The Commercial Appeal (2007-Current)

Bolton Star On Track at Bubba -- Belote Tied for Fourth After Two Rounds; Missourian Leads

Jack Belote is one round away from reaching his goal at the The Bubba Conlee National Junior Golf Tournament at the Quail Ridge Golf Club in Bartlett. Belote, who will be a senior at Bolton High School in the fall, shot his second consecutive under-par round on Wednesday with a 1- under 69.

Revived Cardinals Knock Off Reds

Cardinals 6, Reds 4 ST. LOUIS - Albert Pujols' two-run homer snapped a seventh- inning tie Wednesday night, helping the surging St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4.

Baseball

Notebook Clemens likely to debut Saturday

Curlin Is Belmont Favorite -- Preakness Winner Gets Early Nod; Filly Rags to Riches Third Choice

NEW YORK - Preakness winner Curlin was made the 6-5 favorite Wednesday for the $1 million Belmont Stakes, with the filly Rags to Riches the third choice at 3-1 in a field of seven 3-year-olds. Curlin will leave from the No. 3 post position under Robby Albarado, and will attempt to become the third horse in seven years to capture the Preakness and Belmont. Point Given in 2001 and Afleet Alex in 2005 won two-thirds of the Triple Crown after failing to win the Kentucky Derby.

Digest

in the news Ducks capture Stanley Cup

Drivers Go Back to Roots -- Edwards Victorious at Race for Charity

ROSSBURG, Ohio - Carl Edwards outran Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon on Wednesday night to win a charity race on a small dirt track owned by driver Tony Stewart. Edwards won the third annual Nextel Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway, a 53-year-old track carved out of farmland in western Ohio.

10 Golfers to Watch

1. Adam Scott Age: 26

Nba Finals - Cavaliers Vs. Spurs

How They match up Spurs (58-24, 12-4) vs. Cavaliers (50-32, 12-4)

Nba Notebook

Finally, Finals for Finley SAN ANTONIO - Perhaps it was all those cameras in his face that made Michael Finley temporarily forget basic geography.

James Shouldering Load for Cavaliers -- Cleveland Star has Tough Task Against San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO - Headphones tilted back on his head, LeBron James walked the Cleveland Cavaliers through the shadowy tunnel and into the arena's gleaming lights and their first NBA Finals. "We're here now!" James shouted.

Nadal Closing On Third French Title -- Mentor Moya Is No Match for No. 2 Seed

PARIS - Friend or foe, mentor or up-and-comer, Rafael Nadal treats everyone on the other side of the net at the French Open with the same amount of courtesy. He beats them, soundly and quickly.

Image Isn't Everything: Singh a Hit with Gallery

Late Wednesday morning, Hassan Esse stood on a rise, looking down toward the 11th tee, wondering how everything would turn out. His 12-year-old son, Abshir, was waiting at the tee for Vijay Singh. He and a buddy were going to volunteer to carry Singh's clubs.

This Week On Tour

LPGA Tour McDonald's LPGA Championship

Longtime East Coach Moves On

After 21 years, the hardest part of leaving East High was packing up his white van with more than two decades worth of memories as the Lady Mustangs' track and field coach. "It hurt me," longtime East coach Danny Joe Young remembers of last Thursday, his final day at East. "All the kids had gone home, and I had one girl that came up there Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and helped me real hard, crating stuff up and boxing stuff up and loading stuff up.

Living Up to the Hype -- Path to the Finals has Helped Lebron the Commodity

CLEVELAND - If Cavaliers fans were thrilled by LeBron James' 48- point performance against Detroit, just imagine how Nike executives felt. Their $90 million investment never looked better.

Focus Isn't On Draft -- Preparing for Super Regional More Important to Bulldog Star

The question has been asked of Mississippi State's Edward Easley. It goes something like : "What are you going to be doing during the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft?"

Outdoors Calendar

Archery Wolf River Bowhunters 3-D Archery Shoot: Sunday at Herb Parsons Lake near Collierville. Registration will be open from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Price is $12 for adults, $10 for children (ages 13-15 and 16-17) and $5 for cubs (9-12). Pee-wees (1-8) may shoot for free. There will be 20 McKenzie Pro/Am targets to shoot in a wooded realistic setting by the lake. This is an open shoot for compounds, crossbows, recurves, longbows and selfbows. Call Richard Brown at (901) 854-8375 or visit wolfriverbow...

Toms Shares Spotlight -- 2-Time Winner Remains Formidable Opponent

As he completed his round in Wednesday's Pro-Am at TPC Southwind, he needed five minutes to accommodate autograph seekers crowding the ropes leading past the scorer's trailer. And as he made his way to the clubhouse, he was asked to stop at a nearby media interview tent to speak to a gathering of local television stations.

Stanford St. Jude Championship - Wednesday Pro-Am Scores

(pros listed first) 54 - Bart Bryant, Mike Frazzette, Mark Augusti, Dave Illingworth

Working His Way Around Southwind - Toting the Load -- Counting Clubs, Judging Putts All in a Day's Work for a Greenhorn Caddie

Paul Haynes stood over his ball on the 17th fairway at Southwind on Wednesday, but his clubs were lagging 20 yards behind. His caddie had gotten caught up in some conversation with Duane Lebl, a volunteer at the Stanford St. Jude Pro-Am. "Your caddie is fired!" Vijay Singh shouted to Haynes, one of his playing partners for the afternoon.