Associated Press
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. ó Bert Blyleven knows what took him to where heís been and where heís headed ó his heritage.
ěIím Dutch, Iím stubborn. I think itís the stubbornness, the consistency. You take the good with the bad,î said the 60-year-old Blyleven, the first player born in the Netherlands to earn Major League Baseballís highest honor, election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. ěI came up at a young age. I retired at an old age. I was one of only three pitchers to win a game before their 20th (birthday) and after their 40th. Itís just loving a game that you felt that you could compete at the highest level.î
Blyleven, who won 287 games in a 22-year major league career, will be inducted July 24 with infielder Roberto Alomar and front-office guru Pat Gillick.
ěIím going to be in awe,î Blyleven said. ěWe all have dreams as kids. You donít know where itís going to head.î
NFL
NEW YORK ó Though a vote to end the four-month lockout isnít a certainty, the players associationís executive committee will meet in Washington on Monday.
A person with knowledge of the NFLPAís plans told The Associated Press on Saturday that a vote could happen, ěit just depends on what guys feel about what happened this weekend … but (they) are not committing that the executive committee is going to vote on anything.î
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the association has not revealed its plans.
Owners approved a tentative agreement to end the four-month lockout on Thursday. But the players said they need more information before they can vote.
ROETHLISBERGER WEDDING
PITTSBURGH ó Ben Roethlisberger got the privacy he wanted for his wedding Saturday, with police providing tight security around the church in affluent Ohio Township where he and Ashley Harlan were married and tinted windows on expensive cars leaving much of the guest list a mystery.
Still, the hope of a glimpse at the Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback, his new bride and the dozens of team luminaries who turned out for the ceremony was enough for Dolly Metz to sit in a car ó complete with Steelers covers on the headrests ó in a nearby parking lot with the windows down in 90 degree heat.
ěThis is the best part of my day,î said Metz, who lives in McKees Rocks. ěI know he was supposed to send a limo for me too, but it broke down.î
GOLF
BREMERTON, Wash. ó Jordan Spieth of Dallas closed out his junior golf career in dominating fashion Saturday, winning the 64th annual U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in a 6-and-5 runaway at Gold Mountain Golf Club.
After beating Chelso Barrett, 16, of Keene, N.H., Spieth enters the USGA record book as only the second player to win this title multiple times.
Tiger Woods won it three times, from 1991 to 1993.
NASCAR
GLADEVILLE, Tenn. ó Next week the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers head to perhaps the most storied racing venue in America, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Since 1994 the Cup series has had a summer race at the storied track, but starting next year the Nationwide Series will be joining the top division at the track.
Formerly known as the Busch Series, the Nationwide has had a race since its inception in 1982 at what is now known as Lucas Oil Raceway Park, a short drive from IMS. Earlier this month, however, it was decided that the second-tier series, along with the NASCAR-owned Grand Am series, will be moving to the big track in 2012.
Thatís left some drivers not knowing how to feel.
ěItís a bittersweet deal because I think the racingís going to be great when we go there next week, but Iím very excited to be moving over to the big track next year also,î said Elliott Sadler, who is running fulltime in Nationwide this year after several years in the Cup series.
ěI understand why weíre moving to the big track. To me, Lucas Raceway Park is one of the most exciting races to watch if youíre going to watch a Nationwide race or a truck race. Itís cool for the fans because theyíre really close to the racetrack, but I think itís a great opportunity to move over to the big track.î
Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski also drives several Nationwide races and heís confused about his emotions over the move.
CYCLING
GRENOBLE, France ó Silencing his doubters once and for all, Cadel Evans will now be wearing the prized Tour de France leaderís yellow jersey on the Champs-Elysees.
The two-time runner-up locked up Australiaís first victory in cyclingís greatest race on Saturday by overcoming Luxembourgís Andy Schleck in the final time trial.
The suspense-filled race against the clock, with just seconds separating the two racers, culminated one of the most exciting Tours in recent memory after three weeks marked by crashes, climbing agony and bone-chilling rains.
This yearís edition of the 108-year-old race, with nail-biting tension through to the end, offered one of the most exciting finishes in years ó and without a serious doping blight that marred past Tours.
Although there is one more stage, Evans has victory sealed: Sundayís finale on the Champs-Elysees in Paris tends to be a ceremonial ride because launching a successful attack on that flat last stage is virtually impossible.
After using racing savvy to keep close in the last Tour days, Evans on Saturday turned on the juice with his skill as a time trialer to erase his 57-second gap to Schleck ó and reverse it, into a lead of 1:34. The Luxembourg rider is now poised for his third second-place finish in a row.
To win, Evans needed to vault over not one but two Schlecks: Andyís older brother Frank also had a 4-second edge on the Australian going into the 26.4-mile time trial in and around Grenoble.
The fraternal duo, who had buried any sibling rivalry, had magnificently applied their own strategy to get within a day of victory by delivering a one-two punch of attacks in the mountains that kept their rivals guessing. While it worked in the climbs, the time-trial always loomed as their weakness.
With defending champion Alberto Contador on the back foot after a dismal start because of crashes, Evans knew if he could stay ahead of the Spaniard, the time trial could be his trump card against the Schlecks.
This was the opposite of the Lance Armstrong era, when the Texan seven-time champ often put his mastery of the race from the first mountain stage ó and rarely relented. For Evans, victory comes more sneakily.
ěThe key aspect to our Tour is consistency,î he said.
After two second-place finishes, and at age 34, Evans knew his days of possible victory were running out. He and his BMC team left little to chance, and he rode a lighter pre-Tour season to focus on the sportís holy grail.
ěThis is the victory of a complete rider,î Tour director Christian Prudhomme said. ěIt is the consecration of a career.î
Evansí caution came a striking contrast to 2008, a year when he was a pre-race favorite but his race turned to disappointment ó and was infected by some hubris. After gaining the yellow shirt that year, his team introduced him like a rock star at a glitzy rest day event, and he sipped champagne.
Five days later, he lost the jersey in the Alps ó to Frank Schleck. By the finish, Evans had lost to Carlos Sastre, failing to overcome the Spaniard in a final time trial. That time, the come-from-behind bid failed.
But the lesson had sunk in, as Evans acknowledged Saturday: ěNo one wanted to know me back in August 2008.î
On the victorís podium Saturday, a red-eyed Evans was choked up, holding back tears before hurling the winnerís bouquet into the crowd.
ěI really canít quite believe it right now,î said Evans, who won the world championship in 2009. But the Tour was still his main goal: ěI have been concentrating on one event for so long.î
The emotional Australian got especially moved when he spoke of former coach Aldo Sassi, who ěoften believed in me more than I did,î and had hoped that Evans would win the Tour. The Italian died in December.
ěFor him today to see me now, would be quite something,î Evans said, his voice wavering.
The 20th stage was won by Tony Martin of Germany. Evans finished second in the stage ó 7 seconds behind Martin ó and was 2:31 faster than Andy Schleck.
Riders described the course ó mostly flat featuring two small hills ó as quite technical, with a variety of tight turns. After morning rains doused the roads, sunshine had dried them up by the time the leading contenders left.
By the first intermediate time check at the 9.3-mile mark, Evans had already erased 36 seconds of his deficit to Andy Schleck and was 34 seconds faster than the elder Schleck.
At the second, at 17.1 miles, Andy Schleckís lead had vanished ó Evans was 1:32 faster ó and the Australian kept gaining time as the stage progressed to the finish.
Schleck, in what mightíve been a tactical mistake, told his Leopard Trek team managers not to tell him about the time spreads between him and Evans as they raced on the course at the same time.
The two Tours in which Evans was second were beset by high-profile doping scandals. This year there was only one, involving a lesser-known rider: Alexandr Kolobnev tested positive for a banned masking agent, and quit.
The International Cycling Union has made a top priority of rooting out doping, with hundreds of tests conducted at the race this year ó but Evans said he didnít doesnít know whether the stiffer controls had had an impact.
ěI think the best thing I can do as an athlete is to be a good example,î Evans said. ěOthers can make their own opinions.î
The Schlecks ó whichever one ó were vying to be the first Luxembourg rider since Charly Gaul was the first and only winner from that country in 1958.
As second and third overall, they will be the first brothers to share the Tourís winners podium on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.
ěIíll be on the podium with my brother, thatís fantastic, everybody is happy. Of course I cannot jump in the air, because I was supposed to win the Tour,î Andy Schleck said. ěCongrats to Cadel ó he fought until the end, rode a perfect race. So did I but only one can win.î