The Sporting News articles from March 2000

The Sporting News archives from March 2000

Voice of the Fan.
March 6, 2000... Choice voice `Ken Griffey took a pay cut to play in Cincy? Only $114 million? As the Fly would say, Puh-leeze!' --Dave Emory Newark, Del. Second best "Fact-finding Mission" was quite interesting (TSN, February 28). I agree...

Caught on the Fly.
March 6, 2000... Hey, didn't you used to be a blockbuster deadline deal? * Buzz is John Randle's unwillingness to answer Vikesuits' salcap SOS will come to a head (as in: "What's goin' on in his?") in July. More obliging teammates--read: the ones who...

Bob Hille's Starting Five.
March 6, 2000... 1 Marty McSorley. His stick-work caused a ER. black eye. On the bright side, NHL licensing gurus envision a new arcade game in every Chuck E. Cheese: "Whack a Winger." 2 Yankees camp. The annual special on the Legends Field dessert menu:...

DUSTBIN.(Muhammad Ali)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... March 6, 1964 Cassius Clay, fresh off his defeat of Sonny Liston on February 25 (above) to become heavyweight champion, shocked the world by announcing he had changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Clay also aligned himself with the Nation of...

Better? You bet.(Grant Hill)
March 6, 2000... GRANT HILL already was one of the NBA's best players, well on his way to carving out a Hall of Fame career. Then he decided to get better. It began 18 month ago, in the infancy of the NBA lockout. It began with Grant Hill, a four-time...

Fear of future shock was factor in lack of trades.
March 6, 2000... In the end, it was nothing more than a trivial pursuit. Your final answer was Anthony Johnson. That's it, just Anthony "I'm hereupon to be known as the only player dealt at the 2000 NBA trading deadline" Johnson. In a league whose hot...

EASTERN CONFERENCE.(basketball team analyses)
March 6, 2000... Atlanta Rider still around but risks being cut if troubles persist Though the team was unable to trade SG Isaiah Rider, he will not be re-signed. His sometimes disinterested play, even in a contract year, has turned off coaches and...

WESTERN CONFERENCE.(basketball team analyses)
March 6, 2000... Dallas No need to get technical: Rodman experiment a failure Early results of the PF Dennis Rodman experiment are negative. The team won once in the first five games with Rodman in the lineup, and he was ejected from two of those...

Winging it.
March 6, 2000... Lacking size? Here's how to move that small forward out on the wing for a potent three-guard attack. But against this season's crop of big men, that might not be enough. Ohio State's game at Indiana had barely reached the first television...

Big wins, not big statistics, catch pro scouts' eyes.
March 6, 2000... Seven pro scouts found their way to Hilton Coliseum for Iowa State's huge victory over Oklahoma State, which seems almost shocking given so few others have discovered the Cyclones. The scouts sat in plain sight and scribbled notes on their...

The book on ... Ugonna Onyekwe.(college basketball player)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... Penn PF, 6-8/210, Freshman After the February 15 victory over Princeton that gave Penn control of the Ivy League, the most popular player in Quaker country wasn't senior Michael Jordan, the team's leading scorer and the guy with the famous...

MATCHUPS.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... STANFORD AT ARIZONA, 10:30 P.M. ET THURSDAY, FOX SPORTS NET:. Lineups don't get any deeper than the Cardinal's or any shorter than the Wildcats', who now are sans 7-1 shot blocker Loren Woods. Frontcourt: At 6-8, Justin Wessel isn't going...

FINAL FOUR THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK.(college basketball)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... The week's latest turn of events on the way to Indy: 1 Ricardo Patton, The ACLU challenges the Colorado coach's locker room prayer sessions. It'd understand if it saw the Buffs' RPI rating. 2 Naismith Trophy finalists, No Marcus Fizer...

Juniors.(college basketball players)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
March 6, 2000... Brick Oettinger ranks the top 25 senior prospects Rk. Name Ht. Pos. 1. Dajuan Wagner 6-3 PG-WG 2. Eddy Curry 6-11 C 3. Tyson Chandler 7-1 C 4....

Dayne weighs heavily in the minds of NFL scouts.(Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne )(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... What makes Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne a nightmare for cornerbacks in the open field also could be what makes him a nightmare for the NFL team that selects him in the draft next month--his size. Dayne's measurement at the scouting...

AFC.(football team analyses)
March 6, 2000... Baltimore CREATING A VOID: Coach Brian Billick says RG Jeff Blackshear was waived for cap reasons, but Blackshear's performance fell off from '98 when he contended for several All-Pro teams. Blackshear, who signed a five-year, $18.7...

NFC.(football team analyses)
March 6, 2000... Arizona APOLOGY ACCEPTED: TE Chris Gedney's one-year minimum deal with the club happened only after he received an acknowledgment that the club handled his release badly last July. Gedney was recovering from the first of two major colon...

Dominator II.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... Now that Dominik Hasek has renounced his retirement, spirits are high that the Sabres can make another long playoff run During a stoppage in play in the third period of a game against Buffalo late last month, Devils defenseman Scott Stevens...

Stick it to the players who swing their sticks.
March 6, 2000... Headaches? I had a bad one last week after seeing Bruins defenseman Marty McSorley stalk Canucks winger Donald Brashear from behind and cowardly take a two-handed slash to the right side of Brashear's face with just 2.7 seconds left in the...

Grand designs.
March 6, 2000... Some might call it delusions of grandeur, but five teams that missed the playoffs just might have the to turn unbridled springtime hope into postseason reality The whiff of spring's optimism is in e air, so heavy it's intoxicating. How...

The three-question drill.
March 6, 2000... Even the best teams have questions they must answer during spring training or beyond. Here, according to Baltimore Sun baseball writers Joe Strauss, Roch Kubatko and Peter Schmuck, are three, are three key question that the elite clubs and the...

Wood looks ready, but is he?(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... Kerry Wood won't throw his first spring breaking ball for another 10 days or so. No sense pushing the torque on his rebuilt right elbow. Not now, anyway. Not this soon into camp. But on a cloudy, cool Wednesday morning in Mesa, Ariz.,...

Spring training is time for players to strut their stuff.
March 6, 2000... For most players, spring training is a time to regain their timing or drop a few extra pounds. But for some guys, spring camp is much more than a primer for the regular season-it's a chance to blossom or reemerge as a key component on their...

AMERICAN LEAGUE.(baseball team analyses)
March 6, 2000... Anaheim CHIP OFF HIS SHOULDER: Righthanded closer Troy Percival thinks the bone chip he had removed last October could have been the root of his shoulder problems going back to 1997. Percival should be able to fully test the shoulder this...

NATIONAL LEAGUE.(baseball team analyses)
March 6, 2000... Arizona LIGHTEN UP: LHP Randy Johnson threw 4,206 pitches in his 271 2/3 innings last year, almost 400 more than the next pitcher (according to STATS, Inc). In the past 10 years, a pitcher has exceeded 260 innings 13 limes. Other than...

What's that rising in the South? It's Clemson.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... You can hear the excitement in the voices of the big boosters, especially when they pick up the 2000 schedule and see non-conference games against The Citadel, Missouri and South Carolina. Enthusiasm is augmented when further examination of the...

Scout free for too long.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... At 66, Mariners scout Phil Pote is old enough to know better than try to climb over a tall fence. But he parked some distance from Los Angeles' Loyola University baseball field. He sprinted (sort of) to the right field gate only to find it...

Voice of the Fan.
March 13, 2000... Choice voice `Among the winners of the Griffey Sweepstakes are the owners of attendance-starved franchises in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee The chance to see one of the finest players of this generation should be worth 15,000 to 20,000 more fans...

Caught on the Fly.(sports: humor and rumors)(Humor)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2000... Hey, didn't you used to be a No. 1 seed? * Sure, Chris Porter, Erick Barkley and Nate Webster're latest--not last--docked by NCAA different-rule-for-every-little-situation book. Blame game's aim is locked on agents, who're givin' Ol' State...

Bob Hille's Starting Five.(sports humor)(Humor)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2000... 1 The Academy Awards. Kevin Spacey is the favorite to win Best Actor but only because John Rocker's apology was too late to be nominated. 2 John Starks. In seeking his release from the Bulls, he said: "I just want to play for a contender."...

DEFT SHOT.(college basketball: USC and Stanford)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2000... "That's one way to get into the box score." USC forward Jarvis Turner, who, seated on the bench in street clothes, grabbed Stanford's Casey Jacobsen to prevent him from driving in a 111-68 loss to the Cardinal. Turner has been out with a...

SELECTION SUNDAY PREVIEW on the Final.(basketball coaches discuss what is needed for teams to make the Final Four in NCAA competition)
March 13, 2000... Seeding and luck help, but getting to Indianapolis will take more than that. So we went to four experienced Final Four coaches to shed some light on what else to leek for when making your picks. SEE A different GAME We know all about...

ZONING OUT.(college basketball)
March 13, 2000... Trying to fill in that middle spot in your tournament bracket? How about ugly-but-effective Temple? Or Michigan State? Or Stanford... or Cincinnati... or...? Their coach never has been to the Final Four. Their league never has produced...

LET THE MADNESS BEGIN.(college basketball)
March 13, 2000... Welcome to our second annual guide to Selection Sunday. As you sit and wait, trying to pass away the remaining hours until the Selection Sunday show begins (at 6:30 p.m. ET, CBS), we have for you a conference-by-conference breakdown that will...

Can the jokes--the Pac-10 may pack punch in 2000.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2000... It's time to look west again, out to the Pac-10. Surely you remember the Pac-10. Remember Arizona taking its Top 5 preseason ranking to Penn State last August and leaving with its reputation--and that of the league--in tatters following a 41-7...

CONFERENCECALL.(professional basketball)
March 13, 2000... TSN breaks down each of the year likely Western Conference playoff teams and explores the positives, negatives and unknowns for each team--and tells you why the conference's representative in The Finals likely will be an L.A. story or the...

There's something (wrong) about Pitino and the Celtics.
March 13, 2000... I caught Rick Pitino's rant last week, which was alternately pitiable and pitiful. It almost seemed like something inside of him flared and died, like a star going into nova, and I couldn't help but wonder whether this was a man who has lost...

EASTERN CONFERENCE.(professional basketball)
March 13, 2000... Atlanta Hawks look toward future with major lineup shuffling The team finally made some lineup changes that speak directly to its dismal postseason hopes and its future. SG Isaiah Rider and PG Bimbo Coles were removed from the starting...

WESTERN CONFERENCE.(professional basketball)
March 13, 2000... Dallas Nowitzki becomes middle man in favorable matchups Dirk Nowitzki continues to start in the middle against opponents without dominant centers. He had 21 points, five rebounds and three blocks against the Nets last week, starting...

Have we got a DEAL FOR YOU.
March 13, 2000... General managers tell THE SPORTING NEWS that more than one big-name player will change hands before the NHL's trading deadline on Tuesday Blackhawks center Doug Gilmour is inspecting a new batch of expensive graphite sticks when he notices...

Malakhov should help the Devils get their due.
March 13, 2000... If Devils coach Robbie Ftorek heard someone say that newly-acquired defenseman Vladimir Malakhov is the next coming of Bobby Orr, he'd just smile. If he were told Malakhov had the temperament of bad-boy Dennis Rodman, Ftorek would shudder--just...

Follow the BOUNCING ball.(Chicago Cubs)
March 13, 2000... With the help of a taskmaster coach, Cubs second baseman Eric Young tries to beat a no-field rap by touching up his game--and that means touching the baseball and retouching it time and again. At 9:45, second baseman Eric Young touches the...

Braves `problem' likely to be gone before season.(pitcher John Rocker)
March 13, 2000... The great likelihood is that John Rocker will not throw another meaningful pitch for the Braves. It is simply not worth their trouble. The Braves must weigh talent vs. trouble, and it says something that trouble leads by a lot. Few--if...

AMERICAN LEAGUE.(baseball)
March 13, 2000... Anaheim BIG MO'S HEALTHY: 1B Mo Vaughn blasted the first pitch he saw from Jamie Moyer in the Angels' first Cactus League game about 420 feet and over the right-center field wall for a two-run homer. That's a very good sign, an...

NATIONAL LEAGUE.(baseball)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2000... Arizona BETTER POSITION: The last time OF Bernard Gilkey entered a contract year, in 1996, he wound up hitting .317 with 30 homers and 117 RBIs--still his career highs. Manager Buck Showalter says that even if Gilkey, who is likely to be a...

FULL STEAM AHEAD.(football player Rob Morris)
March 13, 2000... When ROB `FREIGHT TRAIN' MORRIS tackles a ballcarrier, the past collides with the present for an NFL prospect who has old-school dreams of being like Sam Huff, Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus Rob Morris got to keep the equipment at his...

Minus draft picks, Saints are doing next best thing.(football)
March 13, 2000... Think of the new Saints as an aardvark that has all of free agency as its ant hill. In a series of slurps, they signed eight free agents from other teams, six of whom--quarterback Jeff Blake, receivers Joe Horn and Jake Reed, defensive tackle...

AFC.(football)
March 13, 2000... NEW PLAN: After spending months gushing over QB Stoney Case, coach Brian Billick seems to have changed his mind and is looking for a veteran to back up starter Tony Banks. The team ideally would like Randall Cunningham or Trent Dilfer....

NFC.(football)
March 13, 2000... Arizona ANOTHER TRADE REQUEST: DT Eric Swann's agent said at the scouting combine Swann wants out of Arizona because of lingering problems with the organization. Swann's issues stem from his relationship with team vice president Bill...

Let's focus on a winner: Sparky.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2000... Sparky Anderson is baseball. John Rocker isn't, Darryl Strawberry isn't. Sparky is. We're in Sparky's neighborhood, Dorsey Park, Los Angeles, mid-1940s, and little Sparky is a batboy anywhere they'll take a batboy, one day at the University of...

Voice of the Fun.
March 20, 2000... Choice voice `The scout wing (in the baseball Hall of Fame) looks like a controversy even before it gets started. Of course, the Hall has almost become synonymous with controversy, so the scouts will fit in nicely.' --Martin Kehoe Fulton,...

Caught on the Fly.
March 20, 2000... Hey, didn't you used to be a No. 1 seed? * Fly hears the Indians're (pick one... just make sure it's No. 4) 1. "Worried," 2. "Surprised," 3. "Unhappy," 4. "All of the Above" that Bart Colon came a-campin' at 242, plus-20 on the...

Starting Five.
March 20, 2000... 1 The NCAA Tournament. March Madness: A player takes $2,500 to keep his mom from being evicted and is banned from a tournament that if you pick every game correctly, you get $10 million. 2 Cameras in NBA locker rooms. They got the idea from...

TSN/Monte Carlo's All-America Basketball Team.
March 20, 2000... The national race for college basketball player of the year ended weeks ago. The race for freshman of the year had a few more contenders. But the field has been wide open for coach of the year, as reflected by the ballots of the Division I...

Feeling the Big Hurt's Pain.
March 20, 2000... Reduced to a mere mortal (and a divisive one at that) in the past two seasons, Frank Thomas has a chance to get a handle on things--and reclaim his once-lofty stature--if he can get a handle on the inside pitch Let's revisit Thomas' most...

Le Boss in Montreal gives the Expos a new attitude.
March 20, 2000... For the first time in several years, since the days of Marquis Grissom, Delino DeShields, Larry Walker, John Wetteland and Ken Hill, there is buzz about the forgotten team from Montreal. Much of that buzz comes from its excited new owner,...

Filling a big hole.
March 20, 2000... Even as news of John Smoltz's season-ending elbow injury cast a pall over Braves' camp last week, manager Bobby Cox was making decisions about the rotation. The first decision was easy. Kevin Millwood will move into the No. 3 spot,...

AMERICAN LEAGUE.
March 20, 2000... Anaheim PAIN FREE: Closer Troy Percival threw only eight pitches in his first Cactus League appearance Friday, but they may be the bullpen's most important eight pitches of the spring. Nearly five months after major shoulder surgery,...

NATIONAL LEAGUE.
March 20, 2000... Arizona CLOSER SUPPORT: Closer Matt Mantel suffered a few sprains of his left ankle when he was younger, and some laxity in the joint causes some stress on the Achilles' tendon. He took five days off from game action before returning last...

Let the tourney journey begin.
March 20, 2000... The path to Indianapolis may look less bumpy for Stanford, Duke, Michigan Slate, Arizona and Temple since Cincinnati will be without center Kenyon Martin, but don't count out the Bearcats in what is the wildest three-week ride en the sports...

East Regional.
March 20, 2000... Taking the easy way out In the easiest region, Duke seems to have fairly clear sailing all the way to the Elite Eight, where a real challenge should await: the Temple Owls. The East includes the most Top 25 teams of any region (seven), but...

South Regional.
March 20, 2000... Guards, and more guards Ed Cota, Khalid El-Amin, Scoonie Penn, Kenny Satterfield, Mark Dickel, Tony Harris, Tyson Patterson, Keyon Dooling.... If you want guard play, this is your place. And those are just the point guards. Don t forget...

Midwest Regional.
March 20, 2000... Heavyweight division With powers like Michigan State, Iowa State, Maryland, Syracuse and Kentucky, this region will offer the toughest path to the Final Four. All but Maryland won at least a share of their league championship, and the...

West Regional.
March 20, 2000... HURTS TO GO DEEP The team that survives the West--yes, Arizona, that includes you--has to show it can play on fumes. Teams definitely lack depth in this corner of the bracket. Examples: Arizona is playing with freshman guards and likely...

A JEWEL -- WITHOUT THE JEWELRY.
March 20, 2000... Through Dan Marino retires from the NFL without a Super Bowl ring, his accomplishments should far outweigh any sense of unfulfillment. Dan Marino has a ring. It's for winning the 1984 AFC title. It is buried somewhere in his home, as far...

Retirement was correct call for the greatest passer ever.
March 20, 2000... Pick the group in which all the elements are from the same era: Group A: Pac-Man. Michael Jackson. Miami Vice. Oliver North. Trickle-down economics. Michael Jordan. Dan Marino. Group B: Pokemon. Ricky Martin. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Darva...

BOOM or BUST?
March 20, 2000... Sebastian Janikowski's off-field troubles make it toe risky to draft him high--you're desperate for a kicker, of course All right, Bucko, it's draft day, and time's winding down. You're running the show for, say, the Rams or maybe the...

AFC.
March 20, 2000... Baltimore THE RIGHT FIT: QB Trent Dilfer struggled during most of his six years in Tampa Bay, but he should be a good fit as the Ravens' backup. Part of the reason Dilfer struggled was because of the ultraconservative offense favored by...

NFC.
March 20, 2000... Arizona RUNNING FORWARD: The team has made finding a difference-maker at running back a priority to help take pressure off QB Jake Plummer and the passing game. With free-agent RB Adrian Murrell all but gone and the talented Michael...

WILD, WILD EAST.
March 20, 2000... Unlike the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference looks to be a crapshoot. TSN offers its best guess as to which team will emerge--as quick as a New York minute? As easy as a trip back home to Indiana? As comforting as the warm south...

Stretch run promises the good, bad and weird.
March 20, 2000... I have reached the drip-drip-drip phase of the season, with a few miles to go before I get to the games that actually matter, but the clouds of uncertainty are lifting. The West, as I figured all along, is best. The East, as I expected, is...

FOURTH-QUARTER PREVIEW.
March 20, 2000... Atlanta With playoffs out of picture, teams turns to youngsters The Hawks' collapse has all but eliminated them from the playoff race, so they plan to use the last quarter of the season to find out about their young players. The team...

NCAA erred in sacking Webster's college career.
March 20, 2000... The message the NCAA sends to its student-athletes is simple: Education is good. Stay in school. Get your degree. So, what are we to think about the NCAAs recent ruling that bans Miami (Fla.) linebacker Nate Webster from playing after he...

Definitely a difference-maker.
March 20, 2000... The Avalanche became a Stanley Cup threat by adding Ray Bourque, the game's best defender for more than two decades The chalkboard at the Oilers' practice rink last Thursday is wiped clean. Either coach Kevin Lowe doesn't want anyone to see...

Flyers shore up in time for do-or-die playoff season.
March 20, 2000... Examining the Flyers is a lot like working on a jigsaw puzzle. You stare across the table at all the pieces, scratch your head and wonder where all the parts fit. Or if they fit. "Yeah, I guess you're right," says right winger Mark Recchi,...

A moment come and gone.
March 20, 2000... Dan Marino a Viking? Well, why not? If Randall Cunningham and Jeff George could win there, why not Marino? Possible, yes. But somehow the words never rang true. Marino the Viking had an empty, scary, please-God-not-this sound. It was...

Voice of the Fan.
March 27, 2000... Choice voice `I felt a rush of exultation when I read about Rick Pitino's trials and tribulations with the Celtics (TSN, March 13). It seems he went from coaching at college in Kentucky to a postgraduate school of Hard Knocks.' --Joan Mary...

Caught on the Fly.(sports: rumor and speculation)(Brief Article)
March 27, 2000... Hey, didn't you used to be a first-round slider? * Now that The Palace (at Auburn Hills) coup's complete, read between these lines: Grant Hill'll have an oversized, pre-opt-out hand in who's the next coach, too, whether the lineup includes...

Starting Five.(sports: humor and observations)(Brief Article)
March 27, 2000... 1 The NCAA Tournament. Bracketville's dirty little secret: There's no low-income housing. 2 Astros vs. Red Sox. Tickets went for as much as $62.50 for their exhibition game in the Dominican Republic, where the average income is $1,600. On...

DUSTBIN.(Oregon defeated Ohio State 46-33 to win the first, 1939, NCAA Basketball Championship)(Brief Article)
March 27, 2000... March 27, 1939 In the first NCAA Tournament title game, Oregon beat Ohio State, 46-33. The game was played on the Northwestern campus at Patten Gymnasium and, unlike today's field of 64 teams, the 1939 tourney featured just eight teams....

Check day.(a visit to the NFL tryout camp at Jackson State University)
March 27, 2000... When draft prospects work out for NFL scouts, they know their wallets will get fatter as their 40 times get slimmer. TSN goes inside the workout of a pair of highly regarded Jackson State players with something to prove. It is primary...

Fishing for talent in the NFL draft.(director of player personnel Vinny Cerrato, and others with the Washington Redskins organization, plan for the 2000 draft)(Brief Article)
March 27, 2000... If you look diligently enough every day, you can find an example of how unpredictable and wacky life can be. Here's one from the NFL. A year ago, Vinny Cerrato, the former player personnel director for the 49ers, watched the NFL draft from the...

Get ready for Urlacher, the `freak' of the 2000 draft.(Brian Urlacher emerges as the most versatile player in the 2000 NFL draft)
March 27, 2000... The question, "What is he?" has not been asked with this degree of frequency since Tiger Woods found fame. So what is Brian Urlacher, one of the top defensive players available in next month's draft? Well, if he were a musical instrument,...

AFC.(players and teams in the American Football Conference)
March 27, 2000... Baltimore SECONDARY NEWS: The Ravens have secured most of the backup players for their secondary. Former Lions CB Robert Bailey signed a two-year deal, and the team re-signed CB James Trapp and S Corey Harris. Bailey could play the role of...