The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • G2

The second most contentious horse race rivalry of the year behind Seabiscuit- War Admiral resumes Saturday. Maybe. Ever-creative ESPN will wrap an extended two-hour, equine-scented SportsCenter starting at 5 p.m. around the Travers Stakes from Saratoga. Entered are the regally bloodlined Empire Maker, owned by filthy rich jet- setters (think modern-day War Admiral), and the commoner Funny Cide, owned by average Joes who ride a schoolbus to the tracks (think Funny Cide, however, has been ailing since he tanked at the Belmont Stakes, denying the sport a Triple Crown champion that it craves.

Trainer Barclay Tagg is torn between his own cautious instincts and the desires of those Joes on whether to scratch. Tuesday, the horse was to race. Wednesday, he was likely. No telling which direction will tug harder on Tagg by post time, 6:25 p.m. One night later, Forrest Sawyer walks viewers through an informative hour- long primer, Stable to (10 p.m., MSBNC).

Striking while the iron is hot, the timely special peeks at various aspects of racing, especially breeding. A camera even invades a shed to spy on two horses in the act. Noted trainer Wayne Lukas, after examining a young filly at the yearling sales, explains his criteria for evaluating unraced prospects: should have a head like a princess, a butt like a fry cook and a walk like a Little League World Series (3 p.m. Saturday, International finals, ESPN; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, U.S.

finals, ABC; 1 p.m. Sunday, consolation game, ESPN; 6:30 p.m. Sunday, World finals, ABC): Has ESPN gone kid-baseball crazy? Just a Little. It loaded up on 33 games leading to the U.S. and World championships, both on ABC.

stress the says longtime LLWS producer Curt Gowdy promising no lingering shots but only quick glances of weeping players on losing teams. Play-by-play man Brent Musburger, who claims he sought this assignment when ABC hired him, dismisses suggestions that the blanket TV coverage has intensified the pressure on the 12-year- olds. to me would be a youngster in he says. kids know Ratings are up, and they take into account big- leaguers unless one of the clubhouses qualifies as a Nielsen family. Analyst Harold Reynolds says he fields calls from players asking about youth games watched from their lockers.

Cubs pitcher Mark Prior urged Reynolds to tell an umpire to adjust his strike zone. Falcons at Dolphins (8 p.m. today, CBS) Pity CBS, another sufferer from the Mike Vick injury. It is locked into this nationally beamed game, no longer able to feature Vick against mean defense. Falcon watchers who have been switching channels when Doug Johnson comes on will be compelled to see how the fill-in fares.

Braves at Rockies (9 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, TBS): Atlanta hitters are salivating. The homer-hittingest team in baseball goes swinging in the ballpark best suited for dialing long distance.

Bombs away? Beat vs. Freedom (4 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2): The Beat can join the dearly departed soccer Chiefs as our fair only pro sports champions. Standing in the way Mama Mia! The middle-aged Ms. Hamm is very much alive and kicking for the Freedom.

Sharpie 500 (7:30 p.m. Saturday, TNT): How fitting that NASCAR shifts to Saturday night, the traditional time slot for prize fights. But Jimmy Spencer is absent, having been quarantined for throwing left crosses and right jabs at Kurt Busch last Sunday. Leading driver Matt Kenseth is staying out of trouble on the track each week to make sure he finishes safely and pockets points. Grambling at San Jose State (6 p.m.

Saturday, ESPN2); California at Kansas State (7:45 p.m. Saturday, ESPN): College football exactly bursting out of the box with this twin bill. Grambling is a Division I-AA team, albeit a good one. K-State is favored by four touchdowns. Treat it as an appetizer before a sizable serving of pigskin next week.

Real Sports (11 a.m. Saturday, HBO): This four-part edition resembles the top of a baseball lineup. The first two deliver base hits barely teen golfer Michelle Wie, who gets into a she said with LPGA Tour antagonist Danielle Ammaccapane, and delusional ex-boxer Riddick Bowe, who wants to fight again when he is freed from prison. Then, a pair of home runs. Pathetically vain football player Johnnie Mitchell learns about love and unselfishness even as his career collapses.

And homeless New Yorkers wake up in hotel beds in Austria, where they competed in a world soccer tournament. (ESPN beat HBO to the punch on this story, but worth another look.) Horses back, being hyped on TV shows MIKE TIERNEY SPORTS MEDIA MORE SPORTS LeBron James signs six-year endorsement deal with Coke. Business, D1 Tim Darnell knows there was baseball in Atlanta before the Braves and even before the Crackers. Living, F1 Continued from G1 who have tended to her knees over the years. been advised that I probably should have hung up my cleats a while said Gaston, who turned 23 last week.

it has never really been an option for me. It has never crossed my mind to It ought to come as no surprise for an athlete who names Lance Armstrong as her hero that Gaston feels that way. She has no ACL remaining in her left knee and just 30 percent of the original ligament in her right. The effects of three graft surgeries now hold her up. And had no recurrence of what has ailed her in the past.

Gaston, drafted in the second round of the WUSA draft in February, platooned early with Julie Augustyniak, but now has started 17 of 19 games for the Beat. just think mind over matter. In her own brain, she even had one Beat coach Tom Stone. so mentally tough that overcome any physical limitations. as fast as ever been, and as ferocious as Ironically, her emergence comes in a year in which eight WUSA players have been cut down by season-ending ACL injuries.

Stone and assistant coach Aaron Gordon scouted Gaston extensively, and knowing the UNC team doctors, were convinced a pro schedule would be easier for her. she could endure Carolina for three months, she could handle pro soccer for five months, where she could take off and have more recovery Stone said. ask as much of our athletes in a short period of What Gaston has battled merely to play the game typifies her approach. She played on the boys and the girls teams at St. James High in her native Montgomery, then left her local club team in the summers to play for the elite all-girls Tophat Soccer Club of Atlanta.

wanted it to help me get a chance to play for a top she said. It did. Her speed and fierce demeanor caught the eye of North Carolina soccer coach Anson Dorrance, who signed her to a scholarship. Gaston underwent 10 operations in college. After red- shirting her freshman season to recover from her first major ACL surgery and missing the end of her first season after a medial collateral tear, she came close to giving up.

When she told Dorrance she was thinking of turning in her scholarship, he would have none of it. a factor on the field for a couple of she said. was supportive of me 150 percent. If I would have gone anywhere else, it would have been She perservered, and started 49 of 51 games her last two seasons, helping the Tar Heels win two NCAA titles. felt what our team needed is more attitude, more people that had a winning tradition in their blood, who played with a chip on their Stone said.

personality traits were tailor- made for the Atlanta Gaston, who admits that one more ACL tear probably be says not something she thinks about. Playing fearlessly is all she has ever known, and she sees no reason to change. been fortunate to be on teams that I love playing Gaston said. makes me give everything that I Gaston: resolve has marked her play, body Continued from G1 defines as something worse than watching On in after curfew but not as bad as being seen driving the athletic BMW every day.) Suspensions and injuries to several defensive regulars had left the Doggies depleted going into Clemson even before Thurman middle linebacker and expert was stopped by police and jailed for: 1) driving without a license; 2) underage possession of alcohol; 3) improper lane change; 4) having an open container; 5) having his radio so loud they were complaining in Dacula. Richt opted not to suspend Thurman.

Something about the kid not drinking and he was just driving to do a favor for his family. And, hey, a good kid, just misunderstood. sure the fact Thurman is a starter was just an afterthought. Thurman already was kicked off the team once. He spent a year at Georgia Military College and is back.

In the interim, it apparently never occurred to him that keeping a low profile Athens might be a good idea. He also never obtained a license, which in this case is a good thing because a judge revoke what Thurman have. (Hah! Defense rests!) Besides, the two family members who asked Thurman to pick them up in a borrowed Cadillac Escalade (another issue still being looked into) have a problem with Thurman not being licensed, so the big deal? Just this: While Thurman done anything worse than several other college campus 20-going-on-13-year-olds, Richt should know better. Maybe worn down by a summer of RingGate, Bulldog Club speeches and the Adams- Dooley debates. But he have let this slide.

Given and the backdrop of other player suspensions and losses, this smacks of a compromise. And a get-out-of-jail-free card. Seen, heard or fabricated Just to recap that thing from the last few days, in case you understand it the first time: Jimmy Spencer was suspended by NASCAR for one race for punching another driver, Kurt Busch. Busch received only three months for trying to ram car off the track, or possibly into the wall, or possibly into a back-spin, triple-flip, double-tuck with layout and roll. But see, fiery crashes make for good ESPN highlights.

Hence, only probation for Busch. You know bad when the Detroit Tigers have Tyra Banks throw out the first pitch in a game and only 13,788 (announced) show up. the problem: If going to have a queen of Internet downloads stroll to the mound wearing something other than a $217 Victoria Secret lace bandaid, how are we supposed to differentiate her from any other Tigers pitcher who find the strike zone? Just so we have no secrets here: Mike injury messed with something even more important than the season: journalism deadlines. In addition to Sports Illustrated having to scrap its cover story on him, the AJC had to do the same. The fact Vick is now on crutches kind of ruined the impact of the original football section cover photo: Vick wearing a Superman shirt.

You can just hear the arch-enemies now: you, the son of Jor-El, even make it through a practice Spoke to an editor at Sports Illustrated Thursday. Asked who will replace Vick as the cover subject. not sure he said. have until not been a close second choice. BetOnSports.com still lists Vick as the favorite (2-1) among eight players to score the first touchdown this season.

Either there are some very dumb gamblers out there or this team is in real trouble. Richt: Coach dropped ball on this Continued from G1 nude in the magazine, said she at first declined invitations to lunch, but a year later they began an 11-month affair. She said Gordon, who previously had a straitlaced image, a wild got married when he was 23 and has been on the race track since he was a she said. used to tell me all the time that he never had a chance to have Merryman, who once worked as an exotic dancer and had small roles on and said Gordon left her for another model. For years Jeff and Brooke Gordon were the of the Winston Cup circuit.

They were married in 1994 and were almost inseparable until their split early last year. Their divorce was finalized in June. Merryman said learned one lesson from the relationship. never get involved with a married man she said. a race car Jeff Gordon divorce was finalized in June.

Gordon: Secrets told ASSOCIATED PRESS Eagle, Colo. A judge on Thursday rejected the request to see detailed court records in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, agreeing to unseal only the arrest warrant. Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett said the search warrant, the affidavit and other material will remain sealed until the case is decided. He put his order on hold and gave attorneys 10 days to appeal. Without the documents, the public has no way of knowing whether the office and other agencies acted properly in arresting Bryant, said Chris Beall, an attorney for the media organizations.

the judge is saying is that in those documents were statements that have little relevance and are unnecessarily prejudicial and Beall said. think the voters in Eagle County would like to know whether Sheriff office engaged in improper Krista Flannigan, spokeswoman for District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, said she could not comment on the specifics of the ruling. A spokeswoman for Hoy did not immediately return a message. Court documents have been sealed since the Los Angeles Lakers star was arrested last month. The arrest warrant and related materials contain nothing that would endanger right to a fair trial and should be released, Gannett said.

But other documents including the search warrant and its affidavit will remain sealed. Gannett said those records contain statements describing graphic details of the alleged sexual medical test results, evidence that can be challenged in court and the statements of potential witnesses. Free on $25,000 bond, Bryant is scheduled to return to Eagle for an Oct. 9 preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for a trial on a charge of felony sexual assault. Records stay sealed Judge would let only Bryant arrest warrant be seen CRAIG WALKER Associated Press Kobe Bryant is scheduled to return to court Oct.

9 for a preliminary hearing. RSPT0822OG2FSPT0822OG2 4 Star 2G 2G RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack Blue RedYellowBlack G2 Friday, Aug. 22, 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 4.