8/4/2019 Beach Tennis

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ByPatrickSemansky,AP

Live chatUSATODAY’s SteveGardnerhas solidadvice foryour fantasy baseball lineupat11 a.m. ET todayat sports.usatoday.com

USA TODAY  MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011 3C

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 Your connection to sports coverage online and on TV

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Thisis howbizarreCBS’PGA ChampionshipbecameSunday: Thenetworkcaught a hugebreakwhen JasonDufner, teeingoffat the15thhole with a four-strokelead,hit intothewater.

That splashimmediately injected suspenseinto thetournamentas Dufner, a 34 year-old

whohas neverwon a PGATourevent, steadilylost hislead.CBS analystGaryMcCord’s reaction:“Youmightwantto turnyour back tothe televi-sion. This isgoingto getreally nasty.”

Which atleastgaveCBSdramaticaction tosell.Dufner staggeredintoa dramatic playoff withKeegan Bradley, aTour rookiewho hadwon one tournamentthisyearbut wasplaying

inhis firstmajor.The playoff shouldhelpCBS’ratingbecauseaudiencesize usually peaksattheend ofevents andovertimeof anykindextends that peak. Butthis waschallenging TVgolf:Having tosell casualgolffans, whodropbyfor golf’smajors, ona leaderboardtoppedby relativelyminor names.

From a network perspective, Sunday’s actionseemedreminiscent of the lateFrankChirki-nian, whoat CBSessentiallyinventedTV golf,playinghimselfin the1996 movieTinCup. Init,hebellowedat KevinCostner’scharacter — anunknowngolfer— that he isnot exactly help-ing TVas heleadsa major:“Wedon’tneeddriving-range pros.What we needare heroes!”

Bradley joinsCharl Schwartzel, RoryMcIlroyandDarrenClarkeas thisyear’s majorwinners,presentingTV golf with a bigchallenge:Does ithave anystarswhowill carrythe sport’s appealbeyondits die-hards?

ThatTiger Woods missedthe cutmeanshetookanother stepcloser to the once-unthink-able idea that he couldbecomea non-story.CBS’DavidFeherty, on TNT’s CBS-producedcoverageFriday, suggested Woodsmight bereadyto rebound: “I’mjust wonderingif this isrock bottomfor Tiger. .. . Thereis nothingwrongwith hisswing. It’showhe’s thinkingabout itthat’sthe problem.”

CBSon Sundayscrambledto offerfun facts —Bradley isa bigBoston Red Sox fan — asitintroducedthe tournament leaders to viewers.

On TNT’searly Sunday coverage,analyst IanBaker-Finchsaid Bradley hasa “freshface,greatattitude,great demeanor . . . just abreathof fresh air.”Bradleyoffereda freshperspectiveon TNT before teeingoff: “It hasn’thitme yetwhat’s goingon, andmaybeI’llgoout therewithout thinkingabout anything.”

Duringthe playoff,CBS’ NickFaldosuggest-ed forBradley “towinhisvery first major isafantasticstory” and Baker-Finchnoted thatBradley beingthe first playerto wina majorwith a long puttercouldbe a game-changer.Andas CBS’ JimNantzdiscussed how somehad “pooh-poohed”the lack ofstarson Sun-day’sleaderboard and wondered whatit meantforthestateof thegame,Fehertysaidgolf needsa newslogan:“These guys areallgood.”

That’sputting thebestspin on things. But,givenhow sportsusually buildaudiences

through stars,thatsoundslikea toughsell.

Spicerack:AfterAbnerMaresseemed togetaway with lowblows in hiswin vs.JosephAgbeko on a bantamweight fightSaturday,Showtime’s JimGray askedrefereeRussellMora, “Would Mareshavewon without yourhelptonight?” Pretty direct. Mora,after beingshownreplays ofwhatappearedto bea partic-ularly botched call,insisted,“Thoseare notlowblows.” TowhichGraysaid,“You’reway off.”Wouldbe prettyfun,across theTV sportsspectrum,if refs hadto goon-air andexplainblowncalls. Butit will neverhappen. .. . ThelatestHBO RealSports, premieringTuesday(10 p.m. ET), hasa feature onPlaxicoBurress,theex-New York Giantmakinga comebackwith theNew York Jets afterspendingtwoyearsin prisonafter he accidentallyshothim-selfand pleaded guiltyto weapons charges.Burress recalls his attorney telling himself therewas a problem — that NewYorkMayor

MichaelBloomberg had goneon TVandsaidBurress shouldbe prosecuted“tothe full ex-tent ofthe law.”Burress recalls hisreactiontothat: “Whois MayorBloomberg?” . . . NewTNTNBA analyst ShaquilleO’Neal, onHDNet’sInsideMMA, suggestedduring theNBA lockouthemighthavea mixed martial arts matchvs.South Korea’s Hong ManChoi,whois 7-2andweighs about355 pounds.“I’lltrain,and we’llsee. It mayhappen,it maynot happen.”Can’twait. . . . RIP:ErnieJohnsonSr., theoriginalvoiceof theAtlantaBraves andfatherof TurnerSports’Ernie JohnsonJr.,diedFriday afteralong illness. Hewas 87.Johnson,who pitchednine big-leagueseasons,was an exception:anex-athletewho becamea play-by-play an-nouncer, not an analyst.

Keeping Score

CBS copes withmajorchangeup

Sportson TV

By MichaelHiestand

SECtakesno actionon Texas A&M .. . CamNewton shakybut promising . . . Serena’scomebackcontinueswithwin Ticker: Sunday’s top hits

Hockey legend’s returnWayneGretzkyis getting

back onthe ice— virtually.TheGreat One, whoretired

from theNHL in1999, will joinhockeylegendsincludingRayBourque andChrisCheliosandsix otherto-be-named greats inEA Sports’NHL12. Thenewmodesin thegame,dueSept.13forPlayStation 3 andXbox360,let players relive the legends’careers oradd themto a currentteam.You canalsofaceoff against an all-Legends team.

Gretzky considers becomingnameda videogame legendanaccoladecomparableto beinginducted intotheHallof Fame.“It’s a greathonoreither way,”he told USATODAY. “Atleast

my kids nowbelieveme whentheyseeit ona videogame.”

Gretzky, 50, salutes his play-ingdayswhilegivinga thumbsupto thecurrent NHL. “Theplayers todayare sobig andstrongand sofast,”he says.

Buthe thinks Hall ofFamerssuch asMarkMessier,BobbyOrr,Gordie Howe,Paul Coffey, JeanBeliveauand RayBourque“couldplay inany era. Buttheability andtalent ofthesekidshas goneup sohigh, it’sa com-pletely differentgame now.”

— Mike Snider

Doingwell ontheWebBig-time sportsevents with

weekday action arealwaysonlinedraws.

And the PGA Championship

atPGA.com,whichis managedbyTurnerSports,saysit drewits best one-day traffic everThursday by attracting2.1 mil-lion uniqueusers— up22%fromcomparable coveragelastyear.

It setanotherrecord Fridaywith 2.2millionuniqueusers.

Thesite,whichthisyearaddeda 360-degreecamera thatallowed usersto choosetheirownpanoramicviewsof theaction fromAtlanta AthleticClub, also says itattracted 56million pageviews Friday.

—Michael Hiestand

golf.usatoday.com

 Your I.D., pleaseThe SuperBowl champion

GreenBay Packers enjoyedtheirWhite HousemomentwithPresidentObama on Friday. . . mostofthemanyway.

LinebackerDesmond Bishopcouldn’t join his teammatesbecause,well,we’lllethim tellyou.

Tweeted Bishop: Just found some extramotiva-

tiontweeples. I forgotmyid on plane sowon’tget accessto see@barackobama .. Thistime! But next year ;)... Thodissapointed, illlive vicariously thrumyfellowTeammates..Nap time..As jackreacher wudsay “sleepwen ucan..”

— Nate Davis

thehuddle.usatoday.com

Close call in Seattle“Iftherehad been another

coat ofpainton thefoulpole,itwouldhave been a home run.”— Seattle Mariners radioan-nouncer RickRizzs, afterBos-ton’s DavidOrtizjust missedatyinghomerat SafecoFieldonSaturday.

The Mariners scoredfive runsinthefirst inning and heldon toedge theRed Sox5-4.

Compiled by Bob Kimball

m WeblineNewsmakersfrom the wide

worldof Weband TVsports

1979photobyNHLIviaGettyImages

Fan favorite:WayneGretzkyplayed20 NHLseasons.

TigerWoodsis stuck on14 majors— four behindJackNicklaus’record — aftermissing hisfirstcut inthe PGAChampionship andhis third cutin a major.

Toreview,he hitinto22 bunkers in36 holes,foundfive waterhazardsand, ina careertournamentfirst,made five doublebogeys orworse.

NowWoods,whoselastmajorvictorycame in the2008U.S.Open,saidhis only 2011commitmentis theAustralian Open inNovember,though he said he mightconsiderplaying a tournament inthe Fall Series.

“I gotsometime offagain,” said Woods,who returnedtogolftwo weeksago aftera three-month layoffto healknee and Achilles injuries. “NowI’llhavenothing todo

butworkon my game.Meanwhile, Woods’drought in majorsis up to14.

 Woods’ othermajor dryspells:10:1997 Masters to’99 PGA10:2002 U.S.Opento ’05MastersNicklaushad similardroughts:20:1980 PGAto ’86Masters12:1967 U.S.Opento ’70British Open10:1975 PGAto ’78British Open Wepolledgolffansas thePGAChampionship’s last

roundunfolded:M Love unknown guys whospoilthe party ...............52%M Give mea name, anynameat thetop ..................... 15%MWant tosee a repeatmajorwinner ............................ 9%M Don’t care.Tigerwas theonlyguy. ........................... 24%

Votes:644 at gameon.usatoday.com— SteveDiMeglioandReid Cherner

 Tigerwatch

 Woods heads back todrawing board

ByDavidJ.Phillip,AP

Miserable:TigerWoods,reactingafter hittingout ofa bunkeron thefifthholeof thesecond roundin thePGACham-

pionship onFriday, missedthe cutin theyear’s fourthmajorforthe first time,shooting10-over-par150.

The Philadelphia Phillies and At-lantaBraves have been theNationalLeague’s twobestteamsfor most of theseason, butthe best ofthe Westcancreate a wild-cardracethisweek.

The West-leadingArizonaDia-mondbacks, whomoved aheadof theSan FranciscoGiants last week,startanEasternswingTuesday with thefirst ofthreegames atEast leaderPhiladelphia followed by threegamesagainstthe Braves.

ButArizonasuffereda blow Sun-daywhen staring pitcher JasonMar-quis suffereda brokenleg when hitbya linedrive.He’llmiss therestof the season.

By thetimethe DiamondbacksgettoAtlanta,the Giantscouldhavecutintotheir four-gamedeficit againsttheBraves forthewild-card lead.

SanFrancisco plays four games inAtlanta, beginning today, and plans

touse itsstartersfromlastyear’sWorldSeries — Madison Bumgarner, JonathanSanchez,MattCainand TimLincecum.

Atlanta is shuffling its pitchingwith Tommy Hansongoingon thedisabled list Sunday because of shoulder tendinitis. Rookie RandallDelgado will be recalledfrom theminorsto startTuesday.

TheBraves also expectJairJurr-jens(kneestrain)to returnfromtheDL on Wednesday.

Atlantaalsogotbackits besthitter,catcher BrianMcCann, on Sundayafterhe missednearlythree weekswith a strainedside muscle.

Meantime, Carlos Beltran, whomtheGiants acquiredlast month toboost their offense, couldgo ontheDLtodaybecauseof a sore hand.

ByPaul White

DailyPitch

Series thisweek could tighten NLwild-card race

ByJedJacobsohn,GettyImages

NLEasttrek:MattCain’s GiantsvisittheBraves thisweekforfourgames.

A wave ofthe world’s bestbeachtennis players will besweepingontotheshores ofLongBeach,N.Y., thisweek,competingin whatorganizershope will becomea SummerOlym-pic sport.

The BeachTennis Championships,whichwill runfromThursdaytoSunday,willfeaturemorethan 100players from12 countries.

MarcAltheim, BeachTennis USA’sfounderandCEO, describesthe sportas “essentiallybadmintonon ster-oids”— a fast-paced cross betweentennisand volleyballplayed withpaddles.

Tennis’governingbody, the ITF,addedthe sporttwo yearsago,andAltheim thinksthat couldhelp getiton the Olympic schedule.

In July,the International OlympicCommittee announced the listof sportsit was consideringadding for

2020:baseball,karate, roller sports,softball,sports climbing, squash,wakeboardand wushu.One isex-pectedto be added.

Meantime, Team USA’sMatthewGaravaglia feelsthe Americans havea bettershot ofwinning than in thepast, buthe says Braziland Italyaretheteamsto beat.

“It’stough,because wedon’tget toplay against thesamehigh levelof competition asoftenas they do,” hesays. “Andourstyleof play isa littledifferent. . . . Weplay a less-aggres-sive,more laid-back(style).”

ButTeamUSA says it’sready.“The Italians havebeen playing

this game for30 years,so we’vegotsome catchingup todo,” says Ste-phenSayoc, Garavaglia’s doublespartner.

By LukeKerr-Dineen

Beachtennis

Players raising racket on shore

ByBeachTennisUSA

Funday:DannyKreyman, left,andMieszko Tomczyk playbeach tennis.

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