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Show 6 Monday, July 9,2007 SPORTS www.dailyutahch ron icle. com The JASON PETERSON Sideline | The Dally Sportsllne I Roger Federer extended his ! winning streak on grass to 54 I matches and tied Bjorn Borg with I I his 11th Grand Slam title and fifth) ^straight Wimbledon title Sunday. ESPN has gone far enough Wimbledon Men's Final Y ou're coming up on 39 years of age. Your day job consists of hanging plywood and eating ham sandwiches, but mostly you just eat ham sandwiches and watch other men hang plywood. At night, you typically head to the bar where you've been a fixture for the last 15 years. The guys affectionately call you the "Human Keg" for obvious reasonsGrowing up on a steady, diet of beer and potato chips, you have trouble concealing your midsection with any one of your XXL shirts, and your shoes often don't match. Wearing a John Deere cap every day has worn the top of your head down to a polished dome and you hang on dearly to the remaining plumage around the sides. The only thing you have to feel proud of, other than the fact that you found a woman who will live through sickness and health with you: You have eagle eyes. You can toss darts from eight feet away with such astounding accuracy that your beer buddies rave about you to the other ham sandwich-eaters at work. Surprisingly, Larry, Moe and Curly may not be the only ones interested in your flair for dart throwing. ESPN might be. Before you choke on your breakfast, realize this: ESPN will also come knocking if you are proficient in poker, billiards, flyfishing, binging obscene amounts of hot dogs in less than 10 minutes dr^dragging twin-prop airplanes strapped over your shoulders foiva few yards until you reach a piece of tape on the ground that reads, "Congratulations, you just risked snapping your back in half to drag a small passenger plane across this piece of tape." That's right, ESPN—the worldwide leader in sports—airs all of these amazing accomplishments of the human race and more. Look up the word "sport" in the dictionary and you'llfind:"an athletic activity" and "a laughingstock." Apparently, ESPN is taking them both seriously. Let's face it—do you really enjoy coming home from a hard day's work, sinking into your favorite armchair, popping a Coke and throwing on the latest episode of the Strongest Man Competition where Nordic steroid junkies strut their stuff? Actually, I'll let that one slide— I know how hard these guys must be training to drag airplanes and 18-wheelers. They may come in useful if my plane or truck ever runs out of fuel. The other night, however, I flipped on the television hoping to catch "SportsCenter." To my great disgust, the program had See PETERSON Page 8 Rafael Nadal 7-6,4-6, 7-6, 2-6,6-2 American League National League ARI3 MIL2 BOS 5 LAA0 WAS 7 DET6 NYY12 ON 4 NYM3 CLEO MIN3 CHC2 HOU8 CHW6 PIT 6 TORI TB4 BALI KC12 TEX 2 SEA 7 OAK 3 SANO STL 7 PHI 8 COL 4 FLA 3 LAD 9 ATL5 SD4 MLB Standings American League TYLER COQB/IhtDalyUiabCbrcrttk Toronto FC's Ronnie O'Brien throws RSL defender Ritchie Kotschau to the ground Wednesday when the teams faced off at Rice-Eccles Stadium. RSL dropped another game on the road this weekend against the Columbus Crew, 2-0. RSL's season sours Real's latest loss has team wishing for a fresh start Jon Gilbert STAFF WRITER Maybe Major League Soccer could just put the 2007 season on hold for a couple of weeks so certain teams could start over. According to Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis, that is exactly what his team needs. RSL dropped yet another match . on the road, this time a 2-0 decision, to the Columbus Crew on Saturday night. The loss extended the team's road winless streak to 12 games, dating back to last season. "I feel that this team probably needs a preseason, to be honest," Kreis said. "With some new players who are playing in a different system, I would love to have some time to work with those two forwards." Those two forwards are Alecko Eskandarian and Robbie Findley. Both players arrived midseason in an effort to jumpstart a stalled offense, but results have been few and far between. The forwards have three goals and one assist between them in 830 minutes of play. Columbus, on the other hand, has had no such struggles as of late. The Crew galloped to victory late on a penalty kick by Guillermo Barros Schelotto and a strike by Eddie Gaven. Schelotto scored at the expense of a questionable call committed by RSL defender Richie Kotschau. Kotschau seemed to foul Andy Herron on a hard slide tackle as the Crew forward cut inside the penalty box. On second look, it appeared Kotschau might have played the ball first, which would have made it a clean play. Nevertheless, the call stood and Schelotto stepped up and hammered home his second goal of the season in the 76th minute. "In my eyes, I still don't see it as a penalty," Kotschau said. "I did get the ball. If (the referee is) saying I didn't get the ball, I didn't get (Herron) either." Kreis echoed similar disagreement. "I'll have to go over it again, but a very questionable PK call," he said. "And I really felt the whole game was turned on that moment." Gaven struck only four minutes later, finishing an assist by Alejandro Moreno. Moreno made a strong run up the left side, beating RSL's Danny Torres before crossing the ball to Gaven in front of the net. The two Columbus goals continued an RSL trend. Real has allowed a deciding goal in the last 15 minutes of three of its last four losses. A late meltdown even threatened a victory over D.C. United on June 23, when it cut RSL's lead to one in the 87th minute. Unlike the D.C. match, RSL hardly showed up from the beginning. The Crew controlled the match handily from the start and RSL barely saw its opponent's side of the field in the first half, resulting in 10 shots from Columbus compared with Salt Lake's two. With RSL limping, Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer was forced to make only one save all match long. The win established a three-game shutout streak for the keeper and a sixgame undefeated streak for his team. Real goalkeeper Nick Rimando made his presence felt, but it was not enough. He made six saves between the bars, diving to fend off multiple shots, but eventually Columbus' persistent attack was too much. "It's not the goalkeeper's job to win the game," Rimando said. "It's a team job." Frustration consumed RSL's performance. The club committed 23 fouls compared with the Crew's eight, and the developing chemistry between Eskandarian and Findley will have to wait at least one more game. Eskandarian corralled his second yellow card of the match in stoppage time while tackling Schelotto. The red card and subsequent ejection reserved a spot for Eskandarian on the bench when Real plays Kansas City on July 14 while he serves a one-game suspension. The same goes for Mehdi Ballouchy, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and will also sit out one game. The loss further sours a season riddled with growing frustration. "Again, we lost three points and we're getting deeper and deeper in the hole," Rimando said. "It's going to get harder and harder to get out of it." The Revue has been operating in a format similar to the current one since 1989, and has developed into one of the most respected NBA summer leagues in the country. The current system pits seven teams in a weeklong league, with Lake area will have a chance to the rosters made up of mostly get a head start on the opinion- rookies, one-year pros, younger forming process of the 2007 draft free agents and a few guys just trying to make it to the NBA. class. Names such as Kevin D.urant, This year, all the Rocky MounJeff Green, Joakim Noah, Acie Law, tain Revue teams from last season Al Horford and Thaddeus Young will be present, and the addition will be headlining the 2007 Rocky of the Chicago Bulls will be the Mountain Revue, which runs from only change in scenery. The PhilaJuly 13 through July 20 at Salt Lake Community College. See REVUE Page 8 2007 Rocky Mountain Revue will display plenty of talent Tony Pizza SPORTS EDITOR In time, NBA experts not named Stephen A. Smith may look back at the 2007 NBA Draft and realize it produced the greatest crop of NBA players in league history. False preachers such as Smith will claim they knew the truth all along. For now, people will have to debate the drafts of 1984, which produced household names such as Olajuwon, Barkley, Stockton and Jordan, and 2003, which brought names such as King James, Melo, D-Wade and Chris Bosh into the NBA. But NBA fans in the Salt 2007 Rocky Mountain Revue schedule All games played at Salt Lake Community College's Lifetime Activities Center (4600 S. Redwood Road) ; delphla vs. San Antonio :7 p.m.-Atlanta vs. Utah defeated MLB Scoreboard Mountains of potential Frida July 13 :;4:30pjn.-PR Roger Federer Tuesday, July 17 Wednesday July 18 Thursday, July 19 Friday, July 20 Saturday, Sunday,July 15 Monday,July16 : ; 2:15 p.m.-Dallas 2:15 p.m.July 14 Off day 2:15 p.m.-Chicago 2:15 pan.-Atlanta vs.: Off day Philadelphia vs. Atlanta vs. Philadelphia :30 p.m.-AtChicago • vs. San Antonio 4:30 p.m.-Dallas vs. 4:30 p.m.-Dallas lanta vs. San Antonio 4 3 0 pjn. - San Ante- j • 4:30 p.m. - Seattle Seattle vs. Atlanta 7 p.m.-Philadelphia nio vs. Philadelphia : [ vs. Chicago 7 p.m. - Chicago vs. .. . 7p.m.-SanAntonio vs. Utah 7 p.m.-Seattle : 7 p.m. - Atlanta r Utah 3Sg> . vs. Utah vs. Utah i i vs. Utah W L PCT GB Strk. L10 East Boston 53 34 .609 Toronto 43 44 .494 10 Wl 4-6 NY Yankees 42 43 .494 10 Wl 6-4 Baltimore 38 49 .437 15 LI 4-6 Tampa Bay 34 53 .391 19 L2 1-9 L L3 5-5 PC GB Strk. L10 Central W Detroit 52 34 .605 W5 7-3 Cleveland 52 36 .591 1 LI 6-4 Minnesota Chicago Sox 45 43 .511 8 L2 4-6 39 47 .452 13 W2 6-4 Kansas City 38 50 .432 15 W2 6-4 West W LA Angels 53 35 .605 Seattle 49 44 36 .576 44 .500 2.5 Oakland Texas 38 50 .432 15 L PC GB Strk. L10 L1 4-6 W3 7-3 L3 4-6 Wl 6-4 National League W L PCT GB Strk. L10 East NY Mets 48 39 .557 Atlanta 47 42 .528 2 Wl Philadelphia 44 44 .500 4.5 Wl 3-7 Florida 42 47 .472 LI 5-5 Washington 36 52 .409 12.5 Central W Milwaukee 49 39 .557 44 43 .506 4.5 Ll 6- St. Louis Pittsburgh 40 45 .471 7.5 Wl 6-4 40 48 .455 9 Wl 7-3 Houston 39 50 .438 10.5 Wl 6-4 .incinnati West 36 52 .409 W4 6- IhicagoCubs W L L L2 3-7 W2 4-6 PC GB Strk. L10 L2 3-7 13 PC GB Strk. L10 San Diego 49 38 .563 LA Dodgers 49 40 .551 Arizona 47 43 .522 3.5 L5 2-8 Colorado 44 44 .500 5.5 Ll 6-4 San Francisco 38 48 .442 105 Ll 5-5 1 Ll 5-5 Wl 4-6 MLS Scoreboard Sat., July 7 Sun., July 8 CHI 1 CLB 2 COL 0 HOU1 TOR1 RSLO NY1 DC0 LA 2 NE1 KC 2 CHV1 MLS Standings Western Conference Team GP W Houston 16 9 5 L 2 +11 D GD Pts Dallas 17 9 6 2 0 29 ChivasUSA 14 6 5 3 3 21 Colorado 17 4 5 -8 17 Los A n g e l e s 12 3 5 4 -1 13 Real Salt Lake 12 1 7 6 - 29 9 9 Eastern Conference Team GP W New York 15 7 5 L 3 D GD Pts +5 24 New England 14 6 3 5 +8 23 D.C. United Kansas City 14 15 6 5 +5 4 + 4 23 2, Columbus 16 -1 Toronto FC 15 -6 18 Chicago 15 -9 16 Upcoming MLS games Thursday, July 12 Houston @ Chicago Saturday, July 14 Real Salt Lake @ Kansas' City Columbus @ Chivas USA Dallas© DC United New England @ New York By the Numbers 5 The number of consecutive Wimbledon titles Roger Federer has won. Also, the number of home runs Barry Bonds needs to surpass Hank Aaron on the all-time home runs list |