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Monday, May 17, 2004
Updated: June 1, 4:10 PM ET
Ruling the Pony League

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Smarty Jones has lifted the sport of horse racing to the top spot in Big 5 top stories of the week honors announced May 16. The Big 5 stories of the week are announced every Sunday. If it doesn't make GameNight's Big 5, you've only got yourself to blame! Send in your nominees to gamenight@espnradio.com.

GameNight's Big 5 Selections for May 16
5.	One cool Brew! Ben Sheets K's 18.
4.	The Missouri Tigers' basketball program under fire.
3.	Lakers eliminate defending champs
2.	Mama said Knock You Out! Antonio Tarver KO's Roy Jones Jr.
1.	Smarty Jones leaves Preakness field in his dust

No. 5: Get that man a cold one

	Ben Sheets mows 'em down.

Ben Sheets struck out a franchise-record 18, the most in the majors in three years, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

Sheets (4-2) threw a three-hitter and struck out six of the last seven batters he faced -- including all three in the ninth. He threw 116 pitches, 91 for strikes. Sheets' previous career high was 10 strikeouts against Houston on April 10 and May 5 against Cincinnati. The previous franchise mark of 14 was set by Moose Haas on April 12, 1978, against the New York Yankees.

He fanned every Braves starter except second baseman Nick Green, who made his first major league start in place of Marcus Giles, who broke his collarbone Saturday night. Sheets surrendered a double to Dewayne Wise leading off the game, then retired 15 straight before walking Green in the sixth, the right-hander's only walk of the game.

No. 4: Misery in Missouri

	Seems Quin Snyder has a few things to answer for.

Missouri basketball coach Quin Snyder is accused by the NCAA of recruiting violations and providing meals and gifts of clothing for his own players, documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The university last week released the list of allegations with names of school employees and students blacked out. But in response to an AP request under Missouri's open records law, the university provided a version Saturday naming the staffers.

Snyder is named in 17 allegations, dating between 1999 and last year, in the NCAA's formal notice of alleged rule violations. Student's names were still blacked out, with the school citing federal privacy law.

Some of the alleged violations have been reported previously. For example, Snyder has already acknowledged giving troubled ex-player Ricky Clemons two pairs of pants and a pair of flip-flops the coach received as promotional gifts. Such gifts are barred by NCAA rules.

The NCAA investigation grew out of the problems of Clemons, who has asserted in media interviews that he was paid by coaches, an allegation denied by Snyder and his assistants.

The newly released documents clarify which of Snyder's staffers are accused of breaking rules. Assistant coach Lane Odom resigned last week, hours after the university released the redacted version of the allegations. Snyder's top assistant, Tony Harvey, was placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the NCAA proceedings. The NCAA also alleges Harvey and Odom broke rules by making multiple contacts with prospective players. Harvey is identified as the Missouri assistant who allegedly acted unethically by buying meals for Amateur Athletic Union coaches on multiple occasions, then misrepresenting who received the meals as he sought reimbursement from the school.

No. 3: Just give 'em the trophy

	From long distance, it's Fisher!

Responsible for the last five NBA Titles, the Lakers and Spurs met again in the Western Conference semi-finals. After the defending champs jumped-out to a 2-0 series lead, it appeared as if the Hollywood All-Star experiment had failed... but with all respect to Lee Corso, "Not so fast my friend!"

Kobe Bryant scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Shaquille O'Neal had 17 points, 19 rebounds and five blocked shots and the Lakers beat the Spurs 88-76 Saturday night to win the Western Conference semifinals in six games. Exactly a year earlier, it was the Spurs celebrating a conference semifinal triumph on the same court to end the Lakers' quest for a fourth straight title.

The series pivotal moment came as Derek Fisher hit a Game 5-winning shot with .4 seconds, moments after it appeared Tim Duncan had hit the game-winning shot. Unfortunately for the Spurs, the laws of sports only allow one game-winning shot per game.

The Lakers are only the eighth team in NBA history to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games.

No. 2: Never say never

	After handing out a beat-down, Tarver celebrated.

Call it an upset... call it shocking... call it the end of an era. Just don't call it lucky. Following a short overhand left from Antonio Tarver midway through the second round, four-division champion Roy Jones Jr. was handed his first professional knock-out loss.

Referee Jay Nady took one look in Jones' eyes, after watching him use the ropes to stabilize his shaky steps, and wisely waved the contest off at the 1:41 mark of the second round. Jones (49-2 with 38 KO's) called the hit a "good shot," while Tarver (22-2 with 18 KO's) called it "a perfect punch." Jones had been beaten only once in 50 previous fights -- and that was on a disqualification. After seeing 'the best pound-for-pound' fighter knocked silly by one punch, the crowd of 10,000 at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino exploded to their feet, roaring in unison.

For Tarver, who recently filed for bankruptcy, the $2 million purse was his biggest payday of a pro career that began after he won a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics. Jones earned $6 million for a fight.

Don King, who promoted the rematch and has three heavyweight title holders (Chris Byrd, John Ruiz and Lamon Brewster) under contract, said, "Antonio is certainly a candidate for a heavyweight fight. He beat Superman tonight... It was shock and amazement. He made this fight. This young man shocked everyone."

Only in America!

No. 1: Down the stretch he comes

	Smarty has kicked opponents in the pants.

Smarty Jones won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico by routing nine hopelessly overmatched opponents, finishing 11½ lengths ahead of runner-up Rock Hard Ten. This was the greatest margin of victory in the 129 runnings of the second-leg of the Triple Crown.

Smarty Jones' perfection and lore helped attract a crowd of 112,668, smashing the Preakness record of 104,454 set in 2001. Betting marks fell, too, with total handle exceeding $85.1 million, including almost $58.8 million on the big race. Smarty Jones paid $3.40 after running 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.59 and earned $650,000, raising his career bankroll to more than $7.4 million. If he wins the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes on June 5, he will receive a $5-million bonus for the first Triple Crown sweep since Affirmed in 1978. He is the sixth horse in the past eight years to win the Derby and Preakness, following Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), Charismatic (1999), War Emblem (2002) and Funny Cide (2003).

The 5-6:45 p.m. telecast drew a 7.2 overnight rating on NBC, peaking at 9.8 from 6-6:30 p.m., which included the race. It was up 27 percent from last year's peak of 7.7 when Funny Cide also won the Preakness after winning the Kentucky Derby.

The Philadelphia-bred 3-year old made his minor 3-5 odds look like a gigantic overlay as he ran his record to 8-for-8 and moved within one win of becoming the first undefeated Triple Crown winner since Seattle Slew in 1977 and the leading money-winner of all time.

Makes you wonder how many rivals will show up to take him on at Belmont Park!

Material from ESPN news services used by Ray Necci and GameNight staff in compiling Big 5 text

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