Thumbs up

        1. Pete Sampras. How about the idea of the winner of 13 tennis majors becoming the underdog? The women have been garnering much of the attention in tennis of late, but Sampras' run to the semifinals has been a delight. And with that little ornery Aussie Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi defying father time, maybe the men's game isn't dead after all.

        2. The Bengals' non-sellout. Enough of the talking heads ripping Bengals fans for not supporting the team enough for an opening day sellout. Has it ever occurred to them, or to the Bengals, that maybe after 11 years of not winning, the local NFL franchise doesn't deserve automatic support? Or that maybe the local pro franchises simply have outpriced much of their clientele? Maybe the 55,000 or so who forked over the cash should be the ones questioned.

        3. The Bengals, on-field division. Go get 'em, fellas. We may not be knocking down the ticket windows, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't enjoy a decent team. Shoot, in this era of NFL parity, is it really so much to ask for a run at the playoffs?

        4. The St. Louis Cardinals. They've gone through 26 pitchers and the deaths of pitcher Darryl Kile and longtime broadcaster Jack Buck. Despite being the Reds' chief rival, you just can't hate them as you once did the Dodgers. And frankly, you have to thank them for putting the Reds out of their misery.

        5. Vince Carter of the NBA's Toronto Raptors. The guy who made sure he attended his graduation at North Carolina — on the day of a playoff game, no less — has pledged $1 million to his high school in Daytona Beach, Fla. Big deal, you say? How much have you given your high school this year?

        Thumbs down

        1. The World Basketball Championships. Specifically, people who are criticizing Shaq, Kobe, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and the like for not participating. Don't give us that “They're not patriotic” nonsense. Don't belittle patriotism by attaching it to a stupid basketball tournament.

        2. The women's organizations targeting The Masters. This has nothing to do with whether or not that club is filled with a bunch of 1) racists; or 2) chauvinists. It's just that a battle to allow women to join an elitist country club reminds us a whole lot of baseball players with an average salary of $2.38 million belonging to a UNION.

        3. Oakland Athletics. Hey, they're making the rest of those small markets — our Reds included — look silly. What a story they are. Now all the Reds have to do to equal the Athletics' success is to find, develop and sign long-term players such as Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez. Gulp.

        4. Junior, Larkin and Casey. Look, injuries happen. This isn't meant to be mean. Actually, it's just kinda sad to see them perform — and sit — the way they have this season. Here's to a healthy 2003.

        5. Sports and its 9/11 tributes. Sports sure have helped in taking our minds off the real world. But this week's rememberances come real close to trivializing the ordeal.

Sports Stories

Daugherty: The little team that almost could Heartbreaker in Oxford MLB Jones might miss game at LSU Buckeyes pummel Flashes Cardinals rebound from UK loss Kentucky 77, UTEP 17 Northeastern 31, Ohio 0 Wilmington cruises past Mount St. Joe 45-20 Hurricanes blow through Florida Luck O' the Irish beats Purdue Utah 40, Indiana 13 College Football Today How the Top 25 fared Top 25 roundup Daugherty: A tradition unlike any other? Gilder in position for Kroger win Lancaster leads Chalmers Largest first-round crowd on hand since 1991 McEnroe, Becker relive old times Serena beats Venus to win U.S. Open Serena Williams: The best ever? Old-Timers Day: Agassi faces Sampras in final Blount wins ARCA event at Chicagoland Gibbs: Witnesses saw nothing out of the ordinary Hornish wins pole for Delphi 300 Streak in jeopardy, Wallace fumes Jones retains undisputed title with win over Woods Lido Palace wins 2nd straight Woodward Next stop, hopefully Olympics NKU soccer has come a long way Spain 81, United States 75 Team USA missing that team part Yugoslavia 89, New Zealand 78 Coming up this week Enquirer Page Two power rankings

Expect another big-time slugfest
Once again, Bengals fail to sell out season opener
Jones: Life as a Rookie
Keys to the game
The Edge
By the numbers
Isolation booth: Frerotte vs. McNeil
NFL notebook
Curnutte picks the NFL
Curnutte's NFL power ratings
Brewers 9, Reds 6
Reds Box, Runs
When is a start not a start?
Fay: Reds Q&A
Reds chatter
Reds notebook
Cinergy Moments
Astros 6, Dodgers 1
Cardinals 6, Cubs 5, 13 innings
Pirates 4, Marlins 1
Yankees' Wells attacked by man at New York diner
Baseball insider
Baseball power rankings
Soft-spoken QB earns teammates' trust
Dixie Heights 28, CovCath 0
Meadowdale 47, Taft 0
NewCath 35, Scott 14
Purcell Marian 28, Amelia 0
Groeschen: Taft-Goshen cancellation regrettable
Schmidt: New alignment to affect local rivalries
Off the Court with Grace Kammerer
Down a player, Milford holds on for 1-1 tie
Boys cross country results
Boys golf results
Boys soccer results
Field hockey results
Girls cross country results
Girls soccer results
Girls tennis results
Volleyball results