ESCHE IS LIVING HIS NHL DREAM.(Sports)(Column) - The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)

Byline: BUD POLIQUIN POST-STANDARD COLUMNIST

If this was the Northeast rather than the Southwest, if this was Central New York rather than Central Arizona, if this was Whitesboro rather than Phoenix ... well, then, this would be heaven for Robert Esche.

After all, the dollars are plentiful, the hunting is great, the guys are tough and the beer is cold. All that's otherwise missing is St. Peter at the gate, although having Wayne Gretzky as one's boss is pretty close.

'Every single day when I wake up,' Esche confessed here the other day, 'and I see that I'm still in the National Hockey League, I say to myself, 'Holy smoke. How'd this happen?''

Who knows? But it did. Robert Esche, the kid who is not yet 24 but is in his fourth NHL season, is proving once again that everybody has to come from somewhere. Elvis Presley, after all, was born in Tupelo, Miss. And Larry Bird made his way out of French Lick, Ind. And a whole bunch of other famous folks were born in little log cabins in the woods.

So, why can't the No. 2 goalie for the Phoenix Coyotes call Whitesboro, N.Y., home? Especially when he does it with such pride?

'I love Whitesboro,' Esche said. 'I love it 100 percent. It's my favorite place in the world, bar none.'

He's lived in Detroit and Houston, in the Boston area and Ottawa. He's visited Germany and Russia and Switzerland and Finland and Japan. He's traveled across the United States and Canada, and has a house, out of which he hunts every morning, at the base of an Arizona mountain. And still, Robert Esche swears by a little town just east of Syracuse where he continues to spend his summers and where this June he'll again play host, along with some of his NHL buddies, to a fund-raising golf tournament benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

'When it's all said and done, when it comes to night time, you have the exact same stuff in every city,' Esche said. 'I mean, you're going to go out to eat or go to a movie, right? Well, they have that in Whitesboro. I don't need the fancy stuff - fancy restaurants, fancy cars, fancy watches - to live. And besides, that's where my family lives. In Whitesboro. And I could never be without my family.'

Not for the entire calendar year, anyway. But Esche gets by during the fall, winter and spring fairly nicely ... and not just because his salary, according to the NHL Players Association, is $450,000, which can keep a fella such as Robert in jeans, flannel shirts, cowboy boots and Waylon Jennings CDs for a long time.

No, it's the arena he's in. Literally.

'The NHL is awesome,' said Esche, who is scheduled to get his eighth start of the season tonight in San Jose where the Coyotes will play the Sharks. 'Putting on the jersey. Feeling the guys tapping you on the legs. Then, you're out there for warmups and the music is blaring and everybody's flying around shooting pucks at you and the wind is blowing because everyone is skating 100 miles per hour. And then the game begins, and all the fans are either yelling for you or calling you an idiot.

'I'd love to take those 210 youth hockey players from Whitesboro and bring them to a game. I'd love to say to them, 'Just go out there on that ice. Go out there and feel that.' It's sick, it's so unbelievable.'

Oh, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Esche is in his glory, all right. Though he believes he could start for as many as 10 different NHL teams, Robert is content backing up the Coyotes' soon-to-be-35-year-old Sean Burke, his best friend and the man with the highest save percentage (.919) in the league over the past three seasons. And while he's not entirely pleased with his personal 2-4-0 record and .882 save percentage, the facts are he held Minnesota to a single goal in a 2-1 overtime victory a month and a half ago and last week beat the Sharks in San Jose 4-2 to give the Phoenix club - partly owned and fully run by Gretzky, himself - its first road win since Nov. 9.

As such, Esche belongs. He's talented and popular ... he's confident, yet deferential when appropriate ... he's experienced on the international level (having played on three of the seven continents), but not close to being blase. Which is another way of saying that Robert can still be wowed.

'The thing that blows me away is the toughness of these guys,' he said. 'I don't believe that people understand how tough they are. Take Danny Markov (a Coyotes defenseman from Russia). The other day, we're playing Columbus and he gets a puck right in the face. I mean, it's a shot. A laser. It hits him and explodes his nose all the way up over his eye. He's bleeding a stream of blood - it's not just drops; it's squirting out - from the far wall, across the ice and into the locker room. I mean, his eye is completely shut.

'So what does he do? He gets all stitched up. A hundred stitches. All kinds of stitches. And he has a smoke. And then he comes right back into the game. I said, 'Are you kidding me?' It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Danny Markov has the highest threshold of pain of anybody I've seen in my life. That's what I mean by tough. Everybody's tough up here. Guys get pucks in the face. Guys get rammed into boards. Guys beat each other up. Even the guys who are called wimps because they don't fight are tough. Unbelievable.'

And Robert Esche - out of Whitesboro, of all places - is right there in the mix. And proud of it.

'Central New York has the most talented hockey players I've ever seen,' he said. 'But too many of the kids in our area don't realize they can make it. They say, 'I'm from Syracuse. I'm not from Canada. I'm not good enough.' And that's crazy. I truly think that you can do anything with your life if you work hard enough. Like, I've got a guitar. If I wanted to be as good as Eric Clapton, I really believe I could be. Anybody can. It doesn't matter where you're from if you push yourself. Look at me.'

Yeah, look at Robert Esche. Look at him, from a little town just east of Syracuse, living in his thin slice of heaven. Look at him, and smile.

Bud Poliquin is a columnist for The Post-Standard. His column appears regularly on these pages.

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File photo/The Associated Press, 2001

Astros' Biggio says '07 will be his last year.(Sports) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

Byline: JUAN A. LOZANO

By Juan A. Lozano

The Associated Press

HOUSTON

Craig Biggio feels he has nothing left to prove on a baseball field.

After a 20-year career in which he stayed with just one franchise, played multiple positions at an All-Star level and joined the very elite 3,000-hit club, the Houston Astros infielder said Tuesday he will retire at the end of this season.

'There are a lot of guys that have the game taken away from them by injury,' he said. 'For me to be able to walk away now, on top, on my own accord, I'm very happy with that. I'm in a good place. I think I've done everything that I was supposed to do on a baseball field. I have nothing to be disappointed about.'

During a news conference in which he reminisced about his accomplished career, Biggio said his favorite baseball memory always will be from June 28 of this year.

'The 3,000th-hit night was the best. I'll never forget that,' he said. 'I just can't believe it's over. It's gone by fast. I have no regrets. I played the game the right way.'

Biggio is batting .250 with 24 doubles, six homers and 35 RBIs this season. He has 3,016 hits, four shy of tying Rafael Palmeiro for 23rd place.

A teary-eyed Biggio, the longest-tenured player in Astros history, said he will miss putting on his uniform every day and also will miss the fans.

'I just didn't want families bringing their kids to the game and saying, 'He's just not the same guy we used to watch or the guy we really love and respect.' I didn't want that,' he said. 'I didn't want to be a player that played the game too long.'

Along with teammate and friend Jeff Bagwell, who retired before the start of this season, Biggio led the Astros to four division titles, the team's first NL pennant and trip to the World Series in 2005.

Biggio's 3,000th hit came one day shy of the 19th anniversary of his first career hit, a single off Orel Hershiser on June 29, 1988.

Biggio is the only player in major league history with 600 doubles, 250 homers, 3,000 hits and 400 steals. Biggio is a career .282 hitter. He has already been inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

A seven-time All-Star, Biggio starred at Seton Hall and was the 22nd player selected in the 1987 amateur draft. He caught his first four seasons.

He made his first All-Star Game in 1991, but the Astros moved him to second base in 1992, a position he had never played. But he made the All-Star team again, ranking among the NL's top 10 in runs, walks and stolen bases.

After the Astros acquired Jeff Kent in 2002, Biggio moved to the outfield. When Kent left in 2004, Biggio returned to second.

Biggio considered leaving Houston when he became a free agent in 1995 and had an offer from Colorado. Astros owner Drayton McLane said he called Biggio every day for three weeks to persuade him to stay.

McLane said Biggio and Bagwell were the heartbeat of the Astros franchise. He commended Biggio for his intensity, his thrill to win and his desire to reach out to the fans.

'Craig, thanks for the thousands and thousands of memories,' he said. 'We'll be a better franchise because of the years that you were here.'

Biggio, his wife, Patty, and their three children live in Houston .

Biggio said he will be a part of the Astros organization, but his first priority will be to spend time with his family and help coach his two sons.

'A final message to my fans?' he said. 'Thank you. Thank you for opening up your living rooms and letting me in your lives for 20 years, and I love you guys.'

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David J. Phillip [bar] the associated press file photo

RICE PLAYER STABBED TO DEATH.(Sports) - The Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati, OH)

HOUSTON -- A Rice University basketball player was stabbed to death early Thursday outside a bar in College Station, Texas.

Jonathan Bailey and his twin brother, Janson, were involved in a fight inside the bar, located about 100 miles northwest of Houston, College Station police said. Those involved in the fight were asked to leave the bar but the altercation continued outside.

Police found the Bailey brothers at about 1:45 a.m. Thursday. They had been stabbed multiple times. The brothers had turned 22 on Wednesday.

Both were taken to St. Joseph Regional Health Center in nearby Bryan. Jonathan Bailey was later pronounced dead. His brother was listed in fair condition late Thursday. Janson Bailey had attended Texas A&M in College Station, but was not enrolled at the school this semester, officials said.

A New Game For Sports Radio; Across the Dial, O.J. Speculation Sidelines Usual Jock Talk - The Washington Post

Two radio sportscasters are calmly discussing the judge'sruling to allow disputed evidence in the O.J. Simpson pretrialhearings.

'If there was evidence in my house that I did it, then Ideserve to get whatever's comin' to me, baby!' declares 'the Coach,'Rich Gilgallon, on Washington's WTEM.

Chuck Dickerson of Buffalo's WGR begs to differ with theruling. 'That was the most cowardly thing I've ever seen!' heshouts.

'It was good!' Gilgallon insists.

'The Fourth Amendment is dead!' Dickerson shoots back. 'Onedrop of blood? I want more than that before you bust my door down.'

'Whaddaya want, a gallon of blood out there?' Gilgallon says.

Hour after hour, programs normally devoted to rambunctiousdebates over World Cup soccer or NBA draft picks are exploring thefiner points of search warrants and DNA testing as the Simpson dramadominates the world of sports radio.

Sports columnists, many of whom have known the Juice for years,are also grappling with the case. Sports Illustrated ran a coverstory on the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman - andreprinted a 1973 piece on No. 32 breaking the 2,000-yard barrier.On TV, all-sports network ESPN serves up regular updates with itsown legal analysts, and ESPN-2 carried the Los Angeles hearingslive.

But it is on the radio, where everyone's an expert, that thecase really reverberates with 24-hour intensity.

'There are certain times when we probably delve into stuffwhere we don't belong,' says Mike Francesa, a popular host on NewYork's WFAN radio. 'What we have is an expertise in sports, and reallife kind of bumps into sports. I feel more comfortable with thelegal stuff than the medical stuff, where I really feel out of myelement. You're talking about words a mile and a half long.'

Says Tony Kornheiser, a Washington Post columnist who hosts amorning show on WTEM: 'Every Podunk in America has an all-sportsstation, and many of them are doing it very irresponsibly: `Is heguilty, is he innocent, let us know what you think.' We're all atthe bottom of the barrel on this one.'

This is a game that anyone can play, for the Simpson saga hasbecome a national obsession, the ultimate coffee shop debate. TheNew York Post even runs a daily 'O.J.-OMETER,' with a dial thatkeeps inching toward guilty. For sports stations, the case hasbrought an influx of listeners who wouldn't know Joe Gibbs from JoeMontana.

'Everyone is becoming either a prosecutor or a defenseattorney,' says Bennett Zier, general manager of 'the Team,' as WTEMbills itself. 'Whether you walk into Neiman Marcus or the bar atHouston's, someone's asking the question: Do you think he did it?'

In this environment, nothing is out of bounds on jock radio.The airwaves are crackling with talk of Simpson as a black man whomarried a white woman, of the groupies that hang around starathletes, of reports that Simpson used cocaine in the '70s. And muchof this talk is couched in the lingo of the medium.

'I'm not going to Monday-morning-quarterback what the policedid,' says a caller named Ronnie. 'Right now the only defense is astrong offense,' says attorney Abbe Lowell.

Sue from Rockville is on the line.

She heard on the news - she's not sure where - that anotherformer Buffalo Bills player had been mysteriously slashed in thethroat.

'They hushed it up right away,' she confides.

'They hushed it up?' says WTEM's Kevin Kiley.

'You haven't heard any more about it!' Sue responds.

She begins weaving a complicated scenario: What if it wasNicole Simpson's dog that deposited the now-famous bloody glove atthe murder scene?

Kiley plays along: 'So let me get this straight: The dog pickedup the glove, hopped in the Bronco. ... At least it's a newtheory.'

There's no shortage of speculation in radio land, where somecallers insist O.J. is covering up for a friend. 'How could oneperson kill those two people?' asks Ron. 'Assume for a minute thathe was under the influence of a drug. ...'

So why are sports stations putting this conspiratorial blatheron the air?

'People are not claiming to be experts about it,' says Zier.'Everyone's just speculating and giving their opinion. That's whattalk radio is.

'When someone calls up and tells Johnny Oates {the Oriolesmanager} who to pitch that night, how is it any different? Are theyqualified? Have they played baseball? Sadly enough, O.J.'s trialhas become a spectator sport.'

'Coach' Gilgallon, a former bartender at Chadwicks and onetimegarbage dump worker, defends his rough-edged commentary.

'I don't think you need to be a constitutional lawyer to beable to read the Fourth Amendment,' he says. 'Everyone has the rightto their opinion on this thing. We give people an opportunity to beKojak or Columbo and let them vent their spleen. We must have had 50lawyers call us this week with their two cents.'

Francesa concedes that live radio can get out of hand.'Sometimes you get a little frivolous,' he says. 'When you look atall the evidence, there's a tendency to say, `Jeez, this guy didit,' just like if you were sitting in a bar somewhere. You try toguard against it.'

Howard from Brooklyn is on the line.

'Personally, I do think his son did it,' he says.

'What have you seen in this whole thing in three weeks thatindicts his son in any way?' asks WFAN's 'Mad Dog' ChristopherRusso.

'Several people have access to his cars and his house, and hisson was one of them. ... You have a father who has been torn awayfrom his son and has married another woman. I came by the samesituation where the father has married another woman and that son isblaming the other woman.'

'Boy, that's an amateur psychiatrist,' Mad Dog says.

With growing frequency, sports journalism has had to cope withdisturbing stories - Magic Johnson and AIDS, the Monica Selesstabbing, Mike Tyson's rape conviction, the Nancy Kerrigankneecapping, Jennifer Capriati's drug arrest, the murder of aColombian soccer player - that seem to dwarf what transpires betweenthe white lines.

'I enjoy covering the games, but it's also interesting to beable to do `real news' for a change, and not just the toy departmentstuff we're always being accused of,' says Rachel Shuster, a USAToday sports columnist.

But, says Shuster, many fans 'would like us to stick to theballs and strikes and are almost offended when we decide to touch onthe broader issues. There are still people who find refuge insports.'

For some, the Simpson story is all too personal. Manysportswriters and sportscasters, from ABC's Al Michaels to Postcolumnist Michael Wilbon, have tried to reconcile the sweet guy theyknew with the man accused of stabbing two people to death.

'We know O.J. Simpson personally from having been around him invarious circumstances having to do with football,' WGR's Dickerson,a former Bills line coach, says on his program. 'O.J. Simpson theman, nobody really knew. ... What we know is the game face.'

Not everyone is chasing the journalistic pack. Since itsinitial cover story, Sports Illustrated has steered clear of theSimpson case.

'I don't think it's a story for us,' says Managing Editor MarkMulvoy. 'You don't want to make Sports Illustrated into CrimeIllustrated. I don't know that the sports-reading public is all thatinfatuated with this stuff. I wonder if it would be all over sportsradio if the hockey and basketball playoffs were still going on.'

Jack from Washington is on the line with a theory about Brian'Kato' Kaelin, the aspiring actor who was staying in Simpson's guesthouse.

'I don't know about this guy Kato,' Jack says. 'I was watching`American Journal,' and Kato and Nicole had a romantic session, asreported by Kato's ex-wife.'

'If one more person calls and says I saw it on `AmericanJournal' or `A Current Affair,' I'm hanging up on them,' snapsWFAN's Paul Nanos. 'Kato's ex-wife - now there's a reliablesource.'

Are we approaching a saturation point? Let's go to the phonesand ask Doc, a regular WTEM caller.

PACKERS KEEP TE HUMPHREY CAUGHT 11 PASSES LAST SEASON.(SPORTS) - The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)

Byline: Associated Press

Free agent tight end Tory Humphrey will stay with the Green Bay Packers.

The team said Monday it has signed Humphrey, who has spent each of his four NFL seasons with Green Bay, and released linebacker Kenny Pettway.

Humphrey played in all 16 games last season and had 11 catches for 162 yards, both career highs.

The bottom line

Four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia joined the Oakland Raiders, with the 39-year-old agreeing to a one-year deal to be JaMarcus Russell's backup.

* Former Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow agreed to a six-year, $36.1 million extension with the Buccaneers that could be worth up to $42.1 million.

* Cornerback Samari Rolle re-signed with the Baltimore Ravens for an undisclosed four-year deal.

* Defensive tackle Fred Evans signed his one-year tender to return to the Minnesota Vikings.

* Linebacker Cato June agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Houston Texans after playing the last two seasons in Tampa Bay.

* The Atlanta Falcons traded receiver Laurent Robinson to the St. Louis Rams, allowing the Falcons to move up 22 spots in the fifth round and 20 spots in the sixth round of this month's NFL draft.

Burress happy; L.J. not

Despite getting into trouble, receiver Plaxico Burress can keep a $1 million signing bonus from the New York Giants, but running back Larry Johnson's salary in Kansas City isn't guaranteed, according to a ruling issued following a grievance hearing.

University of Pennsylvania Special Master Stephen Burbank agreed with the NFL Players Association that money already earned, such as a signing bonus, cannot be forfeited even if a player subsequently gets into trouble.

That means the Giants cannot recoup $1 million of a $4.5 million bonus Burress earned by signing a contract extension with the team in August, months before he shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub.

Johnson also can keep money he's earned so far, though the Chiefs - if they release Johnson - do not owe him future pay after he had two nightclub altercations last year. Burbank ruled Johnson has not yet earned $3.75 million in guaranteed salary and bonuses due him over the next two seasons.

Williams charged

Free agent receiver Reggie Williams , who played his first three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, was charged with drug possession after off-duty policemen used a Taser to subdue him when he refused to leave a Houston bar. Police say jail officials later found a small bag believed to contain cocaine in Williams' back pocket.

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Associated Press archives

Jeff Garcia, who signed with the Oakland Raiders Monday, has thrown for 25,537

Houston Stock Broker Follows Unique Career Path. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Greg Hassell, Houston Chronicle Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

May 22--When David Harris pulled his battered Chevy Impala into Houston, he had $600 in his pocket. In his head, he carried dreams of making it as a jazz pianist.

The Michigan native knew almost nothing about the city, other than the bare-bones basics -- it's a big place with major league sports and is a whole lot warmer than the frozen northland of his native Kalamazoo.

'I had been on tour with a band, and we passed through Houston. The people seemed very friendly, so I moved here and rented a one-room efficiency apartment,' Harris said.

Twenty years after that long drive South, Harris sat where he'd hoped to find himself in Houston -- onstage, at the piano.

He was headlining a concert at a local jazz club, performing with some of the city's best jazz musicians. Every song had been written by Harris, and every piano solo was greeted with howls of approval from the packed house.

Even the rooftop room was worthy of a dreamlike evening. Scott Gertner's Sky Bar commands an impressive view of Houston's bristling skyline. As the orange glow of sunset settled on the skyscrapers, Dave Harris and Friends plowed into a smoky slice of jazz called Going, Going, Gone.

While it's tempting to see the moment as a validation of his ambition -- even the song title conjures up images of triumph -- a funny thing happened on the way to the Sky Bar.

Harris' career took a turn that few could have envisioned. Not his friends in Kalamazoo, not his wife and not Harris himself.

Instead of becoming a professional jazz musician, Harris is a professional stockbroker. And a pretty good one at that. At age 45, he's been recognized by an investments trade journal as one of the nation's Top 10 retail brokers. He and his partner, Lewis Metzger, manage about $700 million on behalf of their clients.

Music is now a hobby, albeit one practiced at a very high level by Harris, a senior vice president of investments at Salomon Smith Barney. Most of the 150 people who crowded into the bar are his clients. They're fans of his investment acumen, and it really doesn't matter if they know their Thelonious from their Monk.

'I have an audience that is predisposed to liking what I play,' Harris confesses.

Some clients flew in from as far away as Chicago, Cincinnati and New Mexico for the occasion, a charity fund-raiser for the Anti-Defamation League.

'Chicago is loaded with brokers, but I'd rather come 1,000 miles for a broker I trust as opposed to going two blocks for someone I don't trust,' said Mike Goode, a defense lawyer who flew in for the concert. 'It's for a good cause, and David asked me. That's why I'm here.'

Harris has been his investment adviser for 12 years, during which time Goode estimates his sizable portfolio has grown 350 to 400 percent.

'After last year, my buddies were screaming and crying. One guy's portfolio was down 40 percent. My portfolio was up 56 percent last year,' the red-haired Irishman said with same kind of smile that comes easily after a good meal. 'The good thing about David is not just the stocks he recommends, but the investments he keeps me out of.'

Contributions from friends and clients like Goode raised about $90,000 for the Anti-Defamation League, which is nearly three times the amount Harris had originally hoped to raise.

'Music is one of the most uniting forces in the world. It is a language everyone understands,' Harris said. 'It brings people together, so it's a great for a Anti-Defamation League benefit.'

Music also is a uniting force in Harris' strange career trip.

After playing music through high school and college, Harris started touring with a pop group that brought him through Houston. After moving here in 1981, he found plenty of work playing in big bands and with the late saxophone great Arnett Cobb.

'Back then, all David wanted to do was music,' said Doug Meeuwsen, a professional trumpet player who has known Harris since his Kalamazoo days. 'He was real pure about it. He didn't want to make money. He wanted to be a jazz musician, and an esoteric one at that.'

Work was steady. But Harris, an intensely driven man who thinks sleep is overrated, decided to supplement his income with a day job of selling pianos. He took a job in a small store with an inauspicious location -- it had once been a liquor store and is now an adult bookstore.

Needing only a couple of months to realize he could do better, Harris tried to get on at Holcombe Lindquist, a powerhouse among local piano retailers. Harris quickly became a top salesman at the company, making more money than he did as a musician.

In fact, he earned enough to start dabbling in investments. He pored over publications like Barron's and Value Line.

'When I get interested in something, I devote hours a day to it,' Harris said.

He hired brokers, whom he simply assumed had graduate degrees in finance and economics. He was shocked when he learned that they didn't and sometimes knew less about the market than he did.

Figuring he'd provide better service than he was getting, Harris decided to become a broker. The senior partner in charge of hiring at Drexel Burnham Lambert just happened to be close friends of Harris' boss.

'Don Holcombe is to this day a great friend of mine,' said George Stark, who still works for Burnham Securities and is president of Stark Capital Management. 'I called Don and he said, `If I were you, I'd hire him, but it is breaking my heart to tell you that.' '

In an attempt to keep Harris, Holcombe Lindquist offered to open a store in Austin and make him part owner of the location.

'Luckily for me, I'd never been to Austin and didn't know how beautiful it is,' Harris said. 'If I did, I might have never left the company.'

Stark gave Harris a job at Drexel, even though Harris knew next to nothing about finance and investments. Stark was willing to take a chance on the piano player because it was obvious he had other essential skills.

'He is a great people person. He was a superior piano salesman,' Stark said. 'And he is so bright and so quick. He has a great and deep intellect. I knew he would be able to learn the financial services business.'

After getting the benefit of Drexel's extensive training and Stark's personal tutelage, Harris started making trades and building a client base.

In his first year, he earned Rookie of the Year honors at Drexel. His income was six figures, an astounding sum for a first-year broker in those days.

He enlisted many of his clients through the grueling process of making cold calls. Goode was one of those many cold calls, checked off a list of attorneys Harris was working from.

'I told him to give me three recommendations. If they worked, he could call me back,' Goode said. 'They all worked. When he called me, I said, `Give me three more.' '

An annoyed Harris coughed up three more recommendations, all of which turned out to be winners. The next time he called, Goode agreed to become a client, which he remains to this day.

'It is his niceness, as well as his competence, that keeps me coming back. Everyone I send to him loves him. I've sent him my friends, my family, everyone,' Goode said. 'David is completely trustworthy, and he takes good care of them.'

Mark Parsons is one of those second-generation clients. His father, a petroleum geologist in Midland, got one of those cold calls and became one of Harris' first customers.

'Myself and my sisters, we all have accounts with David,' said Parsons, who traveled from Santa Fe, N.M., to attend Harris' concert last week.

'One reason I was willing to come is David flew to Santa Fe for my 50th birthday,' Parsons said. 'He played the piano at my birthday party. He flies hundreds of miles to be with his clients.'

When talking to Harris' clients, the conversation quickly gets around to technology stocks. Harris hates them. He steered his clients away from most Internet-related investments, arguing that they were grossly overvalued and unreasonably risky.

Following Harris' guidance, Goode avoided most tech stocks, except for one tasty little gainer -- Sun Microsystems, which he snapped up at $4. Other clients were more determined to surf the Internet tide.

'We had a big battle on tech stocks,' Parsons said. 'I made a huge amount of money for a while. Then I gave all the gains back.'

While Parsons knew Harris well enough to know about his jazz background, most clients were not aware of his rare aptitude for both finance and fine arts.

'Clients who've known me for 15 years had no idea that I play,' Harris said. 'I maintained separate worlds, one for my work and one for music. For years I promoted my business aggressively, but I did nothing with my music.'

Now the two worlds are coming together, and it feels good. He recently produced a compact disc of recordings he made -- and promptly forgot about -- years ago.

He hands out the disc to clients and friends, giving them a better understanding of the man they thought they knew.

'It's a good record, especially considering the circumstance,' said Paul English, a local jazz musician who helped restore the damaged master tapes. 'It is very good music recorded on a limited budget.'

In addition to respecting his musical ability, English appreciates the support Harris has extended to the local jazz community. Harris poured tens of thousands into a jazz club, which ultimately failed, and helped finance some local musicians' jazz CDs.

'No one in their right mind invests money in jazz,' English said. 'It's not all about money for him. He's helped me and a lot of other musicians.'

Although investments and improvisation seem like two separate worlds, finally bringing his avocation and vocation into closer harmony has helped Harris to realize they aren't so different after all.

'My investment philosophy is to avoid crowds. It's not contrarianism, it's just about filtering out all the noise of conventional wisdom,' he said. 'That's what a good musician does. They don't follow someone else's vision.

'They create their own.'

To see more of the Houston Chronicle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chron.com

Stricker moves closer to elusive victory, takes lead at the Barclays.(Sports) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

HARRISON, N.Y. [bar] Steve Stricker has given himself plenty of chances to win this year, but none quite as good as this.

A burst of birdies at The Barclays carried Stricker to a 6-under 65 and allowed him to zoom past K.J. Choi and into the lead Saturday at Westchester Country Club, the first time he has held the 54-hole lead in nine years.

Finishing it off for his first victory since 2001 won't be easy.

Choi overcame some errant tee shots on the back nine with a birdie-birdie finish to salvage a 70, leaving him only one shot behind.

IN OTHER GOLF NEWS

Lorena Ochoa leads by a stroke going into the final round of the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore., after a pair of bogeys to wrap up her Saturday narrowed her lead over Sophie Gustafson.

Ray Stewart shot a 4-under 68 and will take a four-shot lead into the final round of the Champions Tour's Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash.

David Carter of England remained in contention for his first PGA European Tour title, shooting a 1-over 71 on Saturday for a share of the third-round lead with Ross Fisher and Steve Alker in the KLM Open in Zaandvoort, Netherlands.

Colt Knost, who won the U.S. Public Links title in June, defeated Jhonattan Vegas 4 and 3 to advance to the finals of the U.S. Amateur Championship at The Olympic Club in Daly City, Calif.

basketball

U.S. defense too much for Canada

LAS VEGAS [bar] The United States turned up the defense and turned away Canada.

The Americans held the Canadians to just two field goals in a dominant second quarter, pulling away for a 113-63 victory Saturday to remain unbeaten in the FIBA Americas tournament.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points, equaling the second-best U.S. total in an Olympic qualifying game, and Michael Redd added 19, including five 3-pointers.

Kobe Bryant had 15 points, Amare Stoudemire 12 and LeBron James 10 points for the Americans.

WNBA playoffs

Silver Stars roll past Monarchs

SAN ANTONIO [bar] Becky Hammon had 20 points to lead the San Antonio Silver Stars to their first playoff win with a 86-61 victory Saturday over the Sacramento Monarchs.

Hammon finished 7 for 11 from the field to help the Silver Stars even the Western Conference series at 1-1.

IN OTHER WNBA NEWS

Anna DeForge scored 26 points to help the Indiana Fever defeat the Connecticut Sun 78-59 Saturday and tie their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

college football

Arkansas player Harrison arrested

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. [bar] Arkansas defensive end Marcus Harrison was suspended indefinitely after being arrested late Friday night in Fayetteville on a felony drug charge and several misdemeanors.

The 23-year-old senior was driving near his apartment when an officer stopped him just after 11 p.m., according to a Fayetteville police report. The officer reported a strong smell of marijuana coming from the car when Harrison rolled down his window.

The officer reported finding one partially smoked marijuana cigar under the front seat of the car and another unsmoked cigar. Both tested positive for marijuana, according to the report.

track and field

Shot-putter Hoffa wins at worlds

OSAKA, Japan [bar] Reese Hoffa is unknown no more.

He won the shot put Saturday while training partner Adam Nelson took second for a 1-2 U.S. finish on the opening night of the world track and field championships.

Hoffa, who once donned a mask at a meet and called himself 'the unknown shot-putter,' gave the United States its sixth world shot put title in the past seven championships.

high school football

Texas standout fatally shot

HOUSTON [bar] A Texas high school football standout who orally committed to play at Oklahoma next year was fatally shot with a rifle after getting into a fight at an apartment complex, authorities said.

Police arrested a 19-year-old from Louisiana and charged him with murder.

Herman Mitchell, 17, died Friday of multiple gun shot wounds, Harris County Sheriff's Lt. John Martin said.

tennis

Blake, Kuznetsova Pilot Pen champs

NEW HAVEN, Conn. [bar] James Blake beat close friend Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-4 Saturday to win an All-American final at the Pilot Pen.

Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova won the women's title when qualifier Agnes Szavay retired with a back injury while leading 6-4, 0-3.

in other news

Marcus Giles, San Diego Padres second baseman, was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a left knee sprain Saturday.

Dave Concepcion had his No. 13 retired Saturday by the Cincinnati Reds, joining three Hall of Fame teammates and his Big Red Machine manager in the franchise's ultimate tribute.

Willie Eyre, Texas Rangers pitcher, will undergo Tommy John surgery on Monday and is expected to miss the 2008 season.