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In today's paper, our Rob Daniels unilaterally declared in his column that poker is not a sport. While I am one of the many addicted to watching the World Series of Poker on Tuesday nights on ESPN, I have to agree. It's a game.

But my real question is this: What makes a sport a sport? Does a score have to be kept (eliminating judged contests like gymnastics and figure skating) or is there a minimum level of athleticism required (possibly eliminating bowling, but let's hope not). What do you think?

Turns out Bobby Washington is almost a shoo-in to land at N.C. State after Miami told the talented running back it probably wouldn't admit him because of a suspicious jump in his ACT score.

If Washington ends up in Raleigh, one has to wonder how this affects Ragsdale's star RB, Toney Baker, who is strongly considering signing with the Wolfpack in February.

The question for Wolfie fans: Who would you rather have? And are you confident Baker will say yes to State even if Washington comes in as a freshman this year and is the real deal?

Now that the Ancient Mariner is about to hang up his bat, there's much discussion on whether he's a worthy Hall of Fame candidate. If you wish to exclude Martinez, do it because his numbers (2207 hits, 306 HR) aren't quite there. Don't exclude him simply because he's a DH. If that's the logic, then no American League pitcher can ever make Cooperstown again. AL pitchers don't hit, and they seldom have to field their position. Just like the DH, their job is limited in scope.

Much has been written about the U.S. men's basketball team and its failures until this point. This afternoon, the team plays Greece. Will the United States win?

A larger question: What's wrong with this team? What's wrong with basketball in the United States?

Well, it's finally over. The U.S. men's basketball team held on to beat Greece, 77-71.

I don't know about you, but I've got very mixed feelings about this team. And a whole host of questions.

Such as ...

It's a bad joke out of some faux-brick comedy joint in the Catskills, but does anybody want to go to the Olympics?
When the U.S. women's soccer team played on Tuesday, you could literally count the spectators on one side of the stadium if you had TiVo's live-pause capability. Or even if you didn't.
It's easy to understand why foreigners have declined the opportunity to head to Athens. Between the threat of more terrorism and the logistical concerns associated with 9/11, getting there is an act of faith and patience that few will undertake. But what about the Greeks, who made a passionate plea for these Games for years, claiming their invention of the Olympics gave the IOC a moral imperative to put 2004 in Athens? What's their excuse?
Terrorism can't explain away everything here. The other part of the problem is that the death of Communism has stripped sports of the political element that marked it for so long. The blurred line between amateur and professional participation has played a role as well.
What else is at work here? And what do you think of the apparent attendance problems, which have made organizers give away tickets?

Can't watch the game? Then come blog with us.

SportsExtra takes you beyond the Sports pages, and on Thursday morning we'll take you there long before the Sports pages are even printed. Follow staff writer Rob Daniels on the News & Record's Sports blog during the United States-Australia men's basketball game at the Olympics. The game will tipoff about 7:30 a.m., and Rob will provide insightful updates throughout the game.

As several legitimate contenders jostled on the PGA Championship's leader board over the weekend, the media spent an inordinate amount of attention on somebody who was back in the pack. You know who.
Would he break his streak of winless majors? Would he make the cut? Would he make a run?
Would everybody stop and get a grip on context?
If Tiger Woods' relative falloff continues, TV and print and radio will eventually be forced to dismiss the "story" with one brief mention, something like: "Tiger Woods shot a 1-over-par 73 and is six shots back."
Won't they?
When he returns to prominence -- and he will -- Tiger will be justifiably praised. But until that time, the people who are actually winning and contending deserve a greater slice of the airwaves and newsprint than they're getting.

At what point do we begin to recognize that nothing is sacred or certain in this Olympic basketball tournament? There's one thing of which we are relatively certain: The United States should probably finish ahead of Angola. Beyond that, apparently nothing can be dismissed, certainly not the Australians, who at last check were shooting 64 percent from the field and leading by four at halftime against the Americans.

As our colleague Jim Young pointed out, it's hard to tell with whom Larry Brown is having more difficulty communicating: The Bulgarian referees or his own players.

The Americans rediscovered the concept known as defense in the third quarter. The Australians are 9-for-15 on three-point shots, but the U.S. seems to be getting their hands in faces better.

This Australian team began the tournament with a 22-point loss to the Greeks. I don't care if you've got Sophocles and a bunch of other Greek minds playing for you, you're not supposed to beat an entire continent by 22 points.

But after three periods, it's Australia 67, United States 65.

What is this Hummer commercial-free logo they keep putting up behind Jim Lampley in the studio? This is kinda like "compassionate conservative," "jumbo shrimp" and "country music."

A 10-0 run to start the third quarter has put the U.S. men's basketball team ahead of Australia 81-72 with 3:54 to play in the third period. The team's efforts have mollified commentator Doug Collins, the longtime NBA coach and 1972 Olympian.

Hey Doug, take it easy, could be worse. They could have asked you to coach this team!

It's becoming increasingly clear that Dwayne Wade is the best player on the floor. He comes in the game, and he makes everyone else around him better and more active. Meanwhile, Allen Iverson is sitting on the bench, towel over his head, and the team is doing quite well without him.

We wonder what things will be like tomorrow at practice.

The United States shoots 12-for-16 in the fourth period and pulls away behind LeBron James, who excelled while Allen Iverson sat. The United States wins 89-79.

NBC's Jim Lampley, who had suddenly gone gray, says we'll be going back to the Olympic basketball team to "debrief" some of the participants. Sounds like they've been taken hostage and are now released.

The Australians' three-point shooting by quarter: 75 percent in the first, 50 percent in the second, 29 percent in the third and 20 in the fourth. Kinda like the stock market a couple of years ago.

One of the Aussies' young players is the University of Utah's Andrew Bogut. However, by the end of the game, he had legally changed his name to Bogus.

By the way, AT&T wants you to know they're a "proud" partner of the Olympics team. Wondering if they were in negotiations in the third period to strike the word "proud."

Giants coach Tom Coughlin might have picked the wrong night to give Eli Manning his first NFL start. Well, unless he's trying to sabotage the No.1 draft pick's chances of beating out Kurt Warner for the QB job. The Panthers' defense very well could be better than it was in last year's Super Bowl season.

Here's what Panthers safety Mike Minter had to say about facing Manning in tonight's preseason game at BOA Stadium: "We're going to show him how fast the NFL is and how the Carolina Panthers play defense."

So, is it a fair early test for Manning?

Are you really ready?

If you're a college fan, it's hard to be excited about the prospects for 2004 in North Carolina. N.C. State is the best bet to reach a bowl, probably the only candidate, and it may win eight or nine games just as easily as it could win five. The other ugly ducklings are picked Nos. 9-10-11 in a more difficult league.

And then 61,000 show up for a Panthers preseason game. They're coming off a Super Bowl year, good coach, excellent defense.

Is this a Panthers state, more than a Big Four football state?

As long as NBC is waving the stars and stripes and ignoring everything that lacks an American presence, it's reasonable to provide some context.
No nation on this planet has the combination of wealth and population that America has. Of course "we" win a bunch of medals. "We" should. Take the top 20 richest countries as measured by per-capita income. The USA has more people than the total population of the other 19 wealthiest nations. (America is third on the list, by the way.)Baseball, which lacks an American presence, is being broadcast by an NBC person named Matt Vasgersian.

It's not likely Iraq's soccer team will beat Italy in Friday's bronze-medal game. Then again, reaching this point is pretty incredible in itself seeing as how the country has won a total of ONE Olympic medal in its history.

A nod to NBC for letting us watch almost in its entirety Saturday's 1-0 Iraq win over Australia on one of its affiliate networks. A good story actually took precedence over U.S. water polo coverage.

It's nice to know that even if the Iraqis fail against the Italians, they won't be returning home for torture at the hands of the now-deceased Uday Hussein. Many of the national team's players don't seem to appreciate this fact, but it's hard to root against them in any event.

OK, I'll be the first to admit that I don't understand exactly why gymnastics is always the ratings giant of the Olympics. So I start off from a biased position.

But at least grant me this - is there any real need to see a gymnastics exhibition during NBC's primetime coverage?

Read that again, gymnastics EXHIBITION. As in, no medals given out here nothing on the line.

Which got me to thinking ...

Spain coach Mario Pesquera first yelled and jabbed a finger at U.S. basketball coach Larry Brown after this morning's 102-94 American victory, then went berserk in the postgame news conference about a timeout Brown was awarded with 23 seconds left and the U.S. up 11 points.

"Dean Smith would have never done anything like that," Pesquera said of Brown's esteemed college coach. He also cracked that the game was played under NBA rules, not under FIBA rules.

Well, actually ...

Thankfully, there did not appear to be a mad run on collecting "souvenirs" from War Memorial Stadium on Sunday night. This contrasts with the behavior of New York Jets fans when the team played its final game in Shea Stadium several years ago. On that bizarre day, spectators ripped seats from the concrete, tore bits of sod from the ground and tried to snap off segments of the goalposts. If you could have anything from the old park in Greensboro, what would it be?

Our section's high school feature page is coming back on Friday (the page took the extended summer school break one year early, actually).

The page will have a new name, The Final Cut, and a new look. The name plays off a coach making his or her final cut for a roster. And what's on the page will be what makes our final cut, as well.

The page will be geared toward the student-athletes playing the games. We hope they'll find it fun reading. For adults, we hope it's a better window into the worlds of high school students who play sports.

Check it out, and tell us how we're doing.