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Tiesto:
Dutch DJ will provide the techno-thumping soundtrack to Friday night's Olympics Opening Ceremonies/Parade. Now, about those drug tests ...
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
WHEATIES. BOX.
Forget the gold medal: The real action
is the jockeying for the Wheaties box, the most
recognizable honor for the Olympics' unofficial
MVP.
Call it the "Wheaties Watch: Just one of
several gimmicks you'll see in the Quickie over the
next two weeks as the column juggles "spoilers" from
overnight results and "look-aheads" that become
obsolete within hours. Good times!
So let's set a Wheaties Watch initial ranking, as of
the Opening Ceremonies and the first weekend's action,
which includes Michael Phelps' Medal Shot No. 1 (400m
IM):
1. Michael Phelps, swimmer
2. Courtney Kupets, gymnast
3. Gail Devers, sprinter
4. Jennie Finch, softballer
5. The U.S. women's soccer team
(USA Hoops? TB-freakin'-D)
Cue the trademark drumbeat and blaring trumpet
music ...
LT Gets Big $$$
What a coup for San Diego: With one
eye-popping, record-breaking 6-year, $60 million deal
to star running back LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers:
(a) Lock up the NFL's best RB.
(b) Repair image of being bad/cheap
executives.
(c) Deliver a "Take That!" message to rookie holdout Philip Rivers.
(And it ain't such a bad deal for LT, either.)
Jamal Lewis Trial
The fading likelihood that there will
actually be a Kobe trial means that Jamal Lewis' trial
(set to start Nov. 1) becomes the most high-profile
sports trial of the year.
Starts between Weeks 8 and 9! So the
real question here is: How does this affect
your fantasy football draft strategy?
Take him: No player will perform with a greater
sense of urgency in the first half of the season ...
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Jason Schmidt: Gets NL-best 15th W, fanning 11 in shutout
El Duque: Wins again (5-0, 2.08 ERA since making rotation)
Iraq soccer: Beats Portugal; biggest Olympics upset, so far
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| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Michelle Wie: Booted in 2nd round of U.S. Women's Amateur
Ex-Baylor coach Dave Bliss: "Forgive me." Hmm, well ... No.
Scott Erickson: Why are Rangers starting him? (18 IP, 31 H, 6 K's)
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Avoid him: Then what? Your team's No. 1 RB
is the most critical position; that's a lot of Week
9-16 uncertainty if he's your guy.
NFL: Weekend Watch
13 games between Friday and Sunday. Way
too many (and way too meaningless) to preview
individually, so here are the five most buzzworthy
plotlines to watch:
Chiefs/Giants: Eli's 1st snaps
Eagles/Pats: T.O.'s debut
Bengals/Bucs: Palmer starts
Cowboys/Texans: Henson Mania
Jags/Dolphins: Miami's mess
Vick Watch
Sure, he only played one series, but the
hapless way the new Falcons offense worked under the
backup QB in the 24-0 Bal'mer blanking is simply
foreshadowing for the season.
Atlanta's West Coast O (maybe worth a rename: "Gulf
Coast?") is a long-term strategy. Riiight ...
Rookie coach Jim Mora Jr.'s toughest job will be to
sell that when Atlanta stinks this
season.
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Peja for Artest?
All-Star trade in works? Pacers honcho
Larry Bird calls it just "speculation," but that's a
terrific deal for both teams. Ron-Ron toughens up the
Kings defensively, while Stojakovic unclogs the middle
for Jermaine O'Neal.
PGA Update
"Slow start": That's the euphemism
analysts used for Tiger Woods, because they can't say
"Whoa, he stinks."
Remember Thursday's analysis: A prerequisite
for mainstream interest in golf is that Tiger is in
the leaders' pack; if he's not, this tournament is
even more irrelevant than merely going head-to-head
with the Olympics.
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Allen Iverson:
Owes $1,700 in unpaid parking tickets. That's not SO bad; what's DQ'ed-worthy is that he got them parking in handicapped spots. Shameful.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Page 2: Our Olympic parade |
| College Football preview |
| NFL training camp |
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Wheaties Watch
darkhorse picks |  Rulon Gardner
| Wrestler a great story
|  Tom Pappas
| Jenner-like decathalete?
|  Venus Williams
| Or maybe Andy Roddick
|  Maurice Greene
| GOAT or Slo-Mo?
|  Marion Jones
| | Ha ha ... just kidding |
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Three huge MLB weekend series: (1) MIN/CLE (where did
Tribe come from?!); (2) LA/Cubs; (3) StL/Atl (playoff
preview?) ...
Cowboys intrigue! After Vinny plays about a third of
the game tomorrow, Drew Henson will come in to replace
him. That's my guy ...
More Olympics: The must-have fashion is the official
USA parade shirt by Roots (it looks like a 1970s
basketball shooting shirt) ...
Won't hold the Bears' 19 penalties against them (or
new coach Lovie Smith) -- at least until the real
games start ...
More Chicago-ness: Dusty Baker says "there is no
misunderstanding" between he and Sammy Sosa over his
placement in the lineup ...
Alien vs. Predator: AvP tagline "Whoever Wins: We
Lose" could be the slogan for Yankees-Red Sox ALCS
(movie looks cool, actually) ...
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