Sunday, September 15, 2002
Enquirer Power Rankings
Best & worts of the week in sports
The top five
1. Barry Bonds. Look, he's not the most affable sort. But imagine a guy coming off a season in which he hit a major-league record 73 home runs having a better one this year. Entering the weekend, Bonds was on track to win his first batting title (.365) and set major-league records for walks (172) and on-base percentage (.573). His slugging percentage was .808 — for perspective, Sammy Sosa's was .616 — and he had 43 home runs and 96 RBI. And, of course, he has his team in a pennant race. Impressive.
2. Johnny Unitas. The great quarterback and his black high-top cleats are etched in our memory. Is it just us, or does it always seem sports from the past were somehow superior? Maybe it's because we can't recite Unitas' salary for any one of his 18 seasons. (And props to Colts QB Peyton Manning for wanting to wear high-tops. Too many pro athletes have no sense of history.)
3. Area college football. Here's to some juicy matchups. Miami stood up to three straight solid nonconference opponents in North Carolina, Iowa and Louisiana State. West Virginia is a formidable foe for UC, Kentucky-Indiana is always fun, and for kicks throw in Michigan-Notre Dame and Washington State-Ohio State.
4. Mike Martin. The former Bengal has been relentless in his effort to revive the Taft football program. Despite two lopsided losses, a big crowd saw the Senators' first home football game since 2000 Friday night. Stay with it, fellas. It's the best prep story of the season.
5. The AL West pennant race. The series was just classic, with the homestanding Angels winning three of four to pull even with the Athletics. Imagine, Reds fans, what it must be like to have a September series in which you're on the edge of your seat for every pitch.
The bottom five
1. The Bengals. OK, there never has been an easier target. But you must admit, the dud opener against the Chargers was epic even by Bengals standards. (And don't play that “We're still in first place” card). But it's another week. You get to play the Browns, who allowed 40 points to the Chiefs and will be without quarterback Tim Couch and their best defensive player (injured Jamir Miller). Let's shoot for the sky, guys — a touchdown.
2. The Paul Brown Stadium turf issues. This has to be a dream, right? We couldn't still be talking about the grass, could we? Agggghhhhhhhhh!
3. The Danny Graves/Bob Boone “He's not really starting” fiasco. How much sillier could that have gotten? Graves wasn't really starting, they said. It was a bullpen day. Graves said he'd be fine with starting — beginning in spring training. What a circus. (And since when did a manager have to get permission of a player as to how he was used?)
3. The World Basketball tournament. A fifth-place ... aw, forget it. We didn't care about this nonsense when it was going on!
4. Professional golf and tennis. Look, we enjoyed the seasons enormously. Tiger, Annika Sorenstam, the Williams sisters, Agassi and Sampras. But how about trying this concept on for size — an OFFSEASON.
5. ESPN. We used to swear by the network. But this Tuesday's debut of a reality show, Beg, Borrow and Deal, in which teams have to complete 10 of a list of 40 sports tasks — such as working on a pit crew during a NASCAR race or persuading Mark Cuban to take all four on his private plane — is too much for us.
Sports Stories
Brown means go for Dillon
Who's got the edge?
Burris on the spot
Keys to the game
Levi Jones' Rookie Journal
Mark's Curnutte's NFL picks
Tell us your feelings about Cinergy farewell
Steep ticket prices for Cinergy farewell
Cinergy Memories Countdown No. 10: Aaron ties Ruth
Frustrated Griffey: Reds fans want to see me fail
Reds 3, Cubs 1
Reds Box, Runs
Graves adds 3 starts
Taylor, Guillen go at each other
Dunn under .200 for second half
E-mail Q&A with John Fay
Reds Chatter: Walker as good as a hit
Giants keep wild-card lead
West Virginia 35, UC 32
West Virginia breathes sigh of relief
UC track star jumps into soap operas
Toledo St. Francis 20, Moeller 6
CHCA 34, CCD 9
Dixie Heights 47, Lloyd 19
NewCath 20, Campbell Co. 2
St. X's Larkin picks Boston College
Taft player OK after collapsing
Bacon beats St. Ursula in volleyball battle of champions
Prep Spotlight: Brian Matlock
Preps Insider: Turpin's Rauen second fastest in U.S.
Kentucky Insider: Road to state volleyball tourney rocky
Boys cross country results
Boys golf results
Boys soccer results
Field hockey results
Girls golf results
Girls soccer schedule
Girls soccer results
Girls tennis results
Girls volleyball results
Boys soccer schedule
Girls cross country results
Volleyball schedule
Enquirer Power Rankings
