Once upon a not-so-nice time, major league baseball was played exclusively by White men, and Black baseball was a separate entity. Webmaster James A. Riley (director of research at the Museum of Negro League Baseball) serves up an interesting spread of facts about the teams, players, and history of the Negro Leagues that existed in the first half of the century. Unfortunately, the site is mapped out quite poorly; topics run down the right side of the site, so if you dont scroll over you wont see them, andlike meyoull wrongly assume the sites a big dud. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
For anyone who doesnt follow tennis (or watch TV commercials), Michael Chang is a pro player and quite the current media darling. At his online home, fans will discover just about everything about Changhis hobbies, his schedule, photos of his family, the Michaels Friends fan club, and so on. While the site is obviously professionally designed, Chang writes most of the copy himselfor at least it seems as though he doeswhich is a refreshing change from the usual PR-style writing at celeb sites. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
Alert! Avid mountain bikers in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia need to visit Dirt Northwest immediately. Why? Because at Dirt Northwest youll find out everything about mountain biking in your neck of the woods. Hosts Jeff and Troy provide the complete lowdown on the sport, including buying tips, articles on everything from tire pressure to knee problems, product reviews, trail guides and events, and even IMBA trail etiquette. Theres even neat stuff to download, such as gear calculators and bike logs. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
Mavsurfer focuses on Northern California, and in particular a surfing location called the Mavericks. The site features a history and description, plus bios of people who have surfed the spot. Youll find lots of other boss stuff here, too, such as a capsule history of surfing, answers to your health questions from Dr. Rip Tide, some basic rules of surfing, and the latest and greatest in short boards. Along the way youll also find lots of video clips and information on some local surf shops. The only things missing are Gidget and Moondoggie. Cowabunga! - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
Welcome, hope youre not rebounding from an accidental tour of that pesky Unofficial Big Ten Conference Web site. By the time folks read this, well be close to the end of summer and have all the Big Ten info we need, if were still interested enough to think about it. Theres no Summer Schedule; the closest thing to that, the Fall Schedule, at press time is culled from the 96-97 season. Lets hope it will have been updated to preview both upcoming events and up-and-coming players. Surprisingly enough, the Letters section refers to actual written words and not the type worn on varsity sweatshirts. - Ismael Marrero
XPC is shorthand for "extreme, pro and college" sports. This online magazine has way-above-average design and a lively writing style, whether the subject is golf, snowboarding, in-line skating, baseball, hockey, or college basketball. It features dozens of articles, as well as survey questionssuch as who will win MVPavailable via Forms, with instantaneously updated survey results. But don't come here looking for multimedia content: There's nary a squeak or twitch (not even an ad banner for Mountain Dew). - Gary Barker
It used to be that if you wanted to watch sweaty guys in their underwear beat each other senseless, your choices were somewhat limited. But thanks to all this new technology, the day will soon come when you will be able to watch sweaty guys in their underwear beat each other senseless right on your computer screen. Life is good, isn't it? While live video isn't available yet at Boxing Online, lots of other things are, including MIDI soundtracks; streaming, compressed WAV files (you'll need the free True Speech Player plug-in, available for PC and Mac); news articles in English and Spanish; a truckload of memorabilia for sale; and the mailing addresses of celebrity boxers. - Gary Barker
Sailing is easy once you know the jargon, and you'd be surprised by how much you already know. If a grizzled sailor with erratic eye movement wobbled up to you on the street and started shouting, "Swab the mizzenmast! Keelhaul the starboard! Avast, ye anchor!" you'd know immediately to run away from him because he's a crazy person. So sailing is actually a lot easier than it looks. Now that you're an experienced sailor, you'll probably really enjoy Sailing Breezes, which features articles, columns, boat reviews, advertisements, related outside links, and weather forecasts. - Gary Barker
Site of the month!!
I hate to admit it, but when Im out walking the dog and carrying The New York Times, Im much more likely to use the Sports section to pick up after the pooch than I am Arts & Leisure. But just because Id rather read about a movie than read about the game doesnt mean Im a sportsophobic, antisocial freak. Like any good citizen, I occasionally spend an afternoon watching well-muscled athletes fight over a ball. And like any People-perusing, red-blooded American, I also enjoy a good bit of celebrity gossip, particularly if its nasty and personal. Thank goodness for Sports Celebrity Network (SCN). The site, launched in March, picks up where Entertainment Weekly leaves off by extending the term celebrity to include sports figures. It lets you know that Shaquille O'Neals current digs are in Manhattan Beach, a swank beach-side community about 15 minutes from the Great Western Forum; that John Dalys just about to get out of the Betty Ford clinic and face a divorce from his wife and the boot from his endorsement contract; and that Andre Agassi took out a full-page ad congratulating then-fiancée Brooke Shields on her various acting awards. Keep it coming, SCN; inquiringand slaveringminds crave more. But the sites not just about scandal and off-court triviatheres lots of sports news as well. Find out who got creamed by the Utah Jazz, what tournament Tiger Woods just won, and how many goals Joe Sakic scored in last nights face-off. SCN offers daily updates on the latest happenings in the world of football, baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, tennis, and auto racing. While the news provided cant hope to compete with the all-encompassing coverage at larger sites such as ESPN SportsZone, its still worth reading for its personalized focus on the athletes. That said, the site suffers from some faults. Besides the occasional funky coding that leads to missing links, illegible text, and poor layout, SCN also lacks breadth: Outside of its general sports coverage, at press time it offers extensive information on only 50 athletes spread across seven sports. That means you get the behind-the-scenes goods on only 10 football players, four golfers, and two tennis players. And of those 50 players, exactly 50 are men and none are women. SCNs off to a good but flawed start. In the near future, the staff hopes to boost the celebrity count from 50 athletes to 250. Lets hope they remember Monica Seles backhand and Annika Sorenstams wedge work before they add another Tom, Dick, or Fuzzy. - Jeff Titterton