The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 25

GolfD3 NHLD3 Auto RacingD4 NBAD6 College FootballD7 NFLD8-12 ScoreboardD13 BaseballD14 The indianapolis Star lndyStar.comsports Monday, October 13, 2003 Section InfoLine: 624-INFO (4636) Germany wins Women's World Cup title. DS Boston College accepts ACC invitation. D7 23 20 COLTS GAMEDAY ft Arrii laAU MM ffl oj ojor i r- 1 Win streak comes to end for the Colts in overtime Bob Kravitz If I i UP NEXT The Colts host Houston Oct 26 INSIDE Mistakes: Missed assignments hurt defense. D8 Tough going: Colts run game has problems. D8 Replay: Colts lose interception on review.

D9 Double threat: Davis, Foster team up for Panthers. 09 Graphic look: Drive chart and game stats. D10 i- The.Call just 1 part of bad day First, The CalL Which is not to be confused with The Call from last week leaping? which continues to mystify football experts and Talmudic scholars to this day. It wasn't the reason the Colts lost Sunday. And the Colts knew it wasn't the reason they lost for the first time this season.

They lost because of Ricky Williams' fumbles, poor special-teams play, wretched tackling, a play-not-to-lose mentality and a month's worth of mistakes rolled into one dizzying afternoon. "We had that game in our hands, and we let it get away," Colts defensive tackle Larry Tripplett said. "Even without that call, we had chances to win. We just made too many mistakes." True. And we'll get to those mistakes in all their grisly detail.

First, let's consider Chad Bratzke's interception-that-wasn't-an-interception, followed by his fumble-that-wasn't-a-fumble and an officiating-blunder-that-was-really-an-officiating-blunder. Or, as the people in Tampa Bay might call it, karmic justice. The Call raises an interesting question: Huh? The initial call on the field was that Bratzke intercepted Jake Del-homme's pass, took a few steps, got stripped of the ball, fumbled, and his teammate, Raheem Brock, recovered. It was the right calL Right? If Bratzke held the ball any longer, he could have claimed it as a dependent. How many steps did he take before he fumbled? Some of us counted five.

Maybe it was four. But it was enough to get even Michael Jordan called for traveling. "I felt like I had it for a while and then it got ripped out," Bratzke said. "I don't know. It happened so fast, but that's the way it felt to me.

Isn't that the way it looked?" See Kravitz, Page D8 By Phil Richards phil.rlchardsindystar.coni After five weeks of accumulating victories, the Indianapolis Colts spent Sunday piling up turnovers, key penalties, missed assignments and mistakes. They lost the script, and the football game, 23-20 in overtime to Carolina at the RCA Dome. "You know what? I forgot what it was like to lose," Colts defensive tackle Larry Tripplett. "It doesn't feel good." At 5-1, the Colts could go 6-4 the rest of the way and finish 11-5, certainly good enough to make the playoffs, maybe good enough to earn a home playoff assignment. They remain a game ahead of Tennessee in the AFC South.

They are off to their best start in 20 seasons in Indianapolis. The Colts weren't thinking about any of that Sunday, a day of opportunity lost. "We had this game exactly where we wanted it," Colts center Jeff Saturday said, "and we didn't do anything with it That's on us. They didn't have anything to do with it" The sellout crowd of 57,082 shared Sunday's frustratioa It came to roar and roared loud enough to abet a pair of false starts and a delay-of-game penalty in Carolina third-down situations, but it turned its disfavor on the Colts' offense during the second half. It booed vigorously on several occasions.

Leading 13-3 at halftime, the Colts could neither move the football nor stop Carolina over the final two quarters and the overtime period. The Panthers (5-0) won the overtime coin flip, took the ball and drove 43 yards before John Kasay kicked the game-winning 47-yard field goal with 9:21 left "We just wanted to grind it out and get as close as we could," said backup running back DeShaun Foster, who accounted for 85 of the Panthers' 189 rushing yards after starter Stephen Davis went out with a LJ EDGE STATUS 1 i in MMiiMiiiiT imiii i'l-niiHiiwiwPWMm -t -y- James says back injury involves fracture; he hopes to be back for next game against Houston. D9 Rob Goebel The Star Game winner: Panthers kicker John Kasay (4) hits the game-winning field goal in overtime as the Colts go up to attempt to block it. Indianapolis didn't get a chance to score in 0T as Carolina won the toss and marched to the winning score. See Colts, Page D9 Marlins keep hope alive PHIMI (.

4 4' -1." Dixon subdued in celebrating IRL crown Brack's horrific accident in closing laps brings premature end to season. By Curt Cavin curt.cavinindystar.com FORT WORTH, Texas Scott Dixon ended his Indy Racing League season of mixed emotions Sunday unsure how to celebrate his first major championship. The 22-year-old from New Zealand didn't get a chance to beat the retiring Gil de Ferran in the Chevy 500K at Texas Motor Speedway because the race was stopped early due to a serious accident involving Kenny Brack. Brack, the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner and former IRL champion, suffered a concussion and fractures to his right leg, lower back, sternum and both ankles when he flipped high into the third-turn fence. He underwent surgery Sunday night on his leg and ankles and was listed in serious conditioa Although television replays seemed in- Beckett's 2-hitter allows Florida to remain in NLCS, which heads back to Chicago.

By Paul Sullivan Chicago Tribune MIAMI Florida ace Josh Beckett kept the cork in the champagne bottles in the Chiocago Cubs' clubhouse on Sunday but might have uncorked a controversy with an alleged knockdown pitch to Sammy Sosa. Beckett threw a two-hit shutout in a 4-0 victory in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series to prevent the Cubs from clinching their first World Series appearance in 58 years. The Marlins' right-hander became the first pitcher to shut out the Cubs in the postseason since Boston's Babe Ruth in Game 1 of the 1918 World Series. After an off day today, Chicago's Mark Prior will face right-hander Carl Pavano in Game 6 at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night with the Cubs leading 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Prior has won 12 of his past 13 decisions with a 155 earned-run average, including a 2-0 record in the postseason.

And if the Cubs don't win Game 6, they'll have another chance Wednesday See Marlins, Page D14 NLCS (Best-of-seven) Chicago Cubs lead Florida Marlins 3-2 Sunday: Florida 4, Chicago 0 TUesday: at Chicago, 7 p.m. ALCS New York Yankees lead Boston Red Sox 2-1 Sunday: postponed because of rain Today: at Boston, 7 p.m., WXIN-59 Inside Fines: AL players, coach assessed fines for their behavior. D14 Prosecution? Police look into fight in Yankees bullpen. D14 Irian lawtermilli Associated Press Season-ender: Kenny Brack (top) and Tomas Scheckter collide. Brack suffered extensive injuries and the race was red-flagged.

Gil de Ferran was declared the winner. IRL drivers' standings Driver Points Wins 2nd I Scott Dixon 507 3 5 2. Gil de Ferran 489 3 1 i Helio Castroneves 484 2 4 i Tony Kanaan 476 1 3 5. Sam Hornish Jr. 461 3 2 i ii ttmi mm Man Diaz Associated Press Oh, no: Chicago pitcher Carlos Zambrano cant believe he gave up a two-run homer to Florida's Mike Lowell in the fifth inning.

See IRL, Page D4 Scott Dixon.