Closing Time
The Red Wings closed out their first round faceoff with the Kings in the same way they won their two Stanley Cups: with a series sweep. This Cup talk is taking on new meaning when you consider the hole the Blues are in. Eight seed San Jose beat St. Louis 3-2 Wednesday to take the Blues to the brink with a 3-1 series lead.
ESPN.com NHL Playoffs coverage
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Coming off two straight shutouts, how high is Pedro Martinez on the list of pitchers you'd like to face? Whoever is Tigers meteorologist, promote that man. Detroit's date with the BoSox and the Cy Young winner was mercifully rained out, and the Tigers skip town to face Sox of a different color ... Putting the green into green and white, Tom Izzo gets a championship thank-you card with a few bills inside. So what's the easier way to a million: reigning the NCAA or answering Regis' questions?
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Kelly Feasel

We know what you're thinking ... we wish
Buckey Kelly does the oh-so-beta-male thing of making himself vulnerable in soliciting your critcism of WBBL.com.
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The Coin Toss By Nathan Bierma The Tennessee English prof who compared the school's athletic view of academics to "institutionalized slavery" went too far. But don't pass this off as another fusty hair-in-a-bun sportsaphobic party-pooper. Linda Meyers, in an independent follow-up report to the school's half-hearted internal review, is right to point out that looking the other way while the All-American in the front row cheats doesn't help him by keeping him on the road to the NFL, but hurts by preventing him from getting, as she puts it, "a coherent program of study." She is bold and correct to complain about the sports program's academic attitude that exists "for the institution's financial profit without concern for the athlete's future welfare," and that having the NCAA police the process while collecting the March Madness TV checks is "letting the fox protect the chicken farm." Her main point is not only well taken but unsung: Just how much of a favor are colleges doing athletes by fudging their eligibility only to send them out the door with a lousy education?  • Read more about Myers' report • Respond at our Forum • Throw your own Toss • More Tosses

Hoop Dreams
When Jamie Feick was let go by his third NBA team in three seasons, he thought maybe the big leagues didn't have room for the MSU Spartan who led the Big Ten in rebounding in 1996. Then the hobbling New Jersey Nets called. Now Feick is a not only New Jersey regular but tied with Karl Malone among the league's rebounding leaders. WBBL.com's Nathan Bierma talks with the workhorse about making it in the big show, about playing with Keith Van Horn, and about the national champion Spartans.
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Hoop magazine Feick feature
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Today on the Web

• Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press says Sergei Federov is as misunderstood as he is maligned - click here
• Frank Deford of Sports Illutstrated presents another side of Bob Knight, and mulls over psychoanalysis - click here
• Mike Klis of the Denver Post says realignment is a waste of time for baseball compared to expanded playoffs - click here
• Steven Brunt of the Canada Globe and Mail says injuries in hockey, unlike football, are a mystery - click here
Respond at our Forum

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Do you have a future major leaguer? Send your young star to former pro Brent Gates' Frozen Ropes summer baseball and softball camps. Click here for details.

 

this week: • Monday Red WIngs at Kings, 9:40p • Tuesday Red Sox at TIgers, 6:45p • Wednesday Red Sox at TIgers, 6:45p Red Wings at Kings, 9:40p • Thursday Rampage at Milwaukee, 8:10p • Friday Kings at Red Wings, if necessary or Tigers at White Sox, 7:45p • Saturday Tigers at White Sox, 1:45p • Sunday Red Wings at Kings, if necessary or Tigers at White Sox, 1:45p Orioles at A's, 7:37p • View our complete daily lineup and more special programming

4/18/00: An Awesome Situation

ABOUT WBBL.COM

WBBL.com exists for the same reason WBBL AM does - to rise above the flood of scores and stats by 1) taking time for analysis and 2) bringing the fans into the conversation. On the air we get you in the game by taking your calls and faxes. Online we offer e-mails, message boards, chat rooms, and local polls.  We keep you informed, but realize that information without perspective is hollow. And so we look to inject the same personality into our Web site that you hear on 1340 AM.