SI View The Week in TV Sports

Highlights

SATURDAY 6/10

French Open Women's Final
NBC 3 PM (TAPE DELAY); MEN'S FINAL, SUNDAY 9 AM (LIVE) Hey,
Venus Williams, while in Paris you should meet Venus de Milo.
Besides having a first name in common, you both possess
statuesque physiques. Despite severe limb-itations, the marble
Venus attracts many an admirer at the Louvre. Can Williams (who
on Sunday advanced to the quarterfinals) garner gawkers of her
own by winning her first Grand Slam singles title, one week
before her 20th birthday? NBC commits a fault by not airing the
women's match live and giving the live Venus, should she be a
finalist, the chance to be a morning star.

Belmont Stakes
ABC 4:30 PM The bad news: Preakness winner Red Bullet will
bypass the third leg of the Triple Crown, as will Derby dandy
Fusaichi Pegasus. The latter injured himself in his stable. How,
you ask? Horseplay. The good news: The Republican candidate for
the U.S. Senate from New York and political opportunist Rick
Lazio is running--as a dark horse. The likely favorite in
today's depleted bridle party will be Derby runner-up Aptitude.

Red Sox at Braves
FX 7 PM; TBS 7:05 PM The Steely Dan tune Hey, Nineteen is 20
years old, or one year older than Atlanta shortstop Rafael
Furcal. The youngest player in the majors and the first big
leaguer born in the 1980s, Furcal has impressed his elders with
his arm (two Braves insist that his throws to first attain a
sizzling 93 mph), his bat (.303 through Sunday) and his
baserunning (11 steals in 14 attempts). Having added the fleet
Furcal, Atlanta (36-19), baseball's best club, appears to be far
from reeling in the years of its National League dynasty.

MONDAY 6/12

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
HBO 10 PM Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) has introduced a bill
that would outlaw gambling on intercollegiate athletics. Please,
stop laughing. Asked by Real Sports correspondent Larry Merchant
whether betting on 19- and 20-year-olds is ethical, Las Vegas
mayor Oscar Goodman wagers the opinion, "I'd bet on a cockroach
and not have any compunction against it." Also, correspondent
Armen Keteyian profiles Spencer Haywood, progenitor of the NBA's
early entrant rule. As the segment poignantly shows, Haywood's
pathbreaking 1971 decision to enter pro ball with two years of
college eligibility remaining is unknown to most of today's
stars, many of whom benefit handsomely from his precedent.

Don't Miss

SUNDAY 6/11

NBA Finals: Lakers At Pacers
NBC 7:30 PM; WEDNESDAY AND (IF NECESSARY) FRIDAY 9 PM Back home
in Indiana, as the Pacers are for tonight's Game 3. Indiana
guard Reggie Miller (above), a native Southern Californian and
UCLA alumnus, is at home in both of this series' venues. Playing
in his first Finals, Miller, a 13-year NBA veteran and five-time
All-Star, has earned the right to bask in the spotlight. Should
the Lakers win the title on the road, it would mark the second
time in three months that a major basketball championship
concluded in Indianapolis and the losing side's go-to player was
named Miller. (The other: Mike, Florida, vanquished in the NCAA
final by Michigan State.)

ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

COLOR PHOTO: MANNY MILLAN

the zapper

To Bee or Not to Bee: Last Friday on The Last Word, Jim Rome
talked smack about 12-year-old George Abraham Thampy, winner of
the National Spelling Bee, saying that anyone who could take
first prize in such a competition is "lame, l-a-m-e" (as opposed
to someone who listens to sports talk radio daily). Yo, Romey,
ease up: The kid's a two-sport nonathlete, having also taken
second at the National Geography Bee.... TNN satisfies your
doggie-punchin' jones with the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour finals
(Saturday, 11 p.m., and Sunday, 9 p.m.).... The College World
Series is telecast from Omaha on Saturday (CBS, 12:30 p.m., and
ESPN2, 7 p.m.) and the rest of the week on ESPN and ESPN2.