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(09/13/07 3:31am)
The IU men’s golf team began its season in an impressive fashion, placing sixth out of 16 teams at the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational in Toledo, Ohio. The tournament featured five of the top 12 teams in the country, and the Hoosiers finished ahead of three top-10 programs. \nJunior Seth Brandon led the way with a strong outing Tuesday, the second day of the tournament. Brandon was one of three players in the 81-player field to break par Tuesday, and tied for fifth place overall. Brandon finished the tournament with a score of 214, one stroke over par, and notched his third career Top 5 finish according to a IU Athletics press release.\nBrandon said the challenge of playing at the Inverness Club against high-level competition was a good way to start the season. \n“I think the big teams and the big course and all that’s good, because (such factors are) just motivators to play well,” Brandon said. “The last thing I want to do is go play easy courses against easy teams, because that’s not going to get me anywhere.”\nIU coach Mike Mayer said he was pleased with his team’s start to the season. He said he learned a few important things over the course of the two-day tournament. \n“I really felt like we got off to a really, really solid start in this tournament,” Mayer said. “We played the way we were capable of playing. I think I learned we can compete with (top) teams first and foremost. Until you get there and play (those kinds of teams), you never really know (how you’ll perform).”\nMayer said he was pleased with the fact that several players on his team stepped up and performed well on such a big stage. He said having a team stronger than just one golfer – the Hoosiers’ lone NCAA championship qualifier, junior Jorge Campillo – will greatly benefit the Hoosiers in the future. \n“I learned that we’re not a single-player team,” Mayer said. \nMayer pointed to contributions from Brandon, sophomore Alex Martin and senior Ted Sacheck as keys to the Hoosiers’ success this weekend. He said Miller and Sacheck worked throughout the summer to improve their games, and their performances reflected that work. \nMayer also said he was pleased with his team’s performance on such a tough course. The Inverness Club has hosted four U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships, among other events. \nMayer said he didn’t know what to expect coming into the season, but he said he wanted to take his team to big tournaments like the one at the Inverness Club early to help them improve. \n“I’m not going to say I haven’t lost a little sleep ... wondering how we were going to handle such a big tournament,” Mayer said. “(The outing) tells a lot about what we can do.”\nMayer said his overall impressions of the tournament were positive. He said his team did not let the magnitude of the event affect their play. \n“I don’t think we went in afraid, I don’t think we went in intimidated,” he said. “I was pleased that, in this tournament, we didn’t get distracted, it wasn’t a deer-in-the-headlights deal. We were focused on what we wanted to do, what we had to do.”\nBrandon said the team was pleased with their performance, but felt they could have done even better. He said they will take lessons from this weekend and use them as they prepare for their next tournament, which is this weekend at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn.\n“We played pretty well, and we just have to learn from our mistakes,” Brandon said. “Learn what we did wrong and correct it ... so maybe next (tournament) we can finish at the top.”
(09/12/07 12:37pm)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – One day after dropping their season opener at San Diego, the Chicago Bears lost defensive leader Mike Brown for their season.\nBrown was placed on injured reserve Monday with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.\nIt’s the third season-ending injury in four years for Brown, the soul of the Bears’ secondary. Joining Brown on injured reserve was starting defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, who also ruptured his left ACL in Sunday’s 14-3 loss.\nBrown was injured in the fourth quarter when Chargers fullback Lorenzo Neal, who was blocking, threw him to the ground. A team captain and former Pro Bowl pick, Brown limped toward the sideline.\nHe and Dvoracek, who missed his rookie year with a foot injury, were carted off the field shortly afterward.\nWith Brown and Dvoracek out, coach Lovie Smith said safety Danieal Manning and defensive tackle Darwin Walker will start this Sunday against Kansas City.\n“Mike has gone through a lot,” Smith said. “He’s our team leader, great guy, competitor. We all feel for him. If I continue to talk about it, I could get emotional just knowing what Mike Brown has gone through to get himself back in position to play.”\nAlthough he’s signed through 2008, the 29-year-old Brown’s future with the Bears could be in jeopardy. His string of injuries started in 2004, and just like the two that ended previous seasons, this one came after he delivered a big play.\nBrown’s interception of Philip Rivers’ pass and 27-yard return in the first quarter Sunday set up Robbie Gould’s field goal. He also had a fumble recovery before Neal wrapped his right arm around Brown’s neck and threw him to the ground. No penalty was called.\n“It’s another sad day in the chapter of my football playing career, it looks like to me,” Brown told reporters on Sunday, when he broke into tears in the locker room. “I don’t know what else to tell you guys.”\nSmith sidestepped questions on Monday about the play, saying: “There probably should have been penalties on a lot of plays out there that happened on the football field – on them and on us. The officials did a good job. You can’t get everything.”\nWill the Bears send video of that play to the league?\n“Every play that we feel is missed, we send to the league,” said Smith, who would not say if that play was one of them.\nMissing Brown is not new to the Bears. In 2004, he returned a fumble 95 yards against Green Bay in Week 2 before rupturing an Achilles’ tendon.\nAgainst Arizona in Week 6 last season, he scooped up a fumble in the third quarter and returned it 3 yards for a touchdown to spark the Bears’ comeback from a 20-point deficit to a 24-23 win. While the drama was starting that night, Brown’s season would soon end. He limped off the field and was taken from the sideline on a cart after his right foot got twisted on a running play in the fourth quarter.\nHe had ligament damage that required surgery, the first of two major losses for the defense. Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommie Harris joined Brown on injured reserve in early December with a hamstring injury, and the two watched as the Bears reached the Super Bowl.\nThe Bears made that run even though a defense that dominated for much of the season showed some vulnerability late in the schedule with two of their best players sidelined.\nChicago then acquired strong safety Adam Archuleta, with Brown moving to free safety.\nEven when he made the 2005 Pro Bowl, Brown could not escape injury. He missed the final four games of the regular season with a calf problem, but returned for the playoff loss to Carolina.\n“Freak accidents happen, but they seem like they’ve happened to Mike more than they should,” Smith said.\nDvoracek, a third-round draft pick from Oklahoma in 2006, became the starter when the Bears released the troubled Tank Johnson during the offseason and held the spot after the Bears acquired Walker during training camp.
(09/12/07 12:35pm)
CHENGDU, China – Blood streaming from a gash on the top of her head, Abby Wambach came off the field. For 10 minutes, the United States played short-handed while she got stitches.\nNorth Korea didn’t waste its chance.\nThe United States allowed a pair of goals while Wambach was off the field – one on a blunder by goalkeeper Hope Solo – then rallied for a 2-2 tie Tuesday in its opener at the Women’s World Cup.\n“When they scored right away as I went off, I started to get worried,” Wambach said. “So I started to run to the locker room to get stitches put in.”\nThe top-ranked Americans, trying to regain the title they won in 1991 in China and 1999 at home, extended their unbeaten streak to 47 games. But playing in the toughest of four groups, they put pressure on themselves heading into games against third-ranked Sweden on Friday and Nigeria next Tuesday.\n“I think the U.S. is the best in the world, but today they didn’t perform to their maximum,” said Kim Kwang-min, coach of the fifth-ranked North Koreans.\nWambach, playing on a sore right toe she injured Aug. 26 against Finland, put the United States ahead in the 50th minute on a rainy night. She took a pass from captain Kristine Lilly on the right side of the penalty area and beat Jon Myong-hui with a 13-yard shot that the goalkeeper got her gloves on but failed to stop.\nFive minutes later, Wambach was defending a cross when she collided with North Korea’s Rik Kum Suk. Wambach fell to the ground, blood pouring from the back of her head onto her face and jersey.\nU.S. coach Greg Ryan decided not to replace Wambach, who has 78 goals in 97 games with the national team.\n“It was a very tough call,” he said. “The doctors said they could get her back within just a few minutes. Abby is such an important player to this team. I though we could withstand playing 11 against 10.”\nIn the 58th minute, Kil Son-hui hit a twisting, long strike that slipped through the Solo’s hands, tying the score. Kim Yong-ae then pounced on a rebound in the 62nd and shot it past Solo, who didn’t have a chance.\nWhen the crowd screamed again, Wambach knew North Korea had taken a 2-1 lead.\n“I really had to hurry up the process,” she said. “I was yelling at the doctors to get it done quicker. I cursed some bad words, and hurried up and got my jersey on and ran as fast as I could.”\nWambach re-entered the game two minutes later, and the United States tied it in the 69th minute when Heather O’Reilly scored her 12th goal – her first in the World Cup – taking a ball in the penalty area that couldn’t be cleared and putting it into the roof of the goal.\n“I was just moving around in the box and the ball just seriously wound up on my feet,” O’Reilly said. “I just tried to get something on it – to get it on frame. It didn’t feel like it came off my foot very cleanly. I was surprised it was as nice a goal as it was.”\nSolo made two saves in injury time to protect the lead, first sprawling to her right to parry away a shot, then grabbing a drive without allowing a rebound.\n“For the fans and soccer it was great,” Lilly said. “People saw attacking soccer, they saw goals; the teams were combatting to the very end.”\nDespite its usual poise, the U.S. looked unnerved at times before a crowd of 35,100 at Chengdu Sports Center Stadium in southwestern China.\nNorth Korea, with many of the players that won last year’s under-20 Women’s World Cup, pressed the Americans. The North Koreans ganged up at midfield to attack and mixed long balls with quick triangular passes.\n“I would say I have never defended as much,” U.S. defender Cat Whitehill said. “They came at us flying, they came at us with a ton of numbers. I’m just glad we were able to stop them enough to get a tie.”\nRyan tried to encourage Solo, who rebounded from the bad first goal with some excellent late play.\n“A hundred times Hope is going to save that one shot, but this is the one time it goes through her hand. It’s unlucky,” Ryan said.\nSolo said, “It’s a day in the life of a goalkeeper. The conditions are slick and it is wet out there, but it happens.”
(09/10/07 4:40am)
The volleyball team is now 7-2 after going into the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic this past weekend and coming out with three wins and no losses. The sweep consisted of wins over Marshall, Valparaiso and Western Michigan.\nThe first match against Marshall on Friday ended in a 3-1 victory for the Hoosiers. IU took the first game of the match with a come-from-behind win after trailing 21-25. After taking game two 30-27, the Hoosiers struggled in game three with 15 total errors and lost 22-30. Looking to win the match in game four, freshman outside hitter Taylor Wittmer stepped up in the fourth game by putting up seven kills, including the match-ender. \nLater that day, the Hoosiers faced off against Valparaiso. IU swept the Crusaders with final scores of 30-22, 30-23 and 30-25. In game one, Valparaiso tied the match at 20-20 when IU went on a run, taking 10 of the last 12 points to win the game 30-22. IU never looked back, as they triumphed in the second and third games, earning the match victory against the \ntournament hosts. \nWestern Michigan was IU’s opponent Saturday in the final match of the tournament for the Hoosiers. The Broncos came out with determination and were far from easy, but the Hoosiers pulled off the win in four games. The Hoosiers dominated the first game as they won 30-17 and at one point led the game by 14 points. IU took the second game 30-22 and dropped game three 26-30. Freshman setter Mara Hilgenberg contributed to game four as she provided an impressive 19 assists. The fourth game ended when junior outside hitter Erica Short delivered two consecutive kills to give the Hoosiers the 33-31 win and the tournament sweep.\nWittmer received the honor of being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and was also named to the all-tournament team. Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Hall was also named to the all-tournament team for her play over the weekend. \nThe Hoosiers will now begin preparing for their home opener this weekend as they host the IU adidas Classic. IU will face East Tennessee State, North Carolina Central and St. John’s at the University Gym beginning Friday.
(09/10/07 4:35am)
The IU men’s golf team opens its season today in Toledo, Ohio as a participant in the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational.\nThe Hoosiers are one of 16 teams participating in the three-round event, which includes four teams ranked in the top 10 of the final 2006-07 Golfweek NCAA rankings.\nJunior Jorge Campillo will play in the No. 1 position for the Hoosiers. Campillo has been a first team All-Big Ten selection the last two years and finished the 2006-07 season with a 73.76 scoring average. Campillo represented IU in the NCAA Central Regional competition last season.\nSophomore Alex Martin and senior Tad Sacheck round out the top three spots for the Hoosiers. Martin qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship over the summer and also finished third as the low amateur at the Ohio Open Championship. Sacheck tied for 42nd at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate in Zionsville, Ind., and will be playing in the third tournament of his career.\nJunior Seth Brandon and senior Santiago Quirarte will fill the No. 4 and 5 positions, respectively. Brandon played in all 12 of IU’s tournaments last season, posting a 75.86 scoring average. Quirarte appeared in 29 rounds during his junior campaign.\nThis is IU’s first appearance at the Inverness. The Inverness Club has hosted several prestigious golf events in the past, including four U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships. It will also serve as the host of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships.
(09/07/07 8:02pm)
In the parody that is the NFL today, I will help guide you through the confusion, madness and uncertainty. Every week I’ll provide a glimpse into the future and prognosticate the outcome of several of the top matchups.
(09/07/07 3:58am)
CHICAGO – The Big Ten Network reached an agreement on Thursday with satellite TV provider Dish Network, expanding the reach of the \nnew channel.\nThe number of households with the network nationwide will initially increase from about 17 million to 28.5 million. In the eight states with Big Ten schools, the number will increase from 3.5 to 6.2 million.\nDish customers who subscribe to the America’s Top 100 package or higher will have access to the channel through early 2008. After that, customers in the eight Big Ten states will get the channel on the America’s Top 100 Plus service, which includes regional sports networks. It has yet to be determined how the channel will be made available to customers outside the eight states after that time.\nThe network was already airing on Dish on Thursday. The channel debuted Aug. 30 and offered its first live football games last weekend.\nSatellite competitor DIRECTV carried the network from the beginning. The Big Ten Network has yet to reach agreements with several major cable providers – primarily Comcast – leaving many fans in the eight states without access to the channel.
(09/07/07 3:55am)
ST. LOUIS – Rick Ankiel isn’t just hitting, he’s turning into a force.\nThe pitcher-turned-outfielder homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 16-4 on Thursday in a game shortened to eight innings because of rain.\nAnkiel hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the second inning for a 5-2 lead against Bryan Bullington (0-1), who made his major league debut five years after he was the No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft. Ankiel made it 11-3 with a two-run drive in the fifth against John Grabow and added a two-run double in the sixth off Dave Davidson, also making his big league debut.\nBrought up Aug. 9 in his first major league appearance since he pitched for the Cardinals in 2004, Ankiel is batting .358 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 23 games. He also homered twice against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 11.\nHe made his second start in center field, hauling in Josh Pearce’s drive at the wall in the third. He barely missed a diving catch on pinch-hitter Matt Kata’s slicing drive that fell for a double in the fourth, getting a round of applause for the effort.\nSt. Louis (69-68) moved within one game of NL Central co-leaders Chicago and Milwaukee, scoring its most runs since Aug. 29, 2001, against San Diego. The Cardinals had 22 hits, their highest total since April 27, 2003, at Florida.\nMike Maroth, back from a bout of elbow tendinitis, allowed two runs, six hits and two walks in 1 2-3 innings, throwing 54 pitches in his first appearance since Aug. 4. On Wednesday, Mark Mulder pitched for the first time in over a year and gave up six runs over four innings in an \n8-2 loss.\nKelvin Jimenez (2-0) got one out for the win, throwing a called third strike past Jason Bay to end the second with the based loaded.\nBullington gave up five runs and seven hits over three innings. He received a $4 million \nbonus when he signed with the Pirates out of Ball State, then went 34-17 in three minor league seasons, his climb through the minors slowed by an injured right shoulder.\nHe also singled in his first career plate appearance in the second and scored his first run later in the inning.\nDavidson worked the sixth and allowed four runs – three earned – and four hits.\nAaron Miles and David Eckstein each had three hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, who split the three-game series. Jose Bautista had two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates.\nMaroth escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first, getting Pearce on a called third strike. Bautista and Freddy Sanchez hit consecutive RBI singles in the second tie it at two.
(09/07/07 3:54am)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Concerns? Tommie Harris has a few.\nThey won’t disappear until the Pro Bowl defensive tackle makes his first cut or delivers a hit in the Chicago Bears’ opener at San Diego on Sunday.\n“If you broke your arm and you went out to do something, wouldn’t you (think) ‘I remember the feeling of this being broken,’” said Harris, who underwent season-ending surgery on his left hamstring last December. “That’s kind of going to hinder you from doing that same movement for a while. So you’ve got to break yourself and get over the fear, and then you’ll be able to do everything the same. You just have to trust your surgeon and trust that everything went right.”\nFor now, he’s still a bit hesitant.\nHarris is an exception in a locker room where confidence is flowing like champagne after a championship victory. The Bears came up a win short last season, losing to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl, and their expectations are soaring.\nWide receiver Rashied Davis looked around the locker room and said, “What weaknesses? I don’t see any.”\nLinebacker Brian Urlacher said this about a defense that has ranked among the best the past few years: “I think we’re better than we were last year on defense.”\nHarris won’t argue.\nHis concerns are centered on himself, and they’re more mental than physical. He wonders how he’ll respond when he takes the field on Sunday, not whether the Bears are good enough to make it back to the Super Bowl.\nThe defending NFC champions can cite numerous reasons why they think they’re better on both sides of the ball.\nQuarterback Rex Grossman has a full year of experience as a starter, after being limited by injuries in 2004 and 2005, and he has no shortage of targets. Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian lead a deep set of receivers that includes a healthy Mark Bradley, and first-round draft pick Greg Olsen gives the Bears another pass-catching tight end to go with Desmond Clark.\nOn defense, the Bears point to the addition of strong safety Adam Archuleta and defensive tackle Darwin Walker, who replaced the troubled Tank Johnson. And they point to their health.\nHarris’ season ended when he slipped on wet grass during the game against Minnesota on Dec. 3, ripping his left hamstring from the bone. It was the second major blow for the Bears – who had already lost safety Mike Brown to a foot injury six games into the season. And the defense wasn’t the same, slipping to fifth after being ranked No. 1 for much of the season.\nThe swagger never returned even as the Bears made that run in the playoffs, and the Colts rolled up 430 yards of offense in the Super Bowl.
(09/06/07 3:40am)
CINCINNATI – Brandon Phillips broke the Cincinnati Reds’ record for homers by a second baseman Wednesday, hitting a two-run shot during a 7-0 victory that ended the New York Mets’ five-game winning streak.\nRight-hander Tom Shearn (2-0), a 30-year-old rookie relishing his long-awaited trip to the big leagues, gave up only three hits in six innings to a Mets lineup missing five of its regulars.\nPhillips’ 28th homer in the first inning off John Maine (14-9) surpassed Hall of Famer Joe Morgan’s previous club mark for a second baseman. Phillips also homered in his last at-bat Tuesday night.\nTop hitting prospect Joey Votto homered for his first major league hit, helping the Reds emerge from a five-game losing streak that ended all talk of them sneaking back into contention in September.\nThe Mets headed for home in a good frame of mind.\nThe NL East leaders got swept in a four-game series in Philadelphia last week, letting the Phillies pull within two games. Instead of getting tight, the Mets got on their best run of the season.\nThey won five in a row before their loss Wednesday, putting themselves back in control. The Mets’ best winning streak of the season was built upon a top-to-bottom offensive splurge – 46 runs over a six-game span.\nAfter nearly a week of running the bases nonstop, manager Willie Randolph decided to give some of his regulars a day off. Moises Alou, Shawn Green, Paul Lo Duca and Jose Reyes were out of the starting lineup for a day game following a night game.\nAlso, the Mets were missing first baseman Carlos Delgado, who pulled muscles in his right hip on a swing Tuesday night. Delgado was sent for a precautionary medical test to make sure the injury isn’t serious.\nThe Reds relished a victory that featured Phillips’ noteworthy homer and good showings by two players right out of the minors – an up-and-coming prospect and a 30-something pitcher who fretted that he’d never get this far.\nVotto’s first homer was a hint of things to come. The 23-year-old first baseman is the Reds’ top hitting prospect, winning the Southern League’s MVP last year. He hit a solo homer off the facing of the batter’s eye in center field in the second inning, humbly rounding the bases while looking at the ground.\nTeammates ignored him in the dugout, a traditional hazing for a first homer. Votto grinned as he walked past them, then was surrounded for congratulations. Votto later added a pair of singles.\nEdwin Encarnacion also had three hits and drove in a pair of runs, helping Shearn get another serendipitous victory. The right-hander spent 12 years in the minors – one of them recovering from elbow surgery – and was living in the groundskeeper’s camper at Triple-A Louisville when he got his long-awaited promotion Aug. 26.
(09/06/07 3:16am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Peyton Manning grew up in New Orleans, the favorite son in a city where his father, Archie, was considered royalty.\nDrew Brees grew up in Texas, an overlooked high school recruit who eventually resurrected Purdue’s image as Quarterback U.\nNow the New Orleans native and the Purdue favorite have changed places. When the NFL season kicks off Thursday night, Manning will be Indiana’s reigning king while Brees returns to his former college state as the bright hope for a resurgent New Orleans franchise – and the despised opponent.\n“I’m sure there will be some Boilers fans there, but they’ll probably all be wearing Colts jerseys,” Brees said.\nFor Manning and Brees, the NFL’s marquee opening matchup will be more reunion than rivalry.\nThe two became friends when Brees was a Heisman Trophy candidate at Purdue, about an hour northwest of Indianapolis. Since then, their paths have crossed several times.\nBoth have been major players in supporting the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Manning and his brother, Eli, shipped a plane full of supplies to their hometown just days after the devastating hurricane struck.\nBrees has taken the commitment even further. He’s renovating a house in New Orleans rather than living in a suburb, and in June, Brees announced he would raise $2.5 million for rebuilding projects. So far, he says, his charitable foundation has about $500,000.\nThat brought kudos from Manning last week on the second anniversary of the hurricane.\nBut on the field, Manning and Brees have been ferocious competitors.\nIn December 2004, their first pro meeting, Brees had better numbers, but Manning broke the single-season touchdown record and wound up a 34-31 winner over San Diego.\nThe rematch, in December 2005, went to Brees’ Chargers in a 26-17 upset that ended Indy’s perfect start at 13-0.\nThis time, the game will come with more hype and all the trimmings of a Super Bowl winner.\nIndy plans to unfurl its championship banner during a pregame ceremony, and artists such as John Mellencamp, Faith Hill and Kelly Clarkson will play concerts in the city. The whole nation is eagerly anticipating the NFL’s first meaningful game in seven months, and the people of Indianapolis view Thursday night as a mini-Super Bowl.\nSome analysts have even called the game a potential Super Bowl preview between two of the NFL’s three best offenses in 2006.\nManning expected every bit of it.\n“I figured when I saw the schedule come out that we’d be playing them in the opener,” he said. “Either them or New England. I think it should be a great atmosphere.”\nAnd, of course, with Manning and Brees on the field, it could turn into a shootout.\nBesides the Super Bowl MVP, the Colts have two Pro Bowl receivers, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, and last year’s top rookie rusher, Joseph Addai.\nThe Saints, coming off their first NFC championship game appearance in franchise history, counter with perennial 1,000-yard rusher Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush, one of the league’s most exciting backs and a player the Saints want to feature more this year.\n“It’s a great problem to have,” Brees said. “We want to give those guys as many opportunities to touch the ball as we can. What’s great is they both work so well together.”\nSo defense will likely be the decisive factor.\nBoth teams are looking to improve after the Colts ranked last in the league against the run, while the Saints were in the bottom third of the league against the pass.\nOne change will take cornerback Jason David from covering Wayne in practice to competing against him in a game. David, a free agent, left the Colts for New Orleans in April.\n“He’s a scrappy guy,” said Wayne, another New Orleans native. “He’ll probably be a lot more worried than I will. But he’s a good player.”\nThen, of course, there are the headline attractions.\nManning and Brees were each selected to start for their respective conferences in the Pro Bowl last season, and are in charge of teams that again have Super Bowl hopes.\nFor the quarterbacks with roots in Indiana and New Orleans, each is content to forget their pasts and put their friendship on hold for a few hours Thursday night.\nThe schedule-makers didn’t give them a choice.\n“I’ve known Drew for a long time, since college,” Manning said. “He’s done a great job down there with the Saints and in the community, and he’s a tremendous guy. But it will be a great challenge for the defense to see him and try to stop him.”
(09/06/07 3:15am)
INDIANAPOLIS – More than half of the nation’s high school students participated in sports last year, and for the first time, more than 3 million of them were girls.\nThe National Federation of State High School Associations released the results of its annual participation survey on Wednesday, listing a record 7,342,910 high school athletes in the 2006-07 school year among its member associations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It’s the 18th straight year the number of participants has increased.\n“This is certainly another great report,” NFHS executive director Robert F. Kanaby said. “The girls participation figure is particularly exciting since this year is the 35th anniversary of Title IX.”\nIn 1971, the year before the Title IX legislation mandating gender equity in sports, the NFHS reported almost 3.7 million boys but just over 290,000 girls competing in high school athletics. The number of girls rose to 817,000 in 1972-73 and, with few exceptions, has continued climbing each year since.\nThe 2006-07 survey showed a record 3,021,807 girls. The 4,321,103 boys who participated were second only to the record 4,367,442 in 1977-78. The record total of 7,342,910 last year was 54.2 percent of all students enrolled in the NFHS-member schools and an increase of 183,006 from 2005-06, the biggest one-year jump since 1995-96.\nKanaby said the big increase “makes a strong statement that students want these programs.”\nSoccer and volleyball accounted for the biggest increases in girls participants, with an additional 16,077 and 15,798, respectively, from the previous year. The most popular sport for girls remained basketball, with 456,967 participants, followed by outdoor track and field, volleyball, softball and soccer.\nFor boys, football again topped the list with more than 1.1 million participants and showed the biggest increase from the previous year with another 32,773 competing.\nBasketball was second for boys with 556,269 participants, followed by outdoor track and field, baseball and soccer.\n“Sometimes there’s a real big spike in some new sport,” NFHS spokesman Bruce Howard said. “This year, we kind of saw a general increase in a lot of the bigger-participant sports.\n“Of course, there’s more students in schools. That’s the key thing, the ability for schools to continue to fund these programs,” Howard said.\nTennis, swimming and diving, archery, badminton, cheerleading, crew and gymnastics were among sports in which girls outnumbered boys.\nTexas remained the leader among the states with 763,967 boys and girls participants, followed by California (735,497), New York (350,349), Illinois (334,358), Michigan (321,400), Ohio (315,473), Pennsylvania (276,911), New Jersey (247,332), Florida (230,312) and Minnesota (220,241).\nThe Indianapolis-based NFHS represents more than 18,500 high schools and 11 million participants.
(09/05/07 3:31am)
Former IU men’s basketball player Robert Vaden was arrested early Friday morning at a Birmingham, Ala., nightclub. Vaden was one of five University of Alabama-Birmingham players arrested after they began to argue and fight among themselves. Vaden posted $500 bond after being charged with disorderly conduct.\nUAB coach and former Hoosier coach Mike Davis said in a statement that the matter will be handled, but did not specify any punishment for the players.\n“We are aware of the situation and will handle the matter internally and appropriately,” Davis said in the statement. “There were several other basketball players there who were trying to calm their teammates \nas well.”\nVaden came to IU as a member of the 2004 recruiting class, which consisted of current IU players D.J. White, A.J. Ratliff and Adam Alhfeld, current standout IU football player James Hardy, who played one season with the basketball team before leaving to focus on football and transfer Lucas Steijn. Davis left IU at the end of the 2005-2006 season, Vaden followed his coach to UAB.\nVaden was a solid contributor during his two seasons in Bloomington, as he started every game in his career as a Hoosier. Vaden led the team in steals and assists while finishing second on the team in scoring (13.5 points per game) and rebounding (5.5 rebounds per game) during his sophomore campaign, his last as a Hoosier.
(09/05/07 3:14am)
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Indiana Fever had two chances in 29 hours to advance to its first WNBA finals.\nDeanna Nolan wouldn’t let it happen.\nA day after scoring 15 points in the second quarter of Detroit’s victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, Nolan had a franchise playoff-record of 30 points as the Shock advanced to the championship round with a 81-65 victory in Game 3 Monday.\nThe Fever led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, but Nolan scored 20 points in a 14-minute span to pull Detroit back into the game.\n“I wanted to see the flow of the game, and then I knew I needed to make something happen,” said Nolan, who was 7-for-9 on 3-pointers. “I was a little surprised that my 3-pointers kept falling – I’m not usually that good a 3-point shooter.”\nNolan’s 54 points in two days helped the defending champs improve to 7-0 when facing elimination in the past two seasons. The Shock will face Phoenix starting Wednesday, going for its third title in five years.\n“That was a spectacular individual effort by Deanna,” Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said. “There were times that I wasn’t sure if we had enough players who were going to compete hard enough to win this game, but she carried us until the rest of the team got going.”\nDetroit is 4-0 at home in this year’s playoffs and 0-2 on the road.\n“We’ve done what we are supposed to do – win our home games,” Laimbeer said. “We played all season to make sure we have home-court advantage, and if we win all our home games, we’ll be the WNBA champions again. It would be nice to win one road game, though.”\nIndiana lost both the lead and All-Star forward Tamika Catchings in the second quarter. Catchings, who missed the final 13 regular-season games with a left-foot injury, strained her right Achilles’ tendon in the last minute of the first half and did not return.\n“She’s got a pretty significant injury,” Fever coach Brian Winters said. “We’ve played without Catch before, but it is hard to lose your best player and someone of that stature and talent.”\nCatchings left the arena immediately after the game to fly back to Indiana for an examination and did not speak to the media.\n“You hate to see anyone get hurt, especially a player like that, and it looked like she hurt herself pretty badly,” Laimbeer said. “But that’s what happens in this game – that’s why you have a bench and that’s why you need more great players.”\nCheryl Ford, playing her third game in four days on a bad knee, had 15 rebounds in just 18 minutes.\n“I thought Cheryl was done in the first quarter – she came out with the two fouls and she was in so much pain that we thought she was finished,” Laimbeer said. “But she told us she could go back in, and she was a rebounding machine.”\nTammy Sutton-Brown (17) and Tully Bevilaqua (14) were the only Fever players to reach double figures. Tamika Whitmore, who had a league-record 41 points against Detroit in a first-round game last year, finished with nine on 3-for-10 shooting.\n“This is tough,” Indiana’s Sheri Sam said. “We had a goal of making the finals, and we just fell short. It’s hard to put this into words.”\nThe Shock, known for its slow starts, trailed 16-3 just 4 minutes into the game with Ford on the bench in foul trouble, but Nolan’s surge helped the Shock tie the score at 28.\n“Deanna Nolan is just a special player,” Winters said. “We tried a lot of things to stop her, and none of them worked. She was just too much for us.”\nPlenette Pierson’s jumper then gave the Shock its first lead, drawing a standing ovation from the previously silent crowd.\nDetroit used a 28-10 run over a 13-minute stretch to take a 35-30 lead at the half, and scored the first six points of the third quarter to go up by 11.\nIndiana came back, pulling within 44-43, but two straight put-backs by Ford helped the Shock build a safer margin.\n“Once we got over the shock of seeing Tamika get hurt, we got back into the game,” Sam said. “But when they made another run, we just couldn’t regroup again.”\nFord had nine rebounds and a blocked shot in the period, and Detroit took a 57-47 lead into the fourth. The Shock led by as many as 20 in the fourth.\n“I had to suck it up and play,” she said. “I knew my team needed me.”\nFord was called for a technical with 5:11 to play after taking a swing at Sutton-Brown.\nDetroit Pistons All-Star Chauncey Billups attended the game, one day after helping the United States win the FIBA Americas tournament in Las Vegas.
(09/04/07 1:42am)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts would do almost anything to avoid \nslowing down.\nThey live on a no-huddle offense and quick-hitting scores, and rely on defensive speed to force opponents into mistakes. So in Thursday night’s season opener against New Orleans, the Colts hope to do – what else? – start fast.\n“I believe it’s important, because you can get out in front and force other teams to play perfect football to catch you,” coach Tony Dungy \nsaid Monday.\nThe evidence supports Dungy’s theory.\nSince Dungy’s arrival in 2002, no team has had more early-season success than the Colts, and no team has been to the playoffs more often. Over the last five Septembers, Indy has turned a league-best 14-2 record into five straight playoff appearances, four straight division titles, two AFC championship game appearances and a Super Bowl title.\nThe Colts also are the only team in league history to go 9-0 in back-to-back seasons.\nMore impressive is that the Colts have gone 7-1 in season openers since 1999 despite playing on the road six times. The only loss came at New England in 2004 when Mike Vanderjagt missed a 48-yard field goal in the final minute, a score that could have forced overtime.\nConsider, too, that Indy has 14 active veterans who have never lost an NFL game in September or October. The impeccable stats also include only one pre-Thanksgiving Day loss in 2005 and 2006.\nWhat’s their secret?\n“I think we’re always really prepared and we usually have a simple game plan,” said starting linebacker Rob Morris, now in his eighth season with Indy. “We’re not trying to do too many things and guys are ready to go, mentally \nand physically.”\nDungy believes the success has more to do with \nveteran leadership.\nWhile many offenses are still trying to refine timing early in the season, the Colts, with Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning and Pro Bowl receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, are already in sync.\n“Our offense usually comes out of the box functioning very well,” Dungy said. “That’s usually what takes time and we kind of hit the \nground running.”\nOr throwing, in the case \nof Manning.\nIn his last 16 September games, the two-time league MVP has completed at least 60 percent of his passes in 11 games and thrown 31 touchdowns versus 10 interceptions. That includes a six TD performance at New Orleans in 2003 and five more against Green Bay in his record-setting 2004 season.\nYes, there has been the occasional stumble, such as an uninspiring 9-6 win at Cleveland in the 2003 opener, but the Colts have consistently figured out ways to win.\n“I think we practice well in camp and get a lot done,” tight end Dallas Clark said. “I think our guys prepare well and the game plan usually allows us to get in a groove early.”\nManning and his teammates cannot afford a lapse Thursday against a team they easily could have faced in last year’s Super Bowl.\nNew Orleans reached its first NFC championship game in January, and with a star-studded cast on offense has become a trendy pick to win this year’s conference title.\nMost expect this game to be a shootout between the league’s two best passing offenses of 2006. Manning, who is from New Orleans, was the AFC’s Pro Bowl starter at quarterback last year, while New Orleans’ Drew Brees, who played at Purdue about an hour north of Indianapolis, started for the NFC.\nSome have even billed it as a potential Super Bowl preview, something the Colts won’t buy.\nThe reality is that because the Saints and Colts play in opposite conferences, the game has more hype than impact.\nBut that doesn’t mean it won’t set the tone for the rest of the season – something the Colts, as usual, want to establish quickly.\n“We like to start fast and make other teams chase you,” Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday said. “But the reality is it’s only one of 16 games.”
(09/04/07 1:37am)
NEW YORK – Andy Roddick reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals thanks to another abbreviated work day.\nRoddick, the 2003 champion and 2006 runner-up, advanced Monday when his fourth-round opponent, No. 9-seeded Tomas Berdych, stopped playing in the second set because he had trouble breathing and felt sluggish.\n“I’ll probably head out to the practice courts right now,” said the fifth-seeded Roddick, who could face No. 1 Roger Federer next.\nRoddick was leading 7-6 (6), 2-0 when Berdych quit, making him 0-9 against top-10 opponents at Grand Slam tournaments. Roddick’s second-round opponent, Jose Acasuso, stopped because of a bad knee while trailing two sets to one.\nAt a changeover early in the match, Berdych asked to see a trainer and indicated he was having a hard time taking deep breaths. He then went out and broke Roddick twice to take a 5-3 lead and serve for the set. But Roddick broke back at love, then saved a set point in the tiebreaker.\n“The body was so slow. It wasn’t any, like, straight one problem or one pain or something,” Berdych said. “Just, like, generally didn’t feel well.”\nHe saw a doctor after leaving the court, then headed for blood tests to try to figure out exactly what was wrong.\nEarlier Monday, 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova got off her stomach and closed the match, beating Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.\nKuznetsova needed five match points, finishing with a strong, cross-court forehand that Azarenka chased into the corner, losing her hat on \nthe way.\nEarlier in the second set, No. 4 Kuznetsova was the one who tried without success to track down a shot. In the sixth game, she charged toward the net and skidded, doing the splits and winding up sprawled on the court.\nThe Russian got up easily and went on to eliminate the 18-year-old from Belarus. Kuznetsova next plays another unseeded opponent, Agnes Szavay of Hungary.\n“She’s tough,” said Kuznetsova, who won a warm up tournament in New Haven, Conn., the weekend before the U.S. Open when Szavay retired during the final with a back injury.\nSzavay moved on by defeating Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (1). Ranked No. 31, Szavay is playing in her first U.S Open – her two previous Grand Slam appearances ended in second-round losses at Wimbledon and the French Open this year.\nNo. 18 Shahar Peer became the first Israeli woman to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals by beating No. 30 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-1. Radwanska knocked off defending champion Maria Sharapova in the third round but couldn’t keep up with Peer, who built a 20-4 advantage in winners.\nLater in the day, No. 10 Tommy Haas knocked out No. 6 James Blake in a fifth set tiebreak, and Federer was to meet Feliciano Lopez at night.\nIf it’s the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, it must be time for Serena Williams vs. Justine Henin.\nThey have been at the forefront of women’s tennis the past few years – and they sure can’t seem to escape each other lately. When Williams and Henin square off Tuesday, they will be playing at that stage in a third consecutive major.\n“We both have a lot of character and a lot of personality. We both have been very strong mentally on the court in the last few years. She won Grand Slams; I did. She’s been No. 1 and I’ve been,” said Henin, who currently tops the rankings. “Now let’s go and play, and we’ll see what’s going to happen.”\nShe beat Williams at the French Open on clay and at Wimbledon on grass, although the American won their meeting in the final at Key Biscayne, Fla., on hard courts in March, saving two match points in the process.\n“I’m going in feeling like I don’t have anything to lose,” said Williams, who is seeded No. 8 after falling out of the top 100 last year because of a lack of activity. “I just feel different now, excited about the prospect of meeting her again.”\nIf Williams can get past Henin this time, she could find another, even more familiar foe in the semifinals: older sister Venus.\nBoth siblings were downright dominant against recent Grand Slam finalists Sunday, with Serena Williams beating Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-4, a few hours before Venus Williams reached the quarterfinals by eliminating French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2.\n“Serena reminds me of a pit bull dog and a young Mike Tyson, all in one. Venus reminds me of a gazelle that’s able to move, prance and jump,” father Richard Williams said. “Venus looks as if she is really enjoying herself out there more than Serena is right now. If they get by everyone and meet each other, it will be an interesting match.”
(09/02/07 5:26pm)
IU announced today that freshman forward Eli Holman has not been fully processed through the NCAA Eligibility Center and will not accompany the team on its weekend trip to the Bahamas. According to a press release, "Holman is enrolled at IU and is attending classes, but may not participate in team activities as specified by NCAA rules."
(08/30/07 4:38am)
The Big Ten Network reached a deal Wednesday with Insight Communications to carry the channel on its Classic service in two markets. Insight will carry the network in Evansville, Ind., and Columbus, Ohio, and that service will stretch into parts of northern Kentucky, according to a press release. The network will also be launched on Insight’s Digital 2.0 service throughout Kentucky and will be aired during a two-week promotional period on Insight’s Classic service. \nThis is the first agreement BTN has reached with a large cable provider in Big Ten country, and it means the channel will be carried in at least some Big Ten markets at the beginning of football season. It has been embroiled in a battle with Comcast over where Comcast would put the network, a struggle that has drawn public criticism for both sides’ handling of the situation. \nComcast wants to put the BTN on a sports tier, which would cost an extra $5 a month. The network, rather, wants to be placed on Comcast’s regular cable package and wants to charge $1.10 per subscriber for the channel. Comcast says the figure, which would make the network one of the most expensive cable networks available, is too high. \nThe Big Ten Network does have an agreement with – and is available on – DirecTV. However, network officials’ inability to come to an agreement with a major cable service in Big Ten markets means that, as of the Aug. 30 network launch, the channel is unavailable to many fans. \nThis agreement marks the first time that such an agreement has been reached, though the release gives no indication as to whether Wednesday’s agreement would be a sign of things to come. Though Insight serves much of Indiana and Illinois, many of those markets – Bloomington included – will soon be taken over by Comcast, which bought them from Insight, according to The Associated Press.
(08/30/07 4:27am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning added a new pitch to his plethora of commercials Wednesday – one that came from the heart.\nManning gave an impromptu endorsement for New Orleans’ tourism industry for the second anniversary of Hurrican Katrina. He encouraged those who have not visited the city recently to do so. \n“People around the country need to know they can still use their help and support,” Manning said. “Prayers and money are good, but there has been progress in certain areas, and people can visit those areas. They need the tourists to come back.”\nFor Manning, New Orleans has always been a special place.\nHis father, Archie, was a longtime quarterback for the Saints and then served as a color analyst for Saints games on the radio. And the league’s two-time MVP actually honed his football skills in New Orleans, first in his parents’ backyard and later at Isidore Newman High School.\nManning’s parents and older brother, Cooper, still live in New Orleans. After the hurricane struck in August 2005, Manning was one of the league’s biggest names to lend support to the recovery effort. Peyton and his younger brother, Eli, even shipped a planeload of supplies back home to New Orleans.\nAnd next Thursday, Manning will open his 10th NFL season against the Saints.\nWhile Manning acknowledges that the recovery effort is still going strong, he believes there is a side of New Orleans others also need to see.\n“Certainly there’s been some progress, and there certainly needs to be more,” he said. “It’s taken two years to get to this point, and I think two years from now there’s still going to be more work that needs to be done. I will say in my visits down there, that spirits are high. ... But what they really need is people to come back to New Orleans.”\nManning commended Saints players, many of whom live in the city, for their assistance. He specifically cited the contributions of running back Reggie Bush and coach Sean Payton.\nPayton has helped with Habitat for Humanity projects, while Bush directed donations to worthy causes, including replacing the turf for a high school football field and keeping a private school open for special needs children. He also bought Hummers for a suburban police department.\nManning believes the success of the local sports teams, such as the Saints and the LSU football team, has helped create excitement among fans in and out of New Orleans.\n“Most of the people who are back there now, I think, are there for the long haul,” Manning said. “In places like Lakeview and Metairie, where there was high flooding, they’re committed to rebuilding. There is progress in certain areas, but there needs to be more in others.”
(08/30/07 4:20am)
ATLANTA – Richard Jewell, the former security guard who was wrongly linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing and then waged a decade-long battle with news organizations to defend his reputation, died Wednesday. He was 44.\nJewell was found dead in his west Georgia home. An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.\n“There’s no suspicion whatsoever of any type of foul play,” Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley said. “He had been at home sick since the end of February with kidney problems.” \nJewell was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year and later had a few toes amputated. He had recently been on dialysis, Worley said.\nLin Wood, Jewell’s longtime attorney, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that he was “devastated” by the news. He described Jewell as “a dedicated public servant whose heroism the night of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing saved the lives of many people.”\n“He will be missed, but never forgotten,” Wood said.\nThe Jewell episode led to soul-searching among news organizations about the use of unattributed or anonymously sourced information. His very name became shorthand for a person accused of wrongdoing in the media based on scanty information.\nJewell, who was working as a sheriff’s deputy as recently as last year, was a security guard in 1996 at the Olympics in Atlanta. He was initially hailed as a hero for spotting a suspicious backpack in a park and moving people out of harm’s way just before a bomb exploded during a concert.\nThe blast killed one and injured 111 others.\nThree days after the bombing, an unattributed report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described him as “the focus” of the investigation.\nOther media, to varying degrees, also linked Jewell to the investigation and portrayed him as a loser and law-enforcement wannabe who may have planted the bomb so he would look like a hero when he discovered it later.\nThe AP, citing an anonymous federal law enforcement source, said that the Journal-Constitution reported that Jewell was “a focus” of investigators, but that others had “not yet been ruled out as potential suspects.”\nReporters camped outside Jewell’s mother’s apartment in the Atlanta area, and his life was dissected for weeks by the media. But he was never arrested or charged, although he was questioned and was a subject of search warrants.\nEighty-eight days after the initial news report, U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander issued a statement saying Jewell “is not a target” of the bombing investigation and that the “unusual and intense publicity” surrounding him was “neither designed nor desired by the FBI, and in fact interfered with the investigation.”\nIn 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno expressed regret over the leak regarding Jewell. \n“I’m very sorry it happened,” she told reporters. “I think we owe him an apology.”\nThe bomber turned out to be anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph, who also planted three other bombs in the Atlanta area and in Birmingham, Ala. Those explosives killed a police officer, maimed a nurse and injured several other people.\nRudolph was captured after spending five years hiding out in the mountains of western North Carolina. He pleaded guilty to all four bombings last year and is serving life in prison.\nJewell sued several media companies, including NBC, CNN and the New York Post, and settled for undisclosed amounts. According to Wood, Jewell also settled a lawsuit against Piedmont College, a former employer of his. That amount was also confidential.\nThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution never settled a lawsuit Jewell filed against it. Wood said Wednesday that the case is set for trial in January.\n“I expect to pursue it for Richard and his estate,” Wood said. “But that is a decision for a less sad day.”\nCanfield has said previously that the newspaper stands by its coverage of Jewell.\nJewell, in an interview with the AP last year around the 10th anniversary of the Olympic bombing, insisted the lawsuits were not about making money. He bought his mother a place to live and gave 73 percent of the settlement money to his attorneys and to the government in taxes. He said the cases were about ensuring the truth was told.\n“I’m not rich by any means monetarily,” he said at the time. “I’m rich because of my family. If I never get there, I don’t care. I’m going to get my say in court.”\nJewell told the AP last year that Rudolph’s conviction helped clear his name, but he believed some people still remember him as a suspect rather than for the two days in which he was praised as a hero.
