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SPORTS BITS: Gwynn on TBS; Venus at Bausch & Lomb; S&L Racing makes history.
*Baseball legend Tony Gwynn, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 29, has been hired by TBS to serve as an analyst for the cable network's major league baseball package, reports SI.com. Gwynn will team with Chip Caray as TBS's premier broadcast team; they will be in the booth for this year's division playoffs and NLCS. TBS has also recruited Cal Ripken to serve as the network's top studio analyst for coverage of the 2007 division series and NL championship series. Ripken will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July as well.
*Venus Williams surged forward at the Bausch & Lomb Championships Wednesday night, beating Patty Schnyder 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the clay-court tournament in Amelia Island, Florida. "I think going to a match for her against an opponent you've never won against, I think that's tough," Williams said. "That probably played a role. She was probably nervous, too. She was hitting some double faults at times when there was no need to." Williams has won nine straight matches against Schnyder. As of press time Thursday night, she was in the midst of facing Meilen Tu in the tourney’s third round match.
*S&L Racing owners Gale Sayers and Ray Lewis introduce what is believed to be the first team of minority drivers at the Champ Car World Series, to be held tomorrow and Sunday (April 7 and 8) in Las Vegas. Currently, the team consists of an African American male driver, Benny Mingo, French Canadian driver Maryeve Dufault and Michele Bumgarner, who is from the Philippines, but relocated to America to race for S&L. In addition, Sayers and Lewis will attend the races to support S&L partners, Newman Wachs Racing, who will have a team participating in this weekend’s race. Sayers, a member of the Pro Football League Hall of Fame, played seven years with the Chicago Bears and is considered to be one of the greatest running backs in National Football League history. Lewis, a 10-year NFL veteran with the Baltimore Ravens, was the MVP for Super Bowl XXXV and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 2001.
