Kournikova quits gig as USA's roving reporter

Anna Kournikova's brief stint as a full-fledged member of the media ended with as much disappointment as most of her professional tennis matches. On Saturday, the blonde Russian bombshell announced that she would no longer be filing reports for USA Network's coverage of this year's United States Open.

Kournikova, whose mediocre career is on hold while she treats an ailing back, told tennisreporters.net that she felt uncomfortable questioning fellow tour members (her final assignment involved asking fans who the "hottest" men's player is), and that she was eating too much while away from the practice court.

Never one to shy away from the glitz and glamour of New York City, Kournikova has been spotted all over town recently, throwing out the first pitch at a Yankees game and attending the MTV Video Music Awards with boy-toy Enrique Iglesias.

While Kournikova probably would not be contending for the women's title even if she was healthy, the WTA sorely misses her presence in the draw. This year's tournament is being played with both Serena and Venus Williams sidelined with nagging injuries. Number one seed Kim Clijsters, a likable but rather vanilla personality, is looking for her first Grand Slam title.

Ahmad Rashad, Lesley Visser, Melissa Stark and Eric Dickerson can now all breathe a collective sigh of relief

Mickelson gets thumbs down from Tigers



It seems as though PGA Tour veteran Phil "Lefty" Mickelson is putting less effort into winning his first major than O.J. Simpson is putting forth tracking down his wife's real killer. The problem for Phil is that he's going to have to do a whole lot more than just stare at himself in the mirror to solve this festering problem.

On Saturday, the Toledo Mud Hens (the AAA minor league affiliate of the horrendous Detroit Tigers) decided not to offer Mickelson a deal after he threw batting practice to 18 Mud Hen pitchers on Friday.

Mickelson, who has an impressive 21 victories on the tour, looked more like Louis Anderson than Greg Maddux as he tossed 70 mph meatballs before some amused onlookers. But Lefty's lack of velocity and portly stature (not to mention the fact that the parent club has an embarassing 30 wins this season) weren't enough to convince the pro golfer to stick to his day job.

"If I can get my velocity up, we may revisit this," Mickelson said. "Golf is my No. 1 priority and always will be. Throwing a baseball is an important part of my workout program, so if I can get my speed to 85 mph or above consistently, I wouldn't rule out trying this again."

Not since burned-out country crooner Garth Brooks graced New York Mets training camp with his pompous presence has one man been so clueless.

Yankee prospect Henson to quit baseball



New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner must feel like an investor in Lucent Technologies during the tech-stock bust. On Monday, sources close to the organization told espn.com's Len Pasquarelli that third-base prospect Drew Henson - who was given an unprecedented $17 million, five-year contract in 2001 - will return to football, the sport he excelled at as a junior quarterback at the University of Michigan.

Henson, 23, has struggled mightily in two full seasons with the Yanks' AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. In March, he was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.

While Houston has a QB cornerstone in second-year pro David Carr, Henson could be dealt or simply choose to re-enter the draft in 2004.