Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 57

I April 0 200-1 1 Star-THogram wstar telegram com 1 111 TENNIS GOLF I BOXING Old friends hope to help US end Davis skid Davis Cup quarterfinals US VS SWEDEN Today's matches Mardy Fish vs Jonas Bjorkman Andy Roddick vs Thomas Enqvist TV: E5PN2 (1pm today 9 30 pm Saturday 130pm Sunday) FAST FACTS The United States is seeking its 32nd Davis Cup title but its first since 1995 Sweden has won seven titles most recently in 1998 Andy Roddick I and Mardy Fish will lead the US against Sweden today in the Davis Cup an event the Americans haven't won since 1995 quarterfinal that starts today family moved to Boca Raton Fla when Roddick was 10 and Fish lived with him for a year at age 17 while both attended Boca Prep The distance from the school to the hard courts where this matches will be held is just 15 minutes maybe less with Roddick or alded than Roddick emerging as perhaps the sec- ond-best American of their generation While Roddick won the US Open last year Fish cracked the top 20 for the first time and has reached five tournament finals since March 2003 Roddick and Fish are trying to revive Davis Cup fortunes for the Americans whose nine-year title drought is their longest since the 1930s a little different from being teammates at Boca Prep where Roddick and Fish played basketball as well as tennis Fish driving is going to hit close to Fish said play the opening match today against Jonas Bjorkman with Roddick to follow against Thomas Enqvist On Saturday brothers Bob and Mike Bryan will play Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson in doubles Reverse singles Sunday complete the best-of-five series we play well I like our US captain Patrick McEnroe said The winner advances to the semifinals in September The Americans are seeking their captain Mats Wilander said matter where or against With Joachim Johansson sidelined by a shoulder injury Wilander might need an iron-man performance by the 32-year-old Bjorkman who is 33-14 in Davis Cup and led Sweden to an upset of defending champion Australia in February Fish beat Bjorkman in their lone meeting on grass last year at Nottingham But as both teams acknowledge Davis Cup is different and Fish is only 1-2 in Davis Cup singles But while Fish is less her 32nd Davis Cup title but the first since 1995 Sweden has won seven titles most recently in 1998 always feel going to win in Davis Swedish Waco junior middleweight finally getting a title shot By STEVEN WINE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Davis Cup teammates Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish were once racing rivals Living together at house as teen-agers they raced each other to high school every morning trying to find the fastest route while avoiding a speeding ticket Roddick drove a Chevy Blazer Fish a Mustang loser paid for Fish said The stakes will be higher when the two young Floridians lead the United States against Sweden in a Davis Cup Bruce Edwards left continued as Edwards died Thursday in Florida LeBRETON Continued from ID BOXING NOTES The real event Heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko (42-2 39 KOs) has received plenty of hype but his fight with Lamon Brewster (29-2 26 KOs) on Saturday match up with the Saturday fight between undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks (32-2 10 KOs) and Zab Judah (30-1 22 KOs) in a 12-round title fight Both fights are on HBO Grudge match The May 8 world featherweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao (38-2-1 30 KOs) and IBFWBA champ Juan Manuel Marquez (42-2 33 KOs) will be an easy contender for Fight of the Year honors but it has already become heated Pacquiad has already referenced a possible megabout in the future with Erik Morales Plus Marquez opened as an underdog feel I should get some respect from him since the Marquez told Telefutura he is going to Fort Worth GETTY IMAGES Tom Watson's caddie last year despite battling Lou Gehrig's disease as Watson was preparing for the Masters underestimate me that will be his Briefly Golden Boy Promotions is planning to bring another fight card to Sundance Square in June An announcement is expected next week Undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins (43-2-1 31 KOs) will be profiled on next Rea Sports at 9 pm Tuesday El Juan Lazcano (33-2-1 25 KOs) will face Jose Luis Castillo (49-6-1 45 KOs) for the WBC interim lightweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas The June 5 fight was added to the card that features Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya in separate bouts HBO pay-per-view will televise Sharmba Mitchell (54-3 29 KOs) the IBF interim junior welterweight champion has Ricky Hatton and-t-Arturo Gatti on his list of future opponents Trae Thompson (817) 548-5451 mtthompsonHstar telegram com thrA By TRAE THOMPSON STAR TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER Junior middleweight Michael Lerma knows about the business of boxing but the politics almost got in the way of his long-awaited title shot Lerma (29-8-1 20 knockouts) a Waco resident and Texas State Golden Gloves champion from 1993 to 1995 will face World Boxing Organization champion Daniel Santos (27-2-1 20 KOs) in a 12-round title fight April 17 in Tampa Fla Lerma has never shunned tough fights since turning pro in 1995 Some of his notable opponents have been Raul Marquez JC Candelo Bronco McKart and Alex Bunema Lerma believed he deserved a title shot before a 10-round unanimous decision over Wil-fredo Rivera at Fort LaGrave Field in 2002 In December Lerma was in Colorado sparring with Candelo and helping him prepare for a fight with Kassim Ouma Verno Phillips who defeated Lerma last September in a 10-round unanimous decision was also training there and got a call that he would be facing Santos A week later Lerma saw on the Internet that promoter Don King had signed McKart and that they were hoping to face Santos A week after that Lerma got a call from his manager: It would be Lerma facing Santos like man it going to Lerma said has definitely been the reason for me not getting my shot Here it is now I got one of the champions to be foolish enough to give me my TT Floorln jL A BUILDERS SURPLUS 71 11321 MM HMM GHft 817-831-3600 Classifieds Make MONEY the old-fashioned way SELL STUFF 817-332-3333 Star-Tfelegram Stutf I 'p'liwd 2 pvt 1 fyieett 'Jea Offer Good at Pecan Valley Meadowbrook Rockwood and Boar Daily after 11:00 AM Cart rental la mandatory Must call for tee time reservation Must present coupon at check In Excludes: Sycamore Creek tournaments and JuniorSenior Passholders Offer expires April 30 2004 4 RESERVATIONS 8179264653 "'WWWfORTWORTHG OtFORG SIiOTiMACHINE LIQOIDAT10NISALE Bring Las Vegas Style Entertainment To Your House lost the man in body but you lose him in spirit So relying on his spirit to take care of Watson left on longtime caddie Bruce Edwards who died Thursday GETTY IMAGES fair at Watson shot a 4-over 76 Thursday How he managed to play all things considered was a wonder lost the man hi body but you lose him in Watson explained relying on his spirit to take care of Watson remembered standing in the parking lot with him at Augusta National a year ago Edwards was crying He seemed to know that it would be his last Masters Tom visited him as recently as last month and they renewed their annual bets on the NCAA basketball tournament talked about Watson said said he afraid to die And I said know not afraid can take it from a religious standpoint or from a spiritual standpoint but I believe there is something beyond what we are here beyond what we feel smell or see And Bruce believed Protocol at the Masters dictates that only the top finishers are taken to be interviewed in the media center Watson was invited and graciously consented though his eyes were red and his voice sometimes showed the emotions a great poem called St Poem that I send to people who lose a loved Watson said says cry for me but remember the most important things of my life and what I represented in my life and make that your memory of me not my Outside a few feet from Watson spoke Bruce Edwards' favorite tournament carried on be remembered a loni' time Gil LeBreton (B17) 390-7760 sportsstar-telegram com uadruple bogey and Watson ew right away that it was the diagnosis that no one wanted to hear ALS affects the nerve cells of the spinal cord and brain stem Simple swallowing can become an effort The speech is often slurred More than 60 years after Gehrig died from it the disease remains a mystery The prognosis is almost desperately bleak Death tends to come in from one to three years Paralysis advances throughout the body and eventually overtakes the diaphragm making it impossible to breathe On Thursday the opening round of the Masters Watson arrived at Augusta National as he always does His car pulled into Magnolia Lane around 6:30 am two hours before his scheduled tee time The cellphone rang It was wife Marsha calling from bedside in Florida The phone connection Was poor and so Watson continued on to the locker room Within minutes an attendant informed Watson that his wife Hilary was waiting outside the door knew exactly what it Tom Watson said Bruce Edwards lived 49 ybars He carried bag making hundreds of friends along the way for more than 20 victories father was a New England dentist brother also became one His sister rose to become an officer in the US Navy But Bruce ran away on the night of his high school graduation and became a caddie It was all he ever wanted to do The timing of news therefore was not lost and I looked at each other and said just Watson said died on the first day of the Masters his favorite It was at urging that Edwards finally surrendered last year and agreed to check in to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minn Edwards had been feeling some cramps in his left hand One day he grip a golf ball As the ALS progressed speech became ska-red it "I sound like the town WJ SALE WED SAT Holiday Inn 1-35 YV 1-20 In Fort Worth Electric Scooters starting at $49(M) he told reporters I care just going to keep going as long as I Golf the crudest game can script a poetry all its own Suddenly there was Watson at age 53 taking one more bow and shooting a 65 on the first day of last US Open His ailing longtime caddie was at his side As they walked together up the 18th fairway on the final day the gallery greeted Edwards with shouts of Bruce! He just another guy carrying another golf bag As Watson pointed out Thursday peers called him Arnold Palmer of you ever ran across Watson said knew what a genuine person he was and what a wonderful way he had with words could make you laugh at the worst of Watson took advantage of that first day at the 2003 US Open to raise awareness of ALS He personally took care of all of medical bills When he won the Senior Charles Schwab Cup last year Watson donated the entire $1 million annuity to organizations involved in the fight against ALS What he wanted more than anything was time Time to find a cure Time to save his old life this disease! Damn Watson said Thursday Golfer Ben Crenshaw heard the news of death as he left the green at No 18 He had to swallow back tears was a real Crenshaw said of the most positive human beings ever been around And I know how much he meant to Tom as a friend and a co-woiker "This is not fair This is not fin ADMISSION flEK PARKING ryp'iiM TT 1.