Sports

This weekend marked Liberia's Independence Day. Liberians in Minnesota celebrated by hosting a soccer match at Blaine's National Sports Center. However, some Liberians have criticized the timing of the event.
He was a rough-hewn, undersized horse with a sad little tail and knees that wouldn't straighten all the way. At a gallop, he jabbed one foreleg sideways, as if he were swatting flies. Yet, Seabiscuit became a champion. We hear insight into the story and the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend. A movie based on the book opens Friday.
Socialists need exercise, too. It's a lot of work to smash capitalism, but it doesn't do much for the lungs or the legs. So a bunch of young socialists in Duluth get together to kick around a soccer ball. They call it, "Commie Soccer."
Golfers fear it, and experts say it can add five strokes to a player's game. We're talking about the yips. Rochester's Mayo Clinic is trying to find the cause, and held a special putting tournament Monday as part of the research.
Chicago is the center of the baseball world this week as the Major League All-Stars descend on U.S. Cellular Field home of the Chicago White Sox. For the first time, Tuesday's All-Star game will be more than just a mid-summer exhibition, with the winning team earning home field advantage for its league in the World Series.
We continue to talk with Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscut: An American Legend.
With his smallish stature, knobby knees, and slightly crooked forelegs, he looked more like a cow pony than a thoroughbred. But looks aren't everything; his quality, an admirer once wrote, "was mostly in his heart." Gary Eichten talks with Laura Hillenbrand, about the story of the horse who became a cultural icon in Seabiscuit: An American Legend.
In a rare visit to the Midwest, a national windsurfing contest is being held in Minnesota this week. Competitors in the U.S. Windsurfing National Championships will race around a set course on Lake Okabena in Worthington. It's one of the windiest places in the state. But organizers of the event say wind is only one of the reasons they choose southwest Minnesota.
After sitting out this year's legislative session, three Minnesota sports teams seeking new stadiums are gearing up to make their cases in 2004. Representatives of the Metrodome's three tenants - the Twins, Vikings and Gophers - indicated Wednesday that they will be at the Capitol next year in pursuit of new homes. None sounded interested in sharing space, though, meaning lawmakers might hear pitches for three new stadiums.
Michael Lewis, the author of "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game", spoke in the Twin Cities Wednesday about the economics of baseball.