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Baylor Lady Bears:
Congrats to the women's NCAA hoops champs, who
steamrolled to a 84-62 W over Michigan State and were
led by Tourney MOP Sophia Young (26 pts).
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
DY. NASTY.
The Lakers got bounced from NBA playoff
contention last night, and it was as ugly (PHX 125, LA
99) as the rest of LA's season.
At least they save themselves the humiliation of being
swept out in a playoff series.
Who's fault is it?
Kobe's, of course.
He's the dope who forced the Shaq trade. Anyone doubt
that with Shaq on the team, the Lakers would be
competing at the top of the West?
He's the guy who alienated Phil Jackson, who also
might have been able to single-handedly provide the
difference between playoffs and Lottery.
Here's how bad it is: Kobe would have been more likely
to make the playoffs if he switched to the Clippers,
now a half-game ahead of the Lakers.
So what next?
Aside from a rare Lakers Lottery trip (last time:
'94!), Team Kobe should be Lottery-bound for
years.
The rest of the West is only getting better.
Forget this year's Top 8: Among Lottery teams, the
Wolves, Jazz and Clips all have more upside.
In a town where schadenfreud is
unofficial religion, Kobe's Lakers will get no
sympathy from fans across the rest of the
league.
More like mockery.
Remember: Kobe asked for it.
Yanks 4, BoSox 3
I want to dismiss The Rivalry as
played out, but then they go and make it too
hard to ignore them.
Rivera blows a save in the top of the 9th, topped by a
Jeter walk-off in the bottom-half.
Ridiculous.
(Relax: It's just Game 2.)
Designated Slayers play big:
Matsui: Hits another HR.
Ortiz: 2-4 with a key RBI.
Rivalry Newbies offer drama:
Pavano: Great (7K, 2R) but ND
Clement: So-so (chased in 5)
And they do it again today:
Moose vs. Wake (1:05, ESPN)
MLB Tuesday Wrap
Smoltz hammered: Transplant from closer
to starter didn't take. He pitched closer innings
(1.6), but gave up big runs (6 ER).
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Miami Heat: Lock up HFA for the East playoffs/coronation
NCAA Tournament: Most-watched men's title game since 1999
Barry Bonds: Gets huge cheers in return to SF's SBC Park |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Cavs GM Jim Paxson: To be axed? (What is LeBron's role?)
S. Carolina doc: Plans to pen Canseco-ish tell-all book
Rick Ankiel: P-to-OF experiment is over; Cards waive him |
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Santana shaky: Johan was hardly dominating (5
IP, 4 R), but he got enough run support to collect a
W. As opposed to...
Reaching Lowe point: Boston ex-pat got only two
runs of support (unlucky draw vs. SF ace Jason
Schmidt). Dodgers miss Beltre already.
Investment Watch: Delgado showed why he was
worth the cash (4/5, 3 RBI in FLA W), but so did Russ
"Good Enough" Ortiz (6 IP, 3 R, W).
UNC: The Next Day
Less than 24 hours after winning the
title, let the dismantling begin:
Rashad McCants going pro: If only the NBA had
the same opinion of McCants that he has of himself.
The next Stackhouse? (Or the next Joe Forte?)
Sean May to stay? Indicated that he'd like to
come back next year and defend the title. Even with
his stock sky-high, he's not as good a pro prospect as
he is a collegian.
What about Marvin Williams? You get the feeling
that the fabulous freshman is looking for an excuse to
stay, but what can you do when the NBA is willing to
make you a Top 3 pick?
Reggie at MSG
No individual heroics (3/15 FG), but in
an even bigger upset, he's cheered by his "Knemesis"
fans with "Reg-gie! Reg-gie!"
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New York fans are normally pretty jerky, but give them
credit for offering respect when earned.
Congress/'Roids
As Bud Selig proclaims Tuesday that
MLB's steroid plan is "working," Congress is expanding
its investigation, asking other prominent leagues to
"compare and contrast" their roid-testing
policies.
Example: The NHL has none.
(Wait: What's an NHL again?)
See Q It Up for more.
Correction
In Tuesday's Quickie, I misidentified
the winner of the "Daily Quickie Readers" group of
ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge.
Apparently, the system hadn't crunched all the numbers
by my filing deadline, and I regrettably published the
wrong name.
The winner is: J. Simpkins, whose "Hurricane
AquaTeens" used UNC's win to eke out a title. (Lesson
here: First-round picks count!)
Runners-Up: N. Bryant, S. Hastings and J.
Whitnack.
Thanks to the 6,000 of you who participated,
making it possibly the largest "office pool" in the
country. See you in '06.
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NCAA withdrawal:
After such an amazing past month, who else is going
through NCAA Tournament withdrawal? "Masters" office
pools just ain't doing it for me.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Quickie live! |
| BBTN Extra |
| College hoops: '05-'06 |
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| Questions Congress Should Ask |  NHL
| Do you have ANY policy?
|  NBA
| Why no test for weed?
|  Tennis
| Roddick look bulky to you?
|  MLS
| Could use scandal to grow?
|  Golf (not asked)
| | Injection unlike any other? |
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Tuesday's biggest MLB winner? Are we talking literally
or figuratively, because Angels ace Bartolo Colon
looked great handcuffing Texas.
More MLB Today: The Reds outbid the Yankees to land SP
Eric Milton; we'll see how he does against the New
Mets (starting Old Glavine).
More college players testing NBA draft: Arizona F
Hassan Adams, Kentucky G Kelenna Azubuike, TX AM G
Antoine Wright, Fla St G Von Wafer.
Spurs sign Glenn Robinson: Watch him end up being the
key piece to their playoff run. Coach Pop is
underrated as a GM.
Adding drama to an already dramatic (and wide-open)
Masters, Jack Nicklaus indicated that he will play
(adds drama to Thu/Fri, at least).
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