Babe Didrikson

The Women's History Project grew out of the shock of a fractured collarbone. The collarbone belonged to Stacey Hindy, who seven years ago had suffered a hairline fracture when she tumbled from the bars on a playground. She was 7 at the time. The greatest shock, perhaps, was felt by her mother, Sandy. "It would be fun to work in a doctor's office," Stacey had said as she walked out of the doctor's room with her arm in a new sling. "Yes, it would," her mother had replied.

The guys working The Times' night sports desk 71 years ago tonight scarcely knew where to begin. That day's top sports stories: * Los Angeles was officially awarded the 1932 Olympics. * Heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney announced his retirement. * Lillian Copeland of Pasadena won the silver medal in the discus at the Amsterdam Olympics. * USC announced that tickets for the best seats at the Dec. 1 game against Notre Dame at the Coliseum would increase $2, to $5.

THE FACTS * Site: Riviera Country Club * Purse: $3.1 million * Winner's share: $558,000 * Par: 71 * Yards: 6,987 SCHEDULE Today Nissan Pro-Am: 7:30 a.m. Pro Practice: Noon Tuesday Pro Practice: 7 a.m. Tour Challenge: 1 p.m. Wednesday Chairman's Pro-Am: 7 a.m. Thursday First Round: 7 a.m. Friday Second Round: 7 a.m. Saturday Third Round: 8 a.m. Sunday Final Round: 8 a.m. TELEVISION * Thursday: USA, 1-3 p.m. * Friday: USA, 1-3 p.m. * Saturday: CBS, 1-3 p.m. * Sunday: CBS, 1-3:30 p.m.

It remains, 96 years later, arguably baseball's greatest tragedy. In 1903, there was no bigger name in baseball than Ed Delahanty, a 35-year-old, 200-pound athlete who hit with power and average. In 1902, his $15,000 salary was baseball's highest. He was also one of the game's heaviest drinkers, in an era when most were saloon regulars. In 1903, he was furious that a trade that had sent him from Washington to New York had been voided. And he feuded constantly with Washington Manager Tom Loftus.

"Idols of the Game," a new six-hour special premiering this week on TBS, is more than a sports documentary--it's an examination of American history this century. "I'm a sportswriter and I have always been interested in history and the connection to larger culture," says New York Times reporter Robert Lipstye, who created and penned the documentary. (His wife Kathy Sulkes is the series producer.

In announcing last week that she would play in the PGA Tour's Greater Hartford Open -- which she qualified for by winning a PGA sectional event in September -- professional golfer Suzy Whaley told Golf Magazine: "It may seem like a no-brainer that I would grab the opportunity to be the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event, but there were many pros and cons to weigh." One potential "con" is that Whaley will not be the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event.

To track the 40-year life of Title IX, the federal legislation signed into law June 23, 1972, that called for gender equity in educational opportunities, the experiences of Ann Meyers Drysdale are worth consulting. Ann Meyers was one of 11 children, a standout girls' basketball player at La Habra Sonora High who thought she was destined for a junior college because of her family's financial situation until UCLA extended her its first four-year scholarship offer to a female athlete. Meyers, a 1976 Olympian, was so good she was ultimately offered a tryout with the NBA's Indiana Pacers.

All In From Refugee Camp to Poker Champ Jerry Yang with Mark Tabb Medallion: $24.95 Yang's memoir of becoming a world-class poker champion starts with his family, along with thousands of other Hmong, fleeing their Laotian homeland during the Vietnam War. (July) Clarence Darrow American Iconoclast Andrew E. Kersten Hill and Wang: $30 The author charts the great progressive attorney's rise from an obscure Midwestern childhood to his role as a defender of the downtrodden, as the "attorney for the damned.

Two bad holes. That's all it took to deny Michelle Wie a special place in history Friday. But judging by the way she played overall, it might just be history deferred. Wie had a shot to spare inside the cut line with four holes to play during the second round of the John Deere Classic. But a couple of bad shots prevented her from becoming the first woman to make the cut in a PGA Tour event since Babe Didrikson Zaharias did it in 1945.

Annika Sorenstam playing against the men in the Bank of America Colonial golf tournament this week may or may not be "the largest sporting event that will happen this year," as one TV executive said Tuesday, but USA Network plans to cover the first two rounds as if it is. Sorenstam's threesome will tee off at 6:58 a.m. PDT Thursday in the first round of the tournament at Fort Worth, and USA will be there to cover every shot, staying on the air until noon.