Gameplan
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Yankees at Blue Jays
This series won't have much impact on the playoff drive; New York is cruisingin the AL East, while Toronto is out of it. But Friday's opener is anotherchance to ask: What happened to Roy Halladay? Since not being traded to acontender before the July 31 deadline the Blue Jays' ace is 2--4 with a 4.71ERA. See him on MLB.tv.
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World Cup qualifiers
The U.S. can nail down a spot in the 2010 Cup with wins over El Salvador (inSandy, Utah, on Saturday) and Trinidad and Tobago (in the islands on Sept. 9;both are on ESPN Classic). Keep an eye on striker Jozy Altidore. He had a hattrick against T&T in April and scored a key goal in a March draw with ElSalvador.
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BYU vs. Oklahoma
Give the No. 3 Sooners and No. 20 Cougars credit: No opening-week cupcakes forthem. Gutsy? Maybe, but OU is also getting $2.25 million and BYU $1.5 millionto play at plush, new Cowboys Stadium in Texas (Saturday on ESPN). It's thefirst game that counts at the House That Jerry Built.
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USOC Hall of Fame induction
Sprinter Michael Johnson, skier Picabo Street and the 1992 Dream Team are amongthe former U.S. Olympians to be inducted (taped ceremony airs Saturday on NBC).There was only a partial Dream reunion—no, Jordan didn't show—but the eventstill raised $5 million for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid.
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An Honorable Run
It's about running, but Matt McCue, a track athlete at Colorado from 2001 to'05, also writes about what he learned from two mentors, CU coach Mark Wetmoreand beloved Iowa City high school coach Bob Brown, who died in '07. It's amoving meditation on the coach-athlete bond.
The Pop CultureGrid
Athletes in the mix | Quentin Tarantino's next movie should be about... | Best breakup song ever | First thing I ate this morning | Best thing I heard on the news last week | Favorite reality show |
PHILLIP BUCHANON Lions CB | Players' entourages | Break Up (Mario) | Egg whites, turkey bacon and turkey sausage | Success of Cash for Clunkers | The T.O. Show |
ROBBIE FINDLEY Real Salt Lake F | Violence | Kiss the Baby Sky (Tohoshinki) | Egg sandwich | Chick-fil-A is Grade A in fast food | Making the Band |
JASON BABIN Eagles DE | Vietnam | She F------ Hates Me (Puddle of Mudd) | Egg whites and fruit | Stock market continues to rally | Celebrity Apprentice |
ANDRE JOHNSON Texans WR | I don't watch that stuff | No idea | Eggs | Michael Vick was playing | Flavor of Love |
Inside the Grid
Buchanon, an eight-year NFL vet and one of the fewpeople watching T.O.'s low-rated VH-1 series, sees himself in the laid-backimage Owens (above) projects on the show. "That show is hilarious,"Buchanon says. "He's an NFL player and a regular Joe like me, just enjoyingwomen and getting into funny situations."
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CHUCK SOLOMON (HALLADAY)
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JOHN TODD/ISIPHOTOS.COM (ALTIDORE)
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JOHN BIEVER (OKLAHOMA)
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RICHARD MACKSON (DREAM TEAM)
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DAVID DUPREY/AP (OWENS)
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MICHAEL PEREZ/AP (VICK)
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MARGARET BOWLES/US PRESSWIRE (JOHNSON)
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CHRIS GARDNER/US PRESSWIRE (BABIN)
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FRED KFOURY/ICON SMI (FINDLEY)
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CHRIS LIVINGSTON/ICON SMI (BUCHANON)
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MARK BLINCH/REUTERS (TARANTINO)
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MELISSA HOM/CORBIS (EGGS)
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