Sports Beat

A calendar featuring NFL cheerleaders in their underwear has
just come out, and all we can say is, Thongs for the memories.
The 2002-03 Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders Lingerie Calendar
reminds us that last year two former Eagles cheerleaders filed a
lawsuit, later joined by 100 more former Eagles cheerleaders,
alleging that visiting NFL players had peeked into their
dressing room at Veterans Stadium by drilling holes through a
door. Doesn't this project contradict the spirit of that ongoing
suit? Absolutely not, says cheerleader and December 2003 model
Amanda Morris (left), who explained, "One has nothing to do with
the other. None of us was here then, and most of us didn't even
know about the lawsuit." Besides, it's "something beautiful,
very tasteful," says Christina Fuller, who appears topless in
January 2003, albeit with her chest covered by the inspirational
book The Road Less Traveled. "It's not some kind of low-class
calendar." The Eagles' players, for their part, are supportive.
"I'm out there in white spandex every Sunday while millions of
people watch," says offensive lineman John Welbourn. "Why
shouldn't cheerleaders be dressed in lingerie in a calendar?"

After sending tremors through the track community with his
declaration in last month's Genre magazine that he is
homosexual, U.S. indoor 800-meter champ Derrick Peterson has
reversed course. On Aug. 13 he issued a statement saying he's
straight. What's going on here? That's what Cyd Zeigler, the
sports editor for Genre, a gay men's monthly, is wondering.
"Having spent two days with him, I don't believe a word he's
saying now," says Zeigler, who met Peterson when the runner was
in L.A. to pose for photos that accompanied the story. In the
article Peterson said that Adidas, his sponsor, supported his
decision to come out. "I like men and women," he said, adding,
"I am definitely not heterosexual." In his retraction--which
came after a rush of media requests for interviews--Peterson
said that he was going through an "experimental phase" at the
time of the Genre interview and that he had now "determined with
certainty that I am not homosexual." He also posted an
explanation to the running website letsrun.com, saying that he'd
lied (his word) to Genre because "I was upset that people of
color were not getting equal representation in the 'alternative
sexuality' areas." Peterson, who according to his agent is
currently competing in Europe, was unavailable for comment to SI.

Country star and inveterate railbird Toby Keith--whose single
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue recently topped the country
charts--is going from The Angry American (the subtitle of the
song) to the All American. Last Thursday at Ruidoso (N.Mex.)
Downs, Keith's 2-year-old colt, The Down Side, qualified for the
$2 million All American Futurity, America's richest
quarter-horse race. The race will go off on Labor Day at
Ruidoso. "He's a nice colt," says Keith, who with his co-owners
paid $47,000 for The Down Side last year. "If he has a clean
trip, he ought to be tough." Though he's new to quarter horses,
Keith has raced thoroughbreds for seven years, breeding and
training them at Dream Walkin' Farm, the spread he owns near his
home in Norman, Okla.

COLOR PHOTO: AL TIELEMANS (MORRIS) Cheerleader Amanda Morris

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN DOMAN (HAZELTINE) PICTURE THIS Is this how to catch a Tiger? You never know. These youngsters weren't weeding out anyone as they blindly sought autographs near the 18th hole at the PGA Championship in Chaska, Minn. The fenced-out fans didn't get face time with their idols, but at least they were safe from the fray on the other side, where a child suffered minor injuries when autograph-seekers mobbed Phil Mickelson.

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (NEVIN)

THIS WEEK'S SIGN OF THE
APOCALYPSE

An Italian woman went to court to change her baby's name after
her husband secretly named him Varenne Giampaolo to honor
Italy's top trotting horse (Varenne) and its driver (Giampaolo).

THEY SAID IT
PHIL NEVIN

Padres infielder, on Reds first baseman Sean Casey's habit of
chatting up runners: "He's like that guy in Seinfeld, the close
talker. You think Casey's going to lick your face."