Newspaper Page Text
11A
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005
Outside
the
‘Home’
McMgan SL rales lor win
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The
agony lives on for Tennessee.
Another season of accolades and
awards has again ended without
a seventh NCAA title for coach
Pat Summitt and her Lady Vols.
And this time, Connecticut had
nothing to do with it.
Michigan State, a Final Four
rookie, staged a frenzied, record
tying comeback Sunday night, ral
lying from 16 points down in the
second half to stun Tennessee
68-64.
The Spartans' astonishing res
urrection capped an evening. of
truly improbable comebacks in
the RCA Dome.
Tennessee's loss was equally
devastating for Summitt, who
earlier this season became the
winningest coach in college bas
ketball history. For now, though,
she’s stuck at 882 career wins
and hasn’t won a national title
since 1998 - an eternity for the
Lady Vols.
This was the first time since
2000 that UConn wasn't respon
sible for Tennessee's premature
exit from the tournament. The
Huskies beat the Lady Vols three
times in the finals and once in the
semifinals.
Michigan State’s rally tied the
largest in Final Four history. In
2001, Notre Dame came back from
16 down to beat Connecticut.
Baylor earns finals berth
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Baylor's
Kim Mulkey-Robertson acted
against her principles. Is she ever
glad she did.
The Lady Bears were trailing
LSU and Mulkey-Robertson was
searching frantically for a solu
tion. For her, it was a desperate
response: She put her team in a
zone defense.
And it worked.
Baylor slowed LSU down,
made one of the biggest come
backs in Final Four history
Sunday and moved into Tuesday
night’s national championship
game with a 68-57 victory. And
Mulkey-Robertson was smiling all
the way.
"No, I’m not a zone coach,”
she said. “But I damn sure like
to win.”
Baylor (32-3) rallied from 15
points down in the first half to
beat the team that was seeded
No. 1 overall in the NCAA tourna
ment, a talented opponent that
featured the nation’s best player
(Seimone Augustus) and maybe
the best point guard (Temeka
Johnson).
Merer wins Nasdaq-100
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)
- Twice two points from defeat,
top-ranked Roger Federer rallied
and won the Nasdaq-100 Open
by beating the 18-year-old Rafael
Nadal 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3,
6-1 Sunday.
Federer trailed 4-2 in the third
set and 5-3 in the ensuing tie
breaker, but his shots became
more accurate and aggressive as
he overtook a tiring Nadal in the
3-hour, 43-minute marathon.
Federer has won 22 consecu
tive matches this year, and 18
consecutive finals since July
2003. He’s the Key Biscayne
champion for the first time.
On Saturday, Belgium’s Kim
Clijsters earned another title
Saturday in her return from a
career-threatening wrist injury,
beating Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-5
in the women’s final.
The tournament was just the
third in Clijsters’ latest comeback
from the injury, which required
surgery and forced her to miss
much of last year. But she has
won 14 consecutive matches,
including the Indian Wells title two
weeks ago, and beat six top-10
players in her last nine matches.
Harvick tops Bristol field
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) - Kevin
Harvick scored his first victory
since 2003 on Sunday, winning
the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor
Speedway.
Harvick started last in the 43-
car field because of unapproved
repairs hours before the race to
fix a leak in the power steering
system.
He took the lead with 66 laps
to go, pulled away from the pack
and easily beat pole-sitter Elliott
Sadler to the finish line: Seven
lapped cars separated the first
and second-place cars.
Harvick’s crew chief, Todd
Berrier, was at home serving a
four-race suspension for cheat
ing last month in qualifying for a
NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Las
Vegas.
WheUon leads sweep
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)
- Dan Wheldon led an Andretti
Green Racing sweep of the top
four places Sunday in the first
street race in the 10-year his
tory of the Indy Racing League's
Indy Car Series.
Teammate Tony Kanaan made
an aggressive move just nine laps
from the end to finish second. He
and Kanaan were followed across
the line by Dario Franchitti and
pole winner Bryan Herta.
Smoltz overjoyed to get things started
By CHARLES ODUM
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA - Standing in
the Atlanta Braves’ club
house before the final spring
game of the year Saturday,
John Smoltz
didn’t try to
contain his
enthusiasm
as he talked
about the
countdown
to his favor
ite day of
the sports
year.
“It’s the
best time
SMOLTZ
of the year,” Smoltz said.
“You’ve got two more days to
hold your breath. It’s one of
the great times in sports.”
Smoltz was referring to
baseball’s opening day, right?
After all, on Tuesday he will
make his first opening day
start since 1997 and his first
start in any regular season
game since 2001.
No. Smoltz wasn’t talk
ing baseball. Instead, he
was focused on college bas
ketball’s Final Four and
Monday’s national champi
onship game.
Smoltz, an obsessive
Michigan State fan, was
wearing the Spartans’ colors
- green cap, green warmup
jacket - Saturday when he
was the pick of ESPN to rep
resent his home-state team
on a preview special.
Smoltz doesn’t have to be
asked twice to talk about
his Spartans. But finally,
after Michigan State’s loss
to North Carolina Saturday
night, Smoltz can turn his
focus back to baseball for his
much-anticipated return to
the top of the Braves’ rota
tion.
No problem. Even with one
eye on the Final Four, Smoltz
MLB suspends Sanchez for drug policy violation
By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.
- Tampa Bay’s Alex Sanchez
gestured
toward his
bare chest
and shoul
ders, calling
attention
to his phy
sique.
The Devil
Rays out
fielder
SANCHEZ
became the first player pub
licly identified for violating
baseball’s new policy on per
formance-enhancing drugs,
but insisted Sunday he has
never used steroids.
“I’m surprised because
look at what kind of player
I am,” Sanchez said after
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recognized that Tuesday’s
game will be one he will
remember.
“It’s a big responsibility,”
he said. “I think obviously
with what I’ve been through
I can handle that. It takes a
load off the other guys. It’s
not really the pressure to
be the guy. It makes every
body else comfortable and it
puts me in an environment
I can’t say I’m totally used
to, because I’ve only done it
a couple of times, but it gives
me that opportunity to make
everybody else’s job easier.”
Smoltz made his first open
ing-day start in 1991 - the
year the Braves began their
streak of 13 straight division
championships with their
improbable worst-to-first
march to the World Series.
For that 1991 opening-day
assignment, every position
player in the Braves’ lineup -
including current Braves hit
ting coach Terry Pendleton,
outfielders Deion Sanders,
Ron Gant and David Justice
and first baseman Sid Bream
- are now retired. Only
Smoltz has played on each of
the 13 straight playoff teams
- a streak that excludes the
1994 strike-shortened season
- but his role has changed
during the years.
Smoltz, the 1996 Cy Young
winner, missed the 2000
season after having Tommy
John surgery on his right
elbow. He made only five
starts in 2001 before moving
to the bullpen as the Braves’
closer.
Despite posting 154 saves
to join Dennis Eckersley as
the only pitchers in history
with at least 150 wins and
150 saves, Smoltz was rest
less as the closer. He was
particularly unhappy in the
postseason when too often
he felt helpless sitting in the
being suspended 10 days
for testing positive for an
unspecified substance. “I’m
a leadoff hitter. I never hit
any home runs.”
The suspension was to
begin Monday when Tampa
Bay opened its season
against Toronto. It covers
eight games and will cost
Sanchez $32,787 of his
$600,000 salary.
A singles hitter who led
the AL with 29 bunt singles
last season, Sanchez said he
doesn’t know what he test
ed positive for and blamed
the result on something he
bought legally in a store.
“I’m fighting it right now
because I never take any
steroids. I don’t need them,”
Sanchez said.
“I know I did nothing incor
rect. ... I take stuff I buy over
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SPORTS
bullpen, watching his team
lose.
So with the Braves’ trade
for former Milwaukee clos
er Dan Kolb, Smoltz now is
back in the rotation.
Smoltz is confident the rou
tine of starting will be less
demanding on his elbow than
the unpredictable schedule
of pitching in relief. In five
spring starts, Smoltz was 2-1
with a 1.42 earned run aver
age, allowing only 17 hits in
19 innings.
Seeing Smoltz adjust so well
to his return to the starting
role made it easy for Braves
manager Bobby Cox to pick
the veteran for the opening
day start - even with the
addition of Tim Hudson, also
regarded as a No. 1 starter.
“I’m used to it now,” Cox
said when asked if he had
any concerns about Smoltz
making the career shift at
37.
“He looks like he did 10
years ago,” Cox said. “It
didn’t faze me at the start
of spring, to be honest with
you. I guess I’ve seen him out
there so much the last 10 or
12 years or longer.”
Smoltz said there has
been no discussion of a pitch
count or innings limitation
Tuesday.
“I’m going to gauge it sim
ply on the situation and if
I’m pitching good enough to
warrant staying in,” he said.
“They’re going to be smart
and I’m going to be smart
and know that it is a jour
ney. I don’t want to have to
answer those questions mid
way through the season.”
Smoltz says he probably
will be more excited about
his first home start, sched
uled for next Sunday against
the New York Mets, but after
that, he said, “It will be the
job as usual.”
the counter. Multivitamins,
protein shakes, muscle relax
ants. That kind of stuff.”
Under the new policy that
took effect last month, ste
roids and other performance
enchancing substances are
the only drugs to draw a
10-day suspension. Baseball
officials and the players’
union agreed they would not
disclose the exact substance
for which a player tests posi
tive.
Sanchez, who hit .322
with 19 stolen bases in 79
games for Detroit last sea
son, was drug tested while
he was with the Tigers, who
released him during spring
training.
He signed with the Devil
Rays on March 19 and was
to be the team’s center field
er on opening day.
Lawsuit at center of football
recruiting scandal thrown out
By KEVIN VAUGHAN
Scripps Howard News
Service
DENVER - A federal
judge has thrown out a
lawsuit at the heart of the
football recruiting scan
dal that has embroiled the
University of Colorado in a
15-month odyssey of head
lines, investigations and
resignations.
Two women may have
been raped at a 2001 party
attended by football play
ers and recruits, but the
university isn’t respon
sible, U.S. District Judge
Robert Blackburn ruled in
dismissing the case.
The judge’s decision
- issued in response to a
motion filed by the univer
sity last May - was hailed
by university leaders as
proof that Colorado’s flag
ship school in Boulder had
done nothing wrong.
But some women’s advo
cates saw it as a setback.
And an attorney for one
of the women vowed an
appeal.
CU’s outgoing president,
Betsy Hoffman, said the
ruling Thursday shows
that “this university has
never acted with indiffer
ence toward its students.”
“We have always cared
deeply for our students and
have worked hard to cre
ate a supportive environ
ment in which they can
learn,” she said. “While we
are pleased by (the) rul
ing, we want to be clear
that our commitment to
women, victims’ rights and
victims’ assistance remains
steadfast.”
At the other end of the
spectrum was Joanne
Belknap, a professor of soci
ology and women’s studies
at CU who said she was
stunned when she heard
the decision.
“The first words that
came into my head were,
‘Oh, my God. This is open
season on women,’ “ she
said.
An emotional Peggy
Jessel, attorney for the
woman known in legal
documents as Jane Doe,
said she was disappointed
in what she believes is a
wrong decision.
“It’s a case that begs an
appeal, and we fully intend
to do that,” Jessel said.
The lawsuit was costly
for the university, both in
the court of public opin
ion and in the courtroom,
where CU racked up legal
bills that were estimated
Thursday at $2,007,418.
Still, Larry Pozner, one of
SOCCER
From page 1B
within the last 30 minutes
of the contest to rally for
the win.
“They were looking for
a win and we were beat up
and tired,” said Bailey, add
ing the Demons had “three
four players” injured and
that many more not avail
able due to prior spring
break plans.
He wasn’t making excus
es, instead, “They just
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'The first words
that came into my
head were, 'Oh,
my God. This is
open season on
women.’
- Professor of sociology and
women's studies at CU Joanne
Belknap
the attorneys CU brought
in to defend the lawsuit,
said the ruling reflects
reality - that laws don’t
require universities to be
“perfect.”
“Because unfortunate
things happen doesn’t
mean that a university is
liable for it. Nobody can
guarantee that 28,000 stu
dents will enroll in a uni
versity and that they all will
have four perfect years,” he
said. “If that were true, no
university would survive a
single semester.”
The suit stemmed from a
now-infamous party at an
off-campus apartment on
Dec. 7, 2001, that sparked
a series of investigations
and devastating allegations
for CU, and led to the res
ignations of Hoffman and
longtime Athletic Director
Dick Tharp.
The gathering, which
included female stu
dents, football players and
recruits in town for a week
end visit to the CU campus,
saw excessive drinking and
illicit sex. Three womt..,
all of them CU students,
alleged they were sexually
assaulted either at or after
that party and sued the
university, arguing that it
fostered an environment
that led to the attacks. •
One of the women, former
CU soccer player Monique
Gillaspie, dropped her suit
in December after accus
ing the university of using
“guerrilla warfare” tactics.
The lawsuit filed by the
other two women, Lisa
Simpson and the former
student known as Jane
Doe, alleged that CU vio
lated the federal gender
equity law known as Title
IX. That law requires
schools that receive federal
funds to provide equal edu
cational opportunities to
both men and women.
But the ruling was
Simpson and Jane Doe
weren’t able to prove that
the university was at fault
for what happened to
them.
wanted it more than we
did,” he said.
It was only Warner
Robins’ second loss coupled
with 10 wins and a tie.
The Demonettes were
also originally scheduled to
play Tift County on the
same day but that contest
was cancelled a couple of
weeks ago, said head coach
Terri Hunt.
There is no reschedule
planned, she added.