Jeff Hart

GAINESVILLE

Coming off his first win in nearly three full years, Atlanta's Mike Hampton was unable to stay on a roll, and the Braves couldn't complete a four-game sweep at Chase Field on Sunday afternoon. The lefty's inconsistent control helped the Arizona Diamondbacks gain an early lead and claim a 6-1 victory.

Slump? What slump? After rivals said they thought he was slipping following two straight lackluster races, Kyle Busch went out and made history Sunday. He led 52 laps from the pole and won the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win three road course races in one season.

This was the stuff a Dream Team is made of. Acrobatic moves, reverse slams and tomahawk dunks. Who needs outside shooting? Just toss it up and throw it down. The United States opened its campaign for Olympic basketball redemption Sunday with a 101-70 rout of host China that had even the home crowd oohing and aahing.

Josh Smith will remain with the Hawks after Atlanta quickly matched an offer sheet from the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. Terms were not immediately disclosed. The Grizzlies announced earlier in the day that Smith, a restricted free agent, had signed the offer sheet. The Hawks had seven days to match the offer.

Michael Phelps set a world record Sunday to win his first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics. He beat rival Ryan Lochte in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4 minutes, 3.84 seconds.

China issued the challenge, and the short-handed U.S. women couldn't answer on Sunday. Now on to the showdown in the gymnastics team final at the Beijing Olympics, where every element truly counts.

Sometimes it

Aaron Curry stood near midfield at Wake Forest's football stadium while he contemplated the question, looking for a way to explain how coach Jim Grobe's program changed during his four previous seasons.
An obvious answer loomed over his right shoulder.

Tennessee will have no shortage of experienced players on the field in the 2008 season, and the Volunteers think they might be the key to playing at the next level.