By NICK GHOLSON, Scripps Howard News Service

BEIJING -- For awhile there Jeremy Wariner looked unbeatable.The young Texan won double gold in the 400 meters and as anchor on the 4 x 400 relay at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He duplicated that at the 2005 World Championships, then repeated it at the 2007 World Championships.Back then it looked like Wariner had only one real rival.43.18.

BEIJING -- While some guy named Phelps was making Olympic history Sunday, just a few miles down the road a couple of California girls were playing in the sand.But Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor don't expect a Phelps-like spotlight.They play beach volleyball.

BEIJING -- It's hard to believe a pitcher with 20 collegiate no-hitters and 10 perfect games being a little-used spare part on anybody's softball team.But that was exactly what Cat Osterman was four years ago.

Having made history at the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships, the United States women now find themselves in the unusual position as the team to beat at the Beijing Olympics.

Mia Hamm and her friends are gone.Brandi Chastain, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett and Hamm have hung up their sneakers after leading the United States to a World Cup title in 1999 and Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.And Briana Scurry, a goalkeeper on all those teams, did not make the Olympic cut this year.

NEW ORLEANS -- A quick look at the 13 golf courses that compose the Audubon Golf Trail in Louisiana.1. Olde Oaks (near Shreveport)Hal Sutton, a Shreveport native, closely collaborated in the design of this course, which features 27 holes, each with its own namesake characteristics -- The Oaks, The Cypress and The Meadows.

NEW ORLEANS -- When people hear the name Audubon, they usually think of birds.John James Audubon spent much of his life studying and painting our feathered friends.But thanks to the 7-year-old Audubon Golf Trail in Louisiana, the name Audubon is now recognized for birdies.

In 1964, the people in Dallas were fed up with Tom Landry.The Dallas Cowboys had gone 14-38-3 in their first four seasons in the NFL.The bus was broken.Shoot the driver.The restless natives of Big D were demanding a new head coach.So what did Cowboys owner Clint Murchison do?He gave Landry a new 10-year contract.

As a kid, I loved the Yankees.Mantle and Maris. Whitey and Yogi. Billy Martin.Those were my childhood heroes.And back then, a kid could not be a real Yankee fan unless he hated the Dodgers.So I had no use for the Bums from Brooklyn. Liked them even less when they moved to La La Land.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens is the most valuable player of the NFL.