Knight may sue Indiana U.
TMS Campus
March 13,2001
Bobby Knight’s lawyer sent a
letter to Indiana University last
week that effectively notified the
basketball coach's former em
ployer of Knight’s intention to file
suit.
While Knight's lawyer hopes to
settle the matter out of court, it was
necessary to notify the university
of his intent within 180 days of
Knight's Sept. 10 firing in order to
retain the right to sue.
“If the university doesn’t nego
tiate with us, we have no choice but
to sue,” Knight’s attorney, Russell
Yates wrote.
The letter accuses the university
of libel, slander, inflicting emo
tional distress and interfering with
■Knight’s subsequent job search.
Knight's contract with the IU con
tained a “covenant not to com
pete,” which states that Knight
needed to wait eight years before
Sheffield apologizes during meeting
by Jason Reid
Los Angeles Times
March 13. 2001
VERO BEACH. Fla. - A contrite
Gary Sheffield apologized to team
mates, coaches and Manager Jim
Tracy in a closed-door meeting
Tuesday at Dodgertown.
Sheffield acknowledged in the 30-
minute session that his contract-ex
tension demand, trade request and
criticism of Chairman Bob Daly had
made for a major distraction
Players said the six-time all-star
spoke from the heart while asking
for forgiveness, conceding that he'd
exercised poor judgment.
Sheffield reaffirmed his commit
ment to the dub and answered ques
tions from teammates, who had to
be convinced that the mercurial left
fielder still wanted to be a Dodger
and would not disappoint again.
"It was just one of those things
that needed to he done,” Sheffield
said of the meeting. "These guys
know' I’m an emotional guy. I just
wanted to speak from the heart, just
lay it out on the line, and let them
know I know we're trying to wan a
championship here, and 1 w'ant to be
part of that. ...
"You have to respect this game,
you have to respect your teammates
Tryon tries on golfing greatness at an early age
by Peter Yoon
Los Angeles Times
March 15, 2001
Ty Tryon played 18 holes ot'
golf Tuesday and wasn't asked
for an autograph.
He played among peers: high
school players who are at most a
couple of years older. He got
thirsty during the round and
couldn’t find a water cooler.
It was much closer to the real-
ity he’s accustomed to.
The week before was a fantasy,
a surreal week in Florida he’s not
sure really happened. Tryon, a
16-year-old high school sopho
more, played in the PGA Tour’s
Honda Classic against Jesper
Parnevik, John Daly, Tom
Lehman and Phil Mickelson,
among others.
A Monday qualifier for the
Honda Classic, he played there
in the spotlight. Galleries swelled
to watch the phenom. Television
cameras followed his every
move. Autograph seekers
hounded him after each round.
There were drinks on every tee.
He was two strokes off the lead
after an opening round of 5-un
der-par 67. He became the sec
ond-youngest player in tour his
tory to make a cut after a 73 in
the second round. He shot 68
Sunday and finished tied for
39th, eight strokes behind win
ner Parnevik.
Tuesday, he played with his
high school team, Lake Highland
Prep of Orlando, Fla., in a match
against Santa Margarita and La
he could take a coaching position
in Kentucky, Indiana or at any of
the other Big Ten schools. If he
were to break the covenant, he
would forfeit deferred compensa
tion owed to him by the university,
estimated at $4.5 million.
The university has called
Knight’s accusations frivolous and
unfounded.
Knight wouldn’t need to break
his covenant if he were to take a
coaching position at Texas Tech
University, where the administra
tion has expressed an interest in
Knight following the dismissal of
coach James Dickey. Texas Tech
is a member of the Big 12 confer-
Indiana University president
Myles Brand fired Knight Sept. 10
after months of "unacceptable be
havior," the most recent example
taking place when the legendary
coach grabbed a freshman by the
arm after the student said, "What’s
up, Knight?"
“He was man enough, and willing, to
stand up and say, Look, I was wrong,'
and he apologized to the people he had
to apologize to."
r -v , . . . r» Management
Dodger pitcher Kevin Brown . nt , .
1 vvasn t all that sure.
Derrick Hall, senior
vice president, said the
Dodgers would still consider their
options; General Manager Kevin
Malone still is accepting trade of
fers, and Daly plans to monitor
Sheffield’s actions and words.
"Bob Daly has said all along he
only wants players who want to be
Dodgers,” Hall said. “If it takes
time to determine if an individual
wants to be here, so be it."
Monday, Sheffield fired his origi
nal agent, Jim Neader. hired the in
fluential Scott Boras and apolo
gized to Daly and fans.
"I’ve got to go back to doing
what I do best, just playing base
ball," Sheffield said. “Anything
outside this clubhouse, and on the
field, I’m leaving that to Scott. I’m
going to go out and put up num
bers. He’s going to do all the talk
ing for me, and I’m going to do all
the playing.”
and I do. I’m going to let it show in
stead of talking about it. I’m going to
be a doer, not a talker.”
That was good enough for
Sheffield's teammates, who praised
Sheffield for his handling of the situ-
"Everyone in this room felt com
fortable with what was said, and as
long as everyone in here is a man of
his word - and 1 mean everyone - there
won't be any issues.” first baseman
Eric Karros said. “He assured us all
his focus is going to be on baseball
and on the field, and you have to take
him on his word.”
Said pitcher Kevin Brown, a strong
supporter of Sheffield: “He was man
enough, and willing, to stand up and
say, 'Look, I was wrong,’ and he
apologized to the people he had to
apologize to.
"I give him all the credit in the
world. Instead of continuing to push
Costa Canyon.
He played at Coto de Caza Golf
and Racquet Club, a secluded
private course in a gated Orange
County community about 60
miles south of Los Angeles. The
galleries swelled to about a
dozen.
"It was different,” Tryon said.
“It was hard getting up for this
match, but it was nice to be out
there just to have fun. To tell you
the truth, I’m kind of sick of
golf.”
Tryon shot a l-over 73 Tues
day and his team, considered the
best in Florida, finished two
strokes behind Santa Margarita,
the reigning Southern California
champion. Tryon was second to
Scott Manley of Santa Margarita
by two strokes in the individual
race.
That’s right, 39th over the
weekend in a field of 144 of the
world’s best; then two days later
second in a field of 18 high
school players.
"I was mentally pretty dead out
there,” Tryon said. "I had a tough
time concentrating.”
It’s not abnormal for Tryon to
finish second in high school
matches. Tryon, ranked No. 5 in
the nation among boys, is not
even the top player on his team.
That honor belongs to Christo
Greyling, ranked No. 1 in the na
tion.
Before last weekend, Tryon
wasn’t the most famous player on
his team, either. Jason Cook, son
of PGA Tour veteran John Cook,
is a freshman. Andy Leadbetter,
NATIONAL SPOLTS
Bean, Nyad: gay athletes face big hurdles
by Madeline Bars Diaz
Knight-Ridder Tribune
March 13,2001
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Former major-leaguer Billy Bean
spent his six-year career pretending that he was straight and
hiding his partner from even his closest teammates.
"It's kind of the ultimate don’t ask-don’t tell environ
ment,” Bean said at a discussion on gay athletes, held at the
Eden Roc Resort & Spa in Miami Beach on Monday night.
Bean and Diana Nyad, a long-distance-swimmer-turned
sports broadcaster, were the panelists for "Breaking the Si
lence: Gays and Lesbians in Professional Sports,” a discus
sion presented by The New York Times and co-sponsored
by the Dade Human Rights Foundation.
Bean, who played for Detroit, Los Angeles and San Di
ego as an outfielder and lives in Miami Beach, said profes
sional athletes could lose millions of dollars if they were to
reveal they were gay.
When Bean hit his first home run in the major leagues it
was the “happiest moment of my life,” he said.
That moment was soured when some teammates unex
pectedly showed up at the home he shared with his partner.
They brought beer and wanted to celebrate Bean’s ac
complishment. His partner ended up spending three hours
in his car until the teammates left.
“You know you're never going to be accepted,” Bean said.
and try to save face, or
hatever, an>
admit
wrong, he stepped
back when he was pre
sented with some
son of noted golf instructor
David Leadbetter, is also on the
John Cook, who is an assistant
coach for Lake Highland Prep,
said this trip couldn’t have come
at a better time for Tryon.
“(The Honda Classic) got a
little overwhelming for him at
points,” said Cook, a 10-time
PGA Tour winner. "He needs to
enjoy this time and be a kid. He
put all his effort into those four
days and he’s feeling that. It’s
tough fora 16-year-old.”
The day after the Honda Clas
sic, Tryon boarded a plane for
Los Angeles for a long-planned
trip to play against some of the
top teams in Southern California.
The trip is a quick escape from
the spotlight for Tryon and a
quick return to reality.
If Tryon is having any doubts
about that, his teammates are
sure to keep him in check.
“These kids will make sure he
doesn't get too big of a head,”
Cook said. “They’ll be all over
him. All these guys are just kids
and Ty is still one of them.”
Tryon doesn’t plan to let go of
that. He said his success last
week isn't going to tempt him to
prematurely turn professional,
though he hasn’t ruled out skip
ping college.
“I’ve got the whole amateur
thing to do,” Tryon said. “I’ve
got the next three years of ama
teur golf before I think about
(turning pro).”
Some say he could be ready
sooner than that. Taylor Wood,
“You’re not acceptable. You’re less than the other guys and
you hurt the people you love the most just to get by.”
Bean, who played major league ball from 1987 through 1993,
came out of the closet in a 1999 newspaper article.
His revelation sparked interest from other media outlets.
Robert Lipsyte. who wrote a front-page story on Bean for The
New York Times, was the moderator for Monday’s discus-
He pointed out how 1 only a handful of athletes such as Martina
Navratilova and Greg Louganis are openly gay. and N;i\ rati lo\a
is perhaps the only one who has had big-name sponsors since
coming out.
“What we’re finding is it’s one area that sports fans don’t
want to deal with,” Lipsyte said.
In response to a comment Lipsyte made about sports defin
ing femininity and masculinity, Nyad told the audience of 30
or so people about the childhood abuse she endured.
Nyad, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale and set a record in
1979 when she swam 102.5 miles from Bimini to Miami, re
called how swimming was her shelter from sexual abuse and a
refuge from men she feared.
She said sexual abuse ties into the issue of why spoi ls w as
welcoming to her and some others.
“It does fold into the issue of gay women in sports and w liy
they feel comfortable there, partly because that is the place
where they can deny their femininity that has been dangerous
to them,” Nyad said.
Some suggestions to fix ‘Monday Night Football’
by Fritz Quindt
The Sporting News
March 14, 2001
Can Monday Night Football get
its groove back? Don Ohlmeyer is
out after one year as producer,
claiming chronic jet lag but no re
grets. Yeah, he took over with the
worst ratings in series history, pro
ceeded to change everything but the
color of A 1 Michaels’ holy toenails,
and what happened? The Nielsens
fell 7 percent.
Last year I e-mailed ABC Sports
czar Howard Katz one serious, un
solicited suggestion: Replace
Boomer Esiason with a big-name
guest-star analyst - Oprah Winfrey,
Harrison Ford, Fred Durst, Garo
Yepremian, maybe Ohlmeyer’s bud
Norm MacDonald - each week! Ei
ther Katz's server was down, or he
can’t read, because my ean’t-miss
concept got the Frank Gifford treat
ment.
ABC already has announced the
cast will return this year, but the
field is otherwise clear. So, this time
I’m submitting multiple-choice
ideas (none involving the resurrec
tion of Howard Cosell with costly
production techniques like The So
pranos used on Nancy Marchand).
ABC has already named Fred
who plays for Santa Margarita
and is ranked No. 47 in the na
tion, was paired with Tryon Tues
day.
“He’s pretty solid,”
Wood said. “He’s com
fortable out there.
That’s the big thing is
you have to be comfort
able. I think he could
turn pro in a year.”
Cook was more im
pressed with Tryon’s
performance at the
Honda Classic, where
Tryon beat Cook by a
stroke.
“He’s more than just
a good junior player,”
Cook said. “His success
didn’t surprise me be
cause he’s a good
player, period. It’s a lot
different now than
when I was a kid.”
Tryon spent about an
hour each day with the
media last week and
spent another two hours
signing autographs.
“That was really
weird,” he said. “I
signed every one, but it
was weird. Usually, I’m
the one trying to get an
autograph.”
The best part of the
experience?
“Beating coach
(Cook) was kind of
cool,” Tryon said.
Tuesday, Cook got re
venge. The coach made
seven birdies in 11
Gaudelli. producer of ESPN's Sun
day Night Football to take that posi
tion for Monday night. Now, for
other changes: Pencils ready .'
To gain maximum viewership.
ABC could:
a) move kickoffs to 8 p.m. Eastern
b) move kickoffs to 8 p.m.
Bangladesh Time.
c) move Monday Night Football to
Sunday afternoons,
d) move halftimes to FSPN2
Hank Williams Jr., who has sung
the opening since the Harding Ad
ministration, should:
a) change the lyric to “Not enough
of my rowdy friends are here on
Monday night."
b) get “accidentally” grazed by the
Roman candles going off around him
and retire uracefullv. on disability
c) have to defend his position each
week against a worthy challenger.
First contender: John Tesli.
d) simply be replaced by the more
melodic Gilligan’s Islam! theme.
Expand Melissa Stark's role to in
a) more than one question (.lin ing
on-field interview s.
b) her own line of clothes at Kmart
e) a bake-ol'f with liric Dickerson
holes before quitting play to watch
the end of the match. He could
have bogeyed the rest of the holes
and still would have beaten Tryon
Ty Tryon, the 16-year-old who made headlines over the weekend when he
became the second youngest player to make the cut in a PGA Tour event,
lines up a shot during a prep match at the Coto de Caza Golf Club.
FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2001
Gordon atop
Sporting News
driver poll
The Sporting News
March 14, 2001
)river/TSN Points/
Winston Cup Points
1. Jeff Gordon/469/613.
2. Dale Jarrett/382/576.
3. Kevin Harvick/330/443.
4. Sterling Marlin/324/531.
5. Michael Waltrip/3 15/509
6. Johnny Benson/314/540.
7. Rusty Wallace/284/472.
S. Steve Park/280/435.
9. Bill Flliott/264/495.
10. Ricky Rudd/258/467.
nice No. 4, at
Atlanta
d) Missv -cam
I tennis Miller must:
at NO T analyze every play; that's
1 ).m Fonts' turf
h) resiun for the uood of the re-
el at least explain what CondD-
sur-!'I/scant is
d) quit using a Flow-bee
To ensure competitive, exciting
names. ABC can:
a) continue to keep the Ravens off
tlie schedule.
h) pre-screen contestants, a la
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
c i broker a Richard vs. Susan Sur-
vivor rematch
il) televise Madden/PlayStation’s
version of '79 Chargers vs. ‘99
\ns M\T producer should re-
member
a > the game is the thing,, not the
b) the show' is the tiling, not the
c) nobody watches TV anymore;
they're watching the Internet.
d) tins ship never sank on Roone
Arledgc's watch.
bv a stroke
Welcome back to reality, Ty,
Sill®
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