Their Angles Shouldn’t Be on Her Curves

Two weeks of Wimbledon, two weeks of British reporters and Anna Kournikova are enough for Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom, who questions both Kournikova’s regard for the media and its coverage of her.

Mainly, its coverage of her uncoverage.

Writes Albom: “Kournikova may not be the world’s most sympathetic figure . . . but none of that means she deserves this treatment by the media. It’s fine to enjoy a player’s looks, but leading your sports stories with it is absurd.

“For one thing, if a man does this, it’s damned unfair, since when was the last time you read a sports story by a woman that began, ‘Michael Jordan, with sweat running sensually down his high cheekbones and bulging biceps, kept the female fans panting as he rose like a phoenix, his shorts riding high on his thighs . . . ‘ “

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Trivia time: What finalist at Wimbledon was convicted of murder and died in prison?

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A new career: Tom Powers in the St. Paul Pioneer Press was disgusted with television coverage of the NBA draft. He writes:

“Folks, you too can produce short player profiles for TNT. The formula is simple: Find a dead relative and dwell on it.

“I think TNT hands out questionnaires to the projected top 25 picks.

“Question 1: What is your name?

“Question 2: Any dead relatives?

“Question 3: Have you suffered any major personal tragedies?

“It’s enough to give an audience the creeps.”

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So why all the noise? Mike Kahn of CBS’ “Sportsline” notes that of the 29 NBA teams, only seven had more than four of the players they drafted. Eight had none at all. Twenty-two teams had at least two-thirds of their roster made up of players they didn’t draft. The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, playoff finalists, each had two players they chose on draft day.

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Not bound by calendar: Rhode Island Coach Jerry DeGregorio, who was an assistant last season to Jim Harrick, on Clipper draft pick Lamar Odom: “If Lamar says he’ll meet you Thursday at 8, he’ll be there. The only question is, what week?”

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Birdies pay off: The way the story goes in Don Wade’s book “And Jack Said to Arnie,” a young amateur golfer, Arnold Palmer, was short the necessary money to buy a ring for his girlfriend, Winnie, until one day some friends said they would pay him $100 for every stroke he shot under par 72. Palmer shot a 68, and Winnie got to sit around the veranda at Augusta National for many a year.

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Ambitious goal: Christine Brennan writes in USA Today, “Team USA is playing Johnny Appleseed not just for the sport of soccer but for all women’s sports. The players hear the squeals of the girls who want to grow up to be like them; they know what’s at stake. They know they have an audience that will only grow larger as they keep winning, and they know, most of all, that American fans love winners.”

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Dishonor roll: Chicago Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport notes, “Let’s see, Minnesota forces out its coach in an academic scandal, Purdue’s basketball program is placed on probation, Michigan State’s best basketball player has a court date pending, two Michigan football players face larceny charges and Iowa’s quarterback is arrested for the second time in 18 months on an alcohol charge. ‘I’ve had better weeks,’ Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.”

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Trivia answer: Vere Thomas St. Leger Goold lost to John Hartley in the 1879 Wimbledon final. Goold and his wife were subsequently convicted in France of murdering Emma Levin, and Goold died two years later on Devil’s Island in French Guiana.

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And finally: Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times writes about Tex Cobb’s $10.7-million judgment against Sports Illustrated, adding, “And by acting now, he got a lovely highlights film and a football phone.”