воскресенье, 30 сентября 2012 г.

BRUIN TO RUN FOR FATHER'S LAND : TERRY HEADS TO CARIBBEAN FOR LIFETIME DREAM IN ATLANTA.(SPORTS) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Byline: P.K. Daniel Daily News Staff Writer

He is not considered a world-class athlete. He is barely knocking on the national-class door. He didn't qualify for the NCAA championships. And according to one of his coaches, he would have had a very difficult time qualifying at the U.S. Olympic Trials held in Atlanta last month.

Nonetheless, American Mike Terry will compete at the Summer Olympics in the 400, the 4 x 400 and possibly the 800 meters. Through dual-citizenship, he will represent his father's homeland - Antigua and Barbuda, the small island gems of the Caribbean adorned with 365 beaches, one for each day of the year.

The 6-3, 180-pounder will go up against formidable challengers - world-record holder Butch Reynolds and gold-medal favorite Michael Johnson. But the recent UCLA graduate, who helped the Bruins win their fifth consecutive Pacific-10 track and field championship in May with a come-from-behind upset win in the 800 meters, isn't too worried.

``Strange things have happened to me before,'' Terry said, ``I'm just hoping this is one of those situations.

``The USA national team is pretty tough. I'm not really intimidated by them, but I know they're great athletes and it will take a lot of effort to beat them.''

Terry, 23, finished first (46.31) in the 400-meter time trials held in Antigua and his mother insists he's even faster than that.

``Quite frankly, I don't think he's that far off,'' said Kathy Terry, an attorney with law offices in Santa Ana. ``He's already run with these guys in training at the track at UCLA. He's been with their coaches. He has been clocked at their speeds. He's at least 44, 45 seconds under ordinary circumstances.

``Put him into the Olympics with the motivation and adrenaline going and he's got a really good shot at doing 43, 44 in the 400. In his own mind and in our minds, we really believe he can do it.''

But UCLA track coach Bob Larsen is less optimistic, predicting Terry's medal chances are ``slim and none. But you don't go to the Olympic Games just to get a medal. You go because it's a wonderful experience.

``He understands to be in the Olympic Games, to get through a qualifying round, would be a great accomplishment for him. He's realistic about his ability.''

Terry grew up in Orange, where he received numerous academic and athletic awards. At UCLA, his academic career continued to excel. He was recently awarded a Pac-10 conference medal, given annually to each member institution's outstanding male and female student-athlete.

He knew, however, his biggest challenge would be qualifying for the Olympics. And Antigua provided that chance.

``I thought it was a great opportunity,'' Terry said. ``Getting to the Olympics was more of an issue for me.''

But Terry doesn't rule out the possibility of taking home some hardware.

``It's the realization of a lifelong dream. When I get into the stadium and the stands are packed, you never know what can happen. If I didn't think I had a (chance), I probably wouldn't be doing this.

``I'm going in as an underdog so I won't be nervous. I'm sure Michael Johnson has a lot of pressure to win, whereas I'm going in as an underdog and will be able to hopefully sneak up from behind and get a medal.''

PROFILE Age:23

Schools:El Modena High School, UCLA

Events:400, 800 and 4 x 400-meter relay

Fast fact:A two-time Academic All-American who graduated with a 3.73 GPA.

When to Watch 400: July 26, first round, 4 p.m.; July 27, second round, 3:55 p.m.; July 28, semifinals, 6 p.m.; July 29, finals 4:35 p.m.

4 x 400 relay: Aug. 2, first round 7:30 a.m., semifinals 5 p.m.; Aug 3, finals 6:40 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos, 2 Boxes

Photo: (1) Although not considered a gold-medal threat, UCLA's Mike Terry, representing the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, is looking for an upset when he competes against the world's best in the 400 meters at the Olypmic Games.

Daily News File Photo

(2) Mike Terry

(3-5) THROUGH THE YEARS

1980: At 6 years old, Michael begins his well-rounded sports career in baseball, getting the pose down for the Athletics of the South Sunrise Little League team.

1985: At 12 years old, Michael participates in his true love, basketball, for the Tustin Boys & Girls Club.

1991: Wins the 800 meters at the California State high school championships as his running career blossoms.

1992: He places fourth at Junior Nationals in the 800 meters with a season-best 1:50.99.

1993: Runs the second leg of UCLA's winning 1,600-meter relay (3:09.18) at the Pac-10 Championships.

1994: He places second in the 800 meters at the Cal-Nevada Championships and second at the Pac-10 championships.

1995: With GQ looks, runs in the Penn Relays while earning first-team Academic All-Pac-10 with a 3.76 GPA in business/economics

Box: (1) PROFILE (see text)

суббота, 29 сентября 2012 г.

SIERACKI RANKS WITH BEST ONE WIN AT OLYMPIC TRIALS SENDS RICHLAND CENTER NATIVE TO ATLANTA.(Sports) - The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)

Keith Sieracki has been rising in rank ever since he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1990.

But not through the usual chain of command. Sieracki, a military policeman by trade from Richland Center, has made most of his progress on the world wrestling scene.

Too inexperienced and physically underdeveloped to earn a college wrestling scholarship out of high school, Sieracki has developed into one of the top Greco-Roman wrestlers in the country.

He is within two wins of representing the United States at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in July. By virtue of winning the U.S. Nationals, Sieracki is the top seed at 163 pounds at the Olympic Team Trials, which will be held today and Sunday in Concord, Calif.

As the top seed, Sieracki, 24, receives a bye into Sunday's championship round. The other finalist will emerge from a 12-man mini-tournament held today. The winner of the best two-of-three final earns a spot on the Olympic team.

``I never really thought I could do it until this year,'' Sieracki said last weekend from Ft. Benning, Ga., where he lives with wife Tina and their 2-year-old son, Dylan. ``It's always been a dream to be on the Olympic team, but realistically I never came close until January or February of this year.''

Sieracki entered high school as a 98-pounder and never advanced past the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association sectionals until his senior year, when he won the Class A title at 145 pounds.

``When I went into high school, I was considered a good wrestler, not a great one,'' Sieracki said. ``It took me four years to get everything together and win it.''

While that effort was laudable, it did not reap any college scholarship offers. Without enough money to foot the college tuition bill on his own, Sieracki went looking for a place to continue his wrestling career.

He found that place in the Army. Sieracki enlisted in August 1990 with plans to enter the service's wrestling program. Good idea. Bad timing.

``My first six-to-eight weeks in basic training, I talked to somebody about it and they told me I was crazy,'' Sieracki said. ``The war was getting ready to go on in Saudi Arabia, and they told me forget about it, I was going to war.''

Sieracki did end up in the desert. But it was in Utah, not the Middle East. While stationed at the Dugway Proving Ground, southwest of the Great Salt Lake, Sieracki's interest in the sport was rekindled when he noticed a poster advertising Army wrestling camps.

With the permission of his commanding officer, Sieracki went to the camp and made the Army team. He was sent to Ft. Benning in October 1991 and has been there ever since.

Sieracki followed up a fifth-place showing at the U.S. Nationals in 1994 with a third-place finish in 1995.

``Besides high school, that Army program more or less made me,'' Sieracki said. ``I mean, I made myself, but it gave me all of the opportunity. It gave me a place to train, the best training partners in the country.''

Still, it took six years and a Kazakh coach-turned-refugee from the Soviet Olympic wrestling program, Anatoly Nazarenko, for Sieracki to get to the top.

Nazarenko, 48, a three-time world Greco-Roman champion and a Olympic silver medalist, became Sieracki's coach in October and attacked the situation in textbook Army manner: first, break down your charges, then build them back up in your own system.

He sent Sieracki to Colorado on a physical conditioning regimen that included hiking, mountain climbing and running.

Then he focused on technique. Always a head-and-arm thrower, Sieracki had been pulled away from his natural style by previous coaches who feared it was too adventurous. Nazarenko preferred simply to strengthen Sieracki's tendencies.

``He took what I had,'' Sieracki said. ``Instead of veering me away from it, he put me on the weights, sent me to Colorado, and then he taught me how to do head throws and arm throws right, to work to my benefit.''

The approach has resulted not so much in an improvement as in a transformation. Sieracki went 7-6 on a tour of Eastern Europe this winter and has not lost to an American opponent this year.

That statistic includes his stunning performance at the U.S. Nationals. In the semifinals, he caught top-ranked Gordy Morgan in a head throw and pinned him for his first win over the three-time Nationals champion in four attempts. In the finals, Sieracki turned second-ranked Matt Lindland with less than 20 seconds left in their match to seal a 5-2 win.

While Sieracki will likely have to go through either Morgan or Lindland in the championship Sunday, he will have the benefit of being fresh. That could be enough of an edge to earn one of the 10 spots on the Olympic Team.

пятница, 28 сентября 2012 г.

LIN WARMS TO ATLANTA.(Sport) - Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)

Linford Christie roared to a European Cup glory double in Madrid yesterday - then hinted strongly that he will defend his Olympic crown in Atlanta.

The 36-year-old team captain led Britain to second place behind Germany when he completed the sprint double by winning the 200 metres in 20.25 seconds.

Then he switched his sights to take aim at the world's finest sprinters. Told that Trinidad's Ato Boldon had run the season's fastest time of 9.92secs on Saturday, Lin grinned: 'That's pretty good - I'm looking forward to racing all those guys.'

Christie lags behind America's Dennis Mitchell and Carl Lewis, plus Namibia's Frankie Fredericks in the 100 metres ratings.

But he promised: 'Once I feel the sun on my back, I will get really quick. I've never begun the summer so well. I like the big occasion because it suits me.'

Christie's win put Britain into second place ahead of Italy, then wins by Jonathan Edwards and our 4x400 squad ensured that we kept it.

Colin Jackson clattered the last two hurdles to suffer defeat by 6 ft 7 inch German Florian Schwarthoff. And Scot David Strang was fourth in the 800 metres.

четверг, 27 сентября 2012 г.

Golf: Woosnam slips up in Atlanta.(Sport) - Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)

IAN WOOSNAM slipped after a promising start at the last warm-up for next week's US Masters.

The Welshman was sitting one shot off the lead at two under par after 11 holes at the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta.

But he carded a two-over-par 74 to leave himself in need of recovery when the second round gets under way today.

Thursday's first round was postponed until yesterday because of torrential rain.

Meanwhile, Brazil's Priscillo Diniz held a six shot clubhouse lead in the opening event of the European Seniors Tour.

He had a second-round 67 for a 13-under-par 131 total at the Royal Westmoreland Barbados Open.

Diniz held his lead over late-starting Brit David Creamer.

Americans George Burns and Jeff Van Wegenen were his closest challengers of those who had finished their rounds at 139 after a 72 and a 69 respectively. However, the Brazilian isn't expecting to make headlines in his homeland. He said: 'If I win I certainly won't get the same headlines as the Brazilian football team but that doesn't worry me.

'You can't compete with football in my country. I am only thinking about winning for me and my family.'

Diniz picked up five birdies and did not make a mistake as he streaked away from his rivals.

среда, 26 сентября 2012 г.

VIKINGS NOTES; Culpepper could have played; Vikings leaning toward resting him against Atlanta.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Byline: Kevin Seifert; Staff Writer

It was a scenario the Vikings never had to face in their 35-7 shellacking of San Francisco on Sunday: What if quarterback Gus Frerotte had to leave the game?

Before the game, the Vikings had designated Shaun Hill their No. 3 quarterback; had Hill entered the game, NFL rules would have prevented either Frerotte or Daunte Culpepper from playing until the fourth quarter. Had Frerotte left once the game was well in hand, playing Hill would not have been an issue.

But had Frerotte left earlier, were the Vikings prepared to play Culpepper, who had fractured three bones in his back and partially fractured a fourth only a week prior?

'Daunte could have played if we needed him,' offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. 'I would have been a little concerned about it, but he told me he could play. If we were up 35-0, we wouldn't have played him. That scenario never came up. But Shaun was ready to go. Shaun took at the reps as the No. 2 in practice.'

The Vikings appear to be leaning toward resting Culpepper for Sunday's game at Atlanta. Culpepper, however, could resume practicing as early as today; coach Mike Tice said he would decide this morning.

Camp visits looming

The Vikings are planning visits to at least two prospective training camp sites: the St. John's campus in Collegeville, Minn., along with Sioux Falls, S.D., and perhaps other towns in that state as well.

Those trips likely will begin next week. Minnesota State, Mankato, remains the favorite to retain training camp, and the team's familiarity with the site will preclude the need for a meeting.

Blaine's National Sports Center, considered the strongest alternative to Mankato, has yet to express interest. Bids are due by Oct. 31.

4-0 revisited

Veteran cornerback Ken Irvin spent last season with New Orleans, a team that started 4-0. The Saints, however, lost five of their final seven games and missed the playoffs.

It is for that reason that Irvin, while happy to be undefeated again, is preaching patience.

'I feel like we're a good football team,' Irvin said. 'But I was on a team last year that went 4-0 and didn't go to the playoffs. The biggest difference here is that everybody is hungry and everybody is making the commitment to each other. We're becoming a family.

'But if anyone in the league says that they can't get better, or that they're where they need to be, then things will probably turn for them. We feel good where we're at, but each week gets more difficult.'

Etc.

- Tice said tight end Jim Kleinsasser (abdominal bruise) likely will practice today. Receiver D'Wayne Bates (sprained foot) likely will not. Receiver Randy Moss (back spasms) and linebacker Greg Biekert will sit out as well, Tice said.

- Culpepper received the NFL Extra Effort Award for September, honoring his work with the African American Adoption Agency in St. Paul. NFL Charities will donate $1,000 to the agency in Culpepper's name.

- After reviewing game film, the Vikings altered their defensive statistics to account properly for a play in the second quarter of their victory over San Francisco. Chris Hovan received credit for a half-sack, sharing it with Lance Johnstone, and Hovan also received credit for a forced fumble on the play.

- The Vikings' seven-game regular-season winning streak is the longest in the NFL.

вторник, 25 сентября 2012 г.

CLIPPERS VS. ATLANTA.(Sports) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Byline: - Daily News

Tipoff: 4:30 p.m., Philips Arena.

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net 2; 1150-AM.

Clippers (20-42) update: This is their fourth game in a season-high, six-game road trip. They lost in Boston and Washington before beating Chicago 103-97 at United Center on Saturday, Dennis Johnson's first win as an NBA coach. Corey Maggette has led the team in scoring for five games in a row, averaging 19.4 points in that span.

понедельник, 24 сентября 2012 г.

SUZY HITS STRIDE IN RUN FOR ATLANTA.(Sports) - The Capital Times

For Suzy Favor Hamilton, renaissance woman of American track and field, the road to Atlanta began on the snowy, icy avenues of Stevens Point, an environment familiar to regular viewers of ``Picket Fences.''

``I was in seventh grade when I started seriously training,'' Hamilton said from her home in Eugene, Ore. ``My toughness comes from winters in Wisconsin. If it was 30 below, I'd go inside, but if it was one degree, I'd be running outside. Sometimes, I'd be running by the golf course near where we lived, and it was like `Rocky.' It was just a drive I had inside me.''

It still pushes Hamilton, taking this runner, artist, model and role model places she fantasized long ago during those solitary workouts in Stevens Point.

Tonight, she'll be showcased in the Los Angeles Invitational indoor meet (formerly the Sunkist) at the Sports Arena. Hamilton is gearing toward the June 14-23 Olympic Trials in Atlanta, where the world's premier athletes will gather a month later for the Summer Games.

``I wish the Trials were tomorrow,'' Hamilton said. ``I'm excited -- and I feel good physically.''

Fully recovered from a foot injury that cost her 10 weeks last winter, Hamilton, a '92 Olympian in the 1,500 meters, is thinking big. Her mind is set on racing 800 and 1,500 meters on the world stage.

``I'd like to double,'' she said. ``It's demanding, but the way the events are scheduled makes it possible. The 800's first, then there are four rest days before the 1,500. I definitely think I have a good shot at both.''

She ran the second-fastest 800 by an American woman last year, 1:58.74, and two weeks ago turned in a 2:02 in Reno. Her 4:05.14 was the second-fastest 1,500 by an American, 0.1 of a second slower than Ruth Wysocki.

Hamilton's appeal to advertisers -- let's just say she's easy on the eyes -- hasn't made her a favorite among rivals who feel she hasn't earned it on the track. She has endorsement deals with Reebok, Oakley sunglasses, Power Bar and Reflect, a sun-care product. It was for Reflect that she modeled in Hawaii for a swimsuit calendar due out later in the year.

``I realize that there's been some resentment and jealousy,'' Hamilton said. ``I know I've been lucky to have the opportunities I've had for not winning a medal. I never take it for granted. It's something I enjoy doing, and it's really helped me in a lot of areas.''

It was one of her commercials that enabled a fellow Olympian to pick her out of the Opening Ceremonies crowd in Barcelona in '92.

``Magic Johnson had recognized me from my Pert Plus commercial, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek,'' Hamilton said. ``I remember going, `I'm not going to wash this cheek.' I couldn't wait to tell my husband (former UW baseball pitcher Mark Hamilton), who was there with me. That was the best part of the Olympics for me.

``At the Opening Ceremonies, we all had to stay in a straight line, but when the Dream Team came out, everyone was going in different angles and running to meet them. I had my picture taken with all of them. That was just the best experience.''

The competition wasn't nearly so memorable. Hamilton ran out of medal contention.

``It was my first Olympics, and I didn't have a lot of international experience,'' she said. ``I was kind of terrified to be there. But the last two years, I've had an apartment in Germany, and it's been a great experience for me to compete over there. The races are so incredibly competitive in Europe.''

When push comes to shove on the track, Hamilton doesn't back down. She holds her ground as she covers it.

``I don't believe in being boxed in,'' she said. ``I can always get out of a crowd in a second, no matter what. Sometimes I say to an opponent, `Move over.' And they're usually extremely cooperative. But if they don't move, I use my elbows to let them know I'm coming through.

``In college, I was very tough. But then I mellowed a bit. It took me a couple of years of adjustment to regain my old style. Now, I feel I have my toughness back.''

She needed that toughness to make the '92 U.S. team, outdistancing one of her early idols, Mary Decker Slaney, at the finish for the third spot.

It is important to Hamilton that she shows younger girls they can be competitive without sacrificing their femininity.

``I believe all athletes are role models, whether they like it or not,'' she said. ``I like the responsibility. I take time to talk to kids after races. I know it was very important to me when I was a kid to have somebody say, `Good job.' I'm glad I was born at this time and have these opportunities, unlike my mother.''

In her youth, Suzy Favor would read about the women runners at the University of Wisconsin and dream about following in their footsteps. She didn't just follow her role models, she lapped them.

At Wisconsin, she won an unprecedented nine NCAA titles, finishing with a flourish by winning the 800/1,500 double in 1990 at Duke.

She was the Big Ten's Female Athlete of the Decade for the 1980s -- an honor that now bears her name, the Suzy Favor Award. Graphic arts degree in hand, she was winner of the Babe Zaharias Award as the nation's premier female collegian in '90 and the NCAA Woman of the Year in '91.

When she isn't training on the track or in the swimming pool, the 5-foot-3, 105-pound Hamilton often can be found dabbling at her canvas. She paints in both the realistic and abstract styles and dreams of showing her work in a gallery.

``I have my easel set up in my room,'' she said. ``Since preschool, they couldn't get me away from my easel. It's a big release for me.''

At 27, Hamilton is just entering her peak years as a runner. There are middle distance runners who have flourished into their 40s. She'll keep busy with modeling, endorsement work and possibly a career in broadcasting, but those competitive fires won't be dying any time soon.

воскресенье, 23 сентября 2012 г.

MARINERS OFFICIALS LEARN ALL-STAR LESSONS IN ATLANTA.(Sports) - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Edgar Martinez, Aaron Sele, Alex Rodriguez and Lou Piniella weren't the only Mariners to take away some lasting impressions from last week's All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Team CEO Howard Lincoln, president Chuck Armstrong, executive vice president of business operations Bob Aylward, vice president of communications Randy Adamack and several other key front-office staff members returned from Atlanta with first-hand experience to begin preparations for the 2001 All-Star Game to be hosted in Seattle's Safeco Field.

What they learned was that the game and the surrounding festivities have gotten a whole lot bigger since Seattle held the 1979 All-Star Game in the Kingdome.

Planning for the event is not something the Mariners plan to take lightly.

'The one thing that we kept hearing from our counterparts in the Braves organization is to push the decision-making process forward much more than they did,' Aylward said.

'I think they found out that hosting the All-Star Game is a little different than the post-season play that they had been used to gearing up for.'

Typically, the All-Star game draws more media interest as well as fans from all different parts of the country.

The game itself is just one part of the event, which is compacted into three days of showcasing all the best elements of baseball, from its history to its future.

'The crush is even greater in a shorter period of time than even the World Series,' Aylward said. 'It's just a much different animal than the Braves thought it was going to be.'

Armstrong noted that with Safeco Field turning 1 year old this past week, the Mariners made a conscious decision not to celebrate too early. Rather, the team is pointing to next July's All-Star Game as a time to celebrate Seattle's place among the elite baseball cities with new stadiums.

'One of the reasons we wanted to have the All-Star Game in 2001 was that it's the 100th anniversary of the American League,' Armstrong said. 'It will give us a chance to show off Safeco Field and Seattle in all their glory.

'It will be a nice counterpoint to what happened at the World Trade Organization.'

As opposed to the WTO riots that drew international media attention, Armstrong said the All-Star Game and the festivities that go with it are 'four, five or six days of fun for everybody. But we still have a long way to go.'

Aylward spent 17 years with the Orioles and helped usher in the modern stadium movement with Oriole Park at Camden Yards as vice president of business affairs in Baltimore.

With a year under his belt in Seattle, he finds Safeco Field to be ahead of the curve.

'People have a hard time believing me when I tell them that the opening and operations here were actually smoother than at Camden,' Aylward said. 'When you open these places, they are almost like a living organism.

'You have to kind of learn how to make things balance out, and it just takes time.'

Although the first year at Safeco had its troubles with concessions lines, crowd movement, food safety violations and staffing, Aylward contends the Mariners aren't resting easily now that those issues seem to be problems of the past.

'We ask ourselves after each homestand: What did we learn? What can we do?' Aylward said. 'It's something we have to do on an ongoing basis.

'As we get into planning for next year, some of the things we want to do require an off-season to implement.'

Perhaps the biggest lesson of all was how to run the $517 million facility from the operations standpoint. In the past, the Kingdome was operated by King County, and all the Mariners had to do was field a ballclub, pay the rent and move in as one of several primary users of the facility. Now, the team is responsible for all operations, concessions and maintenance year-round.

The Mariners have had to hire their own electricians, plumbers, parking coordinators, security staff, roof supervisors, guest relations staff, and marketing department for non-baseball events, as well as 400 to 600 seasonal employees working at the stadium. There are now 38 people employed full-time in the front office working on stadium operations.

'Essentially we have gone from two people interfacing with the county on the operations of the Kingdome, to hundreds of people who are either part-time or full-time employees,' Aylward said. 'All that had to be built from scratch and it's a huge job.'

By the time the All-Star Game arrives next year, the Mariners hope that Safeco's first-year experiences will lead to an even greater national and local showcase for baseball.

'Once we've proven that the basics work, we want to build on those things and find out how to do more,' Aylward said.

'Last year with food concessions, we had some real issues with the lines and things like that, but most of those seem to have been addressed.

'Now, how do we take it to the next level? What type of capital improvements do we need to make prior to 2001 to make that better? It never ends.'

GIRL POWER: The Seattle Storm and the Women's Sports Foundation have teamed up to sponsor 'Take a Girl to a Game Night' on Wednesday, when the WNBA's Storm hosts the New York Liberty at 7 p.m. in KeyArena.

суббота, 22 сентября 2012 г.

TARDY BIRTH, SO NO BERTH\Gymnast Atler talented but ineligible for Atlanta.(SPORTS) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer

It's not her fault that gymnast Vanessa Atler was born when she was. Yet she's being penalized for it.

The Santa Clarita teen celebrated her 14th birthday on Feb. 17, which, it turns out, is about six weeks too late. Had she been born before Jan. 1, 1982, she would be in the running for a spot on the U.S. team at the 1996 Olympics. Instead, not only will she miss the Olympics, but she might not be able to compete in a gymnastics world championship until 1999.

'I'm kind of, like, disappointed,' she said. 'I guess I have to look to Sydney (in 2000). The big thing is Australiafor me. I want to get to the Olympics, but I don't know. It kind of stinks. Kind of stupid.'

Atler is ranked No. 1 in the nation among junior gymnasts by the United States Gymnastics Federation.But junior gymnasts - under the age of 15 - are not eligible to compete in the Olympics. Atler's winning all-around score of 38.60 at the recent American Classics meet in Tulsa, Okla., would have placed her fifth in the senior division. At the Olympic trials later this year, the top six will qualify for the Olympics.

That doesn't assure that she would have made the team, since junior gymnasts do not have to perform compulsory routines and senior gymnasts do. But those in the Atler camp say that if she needed to do compulsories to qualify for the Olympics, she would have trained and practiced accordingly.

According to Kathy Kelly, USGF women's program director, Atler's exclusion is the result of a growing belief in the gymnastics community that the sport is being dominated by increasingly younger gymnasts. As a result, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has raised the minimum age to participate in the Olympics and World Championships to 15 and, effective Jan. 1, 1997, to 16. That will keep Atler out of the 1997 World Championships.

FIG wants to give the older gymnasts (read: those past puberty) more opportunities to compete and stay interested in the sport, Kelly said.

'It's unfortunate, because if she can make the team, she should be able to,' Atler's coach, Steve Rybacki, said.

Atler won't be eligible for a senior international competition until 1998, but she might have to wait one more year. Jackie Fie, the president of the FIG women's technical committee and the only member on the 11-member executive committee, said some European and Asian nations, citing high costs and too many competitions already, are blocking a 1998 World Championships from happening.

'We feel we should recognize a world champion every year,' Fie said, but FIG lacks the power to declare it so.

Atler would be eligible for the 1999 World Championships, which will be part of the process to determine the United States Olympic team for the 2000 Games in Sydney. But that means three more years competing in the junior ranks.

'It's kind of like a waste of time,' Atler said.

Her mother, Nanette, is concerned that by that time, she will be past her peak and not as competitive. That could affect her ability to stay injury-free and earn a college scholarship.

'She's won money that we can't accept,' Nanette Atler said, citing NCAA regulations that say an athlete can't accept money without losing eligibility.

Rybacki said Atler's potential for success in three years depends on how tall she grows. Gymnasts taller than 5-foot-1 are not as adept at the sport's demanding moves as those who are shorter, he said. Atler is 4-6-1/2.

In the meantime, Atler can continuein the junior ranks, participating in international meets that will allow her to showcase her skills without the pressure the seniors feel. The next one, starting today in Avignon, France, will pit her against some of the top seniors in the world.

'She's awesome. We're extremely excited about her talents,' Kelly said. 'She'll have many opportunities to compete. The No. 1 junior spot is a coveted position. We're going to give her as much exposure to develop her international recognition as possible.'

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

пятница, 21 сентября 2012 г.

CLAYTON STATE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH DENNIS COX TO BE HONORED AT ATLANTA SPORTS HALL OF FAME CEREMONY - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

MORROW, Ga., June 3 -- Clayton State University issued the following news release:

Clayton State University women's basketball coach Dennis Cox, who led his team to the NCAA Division II National Championship in March 2011, will be recognized for that achievement at the upcoming Awards and Induction Ceremony for the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame.

The ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 25, at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell, Ga.

The inductees for the class of 2011; Mark Price, Tim Singleton, and Jessie Tuggle; will be honored after which several high school, college, and

professionals will also receive the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame 'Stars of the Year Award.' The award for Cox is recognition of the Lakers finishing off a 35-1 season on Mar. 25, 2011, with a 69-50 win over Michigan Tech in the national championship game in St. Joseph's, Mo.

A reception, raffle, and silent auction will be held with the awards and induction to follow. All of new the inductees, as well as several past Hall of Famers will attend the event. The induction celebration is open to the public. Tickets are available from $20 to $100.

четверг, 20 сентября 2012 г.

A.M. Briefing; NBA: Star defender Bowen retires at 38, earned 3 rings with Spurs ; Auto racing: Labonte, Edwards set to race in Atlanta.(Sports) - The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA)

Byline: Seattle Times news services

NBA

Former Spurs forward Bowen retires after 12 seasons: Former San Antonio Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, 38, retired Thursday after 12 seasons and a reputation as one of the league's most menacing defenders, hounding opponents with a tenacity that some players groused was more dirty than dogged.

He called it quits after being waived this summer by Milwaukee, where the Spurs dealt him in a veteran dump-off for swingman Richard Jefferson -- a decision Bowen said he understood.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili get most of the glory for bringing three NBA championships to San Antonio this decade. But Bowen gladly did the dirty work, relishing his role as the pesky lockdown defender who covered the other team's best player.

Asked about the likely reaction to his retirement from stars like the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash, Bowen chuckled, 'I'm sure a lot of people are happy.'

Bowen was named eight times to the NBA's all-defensive team. He finished runner-up three times in defensive player of the year voting.

Bowen acknowledged only one play in which he purposely kicked another player: Ray Allen in a March 2006 game against the Seattle SuperSonics, a scuffle that earned him a $10,000 fine.

'That play, I remember and I regret because of me intentionally doing that,' Bowen said.

Attorney says Nowitzki's ex-fiancee not pregnant: Prison medical records show Dirk Nowitzki's former fiancee is not pregnant, the Dallas Mavericks forward's attorney said.

Cristal Taylor, 38, is serving a four-year prison sentence in Missouri after her May 6 arrest at Nowitzki's Dallas home on a probation violation.

Webster cleared for training camp: Portland Trail Blazers forward Martell Webster from Seattle Prep has been cleared for all basketball-related activities and will be ready when training camp opens later this month.

The 2005 first-round pick missed all but one game last season after fracturing a bone in his left foot during an exhibition game.

Webster started 70 games the season before last and is expected to compete against Nicolas Batum for the starting small forward job.

Laimbeer, Theus join Timberwolves staff: Kurt Rambis, the new Minnesota Timberwolves coach, made it official: former bad-boy rival during their playing days, Bill Laimbeer, will join his staff as an assistant coach.

Also joining the staff is former Sacramento head coach Reggie Theus and former Celtics assistant GM Dave Wohl.

Auto racing

Labonte gets ride for Atlanta: Bobby Labonte is listed on the entry list for this weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Yates Racing said earlier this week that sponsorship issues forced the team to pull Labonte in seven of the final 12 races this season, beginning with Sunday's event at Atlanta.

But Labonte is now listed on the official entry list as the driver for TRG Motorsports' No. 71. It will allow Labonte to continue his streak of 568 consecutive starts, second among active drivers only to Jeff Gordon's 569 starts.

Edwards will race despite broken foot: Carl Edwards will race this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway despite breaking his right foot playing frisbee.

Edwards is on crutches but was cleared to race by doctors from the University of Missouri. He is from Columbia, Mo., and was injured in a hometown game Wednesday night.

Fisichella joins Ferrari, replaces Badoer: Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella left Force India to join Ferrari for the rest of the Formula One season, replacing Luca Badoer.

Soccer

FIFA gives Chelsea one-year transfer ban: Chelsea was banned from signing any new players for a year because it encouraged a teenager to break his contract with a French team and sign with the English power.

The sport's governing body barred Chelsea from taking part in the next two transfer windows -- January 2010 and the next offseason. The next time the Premier League team would be able to sign a new player -- nationally or internationally -- would be January 2011.

Chelsea called the penalty 'without precedent' and 'totally disproportionate' and said it would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Liverpool stadium plans on hold: Liverpool's new stadium will not be built until the global recession ends and credit becomes available to finance the $800 million project.

Rapids' Mastroeni suspended two games: Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni has been suspended two games and fined $1,250 for endangering the safety of an opponent.

Track and field

Appeals tribunal clears sprinter: Jamaican sprinter Sheri-Ann Brooks has been cleared of doping by an appeals tribunal because her backup sample was tested without her knowledge.

Former Olympian Budd to run in college meet: Former track sensation Zola Budd will take part in South Carolina's cross-country meet in Columbia. Budd is a former world champion and record holder at 5,000 meters. She lives in Myrtle Beach and is an assistant coach for Coastal Carolina.

Cycling

Greipel wins fifth stage of Spanish Vuelta: Germany's Andrei Greipel won a second straight stage at the Spanish Vuelta in Vinaros to take the overall lead. Wenatchee's Tyler Farrar finished fourth in the stage and is fourth in the standings.

Seattle Times news services

среда, 19 сентября 2012 г.

CLIPPERS VS. ATLANTA.(SPORTS) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Tipoff: 4:30 p.m., Omni.

TV/Radio: No TV; KGIL-AM (540, 1260)

Clippers (31-37) update: The Clippers begin a seven-game road trip that could decided their playoff fate. They were whipped by the Hawks at the Sports Arena, and Atlanta is 31-4 at the Omni. Brent Barry's status is questionable after missing Tuesday's Vancouver game with back spasms. Pooh Richardson will take his playing time and the point-guard position is important because Mookie Blaylock is one of the best in the league. Rodney Rogers is averaging nearly 19 points per game in the past 11 and Lorenzen Wright had a career night in 47 minutes against the Grizzlies.

вторник, 18 сентября 2012 г.

AMERICAN LEAGUE UPDATE: ERSTAD'S HIT ON ESTRADA REVERBERATES IN ATLANTA.(Sports) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

NEW YORK - The Angels blew through Atlanta in the first-ever series between the two teams, winning two of three and leaving the Braves questioning the Angels' style of play. Namely, one Angel - Darin Erstad.

The Angels weren't thrilled when the theme to M*A*S*H started playing over the Turner Field sound system when outfielder Jeff DaVanon broke his nose and was led off the field. But then, the Braves might have been a little sensitive about things considering what happened in the first game of the series.

That's when Public Enemy No. 1 in Atlanta - Erstad - knocked Braves catcher Johnny Estrada halfway to Macon in a home-plate collision that essentially won the game for the Angels. The Angels, of course, thought it was a clean play. Most unbiased observers agreed.

The Braves, not so surprisingly, questioned whether it was a clean play, whether Erstad could have slid instead of taking out Estrada.

When Estrada finally returned to the ballpark, he got his say, speaking with a group of reporters. He seemed a little unclear about what he thought about the play, which is understandable because it was only a couple days following the blow that put him in the hospital with a concussion.

Was it a clean play?

``I don't know,'' Estrada said. ``I watched about 40 replays on TV. I don't have a problem with contact; this is my job and I expect it and prepare for it. But it just looked like he took a shot at my face when the plate was open, and I don't agree with that.

``I don't know Darin Erstad. I know he called my house and apologized and said he felt bad about it, and I don't doubt him. But the tapes don't lie ...

``I talked to some of the other players who said he felt genuinely bad. I think he's sincere about it. It's just an unfortunate situation. I don't think he meant to come at my face. I hope he didn't - that's not a good baseball play.''

Angels manager Mike Scioscia was known as one of the best plate blockers in baseball when he played, and he said he never took issue with getting run over at the plate. He said he was never hit harder than when he was hit by the San Francisco's Chili Davis, and he also was knocked out cold by the Cardinals' Jack Clark.

Scioscia responded to claims by the Braves that Erstad should have slid by saying Erstad would have been out if he slid. Here's what Estrada said when asked what he thought Erstad should have done:

``From my understanding, if you give a person the part of the plate he should take it unless it's a bang-bang play and he doesn't have time to think about it. That was a bang-bang play. It just didn't look like he was trying to knock the ball loose; it looked like he tried to take my face off ...

``When I went to reach for the ball, the plate was exposed. And I didn't even make it up before he clocked me. He had to go out of his way to hit me. In his defense, you can't think that quick. He made up his mind when he said he was going for the ball.''

Erstad was in the lineup the next day despite a four-inch gash on his left shoulder from Estrada's mask. Erstad still has an ugly purple bruise that covers his entire upper arm.

Although Erstad downplays the references to his football career - he was a punter and place-kicker at Nebraska - he was known as a fierce hitter in high school. And Nebraska coach Tom Osborne asked Erstad to play defensive back, but Erstad declined because it would have meant more time in the weight room and less time focusing on his best sport - baseball.

Estrada was asked about the hit.

``I felt like I was in a car wreck. ... I don't even remember catching the ball,'' he said. ``I remember being on the ground squirming around and then I remember (trainer Jeff Porter) in my ear, talking to me. I seriously thought I broke my neck.

``When I was laying on the ground, I couldn't move my neck. They wanted to bring the stretcher out, but I said no. ... I'm very lucky. I could easily have broken a bone in my neck. The feeling that set in when they strapped me on the board and put the neck brace on me - my wife was there and saw that and started crying. That wasn't a good feeling.''

--Torre erupts: The New York Post's headline declared ``Joe Blow,'' referring to Yankees manager Joe Torre's tirade after his team looked bad in an 8-1 loss to St. Louis on Friday. Torre took the blame for the team giving what some said was less than full effort.

``It's not the pitching coach's fault, it's not the hitting coach's fault,'' Torre said. ``It's my fault. My job is to motivate and get the guys ready to play. ... It was an embarrassing, embarrassing game.''

After hearing Torre's comments, third-base coach Luis Sojo said: ``I've been here 10 years and I've never seen him talking like that.''

The Atlanta Journal Constitution contributed to this report.

Joe Haakenson, (626) 962-8811

понедельник, 17 сентября 2012 г.

The work that let two area men become Atlanta sports moguls - The Washington Post

Washington Post Staff Writer

So you think you know Washington's big-time sports moguls?

Snyder. Leonsis. Lerner.

You probably never heard of Bruce Levenson and Ed Peskowitz, twoquiet area businessmen who own the largest share of an Atlantasports empire that includes the NBA's Hawks and NHL's Thrashers andthe operating rights to their home, Philips Arena.

I have been bugging Levenson for an interview for years,wondering what kind of business threw off enough cash for them tobuy the Atlanta professional teams in 2004. The teams together areworth almost half a billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine.

Now I know where they got the money.

Levenson, 61, and Peskowitz, 65, created United CommunicationsGroup 33 years ago. Gaithersburg-based UCG, which has offices fromBoston to New Jersey to Singapore, is an assembly of highlyspecialized newletters and information services that serve health-care, energy, mortgage banking, telecommunications, tax and even thefuneral and cemetery industries.

You want to know the price of premium gasoline arriving on atanker in New York Harbor? UCG's OPIS division has it. The effect ofHurricane Katrina on New Orleans funeral homes? UCG's AmericanFuneral Director reported it. The latest regulations on Medicarereimbursement are found in DecisionHealth. The tax pros and cons ofhomeownership is in their mortgage finance division. They also holdindustry conferences in these sectors.

This is very lucrative stuff.

UCG wouldn't discuss revenue or profits, but it makes a lot ofmoney on these subscription businesses. They earn enough to laughabout a $20 million misfire a few years back when they tried tobuild 'the mother of all petroleum exchanges.'

The company now has about 620 employees, down from more than1,000 a couple of years ago before it sold some businesses. Onerespected financial information company, Gale, estimated UCG salesat $463 million in 2008.

'We have had a bunch of home runs,' Levenson said. 'We never lostmoney. It has really been profitable.'

One reason is the culture. There are no business cards. Nosecretaries. Everyone answers their own phone.

Most of the office furniture is used. I didn't see any glass-enclosed corner offices, founders' portraits or plush leather chairsat UCG's corporate headquarters, which is on the first floor of anameless office tower in Gaithersburg. I did see some toy models ofBP, ExxonMobil and other oil industry tanker trucks.

'In the beginning, all we cared about was the content and themarketing,' Levenson said. 'The trappings we didn't care about. Wereally focused on those two areas, and that has served us well.'

The UCG founders know a good business when they see one. Theylove the fact that customers would pay their annual subscriptionsupfront, creating tax advantages and 'a float,' which allows them toinvest the money until the expenses roll in.

UCG began in 1977 when, unhappy at the oil industry newsletterwhere they worked, the pair decided to start a rival publicationcalled Oil Express. Oil Express began above a C Street liquor/convenience store owned by Levenson's father. They had no money,worked 70 hours a week and lived on half-smokes and ice cream thatthe store sold them on credit.

Their first big success came fast when Peskowitz, who had deepcontacts in the oil industry, got hold of Texaco's five-year plan.Soon they had 4,000 subscribers paying $49 a year for their weeklynewsletter (the price has since grown to $499).

'It was the biggest scoop,' said Peskowitz. Texaco employees werecalling them asking for the plan because it reported that the oilgiant was going to eliminate 20,000 jobs.

The story gave Oil Express instant credibility. They used thatstanding to sponsor an oil industry conference at the Hyatt atEmbarcadero Center in San Francisco, which has spawned a UCGconference business that is lucrative to this day.

The next moneymaker began on a Friday afternoon in early 1978,when Peskowitz and Levenson came up with the idea for a decal thatgas stations could put on pumps. The decal was designed todiscourage motorists from using polluting leaded gasoline instead ofthe newer and more expensive unleaded.

They charged $1 for a decal that cost them less than a nickel.They sold 1 million in a month, ranging from small orders from mom-and-pop service stations to 200,000 for major oil companies.

The windfall gave them enough breathing room to think about theirnext business move. They acquired two newsletters that covered thepostal and financial regulatory sector that were being sold by aWashington-based company called Computer Data Systems.

It was the Oil Express model all over again.

'We understood the [newsletter] business,' Levenson said. 'Wewere identifying opportunities to deliver information in a varietyof formats into a segment we had captured through the newsletter. Westarted going into other industries and replicating the model.'

Several more hits followed.

When one employee said he could help them provide oil prices totheir customers through computers that communicated throughtelephone hookups, they became pioneers in online content. As theoil price data slowly dribbled across the phone lines, UCG raked inthe dough: They charged by the minute.

They repeated that online model with Commerce Business Daily, theshopping list that the federal government sends out to get bids oneverything from pencils to jet engines. The CBD online business wasa cash cow for Levenson-Peskowitz for almost a decade.

As profits rolled in and the staff expanded, UCG moved toBethesda, then to Rockville and a couple of years ago to an officepark in Gaithersburg, where the company headquarters occupies 60,000square feet.

Levenson and Peskowitz have loosened their hands-on managementstyle just a tad so they can spend time on their Atlanta sportsteams. They have owned 40 percent of the teams and arena operatingrights since they purchased them in 2004 from Time Warner. (Theyhave been in a nasty court fight with one of their Atlanta sportsteam partners for several years.)

The company is very closely held. There is no private equitymoney. There are no outside investors. They have decided againstgoing public.

The founders plan to stay deeply involved in the business, butthey have prepared their next generation of owners for decades.Numbers and acquisitions guy Todd Foreman, sales and marketing wizNancy Becker and journalist Dan Brown are all part owners who willsomeday take over.

Foreman said UCG sold a bunch of companies in 2006 because 'itwas getting to the point . . . where we want to maximize the valueof our assets. We sold some businesses, bought some businesses and,in the future, we are going to do both.'

Levenson prides himself on a relaxed, democratic atmosphere. Theinformal division of labor makes Levenson the strategic thinker andcompany voice, while the cerebral, soft-spoken Peskowitz tends tothe all-important content.

'There is no bigger voice in the [ownership] room than anybodyelse,' said Levenson, speaking in a conference room between bites onhis sandwich. Behind him is a list that represents his company'svalues. The list includes 'Partnership Agreement as a livingdocument.' 'Lunch together.' 'Not all lawyers.' 'Collaborate.''Trust.'

As he explains the list, Levenson says, 'We don't have votes. Wedon't have a chairman. We disagree, we debate and then we decide. Itreally does work that way.'

And apparently, it really does work.

All-Star Game; Yankee is dandy for AL; MVP Jeter puts on another impressive show in Atlanta.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is 26. He is considered one of the country's most eligible bachelors. He already has three World Series rings on his fingers. He holds the city in the palm of his hand.

So what do you get the guy who seems to have everything? How about a simple token of esteem, like a trophy symbolizing the Most Valuable Player award from the All-Star Game?

Tuesday night, Jeter went 3-for-3 and made a smooth play in the field to lead the American League to a 6-3 victory over the National League before 51,323 in Jeter's personal playground, otherwise known as Turner Field.

That performance earned him an All-Star MVP Award, making him the first Yankee to win one, and raised this question: If he is such a matinee idol, how come he always shines in prime time?

'It seems,' said Yankees and AL manager Joe Torre, 'that Derek is far beyond his years.'

Jeter wasn't voted into the starting lineup of the American League team. He was granted that position only after Jeter's buddy, Seattle's Alex Rodriguez, suffered a concussion.

But just as he has in three postseasons, Jeter proved a pivotal and pressure-proof player. His two-run single in the fourth gave the AL the lead for good.

Injury and opportunity are inextricably linked in sports, and so it was Tuesday. Rodriguez was one of the many premier players unable to participate because of injuries.

Jeter was the substitute who played like a true All-Star, getting hits off Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown and Al Leiter. Including last year's World Series and this year's interleague series with Atlanta, Jeter is now 16-for-27 at Turner Field in the past 10 months.

The bigger picture: Jeter already has compiled a stunning resume. 'At this point,' said Twins outfielder Matt Lawton, 'I don't know what else he can do. Now he's just playing to see if he's going to be in the Hall of Fame.'

Torre said after Jeter's rookie of the year season, he called Jeter into his office to see whether his head had swelled. 'He answered all the questions, letting me know what his priorities were,' Torre said. 'That's not easy for a youngster who seemingly has all this going for him.'

Jeter's first hit Tuesday night was sandwiched by three walks, forcing in the game's first run.

The NL's answering run in the bottom of the third was a bit more impressive. Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones, batting lefthanded, hit a two-out homer to left-center off White Sox pitcher James Baldwin. Jones became the 13th player to homer in an All-Star Game in his home park.

'It's every little boy's dream,' Jones said. 'It was something I will never forget.'

Jeter, who had struck out in his two previous All-Star Game at-bats, got the lead back in the fourth with a two-run single to center, making the score 3-1. But other Atlanta players would shine.

First baseman Andres Galarraga singled in his second at-bat, getting his first All-Star hit and adding to his already legendary return from cancer.

'There are probably no words to explain how happy, how excited I am feeling today,' Galarraga said. 'That's a great moment in my career in baseball - walk on the field with my kids, and the ovation they gave to me, my fans here in Atlanta.'

Atlanta pitcher Tom Glavine pitched a perfect inning. And Atlanta center fielder Andruw Jones drove home a run in the fifth.

But this was Jeter's night, as so many in baseball's spotlight are. Afterward, as his black, autographed Louisville Slugger P-72 was being packed for a trip to Cooperstown, someone was asking Jeter if he's sure to follow. If he's already one of the Yankee greats.

'I don't think so,' he said, shaking his head. 'You have to play a lot of years before you can be considered a Yankee great. Hopefully I can play a few more years and start that debate.'

That debate could prove as one-sided as the MVP voting on Tuesday night.

AT A GLANCE

DEREK JETER:

First Yankee to be All-Star MVP; 3-for-3, two RBI

MATT LAWTON:

Twin is 1-for-2 with RBI single, stolen base, run

KEVIN BROWN:

Dodger walks three, gives up AL's first run

ANDRES GALARRAGA:

Helping to dull the pain Despite all of its ailments, Denver outlasts Atlanta.(Sports) - Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

Byline: Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News

They might not be on pace for 60, or even 55, wins. But few were complaining after Wednesday's gritty win by the Nuggets.

The Nuggets, reaching the midpoint of the season, didn't have forward Carmelo Anthony, who was out with a sprained left ankle and wearing a walking boot. They played their first game since the announcement that forward Nene has testicular cancer.

Nevertheless, the short-handed Nuggets were in control much of the way in a 107-100 win against the Atlanta Hawks at the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets are 25-16 heading into the second half. All their injuries have put aside the players' talk of 60 wins and coach George Karl's desire to top the 1987-88 team's 54-28 mark for best record in the team's NBA history.

'Without Nene and Melo and Chucky (Atkins, who has a sports hernia), we're kind of in a survival mode like last year and the suspensions,' said Karl, whose team withstood Atlanta's Josh Smith getting his first career triple-double - 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. 'We can't expect to win 75 or 70 percent of our games. We've just got to figure out the games we can go after and try to get all the games into the fourth quarter.'

Karl didn't even mention guard Allen Iverson being bothered by a sore left wrist. Iverson scored a game-most 29 points but he shot only 6-of-21, although he was 15-of-18 from the free-throw line.

'It's killing me,' said Iverson, who took a fall Monday against the Los Angeles Lakers and said X-rays were negative. 'I couldn't hit a shot from the field. . . . It's my (nonshooting) arm, but it's just got to be rhythm.'

The Left Coast was not kind to the left parts of the body. Anthony also was hurt against the Lakers.

But Nuggets forward Linas

Kleiza, who scored 41 on Jan. 17 against rival Utah, picked another good time to step up offensively. Starting at small forward for Anthony, he scored 23 points.

It was the third different position at which Kleiza has started this season, having gotten nods at shooting guard and power forward. Kleiza was cheered on by about 50 countrymen, many waving Lithuanian flags and nearly all dressed in the national colors of green, yellow and red.

'We all needed to step up,' Kleiza said. '(Anthony is) such a big part of our team.'

Power forward Kenyon Martin did his part, totaling 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Then there was center Marcus Camby. But he nearly always steps up.

Camby grabbed 21 rebounds, his ninth game this season of 20 or more. After pulling down 15 in the game's first 20 minutes, he looked bound for 40.

'I'm just happy we got the win,' Camby said. 'Guys played well with Melo out. It was a solid team win.'

After the Hawks (17-21) led 7-0, the Nuggets took over, leading by as many as 17 points in the second quarter. Atlanta closed to 100-96 with 3:12 left when Joe Johnson hit a three-pointer, but nobody seemed overly concerned.

The Nuggets held Johnson, who entered averaging 22.1, to only 14 points. They threw double-teams at him all game.

With his team depleted, Karl used three starters for 40 minutes or more and only three reserves, only two logging more than four minutes. The third reserve used, J.R. Smith, didn't help his cause by being the last player on the court at the morning shootaround, and he played only four minutes.

Iverson didn't participate in the shootaround because of his ailing wrist. Karl said there's 'concern' about Iverson because the injury is affecting his shot.

'But I don't think the kid is going to sit out,' Karl said. 'The kid is going to play. The kid's got a big heart and big guts.'

Besides, Karl is getting used to coaching with a depleted roster. The Nuggets might not be on pace for 55 or 60 wins, but they're in first place in the Northwest Division and have their best mark at a midpoint since 28-13 in 1977-78.

ETC.: Atkins, who underwent surgery Jan. 11, had six stitches removed from his lower abdomen Wednesday. He returned to the team after spending a week recuperating at his Florida home and will begin to travel. Atkins, hoping to return in late March or early April, will visit the doctor today and then expects to start riding a stationary bike. . . . Forward Eduardo Najera returned after missing a game with a hyperextended right elbow but 'aggravated it' and 'it's hurting.' He doesn't know if he'll play Friday against New Jersey.

Nuggets 107, Hawks 100 FG FT Reb

ATLANTA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

MWilliams 35:31 7-16 6-6 1-6 1

2 20

JoSmith 41:15 8-23 6-7 2-12 10

4 22

Horford 29:07 6-8 2-5 5-11 2 4 14

JJohnson 39:34 5-17 2-2 1-5 5

3 14

AJohnson 33:49 5-10 0-0 0-2 6

4 12

Childress 24:56 3-9 3-4 2-6 3 1 9

SWilliams 4:22 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Law 4:08 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Lue 17:55 4-9 0-0 1-2 2 3 9

Jones 9:17 0-2 0-2 3-5 0 2 0

West 0:06 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 240 38-97 19-26 15-51 29 26 100

Percentages - FG .392, FT .731. Three-point goals - 5-12, .417 (A. Johnson 2-3, J. Johnson 2-4, Lue 1-3, Childress 0-1, Jo. Smith 0-1). Team rebounds - 10. Team turnovers - 15 (18 pts.). Blocked shots - 7 (Jo. Smith 5, Childress, Horford). Turnovers - 15 (Jo. Smith 7, A. Johnson 2, J. Johnson 2, M. Williams 2, Childress, Lue). Steals - 15 (Horford 5, Jo. Smith 3, Childress 2, J. Johnson 2, A. Johnson, Lue, M. Williams). Technicals - Smith, 5:27 fourth; coach Woodson, 5:27 fourth.

FG FT Reb

DENVER Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Kleiza 40:21 9-18 3-4 1-5 3

1 23

Martin 37:39 7-14 6-6 3-10 1

3 20

Camby 41:28 4-7 5-6 1-21 4

4 13

Iverson 44:30 6-21 15-18 0-2 6

1 29

Carter 34:31 3-8 2-2 0-3 9 2 8

Diawara 20:232-4 1-2 0-0 1 2 5

JSmith 4:21 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 2

Najera 16:47 2-2 2-2 1-4 2

5 7

Totals 240 34-77 34-40 6-45 26 18

107

Percentages - FG .442, FT .850. Three-point goals - 5-15, .333 (Iverson 2-5, Kleiza 2-5, Najera 1-1, Camby 0-1, Carter 0-1, Diawara 0-1, J. Smith 0-1). Team rebounds - 9. Team turnovers - 17 (20 pts.). Blocked shots - 7 (Camby 4, Martin 2, Carter). Turnovers - 17 (Camby 5, Carter 3, Iverson 3, Najera 2, Diawara, Kleiza, Martin, J. Smith). Steals - 8 (Iverson 3, Kleiza 2, Camby, Diawara, Najera). Technicals - None.

Atlanta 17 25 28 30 - 100

Denver 29 23 26 29 - 107

A - 14,213 (19,155). T - 2:14. Officials - Joe DeRosa, David Jones, Tommy Nunez Jr.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Chasing an OLYMPIC DREAM; Capo refuses to give up quest to compete in judo at Atlanta.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

In this year of the American Olympics, Rene Capo - Cuban emigre, former Gophers nose guard, retired judo champion - is the epitome of an American Olympian.

'My whole career has been comebacks,' said Capo, who this week could become the first Minnesotan to be named to the 1996 U.S. Olympic team.

Beginning Friday in Colorado Springs, Capo will confront a steep, uphill battle at the Olympic judo trials.

Motivated by a few fighting words that resonate four years later and pushed by that undefined but ubiquitous 'Olympic dream,' Capo will step on the mat knowing he needs to win seven matches over two days to get the only 209-pound spot on the U.S. team.

'I've just got to have a couple of good days,' said Capo, 34.

Capo returned to international judo last August after a self-imposed, 3 1/2-year hiatus. Oh, he had kept his 6-foot, 210 pound body in rippled shape as he worked for a health club and exercise machine company. But, the sport that he mastered as a little boy in Florida after his parents fled Cuba in 1962 seemed a thing of the past.

Problem was, the past was a tad bitter. Capo harbored unresolved Olympic aspirations.

The roots of Capo's march towards the Atlanta Games can be traced to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, to his first comeback.

Making the '88 U.S. team was extraordinary. Capo long had dominated youth judo competitions in Hialeah, Fla., and nationally. But, after earning a University of Minnesota football scholarship in 1979, he set the Japanese 'wrestling with a uniform' sport aside . . . for seven years.

In 1986, he returned to the martial art. He made the U.S. team for the Seoul Games. 'That was my dream,' he said recently, sitting in the kitchen of his southwest Minneapolis home.

But he lost his first Olympic match to eventual 189-pound bronze-medalist Ben Spijkers of the Netherlands. Capo led during most of the 5-minute contest.

Last February, Capo was talking with some of his judo friends when one said of the Spijkers' defeat, 'Rene, you almost won. You were winning.'

The words revived Capo's Olympic spirit. He got to thinking of Atlanta.

After all, he had overcome much.

Such as in 1990, when he was competing in (he won a silver medal) and working for (in marketing) the Twin Cities U.S. Olympic Festival. Capo and fellow judo player John Hobales got into an auto accident in Roseville while driving an official Festival car. No one was hurt, but they were arrested for drunken driving, fined and forced into treatment.

'A nightmare,' Capo said. 'I wanted to crawl under a rock. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would. But you can't. I learned from it.'

There was another comeback during the 1992 Olympic trials, the same event he is preparing for today.

Capo was the 1991 national champion at 209 pounds, ranked above longtime national and world contender Leo White. White, in fact, defeated Capo in the Festival.

But in July 1991, six months before the trials, Capo suffered a ruptured disk in his neck. He required surgery, a fusion, and was sidelined until October.

When the trials came, Capo said, 'Physically, mentally I felt I was there, but I was hesitant. You know, I'd just had my neck fused.'

White beat Capo in the trials, pushing Capo into retirement. But White, an aggressive, win-at-all-costs judo player, uttered some words that Capo still remembers. 'You weren't like you were before,' Capo remembers White telling him, seemingly rubbing in the defeat.

'He didn't mean to be mean,' Capo said recently. 'But what he said really ticked me off. I've been thinking about those words for the past 3 1/2 years.'

And, so, the Spijkers defeat, White's words and the '96 Olympics on U.S. soil added up to push Capo to this week, this chance, one more Olympic trials.

The costs? At least $15,000. Once Capo decided to get back into the U.S. judo mix, he took a leave from NordicTrack, where he had been a sales representative. He travelled to the judo nationals in Dallas. He went to competitions in Scandinavia to earn qualifying points that now have him ranked as the fifth-best U.S. competitor at 209 pounds. He went to Canada to train with its top judo players.

He's selling T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps to raise money. He has maxed-out his credit cards. He is nursing a sore left knee.

'Does it make me nervous?' said Capo, who has a degree in business administration. 'I've always been able to make money. If it takes me a year, a year-and-a-half, two years to come out of it, well, this is something I want to do. To tell you the truth, I never thought I'd still be doing this at 34. But I want to reach another level. And I do it knowing this is definitely the last time.'

If he gets past three other Olympic aspirants Friday, he will advance to face the top-ranked 209-pounder. He will have to beat the top-seeded player Friday, then twice Saturday to get to Atlanta.

JOHNSON TAKES HIS RUN AT ATLANTA.(Sports) - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Here is Carl Lewis, ushered to the interview podium at the Olympic trials after the 200 meters, looking like a whipped puppy. He has finished fifth, but he is Carl Lewis nonetheless, and he must be interrogated, even if he is only a warmup act to the man who just set a world record.

Michael Johnson does this.

Here is Butch Reynolds, 32, who has held the world 400-meter record for the past eight years. He has been through hell and back, having failed a drug test in 1990, fought it successfully and won a $27-million court settlement only to have it overturned, and then be threatened with a lifetime ban by the international governing body.

You just know Reynolds can envision deliverance with an Olympic gold medal, a full-circle flight that would make him whole. But he must know that is a longshot.

Michael Johnson does this.

Here is Mike Marsh. He is the reigning Olympic champion at 200 meters, and in Atlanta, could become the first-ever men's repeat winner in that event. But he has to have doubts.

Michael Johnson does this.

Here is the International Amateur Athletic Federation, a collection of stodgy characters for whom the word ``change'' does not exist. Ever so grudgingly, they alter the Olympic schedule so that races in the 200 and 400 don't occur on the same day. In fact, they schedule a day between the finish of the 400 and the preliminaries in the 200.

Michael Johnson does this, too.

As spectacular as is Michael Johnson's world record in the 200 meters (19.66), as overwhelming as is his 53-meet streak of finals victories in the 400, his most telling asset is his influence on people around him.

These are not small-change athletes Johnson has made to look mortal, in some off-event of track and field. They are some of the sport's marquee figures. And every day they must come to grips with this realization:

``Michael Johnson,'' said Clyde Hart, his coach, ``will not beat himself.''

Because of that, the Atlanta Olympics is liable to be remembered as the Michael Johnson Games. Dream Teams come and go, world records are broken in swimming like ripe apples falling from trees. But as the track events begin today (including the 400 prelims), Johnson may do something for perpetuity, or at least history: He is trying to become the first man ever to win gold medals in both the 200 and 400 meters.

One woman has done it, Valerie Brisco-Hooks in 1984. But the powerful East German delegation boycotted those Games, so Johnson's agenda is more formidable.

It seems as though only misfortune can waylay him, as it did at Salamanca, Spain, in 1992, when he gotfood poisoning at a pre-Games meet and lost training time and strength for Barcelona. He didn't make the finals of the 200.

Maybe that's why, in the moments after Johnson had disassembled the 17-year-old world record in the 200 at the trials, Hart was fidgeting about the infield at the warmup track.

``You cannot walk on it, much less run,'' he said. ``It was put in in a hurry, sodded and it's a little uneven. Those things worry me. One rotation of an ankle, and it's 10 years down the drain.''

Johnson is a serious man, 28 years old, 6-feet-1 and 170 pounds. He is not by nature a showboater, but the smallest breach in etiquette has affronted his biggest antagonists.

Quincy Watts, who won the 1992 gold in the 400, says Johnson has said some things he didn't appreciate, without specifying. Reynolds didn't like Johnson celebrating his U.S. quarter-mile championship in 1995, telling USA Today, ``You don't dance on the world-record holder.''

Nor is there love lost between Lewis, the outgoing king of track, and Johnson (incoming). At last year's World Championships at Goteberg, Sweden, Lewis told the International Herald-Tribune, ``This World Championships, it's boring. The electricity is not there. There's no buzz, no passionate missions. There's something missing.

``The one American they're trying to build up, Michael Johnson, he doesn't have it. He's not doing anything for them.''

To which Johnson shrugged, ``I think a lot of people approve of what I do. My focus is to satisfy myself and satisfy my fans. I don't care what one particular athlete has to say, Carl or anyone else.''

Hart discovered Johnson in a high school meet in Dallas when Johnson was a fairly undistinguished senior. He was the third-best 200-meter runner in Texas.

``We felt he'd be a youngster that would help our program in the relays and the open events,'' said Hart, the coach at Baylor. ``We doubted he'd be a conference champion, or NCAA or national champion.''

But Hart liked the fact Johnson was solid, a strong student with a good background, the son of Paul and Ruby Johnson, a truck driver and schoolteacher.

What we see in Atlanta in his upright, quick-stepping fashion will be the product of a decade's relationship between Johnson and the veteran Hart.

``Michael has done everything we've asked for 10 years,'' said Hart. ``He's gotten stronger in the weight room. We realized the only way you're going to counteract people taking steroids is to get in the weight room and get strong naturally.

``We do all the stretching, the vitamins, the rubdowns, the warmup sessions. We've got everything broken down to the exact minutes. It's taken us 10 years to come up with that.''

Think heat and humidity might derail Johnson? The only place where it might be hotter than Atlanta is Waco, Texas, where Johnson trains.

``It's 101 where I live,'' Johnson said, scoffing at the notion.

These are the more important numbers that swim around Johnson's head:

``I think I can do 19.5,'' he said, referring to the 200.

And in the 400, where Reynolds' world record is 43.29?

``I feel very confident,'' Johnson said, ``I can run 43-flat.''

The record books tremble. And the competition shudders.

Biofile

MICHAEL JOHNSON

Sport: track & field

Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 180

Birthdate: Sept. 13, 1967

Birthplace: Dallas, Texas

Favorite athletes to watch: Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Charles Barkley, Andre Agassi (``I like that whole rebel kind of thing.''), Mike Tyson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt (``Aggressive.'')

Prerace feeling: ``Try to execute the strategy I've set for myself before I get into the blocks. It looks like we're just running, but there's a whole lot more to it. Before you go out there, you figure out what is the best strategy for you - when to push, when to make my move. I formulate strategy based on years of past performances.''

Most painful moment: ``Not making the Olympic 200 final in '92 (Barcelona). Got sick from food poisoning. That's one good thing about track. You can come back the next year instead of waiting for four years.''

Nicknames: MJ, Mike

Hobbies: Race car driving, jet skiing, water sports, go to movies

Fact: Michael hasn't lost a 400 meter race since 1989

Childhood sport hero: ``Didn't have any. Never was into the hero thing. I was more into playing anything and everything.''

Future ambition(s): ``Win three gold medals in Atlanta - 200, 400 and 4x400 relay. I'll be disappointed if I don't win three gold medals. (And) finish my career as one of the greatest track & field athletes to compete in the sport.''

Greatest sports moment: ``'95 World Championships (in Goteborg, Sweden), winning the 200 and 400 meters. I won the World Championship in the 200 in '91 and 400 in '93. But because of the scheduling, I wasn't allowed to run in both races in those years. I felt I could've won both events in '91 and '93. After '95 I felt I did all I could.''

- Mark Malinowski

NUGGETS TAKING SHOW ON ROAD THREE-GAME SWING STARTS TONIGHT WITH DATE WITH ATLANTA.(Sports) - Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

Byline: Aaron J. Lopez

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

Back in the day, as old-school NBA coaches like to say, life on the road was full of adventure and fraught with unpredictability.

Commercial flights. Pre-dawn wake-up calls for game-day departures. Three games on successive nights.

The advent of day-in-advance charter flights and the abolition of back-to-back-to-back court dates have taken much of the stress out of NBA travel, but the road remains hazardous for the Denver Nuggets.

The sign above the entrance to the Pepsi Center reminds visitors that life is different at 5,280 feet, but it also provides the figurative distance the Nuggets tend to fall when playing in arenas outside Colorado.

Never in its long history has Denver finished a season with a winning road record, and it has been nearly eight years since the Nuggets won three consecutive games away from home. The new and improved Nuggets, with a modest two-game road win streak, are out to change all that.

``They call the past the past for a reason,'' coach Jeff Bzdelik said Monday.

Beginning with tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks, Denver (13-7) faces three Eastern Conference teams whose early-season resumes are peppered with flaws.

The Hawks (6-15), seemingly in a perpetual state of flux, have lost four in a row and are soaring well below even the modest standards associated with Eastern teams.

Philadelphia (11-10) and New York (7-14), Denver's destinations Friday and Saturday, are part of an Atlantic Division in which hovering around .500 might be enough to contend for first place.

``Certainly when you go out East, you want to try to get as many of those as you can,'' Nuggets guard Jon Barry said. ``Atlanta's a team that's down right now. Philly's around .500 and New York is under .500, so those are games that are winnable games.''

When it comes to Denver's miserable road history, ``winnable'' is a relative term, but the Nuggets have been full of surprises this season.

Thus far, they have followed through on their promise to push the pace, averaging 97.9 points a game. They have re-established a home presence by winning eight of 10 games at the Pepsi Center and they are contenders in the Midwest Division.

With four wins in nine road dates, Denver also has matched its road victory total from last season, and it has a legitimate chance to sweep on a trip of at least three games for the first time since taking four in a row during a West Coast swing in March 1988.

``We're playing teams we know we should beat,'' center Marcus Camby said, ``but it's always tough playing on the road.''

Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York have not been particularly kind to the Nuggets, whose combined record in those three cities in the past three seasons is 1-8.

The Hawks own Denver in Atlanta, having won the past 13 meetings in Georgia, but the Nuggets have added incentive after losing to the struggling Boston Celtics at home Sunday night.

``If we aspire to be into the playoff race late into the year, then every game is so meaningful to us,'' Bzdelik said. ``We stumbled, now we're going to see how we react.''

After watching the Celtics score 116 points on the strength of .500 shooting, Bzdelik emphasized defense during a pre-practice film session Monday. The Nuggets will try to implement those principles during their longest trip this season.

``Our defense has slipped a little bit,'' Barry said. ``When you're on the road, you've really got to defend. You hate to get into 110-, 115-point games on the road because it just seems to be tougher.''

Camby, a key element of Denver's interior defense, sat idle for the final 17 minutes of Sunday's loss, which snapped the Nuggets' six-game winning streak.

Camby missed two games last week because of a groin strain, but the injury was not a factor in Bzdelik's decision to keep him on the bench during crunch time.

``It's up to me to try to push the right button at the right time,'' Bzdelik said. ``I make those decisions, whether they're right or they're wrong. Obviously, (Sunday), I didn't push the right buttons.''

ETC: Atlanta shooting guard Stephen Jackson will not play after being suspended Monday for conduct detrimental to the team. He is averaging 13.1 points a game. . . NBA officials honored Denver's request to review a play involving Chris Andersen and Golden State forward Brian Cardinal, but they have taken no disciplinary action.

INFOBOX

Nuggets at Hawks

* When: 5:30 MST tonight.

* Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta.

* TV/radio: Fox Sports Net. KKFN-AM (950).

* Starting lineups:

Denver (13-7) ....Pos.....Ht.....Pts..... 15 Carmelo Anthony....F....6-8....18.8

31 Nene....F ....6-11....12.1

23 Marcus Camby....C....6-11....5.2

1 Voshon Lenard....G....6-4....14.7

24 Andre Miller....G....6-2....15.1

Head coach: Jeff Bzdelik Atlanta (6-15)....Pos.....Ht.....Pts..... 32 Boris Diaw....G....6-5....3.6

3 Shrf Abdur-Rahim....F....6-9....20.7

41 Theo Ratliff....C....6-10....6.5

32 Dion Glover....G....6-5....12.5

31 Jason Terry....G....6-2....18.5

Head coach: Terry Stotts * Injuries: Denver - F Mark Pope (knee), G Jeff Trepagnier (ankle), injured list. Atlanta - G Terrell Brandon (leg), F Obinna Ekezie (knee), F Alan Henderson (back), injured list.

* Notes: Denver's six-game winning streak came to an end with a 116-111 loss Sunday to Boston at the Pepsi Center, but the Nuggets remain tied with Dallas for first place in the Midwest Division . . . Boston's point total was the most Denver has given up this season, so Bzdelik emphasized defense in practice Monday . . . The Hawks will be without guard Stephen Jackson, suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team . . . The Nuggets have won two consecutive road games, but they have lost 13 in a row and 16 of their past 17 at Atlanta . . . Abdur-Rahim scored 43 points Saturday, but the Hawks lost 95-85 at Cleveland . . . Atlanta has lost four in a row.

* Nuggets statistics

........Min.....Reb.....Ast.....Pts..... No.....Player....GP....avg.....avg.....avg.....avg.

15....Anthony....20....35.3....6.9....3.1....18.8.... 24....Miller....20....31.9....4.5....6.0....15.1.... 1....Lenard....18....29.3....2.9....2.1....14.7.... 31....Nene....15....32.5....7.5....1.5....12.1.... 11....Boykins....20....24.0....2.0....4.0....12.0.... 20....Barry....20....22.6....2.6....2.8....7.6.... 5....White....14....12.2....2.7....0.9....6.9.... 56....Elson....19....19.4....5.2....0.6....5.6.... 23....Camby....18....24.1....9.4....0.9....5.2.... 12....Andersen....19....15.5....4.0....0.5....4.2.... 22....Tskitishvili....13....9.3....1.5....0.5....3.8.... 32....Bowen....18....8.2....2.1....0.4....1.0.... 4....*Trepagnier....0....0.0....0.0....0.0....0.0....41....*Pope....0....0.0.. ..0.0....0.0....0.0........Totals....20....241.3....46.1....21.9....97.9.... * Injured list

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Prepare your eyes, and ears, for Vick's return to atlanta.(Sports) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

A few things . . .

You do realize where all this is headed right?

Sunday, Jan. 23, 3 p.m. in the Georgia Dome. The Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC championship and a Super Bowl berth.

Michael Vick, back where it all came crashing down.

My oh my. Pad your walls. Find your ear plugs. Prepare now for every sonic Tweet, commentary and media roar - present company very much included - that will bombard your world if this transpires, because it's going to get noisy.

The din already enveloping Vick and his combustible Eagles (10-4) hides the fact that Atlanta (12-2) is one win from locking up top seed in the NFC and home field through the postseason. The Falcons are 6-0 in their dome this season, 19-3 there the last three seasons.

Usually, I disrespect teams that play the 'disrespect' card, but the overlooked Falcons might have a case. They've lost only to the Steelers, 15-9 in the opener, and the Eagles, 31-17 in Philly in October, but don't get nearly the media credit or attention merited by a 12-2 club.

The path's not been the toughest: Atlanta has beaten five teams with winning records, including 8-6 Tampa Bay twice. Then again, same for the Eagles; five victories over winners, though two fewer overall.

Know what? Nobody's going to care about any of that if these guys are still standing in a month. So clear that afternoon to be ready. You have been warned.

An ensuing drama with Vick is the richness of his next price. He can be a free agent, but at worst, the Eagles will lock him up with their 'franchise' tag - or what passes for that status depending on the NFL's labor talks. But there's little question that Vick, potentially the league's offensive Player of the Year, will stay an Eagle or that he wants to stay, as he's said, because they offered him his chance when he was toxic.

A source familiar with Vick's contract plans, who requested confidentiality, told me weeks ago Vick would aim for the $15 million-a-year range. One would presume that number's higher now. As a handy reference, the four-year extension signed this season by New England's Tom Brady, another MVP contender, was for $18 million per, with $48.5 million guaranteed.

To be sure, this season's soundtrack for Vick, who's emerging from bankruptcy and has countless debtors, is one note, played on an endless loop: ch-ching ch-ching ch-ching.

Yes, I still think it was needless for Redskins coach Mike Shanahan to defrock Donovan McNabb the way he did. But all Rex Grossman's decent-but-losing effort Sunday against the Cowboys confirmed was what we already knew: He can be a serviceable backup, or maybe even a (very) interim starter in a rebuilding season should the Redskins draft and nurse a young quarterback next year, a plan that should be paramount.

Dear Geno Auriemma: Shut up shut up shut up. Your shameless snark is wrong and beyond aggravating. Sarcastically claiming evil factions of the media want to see your Connecticut women's basketball players back in the kitchen 'where they belong' loses you serious credibility.

Let's be real: UConn's 88-game winning streak is a fantastic achievement. But to say the run matches the UCLA men's 88-game streak, or that UConn is about to break a men's record, is politically correct fawning.

UConn is setting an amazing standard for women's basketball, not for any other sport. If there's any way possible, please let that mute your staggering self-righteousness.

Today's one-minute movie review: You're not sitting down to a boxing film or some 'Rocky' wanna-be when you sit down to 'The Fighter.' You're sitting down to a bizarre family drama centered around junior welterweight Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) that, from everything I've read, is spot-on to his real life.

The tortured humanity rivals, oddly enough, 'The Wrestler' from 2008. But the characters in 'The Fighter' are more indelible, none more than Ward's half-brother (Christian Bale) and tyrannic mother/manager (Melissa Leo).

Interestingly, it also casts a wide spotlight onto a common plague across sports: the suffocating negative energy of hangers on, entourages and posses.

I recommend.

Then again, I recommended the Redskins not start Grossman.

воскресенье, 16 сентября 2012 г.

BARCELONA MEDALIST MILLER CONFIDENT ABOUT ATLANTA.(Sports) - Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

Byline: Owen Canfield Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Shannon Miller doesn't put much stock in what's already happened. Her focus is the future, one she hopes includes an Olympic gold medal.

Never mind the injuries that have bothered Miller the past few years - her back, her ankle, her wrist. America's most-decorated female gymnast, now 19 and a part-time college student, believes she has what is needed to win in Atlanta.

``First of all, I think you're as old as you feel,'' she said after a recent workout. ``If I can still train hard and still do the skills that are right up there with everyone else, then the numbers they put as your age don't matter.

``I think for this year I have a lot more added difficulty (in routines) and I'm going to be right up there with everyone else. Also, I think that being older you have more experience. I've been through the Olympics before, so it'll help some.''

Miller won five medals at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and nearly won the all-around title. In the next two years she dominated the sport, winning back to back world all-around championships.

But at the 1994 Goodwill Games, she finished second. ``I think that's mostly when people started saying, `Well, she's going downhill,' '' Miller said.

The tiny gymnast was still tiny, but she had grown about four or five inches - she is now 5-feet, 95 pounds - and she thinks the growth spurt contributed to a nagging back and shin splints.

After the back healed, other injuries followed. At the 1995 World Championships, a bad ankle caused her to withdraw from two of the individual events. Most recently she has been nursing an injury that started in her right forearm and has settled in the wrist.

``It happens every year, there's something that bothers a high-level athlete,'' said her coach, Steve Nunno, who kept Miller out of the prestigious American Cup meet in February.

Miller reminds people that in the months prior to the 1992 Olympics, she pulled a hamstring and broke her elbow.

``We just want her to be safe and healthy and strong come June,'' Nunno said.

The U.S. Championships are June 5-8 in Knoxville, Tenn. The top 14 from that meet will advance to the Olympic Trials later that month in Boston.

Miller is virtually assured of a spot on the Olympic roster. But there also is the question of whether she can outduel the younger athletes, particularly Dominique Moceanu, 14, who beat Miller at the 1995 U.S. Championships.

Nineteen is young, unless you're a female gymnast, where the mats and beams are teeming with much younger girls.

Nunno doesn't think the age issue is an issue at all.

``I think it's like any other sport: When is the optimum time for a body to be at its physical peak?'' he said. ``It certainly isn't 14 years of age. It isn't 15. For the most part, it takes years to develop some of these big skills and very difficult skills the girls can do.''

He uses Belarus' Svetlana Boguinskaia, one of the top gymnasts in the world, as an example. Now in her early 20s, Boguinskaia is considered one of the favorites in Atlanta.

``She's winning. It's not like she's just hanging in there,'' Nunno said.

Miller isn't the only veteran seeking a spot on the U.S. team. Kerri Strug and Dominique Dawes, both members of the '92 Olympic team, are favorites to make it again this year. Dawes is 19, Strug 18.

Southern revival; Ex-Wolf Laettner thrives in Atlanta.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Quizzing your knowledge of sports cliches and truisms, the best sports trades are:

a) the ones that help both teams.

b) the ones that are never made.

c) the ones that stick the other guys with a real stiff while swiping away an All-Star or even a future Hall of Famer.

The answer, of course, is C, which is why Kevin McHale, Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations, always will be linked with two of the most devilishly lopsided deals in NBA history. First, he was the college player that Red Auerbach had in his sights when Boston sent the rights to the No. 1 pick overall in the 1980 draft - who turned out to be Joe Barry Carroll - to Golden State for center Robert Parish and the third selection (McHale). The Celtics got three championships and two retired jersey numbers out of that one.

Then McHale returned to haunt the Warriors two seasons ago, when he traded Donyell Marshall, a $42 million albatross, for budding All-Star Tom Gugliotta.

But McHale will have to content himself with answer A in assessing his deal with the Atlanta Hawks last February. At the league's trading deadline, the Wolves sent Christian Laettner - both the highest draft pick the team ever has had and its highest profile player - along with backup center Sean Rooks to the Hawks for center Andrew Lang and guard Spud Webb.

Lang's later trade to Milwaukee helped the Timberwolves land Stephon Marbury, and Laettner has been everything the Hawks had hoped for. And more.

'He's a gutsy player,' said Atlanta's Lenny Wilkens, the NBA's all-time winningest head coach. 'And the team is using him more and he is stepping up to make big shots.'

Said Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo: 'I don't know what kind of person people used to see, but playing and spending time with him, Christian is an enjoyable guy.'

That was hardly his image in the Twin Cities. Set up by the success of his Duke career (123-15 record, four visits to the Final Four) and the Blue Devils' seniority system, Laettner chafed at the 75-222 record he endured and contributed to, in three-plus seasons with the Wolves.

He wanted to win. He wanted to be the team's top player. The two ambitions never meshed, so McHale moved him. The thinking was that, with Atlanta's already established, guard-dominated order and a coach who was beyond reproach, Laettner would have to fit into a more narrowly defined role.

Yet Laettner, who will face his former team tonight at the Omni, has been no mere complementary player. Through last week, he was Atlanta's leading scorer (19.2 points), averaging 8.9 rebounds and 39.5 minutes. Against Chicago on Dec. 26, he scored a career-high 37 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and was the best player on a floor that included Michael Jordan.

'He's playing very much up to his potential,' Bulls coach Phil Jackson said.

Laettner's numbers are not all that different from what he posted with the Wolves. But the results are. Different and better.

'I was young, a lot of people were young, and we needed leadership,' Laettner told the Atlanta Journal/Constitution. 'I still say we had enough talent up there; we didn't have the right coaching. The same might be true if someone besides Lenny Wilkens were coaching the Atlanta Hawks.'

At 27, Laettner has admitted to being more content, on the job and off. In September, he was married in the Twin Cities to the former Lisa Thibault and the couple is expecting a child. 'I'm happier on the inside, and emotionally in terms of my personal life,' he said. 'I've matured like anyone else, because that's what happens with growing older.'

Laettner recalls with fondness a moment in November 1994, with the Wolves on their way to losing 13 of their first 14 games. Atlanta was at Target Center and Wilkens, an assistant coach with the 1992 'Dream Team' Olympic squad on which Laettner played, caught his eye.

'I remember Lenny giving me a smile that day,' Laettner said, 'and his smile to me said, `I still like you, son, and if they don't like you up here, then we'll get you.' . . . We only talked for a minute or so. I just remember the smile on his face. It said, `I liked you at the Olympics and I'll give you a shot.' '

1/3 Wolves vs. Hawks

1/3 - When: 6:30 tonight. Where: the Omni. TV, radio: Ch. 23, KFAN-AM (1130). Records: Hawks 21-11, Wolves 16-19. Series: Hawks lead 11-3.

1/3 - Wolves update: The Wolves have had the last two days off; this will be Atlanta's third game in four nights. . . . Last season, the teams split two games sandwiched around the Christian Laettner-Andrew Lang trade. In December, the Wolves won for the first time in Atlanta 85-78. In February, three days after the swap, they shot 31.7 percent and were outscored 48-29 in the second half in a 92-76 defeat. . . . Winning a fourth straight road game would mark a franchise first. . . . The Wolves are 5-15 when shooting less than 45 percent, and Atlanta is holding opponents to 42.2 percent accuracy.

1/3 - Hawks update: On Saturday, Atlanta became only the 10th team in NBA history to play three straight overtime games and only the fifth to sweep them, beating Phoenix, Orlando and San Antonio. . . . The Hawks have won 13 straight at the Omni after dropping their home opener and are 8-1 against Western Conference teams. But they are 2-6 on the second night of back-to-back games.