FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5B
▼ NFL
Chargers face 'must-win'
BY BERNIE WILSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN DIEGO — A year ago, the San Diego Chargers were just starting an eight-game winning streak that would carry them to the AFC West title.
Look at them now. Reality seems to have caught up with the Bolts, who are talking about playing a must-win game even though they're heading into the season's midpoint.
"There's definitely a sense of urgency because we understand the situation we're in," quarterback Drew Brees said going into Sunday's home game against the Kansas City Chiefs. "Hey, it's 3-4 and we cannot afford to go out and blow another opportunity like we have."
The Chargers have lost as many games this year as they did all of last season, when they were 12-4. and it's because they've been unable to seal the deal in the fourth quarter.
The Chargers lost 20-17 at Philadelphia on Sunday after making two huge mistakes.
Quintin Mikell blew between a rookie and a veteran to block Nate Kaeding's field-goal attempt, and Matt Ware returned it 65 yards for the goahead touchdown with 2:25 left. San Diego wide receiver Reche Caldwell fumbled at the Philadelphia 19 with 1:34 left.
The Chargers also blew fourthquarter leads against Dallas in their homer, at Denver on Sept. 18 and at home against Pittsburgh on Oct. 10.
"This is a similar situation as when we were sitting at 0-2 and 2-3," Brees said. "It's as close to a must-win situation as you can get, and I think we responded well on those occasions, so this is no different."
When the Chargers were 0-2, they beat the New York Giants 45-23. When they were 2-3, they won at Oakland, 27-14.
The problem is, the Chargers are playing a tougher schedule this year. In their last four games they've played three of the four teams that reached the conference championship games last season. They routed New England, then lost to the Steelers and Eagles.
San Diego has played only one team with a losing record Oakland and its opponents are a combined 26-18.
Steve Mitchell/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes (31) slides around the last Miami Dolphins defender, who is by blocked Tony Richardson (49), to score during the first half Friday, Oct. 21, in Miami. The Chiefs play at San Diego on Sunday.
OLYMPICS
Dope busts make athletes think twice
Jerome Young, of the United States,
celebrates the gold medal he won in the men's 400-meter at the World Athletics Championships. They took place at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, on Aug. 27, 2003.
BY TIM DAHLBERG THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lionel Cironneau/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lucky for Rafael Palmeiro, he doesn't play baseball in Italy. If he did, he might be spending the offseason in jail instead of at home.
The same goes for Jason Giambi. All the sorries in the world might not have spared him from the slammer.
The Italians take their drug testing seriously — so seriously that some athletes may start thinking twice about going to Turin in a few months for the Winter Olympics.
Think being stripped of a medal is embarrassing? How about being strip-searched, too?
That's conceivably what could
happen in February when the International Olympic Committee holds its winter carnival in the northern Italian city of Turin.
In the past, all Olympic athletes had to worry about was losing a medal or being suspended if they tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. That changes in Turin, where they could face jail time under a strict Italian law that makes doping a criminal act.
And it's not just talk. Recently, some cyclists were given suspended prison sentences and fined after police raided their hotel rooms during the 2001 Giro d'Italia and found syringes containing insulin and steroids.
In fact, the idea of skiers and skaters being led away in handcuffs or police raiding the Olympic Village worries the IOC so much that it has lobbied the Italian government — unsuccessfully so far — to impose a moratorium on the law and let it police the games itself.
"You think American professional hockey players, paid in the millions, will risk being put in handcuffs to come play in Turin? Come on, let's be realistic." IOC member Mario Pescante told a Turin newspaper.
Pescante should have some pull because he is also the Italian government's supervisor for the Turin games.
But so far the Italians aren't budging.
That's likely to get the Turin folks a scolding from the IOC
when it meets Friday in Switzerland to discuss the upcoming games. The IOC contends Italian organizers have promised all along that the law would be suspended for the Olympics.
"This is not a new issue," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "This has been on the table since the host city contract was signed nearly seven years ago. The onus of resolving the issue is in the hands of the games' organizers."
This is the same IOC that, along with the World Anti-Doping Association, has touted itself as both the authority and the ultimate hardliner on the use of drugs in sports.
WADA chief Dick Pound has mocked baseball for its testing program.