Stros, T.O., Coogs, Tiger....

• • • Here are some numbers to think about for the Astros-Braves series...
- Friday's starter Chuck James is a lefty, but lefthanded hitters are hitting .303 off him, while righties check in at just .217. More good news batters hit .272 off James in Atlanta, just .197 on the road. He's the 8th rookie to oppose the Rocket in just 19 starts this year.
- Astros are 3-1 vs. ATL in '06, outscoring them 30-14 and winning starts made by Pettitte, Nieve and somehow Wandy Rodriguez (not surprisingly the Astros scored him 14 runs and also knocked ATL starter Horacio Ramirez out of the game when Lance Berkman smashed a liner off his face.
- Clemens has 2 regular season starts lifetime against ATL, 0-0, 0.64. His road ERA this year 1.91 ERA, the last 2 years road ERA is 1.50.

• • • Tiger is crushing the competition once again on the PGA Tour and even though the he's riding a 5-tourney PGA Tour winning streak, Woods maintains the streak is over since he lost twice since his last win including the Ryder Cup. Asked whether 11 in a row was possible now, Woods said probably not. "The competition is so much deeper now," he said. "Back in his day — I actually talked to him about this — he said he had to beat four or five guys every week. And when you're hot, that's not hard to do. That's not the case anymore. It's 40 or 50 now, so it's a lot different."

• • • In case you're still needing more on Terrell Owens, this comes from the sports business daily and includes a timeline of transgressions for the talented and troublesome wide receiver.

• • • Look to the sky, Houston Cougars. At least planes have been hired tofly anti-Larry Coker bannersover the Orange Bowl before Saturday's UH-Miami game. Randy Banner, a Miami graduate, has hired three planes. Among the banners:
• UM FANS DESERVE BETTER. FIRE COKER NOW
• ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. DEE AND SCAPECOKER PACK YOUR STUFF (Dee is UM AD Paul Dee)
Banner said "Scapecoker" is a reference to Coker having let go five assistants from last year's staff. Miami's director of athletics is Paul Dee.

• • • more to come
---- WEX