Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Page 2 Quickie: June 29, 2004
The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
SHOWDOWN. SLOWDOWN.
Is the Red Sox-Yankees series starting
in New York tonight "just another game," as Manny
Ramirez called it? Or Bronx-style payback, as the NYC
tabloids would have you believe?
It's still way too early in the season to declare this
series "make or break" (especially for the Red Sox) but what
is in play is that by Friday, those "games
behind" the Yankees in the AL East could be the least
of Boston's worries. Consider:
* Extreme wild card competition from West and Central ...
* Those hard-charging D-Rays suddenly surging in
Boston's very own division ...
* And few -- if any -- helpful trade prospects in the
rumor mill.
More than 5 games behind New York -- and playing a
smidgen over .500 since May 1 -- the Red Sox can't
afford to get swept. And, for once, it has less to do
with their rival and more to do with ... well, the rest of the American League.
NBA: Work Stoppage?
Don't let the hysterics freak you out:
Inklings of an NBA union work stoppage after next
season isn't simply posturing for future negotiations
-- it's largely inconsequential.
If the NBA wasn't around in the fall of 2005 ... do you think anyone would
even notice?
Fans might look up briefly enough from their fantasy
football standings to say, "Oh, there's no pro
hoops?"
Shaq Watch
Hilarity ensued: During a team-by-team
roll call at yesterday's union meeting, O'Neal
apparently raised his hand -- twice. For the Kings and
Mavs. (The Lakers? Uh, hand was kept down.)
Tennis' Anti-Anna?
Looking for a seat on the Maria
Sharapova Bandwagon? Too late. She's a hottie
and she's good (just made the Wimbledon
quarters). That's the ultimate combo.
She's sports' Lindsay Lohan, and she's got
Humbert Humbert tennis scribes currently stumbling
over themselves.
The Google Test: Is Sharapova the next Anna?
Let's track her Google search results this week.
Today: 58,900. Check back tomorrow.
WNBA's Sharapova?
Well at least she's legal: WNBA player
Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm -- last season's league MVP, by the way -- is getting criticized by women's sports
boosters for posing in a risque Aussie mag, but no
denying because of it, she has become the most
intriguing player in women's hoops (easily the most
Web-searched). As they say, any
nudity publicity is good
publicity.
T-Mac Deal
Just finish it already: No one likes
the guys who hang around the party too long.
What McGrady needs to say:
"I can win a title AND lead the league in scoring ... if I learn to defer to Yao."
What Francis needs to say:
"I can be an All-Star starter every year AND score
more points than Iverson ... if I let Jameer Nelson
handle the ball."
Quickie Book Club
"How Soccer Explains the World,"
by Franklin Foer, a sensational writer for The New
Republic who also happens to be a huge soccer nut,
has put together the smartest sports book of the
summer, using 10 variations of worldwide soccer fandom
to illuminate larger theories of globalization.
