Saturday 7/5
TENNIS
Wimbledon Finals
The British Commonwealth may be crumbling (toodles, Hong Kong!), but at week's end Merrie Old England was surviving at Wimbledon. Britannia's favorite son, Tim Henman, was one of nine seeded players left in a men's draw that included defending champ Richard Krajicek and the U.S.'s Pete Sampras, Alex O'Brien and Richey Reneberg. Mary Joe Fernandez was the only remaining Yank on the women's side, where three of the top four seeds—in order, Martina Hingis, Jana Novotna and Iva Majoli—had survived a waterlogged first week.
? NBC, 9 AM, WOMEN'S FINAL;
SUNDAY, 9 AM, MEN'S FINAL
CYCLING
Tour de France
Don't believe any of the blarney about Bjarne. In three races last month, 1996 Tour champion Bjarne Riis (left) finished no better than 12th, provoking talk that the bald-pated Dane would be an uneasy rider in France. Not to worry, says Riis, who recently has been riding "just to get miles in my legs." The man who last year boldly predicted he would wrest le maillot jaune from five-time winner Miguel Indurain (now retired) has another forecast: "I think I'll win it again." ABC shows taped coverage of today's 4.5-mile prologue and Sunday's stage 1; ESPN and ESPN2 will telecast reports after each of the 2,449-mile race's 21 stages through July 27.
?ABC, 4:30 PM;
SUNDAY, 4 PM
Monday 7/7
BASEBALL
1997 Home Run Derby
Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire (above) and his 33-ounce white ash bash for cash. McGwire, who launched a 538-foot clout on June 24 at Seattle's King-dome, returns to Cleveland's Jacobs Field, where he's the only hitter ever to have reached the scoreboard. If any of this event's 10 sluggers (five from each league) hits one of the two bull's-eyes placed in the stands down the leftfield and rightfield lines today or during Tuesday night's All-Star Game, one lucky soul in the stands (chosen at random by ticket stubs) will win $1 million.
? ESPN, 9 PM (TAPE-DELAY)
Tuesday 7/8
BASEBALL
All-Star Game
Streaking, we are told, is now as pass� as the New Kids on the Block. But it's alive and well in the All-Star Game, in which since 1960 the National League has had winning streaks of four, eight and 11 games. After a six-year American League aberration from 1988 to '93, the Nationals have won three straight heading into this midsummer classic at Jacobs Field. As if the Nationals (40-26-1 in All-Star play) didn't have enough history in their favor, they already have a winning record at the Jake this year—the Cincinnati Reds took two of three there from the Indians last month during interleague play.
?FOX, 8 PM
Wednesday 7/9
SOCCER
MLS All-Star Game
The leading scorer in Major League Soccer is an American—and he's not on the U.S. national team. "Of course it bothers me," says Preki (left), a Kansas City Wizards midfielder who at week's end had 25 points but hadn't been called on by U.S. coach Steve Sampson since January. "I would be thrilled to get back on [the national team], but it seems that I'm being overlooked," he says. "I don't know why." The Yugoslavian-born Preki, whose last name is Radosavljevic but who in American soccer circles is known by his nickname, will have to settle for a spot on the MUS Western Conference roster in a game (played at Giants Stadium, home of the New York-New Jersey MetroStars) whose lineups include 17 current national teamers from eight countries.
? ESPN, 7:30 PM
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