It took him eight years to complete, but New York Times sports columnist William Rhoden's new book is starting to make some noise. With a title like Forty Million Dollar Slaves, the buzz would have been impossible to avoid. But at yesterday's "Race and Sports" lecture, sponsored by Penn's Center for Africana Studies, Rhoden proved his book is more than a catchy title.

With 25 days to go until graduation, it's time for you to do that one thing that you've always wanted to do, yet have never gotten the chance. For some of you, maybe it's having sex under the button, or it's a five-course meal at Le Bec-Fin. For me, it's writing a column in poetry.

If only every Penn-Princeton game went this way. Playing against its archrival, the women's lacrosse team won at least a share of its first Ivy League Championship since 1982, beating the No. 15 Tigers 14-10 during Senior Night at Franklin Field. The Quakers can win the league outright with a victory over Brown on Saturday.

How Penn landed a heralded tennis recruit against all odds - and how one man's questionable dealings helped do it

A day after an extra-inning thriller, Penn made things a little easier yesterday in Lawrenceville, N.J. The Quakers scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back, thrashing Rider 13-5. Junior Kyle Armeny led the offensive charge for Penn (17-14), with his team-leading seventh home run, a solo shot in the third, as well as an RBI groundout in the first.

Report: Hoyas asst. offered Princeton job Princeton has offered its head basketball coaching position to Georgetown assistant coach Sydney Johnson, Princeton's student newspaper reported yesterday. According to an online report by The Daily Princetonian, Johnson, a 1997 Tigers alumnus who has coached professionally for only three years, has been offered the job but has yet to officially accept it.

Ladies and gentlemen, they're out of the red. For the first time in 23 years, the Penn softball team has guaranteed itself an overall winning record. Such an occasion should warrant a stylish win, and the Quakers did not disappoint. Penn swept Cornell in a doubleheader yesterday at Warren Field, beating the Big Red 7-1 and 5-4 with equally solid pitching and batting performances.

Five seconds into the second half of the biggest lacrosse game of her life, Penn sophomore Becca Edwards was flat on her back. Playing against No. 15 Princeton with the Ivy League title on the line, Edwards's stick got caught with an opponent's while she tried to get the opening draw control of the second half.

Penn's spring sports teams are in an unfamiliar position for this time of year. They are in contention for Ivy League titles. The women's lacrosse, tennis and softball teams, along with the men's tennis and baseball teams, all have legitimate shots at titles.

The Quakers have struggled against Princeton, but with Penn riding an eight-game win streak, perhaps the Tigers aren't so sure of themselves anymore.

Matt Toffaletti was just conscious enough to win the game for Penn. After colliding with pitcher Joe Thornton and hitting the deck hard while chasing a foul pop-up in the seventh inning of yesterday's home game against Lehigh, Toffaletti could barely get up.

Almost exactly a year ago, Glen Miller was just a name mentioned as a possible candidate for the Penn hoops coaching job, left vacant after longtime head man Fran Dunphy left for Temple a week earlier. He was the coach at Brown, and even said on April 15 that he was not interested in the Quakers job.

Daily Pennsylvanian: Let's jump right in. Is your office always this messy? Charlie Powell: No, it's clean! The spring gets crazy. You get everything from home meets, Penn Relays stuff, expense reports, budget stuff. It gets really messy in the spring; it cleans back up in the summer.

As my editors requested, I had my column for this week written 24 hours in advance. It was, of course, about sports. And it was, as my columns often are, a joke both in substance and tone. But this morning is not a time for joking. This morning isn't even a time for sports.

If the Penn women's lacrosse team wants to win its first outright Ivy League title since 1982, it has to follow a simple plan: win the next two games. Doing so would clinch the league's automatic bid to the team's first NCAA tournament since 1984. Otherwise, it gets a little dicey.

Penn senior Ibrahim Jaaber has been named Big 5 Player of the Year, a source with knowledge of the proceedings said yesterday.

Villanova senior Curtis Sumpter couldn't be happier to be done with his college career. And after five years of ups and downs with the Wildcats, the big man is finally ready to take the next step in his career - hopefully on the NBA hardwood.