Sunday, October 20, 2002
Enquirer Power Rankings
Best & worst of the week in sports
The top five
1. The Bengals' bye. Listen. No four-hour pregame radio shows. No who-deys. No “We're going to keep working to get competitive.” No postgame morgue interviews by Dave Lapham. Listen. The sound of leaves being raked with kids jumping in the piles. A triple-header of real NFL games, and a World Series game to boot. Enjoy the day.
2. Takeo Spikes and Corey Dillon. Maybe we're giving them too much credit. Maybe it's not right for individuals to go to the media and essentially rip their teammates and the guy who signs their checks. But, it sure was good to finally hear someone who was genuinely disgusted by the whole striped situation.
3. Terrell Owens, Niners. If we hear one more fan or ex-NFLer talk about his disrespecting the game ... Be honest, you laughed out loud when you saw Owens pull out a Sharpie and sign the ball after catching his game-winning touchdown pass Monday. It was a classic No Fun League action, however, when the league fined him $5,000 - not for the end-zone celebration but for his untucked jersey.
4. Air Force and Navy. In this unsettled world, it's good to see some fun coming from the military academies. Air Force entered Saturday's game with Notre Dame as a real football threat. And Navy? The Middies are ranked No.1 in the men's college water polo rankings. Really.
5. The World Series. What a great matchup. Two teams, the Angels and Giants, who have been playing meaningful games since mid-August. And Barry Bonds on the sport's biggest stage. So all you people who have whined about the Yankees winning the Series all the time, watch this matchup or shut up.
The bottom five
1. Todd Portune. At face value, a county commissioner trying to protect the taxpayers' interests is a good thing. But maybe we should have thought of that before selling our souls to the local NFL franchise. (And the commissioners better be careful. As good a lawyer as Mike Brown is, he might sue the commissioners for failing to field a competitive city).
2. Jon Kitna. Apologies for another Bengals item. But Kitna - and a litany of other professional athletes - being so quick to accept blame is getting old. For the last time, because you take blame doesn't absolve you from the poor performance you're taking the blame for.
3. Tiger Woods. He would have served himself better by not commenting on the Augusta, no-women-allowed controversy. As it was, he essentially came out saying both sides were right. Talk show host Jim Rome put it this way: “If civil-rights advocates who came before him had such solid convictions, Woods would be caddying at Augusta and not winning Masters.”
4. Maurice Clarett. The Ohio State freshman certainly is a stud. And his comments to ESPN The Magazine that he might consider challenging the NFL rule that prevents true freshman from entering the draft appear to be blown out of proportion. Still, let's see how he runs against Penn State and Michigan, not Kent State and San Jose State.
5. The BCS. The retooled college football ratings will be released for the first time Monday. Let the bellyaching begin.
- Mike Ball
Sports Stories
Bengals rake in money despite losing
DAUGHERTY: NFL needs to fix Bengals mess
Levi Jones' Rookie Journal
Mark Curnutte's NFL picks
NFL to enforce 'Owens' penalty
Bonds propels Giants to Game 1 victory
Game 1 Box Score
Sanders shakes off postseason jinx
Angels can't get the big hit
Glaus ties record with 2 homers
Ochoa's journey takes him to World Series
Bullpens put clamps on HR derby
Rose invited to 'Best Moment' celebration
Early birds catch Cinergy Field memorabilia
Reds Insider: Aramboles 'real deal'
Reds E-mail Q&A: Don't expect payroll to soar
Piniella talking with Devil Rays
Southern Miss 23, UC 14
UC Notebook: LeGree keeps eye on baseball teammates
UC season tickets on sale
College Update: Bashful Bearcat's goal is return to NCAAs
Xavier Notebook: Newest Musketeers trying to catch on
Xavier's Musketeer Madness today
Prep football scores & game reports
How Enquirer poll teams fared
St. Xavier 18, Cleveland St. Ignatius 17
Lakota East 24, Lakota West 15
Lakota fans enjoy college atmosphere
McNicholas 35, Harmony 0
Beechwood 41, Holy Cross 8
Prep Insider: Three named volleyball All-Americans
Prep Spotlight on Abby Mowry
Kentucky Insider: Villa, NewCath bonded by blood
State Golf: Mount Notre Dame wins girls title
Boys state golf results
Girls state golf results
State Tennis: CHCA's Dowiatt, Ducro win doubles
Boys Soccer Tournament Highlights
Boys soccer results
Turpin, LaSalle win cross country regionals
Boys cross country results
Girls cross country results
Girls volleyball results
Enquirer Power Rankings
