Mike Ball
Cincinnati Enquirer

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1. Tennis Masters Series. The tournament that helped Patrick Rafter burst onto the scene has given us an up-close look at the emergence of Andy Roddick, the matinee idol from Omaha, Neb. Go Huskers.

2. Herb Brooks. The man who led the U.S. hockey team to the Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union died in a car accident last week. You'll always remember where you were for the Miracle, but most people forget the game wasn't on live TV and that the victory over the Soviets wasn't in the gold medal game - it was in the semifinals. A victory over Finland clinched the gold.

3. Kentucky Speedway. The Indy Racing League weekend is a fine end to another strong summer of racing, following the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks and Busch races. But was that Who Wants to Marry My Dad? appearance really necessary?

4. Big Ten. The conference is going to experiment with instant replay this season. Good idea. But one thing isn't clear: Will the replays cover storming the field, tearing down the goalposts and the rioting after big victories?

5. Kentucky basketball. UCLA, Michigan State, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina and Notre Dame. That's a nonconference schedule that never gets old.

6. Little League World Series. Funny how the 11- and 12-year-olds seem to be more fundamentally sound than, oh, what, 70 percent of major-leaguers? (Reds: Please note the proper procedure to lay down a bunt.)

7. Figure skating. The governing body of this outlaw sport announced its first code of ethics. Wonder if the 15-point document has a Tonya Harding clause?

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1. Ted Williams saga. It's just plain sad and ever more gruesome. Did we really need to know all the sordid details in this week's Sports Illustrated? Yecccchh.

2. Pete Rose saga. Please, someone, make it stop.

3. Maurice Clarett saga. Jim Brown?

4. Shahin Farokahrany. Who? He's the guy whom Michigan defensive back Marlin Jackson was accused of assaulting at a party. Jackson reached a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped a felonious assault charge. Farokahrany, with 17 stitches above his eye, reportedly said he'd be "rooting" for Jackson this season. Remember, "fan" comes from the word "fanatic."

5. Chad Johnson. The Bengals wide receiver, who has set a goal of 1,800 yards receiving this year, insulted receivers who had more yards than he did last year. "All those good receivers - (Terrell Owens), Marvin Harrison, Amani Toomer - those are 1,300-, 1,400-, 1,500-yard receivers. Why in the world do I want to be like them?"

Bottom line is, Johnson had 1,166 yards last season. Good showing.

But his team didn't make the playoffs.

Maybe that's why he'd want to be like them?

6. Women's United Soccer Association. None of its eight teams made money this season and six of them saw attendance decline, including three by more than 26 percent. The solution? You guessed it. The WUSA plans to expand by two teams in the near future.

7. Athens Olympics. The German rowing team was in the famed city for test events last week. Until, that is, 62 members came down with salmonella.