Who & Where

1 Steve Blass
In '73 the Pirates righty from Canaan inexplicably lost control
of his pitches, leading to the term Steve Blass Disease for
players who are so afflicted.

HOT SPOT
2 ESPN Headquarters
Critics scoffed at the idea of a 24-hour sports network when ESPN
began broadcasting from Bristol (chosen because it had cheap land
available) on Sept. 7, 1979. Today the network is a juggernaut,
and the city is, among sports nuts at least, famous.

3 International Skating Center of Connecticut
The Simsbury rink has been the training base for Oksana Baiul,
Viktor Petrenko, Sasha Cohen and other figure skating stars.

4 Marcus Camby
The Nuggets center from Hartford was the No. 2 pick in the 1996
NBA draft.

5 Dwight Freeney
The Colts defensive end from Hartford had a team-record 13 sacks
as a rookie in 2002.

6 Bill Romanowski
The Raiders linebacker from Vernon has won four Super Bowl rings
in 16 NFL seasons.

7 Renschler Field Stadium
UConn's $91 million, 40,000-seat football stadium (a.k.a. The
Rent) opened this year in East Hartford.

8 Nykesha Sales
The Connecticut Sun forward and five-time WNBA All-Star holds the
career scoring mark at UConn.

9 Vin Baker
The Celtics forward from Old Saybrook is the career scoring and
blocked shots leader at the University of Hartford.

10 Rocky Hill
The soccer hotbed on the Connecticut River is the state's SI
Sportstown, for having the best community sports programs.

11 TPC at River Highlands
The Cromwell course hosts the Greater Hartford Open, which draws
more than 300,000 fans annually.

12 Jeff Bagwell
The 1991 Rookie of the Year and '94 NL MVP with the Astros is
from Killingworth.

13 Brian Leetch
The Rangers defenseman from Cheshire is a two-time Norris Trophy
winner.

14 Yale
The first college sports team was Bulldogs crew, launched in
1843.

15 Wiffle Ball, Inc.
The Shelton company that invented the sport celebrated its 50th
anniversary in 2003.

16 Chris Soule
The 2003 World Cup skeleton champion is from Trumbull.

17 Charles Nagy
The Fairfield native and former UConn Husky was an All-Star
pitcher for the Indians; he joined the team's front office last
July.

18 Mo Vaughn
The 1995 AL MVP and Mets first baseman is from Norwalk.

19 Bobby Valentine
The former major league manager was the first three-time
All-State football player in Connecticut, at Stamford's Rippowan
High.

20 Racquetball
The sport was invented by Joe Sobek in Greenwich in 1949.

21 Jerry Nadeau
The 33-year-old NASCAR driver is from Danbury.

22 Patrick Kerney
In 2002 the Falcons standout and graduate of Taft School in
Watertown led NFL defensive ends in tackles with 104.

COLOR PHOTO: CHUCK SOLOMON (BRISTOL) More than 2,000 people work at the 24-acre ESPN complex.

COLOR MAP: MAP ILLUSTRATION BY JOE ZEFF HARTFORD