WEDNESDAY AUGUST 28,2002
SPORTS
C
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5B
Cardstake double-header
The Associated Press
CINCINNATI — Chuck Finley allowed only two singles by Juan Castro as he pitched his first shutout in four years Tuesday night, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 victory and doubleheader split with the Cincinnati Reds.
Scott Rolen hit a three-run homer in the first, and Finley took it from there as the NL Central leaders snapped a four-game losing streak. Finley (5-3) retired the first 16 batters before Castro lined a single to center.
No one else reached until Jason LaRue walked to open the ninth and Castro had an infield single. The left-hander retired the next three batters for his first shutout since April 17, 1998 against Tampa Bay.
Rolen, acquired in a July 29 trade with Philadelphia, also played a decisive role in the first game. The third baseman let in two runs on an errant throw home, and grounded into a game-ending double play with the tying run on second base in Cincinnati's 5-4 win.
The split left the third-place Reds 71/2 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central. The
four-game series amounts to a last chance for the Reds, who led the NL Central for 51 days earlier this season.
The Cardinals rebounded from the opening-game loss by scoring five in the first off Elmer Dessens (7-6), then settling in as Finley retired the first 16 batters.
Castro, a. 145 hitter, drew a standing ovation with his liner to center in the sixth. Finley's seven strikeouts moved him one ahead of Hall of Famer Bob Feller into 20th on the career list with 2,582.
Finley (5-3) has made a strong recovery — a 4-11 record and a messy divorce with actress Tawny Kitaen. In his last four starts, Finley is 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA.
Dessens was activated from the disabled list and made his first start since Aug. 1, when he strained his groin. He was rusty in the first inning, when the first five Cardinals scored.
They loaded the bases on Fernando Vina's single, Edgar Renteria's double and a walk to Jim Edmonds. Albert Puiels lined a two-run single over Dessens' head, and Rolen homered three pitches later for a 5-0 lead.
earned run average jumped from 2.67 — third-best in the NL — to 2.89.
In the first game, the Cardinals couldn't overcome Rolen's throwing error and one bad inning by Jason Simontacchi (9-5). The Reds sent 10 batters to the plate in the second, scoring all five runs before making an out.
Rolen let in two of the runs on his sailing throw to the plate as he tried to get a forceout with the bases loaded.
Rolen and Albert Pujols hit consecutive solo homers in the third off Brian Moehler, who struggled once again for the third-place Reds. Chris Reitsma (5-9) took over in the third and gave up a run in 3 2-3 innings for the win.
Danny Graves pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 37 chances. Graves joined John Franco as the only Reds pitchers with 30 saves in three consecutive seasons.
Pujols' 50th homer also gave him 100RBIs and moved him into exclusive territory in Cardinals history. He became the second Cardinal to drive in 100 runs in each of his first two seasons — Ray Jablonski also did it in 1953-54.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland Alarmed by accusations that two skating competitions at the Salt Lake City Games were fixed, the IOC is looking for any evidence that organized crime influenced any other Olympic sports.
The Associated Press
The International Olympic Committee also warned Tuesday that some sports could be kicked out of future games if they fail to comply with a proposed global anti-doping code.
Committee examines crime
Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov was arrested in Italy on July 31 and indicted in New York last week. He's accused of working to ensure gold medals for the Russian pairs skaters and French ice dancers.
On the first day of a three-day meeting, the IOC executive board discussed the arrest of a reputed Russian mobster on charges he conspired to manipulate the pairs and ice dance events at the 2002 Winter Games.
"This may hopefully be an individual case restricted to one event in one sport." IOC vice president Thomas Bach told leaders of winter sports federations. "But we would be well advised to be very vigilant, to see what is happening in each of the sports. We need information coming from all possible sources."
Bach said the IOC must find out whether the alleged organized crime activity goes beyond the skating case.
"We cannot close our eyes," he said. "We have to be vigilant. I have not even a hint (of crime influence). But we have to be proactive and make sure nothing like this is happening in other sports."
Tokhtakhounov remains jailed in Venice, Italy, and plans to fight extradition to the United States, and the process could take weeks. The allegations against him are based mainly on wiretapped phone conversations.
"We know very little facts of the case today," Rogge told the winter federations. "The FBI and Italian justice have been
IOC president Jacques Rogge has said the skating results could be recalculated if the charges turn out to be true. But he said the IOC can't take any action until more evidence is provided.
very selective in releasing the tapes. There is much more, obviously, to know. We need facts, and we don't have the facts today to be able to judge."
Rogge said he has received a 30- to 40-page report from the French Olympic Committee. The executive board is scheduled to discuss the case in depth on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency briefed summer and winter sports on the first draft of a proposed document setting out unified rules and sanctions.
Among other things, the code would establish a single list of banned substances, mandate rigorous out-of-competition testing, and set standard penalties and suspensions for drug cheats, including two-year bans for serious offenses.
WADA hopes to have the code approved by all parties early next year and in place for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
For years, the IOC has held out the veiled threat that sports could be dropped from the Olympics if they fail to live up to anti-doping rules.
Rams close practices to onlookers
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Rams' decision to close practices to the media during the first three weeks and move everything indoors is no surprise to the players.
"This is the NFL," quarterback Kurt Warner said. "Everybody worries about that stuff. I know all coaches are paranoid and worried about this or that or showing their hand too early."
The Rams are no exception. Security director Dan Linza, a former police chief in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, patrols the field during practice with high-powered binoculars, searching for violators who would deign to watch a few plays from the roof or parking lot of a nearby warehouse, or even an elevated road almost a mile away.
Now the Rams are in a froth about a four-story Marriott Residence Inn opened during the summer across the street from their practice facility. The top floor is a perfect place to watch
practice, so the team is planning on raising the berm bordering the field and erecting a fence to keep the proceedings private.
Warner
"You never know who's going to really be watching," linebacker Don Davis said. "I'm sure there are some 49ers fans that maybe live in the St. Louis area or some Seattle fans who say 'Hey, they've got a big hotel right across from the facility.'"
Coach Mike Martz isn't sure why a barrier hasn't already been erected.
"It's been there," he said. "It's kind of hard to miss that."
Though Martz said he was not worried about spies, for the first three weeks of the season, his team will make sure no prying eyes see what they're doing. During the summer they took out a traditional artificial turf surface and spent $300,000 to replace it with a more joint-friendly surface.
The FieldTurf field, also used by the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns in the NFL, along with Nebraska and Illinois in college, has layers of sand and shredded rubber that make it look like real grass.
“It's pretty soft and guys are responding to it pretty well,” Warner said. “I still think it's harder than the grass and takes more of a toll on your body, but not nearly as bad as the other stuff.”
Martz said Rams players were impressed with the field when the team played there during the 2000 season.
"They raved about it, talked about it all week," Martz said. "A couple of players said they felt so much better after playing on it than they did even on grass."
Before the Rams' Monday announcement to draw the blinds, 27 of the 52 NFL teams had fully open or partially open practices. Martz has been considering closing practice since before training camp.
"It has nothing to do with being friendly or not friendly to the media," Martz said. "It's just for a couple, three weeks. It'll open back up. I just want to start the season out that way, kind of keep things close in house a little bit."
Inside or outside, private or not. Warner doesn't really care.
"Us as players, we don't really worry about that stuff," he said.
"Whatever he decides to do, he decides to do. We just go out and practice and try to get prepared."
In other news:
The Rams released FB Maurice Douglas and S Robbie Robinson, and placed OG Travis Scott on injured reserve. The team also released TE Alonzo Cunningham with an injury settlement and is negotiating one with WR Anthony Tucker. They signed WR Will Blackwell, a former second-round pick of the Steelers in 1997 who has been dogged by injuries, on Tuesday, Rookie WR Eric Crouch, who missed last week's preseason game with a thigh bruise, hopes to return to practice later this week.
Players fight injuries in U.S. Open contests
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The wheelchairs were there, if needed, resting side-by-side in the corridor leading from the court to the locker room.
For 41/2 muggy hours yesterday at this wearying U.S. Open, 2000 champion Marat Safin and Nicolas Kiefer traded big serves and crackling strokes to the point of exhaustion. By the end, both were cramping. Kiefer could barely walk, his body contorting in pain.
The second-seeded Safin, not known for his mental toughness on court, kept his head in the game when he really needed to and had just enough energy left to win the first-round thriller 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 4-4, 7-6 (4).
"How was I feeling? Dead. Completely dead," the Russian said. "I was choking so badly. I was embarrassed."
Still, he and Kiefer managed to stay on court until the bitter end.
Seven men have quit during first-round matches, a record for a Grand Slam tournament.
"All the players are praying
"All the play- Safin are proving
not to get injured. Any small injuries — even a finger, or some small muscles you don't even know about — can bring you trouble," said Safin, who withdrew from a tournament in Indianapolis this month because of injured ribs. "Tennis is getting a little bit more powerful. We're playing much faster. That's why the body breaks."
Among Tuesday's victims was 1998 finalist Mark Philippoussis, who wrenched his long-troubled left knee in the fourth set against No. 24 Sjeng Schalken and had to stop four games later. Philippoussis was leading 2-1 in sets.
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