To know list: 6 more ways to back into the playoffs

Sporting News, The, Jan 14, 2005

[1] PGA TOUR 2005

A battle for the ages

You read it here first: Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods will engage in the fiercest battle for PGA Tour supremacy since Arnold Palmer looked askance at a chubby kid named Jack Nicklaus.

Why? First of all, Tiger is figuratively teed off--he went through the entire 2004 PGA Tour season without winning a stroke-play title and endured gangland strafing in the media as a result. He became so determined to make things right--remember, one of his closest friends is the ultracompetitive Michael Jordan--that he returned from his honeymoon to dominate a relatively thin field in Japan, just to shut everybody up.

This time, it's personal.

Singh is no wallflower when it comes to competitiveness, either, spending more time on the practice range than sod. His sole goal in 2004 was to become the best golfer in the world. Mission accomplished. Now he's going to do everything he can to hold on to that title. Add to the mix that Tiger and Vijay aren't exactly bosom buddies, and you have one intense athletic rivalry to keep your eyes on.

The best place to start looking, of course, is at the beginning. Both Singh and Woods will be at this week's Mercedes Championships, the PGA Tour's season-opening, cut-free tilt that is strictly for tournament winners from 2004. (Woods won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship last February.) The Mercedes kicks off the West Coast Swing, a nine-tournament sunny segment of the schedule through Hawaii, California and Arizona--which has proved vital to players having breakthrough seasons.

Last year, Phil Mickelson won the West Swing points system, then went on to shake loose a majors gorilla by winning the Masters and finishing a close third on the money list in a surprising bounce-back season. In 2003, Mike Weir did virtually the same thing, dominating the early part of the season with two wins (and two other top 10s) before getting his very own green jacket at Augusta on his way to finishing a career-high fifth in cash earned.

See the trend, friend? To be a contender, PGA Tour players have to know how the West is won.--Paul Grant

[2] WHAT THEY'RE SAYIN6

'Getting nosey'

In the NFL, the term is becoming an increasingly common way of describing a safety or linebacker, as opposed to the old lady who lives next door. A safety or linebacker who is getting nosey is cheating up on the run, or sticking his nose in the area where he expects a run. This can be very good when the play is a run-or very bad when the play is a pass.--Dan Pompei

[3] THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

Worker B's give and receive

Prospects for an NHL season look bleak, but the Bruins have shined some light on the lives of their game-night employees, such as ushers and concession workers, thanks to Bruins and FleetCenter executive vice president Charlie Jacobs, son of Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs.

Together with Banknorth and the United Way, Charlie Jacobs created the Black & Gold Give Back program. In December, game-night employees could do what customarily is volunteer work for organizations such as the United Way and Greater Food Bank of Boston and be paid an hourly wage by the Bruins and Banknorth.

Brian Procopio, who works on scoreboard video production for games, took advantage of the opportunity. "The idea of doing something for a good cause, especially at this time of year, is always really nice," says Procopio, who estimates he will lose 20 to 25 percent of his annual income because of the lockout. "Added to that is the ... I guess recognition is the correct word ... that some of us have been adversely affected by the lockout, and the Bruins still care about what happens to their employees. That's something I didn't really expect."--Kara Yorio

[4] THE EYES HAVE IT

News flash: Shaq's still Shaq

As the NBA season careens toward the halfway point, what looked like early truths are becoming midseason myths. Three things I'll need to see before I believe: $haq is a new man on defense. There are a lot of reasons Shaquille O'Neal and Miami have pushed their way into the league's elite. But defense is not high on that list. Shaq has been a good shot blocker, but the way to beat the Heat is the same way to beat any team that features Shaq: Get the big guy into pick-and-rolls, where he is too slow to recover to his man, and get your offense into transition, where Shaq can be outrun.

The Pistons just need a little more time. At this point, they can't keep leaning on their early-season excuses. The Pistons have three big problems. First, the new rules that reduce the amount of contact allowed on the perimeter have hurt their defense. Second, the bench has not been sorted out--Antonio McDyess has been solid, but no one else has seized a role yet. Third, the big men are struggling: Rasheed Wallace's shooting has gone sour, and Ben Wallace has not been the dominant defender he usually is.

The Suns just can't keep this up. Why not? It's the league's most dangerous offensive team and an underrated defensive group. They're not strictly a perimeter team, either--Amare Stoudemire has become one of the league's best post scorers.--Sean Deveney