News
Smith interviewed for Auburn opening
http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/content/sports/college/2008/06/04/06042008wacstevesmith.html
Baylor baseball coach Steve Smith has interviewed for the Auburn head coaching job, according to Auburn (Ala.) radio station WQSI-FM.
Smith, who recently completed his 14th season at Baylor, had no comment Tuesday when asked if he interviewed for the Auburn job.
Smith also wouldn’t comment on whether he has interviewed for the Mississippi State job. The Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger recently named Smith as a potential candidate for the job which opened after long-time coach Ron Polk resigned. Smith, a native of Gulfport, Miss., was an assistant under Polk from 1990-94 before taking over the head coaching reins at Baylor.
“Baylor is a wonderful place to coach, and I have every intention of being there as long as I can,” Smith said.
The Auburn job opened on May 17 when Tom Slater resigned after going 115-113 in four seasons, including a 43-77 SEC record. Auburn finished 28-28 this season and went 11-19 in the SEC. The Tigers last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2005 when they finished 34-26, but they failed to make the SEC Tournament in each of Slater’s four seasons.
wacotrib.com
6/4/08
Big Brown puts in five furlongs in final pre-Belmont workout
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/triplecrown08/news/story?id=3424013
NEW YORK -- A feisty Big Brown was back in his barn after a final workout Tuesday for the Belmont Stakes, and Rick Dutrow Jr. wasted no time zeroing in on the crack in the colt's left front hoof.
No blood.
"I didn't see any," the trainer said, promptly relaying the good news to hoof specialist Ian McKinlay by phone. "I said that he went good and I don't see any issue at all. I told him that everything was beautiful."
Big Brown ran five furlongs in 1:00.03 with Dutrow and co-owner Michael Iavarone looking on near the finish line, where they expect Big Brown to be proclaimed a Triple Crown champion on Saturday.
No such celebration has taken place at this track since 1978, when Affirmed dueled with Alydar and captured thoroughbred racing's highest honor.
"We're as happy as we can be," Dutrow said. "There's not any issues with our horse. He does whatever you would want him to do."
espn.com
6/4/08
Packers’ Herron hits intruder with bedpost during break-in at home
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3424737
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers running back Noah Herron thwarted a would-be burglar by hitting him with a bedpost during a break-in at his home.
Brown County Sheriff Dennis Kocken said Tuesday that the break-in happened late last Friday and the injured intruder remained hospitalized but is expected to recover.
"Noah Herron used necessary, reasonable and justifiable force in protecting his life and property," Kocken said in a statement. "Herron, the victim in this random home invasion, is cooperating with law enforcement."
Herron, 26, missed all of last season with a knee injury.
espn.com 6/3/08
Pacman and T.O. … how ’bout those Cowboys?
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8205288/Pacman-and-T.O.-...-how-'bout-those-Cowboys?
Any day now at Valley Ranch, two of the NFL's troubled sons, Pacman Jones and Terrell Owens, will line up against one another. Only Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys could create this scenario. The only thing missing is Bill Parcells. I mean, wouldn't it be interesting to watch him coach this manic duo?
Granted, Jones is rolling the dice with Pacman, who received a temporary reinstatement from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday. He has a three-month leash, enough time to hang himself and get himself in even more outlandish trouble. Or you can look at it from the Cowboys' perspective: there's no way that Pacman will jeopardize in three months what's likely to be his last shot at a million-dollar career, right?
To make the Pacman gamble an even-money bet, the Cowboys hired a full-time four-man security team, meaning Pacman never drives or walks around Dallas without a guardian angel.
foxsports.net
6/3/08
Milestone HRs have lost luster thanks to Steroid Era
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8200468/Milestone-HRs-have-lost-luster-thanks-to-Steroid-Era
Can you have baseball heroes anymore?
Can you believe in anybody?
As of this writing, Ken Griffey Jr. is sitting on 599 career home runs. There was a time in my life — from age 1 day to 20 years — when I did not think I'd see anybody hit home run No. 600. Yet Griffey's accomplishment will not resonate.
Why? Steroids. And not Griffey's steroids — which, as far as we know, don't exist. The whole Steroids Era (which may have been reined in, but surely isn't over) has taken a good chunk of the joy out of these accomplishments.
Griffey is not the only victim. Manny Ramirez just hit homer No. 500. I didn't even know he was nearing that milestone until he reached it.
This is why the whole argument over whether to put an asterisk by Barry Bonds' home-run total is silly. Career home-run totals will never have the same meaning again regardless of whether there's a mark next to Bonds' name in the record book.
And that's a shame, because some of these numbers are surely legitimate. The human race did not stop producing great home-run hitters in 1952.
Foxsports.net
6/2/08
Woods starts playing holes ahead of US Open
http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/8202768/Woods-starts-playing-holes-ahead-of-US-Open
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Tiger Woods has started playing some holes, taking another step in his comeback from knee surgery.
With the U.S. Open just a week away, Woods is not worried about how he and his left leg will fare.
"Hopefully, it will be close to a hundred percent," Woods said Monday. "But if it's not, no big deal."
The world's No. 1 golfer had surgery on his left knee April 15 and plans to end his layoff June 12-15 at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
"I've been practicing quite a bit," he said. "I've just started to play some holes. I've been kind of slowly building up towards that. I'm not trying to take it too hard. My practice sessions have increased.
"Everything's been holding up well, which is a good sign."
Woods said he will start playing 18-plus holes to prepare to compete, adding he would play next week even if it wasn't a major.
"I really do miss being in that competitive environment," he said.
Woods also had a two-month layoff before the U.S. Open in 2006, coping with the death of his father. He missed the cut at Winged Foot - the only time he has failed get past the first two rounds at a major.
Foxsports.net
6/2/08
