence (8-1, 2.37).
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 36
EAST CAROLINA (46-18)
at NORTH CAROLINA (45-16)
Boshamer Stadium; Chapel Hill,
N.C.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: East Carolina
won Greenville Regional: beat Bing-
hamton 11-7; lost to South Carolina
12-2; beat Binghamton 16-9; beat
South Carolina 8-6; beat South Car- BOB BOOTH / AP
olina 10-9 in 10 innings. North Car- TCU 1B Matt Vern, whose team plays Texas, leads the Frogs in batting (.363) and home runs (15).
olina won Chapel Hill Regional: beat
Dartmouth 5-2; beat Coastal Caro-
lina 14-5; beat Kansas 5-1. Super Regionals glance
COACHES: East Carolina: Billy God- All times ET (Best-of-3)
win (161-88, fourth season). North
Carolina: Mike Fox (497-206-1, 11th At Dick Howser Stadium At Boshamer Stadium
Tallahassee, Fla. Chapel Hill, N.C.
season). Today Saturday
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): East Arkansas (37-22) vs. Florida State (45-16), Noon East Carolina (46-18) vs. North Carolina (45-16), Noon
Saturday Sunday
Carolina, 24 (2008). North Carolina: Arkansas vs. Florida State, Noon East Carolina vs. North Carolina, Noon
24 (2008). Sunday Monday
Arkansas vs. Florida State, Noon, if necessary East Carolina vs. North Carolina, 1 or 7 p.m., if necessary
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
East Carolina: OF Stephen Batts At Alex Box Stadium At Packard Stadium
(.358, 14, 63), 1B Brandon Hender- Baton Rouge, La. Tempe, Ariz.
Today Saturday
son (.327, 12, 54), RHP Chris Heston Rice (43-16) vs. LSU (49-16), 7 p.m. Clemson (44-20) vs. Arizona State (47-12), 9 p.m.
(7-0, 4.17), RHP Seth Maness (9-2, Saturday Sunday
Rice vs. LSU, 5 p.m. Clemson vs. Arizona State, 10 p.m.
4.41, 2 saves), RHP Brad Mincey Sunday Monday, June 8
(10-5, 2.84), DH Kyle Roller (.337, 16, Rice vs. LSU, 7 p.m., if necessary Clemson vs. Arizona State, 7 p.m., if necessary
74), RHP Seth Simmons (3-1, 3.32, 9 At UFCU Disch-Falk Field At Oxford-University Stadium
saves), OF Trent Whitehead (.380, 7, Austin, Texas Oxford, Miss.
Saturday Today
47), 2B Ryan Wood (.383, 14, 57). TCU (39-16) vs. Texas (44-13-1), 6 p.m. Virginia (46-12-1) vs. Mississippi (43-18), 2 p.m.
North Carolina: 1B-OF Dustin Ackley Sunday Saturday
TCU vs. Texas, 3 p.m. Virginia (46-12-1) vs. Mississippi (43-18), Noon
(.417, 21, 66), OF Ben Bunting (.336, Monday Sunday
2, 35), C Mark Fleury (.311, 12, 58), TCU vs. Texas, 1 or 7 p.m., if necessary Virginia (46-12-1) vs. Mississippi (43-18), 3 p.m., if necessary
RHP Matt Harvey (7-2, 5.35), 2B
At McKethan Stadium At Goodwin Field
Levi Michael (.293, 13, 54), LHP Gainesville, Fla. Fullerton, Calif.
Brian Moran (7-1, 2.00, 4 saves), 3B Saturday Today
Southern Mississippi (38-24) vs. Florida (42-20), 3 p.m. Louisville (47-16) vs. Cal State Fullerton (45-14), 10:30 p.m.
Kyle Seager (.379, 4, 55), RHP Adam Sunday Saturday
Warren (8-2, 3.19), RHP Alex White Southern Mississippi vs. Florida, 7 p.m. Louisville vs. Cal State Fullerton, 5 p.m.
Monday Sunday
(7-4, 4.42). Southern Mississippi vs. Florida, 1 or 7 p.m., if necessary Louisville vs. Cal State Fullerton, 10 p.m., if necessary
— The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY
Louisville freshman pitcher Tony Zych has made an immediate impact with a 6-2 record with a 3.25 ERA.
www.sportingnews.com College Baseball
NCAA SUPER REGIONAL PREVIEWS
FSU, Arkansas have met little resistance
A look at the matchups for the eight best-of-3 NCAA Super Regionals
LOUISVILLE (47-16)
at CAL STATE FULLERTON
(45-14)
Goodwin Field; Fullerton, Calif.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Louisville
won Louisville Regional: beat
Indiana 8-2; beat Middle Tennes-
see 3-2; lost to Vanderbilt 8-4; beat
Vanderbilt 5-2. Cal State Fullerton
won Fullerton Regional: beat Utah
18-2; beat Gonzaga 7-4; beat Utah
16-3.
COACHES: Louisville, Dan McDon-
nell (135-61, third season). Cal
State Fullerton, Dave Serrano (86-
36, second season).
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST):
Louisville, four (2008). Cal State
Fullerton, 31 (2008).
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Louisville: 1B Andrew Clark (.356,
9, 55), 3B Chris Dominguez (.348,
23, 80), 2B Adam Duvall (.335, 11,
51), LHP Dean Kiekhefer (6-4,
4.56), LHP Justin Marks (11-2,
3.40), RHP Derek Self (7-0, 3.25, 1
save), OF Ryan Wright (.336, 5,
66), DH Phil Wunderlich (.372, 18,
78), RHP Tony Zych (6-2, 3.25, 2
saves).
Cal State Fullerton: OF Gary Brown
(.337, 3, 35), 1B Jared Clark (.350,
11, 74), SS Christian Colon (.351, 7,
35), OF Khris Davis (.330, 16, 55),
OF Josh Fellhauer (.399, 5, 53),
RHP Tyler Pill (11-3, 3.95), LHP
Nick Ramirez (3-1, 2.70, 7 saves;
.287, 10, 31), RHP Noe Ramirez
ED REINKE / AP (8-1, 2.91), RHP Daniel Renken
(10-2, 2.56).
ARKANSAS (37-22)
at FLORIDA STATE (45-16)
Dick Howser Stadium; Talla-
hassee, Fla.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Arkansas
won Norman Regional: beat
Washington State 10-3; beat Okla-
homa 17-6; beat Oklahoma 11-0.
Florida State won Tallahassee
Regional: beat Marist 16-4; beat
Georgia 8-2; beat Ohio State 37-6.
COACHES: Arkansas, Dave Van
Horn (272-156, seventh season).
Florida State, Mike Martin (1,583-
536-4, 30th season).
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST):
Arkansas, 22 (2008). Florida
State, 47 (2008).
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Arkansas: 3B-RHP Zack Cox
(.266, 11, 35; 5-1, 3.50), RHP Brett
Eibner (5-4, 4.25), LHP Dallas
Keuchel (7-3, 4.12), OF Chase
Leavitt (.306, 1, 30), DH Scott
Lyons (.311, 8, 43), LHP Stephen
Richards (5-1, 1.09, 9 saves), LHP
Drew Smyly (3-1, 4.72), SS Ben
Tschepikow (.317, 9, 46), 1B Andy
Wilkins (.329, 17, 51).
Florida State: LHP Brian Busch
(6-2, 4.04), SS Stephen Cardullo
(.383, 10, 48), LHP Sean Gilmartin
(12-3, 3.48), OF Tyler Holt (.390, 5,
26, 33 SBs), RHP Jimmy Marshall
(3-2, 4.62, 10 saves), OF-RHP Mike
McGee (.377, 18, 75; 6-2, 4.04),
RHP Geoff Parker (6-1, 4.41), 2B
Jason Stidham (.366, 12, 75), 3B
Stuart Tapley (.316, 13, 59).
VIRGINIA (46-12-1)
at MISSISSIPPI (43-18)
Oxford-University Stadium;
Oxford, Miss.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Virginia won
Irvine Regional: beat San Diego
State 5-1; beat UC Irvine 5-0; beat
UC Irvine 4-1. Mississippi won
Oxford Regional: beat Monmouth,
N.J., 8-1; beat Western Kentucky
7-4; lost to Western Kentucky
10-9; beat Western Kentucky 4-1.
COACHES: Virginia, Brian
O’Connor (262-101-1, sixth sea-
son). Mississippi, Mike Bianco
(364-201-1, ninth season).
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST):
Virginia, nine (2008). Mississippi,
15 (2008).
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Virginia: RHP Kevin Arico (2-2,
2.01, 11 saves), SS Tyler Cannon
(.349, 1, 35), RHP Andrew Carr-
away (7-1, 4.30), DH Phil Gosselin
(.302, 6, 61), OF Dan Grovatt (.378,
7, 50), OF John Hicks (.313, 7, 36),
1B-LHP Danny Hultzen (.335, 3,
33; 9-1, 2.01), OF Jarrett Parker
(.378, 16, 64), 3B Steven Proscia
(.325, 9, 56).
Mississippi: RHP Scott Bittle (5-2,
2.17), LHP Brett Bukvich (9-3,
4.42), 2B Tim Ferguson (.361, 2,
21), OF Jordan Henry (.347, 0, 31,
35 SBs), RHP Phillip Irwin (8-3,
3.84), 3B Zach Miller (.338, 5, 38),
LHP Drew Pomeranz (8-4, 3.46),
OF Logan Power (.319, 6, 55), 1B
Matt Smith (.342, 7, 57).
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 37
RICE (43-16)
at LSU (49-16)
Alex Box Stadium; Baton Rouge,
La.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Rice won
Houston Regional: beat Sam
Houston State 5-2; lost to Kansas
State 7-6 in 10 innings; beat Xavier
12-5; beat Kansas State 8-0; beat
Kansas State 13-4. LSU won Baton
Rouge Regional: beat Southern
10-2; beat Baylor 3-2 in 10 innings;
beat Minnesota 10-3.
COACHES: Rice, Wayne Graham
(830-315, 18th season). LSU, Paul
Mainieri (127-61-2, third season).
TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST):
Rice, 15 (2008). LSU, 23 (2008)
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Rice: RHP Ryan Berry (7-1, 2.00),
OF Michael Fuda (.351, 3, 18), SS
Rick Hague (.324, 9, 57), 2B Brock
Holt (.346, 10, 40), RHP Mike
Ojala (5-0, 1.73), 3B Anthony Ren-
don (.384, 19, 70), RHP Jordan
Rogers (8-3, 4.42, 7 saves), C Diego
Seastrunk (.289, 6, 44), LHP Tay-
lor Wall (7-5, 3.45).
LSU: RHP Louis Coleman (12-2,
2.72), DH Blake Dean (.326, 15, 64),
OF Leon Landry (.305, 12, 41), 2B
D.J. LeMahieu (.339, 4, 38), OF
Jared Mitchell (.333, 9, 42, 33 SBs),
1B Sean Ochinko (.333, 7, 47), RHP
Matty Ott (3-2, 2.22, 15 saves),
RHP Anthony Ranaudo (9-3,
3.09), OF Ryan Schimpf (.33, 18,
59).
— The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Horse Racing FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 38
141ST BELMONT STAKES Saturday 6:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Lucas takes a shot in the Belmont Stakes Odds

NEW YORK—D. Wayne Lukas has a history
of winning the Belmont Stakes with long
shots.
The Hall of Fame trainer returns Satur-
day after a three-year gap with two more
outsiders: Flying Private, 12-1, and Luv
Gov, 20-1.
After finishing last in the Kentucky
Derby, Flying Private bounced back with
a rallying fourth in the Preakness. Flying
Private joins Derby winner Mine That
Bird as the only two horses to contest all
three legs of the Triple Crown.
It took Luv Gov 10 tries to finally win a
race. Following that victory, Lukas put the
colt in the Preakness, where he ran
eighth.
Between them, Flying Private and Luv
Gov are a combined 2-for-23, a record that
does not inspire confidence.
But this is Lukas, a four-time Belmont
winner. He has won the race with well-
backed horses like Tabasco Cat (1994, 3-1)
and Thunder Gulch (1995, 3-2). Lukas also
scored with lightly regarded runners: Edi-
tor’s Note (1996, 5-1) and Commendable
(2000, 18-1).
“We’ve won this race before with horses
no one gave a shot to,” Lukas said. “We
knew they were developing horses coming
into the race at the right time and the right
way.”
Lukas says the key to winning the
1½-mile Belmont is having a horse with
the style and stamina to handle the longest
of the Triple Crown races.
“All of them can run a mile-and-a-half,”
Lukas said. “Some take a little longer.
There’s a gut-check with the pedigree. We
think we have a couple of horses that fit
that mold to, at least in my opinion, be
competitive.”
The four Belmont victories put Lukas in
a three-way tie for fifth place with Max
Hirsch and R.W. Walden. James Rowe is
The field for Saturday’s 141st Belmont Stakes.
HORSE JOCKEY ODDS
1. Chocolate Candy Gomez 10-1
2. Dunkirk Velazquez 4-1
3. Mr. Hot Stuff Prado 15-1
4. Summer Bird Desormeaux 12-1
5. Luv Gov Mena 20-1
6. Charitable Man Garcia 3-1
7. Mine That Bird Borel 2-1
8. Flying Private Leparoux 12-1
9. Miner’s Escape Lezcano 15-1
10. Brave Victory Maragh 15-1
horse is coming into this race,” Garcia
said.
Garcia will try to become the eighth
jockey to win consecutive Belmonts, and
the first since Ron Turcotte rode Riva
Ridge and Secretariat in 1972-73.
“He’s riding very well,” Kiaran
McLaughlin, Charitable Man’s trainer,
said. “He and Calvin are in a bit of a zone.
Calvin’s zone is a little bigger because he’s
won the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
Alan has been doing very well and we’re
happy to have him.”
On the mend
The one-horse stable of former high
school principal Tom McCarthy is now
empty while General Quarters recovers
JULIE JACOBSON / AP from surgery to remove a chip from his
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, right, leads Belmont Stakes hopeful Flying Private off the track with exercise rider Taylor Carty up after a workout at Belmont Park. Lucas also has right knee.
Luv Gov, a 20-1 favorite, in Saturday’s race. The 75-year-old McCarthy has been one
of the feel-good stories of the Triple Crown
the all-time leader with 8 Belmont wins 38-1. All eyes were on Kentucky Derby Bird in the Derby and the filly Rachel series. Unfortunately, General Quarters
followed by Sam Hendreth, 7, “Sunny Jim” and Preakness winner Big Brown, who Alexandra in the Preakness. Garcia has could not deliver a storybook ending, fin-
Fitzsimmons, 6, and Woody Stephens, 5. was pulled up as the 3-5 favorite. also been riding in top form, having cap- ishing 10th in the Derby and ninth in the
Garcia goes for a Belmont double aboard tured the Met Mile on Memorial Day with Preakness.
Garcia double Charitable Man, the 3-1 second choice. Bribon and the Peter Pan Stakes with McCarthy hopes to have General Quar-
Few noticed last year when Alan Garcia Calvin Borel grabbed the headlines this Charitable Man. ters racing early next year.
won last year’s Belmont aboard Da’Tara at spring with victories aboard Mine That “I am very excited about the way this — The Associated Press
SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com
Pak’s 66 gives her share of lead in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.—Hall of Famer Se Ri
Pak shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 on
Thursday for a share of the first-round
lead with fellow South Korean Jee
Young Lee in the State Farm Classic.
A five-time major winner, the
31-year-old Pak is seeking her first
Top 10 finish in 10 starts this year. If
she does, it’ll come against a field that
features 49 of the LPGA Tour’s top 50
money winners.
Kris Tamulis opened with a 66, and
Natalie Gulbis, Suzann Pettersen and
Anja Monke shot 67s at Panther Creek
in the final tuneup for the McDonald’s
LPGA Classic next week at Bulle
Rock in Maryland.
Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer
were in a large group at 69, and
Michelle Wie shot a 70. Kraft Nabisco
winner Brittany Lincicome was in
danger of missing the cut after open-
ing with a 75.
NEWPORT, WALES—Veteran David
Frost shot a 5-under 66 Thursday to
share the first-round lead in the Wales
Open with Thomas Bjorn, Nick Dough-
erty and Alan Mclean. The 49-year-old
South African birdied four holes out of
five in the middle of his round and col-
lected another at the last.
LAKEWAY, TEXAS—Peter Jacobsen
returns to the Champions Tour today
at the Triton Financial Classic, the
first time he’ll play competitively
since knee replacement surgery
nearly a year ago.
Jacobsen will tee it up in the $1.6
million event at The Hills Country
Club, in the city that spawned the
original Champions Tour event nearly
30 years ago.
“I’m not in pain, but there is a lot of
rust,” Jacobsen said Thursday.
Back Page
IN BRIEF
business manager since getting a
business degree from Rice.
This will be Monk’s first official
fight after several attempts at amateur
bouts fell through.
Soccer
LONDON—The Netherlands can
become the first European team to
clinch a place at the 2010 World Cup
on Saturday.
While England and Denmark are
among the other teams able to move
closer to a spot in South Africa, the
Dutch can get there with two games
remaining if they win at Iceland.
The Netherlands has almost a full-
strength side for the game in Reykja-
vik, one of 14 qualifiers in Europe on
Saturday.
Only midfielders Wesley Sneijder
and Ibrahim Afellay are missing for
the Group 9 leaders, who have won all
JUSTIN L. FOWLER / AP five of their qualifiers and are eight
Se Ri Pak is seeking her first Top-10 finish this year in 10 starts on the LPGA Tour. points clear of second-place Scotland.
— The Associated Press
Jacobsen has two victories on the history. She won six tournaments this
Champions Tour, including the 2004 season, and birdied two of her final Major League Soccer
U.S. Senior Open. But he has been three holes to win the NCAA individ- EASTERN CONFERENCE
slowed by a series of surgeries over ual title. She had a low round of 67 W L
Chicago 5 1
the last 18 months. and a 72.8 stroke average. D.C. 4 2
Kansas City 4 4
This year’s 54-hole tournament has Toronto FC 4 4
drawn 12 of the top 14 money winners Boxing Columbus 2 2
this season, missing only last year’s HOUSTON—George Foreman III will New England 3 3
New York 2 8
runner-up Nick Price and Andy Bean, become the first son of the former WESTERN CONFERENCE
who withdrew earlier in the week. heavyweight champ to fight profes- W L
Chivas USA 7 2
sionally Saturday when he faces Houston 5 2
NEW YORK—Maria Hernandez, who Clyde Weaver in Kinder, La. A sister, Seattle 4 2
Colorado 4 2
helped Purdue win three Big Ten Freeda George, had a short boxing Los Angeles 1 1
team championships, has been cho- career early in the decade. Real Salt Lake 3 6
FC Dallas 2 6
sen the nation’s top college golfer. George III, who is nicknamed San Jose 2 7
The senior earned the Honda Sports “Monk,” is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.
Award on Thursday, given annually He may have gotten to the ring sooner Thursday’s Game
D.C. United 2, New York 0
to female athletes in 12 NCAA sports. if not for his father’s insistence on put- Today’s Game
Hernandez, of Pamploma, Spain, is ting education first. The 26-year-old Houston at Chicago, 9 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
the most decorated golfer in Purdue son has worked as his father’s Los Angeles at Toronto FC, 3:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 39
TRANSACTIONS
BASEBALL
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Suspended N.Y.
Yankees RHP A.J. Burnett six games, pending
ARIZONA CARDINALS: Signed OL Herman
Johnson to a three-year contract and S Adrian
Wilson to a five-year contract.
appeal, and fined him an undisclosed amount ATLANTA FALCONS: Signed G Tyson Clabo
for intentionally throwing a pitch in the head and WR Bradon Godfrey. Released LB Brock
area of Texas OF Nelson Cruz on Tuesday. Fined Christopher.
Texas RHP Vicente Padilla an undisclosed NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Signed RB Patrick
amount for intentionally throwing a pitch at Pass. Released DL Kenny Smith, LB Angelo
N.Y. Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira on Tuesday. Craig, RB Omar Cuff and DB Marcus McClinton.
American League SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: Signed T Joe Staley to a
CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Purchased the contract six-year contract extension.
of INF Gordon Beckham from Charlotte (IL). Canadian Football League
Designated INF Wilson Betemit for assignment. WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS: Signed RB
KANSAS CITY ROYALS: Activated OF Coco Crisp Ramonce Taylor.
from the bereavement list. Optioned INF Tug
HOCKEY
Hulett to Omaha (PCL).
National Hockey League
Eastern League ATLANTA THRASHERS: Re-signed D Anssi
TRENTON THUNDER: Announced INF Reegie Salmela to a multiyear contract.
Corona was transferred from Scranton/Wilkes- COLORADO AVALANCHE: Named Joe Sacco
Barre (IL). coach.
American Association ST. LOUIS BLUES: Extended the contracts of
FORT WORTH CATS: Traded LHP Eric Domangue trainer Ray Barile, equipment manager Bert
to Edinburg (United) for a player to be named. Godin, equipment assistant Ray Halle and mas-
GRAND PRAIRIE AIRHOGS: Claimed RHP Jeff sage therapist Jeff Wright. Promoted trainer
Jamnik off waivers from Sioux City. Mike Hannegan from Peoria (AHL) to assistant
SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CAPTAINS: Traded INF athletic trainer. Named Joel Farnsworth as-
Aaron Cone to Rockford (Frontier) for future sistant equipment manager.
considerations. Signed OF Rodney Medina.
COLLEGE
SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS: Released LHP Curtis
AMERICAN U.: Named Eddie Jackson men’s
Pasma and LHP Tim Layden. Signed RHP David
assistant basketball coach, Bryce Simon
Trahan and OF Reggie Taylor.
director of men’s basketball operations, David
Can-Am League Bierwirth senior associate athletics director for
NEW HAMPSHIRE AMERICAN DEFENDERS: development and special events and Nancy
Released C Ken Lup. Yasharoff associate athletics director for com-
NEW JERSEY JACKALS: Released RHP Michael munications.
Vicaro. ARKANSAS: Announced the resignation of Joe
Northern League Sheehan athletic trainer.
GARY SOUTHSHORE RAILCATS: Agreed to terms CHATTANOOGA: Announced the resignation of
with INF Christopher Carrara. Released LHP wrestling coach Chris Bono to become assistant
T Pts GF GA Alain Quijano.
6 21 20 16 wrestling coach at Iowa State.
7 19 20 17 JOLIET JACKHAMMERS: Released OF Horace FRANKLIN PIERCE: Announced the resignation
4 16 16 14 Lawrence. of women’s basketball coach Mark Swasey
4 16 16 19 Southern League to become women’s basketball coach at
7 13 15 17 CAROLINA MUDCATS: Released LHP Kyle California, Pa.
4 13 10 17
3 9 12 18 Aselton. INDIANA: Named Joe Dubuque assistant
BASKETBALL wrestling coach.
T Pts GF GA National Basketball Association IPFW: Announced women’s basketball G Kayla
3 24 17 9 NEW ORLEANS HORNETS: Announced G Kevin Drake will transfer from Eastern Kentucky and
3 18 14 7 be eligible for the 2010-11 season.
Brown exercised his option to return to the
5 17 15 9
team for the 2009-10 season. IOWA STATE: Named Yero Washington assistant
4 16 16 13
9 12 13 13 Women’s National Basketball Association
wrestling coach.
2 11 15 15 NEBRASKA: Announced the resignation of
INDIANA FEVER: Released G Tan White and C
3 9 12 17 men’s gymnastics coach Francis Allen, effective
2 8 12 22
Danielle Campbell.
July 1.
SACRAMENTO MONARCHS: Waived G Charel
NORTH CAROLINA: Announced OL Aaron Stahl
Allen, G Whitney Boddie and G Morgan
Columbus at Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
Warburton.
has left the football program.
Colorado at Real Salt Lake, 10 p.m. SAINT AUGUSTINE’S: Named Daryl McNeill run-
Seattle FC at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m. FOOTBALL
ning backs and assistant special teams coach.
Sunday’s Games National Football League
San Jose at FC Dallas, 3 p.m.
Chivas USA at New England, 6 p.m..