Catching up with the best of the worst from the past week in sports:

(10) NBC: It doesn't rank with the Heidi game, but how could they not spend five extra minutes to let the final group putt out at No. 18 on Saturday in the LPGA's Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika before signing off? At least one network runs past the allotted time for a sporting event almost every weekend, so the decision should have been routine. Sophie Gustafson, she of the monumental collapse Sunday, put her approach five feet from the pin and Karrie Webb hit into the greenside bunker at 5:55 p.m. A walk to the green, a two-putt par by the leader and Webb's up-and-down would have taken maybe 10 minutes, but NBC resorted to some announcer happy talk and then left the air at 6 p.m. for local news in the East. If General Electric qualified for Title IX funding, someone could have started a movement this week to get it revoked.

(9) Detroit Pistons: Consider the great run officially closed for the Pistons, who've made in to six straight conference finals but lost the last three. The Pistons had the Boston Celtics on the ropes with a 103-97 win at The Garden in Game 2 and then let their struggling opponent escape. Rodney Stuckey, Chauncy Billups and Tayshaun Prince combined to shoot 36.8 percent for the series as both young and old failed to produce. The Pistons would have actually matched up reasonably well with the Lakers in the NBA Finals; now the challenge is to replace some pieces of the puzzle that appear to have aged rapidly in the month of May.

(8) NBA: Nothing good could come out of the league announcing that the no-call on Brett Barry's possession at the end of Game 4 between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers was wrong. League spokesman Tim Frank came out on Thursday with a statement that a foul "should have been called." It's not like umpires failing to see a ball hitting the foul pole or the stairwell beyond the fence in right-center, as happened in baseball several times last month; in the case of the NBA refs, the (non-)call in question was a bang-bang judgment deal on a play that was somewhere between a nudge and a shove. Frank owed them the courtesy of saying a foul "could have" been called.

(7) Too many cars, too little track: Forty-three cars on the starting grid is often about seven too many on the shorter tracks, as NASCAR teams and officials were reminded Sunday. A one-mile oval doesn't lend itself to separation, especially in the early stages before the superior cars push the pace. The result can be messes like the one on lap 17 at Dover. Wrecks are exciting and part of the sport, but it's not much fun for fans when big names like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart and top-12 points list drivers Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick are all but out of the running before you've finished that first frosty beverage or ripped open the bag of pork rinds.

(6) MLS fan behavior: Throwing streamers on the field, a phenomenon that started last year in a couple of cities, was never really cute, cool or entertaining, but at least the "fans" had the courtesy to partially unfurl the rolls and loft them skyward. Now, though, the oafs are throwing 'em like fastballs and aiming for players. Worse, still, these morons are hurling more than paper. New England's game in Columbus last week deteriorated into something more dangerous as both bottles and racial epithets were thrown into the mix. A lit flare or two has been thrown toward the field in Toronto, too. We're way past the time for league officials to act, or else it's a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

(5) American tennis: How is it that Robby Ginepri, basically playing with about one and three-quarters arms, was the only American to reach the fourth round in men's or women's singles at the French Open? Ginepri had been oh-for-Paris since 2003 until getting on a roll this time to become the first U.S. male to reach the fourth round in five years and the only one of 19 men or women to advance that far this year. Andy Roddick's fine, but the nation's tennis fans yearn for another Sampras, Agassi or anyone named Williams, provided she's focused on tennis instead of outside distractions.

(4) Jose Canseco: The man was once a multi-tool major-league baseball player. Now, he's just a tool, spiraling into the sports scrap heap alongside Mike Tyson and John Daly. The former Oakland A's slugger, reportedly significantly in debt and out of favor with everyone in baseball, offered $5,000 to anyone who would step into the ring with him and headline a boxing card in July in Atlantic City. And the best he could come up with is former Philadelphia Eagles kick returner Vai Sikahema? Last time I looked, Sikahema barely rated as "B-list" guest material at family picnics. Cassius Clay himself couldn't hype this fight into anything more than a $6.95 PPV affair. If Canseco really wanted to make this deal fly, he'd step into the ring against . . .

(3) Danica Patrick: Let me say from the start that Patrick had a right to be peeved after getting wrecked on pit row by Ryan Briscoe, who may have been absent the day they taught race-car driving at race-car driving school. But what good was possibly going to come out of a confrontation with Briscoe at Indy last weekend? Even in the heat of the moment, Briscoe would have known enough to not retaliate if Patrick started poking or shoving, so she would have come off looking like a witch (or something like that). Patrick should be grateful an IRL official intercepted her before she could start something.

(2) Gary Carter: The former New York Mets catcher got off easy, being chided by Keith Hernandez for "walking around unconscious" for openly lobbying for Willie Randolph's managerial job. Truth be told, the clock is almost certainly ticking on Randolph's career with the Mets - hey, when it comes down to it, all managers are interim. But that doesn't change the fact that you never, ever go after someone's job. In my old neighborhood, guys who got too ambitious in that way were introduced to the business end of a 2-by-4. Apologies aside, Carter deserves an even more brutal fate that physical retribution: Make him manage the . . .

(1) St. Lucie Mets: At 12-43 and 22 games out of first place, these Mets are Charlie Brown-and-Lucy bad. Playing in the 12-team Florida State League, the Mets are 10th in batting average, 11th in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, have more caught-stealings than stolen bases, and have plucked more opposing batters than three clubs combined on their way to an ERA that's a run per game worse than anyone else. I'm pretty sure manager Tim Teufel would be more than happy to hand the clubhouse keys to Gary Carter.

 

Catching up with the best of the worst from the past week in sports:

(10) "Pacman" Jones: You'd think a guy whose suspension has already lasted longer than Jimmy Stewart reciting Homer's Odyssey would show a little more sense - and perhaps even a little sensitivity. But if Adam had 'em, those qualities sure didn't last long. Jones was about to be hauled into court last week on bad-check charges before coughing up the $20,000 he owed Caesars Palace stemming from a Sept. 3, 2007, visit. Though the NFL doesn't have a policy against casino gambling by players as long as they do not bet on league games, just showing up in Las Vegas is a horrendous PR move by Jones if for no other reason than his infamous trip to a strip club there in February 2007 preceded a melee that left a bouncer paralyzed. I'd be embarrassed to show my face there, let alone stiff a casino for eight months.

(9) Calgary Vipers: The United League baseball club traded 26-year-old right-hander John Odom to the Laredo Broncos for 10 bats, valued at about $655. The Vipers weren't going to be able to send Odom to the mound because of INS issues, but if all they want in return for a live human being is some dead wood, I believe the Detroit Tigers are still available.

(8) Florida Marlins fans: Don't confuse the issues here. It's a given that management is so penny-pinching that the next move will be to install pay toilets in the clubhouse. But the fact of the matter is the Marlins are winning, so it would be nice if fans took at least a minimal interest in the club. The "crowds" for last week's series against Arizona were 10,696, 11,227 and 13,233. Travis Henry brings that many people when the Denver Broncos hold family get-togethers.

(7) Greek Olympic Team: Eleven of their 14 Olympic weightlifters tested positive for a banned substance in March and were among 25 people hit last week with misdemeanor charges, all but scuttling the country's ability to compete in the sport in Beijing this summer. The coach blames a faulty batch of diet supplements from China, naturally. Good luck with that, but otherwise I suggest trying the Antonio Pettigrew "I did it" approach. Sure his name is now dirt in the world of track and field, but at least he won't get dragged through the mud for the next two years only to be found guilty in the end anyway.

(6) Speeding up the game: It's well and good that major-league officials are encouraging managers and pitching coaches to jog to the mound or at least walk briskly to help return baseball games to something shorter than Tom Clancy novels. But let's not forget the biggest culprit of them all now that Mike Hargrove hasn't stepped into the batter's box in 22-plus years: the looooong breaks between half-innings so that TV can cram in way too many car, beer and erectile dysfunction remedy commercials. One less commercial per break shortens the game by anywhere from 8

Catching up with the best of the worst from the past week in sports:

(10) Boston Celtics: It is technically possible to win an NBA championship without winning a playoff road game, but the air of invincibility dissipates every time the team with the NBA's best regular-season record (by a convincing seven games) gets taken to the limit in a series. The Celtics walked away from their second-round battle with the Cleveland Cavaliers with their title ambitions still intact but performing about as convincingly as Elizabeth Berkley in "Showgirls." I don't want to say Pistons in six is a sure bet, but I hear Steve Wynn is accepting Charles Barkley's $25K ticket on that proposition as payment in full.

(9) Tony Kornheiser's career plans: The multi-talented Washington Post columnist revealed that he's taking a buyout from the paper in part to devote more time to his radio, TV and long-form writing gigs. Speaking for the generation old enough to remember when there were still more than half a dozen great American newspapers, it's a shame that Kornheiser, 59, didn't drop one of his other duties (except for "Pardon The Interruption") and rededicate himself to the column writing that he more or less quit doing in 2006. Those of us who grew up reading the likes of Dick Young, Jim Murray, Mike Downey, Shelby Strother, Dave Kindred and Blackie Sherrod were always happy to set aside a few minutes for Korny.

(8) High school pimps and parasites: It's a safe guess that O.J. Mayo's name is going to get a lot of air time this spring and summer for reasons beyond his lottery-pick status. The report last week that USC's one-and-done basketball star was allegedly the recipient of thousands of dollars of benefits while still in high school is attracting a lot of attention thus far - with much more to come. Alexander Wolff and Armen Keteyian wrote the damning "Raw Recruits" in 1991, and the influence of "street agents" and "runners" on the college game has gotten worse since. The idea that grown men are new regularly dropping five-figure sums on 17-year-olds with the intention of reaping a 50-fold return on their investment a few years later is one more reason it would help basketball if the NBA would push its minimum age to 21.

(7) Billy Wagner: The Mets closer certainly stuck his foot in it last week by discussing the proverbial family business in public, forcing Willie Randolph to call a team meeting at a time when the Mets had enough on their minds - including a .500 record heading into their weekend vs, the Yankees - without Wagner publicly throwing teammates onto the Subway Series tracks. Wagner claims he was being critical of the media and not his teammates when he scolded reporters who wanted to interview him after Thursday's 1-0 loss to Washington. "You should be talking to the guys over there," he told reporters. "Oh, they're not there. Big shock." How can that not be construed as a knock on his teammates?

(6) San Jose Earthquakes: Bad figures to get worse for the 'Quakes, already mired in last place in the West in Major League Soccer. They've scored all of four goals in seven matches and play seven of their next 10 on the road. No truth to the rumor that they replaced "guaranteed win night" with "guaranteed goal night" on their schedule and then replaced that with a promotion guaranteeing that they would put at least one more shot on goal before the season ends.

(5) Newsday: Hey, we've all worked for a boss or two who we've wanted to see replaced. And we've all been warned, "Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it." Well, that's Newsday's nightmare these days. The proposed sale of the paper was announced last week, meaning ownership is changing from Tribune to Cablevision barring last-minute legal issues. Yes, sports fans, that means Newsday staffers are going from taking orders from the people who run the Chicago Cubs (no championships in a century or so) to taking orders from the people who run the New York Knicks (no clue).

(4) Jason Isringhausen: What's worse than a closer who can't get anyone out? How about a closer who puts himself on the disabled list by punching a television in a fit of anger. The Cardinals reliever, on the books for $8 million, is experiencing a miserable 2008 season with six blown saves already, a conversion rate that the Moors would have never accepted.

(3) Detroit Tigers: Baseball reached the quarter pole last week, and the AL Central cellar-dwellers need a Big Brown-esque burst soon if they're going to have any chance of reaching the postseason. But getting swept by Kansas City and languishing in last in the majors in team ERA is no way to instill confidence that Motown will be home to anything more than an 83-79 team this season. But take heart, Detroit sports fans. The annual Matt Millen follies are just two months away.

(2) Jack Crowe: So much for being able to call plays from the high moral ground instead of the sideline next season. The Jacksonville State coach booted Cedric Johnson, his only experienced QB, from the team in February for violating team rules but has now added Ryan Perrilloux, who was recently thrown off LSU's team for violating team rules and perhaps quite possibly bending a legal statute or two. If being a hypocrite requires a lot of paperwork, then get Mr. Crowe a box on No. 2 pencils so he can start justifying his new No. 1 signal caller. Jacksonville State has steadily been in the three- to six-win range for a decade and Crowe thinks he can break through with a guy who's got a better shot right at three-to-five right now than of being a stand-up citizen.

(1) TNT Sports: Charles Barkley's $400K gambling debt to Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas hotel made headlines and was talk-show fodder all week without a significant related issue being raised. The always-entertaining basketball analyst's game of choice reportedly is blackjack, which would seem to be fairly harmless. But it's also been reported that Barkley has spoken of profiting off the Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl victory, and that's where his gambling gets problematic. If Barkley made money betting on a sporting event, he's almost certainly lost money on other games along the way. Doesn't it make you wonder If Barkley's commentary on NBA telecasts, then, has ever been tainted by bitterness over a lost bet or if he's backed off criticism of a player whose performance translated into a winning bet. A network news division would never allow its reporters to gamble on the people they cover. Where's the concern from the bosses at TNT Sports about the potential damage to their credibility?

 

The tragedy following Saturday's Kentucky Derby brings back memories of a bizarre horse racing incident 72 years ago this week that ended happily for jockey Ralph Neves.

Neves, a hall of fame jockey who won 173 stakes races and 3,771 starts overall, actually walked out of a mortuary May 8, 1936, after being declared dead following an accident at Bay Meadows Racecourse outside San Francisco.

On the fateful day, Neves was in the running for $500 and a gold watch that would be awarded to the meet's leading jockey. Riding Fannikins in the third race, Neves, found himself behind the leaders who were running four wide when suddenly one of the horses went down. One by one, the accident tripped up all of the leaders; Fannikins, too, got caught up in the carnage and threw Neves while trying to stop.

The horse crashed to the ground — onto the fallen jockey — bringing medical help onto the track immediately. Neves was loaded onto a truck and taken to the first-aid area, where he was pronounced dead by a doctor. A few minutes later, another doctor arrived and delivered an adrenaline-filled syringe to the jockey's heart.

With the shot appearing to have failed to revive Neves, the doctor left, the jockey was toe-tagged and the room was cleared as track officials began making arrangements to have the body removed.

Some 20 minutes later, however, Neves sat up and walked out of the treatment area and returned to the jockeys room &$151; where his fellow horsemen were taking up a collection for Neves' widow. Neves wanted to continue riding his scheduled mounts but was ordered to the hospital to be checked out.

He returned the next day, rode several second-place horses and won the riding title.

Neves, 19 at the time, would live another 59 years before dying in 1995.

A few other highlights from this week in sports history:

May 7, 1925: The Philadelphia Phillies suffer their eighth straight postponement.

May 7, 1957: Indians pitcher Herb Score is injured by a line drive off the bat of Gil McDougald.

May 7, 1959: Roy Campenella Night at the Los Angeles Coliseum attracts 93,103 fans.

May 7, 1960: Catcher Norm Sherry homers and his brother Larry Sherry collects the victory for the Dodgers.

May 7, 1977: Seattle Slew wins the 103rd Kentucky Derby.

May 7, 1982: The NFL's Oakland Raiders move to Los Angeles.

May 7, 1992: Jockey Angel Cordero, winner of more than 7,000 thoroughbred races, retires.

May 7, 1994: Denver finishes off Seattle in overtime, 98-94, in the fifth and deciding game to become the first No. 8 seed to win an NBA playoff series against a No. 1 seed.

May 7, 1995: Indiana's Reggie Miller makes two three-pointers and two free throws in the final 16.4 seconds to stun the Knicks, 107-105, and start the Pacers to a seven-game series triumph.

May 8, 1906: Future Hall of Fame pitcher Chief Bender plays outfield and slugs a pair of home runs in a game for the Philadelphia A's.

May 8, 1935: Cincinnati Reds catcher Ernie Lombardi doubles in four consecutive innings in a 15-4 win over Philadelphia.

May 8, 1968: Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the A's throws a perfect game against the Twins.

May 8, 1970: The Knicks beat the Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA finals, 113-99, as a limping Willis Reed scores the first two baskets of the game and Walt Frazier scores 36 points.

May 9, 1961: Jim Gentile hits two grand slams for the Orioles in a win over the Twins.

May 9, 1987: Eddie Murray becomes the first batter to hit switch-hit home runs in two consecutive games.

May 9, 1995: The Indians score eight runs before making an out and beat the Twins, 10-0.

May 10, 1929: Walter Hagen wins the British Open for the last of his 11 career majors.

May 10, 1967: Hank Aaron hits the only inside-the-park home run of his major-league career.

May 10, 1987: Sleepy Floyd sets an NBA record by scoring 29 of his 51 points in the fourth quarter of Golden State's playoff victory against the Lakers.

May 11, 1923: The Phillies and Cardinals combine for 10 homers in Philadelphia's 20-14 victory.

May 11, 1977: Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner manages the team for a game.

May 11, 1980: Julius Erving makes one of the most memorable baskets in NBA history against the L.A. Lakers. Erving starts out on the right, drives the baseline and avoids a block attempt by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by seemingly changing course in mid-air and scoops in a reverse layup. "I thought, 'What should we do?" said Magic Johnson. "Should we take the ball out or should we ask him to do it again?"

May 11, 1985: Fifty-six soccer fans die and more than 200 are injured when a fire engulfs the grandstand of Valley Parade Stadium in Bradford, England.

May 11, 1992: Portland defeats Phoenix in a double-OT NBA playoff game, 153-151.

May 11, 1997: IBM computer Deep Blue wins a six-game series against chess champion Garry Kasparov.

May 12, 1970: Ernie Banks hits his 500th home run.

May 12, 1979: Tracy Austin snaps Chris Evert's 125-match winning streak in women's tennis.

May 12, 1985: The Knicks win the NBA's first draft lottery, setting the table for their selection of Patrick Ewing.

May 13, 1911: Fred Merkle of the New York Giants becomes the first batter to drive in six runs in an inning.

May 13, 1958: Stan Musial reaches the 3,000-hit mark.

May 13, 1967: Mickey Mantle goes deep against Stu Miller for career homer No. 500.

May 13, 1973: Bobby Riggs beats Margaret Court in a tennis exhibition.

May 13, 1976: The New York Nets win the final ABA championship before joining Denver, San Antonio and Indiana as members of the NBA.

May 13, 1983: Reggie Jackson becomes the first player in the majors to strike out 2,000 times.

Except for hitting, hitting for power, fielding and throwing, Herb Washington was a five-tool major-league player. Ah, but that fifth tool — running — made him arguably the most unique big-league player ever (who wasn't a Bill Veeck brainchild) right up until his release on May 5, 1975.

Washington made his debut with the Oakland Athletics in 1974 at the age of 22 after a career as a top-notch sprinter in high school and at Michigan State, where he won one NCAA and seven Big Ten track championships.

What made that career ususual, though, was that not once in his 105 appearances did Washington bat, pitch or play a position in the field. Rather, Charlie Finley put Washington on the roster to be a full-time pinch-runner at a time when the somewhat eccentric owner was pushing for a rule change for runners along the lines of the designated hitter. Finley envisioned each team having a player who could pinch-run once or twice a game without having to replace someone in the lineup.

Washington made his debut on April 4, 1974, and got into 105 games. He was 31-for-48 in steal attempts, scored 33 runs and earned a World Series ring in 1974. He was offered several chances to pinch-hit but, recognizing his place in baseball history, turned them down. His 1975 baseball card is the only one manufactured by Topps listing a player's position as "pinch runner."

A few other highlights from this week in sports history:

April 30, 1944: Phil Weintraub of the New York Giants doubles twice, triples, homers and drives in 11 runs in a 26-8 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Mell Ott draws five walks and scores six runs.

April 30, 1946: Bob Feller of Cleveland no-hits the Yankees, 1-0.

April 30, 1961: Willie Mays homers twice off Lew Burdette and four times overall in a 14-4 victory over Milwaukee.

April 30, 1969: Jim Maloney of the Reds beats Houston, 10-0, for his third no-hitter.

April 30, 1970: Billy Williams of the Cubs appears in his 1,000th straight game.

April 30, 1975: Larry O'Brien is named to succeed Walter Kennedy as NBA commissioner.

April 30, 1977: Superstar Billy Graham beats Bruno Sammartino in Baltimore to win the WWF championship.

April 30, 1997: Tino Martinez ends the month with 34 RBIs.

May 1: Babe Ruth (1920) and Mickey Mantle (1951) hit their first home runs with the Yankees.

May 1, 1925: Jimmie Foxx, 17, debuts with the Philadelphia A's.

May 1, 1940: The upcoming Olympics are canceled.

May 1, 1948: Eddie Arcaro and Citation win the 74th Kentucky Derby.

May 1, 1969: Leonard Tose buys the Philadelphia Eagles for $16.1 million.

May 1, 1981: Tennis great Billie Jean King confirms that she was involved in a lesbian relationship.

May 1, 1988: Michael Jordan becomes the first player to score 50 points in back-to-back NBA playoff games.

May 1, 1991: Rickey Henderson steals his 939th base to become the majors' all-time leader but gets upstaged by Nolan Ryan's seventh no-hitter.

May 1, 1992: Rickey Henderson steals his 1,000th base but is overshadowed by violence in Los Angeles related to the Rodney King case.

May 2, 1923: Walter Johnson hurls career shutout No. 100.

May 2, 1939: Lou Gehrig ends his consecutive-games streak at 2,130.

May 2, 1941: Ted Williams' batting average bottoms out for the season at .308 en route to a .406 finish.

May 2, 1988: Reds manager Pete Rose is suspended 30 days for bumping umpire Dave Pallone.

May 3: Joe DiMaggio (1936) bangs out three hits in his Yankees debut and George Brett (1973) gets his first.

May 3, 1974: The expansion New Orleans Jazz send six draft picks to the Atlanta Hawks in a trade for Pete Maravich.

May 3, 1980: Willie McCovey hits his 521st and final home run.

May 3, 1987: Milwaukee eliminates Philadelphia in a first-round playoff series, ending the career of the 76ers' Julius Erving.

May 4, 1919: The New York Giants play the first legal Sunday game in NYC, losing to the Phillies before 35,000 fans.

May 4, 1968: Dancer's Image is disqualified following victory in the 94th Kentucky Derby because traces of phenylbutazone were discovered in the post-race urinalysis.

May 4, 1974: Cannonade wins the 100th Kentucky Derby.

May 4, 1975: Bob Watson of the Houston Astros scores the one millionth run in major-league history, seconds ahead of Cincinnati shortstop Dave Concepcion.

May 4, 1984: Dave Kingman's fly ball gets stuck in the roof of the Metrodome in Minnesota.

May 5, 1969: Bill Russell and Sam Jones close out their Celtics careers with a 108-106 win over the L.A. Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

May 5, 1973: Secretariat wins the 99th Kentucky Deby, with Ron Turcotte aboard.

May 5, 1978: Pete Rose reaches 3,000 career hits.

May 6, 1954: Roger Bannister runs the first four-minute mile.

May 6, 1978: Affirmed wins the 104th Kentucky Derby, with Steve Cauthen aboard.

May 6, 1982: Gaylord Perry wins his 300th game.

May 6, 1992: Anthony Young of the Mets begins his 26-game losing streak.

May 6, 1997: The Boston Celtics hire Rick Pitono as coach.