FanFare 4/8/03

Briefly

Baseball

Pedro Martinez's $17.5 million option for 2004 was exercised by the Red Sox on Monday, seven months before the team needed to make a decision. Martinez has made two stellar starts that were squandered by the bullpen, showing no sign of past arm problems.

Basketball

Jerry Krause had a rare eye for talent, assembling two very different supporting casts for Michael Jordan and laying the foundation for the Chicago Bulls' decade of dominance. It's the destruction of the championship team that will be Krause's legacy, though. The man blamed for breaking up the Bulls' dynasty and driving Jordan out of Chicago resigned as general manager, stepping down for health reasons with only a week left in the season. Krause, 64, didn't elaborate on his health problems. But he's been bothered by a variety of ailments in recent years and has had a bad back all season.

Robert Parish and James Worthy played against each other during the fierce Celtics-Lakers rivalry of the 1980s and were among the 50 greatest players in NBA history. On Monday, they became teammates, elected together to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Also chosen for the basketball shrine were Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters, NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd, longtime Louisiana Tech women's coach Leon Barmore, Italian player Dino Meneghin and the late Chick Hearn, who broadcast 3,338 consecutive Laker games.

Football

The Chiefs added another piece to their rebuilt defense, signing free agent defensive end Vonnie Holliday to a five-year contract. A first-round draft pick of the Packers in 1998, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Holliday received a signing bonus of $3 million as part of a $20 million contract that is mostly back-loaded.

Golf

A federal judge upheld a law that allows the sheriff to regulate protests like the one planned by Martha Burk at Augusta National Golf Club. Monday's ruling was only a partial victory for city officials, however. U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. hasn't decided if Sheriff Ronald Strength violated his discretion by denying Burk the right to protest at the front gates of the exclusive club, where the Masters begins Thursday.

Verbatim

David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on allegations that a former student was paid to do schoolwork for Fresno State basketball players: "This might never have been discovered if the players hadn't all turned in papers written by 'Your Name Here.'"

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, updating the collegiate dictionary: "Remember when a 2-3 used to be a zone defense? Now it's the average graduation rate of the teams remaining in the NCAA tournament."

On the air

College baseballSoutheast at Lipscomb, doubleheader, 12:45 p.m., KGIR-1220

College women's basketballNCAA championship, Tennessee vs. Connecticut, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

High school baseballJackson at Chaffee, 3:45 p.m., KAPE-1550

MLB

Cardinals at Rockies, 7:28 p.m., KZIM-960, Fox-Midwest

Soccer

Champions League, Real Madrid vs. Manchester United, 1:30 p.m., ESPN2

Area events

College baseballSoutheast at Lipscomb (2), 1 p.m.

College women's tennisTennessee-Martin at Southeast, 2 p.m.

College golfSoutheast at Belmont Invitational, 8 a.m.

High school baseballNotre Dame at Central, 4 p.m.

Jackson at Chaffee, 4 p.m.

Scott City at Perryville, 4 p.m.

Bell City at Leopold, 4 p.m.

Dexter at Kelly, 4 p.m.

New Madrid County Central at Oran, 4 p.m.

Meadow Heights at Woodland, 4 p.m.

Zalma at Puxico, 4 p.m.

Charleston at Oak Ridge, 4:15 p.m.

High school softballScott City at Bloomfield, 4 p.m.

Bell City at Leopold, 4 p.m.

Meadow Heights at Woodland, 4 p.m.

Charleston at Oak Ridge, 4:15 p.m.

Dexter at Chaffee, 4:30 p.m.

High school girls' soccerNotre Dame at Carbondale, Ill., 4 p.m.

Perryville at Central, 6:30 p.m.

Marion, Ill., at Jackson, 7 p.m.

High school girls' swimmingCentral at Parkway North, 5 p.m.

High school track & fieldNotre Dame, Oran at East Prairie, 4 p.m.

Perryville at Festus Invitational, 4 p.m.

High school golfPerryville at Crystal City, 4 p.m.

OMISSION

Central's Jennifer Pancoast finished second (in 5 minutes, 19 seconds) in the 1,600-meter run Saturday at the Murphysboro Invitational. Her name was not included in results provided to the Southeast Missourian for Sunday's edition.