Rhinos hope to kick-start the new year
By Bob Matthews
Democrat and Chronicle
(Thursday, January 3, 2002) -- The two-time defending A-League champion Rochester Rhinos are working on three late holiday gifts for their fans.
General manager Chris Economides says he is close to signing veteran All-Star defender Scott Schweitzer to a three-year contract and is closing in on deals with first-team A-League All-Star midfielder Temoc Suarez and former Hershey star forward Greg Simmonds.
"Scottie is a heart-and-soul type player," Economides says. "It is no coincidence that he has played in the last five A-League championship games (one with Charleston and four with Rochester)."
Suarez is shopping for a team after the Connecticut Wolves folded. Simmonds played for the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer last season.
"You can't have enough attacking midfielders," says Economides. "Simmonds is a quality forward we've been interested in for years."
Economides, sensitive of comparisons with the free-spending New York Yankees, says the Rhinos did not have the A-League's top player payroll last year: "We were third, behind Charleston and Pittsburgh."
One reason the Pittsburgh Steelers lead the NFL in defense (263.9 yards per game compared to No. 2 St. Louis' 282.1 yards per game) is that their defense is on the field the least.
Pittsburgh has a huge lead over No. 2 Atlanta in average time of possession (34:07 to 31:44).
The Buffalo Bills rank 23rd in average time of possession (29:19).
A few other reasons the Bills are 3-12:
They lead the NFL with 118 penalties.
They have the second-fewest takeaways (19 compared to No. 31 Minnesota's 17).
They're minus-13 in sack differential (31 for and 44 against).
A record-smashing 43,957,135 NFL Pro Bowl votes were cast by fans on NFL.com and at Blockbuster stores nationwide. The votes of fans, players and coaches each count one-third in determining the starters (in case of a tie at any position, the selection of the fans gets the nod).
Thank goodness, more people still vote for President of the United States: George Bush received 48,779,568 votes and Al Gore had 48,971,067 in the 2000 election.
Top MVP candidates Kordell Stewart (Pittsburgh), Curtis Martin (New York Jets) and Rich Gannon (Oakland) all were on losing teams last week, giving a late boost to the MVP stock of St. Louis teammates Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk.
Warner leads the NFL in passing yards by a wide margin (4,550 to Peyton Manning's 3,940) and TD passes (33 to Brett Favre's 30). Faulk trails Kansas City's Priest Holmes by only 79 yards in total yards from scrimmage (2,000 to 1,921) despite missing two games.
The Minnesota Vikings are 0-7 on the road and finish their season at Baltimore Monday night. The Vikings haven't had a winless road season since their first year in the NFL (0-7 in 1961)... . The New York Jets probably won't mind playing this week's do-or-die game against Oakland on the road. The Jets finished 3-5 at home but are 6-1 away... . Dominic Rhodes (Indianapolis) has the most yards rushing in history (963) by an undrafted rookie. Assuming Edgerrin James returns healthy next season, Rhodes could be trade bait for defensive help.
The Rochester Americans, struggling on home ice with a 7-8-4 record (outscored 54-46), obviously are pressing on the power play with a pitiful 6 of 89 (6.7 percent) at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. Overall, Rochester's power play entered last night 12 of 167 overall (7.2 percent) and ranked last in pro hockey.
Baltimore left-handed slugger Jay Gibbons could start this season with the Rochester Red Wings. He hit 15 home runs in only 73 games with the Orioles last year before breaking his right hand in a game in Toronto on Aug. 4. He was a Rule 5 draft selection from Toronto last winter and had never played above Double-A before last year.
Slugger Juan Gonzalez languishing on the free agent market seems strange considering his production the past four seasons compared to new New York Yankees hero Jason Giambi:
GIAMBI -- 141 HRs, 490 RBI.
GONZALEZ -- 141 HRs, 492 RBI.
Despite club denials, he could end up with the Mets, and his agent probably is using Baltimore as a negotiating ploy. The Orioles are the only other team that has expressed interest in the two-time AL MVP.
The 2008 Summer Olympics will be in China and some experts already are predicting the host nation will win the total medals competition. China is pushing for the addition of wushu as a medal sport. It is the Chinese martial art.
Rochester native Jeff Sluman is in this week's 32-player field as the PGA Tour kicks off the 2002 season with the Mercedes Championships in Hawaii. Only last year's tour winners are eligible. First prize is $720,000 and a 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL 500 Sport.
The World Wrestling Federation is expected to kick off 2002 with a spectacular Raw show Monday night, with the possibility of Kevin Nash returning from the defunct World Championship Wrestling, Triple H returning from legitimate injury, and the talent roster being split into two groups in a "random" draft (and if you believe that, The Fabulous Moolah was homecoming queen at her university)... . The WWF trailed only PlayStation 2 and Britney Spears for most-searched items on Yahoo for 2001.
Always looking for the edge and a neutral field, the Scottish soccer team Celtic urged female fans to boycott the Scottish Cup match Saturday with Alloa because the "toilets at Brockville are a disgrace."
It was a poor year for pro sports teams in Canada. The top five finishers for Team of the Year in balloting by Canadian sports editors and broadcasters were the world pairs skating champions, the national college football champs, the world championship curling foursome, the Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders and the women's national hockey team.
Finger Lakes Race Track plans to open the 2002 live thoroughbred racing season Saturday, April 13. General manager Chris Riegle says video lottery terminals (slot machines) will be up and running "by August at the earliest and November at the latest." Around 1,000 VLTs will be installed in a renovated lower clubhouse.
A portion of the money wagered on the VLTs will go to the horsemen in the form of higher purses. That is expected to attract more and better horses. "I'd like to have 10 race cards at least," says Riegle, "We couldn't do it last year because we didn't have enough horses."
For the first time since Finger Lakes opened in 1962, the track will have a new tote system, with United replacing Amtote on Monday. Riegle hopes to soon have betting machines in individual booths for patrons.
One of the unsung sports heroes in New York state last year was Barry Schwartz, chairman of the New York Racing Association, who lowered the parimutuel takeout at Saratoga, Aqueduct and Belmont in an effort to encourage more betting.
The move began at Saratoga in August and by the end of the year, more than $16 million in added winnings went back to bettors.
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