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Sporting News, The, Sept 6, 2004
(1) BRONZE BUSTS
Will IRe NBA's Olympians ever be the same?
It was fitting that, on the evening of the bronze medal game against Lithuania, the U.S. Olympic basketball team brought the wrong uniforms, delaying the game for 45 minutes. Not much went right for the Americans, alter all.
They returned home with the bronze, and to their regular jobs as NBA millionaires. But it stands to reason that, coming out of Athens, some of them are changed players.--Sean Deveney
Tim Duncan. He was supposed to be the linchpin. Instead, foul trouble limited his playing time, and zone defenses held him to 12.9 points per game. The Games replayed a scenario Duncan experienced in the playoffs--if his teammates can't make outside shots, Duncan can be contained. The Spurs are hoping new guard Brent Barry takes note.
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Allen Iverson. After Iverson played in the Olympic qualifying tournament last summer, he missed 34 games because of injury. In fact, playing in last year's tournament seemed to bring injury to nearly everyone--eight of the 12 players missed at least 13 NBA games. Iverson, who played with a broken thumb, gave max effort in Athens, leading the team in minutes played.
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Carmelo Anthony. It wasn't exactly lair, but Anthony got pegged as the guy who represented everything that was wrong with this Olympic team, His quick trigger put him in Larry Brown's doghouse (just imagine if the Pistons had drafted him), and when he complained about it, he was criticized heavily. His reputation might not recover in some folks' eyes, but if he goes back to Denver, teams with Kenyon Martin and gets the Nuggets hack into the playoffs, all should be forgotten.
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Lamar Odom. By the end of the Games, it was clear that Odom, not Duncan, was the glue to the American team. He did the little things--passing, boxing out, playing tough defense. It showed significant maturity for a guy whose career has been marred by drug suspensions, injuries and a poor work ethic. Alter dealing with the egos on Team USA, playing with Kobe Bryant will be nothing.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Stephon Marbury. Marbury got a taste of what Chauncey Billups went through last season--playing for Brown is difficult for point guards, especially scoring point guards. At times, Marbury looked confused about when to shoot and when to pass, much like Billups did at times last season. Marbury is a good scorer, but he was a ballhog with the Knicks last year and has been for his entire career. Perhaps a few weeks under Brown's tutelage will make that go away.
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(2) FAST TIMES
Drag racing's main event turns 50
If you could line a quarter-mile strip of asphalt with all the hype, competition and emotion of a Super Bowl, World Series and Daytona 500, you'd understand a drag racer's reverence for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Hot Rod Association's most prestigious event. Hundreds of drivers have converged on Indianapolis Raceway Park, site of the race since 1961, in hopes of reaching Monday's final eliminations (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
"It's the big race," said John Force, who, at 55, has four Funny Car victories in the U.S. Nationals and is like a rock star in the pits. "In a career, if you don't win Indy, it's kind of a bummer."
If you've never seen an NHRA event, this is the one to watch. Normally the circuit's premier race, the anniversary celebration is giving drivers more incentive to push their cars to the limit, which sometimes is blurred considering a few of them topped 333 mph earlier this season. That's right, 0 to 333 mph in a quarter mile--not even Dale Earnhardt Jr. can do that.--Chris Dolack
(3) SUMMER OLYMPICS
Sweatin' to the goldies
If you're like me, your mind was burdened throughout the Olympics by two questions that simply would not go away: 1) Is Al Trautwig larger than an African elephant, or are the other members of NBC's gymnastics broadcast team just really, really tiny? And, 2) Who among those world-renowned athletes sweats like a pig?
As luck would have it, a press release floated onto my desk just in time for the Closing Ceremonies and answered question No. 2. And I quote: "After analyzing select men's competitions in 22 of 28 Summer Olympic sports, Old Spice sweat experts announced the Sweatiest Olympic Summer Sports. Men's singles tennis ranks No. 1, with a single athlete to produce 3.37 liters of sweat in a single match!"
Of course, Old Spice didn't have people on the scene in Athens to collect buckets of, shall we say, data. Its information was based on factors such as athletes' weights and average temperatures of event locations.
Shooters--as in the guys with the rifles--could've done their thing in a steam room, and they still wouldn't have topped the list (well, maybe the chubby ones). As it is, they stayed the driest.--Steve Greenberg
(4) BASEBALL'S PLAYOFF CHASE
September--when the stars come out to shine
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- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
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- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
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