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WSOP champ
Joseph Hachem:
Australian first-timer wins the biggest title in poker after a grueling 14-hour marathon of a final table. Oh, wait: Was I not supposed to spoil that?
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
TOO. EASY.
Dominance has its drawbacks.
"How much will Tiger win by?" is simply not nearly as
dramatic as "Will Tiger pull it out?"
Tiger winning the British Open in a 5-shot runaway, leading nearly
wire-to-wire, is -- speaking for casual golf fans --
less interesting than a fight.
Here's the problem with golf's "Big One"
phenomenon: It's boring.
Tiger's dominance has no novelty anymore; frankly, it
peaked with his epic Masters blowout more than a
half-decade ago.
To maintain fan interest, Tiger's main competition
can't be Nicklaus -- can't be history.
It's just too much delayed gratification to wait for: Only 8 more to go!
Tiger is the best golfer of our generation; perhaps even the best of all time. But even in a setting like Old Europe, coronations are a snoozer.
The "Big Four" is a marketing gimmick; we all know it's Big Tiger, alone at the
top. His competition doesn't have to be Vijay or Phil or Ernie. It
could be anyone; Tiger simply needs someone
else to make things interesting.
Yanks' Leit Motif
Ancient history: Al Leiter's embarrassing NL record of 3-7 (6.64 ERA) as a
disgruntled and dismissed member of the Marlins.
Instant history: Leiter's Cy-worthy AL record
of 1-0 (1.42 ERA), after his dramatic spot start W for
the Yankees Sunday at Fenway.
Amazingly, after you think all plot twists are
exhausted, the rivalry produces yet another one.
Leiter is the perfect guy to handle the pressure.
Now New York is only .5 GB Boston, with all the mo
(and all the Mo; Rivera was as nasty as ever).
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Rafael Palmeiro: 3,000-plus hits should make Hall a lock
Jermain Taylor: Beats Hopkins (by dec.); next boxing star?
Ron Artest: Stellar summer debut (23 pts on Fri; 25 Sun)
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| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Jack McKeon: Fish manager to be axed? (via Sun-Sentinel)
Shaun Alexander leaving Seattle: RB in talks with team
Michelle Wie: So she didn't make '06 Masters. Soon enough. |
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14-Game Winners
Carpenter tops Clemens: OK, maybe the
right guy DID start in the All-Star Game. Cards sweep
would-be WC contender Astros.
Garland leads W-Sox to sweep over would-be
contender Indians. Any lingering All-Star break
questions about ChiSox' worthiness as legit?
MLB Trade Season
The biggest impact of the Red Sox
losing 3 of 4 to the Yankees?
The Orioles might have just lost their window to be
aggressive and trade for Florida SP A.J.
Burnett.
Playing "Can You Top This?" with the Yankees, the Red Sox must
surely want their own Marlins import.
Bonds Watch
Quote of Day: "I have no doubt in my
mind whatsoever I'll be back next year." That's great
and all, but what about *this* year?
Mark Cuban in MLB?
For a league as interested in
re-inventing itself for the 21st Century, Mark Cuban
would be a phenomenal fit as a major-league owner. Noisy, yes, but
exactly the innovative voice the owners need.
Getting him into Pittsburgh, specifically, would be
even better: One of the most struggling franchises
could use his brand of enthusiasm (if "enthusiasm"
means "loot").
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It's the only hope that pitching phenom Zach Duke
(riding 17-inning scoreless streak) won't win all his
Cy Youngs with the Yankees or Red Sox.
NFL Heating Up
Biggest move of offseason: The Pats
locked up personnel guru Scott Pioli, the most
valuable executive in the NFL.
Travis Henry to Titans? Will he like backing up
another young incumbent RB (Chris Brown)? Flip side: Did
he see how Norm Chow used Reggie Bush at USC?
Training camp mania: Let the countdown begin.
(Intriguing Dolphins, rebuilding Bears and dynastic
Pats kick off camping this weekend.)
50 in 50: NH
Impressions of New Hampshire:
Home of Carlton Fisk:
One of that handful of states that can be defined by a
single mainstream sports star. (They could really use a
new one, couldn't they? Hey, about Chris Carpenter!)
New England's hub for NASCAR:
"Stahk Cah Racin'": Good ol' boys must cringe at the
linguistic twist, but it's a key outpost for the sport
(Tony Stewart won New England 300 there Sunday).
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Roy Williams:
If he didn't understand the rules about approving payments to graduating players, maybe the NCAA should take a peek at Roy's entire history.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Quickie live! |
| P2: Tall Tales |
| MLB Hot/Not |
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| 3000 Hit/500 HR Club |  Hank Aaron
| 3,771/755: Unreachable?
|  Willie Mays
| 3,283/660: Best all-around?
|  Eddie Murray
| 3,225/504: Raffy clone?
|  Rafael Palmeiro
| 3004/566: Not HOF-worthy?!?
|  Nobody else
| | And THAT'S why Raffy is HOF |
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Tour de Lance: Sunday's ride through the steep hills
was the most intense athlete-fan interaction in all of
sports. Gripping claustrophobia.
Pat Riley watch: Speculation about Riley returning to
coaching in Miami is a heck of a lot more fun than the
boredom about Brown in Detroit.
NASCAR: Tony Stewart is sizzling right now, having won
3 of his last 4 races. (Gordon, Earnhardt, Harvick still outside the Chase for the Championship cutoff.)
More racing: Danica gets another top 10 IndyCar race
finish, but it's Dario (That's "Mrs. Judd" to you and
me) who took the Firestone Indy 200.
More NBA summer: Bogut had 16/11 on Sun., following
21/13 on Sat (both Bucks Ls). Meanwhile, both Marvin
and Deron Williams had subdued debuts.
Victor Conte cops a plea: And isn't THAT just about
the most unsatisfying result of this entire steroids
scandal?
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