The Week In Tv Sports

Saturday 5/31
PRO FOOTBALL
Fire at Dragons
Might Rhein versus Barcelona be a preview of the June 22 World Bowl? Barcelona , behind quarterback and likely MVP Jon Kitna , won the WLAF first-half season title, which means that the Dragons will host the championship game. Rhein is tied with Los Dragones and the Scottish Claymores for the league's best record (4-3). Kitna , property of the Seattle Seahawks , leads the WLAF in passing yardage (265.6 per game) and touchdowns (13), and is even fourth in rushing (43.3 yards per game).
?FX, 1:30 PM

TENNIS
French Open
You may remember Spain 's Alex Corretja as the foil in Pete Sampras 's dehydrating four-hour match at last year's U.S. Open. This year Corretja is a leading man. His 22-4 record on clay was the best on the men's tour as it headed to the red clay of Roland Garros Stadium. Among the women, defending champion Steffi Graf , recently in the throes of an injury-induced slump and seeded second at the French behind Martina Hingis , rallied last week with a win in Strasbourg .
? NBC , SATURDAY (3PM, TAPE-DELAY) AND SUNDAY (1PM, TAPE-DELAY); USA , MONDAY-THURSDAY (9AM DAILY); NBC , FRIDAY (10AM)

BOXING
Kostya Tszyu vs. Vince Phillips
Film buffs will note the eerie parallels between the paths of Tszyu (pronounced zoo) in his career and Jackie Chan in his most recent release, First Strike. Both are men of Asian descent whose fists are weapons. Their respective plots lead them to Australia . The difference is that Tszyu (left), who emigrated from Russia to Sydney , never fights in shark tanks. Defending his IBF junior welterweight crown, Tszyu (18-0-1) faces the agile, hard-hitting Phillips. A win could help make him as big among fight fans as Chan is with martial arts mavens.
? HBO , 11 PM

Sunday 6/1
AUTO RACING
Miller 500
Chevy Chase is in Maryland , but the Chevy chasers will be at Dover (Del.) Downs. Jeff Gordon , in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo , will attempt to become the first NASCAR driver to win four straight races at the same superspeedway. Gordon is one of the few drivers on the circuit who might refer to the Monster Mile's jarring concrete oval as super. After last year's race Dale Earnhardt , who finished third, described his 500-lap afternoon as "just one of those long days at Dover driving on sidewalks."
?TNN, NOON

TRACK & FIELD
Donovan Bailey vs. Michael Johnson
Is this irony? A Jamaican-born Canadian ( Bailey , left) and an American-born-and-bred named Johnson will race 150 meters for the title of World's Fastest Man, while it is a Jamaican-born Canadian named Johnson (Ben) who has run the swiftest 100 meters in history. True, the steroid-aided 9.79 Ben Johnson ran at the Seoul Olympics isn't recognized as the world record; Bailey 's 9.84 at the Atlanta Games—where Michael Johnson ran a world record 19.32 in the 200—is. Talk about a fast payday: For this unsanctioned event, the winner will receive $1.5 million, the loser $500,000.
? CBS , 5PM

Friday 6/6
BASEBALL
Braves at Giants
Have you heard about the jolly, green Giants ? At week's end San Francisco , which finished last in the National League West in 1995 and '96 and whose Opening Day starting lineup included four newcomers, was in first place with a 27-20 record. The Giants have risen despite hitting a lowly .245 as a team, with the numbers of All-Star outfielder Barry Bonds (below) being shockingly feeble: a .252 average, seven homers and 23 RBIs. Will Atlanta , a first-place team that has won five straight division titles, shrink the Giants
?TBS, 10PM