2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008
MLB:
Kansas City at Texas, noon.
FSN
on tv tonight
-Milwuakee at Chicago Cubs, 1 p.m., WGN
MLS:
NBA:
—New York at Toronto, 6 p.m., ESPN2
— Detroit at Philadelphia: NBA
Playoffs First Round: Game 6, 7
p.m., TNT
Men's College Volleyball:
—Long Beach State at Pep perdine, 10:30 p.m., ESPN2
—Ohio State at PennState, 8 p.m., ESPN2
FRIDAY
Baseball vs. Oklahoma, 6 p.m., Lawrence
Track, Arkansas Twilight Meet, all day, Fayetteville, Ark.
SATURDAY
Rowing, Big 12 Invitational 9 a.m., Austin, Texas
Softball vs. Iowa State, 1 p.m., Lawrence
Baseball vs. Oklahoma, 2 p.m., Lawrence
SUNDAY
Softball vs. Iowa State,
noon, Lawrence
Baseball vs. Oklahoma, 1
p.m., Lawrence
Track, Payton Jordan Invita-
tional, all day, Palo Alto, Calif
Country singer admits to relationship with pitcher
BY JOHN GEROME ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fouled attempt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mindy McCready has "caught her breath" and gone back to work on a new album following her admission of a long-standing relationship with Roger Clemens, a representative for the country star said Wednesday.
"The first day was really difficult for her. She really has caught her breath," her management consultant, John Dotson, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "She did vocals yesterday and will do vocals today.
McCready told The New York Daily News on Monday that she "cannot refute anything" in the newspaper's original report posted Sunday night on its Web site. The story said Clemens and McCready met in a Florida karaoke bar when she was a 15-year-old aspiring singer and he was a 28-year-old pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and a married father of two.
in inappropriate or improper relationship with her, said Hardin, who described McCready as a longtime friend of Clemens and his family.
"This is Roger's situation to deal with and we've come back to work," Dotson said. "We didn't go looking for this. They called us. We have a record to make and are in the middle of negotiating a deal on a reality show."
Still, the report could undermine Clemens' reputation, which is central to a defamation lawsuit he filed against former personal trainer Brian McNamee.
Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper said McCready went with Clemens to his hotel room after their first meeting, but that they did not have sex. The relationship turned intimate after she later moved to Nashville and became a country star, the paper said.
McNamee contends Clemens used performance-enhancing substances during his major league career.
The 32-year-old McCready came to Nashville in 1994 with tapes of her karaoke vocals and earned a contract with BNA Records. Two years later, her song "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1 on the country charts.
At no time did Clemens engage
ASSOCIATED PRESS
First base umpire Chris Guccione, right, watches as Kansas City Royals left fielder Mark Teahen slams against the right field wall in a failed attempt to catch a long foul ball hit by Texas Rangers' Michael Young in the third inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday.
But her subsequent albums didn't sell as well, and she lost her record deal. Attempts to restart her career tanked.
McCready, who's currently signed to Denver-based Iconic Records, has had a string of legal and personal problems in recent years and was sentenced last September for violating probation from a 2004 drug arrest. She was released from jail Dec. 30.
The newspaper reported that Clemens sent cash to McCready to help her with legal issues and reached out to her when she was in jail.
Dotson said McCready will be meeting with a New York-based public relations firm this week to "see what to do next."
"We want to be sure we don't inadvertently do something wrong," he said.
trivia of the day
Q: Who is the only player in NBA history to record back-to-back games with at least 30 points, 10 assists and three steals?
fact of the day
A: New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul, who started his NBA playoff career
this month by accomplishing the feat. Paul led the Hornets to a 4-1 series victory against the Dallas Mavericks.
espn.com
Dallas forward Brandon Bass made 21 straight free throws in the series against New Orleans. He hadn't missed a free throw in the entire season until the fourth quarter of the final game.
nba.com
quote of the day
"We're not going to pop champagne bottles or anything like that. We're trying to set a new standard here with our organization. This isn't like a fairy tale for us. This is something that we're trying to keep going."
In 2005 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick led 19 laps, a first for a woman at Indy, and finished fourth, the best finish for a female at the big track. Patrick will be among the favorites to win the Indianapolis 500 when practice for the May 25 race begins Tuesday.
Chris Paul
》 AUTO RACING
Fans favor Danica to win Indy 500
BY MIKE HARRIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Danica Patrick will be among the favorites to win the Indianapolis 500 when practice officially begins Tuesday for the May 25 race.
That's not so much because of her historic first victory two weeks ago in the IRL IndyCar Series race in Japan as it is because of her feeling at home at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's a place where Patrick has felt welcome and comfortable since she first arrived there as a 23-year-old rookie in May 2005.
"I like Indy a lot," Patrick said. "I
feel very confident there.
"But, at the same time, the place demands a little respect. It's never easy and you can't take speed for granted there. You have to really stay with the car and push it to its limit."
She became an instant sensation at the famed Brickyard by doing just that. And the fans quickly latched onto the tiny, fearless girl with the long black hair and the very fast car.
From the moment she put a wheel onto the 2.5-mile Indy oval, Patrick was quick.
Each day in practice, she was at
or near the top of the speed chart and only a bobble that nearly sent her into the wall on the first of her four qualifying laps kept Patrick from winning the pole.
Still, she kept her head, kept her foot on the gas and qualified fourth, the best that any woman had done at the speedway.
Thus began "DanicaMania," a national reaction that saw her attractive visage nearly everywhere — on TV, magazine covers, billboards and commercials.
Then, in the race, Patrick led 19 laps and survived a collision with another car to finish fourth.
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