The 40th anniversary of Title IX has been celebrated all around the country this summer, at all levels of sport, with tributes to the great female athletes of our time.

But one of the most influential female athletes of this generation has been largely overlooked.

No woman in recent history has revolutionized an entire sport like Se Ri Pak. Not Martina Navratilova, Mia Hamm, Lisa Leslie, nor Annika Sorenstam … none of the names on a recent list of top 40 influential female athletes of the last 40 years.

Na Yeon Choi kisses the U.S. Women's Open trophy. (AFP)Ten of the last 15 U.S. Women's Open Champions, including Na Yeon Choi at Blackwolf Run on Sunday, were born in South Korea. Their drive to grow up and play golf at its highest level is all due to Pak, a hero of Choi's who won a thrilling playoff on the very same course in 1998 and quite literally changed history in her native country.

"She is probably the most significant female athlete in Korean history," says Rick Phillips of the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles. "Since

The Lions are threatening to undo the progress they've made under Jim Schwartz. (AP)For the still unproven Detroit Lions and their still unproven head coach, this is an offseason on the brink.

The recent rash of off-the-field trouble – DUI arrests, marijuana charges, speeding tickets – has changed the narrative in Detroit and transformed a steady climb into something precariously close to a freefall.

The Lions are on the cusp of making a run at the Super Bowl-champion Giants, yet flirting with becoming the old Bengals. They seem poised to hatch the next generation of young superstars or deliver the next generation of wasted high draft picks. They could easily win their second playoff game in more than 50 years this season, but could just as easily miss the playoffs.

[Around the NFL: Brett Favre likes Aaron Rodgers, loves Drew Brees, sees himself in Tony Romo]

And right in the middle of all this is coach Jim Schwartz, the man who has restored order to this wayward franchise and the man who doesn't seem to know how to prevent further anarchy.

The pattern this

There are always plenty of candidates for top sports celebrity bad guy: LeBron, Tiger, T.O., Roger Clemens, and on and on.

But what about top sports good guy? Those names don't come to mind quite as easily. Even beloved athletes such as Tim Tebow and Derek Jeter have detractors.

But by one important measure, there is a runaway favorite.

John Cena.

Pro wrestler John Cena granted his 300th Make-A-Wish request to a 7-year-old boy.The pro wrestling superstar granted his 300th Make-A-Wish request to a 7-year-old Pennsylvania boy named Jonny Littman earlier this week. That's far and away tops among sports celebrities.

(Pause here for those who don't think pro wrestling is a sport. It's not. But tell that to a sick child. And, by the way, throwing a 250-pound man across a ring 300 nights a year constitutes athleticism of some sort.)

Only a few other sports stars have granted more than 200 wishes, including Hulk Hogan, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Michael Jordan is in the 200 neighborhood and Kobe Bryant has granted more than 100. (More than 50

SANDUSKY, Ohio – Chris Biechele has had just about enough. Every day he walks into the bar he's owned for 25 years, every day he hears the name of the town he loves so much, every day he looks up to the TV to see what's going on, and every day his heart sinks.

Sandusky, Ohio, is best known for Cedar Point Amusement Park and relies on tourist revenue. (AP)Sandusky is in the news, but it's not Sandusky, Ohio. Not even close.

"People are talking about it left and right," says Biechele, the long-time owner of the popular bar Cheers. "There's a lot of animosity around this area, with the name. It's like we're getting a lot of bad press, just for the name."

The name. Of all the names. Jerry Sandusky, accused of 51 counts of child molestation in Pennsylvania, has the same name as the city of 25,000 halfway between Toledo and Cleveland. Just dumb luck. But type "Sandusky" in a Yahoo! search and you'll get a long list of stomach-churning news before you get a glimpse of the jewel of a town with the crisp summers and the neat, new marina.

The name actually has a lovely

OXFORD, Miss. – There's something about the road that can make a football coach whole. Down each stretch of highway lies hope, whether it's a huge game or a prized recruit or a better job.

Dan Werner knows the road as well as anyone, both as a program-builder and as a part of a BCS championship team. He has been conquering the road all his adult life; he was the son of a football coach. The road is in his blood.

Werner was the quarterbacks coach on the 2001 Miami Hurricanes team that some argue is the best college squad of all time. He was a part of three national-title staffs at Miami, which set him up for other chances, including the biggest chance of all – the opportunity to be a head coach.

The road took him to FCS member Northwestern State (La.) early in 2009, where he took an offensive coordinator's job that might have led him to his first head-coaching job in a long career. Maybe, after 25 years, the road could make his career whole.

Then one morning on the road, his

Fifteen years ago, a young Detroit Red Wings defenseman was putting up numbers that won him statistical comparisons to Wayne Gretzky.

It wasn't Nicklas Lidstrom.

Vladimir Konstantinov celebrates after winning the Stanley Cup in 1997. (Getty)In 1997, Vladimir Konstantinov finished second in Norris Trophy voting with a plus-38 rating. A year before, he finished plus-60, a preposterous stat that hadn't been topped since Gretzky was a plus-70 nearly a decade earlier. The future of the Detroit blue line rested not so much on Lidstrom's relatively narrow shoulders, but on the wicked elbows of Konstantinov.

The recent retirement of Lidstrom – Konstantinov's last active teammate – warrants a mention of No. 16, which is a number that has not been worn by a Red Wings player since a limousine accident took the career and nearly the life of "Vlad The Impaler" 15 years ago Wednesday. It is easy to look back at the appropriately labeled "perfect" career of Lidstrom, but it's hard not to wonder how perfect Konstantinov's career would have been had he never got into

Tiger Woods is back: He's won two tournaments already this year, he's the favorite heading into the U.S. Open this week, and he's a leader for player-of-the-year honors.

Tiger Woods is not back: He hasn't won a major in four years (the 2008 U.S. Open, to be exact) and he didn't come close at this year's Masters.

Tiger Woods chip-in at No. 16 at the recent Memorial was vintage Tiger. (Getty Images)Tiger Woods is back: Did you see that chip at 16 at the Memorial two weekends ago? Vintage Tiger!

Tiger Woods is not back: He sure isn't putting like Vintage Tiger.

So is Tiger Woods back? That question has no answer, and that's a good thing. The best thing, in fact. Because Woods is creating conversation in a way he hasn't in years. That means the sport of golf is creating conversation in a way it hasn't in years.

Is Tiger Woods back? He's back just enough.

We'll never see the original Woods again, and that's a shame, but there was a problem with that Tiger. He was a robot, so unstoppable that the other golfers on Tour looked silly by comparison. Every major

DETROIT – LeBron James took his talents from Cleveland to Miami. Chris Perez has taken his from Miami to Cleveland.

Fair trade?

Chris Perez has converted all 19 of his save chances since opening day. (AP)Sure that sounds silly, but Perez, the closer with the scruffy beard and the blunt demeanor, has become a leader of a winning Cleveland Indians team. The Florida native and University of Miami product has struck a nerve with a nervy fan base, raising expectations on and off the field in a city that routinely gets them crushed. Despite his nickname – "Pure Rage" – he leads a potent bullpen that has calmed an entire team down. Unlike The King and his Cavs, these guys can finish a game.

"They've been wonderful," Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez said. "As a starter, if you get six really good innings, you'll have the win 99 percent of the time."

A bit of an exaggeration, but it says a lot that a starter is that confident considering the Indians have no true sluggers, no big names and nobody in the everyday lineup batting better than .300.

"We might not