D2


EZ SU


THE SIDELINE I


hadmy first fantasy football


draft of the season on Sunday night. The participants


included a lot ofRedskins blogger types,who seemed to enjoy draftingRedskins prospects off their burgundy- and-gold spreadsheets. So Iwanted to ask noted


fantasy geek Chris Cooley for a more nuanced assessment of where the team’smost viable fantasy prospects—Cooley, Clinton Portis,DonovanMcNabb —should be taken. Turns out, he had his own first


fantasy draft of the season on Sunday night, and hewound up with two of those three players on his team. “I picked Clinton in the fourth


Quick Fix voices.washingtonpost.com/hokies-journal


HOKIES JOURNAL Despite injury, freshman ChaseWilliams on roster


The good news for Loudoun


County’s ChaseWilliams, son of formerWashington Redskins and current New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, is that the linebacker was one of just six freshmen named to Virginia Tech’s 70-man travel roster following the close of training camp this week. The only problemis that


Coach Frank Beamer has intimatedWilliams’s chances of seeing the field have decreased because of a nagging hamstring injury he’s battled throughout camp. As colleague Paul Tenorio


wrote this past weekend, Williams would love tomake his Hokies debut nextMonday night


SPORTSWAVES


“Where are [the Nationals] going to find a television analyst who is as passionate about this often woebegone baseball team as Rob Dibble has been, even if he occasionally crosses the line of good sense?”


Leonard Shapiro, in an online media column, arguing that while the MASN broadcaster’s comments about Stephen Strasburg were off the mark, the Nationals should not fire him. More at washingtonpost.com/sports.


TELEVISIONANDRADIO


MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2 p.m.


7 p.m. 7 p.m.


7 p.m.


TENNIS 1 p.m.


7 p.m. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs » WGN


Boston at Baltimore » MASN, WWXT (92.7 FM),WWXX (94.3 FM),WTEM (980 AM)


Washington at Florida » MASN2, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM) Oakland at NewYork Yankees » ESPN


U.S. Open » ESPN2 U.S. Open » ESPN2


BASKETBALL 12 p.m.


FIBAWorld Championship, United States vs. Iran » ESPN 7:30 p.m. WNBA playoffs, Indiana at NewYork » NBA TV only from Comcast. JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST JohnWall, the top overall pick by theWashington Wizards, will face a crop of talented point guards in the first month of the season. Early clashes offer intrigue BY MICHAEL LEE In the first of six entries on Wizards


Insider, beat writer Michael Lee breaks down the team’s upcoming season.


October-November Games: 16 (8 home, 8 road, 3 back-to-


back sets) Overall: JohnWall gets an intense welcome to the league as the Wizards open the season with nine playoff teams from last season. Cleveland is likely headed toward the lottery, but that still leaves eight, including a much-improvedHeat squad. The best part about the early schedule is that after opening the season with the first two games on the road, the Wizards only have one-game road trips in November, with a relatively light schedule at home.Houston and Orlando are the only home opponents projected to make the postseason.Wall will also have to contend with point guards Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, JameerNelson and Aaron Brooks.


Games to watch Oct. 28, at Orlando:Wall will make his


NBA debut as the new-look Wizards help DIGEST COLLEGES


BYU set to go independent in football BYU is going independent in


football, after all. BYU says it is leaving the


Mountain West Conference and will go independent in football while joining theWest Coast Con- ference in all other sports in the 2011-12 school year. BYU had an agreement to join


the Western Athletic Conference in everything but football earlier this month, but that fell apart when theMountainWest Confer- ence invited Nevada and Fresno State to leave the WAC for the MWC. . . . Houston wide receiver Patrick


Edwards, who broke his leg when he ran into a metal service cart in an October 2008 game at Mar- shall, accused the school in a lawsuit of maintaining an unsafe playing field. Edwards was running full-


speed for a long pass when his right shin crashed into the cart just beyond the end zone. Ed- wards suffered a compound frac- ture and a rod was inserted in his right lower leg during surgery the next day inHuntington,W.Va.


The school has announced The lawsuit filed Tuesday in


Kanawha County Circuit Court seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial. Also named as defen- dants were Conference USA and game referee Gil Gelbke, whom the lawsuit said was in charge of inspection and notification. Marshall had a duty to main-


tain its football field in a reason- ably safe manner, including the removal of obstructions, the law- suit said. It cites NCAA football rules requiring the officials to removeanyobstructionsfromthe playing surface that might be hazards to players. . . . Mark Ingram’s run for a sec-


ond Heisman Trophy has been put on hold, and possibly even derailed, before the Alabama tail- back had a chance to gain a single yard. Ingram will miss No. 1 Ala-


bama’s opener against San Jose State after injuring his left knee late in practice Monday, Coach Nick Saban said Tuesday. Saban said in a statement the


star tailback had an arthroscopic procedure and should make a full


plans to the appeal the ruling, with a response expected in less than a week. Masoli transferred from Ore-


gon to Mississippi after being kickedoffOregon’steamafter two run-ins with police. The senior has already com-


pleted his undergraduate degree, and enrolled in Mississippi’s Parks and Recreation graduate program.


BASKETBALL Lithuania rallied from an 18-


point second-half deficit to beat Spain, 76-73, in a game between the two Group D favorites at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.


Lithuania used a 23-5 run to FRANCK FIFE/AGENCE-FRANCE PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES


Lithuania’s LinasKleiza (Montrose Christian), right, scores in front Spain’sRudy Fernandez in theirmatch at the world championship in Turkey. Lithuania rallied from an 18-point deficit to win, 76-73.


recovery in a “relatively short time.” . . . The NCAA denied Mississippi quarterback Jeremiah Masoli’s


request for a waiver that would allow him to play immediately, meaninghewon’t be eligible until 2011.


tie the score at 66 with 5 minutes 25 seconds left in the game. Linas Kleiza (Montrose Christian) scored four points in the last 35 seconds to clinch the win. . . . Puerto Rico earned its first


win at the world championship by beating China, 84-76, using its strong transition game to over- come China’s big men. Washing- ton Wizard Yi Jianlian scored 24 points for China. . . . Nicolas Batum and Mickael


Gelabale each hit a pair of free throws in the final 17 seconds to help France clinch a 68-63 win over Canada, andRussia defeated Ivory Coast, 72-66. . . . Connecticut’s Tina Charles


won the WNBA’s rookie of the year award, months after she was honored as the women’s college player of the year. She averaged morethan 15 pointsandalmost 12 rebounds a game for the Sun.


MISC. Chris Chelios, the longest-ten-


ured defenseman inNHLhistory, is finally hanging up his skates. After 26 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cups, Chelios announced his retirement at the age of 48.He will beanadviser with theDetroit Red Wings. . . . Brazil forward Robinho trans-


ferred to AC Milan, the second major signing in four days for the Italian soccer club following Zla- tan Ibrahimovic’s move from Bar- celona. . . . Laurent Fignon, the French-


man who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and lost to Greg LeMond in 1989 in the race’s closest finish, died Tuesday of cancer.He was 50. —From news services


open the OrlandoMagic’s newarena, Amway Center, on TNT. The game will have some intrigue since Orlando was one of the first places rumored to be a desired home for Gilbert Arenas in the wake of his season-ending suspension last January— given his close ties toMagicGeneral Manager Otis Smith—and the Wizards inquired about making a deal for Vince Carter last summer. TheMagic had a relatively uneventful summer, but it remains one of the fewthreats to win the Eastern Conference. It is one of just two games on TNT forWashington in the upcoming season. Nov. 2, Philadelphia: During theNBA combine in Chicago, Evan Turner said that nomatter who went first that he andWall would likely be linked for the rest of their careers. And, he’s probably right, at least for the first fewseasons. Will the Wizards look back and feel good about their choice, like Chicago is two years after taking Derrick Rose overMichael Beasley? Or will they feel like Portland, wondering how they passed onKevin Durant to take Greg Oden? The first two picks of the 2010NBA draft will go head-to-head for the first time in the Wizards home opener, but fans will also pay close attention to the new product, with a familiar face in Arenas.


Former Wizards coach Doug Collins is also back on the bench in Philadelphia, where his playing career began. Nov. 6, Cleveland: Former Wizards


captain Antawn Jamison makes his return to Verizon Center, but in a much different position than he had hoped. Jamison’s pursuit of a championship placed him in an awkward position of joining forces with a former nemesis. By now, people know how that turned out.Now Jamison, who has won just two playoff series in his first 12 seasons, is stuck with yet another lottery team, a woeful situation he thought he’d left behind. Nov. 29, at Miami: The Wizards have


always had a hard time defeating Dwyane Wade by himself, but what are they going to do now thatWade is supported by his SuperFriends, Chris Bosh and the could-be King? AlthoughWade has owned the Wizards over the years, fans inWashington have always saved their greatest venom for LeBron James, based largely on those intense playoff battles with Cleveland from 2006 to ’08. The game could also be a bit more painful withMikeMiller reminding the Wizards that they have nothing to show for the fifth pick in 2009. leem@washpost.com


at FedEx Field, where he spent many Sundays as a ballboy during his father’s tenure. After being named an All-Met


in 2009 and graduating early fromLoudoun CountyHigh, Williams drew the praise of Virginia Tech’s coaches at spring practices. It seemed he was in prime position to claima backup linebacker spot as a freshman. But Beamer saidMonday the


injury has affected his performance and the coaching staff wants to take amore cautious approach to ensure theymaximize his potential. “If we play him, we want to


play hima lot,” Beamer said. “So we’re gonna go here a while longer andmake sure he’s gonna play a lot if we’re gonna use a year of eligibility on him.” —Mark Giannatto


D.C. SPORTS BOG Dan Steinberg


round asmy second back,” Cooley toldme. “He’s lowon everybody’s lists, but he’s a one in a renowned running offense, and he’s in shape, and clearly he’s ready to play football. I think Clinton’s a steal in the fourth round, inmy opinion, but I got some sneers.” (“Iwould say somewhere in the fourth to sixth [round]


KLMNO 6


3


range,” agreed backup tackle ClintOldenburg,whose draft is thisweekend. “I think he’s primed to have a big year.He’s in shape, running realwell, and he looks real good in our offensive zone scheme. I can’t see him going any later than sixth.”) I told Cooley some national


observers still aren’t sold on Portis being the clearNo. 1 here. “Well, he is now, going into the


firstweek of the season,” Cooley said. “That’swhat I’mgoing off of. Itmight be a reach [in the fourth]. Itmight be a reach. But I wanted him.” Speaking of reaches, Cooley


drafted himself, early in the sixth round. “Two tight ends had already


WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010


WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS First Things First: Join columnist Tracee Hamil- ton weekday mornings at 9:30 to discuss the hottest topics from the world of sports.


For Cooley, fantasy football hits close to home


been taken and I figured Iwasn’t gonna cycle 18more picks back tomyself, and Iwanted to be able to talk trash to everybody in the league aboutmyself,” he said. “If you’re in a leaguewithRedskins fans, I’mmaybe a sixth-round guy. If you’re in a league somewhere else, Imight fall to eighth, ninth. It just depends when the tight ends go off the board.” McNabb? “If you can getMcNabb in the


fifth or sixth, I think that’s a good pick,” Cooley said. “He’s always gotten a lot of fantasy points.He’s a great fantasy quarterback.” Cooley labeled Larry Johnson


the team’s fantasy sleeper, but Oldenburg had amore creative


answer: “DoubleA,Anthony


Armstrong,”Oldenburg said. “In a late round, he could be really good. In fact, if he’s available in my draft, I’mgonna take him late, like a fourth receiver. . . . I think he’s gonna be a great player.” “Alot of people have been


tellingme they’ve been drafting me,”Armstrong said. “I haven’t looked at any rankings, but I just knowsome ofmy friends keep textingme saying, ‘Hey I drafted you inmy fantasy football [league] so I need you to put up some numbers.’ I’mlike, ‘I appreciate it, I’ll domy best.’ Shoot, if I played, I’d draftme, too.”


Hot Topic Wizards Insider Excerpt from voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider


But Cooley andOldenburg


both said they’llwillingly overvalue teammates, somaybe thiswasn’t anymore objective than the blogger draft. “I get guys that I like, guys that


Iwant to succeed,” Cooley said. “So it’s not like the guys that I actually care about do poorly, but ‘yesssss,my fantasy teamballed out!’ Iwant themto both do well.” “I don’twant to go out there


cheering for any other team,” Oldenburg said. “Ifwe’re playing the Jaguars, you don’twant to be like ‘Awman, I needMaurice Jones-Drewto score a couple touchdowns.’Nah.Asmany teammates as you can get.” steinbergd@washpost.com


WASHINGTONPOST LIVEWITH IVAN CARTER 5 P.M. ON COMCAST SPORTSNET Doug Flutie, Robin Ventura and Brian Mitchell join The Post’s GeneWang.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58