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Baseball talks 'positive'

Revenue sharing was the chief topic as baseball players and owners resumed labor talks Wednesday, and the sides agreed they were about $70 million apart annually. Revenue sharing is one of the two key issues in the talks, along with management's desire for a luxury tax on high payroll clubs.

"It was positive. There were some ideas that were thrown out," says union lawyer Michael Weiner. "We'll continue discussions." Additional bargaining sessions were scheduled for yesterday and today.

Players are worried that owners will change work rules after the postseason or lock them out, so they are considering striking in August or September. It would be baseball's ninth work stoppage since 1972.

The comeback of the No. 1 women's tennis player in the world in 2001 is off to a fine start. Lindsay Davenport was impressive in her first tournament match in nine months, beating Anne Kremer Wednesday in Stanford, Calif., to reach the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic.

Looking fit and light on her feet after recovering from a knee injury, Davenport had her serve broken early, but then roared past Kremer. "I'm definitely not back to where I want to be yet," Davenport said. "It takes time, and I'm going to have to fight through a lot of matches...."

Taiwanese factories are known for cranking out affordable bikes that are great for tooling around the neighborhood – not the two-wheeled steeds that the world's best cyclists use to pedal through the Pyrenees Mountains in the sport's biggest event, the Tour de France.

But Taiwan's Giant Bicycles is proving its bikes can sprint and climb with the best in the grueling tour, which ends Sunday in Paris. "Five years ago, consumers looked at the Giant brand and said, 'Yeah, it's a good product, very reliable, very nice,' " says Giant's president Antony Lo. "But now they ... know that we're in the top racing scene.