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At Overland Park

Standings after four weeks

Five-member Team Division 1--1. Griffith Steel, Great Plains, 3490; 2. Five Spots, Great Plains, 3479; 3. Hens and Chicks, Topeka, 3456; 4. Unlimited RPM, Wyandotte-Johnson County, 3439; 5. Bailey's Corner, Verdigris Valley, 3425; 6. Auto World, Hays, 3418. Division 2--1. Call The Sheriff, Arkansas City, 3659; 2. Allen TV, Coffey County, 3624; 3. Outside The Circle, Dodge City, 3617; 4. Copper Lounge, Harper County, 3608; 5. Us Again, Marysville, 3596; 6. Bleacher Creatures #2, Manhattan-Wamego, 3594. Division 3--1. CyberKraft, Marysville, 3729; 2. S & R Betts Construction, Atchison, 3708; 3. Pratt Well Service, Pratt, 3697; 4. Wally World, El Dorado, 3685; 5. The Nuts, Baxter Springs, 3617; 6. Milt Dougherty & Assoc., Phillipsburg, 3611. Four-member Team Division 4--1. T.O.B., Wyandotte-Johnson, 2853; 2. Borton, LC, Reno County, 2844; 3. Kesler Photography, Parsons, 2779; 4. Ray's Apple Market, Clay Center, 2771; 5. Design Four Sports, Wyandotte-Johnson, 4137; 6. Lincoln Street Ladies #1, Manhattan-Wamego, 2759. Division 5--1. Soldier Grill, Jackson County, 2999; 2. Manko, Manhattan-Wamego, 2986; 3. Ladybugs, Coffey County, 2936; 4. Got Wood?, Hays, 2916; 5. Strike Outs, Colby, 2903; 6. VFW Mighty Mighty 3, Parsons, 2885. Division 6--1. Crazy Babes Roll'n, Washington County, 3000; 2. First National Bank, Wheat Capital, 2915; 3. Patchwork Girls, Central Kansas, 2910; 4. Jayhawk Bowl, Marysville, 2906; 5. Patterson Recycling, Arkansas City, 2900; 6. Independent Accounting Service, Belleville, 2898. Doubles Division 1--1. Marcia Snider-Stacy O'Neal, Wheat Capital, 1596; 2. Pam Dunn-Jennifer Davids, Douglas County, 1552; 3. Jamie Wolf-Sandra Becker, Hoisington, 1494; 4. Dee Dee Lang-Christina Trimmer, Topeka; 5. Julia Rodriguez-Jeanne King, Wyandotte-Johnson, 1476; 6. Patsy Stark-Karen Hendryx, Verdigris Valley, 1475. Division 2--1. Amelia Bowen-Kenten Walker, Wyandotte-Johnson, 1587; 2. Robin Fisher-Beverly Conner, Wyandotte-Johnson, 1569; 3. Debbie Dew-Melva Bottom, Wyandotte-Johnson, 1569; 4. Kathy Rotert-Terri White, Baxter Springs, 1540; 5. Stormie Higginbotham-Channity Farley, Wheat Capital, 1534; 6. Kathy Jonas-Rhonda Boxberger, Hoisington, 1529. Division 3--1. (tie) Darla La Forte-Barbara Danielson, Verdigris Valley, 1587; 1. (tie) Janette Moser-Michelle Reid, Wheat Capital, 1587; 3. Lori Schmitt-Pam Crosthwait, Wyandotte-Johnson, 1555; 4. Georgia Dale-Shandon Weston, Arkansas City, 1541; 5. Jenette Clark-Gayle Clements, Herington, 1539; 6. Tracy Bruce-Lori Stanley, Douglas County, 1538. Singles Division 1--1. Toni Saunders, Wyandotte-Johnson, 865; 2. Diane Massey, Topeka, 833; 3. Joann Hrabe, Belleville, 808; 4. Jeanne King, Wyandotte-Johnson, 796; 5. Cindy Cooper, Topeka, 783; 6. Kaylyn Schoenhofer, Chanute, 782. Division 2--1. Stormie Higginbotham, Wheat Capital, 846; 2. Tina Higgins, Jackson County, 845; 3. Gladys Counts, Kearny County, 833; 4. Angela Wright, Coffey County, 817; 5. Frances Jackson, Topeka, 816; 6. Dee Dee Lang, Topeka, 814. Division 3--1. Pam Crosthwait, Wyandotte-Johnson, 851; 2. Kay Prather-Rodriquez, Douglas County, 844; 3. Darla La Forte, Verdigris Valley, 839; 4. Ruth Tunnell, Baxter Springs, 835; 5. Jennifer Collette, Concordia, 830; 6. Joan Sorrick, Washington County. All Events Division 1--1. Diane Massey, Topeka, 2374; 2. Nancy Hoffinan, Hays, 2320; 3. Jeanne King, Wyandotte-Johnson, 2280; 4. Toni Saunders, Wyandotte-Johnson, 2272; 5. Dawn Lanning, Reno, 2267; 6. Kaylyn Schoenhofer, Chanute, 2262. Division 2--1. Samantha Carpio, Coffey County, 2333; 2. Tina Higgins, Jackson County, 2331; 3. Jane Posch, Parsons, 2325; 4. Kenten Walker, Wyandotte-Johnson, 2323; 5. Frances Jackson, Topeka, 2321; 6. Helen Lyons, Baxter Springs, 2317. Divison 3--1. Pam Crosthwait, Wyandotte-Johnson, 2451; 2. Darla La Forte, Verdigris Valley, 2447; 3. (tie) Crissie Cole, Coffey County, 2368 and Amy Kuhn, Dodge City, 2368; 5. Krissy Jackson, Central Kansas, 2367; 6. Ruth Tunnell, Baxter Springs, 2358.

The New York Rangers rocked the New Jersey Devils' house like no team and rolled right into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Rangers trailed for 18 seconds in the first period before scoring four straight times and holding on for a 5-3 victory Friday night in New Jersey that ended the best-of-seven series in five games.

New Jersey's John Madden was awarded a penalty shot with 7:08 remaining in the third period after Michal Rozsival dragged him down with a sweeping dive with his stick. Madden couldn't net the tying goal when his backhander at the right post was stopped by Henrik Lundqvist's pads.

Brandon Dubinsky sealed New York's second straight 5-3 win with an empty-net goal with 59.1 seconds left.

Never had a team won three road games against New Jersey in a playoff series, but the Rangers did it in the first season at the Devils' new arena, Prudential Center, affectionately known as "The Rock."

Missouri 7, Kansas 2

Missouri 6, Kansas 5

Kansas Wesleyan 6, Ottawa 2

Calendar

Space precludes us from running all listings. To see all listings, go to Kansas.com/sports and click on "Other Sports."

Baseball

• Saturday-Sunday: Kansas Top Gun Championship tournament in Winfield, ages 10U to 14U. Fee $195. Call Mark Cody, 316-259-12341.• April 24-27: May Day Classic at Southwest Boys Club for ages 7-8 machine pitch, 10&, 12U, 14U. Fee $165. Call Kelly Decker, 316-260-4316.

• Deadline April 25: The Department of Park & Recreation summer league, for boys ages 5-14 and girls ages 5-18; competitive baseball for boys 15-18. Call 316-268-4361 or visit www.wichita.gov.

Baseball

The 10-year-old Dodgers won the Southwest Boys club preseason tournament April 4-6. Players are Connor Patterson, Kyle Turney, Sam Barker, Clayton Hicks, Alec Pendergrass, Shane Brock, Kyle Newlin, Garrett Haskins, Brody Kinney, Brandon Gleich and Desmond Martinez. Coaches are Casey Tajchman, Kevin Turney and Tim Barker.

Basketball

• The 15-U Kansas City Tarheels finished in the final four at the Boo Williams Nike Invitational April 12-14 in Hampton/Norfolk, Va. Team members include Cameron Cornelius and Ja'ln Williams. Coaches are Nodie Newton and Vincent Williams.

Hardball

Wednesday's games

Pittsburgh 3, Ottawa 1, Pittsburgh wins series 4-0

New York Rangers 5, New Jersey 3, New York leads series 3-1

Nashville 3, Detroit2, series tied 2-2

Thursday's games

• American Christian (Pa.) Academy senior Tyreke Evans announced on Wednesday that he was signing to play basketball for Memphis, turning down Villanova and Texas.

Evans, who several news outlets rank as the No. 1 player in his class, will wait until Monday to sign a national letter of intent.

The 6-foot-6 guard, the MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game, was widely considered, since Friday, a lock to pick the Tigers.

Evgeni Malkin and Jarko Ruutu scored second-period goals, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night at Ottawa to complete a four-game sweep of their first-round series.

Sidney Crosby scored into an empty net with 7.5 seconds remaining and had an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for Pittsburgh, which got its first sweep in 16 years and its first playoff series win since 2001.

Cory Stillman scored for Ottawa, which was swept out of the first round for the third time in its 11 consecutive playoff appearances.

The sweep was a measure of revenge for the young Penguins, who were knocked out of last year's playoffs in five games by the Senators. Ottawa went on to make its first Stanley Cup finals appearance in modern franchise history, losing in five to Anaheim.

The Penguins also became the first team to advance to the second round. Pittsburgh will face Boston, if the Bruins overcome their 3-1 series deficit against Montreal to advance, or the winner of the New Jersey-New York Rangers series.

The "Freeze, turkey" moment is a staple of cop movies, the dramatic moment when a lawman brandishing badge and gun brings a suspect to a screeching halt. If "88 Minutes" is remembered for nothing else, it will be a footnote in movie history for the sight of Al Pacino waving his ID at a startled motorist and barking, "I'm a forensic psychologist with the FBI. Show me your hands!"

Preposterous in design, abysmal in execution and laugh-out-loud funny when it's straining for drama, the film doesn't even honor the lean-and-mean promise of its title. While its framework is a real-time race to stop a maniacal killer, the movie is a bloated 105 minutes long. If your hopes for a quick, merciful exit rise when the villain taunts "You have 42 minutes left," you're in for a letdown. There's more to come, unfortunately.

Pacino, his eyeballs popping like pingpong balls and his hair tortured into a ridiculous souffle, plays Jack Gramm, a Seattle psychology professor with a sideline as a consultant in cases involving serial killers. He played a key role in putting away Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) for the elaborate upside-down bondage killing of a beautiful Asian girl.

Nine years later, as Forster faces execution, an identical murder is committed, casting doubt on his guilt. And a raspy-throated villain (Jigsaw from the "Saw" series taking in a little side work, unless my ears deceive me) tells Gramm he has just 88 minutes left to live because of his role in Forster's conviction.

Pacino spends the rest of the film gunning his silver Porsche around town and barking urgently into his cell phone, while sinister characters try to eliminate him with bombs, arson and gunfire.

Jeff Daniels spent a month learning American Sign Language for his role in CBS's "Sweet Nothing in My Ear." But Daniels, who plays the hearing spouse of a deaf woman, is quick to emphasize that the film isn't a movie about deaf people. "It's about people having to make a difficult decision involving their child," he said.

Daniels portrays Dan Miller, and Marlee Matlin plays his wife, Laura, in this Hallmark Hall of Fame production that follows the couple as they cope with their son's hearing loss.

A cochlear implant could restore the boy's hearing, but Laura, who has been deaf her entire life, is against it. Dan wants his son, Adam, to have what he considers a more normal life. Their clash over what's best threatens to dissolve the marriage.

"They were so in love with each other, but it's the love for their child that becomes the wedge between them," Daniels said.

Daniels called his most intense scene, a meeting between the couple and their son's doctor, "my Mount Everest."

Poker is a game of mistakes. The object is to put your opponent in a position to make an error that gets you his chips.

One of the spots in which mistakes are frequently made is on the river. Often, it involves a value bet, which is a wager sized to get an opponent to call with the second-best hand.

The key is to find the right amount so you get paid off with your good hands, but sometimes even the best players make a mistake with the amount they put out.

At the $15,000-buy-in main event of World Poker Tour's 2006 Five Diamond Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio, Erick Lindgren drew 6-7 offsuit in middle position. With blinds at $200-$400, Lindgren made the minimum raise to $800, throwing some deception into his play.

"I can't wait for something big or something suited," said Lindgren, one of the pros from the Full Tilt Poker online site.

Evemt

Shrine Circus

There are still five more performances of the Midian Shrine Circus this weekend. The three rings of family fun will include Nino the Clown, who performs part of his act on a trapeze and the Flying Pages, featuring the world's youngest trapeze artist. Performances will be at 10 a.m., 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. today and 1:30 and 6 p.m. Sunday at the Kansas Coliseum. General admission tickets are $14 for adults and $5 for children 2 to 12, available at Select-A-Seat outlets and the Coliseum.

Event

Renaissance Festival

The list of unusual performers slated for this weekend's annual spring Great Plains Renaissance Festival is so long, it's hard to believe it'll all fit in Sedgwick County Park.

Cirque du Soleil-style acrobats. Performing monkeys. Heavy metal combatants. Bagpipers. Belly dancers.

Even Whipboy.

Come again?

Whipboy, apparently, performs comic stunts with a whip.

The Midian Shrine Circus rolls into the Kansas Coliseum today for seven circus performances this weekend. Here's some of what you'll see in the three rings:

1) Nino the Clown, who performs part of his act on a trapeze, and the Flying Pages, featuring the world's youngest trapeze artist.

2) Adam Burke and his Bengal tigers, which perform feats such as jumping through hoops of fire and walking a tightrope 10 feet off the ground.

3) The high-wire act of Carlos and Marlena, a husband-and-wife team, the Alvarez Family acrobats and Miss Carina, an aerial athlete.

4) Clowns, including the Hometown Harlequins, will keep the crowd entertained with comic antics, pratfalls and good-natured audience interaction.

Forty thousand tulips used to bloom this time of year at Bartlett Arboretum 30 minutes south of Wichita in Belle Plaine, giving rise to the town's long-running Tulip Time celebration.

The party continues to this day, but with a bit of a different growth pattern. This weekend, while the town celebrates around it, the nearly 100-year-old arboretum will be pushing up art and music along with its most famous stars: enormous trees that make you feel like you're not in Kansas anymore.

Oh, yes, and some tulips.

"We have 5,000 tulips," says the arboretum's owner-steward, singer Robin Macy. "The whole formal garden is full of tulips."

But Macy, a founding member of the Dixie Chicks, is more intent on the trees that have seen decades of tulips come and go. She started Art at the Arb three years ago as "a way to have the public enjoy the arb and those stately trees," which include a number of the biggest or oldest examples of their type in the state, including a Japanese maple and a river birch.

Kelley L. Carter

Mike Epps is a funny man. He's the kind of guy who can give a look, deliver a straight line or simply walk onto a stage, and people start laughing.

It's a quality that he's always had; it's what kept him in trouble, got him out of trouble and ultimately made him an emerging star, best known for being cast as the hilarious, comic-relief sidekick.

His latest role was in "Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins," released in February.

In a recent interview, Epps, a 37-year-old Indianapolis native, chatted about his family, his comedy and how he laughed his way out of jail.

This year's Wichita Jazz Festival features three ways to enjoy jazz music. Here's what you need to know about the event:

1) Everything kicks off today with college and high school big band and combos performing from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. in Miller Concert Hall, Duerksen Fine Arts Center, on the Wichita State University campus. Tickets are $10, good for the entire day.

2) Saturday night's headlining concert will star the Eric Alexander Quartet. The tenor saxophonist lives in New York and has recorded such acclaimed albums as "Temple of Olympic Zeus" and "It's All in the Game." His band has toured extensively in the United States, Japan, Europe, and South America. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in Miller Concert Hall. Tickets are $16.

3) Performances by WSU jazz ensembles will wrap up the festival at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Miller Concert Hall. Tickets are $6. For more information about all festival events, call 316-978-3233.

A good deal

Jason Segel crafts a funny line of dialogue and, as shown by the opening moments of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," he's perfectly willing to bare all for the sake of comedy.

But he still has a lot to learn about character development and fashioning a satisfying narrative.

Segel wrote and stars in "Sarah Marshall," this month's offering from the Judd Apatow comedy machine. You may remember him as the least geeky of Seth Rogan's roomies in "Knocked Up."

Here he plays Peter Bretter, a big, soft (in both the physical and emotional sense) homebody who writes music for TV shows and for the last five years has been the boyfriend of hottie actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), star of a "C.S.I." -type show called "Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime."

Early in the film Peter, fresh from the shower, is visited by Sarah, who announces she's breaking up with him. Segel plays the scene in the nude. Like totally. Talk about vulnerability.

• "How I Met Your Mother's" Jason Segel wrote the screenplay for the comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and also stars as a brokenhearted guy trying to get over a recent split with his TV-star girlfriend (Kristen Bell) by taking a vacation in Hawaii _ only to find his ex and her new beau at the same resort.

• In what sounds like a gimmicky premise, "88 Minutes" stars Al Pacino as a college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI. When he receives a death threat telling him he has only 88 minutes to live, he frantically tries to find the identity of his tormentor before he runs out of time, or in this case, before the end credits roll.

• "Forbidden Kingdom" pairs martial arts superstars Jet Li and Jackie Chan in a tale about a kung fu-obsessed American teen who accidentally discovers an ancient Chinese staff in a pawnshop. He then is magically sent back in time to find its rightful owner, with the help of a drunken kung fu master (Chan) and a silent monk (Li).

• Documentary fans have two choices this weekend, as "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" follows Ben Stein as he seeks to determine whether intelligent design is a pseudoscience trying to undermine evolutionary biology, or whether it is legitimate science being suppressed by a scientific establishment that is hostile to any deviation from the status quo.

• And the Tallgrass Film Festival and the Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts present a special screening tonight at the Murdock Theatre of "Deliver Us From Evil," in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The 2007 Oscar nominee for best documentary follows the story of Father Oliver O'Grady, who was an active pedophile within the Catholic Church system for more than two decades. Filmmaker Amy Berg examines the corruption of church leaders _ who knew of his acts but ignored them _ and the lives that O'Grady shattered.

There might have been some people who, while watching one of "The Lord of the Rings" movies, had a particular light bulb pop up over their heads. "Hey, you know what would really make this great?," they thought. "Some kung fu by a couple of aging Asian action stars!"

"The Forbidden Kingdom" is the movie for them -- and their children. This "Karate Kid"-meets-Tolkien tale, starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li as two martial-arts masters helping a shy, contemporary Boston boy ("Will & Grace's" Michael Angarano) on his quest to deliver a magical staff back in time to ancient China's Monkey King, is as predictable as Kevin Federline's career trajectory.

Some hardcore Hong Kong/Chinese film fans might take umbrage at the fact that two respected veterans of Asian action cinema like Chan and Li, in their continuing bid to gain traction with Western audiences, have to play support to a relatively unknown American teenager. And Chan is saddled with the worst wig this side of the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz."

Still, for all of its flaws, "The Forbidden Kingdom" is pleasantly enjoyable, largely thanks to the action choreography of the legendary Woo-Ping Yuen ("The Matrix," "Kill Bill") and the sense of spectacle delivered by director Rob Minkoff ("The Lion King," "Stuart Little").

Angarano plays Jason Tripitikas, a good-hearted and bullied kid who collects obscure Hong Kong DVDs and lives in a fantasy world of martial-arts action heroes. But his dreams turn to reality one day when, while perusing DVDs in a cluttered Chinatown shop run by a strange old man, he comes across a staff with magic powers.

Spring means two things when you're living on the Plains -- warmer weather and tornadoes. The Shamrock Lounge is celebrating the latter with its sixth annual Tornado Bait Party on Saturday. Here are three things to look forward to at the party:

1. Listen to hours of live music. Starting with Outhouse Explosion at 3 p.m., enjoy more than eight hours of live music. Also on the lineup are Norway Agenda, In the Wake, Peerless Princess of the Plains and Spirit of the Stairs.

2. Food is included in the price. Although organizers won't reveal exactly what they're serving, customers can count on a pork roast that day.

3. All the other stuff. Expect some "storm door" prizes and drink specials exclusively for the event. And for those in the spirit, there is even a costume contest.

Admission is $5 at the door. Festivities start at 11 a.m. The Shamrock is at 1724 W. Douglas.

Barbra Streisand has put her money where her heart is.

The 66-year-old singer-actress has donated $5 million to endow a research and education program on women's heart disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The hospital on Wednesday announced the new Barbra Streisand Women's Cardiovascular Research Education Program.

Eduardo Marban, who directs the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, said cardiovascular disease is the nation's leading killer of women -- responsible for nearly 500,000 deaths a year -- but most research on heart disease revolves around men.

Streisand said women must get involved in reducing risks for heart disease. The new program will conduct trials on new drugs for women, try to identify the role of gender in heart disease, and work on other ways of reducing risks.

For the first time under current ownership, Cabaret Oldtown is devoting an entire show to country music with the locally written new revue, "Cabaret... Gone Country!," which opens today.

And director Christi Moore says the cast is having a blast.

"Not everyone was a country fan when we started. Some had never even heard some of the songs. What I love about country is that there is such a story in each song," says Moore, who counts herself a fan since growing up in tiny Riverton in southeast Kansas. "We had some skeptics, but I think they've come along. We're definitely having fun."

Previous Cabaret owners did occasional dramatic tributes to Patsy Cline and Hank Williams. Moore and her husband, Mark Leslie, who bought Cabaret Oldtown about four years ago, have included country in their Christmas revues but are more known for nostalgic pop music revues and specialty shows like "The Rocky Horror Show."

"But country is so popular in this area that we thought it might be fun to revisit it in a bigger way," Moore says. "Our revues for the '60s, '70s and '80s confine you to one decade, but when you do a country show, you have songs from at least 60 years."

The selection of good restaurants in the Old Town/downtown area has improved dramatically in recent years, but few have been quite as welcome to seekers of fine dining as the Eaton Steakhouse.

Housed in the lobby of the historic Eaton Hotel -- a space that has undergone a dramatic and lavish renovation -- the Eaton Steakhouse offers a tempting gourmet menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Owners Steve and Stephanie Compton say they want to create more than just a meal for diners. They want to create an event.

That's why servers wear tuxedos and a white-gloved doorman ushers guests in and out. It's why dinner guests are offered warm, damp cloths with which to cleanse their hands before a meal. And why special touches such as white linen tablecloths, luxurious draperies and dramatic floral arrangements are provided.

Oh, and the food is good, too -- very good in most cases but not without the occasional miss. And those who visit at night should be aware that dinner prices are high. The least expensive entree is $29, and a meal with wine can easily surpass $100 a couple. (Lunch is decidedly more reasonable.)

Dear Mr. Smithee,

I'm looking ahead to our Mental Health Week activities next January. We would like to include at least a couple of movies in our public events.

I would really like to show some positive and upbeat films that deal with mental health. That is a difficult criteria to meet.

Any suggestions?

-- Eddie

Federal prosecutors say actor Wesley Snipes should serve the maximum possible penalty for failing to file a tax return.

Prosecutors say in court documents filed Monday that Snipes' case "cries out" for him to serve the maximum, which is up to three years in prison.

The "Blade" star's lawyer says he has not reviewed the documents and will respond with a presentencing memorandum of his own.

Snipes, 45, was convicted in February of failing to file a tax return. He was acquitted of more serious tax fraud and conspiracy charges. He's set to be sentenced April 24.

The latest Lowe-down

At this weekend's Midian Shrine Circus, clowns will keep the crowd entertained while tigers and elephants perform jaw-dropping tricks and acrobats swing through the air.

All arrive at the Kansas Coliseum on Friday for seven circus performances this weekend.

The three rings of family fun will include Nino the Clown, who performs part of his act on a trapeze, the Flying Pages, featuring the world's youngest trapeze artist, and Adam Burke and his Bengal tigers.

The Midian Shrine Circus usually draws more than 25,000 people over the weekend. The circus is put on by the Hamid Circus Co., which is in its 77th year. It's the Midian Shrine's major fundraiser for its annual operations.

Performances will be at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m., 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 1:30 and 6 p.m. Sunday at the Kansas Coliseum. General admission tickets are $14 for adults and $5 for children 2 to 12, available at Select-A-Seat outlets and the Coliseum. Charge by phone at 316-660-1000.

Legendary jazz and pop singer Jack Jones admits that he sometimes despairs about the future of modern music that his 17-year-old daughter listens to.

It's less about talent and more about electronics these days, he thinks.

"It's too easy to create a hit record because you can concoct it electronically," says Jones, who celebrated his 50th anniversary in showbiz on March 15 with a special concert in Palm Desert, Calif. "It's a scary thought because it's the end of creativity on a certain level."

But Jones is not all gloom and doom because, he says, there are bright spots like smooth Canadian stylist Michael Buble, who reassure veterans like himself that their type of easy-listening love songs will always be around.

And Jones, who won Grammys as best male vocalist in the 1960s for such hits as "Wives and Lovers" and "Lollipop and Roses," is still all about love songs. He'll be bringing his one-man show to Wichita's Orpheum Theatre on Friday.

At some point during the stretch of four scoreless, hitless innings, the unfairness of the situation had to hit the Southern Illinois dugout.

It's Sunday, when many teams are picking names out of a hat for a starting pitcher. Wichita State rolls out Anthony Capra, the Missouri Valley Conference leader in wins and ERA.

Capra struck out nine and gave up four hits in No. 7 WSU's 8-3 victory over SIU at Eck Stadium. After the third inning, no Saluki reached base until two outs into the eighth.

"We love having Capra on the mound," WSU shortstop Dusty Coleman said. "That is a pretty good feeling that we have three weekend starters who could go any day because they all have good stuff."

Capra gave up a home run to Bret Maugeri in the second inning to give SIU (20-17, 4-8 MVC) a 1-0 lead. In the third, Capra got out of a two-on, two-out jam thanks to a diving stop by first baseman Tyler Hill.

An open date awaits the Royals today back in Kansas City. Good thing. They can use the day off to lick their wounds from an abysmal weekend in the picturesque East Bay.

Oakland completed a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 victory primarily because just-returned Luke Hochevar couldn't put the brakes on a five-run fourth inning. All five runs scored with two outs.

The Royals have lost four straight and eight of 11. They come limping home with a losing record (9-10), after completing a 2-5 road trip that included 1-1 splits in Seattle and Los Angeles before this three-game flop at McAfee Coliseum.

So, yes, the open date comes at a good time before Cleveland and Toronto come to Kauffman Stadium for three-game series.

"There's not a guy in here happy about the way we finished this road trip," manager Trey Hillman said. "We've just got to regroup, have a good homestand and get our rear ends back above .500."

WSU men win first title in five years

Jesse Buss will have to make room on his hand for a national championship bowling ring, because it isn't the only piece of shiny jewelry he's been promised this week.

Buss started the week by proposing to his girlfriend (she accepted), and finished it by leading the Wichita State bowling team to a national championship.

With a 2-0 sweep in a best-of-three series over Nevada-Las Vegas, the Shockers captured the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships at Northrock Lanes. It's WSU's first men's title since 2003 and eighth overall.

The Shocker women also advanced to the title series, but were swept by Pikeville (Ky.) College and denied a second straight championship and ninth overall.

Southern Illinois pitcher Shawn Joy, a Topekan, liked everything about Saturday's challenge. He was back in his home state and throwing against a top-10 team in front of a crowd of 5,037.

"I wasn't scared of these guys," he said. "I wasn't scared of (Aaron) Shafer. A guy like that, that makes you elevate your game. I was excited to be in this kind of an atmosphere."

Joy, a senior left-hander, never once looked scared, or even mildly uncomfortable, in a 3-0 victory over No. 7 Wichita State at Eck Stadium. He held the Shockers to five hits and didn't walk a batter in his first complete-game of the season. Shafer, WSU's starter, struck out 12 and allowed five hits. That's good enough to win on most days. Not against Joy , who didn't allow a Shocker to reach third.

"He really changed his speeds pretty well, hit his spots and didn't make too many mistakes over the plate," WSU shortstop Dusty Coleman said. "When he did, we really didn't punish him too hard."

WSU (29-7, 8-3 Missouri Valley Conference) run-ruled SIU (20-16, 4-7) in a 10-0 rout Friday. The Shockers stole nine bases and ran the Salukis silly. One day later, Joy kept the Shockers off balance and off the bases.

So this is what happens to the Royals when Zack Greinke, like Brian Bannister, isn't in top form.

Other flaws get exposed and, right now, the Royals don't have enough to overcome them.

The Royals blew a four-run lead Saturday in a depressing 6-5 loss to the Oakland A's at McAfee Coliseum. They are back to .500 for the first time since winning their season opener after suffering a third straight loss and falling to 9-9.

"We just kind of fell flat there," second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. "When you get a team against the ropes, you've got to keep putting it on and keep having quality at-bats. We fell off in that in the middle innings.

"That gave them a chance to get back in the game."

The backup kicker saved the evening from being a disaster.

Up until Josh Cherry's 51-yard field goal with 12:43 to go in the final quarter of Kansas State's spring football game on Saturday, there was nothing.

No touchdowns. No field goals. No points. No noteworthy plays -- none positive, at least.

Cherry, kicking for the White team, provided the only points in the 3-0 win for the Dave Brock-coached squad, which earned steak dinners for the effort. The Purple team's consolation prize was bologna sandwiches.

Cherry played mostly as kickoff specialist as a freshman last season, serving as the backup place kicker to Brooks Rossman. Earlier in Saturday's game, he missed a field goal from 51 yards.

New York Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth was suspended for three games and fined Saturday for throwing a fastball behind the neck of Boston slugger Manny Ramirez earlier in the week.

Farnsworth said he was "shocked" by the decision and would appeal the penalty, which was to start Saturday night against Baltimore. He will be eligible to pitch until a hearing is held.

"I can't agree," he said. "We will appeal, and then we'll go from there."

Manager Joe Girardi also expressed his shock at the ruling by Bob Watson, vice president of on-field operations for Major League Baseball. The amount of the fine was not disclosed.

"I am shocked and I don't understand it. I disagree with it. It doesn't make any sense to me," Girardi said, adding that there have been far worse incidents that have gone without penalty this season.

ESU batting: Crumbliss 1-3, Majors 1-2, Shortell 1-3, Hernandez 2-2, Dreiling 2-3, Wempe 0-2, Lane 0-3, Marasco 1-3, Anderson 1-2.

ESU pitching: Applehans 5-1, Waggoner 2-0.

ESU 15, NW Missouri 6

The St. Louis Cardinals are certainly glad they've seen the last of Tim Lincecum in 2008.

Lincecum pitched seven sharp innings and beat St. Louis for the second time in a week, leading the San Francisco Giants over the Cardinals 3-0 Saturday.

The two teams conclude their three-game set on Sunday, which is also their last scheduled meeting this season. And that means Lincecum will need to go pick on someone else.

Lincecum (3-0) gave up six hits and struck out five in his 10th major league victory -- three of those wins have come against St. Louis.

"You kind of get lucky from time to time against certain teams," Lincecum said. "Those guys were swinging early, so I had to try to take advantage of it."

Blue Jays designated hitter Frank Thomas was livid Saturday after getting benched in favor of Matt Stairs and being told by manager John Gibbons he can expect further cuts to his playing time.

Thomas did not shake hands with his teammates following Toronto's 3-2 victory over Detroit on Saturday and left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters.

"I'm angry, I know I can help this team. My career isn't going to end like this," he said before the game.

The 39-year-old Thomas is hitless in his past 13 at-bats and has gone 4 for 35 since homering in three straight games April 5-8. He has 516 home runs, putting him 18th on baseball's career list.

Thomas signed a two-year, $18-million contract with Toronto in November 2006. The deal includes a $10 million option for 2009, but only if Thomas makes 376 plate appearances this season.

Former major leaguer John Marzano died Saturday after falling down a flight of stairs at his Philadelphia home. He was 45.

The cause of his death was not immediately clear, police said.

Marzano was from Philadelphia and had been working for Major League Baseball's Web site, where he co-hosted a show on weekday mornings.

"John was a beloved member of our team, a personable, terrific friend to all with whom he worked," said Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of MLB Advanced Media. "He was an engaging, informed interviewer. His energy, knowledge of the game and comedic touch produced admirable results. We miss him dearly already."

In a statement announcing his death, MLB said Marzano had fallen. MLB.com will establish an internship program in Marzano's name, the release said.

KU batting: Larson 1-4, Price 1-5, Allman 2-5, Afenir 2-3, Price 1-4, Morrison 2-5, Land 2-4, Thompson 0-3, Faunce 1-4.

KU pitching: Esquibel 5 2/3-6, Hkall 1 2/3-1, Smyth 2/3-0.

Kansas State 7, Texas Tech 4

The Missouri Valley Conference leader board is full of Wichita State golfers entering the men's conference tournament. It will be a surprise if it's not full of Shockers when the tournament ends Tuesday.

The Shockers have heard that story before -- last spring, as a matter of fact.

"Last year, we were favored to win; and we didn't," WSU senior Ryan Spears said. "We have some evil spirits to fight off."

The Shockers tee off today as the heavy favorite at the Davenport Country Club in Davenport, Iowa. In the backs of their minds is last season, when Illinois State upset WSU with a 13-stroke victory. Teams play 36 holes today and finish with 18 on Tuesday.

The Shockers expect to reclaim the title and win their seventh championship in the past 12 seasons. They received eight of the nine possible first-place votes from conference coaches in pre-tournament voting. Five of the top six golfers in the Golfstat head-to-head rankings are Shockers.

A 5-1 formation with Wichita State hitter Emily Stockman on the front row with the setter is good. The 5-1 with Stockman removed from the setter is even better.

WSU volleyball coach Chris Lamb called it the spring of the 5-1 as he used practices and tournaments to integrate freshman setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper and experiment with lineups to get the most out of Stockman. Toward that end, junior-to-be Lindsay Eckenrode stepped forward with a strong spring.

"Her play allows me to consider that Emily Stockman doesn't have be sitting next to Mary Elizabeth Hooper," Lamb said. "It really allows me to be creative with Emily."

Everybody knows Lamb loves to be creative.

Stockman is WSU's top returning attacker and its most effective scorer from the back row. If Eckenrode plays well on the front row, Lamb can move Stockman opposite the setter, the role filled last season by Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Sara Lungren. That will allow Hooper to rotate on the front row with two hitters and use Stockman attacking from the back row. Defenses would face Stockman, two hitters in the front and Hooper's ability to dump the ball.

Boo knows birdies, especially at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Defending champion Boo Weekley continued his amazing start at Pete Dye's magnificent masterpiece with a 65 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

No one's taken to the tricky layout of tight fairways, smallish greens and railroad ties as quickly as Weekley, who posted his seventh round in the 60s since first teeing it up here last spring.

When Weekley came here, he said it felt like his old home course, Tanglewood Golf & Country Club in the Florida Panhandle. Ever since, he's played Harbour Town like a member.

"I've hit the ball pretty well, and I've kept it in a place I know I can score from," he said.

Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mount Carmel are the lone unbeaten teams in the City League boys golf race.

The two schools, square off today at Braeburn Golf Course, with the winner most likely having the inside track to the regular season title.

Despite being two of the more tradition-filled programs in the state, they have won only one league title apiece in the last six seasons. The Crusaders won last season, while the Eagles won two years ago.

"When we won league, it was a pretty big deal to us," Bishop Carroll coach Mark Berger said. "Add in that we play Kapaun and it would be a nice way for our seniors to go out."

Kapaun and Carroll have the top two scoring averages in the league, 78.9 and 80.3 respectively, and both have gotten there with underclassmen leading the way.

The City League's two remaining unbeaten teams will meet in the pool Tuesday.

Northwest and North will compete along with Bishop Carroll at North.

"Whoever wins this meet will likely win the City League championship," Northwest coach Doug Vannaman said.

North is off to a strong start, winning the Heights Invitational in addition to its four CL duals. North ended East's four-year unbeaten dual streak last Tuesday.

"We are right where we want to be," North coach Megan VonFange said. "After the Heights Invitational, we knew we had a strong team. We've met our expectations so far, but now we have to get stronger and faster."

Baldwin Invitational

Independence 45, Andover Central 37, DeSoto 27, Ottawa 20, Gardner-Edgerton 19, Lenexa St. James 17, Paola 14, Iola 13, Baldwin 4, Neodesha 4.

No. 1 Singles--1. Konetzni, DeSoto, def. Romans, Independence, 8-6; 3. Edwards, DeSoto, def. Poland, Iola, 8-6. No. 2 Singles--1. Ysusi, Independence, def. Maupin, Andover Central, 8-3; 3. Corcorcoran, Ottawa, def. Smith, Gardner-Edgerton, 8-5.

No. 1 Doubles--1. Noyes-Rasmussen, Andover Central, def. Schroeder-Greenhaw, Independence, 8-3; 3. Fibelkorn-Maguire, Gardner-Edgerton, def. Elmer-Hudson, DeSoto, 8-4. No. 2 Doubles--1. Flynn-Pettersen, Andover Central, def. Posch-Schroeder, Independence, 8-3; 3. Hasty-Allen, Ottawa, def. Toth-Obermeier, Lenexa St. James, 8-3.

A familiar face had a settling effect for Mike Flores.

Running in his first Kansas Relays, Flores was nervous coming into the final of the boys 400-meter dash Saturday. However, once the junior from Maize looked back and saw Dylan Hartnett of Dodge City, those butterflies flew away. Flores fought off Hartnett down the final straightaway to take home his first KU Relays title with the state's fastest high school 400 time this season at 48.79 seconds. Hartnett had posted the fastest time at 49.83. Southeast's Clarence Anderson finished sixth. Kapaun Mount Carmel's Shane Torgler, who qualified for the final, did not race.

"It feels great," Flores said. "It was crazy. I was so nervous, but I thought to myself that I had not lost to (Hartnett) yet and I didn't want this to be the first time."

Flores and Hartnett, a senior from Dodge City, are developing quite a rivalry. The two first met in last year's regionals and once again at the state meet. Both times Hartnett came into the finals with a faster time before falling to Flores. Hartnett, running in lane four Saturday, qualified with a time of 48.98 while Flores in lane five qualified with 49.28.

"He is a great runner," Flores said. "I knew I'd be in front of him so I just wanted to go all out.