UM expects what is now mere routine: a title run
It is August. While most of us head for the nearest air-conditioned building, college football players and coaches prepare to break their first official sweat.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 08/01/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Armstrong melts hearts of the French
It took a record-tying fifth straight triumph, but Lance Armstrong not only won the Tour de France, he won over France. Both are amazing feats.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 07/29/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

One thing is proven guilty: Kobe's image
Innocent until proven guilty. We're going to hear that principle of justice repeated 1,000 times before a verdict or plea bargain is rendered in the Kobe Bryant case.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 07/27/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Popularity, success don't go together
A year ago, the United States national team caused a soccer earthquake at the World Cup by upsetting Portugal and Mexico during its run to the quarterfinals of the planet's biggest sporting event.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 07/23/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Above-it-all attitude fails for Cansecos
The curious case of the Canseco twins took another loopy loop Monday. Courtroom 4-1 was packed with friends, relatives, a Court TV crew, the judge's wife, José Cansecos ex-wife and plenty of people looking for some free entertainment.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 07/22/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Navratilova's 20th inspirational
When Martina Navratilova plucked a few blades of grass from Centre Court in 1995, she thought she was taking home a souvenir from a place she would never set foot again.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 07/07/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Men's matchup offers promise of great tennis
Final won't be dull baseline battle
At first glance, the men's final at Wimbledon today falls into the post-Pete vacuum. Without the 95-percent retired Sampras, without the dependable Andre Agassi and without the combustible Andy Roddick, the championship appears to have lost some of its glamour, for Americans anyway. Is it worth waking up for Breakfast at Wimbledon when Roger Federer is playing Mark Philippoussis?
( 07/06/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

WOMEN'S FINAL, 9 A.M., CHS. 6, 5 Will Serena Williams go for the jugular, or, in this case, the belly of her sister Venus?
Serena has 'abominable' choice
Part XII of the best sibling rivalry in sports plays out today in the Wimbledon final. People who say they are bored with the Williams sisters -- finalists in four of the past five Grand Slams -- don't appreciate the nuances of this thickening plot. We get to see, in plain sight, on Centre Court, a conflict that might otherwise occur in a psychotherapist's office.
( 07/05/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Don't call it a grudge match; Serena won't
Serena Williams has quick feet, which is one reason she wins tennis matches. She also has a quick mind, which is why she can blast passing shots by journalists.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 07/03/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

All England's hopes fall on All England
The British need Wimbledon as therapy. It is their annual fortnight of self-doubt and regret, a time to mourn the decline of the empire and the waning glory of pomp and circumstance. The bow and curtsy are gone from Centre Court, and last week an Osama bin Laden impersonator wearing a fake beard and ball gown crashed Prince William's 21st birthday party.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 06/30/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Modern maturity
Mary Pierce, like so many tennis phenoms, stages a comeback with new perspective and without her father
Mary Pierce reappeared Saturday. Yes, that Mary Pierce. Mary ''The Body'' Pierce. Mary ''The Party Girl'' Pierce. Mary ''The Next No. 1'' Pierce. Mary ''The Purest Hitter in Tennis'' Pierce.
( 06/29/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Grunting teens an earful
If you had walked onto Court 2 at Wimbledon blindfolded on Tuesday you might have mistaken the action for an XXX-rated flick rather than a tennis match.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 06/25/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Expansion fiasco embarrassing for all parties involved
The Big Switch has zig-zagged into the Big Stall. As a result, conference chaos drags on and on and on. University of Miami fans, don't buy those Mike Krzyzewski voodoo dolls just yet. Hang onto those Rutgers jokes for now.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 06/19/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Sorenstam lost, but she emerged a winner
From the moment Annika Sorenstam decided to become the first woman in 58 years to play in a PGA Tour event, her detractors predicted a battle of the sexes. She envisioned something simpler. She called it a battle within herself.
( 05/24/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

It's finally OK to exhale
Sorenstam plays, lives her dream; the game of golf is stronger for it
What Annika Sorenstam did Thursday was play a plucky, precise round of golf. She did not: Embarrass herself or LPGA golfers or female athletes or womankind.
( COMMENTARY / LINDA ROBERTSON, lrobertson@herald.com, 05/23/2003 03:01 AM EDT)