THE LATEST LINE: DRAMATIC MOMENTS A TREAT

If you're a sports fan who hungers for high drama, then what happened during a two-day span this past week had to leave you salivating and begging for more.

First, Monday morning, there was Goran Ivanisevic -- who had basically fallen off of the tennis map because of shoulder problems and who only got an invitation to the prestigious tournament through a wild card -- winning Wimbledon for the first time in a five-set thriller over Patrick Rafter.

Then, Tuesday night, there was iron-man Cal Ripken Jr. -- who several weeks ago had announced that this would be the final season of a brilliant baseball career -- belting a home run during the first at-bat in his last All-Star Game appearance.

The two events were totally different in a way -- Ivanisevic's return to glory stretched over two weeks and could have easily fallen just short in either a tough semifinal against Tim Henman or the grueling final while Ripken's moment of a final glory came in one sudden stroke -- but yet so similar because they thrilled sports fans and allowed the public to rain adulation and respect on two extremely popular, well-liked athletes.

A Hollywood producer couldn't have scripted things out any better.

* The Cardinals' first half of the season could definitely have been scripted out better -- and they better pick things up in a hurry if they expect to meet the high expectations they entered the year with.

The talk-show critics have been all over manager Tony La Russa -- with good reason, in my opinion -- but the Bernie Miklasz column in Thursday's Post-Dispatch indicates that La Russa is held in such high regard by Cardinal management, he'll be able to keep his job as long as he wants no matter how the team performs.

I don't think you can blame La Russa for all of the Cardinals' problems so far. He can't hit and pitch for his players, many of whom have seriously underachieved.

But there is no getting around that La Russa seems to make boneheaded moves during games on a regular basis.

* Todd Pennington, who recently signed with the Cleveland Indians after a brilliant junior season pitching for Southeast Missouri State University, had an impressive professional debut Monday night.

Playing for the Mahoning Valley (Ohio) Scrappers of the Class A New York-Penn Rookie League, Pennington hurled 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out three.

Pennington then pitched three innings later in the week, allowing three hits and two runs while fanning five.

* It looks like Jenny Doehring, who recently left the SEMO softball team and the school for what were deemed to be personal reasons after being named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, will end up playing for rival Southern Illinois.

According to the Southern Illinoisan newspaper in Carbondale, Doehring, a native of Nashville, Ill., has enrolled at SIU for the fall semester.

* Jackson High School senior-to-be Mario Whitney, who gave the University of Missouri a verbal commitment last weekend after being courted by most of the country's major football programs, is no doubt one of the region's most highly-recruited athletes in a long, long time.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.