Newz Forum: OTHER: Dean's List: Ova Time

By now you've heard the sound - "ova" and "ova" again...

With five of the world's top 10 players - second-ranked Maria Sharapova, No. 5 Svetlena Kuznetsova, No. 6 Elena Dementieva, No. 8 Nadia Petrova, and No. 10 Anastasia Myskina - and eight of the top 15 hailing from Russia, women's tennis is like the old space race. And the Ruskis are in rare, early Cold War form, forging competitive gaps bigger than the fall of the Soviet Empire itself...

Up 30-love at six-all in the fifth set against Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the French Open, Marat Safin pointed to a mark on the clay to have a call reversed - in his opponent's favor. Of course, Safin ended up losing the game and the fourth-round match match, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, 4-6, 8-6, proving once and for all that while nice guys might not always finish last, they're never any better than second place...

After Miami takes Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, how long before the Spurs start selling "Beat the Heat" t-shirts? It's so hot down there in San Antonio...

When asked about a possible move to the Cleveland front office this past week, Pistons coach Larry Brown cavalierly tried to avoid the question, saying he's more concerned about the royal welcoming awaiting Heat coach Stan Van Gundy - who hasn't been shy about his feelings for the "nasty" and "embarrassing" Palace population - in Detroit. Then again, maybe Brown was shooting straight after all. Maybe he really is worried about the ire of the Motor City masses, who'd surely view a move to their Central Division rival as a defection of Parcellsian proportions...

But just as Bill Parcells led the Pats to the Super Bowl as he was on his way to New England's AFC East nemesis in New York, maybe Brown can lead the Pistons back to the Finals before jetting for Cleveland. But no further. Like the new saying goes: When the coach is out the door, the players have already left the building...

Still, nobody should be surprised. We've seen this before from Larry, who's never kept a job longer than five years - in North Carolina, Denver, Westwood, New Jersey, Kansas, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Indiana, Philadelphia, and now Detroit. Talk about combing the desert...

In the end, though, Brown always manages to finish on top, or at the very least close to it. He's improved his team - and won - everywhere he's gone. And the only thing stronger than the excitement generated by his success is the not-so subtle scent of betrayal he leaves upon his departure...

There's something nasty about dribble penetration, which generally ends in a rim job - or a facial...

It's been almost two years since anyone had anything bad to say about Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. The DH extraordinaire has been tearing through American League pitching at an alarmingly incessant rate, and - by now - everyone believes. For his latest trick, Ortiz turned a sure loss into a walk-off win against the East-leading O's this past Thursday, belting a three-run jack on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off closer BJ Ryan, who hadn't surrendered a run in 16 straight relief appearances. It was Ortiz' fifth game-winning bomb since joining the Red Sox in 2003 - to go with 81 homers and 247 RBIs in the past 286 games. Not bad. A rare model of consistency, Ortiz has hit no less than five long balls and driven in no fewer than 17 runs in any month since June 2003. And through persistent, positive reinforcement, Big Papi has become the Man Who Can Do No Wrong in Boston, a town famously entrenched in its own negativity. I'm Dean Christopher, Deans-List.net...

[Edited on 6/6/05 by deanchristopher]