Newz Forum: OTHER: Dean's List: Ball Bearings, page 1

Believe the hype...

Against all odds, 23-year-old Danica Patrick became the first female to lead the Indianapolis 500 this past Sunday before finishing a strong fourth. Indeed, the stunning 23-year-old rookie from Roscoe, Ill., is breaking down barriers, pummeling stereotypes, and racing past the competition. Her secret weapon? Balls...

Dan Wheldon, meanwhile, won the world's (allegedly) greatest race to markedly less fanfare. The Brit was thrilled nonetheless. "These fans make the event," Wheldon said. "And so does the city of Indianapolis. It's the best place in the world right now." Sure. But tomorrow it goes right back to being the fifth-fattest city in America...

With his team up 3-0 on the Suns in the Western Conference Finals, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili shocked the world when he revealed his true identity: Legendary "Perfect Strangers" goof Balki Bartokomous. Which makes him - you guessed it - a fake Greek Argentinean from Italy playing American basketball in San Antonio...

At just 26 years of age, he's already a seven-year veteran of Major League Baseball. If you didn't know better, you'd think Byung-Hyun Kim has a pretty bright future ahead of him as a pro ballplayer. Not the case. Kim never recovered from his disastrous performance in the fall of 2001, during which he nearly cost Arizona the World Series with blown save after blown save...after blown save. Then came the meltdown in Boston, highlighted by the infamous finger incident. Then - as if Kim's career wasn't flaming out fast enough - the Red Sox cordially shipped the Korean native to homer-happy Colorado in the off-season. Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire. With a stat line uglier than the Elephant Man - 23 walks and 22 earned runs in 27 2/3 innings - Kim is officially burnt out. And the embers of his once-promising career are fading into thin air...

They've got the Viewer's Choice Awards and the People's Choice Awards, and neither of 'em's any good. But for whatever reason, the ratings are always there. So here's my idea: Feature the most amazing, most spectacular ground-ball force outs of the baseball season in an awfully special production for the ages, the Fielder's Choice Awards...

With a victory this past Saturday at Tampa Bay, Seattle's Aaron Sele is 9-1 in 12 career starts against the Devil Rays. Then again, who isn't?

The "old" NFC East is widely hailed as the most dominant division of the modern era. And rightfully so - it produced eight Super Bowl champions in 14 seasons from 1982-95. But ever since the Blue Jays won their first of back-to-back World Series in 1992, the AL East has been lurking in the shadows, piling up seven championships in the past 13 years. And a Red Sox, Yankees or - dare I say - Orioles win the Fall Classic this October, the AL East might just become the "new" NFC East...

First he gets traded to the Broncos for another, vastly inferior punter - and a draft pick. Not good. Then he gets put on a year's unsupervised probation for driving under the influence last December. It just hasn't been a good year for NFL punter Todd Sauerbrun. Still, the road back to the Promised Land for the former Panthers is like a youth-driven NFL promotion: Punting the ball, passing the physical, and kicking the habit...

Mere months after helping New England win their third Super Bowl in the past four seasons, Keith Traylor signed with AFC East rival Miami, making the hefty defensive tackle more than just an ex-Patriot. In the eyes of some New Englanders, he's an expatriate. I'm Dean Christopher, Deans-List.net...