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SUN 0401/SPORTS B1 - All Pro Shots
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SUSSEX COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER<br />
Sports<br />
Sunday, April 1, 2007 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD B—1<br />
Mets ready for St. Louis rematch<br />
AP Photo<br />
By R.B. FALLSTROM<br />
AP Sports Writer<br />
ST. LOUIS — Jeff Suppan pitched the game<br />
of his life, light-hitting Yadier Molina muscled<br />
up for a huge home run and rookie closer<br />
Adam Wainwright froze the New York Mets’<br />
best hitter.<br />
Although the stakes will be considerably<br />
lower, memories of the St. Louis Cardinals’<br />
Game 7 win in last year’s NL championship<br />
series will be fresh when the teams play the<br />
2007 major league opener on Sunday night.<br />
“We try not to make too big a deal of it<br />
New York returns to the scene of last year’s<br />
NL championship. The Mets lost in seven,<br />
but hope to erase that memory.<br />
MLB: NEW YORK METS<br />
because it is only the first week of the season,”<br />
Cardinals outfielder Jim Edmonds said. “It’s<br />
always nice to get out of Florida and get to the<br />
big league stadiums. Going home is going to<br />
be incredible.”<br />
Ceremonies will feature members of the<br />
Cardinals’ World Series winners of 1967 and<br />
1982, including Hall of Famers Bob Gibson,<br />
Lou Brock and Bruce Sutter.<br />
Pitchers who got the final out of the<br />
Cardinals’ last three championships will throw<br />
out ceremonial first pitches to their managers:<br />
Gibson to Red Schoendienst, Sutter to Whitey<br />
Herzog and Wainwright to Tony La Russa.<br />
Actor Billy Bob Thornton will be master of<br />
ceremonies for the pregame festivities, and<br />
REO Speedwagon will perform “The Star-<br />
Spangled Banner.” As usual, the Cardinals will<br />
enter one at a time in a convertible motorcade<br />
snaking around the warning track.<br />
“St. Louis makes it such a spectacle,” La<br />
Russa said. “You can finish last, and you come<br />
back the next year, and you’ll be totally excited<br />
and think you’re going to conquer the world.”<br />
Molina’s two-run homer in the ninth inning<br />
off Aaron Heilman sent the Cardinals to the<br />
World Series, where they beat Detroit in five<br />
games. The Mets missed a chance to rally in<br />
the bottom half when Carlos Beltran took a<br />
season-ending called third strike on<br />
Wainwright’s curveball with the bases loaded.<br />
See METS, Page B5<br />
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL:<br />
SCIL BOYS PREVIEW<br />
Pope John<br />
looks to<br />
branch out<br />
By MATT FILLARE<br />
sports@njherald.com<br />
Pope John is no stranger to<br />
success.<br />
The parochial school has won<br />
eight of the last 12 SCIL football<br />
titles, seven of the last 10 boys<br />
cross country titles and have six<br />
SCIL titles this year.<br />
This spring marks the inaugural<br />
season of possibly another<br />
prestigious program — boys volleyball.<br />
The team started with a couple<br />
students asking for a volleyball<br />
team. Their want turned into a<br />
petition, and after enough signatures<br />
and the school bigwigs<br />
approval, the team was formed.<br />
Would-be players turned to<br />
English teacher Brian Bohden to<br />
coach them. But it would be<br />
more like another teaching job<br />
for him — none of the players<br />
have any volleyball experience.<br />
Though he also lacked prior volleyball<br />
experience and was a little<br />
hesitant, he agreed.<br />
Bohden prepared by studying<br />
books and videos during the past<br />
year. Girls volleyball coach<br />
Patricia James offered her services.<br />
“Pat’s been a huge asset for<br />
us,” Bohden said. “She’s been<br />
great.”<br />
Making things more challenging<br />
is the travel situation.<br />
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS LACROSSE: SCIL PREVIEW<br />
See VOLLEYBALL, Page B3<br />
COLLEGE BASKETBALL:<br />
NCAA TOURNAMENT<br />
Ohio St.<br />
into final<br />
By NANCY ARMOUR<br />
AP National Writer<br />
ATLANTA — Ohio State showed<br />
it can win without Greg Oden.<br />
Georgetown was just lost without<br />
Roy Hibbert.<br />
With Hibbert and Oden both<br />
hampered by foul trouble, it was<br />
Mike Conley Jr. and the rest of the<br />
Buckeyes who carried Ohio State<br />
to its first national title game since<br />
1962 with a 67-60 victory over<br />
Georgetown on Saturday night.<br />
Conley finished with 15 points,<br />
six assists and five rebounds, while<br />
Oden added 13 points — all in the<br />
second half — and eight rebounds.<br />
Hibbert scored 19 and had six<br />
rebounds for the Hoyas, and more<br />
than held his own in the muchanticipated<br />
matchup with Oden.<br />
Problem was, he spent too much<br />
time as a spectator.<br />
So did the rest of the Hoyas.<br />
Jeff Green, the Big East player<br />
of the year who had been scoring a<br />
team-best 15.8 points in the NCAA<br />
tournament, had just nine points,<br />
and took only five shots the entire<br />
game. He did have 12 rebounds,<br />
but it wasn’t enough — not with<br />
Hibbert out. The Georgetown<br />
bench finished with no points.<br />
Zippo.<br />
At 7-2, Hibbert had two inches<br />
and two years on Oden. And the<br />
difference showed. Whenever<br />
Hibbert was in the game,<br />
Georgetown played with confidence,<br />
speed and rhythm. Without<br />
him, they looked clunky, slow and<br />
disorganized.<br />
He left the game with about 16<br />
minutes left after picking up his<br />
third foul. When he returned 3 1/2<br />
minutes later, he reeled off a quick<br />
five points and Jonathan Wallace<br />
hit a 3 to tie the game at 44 with<br />
9:44 left.<br />
Photo by Randy Mills/allproshots.com<br />
The Vernon boys lacrosse team made it to the second round of the state tournament last year, but coach Mike Bocech thinks they can do even better<br />
this year despite losing his best player to a prep school.<br />
Moving Forward<br />
By STEFAN BONDY<br />
sbondy@njherald.com<br />
It was the summer of loss for the<br />
Vernon lacrosse team.<br />
Eight starters graduated in June,<br />
less than a month after completing<br />
the finest season in the program’s<br />
history. The team’s top midfielder<br />
and an all-state selection, Dan<br />
Colvin, transferred to a prep school<br />
in Connecticut for his senior year.<br />
Then in July, they lost a player to<br />
the worst kind of circumstance.<br />
John Fisher, a would-be captain in<br />
his senior year, died in a car accident.<br />
Normally these type of events<br />
would debilitate a team, turning the<br />
Girls lacrosse on the rise in Sussex County<br />
By NICK SABATELLO<br />
sports@njherald.com<br />
Look in the right field these days and you’ll find<br />
girls wearing goggles, skirts and mouth-guards<br />
wielding long sticks and flinging rubber balls.<br />
A decade ago, people in Sussex County might<br />
have thought lacrosse was a French dessert, but<br />
10 years later, half the SCIL has girls lacrosse.<br />
It’s considered the oldest sport in North<br />
America created by Native Americans and later<br />
molded by French Canadians in 1636.<br />
New Jersey’s own, The Lawrence School, was<br />
one of the first to create a team in 1882.<br />
Today it’s dubbed “the fastest game on two<br />
Vikings look to keep momentum<br />
after summer’s tragic losses<br />
following season into the dreaded<br />
“rebuilding year.”<br />
But coach Mike Bocech isn’t<br />
expecting much of a drop-off. He has<br />
seen enough of Vernon lacrosse to<br />
understand the sport is building<br />
momentum, drawing greater interest<br />
from local youth who are trading<br />
their bats for titanium sticks.<br />
When Bocech ran the freshman<br />
team five years ago, he said the<br />
majority of kids were football players<br />
trying lacrosse for the first time.<br />
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS LACROSSE:<br />
SCIL PREVIEW<br />
feet,” and the slogan serves a dual purpose<br />
because not only does it play fast, but it grows<br />
fast as well.<br />
U.S. lacrosse youth membership (ages 15 and<br />
under) has more than tripled since 1999 to almost<br />
100,000.<br />
It’s also the fastest growing sport at the high<br />
school level over the last 10 years, with more<br />
than 130,000 high school players in the country.<br />
In 1994, Jefferson was the first SCIL school to<br />
That’s not the case anymore.<br />
“Now we have very good freshmen<br />
and jayvee programs. The recreation<br />
and the PAL programs are producing<br />
these great kids coming up. I can<br />
see the feeder programs are starting<br />
to kick in,” Bocech said. “We have<br />
those two new fields at Maple<br />
Grange and every time I go I see<br />
more and kids out there — second<br />
and third graders.<br />
“It’s really picking up. A lot of people<br />
are putting in time and it’s <strong>paying</strong><br />
off.”<br />
So Bocech isn’t too concerned<br />
about a lineup with only one varsityexperienced<br />
player. It helps that the<br />
lone returner — senior attacker<br />
Mike Deutch — led the team in<br />
goals last year with 37. And Bocech<br />
is even more excited about the<br />
future, about sophomores like Brad<br />
Mills and Brian Jernick and juniors<br />
like Brian Maggi and Mark Glander.<br />
“These young guys are great,” he<br />
said.<br />
Bocech’s goal is to turn Vernon<br />
into a state contender, not just a<br />
team happy to get into the second<br />
round like last year.<br />
See VERNON, Page B3<br />
field a girl’s team. Vernon joined four years later<br />
and Pope John followed a year after them.<br />
In 2005, Sparta joined the party and a fifth SCIL<br />
school, Lenape Valley, hopes to have a varsity<br />
team in 2008.<br />
Despite the rapid growth, teams aren’t just<br />
falling out of the sky. It takes work and determination<br />
to grow and sustain a program.<br />
In 1999, Vernon coach Sherri Quinn needed 20<br />
signatures to fill a petition in order to get the<br />
ground ball rolling. Today, she has to turn away<br />
12 of 70 girls that try out.<br />
See GIRLS, Page B3
B—2 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD Sunday, April 1, 2007<br />
SPORTS<br />
Skyhawks looking for hosts<br />
By Herald Staff<br />
The Sussex Skyhawks are looking<br />
for host families for the<br />
upcoming season. A host family<br />
will provide lodging for a player<br />
from the beginning of May<br />
through the middle of September.<br />
Host families are not responsible<br />
for meals.<br />
In exchange for their generosity,<br />
a host family will receive four<br />
reserved seat season tickets and<br />
an invite to the pre-season party.<br />
The Skyhawks open the season on<br />
May 24 against the New Jersey<br />
Jackals.<br />
For more information, contact<br />
Seth Bettan at (973) 300-1000 ext.<br />
12 or email him at seth@sussexskyhawks.com.<br />
<br />
US Sports Camps/Nike<br />
Baseball Camp will be holding<br />
camps at Skylands Park. The<br />
three camps will run from 9 a.m.<br />
until 1 p.m. July 16-20, July 30-<br />
Aug. 2 and Aug. 20-24. Camp is<br />
open to boys ages 7 to 18.<br />
For registration information<br />
visit www.sussexskyhawks.com.<br />
<br />
Branchville Babe Ruth league<br />
will be holding tryouts for on<br />
Tuesday, Wednesday and<br />
Thursday at 6 p.m. at Branchville<br />
field. Players cannot turn 14<br />
before May 1.<br />
Call Tom at (973) 948-6195 after<br />
6 p.m. with any questions.<br />
<br />
The CERBO League is looking<br />
to add a High Point U9 traveling<br />
team for the upcoming season.<br />
Games begin April 1 and run<br />
through June, and are only played<br />
on Sundays. Players must be 9 or<br />
younger by April 30, 2007.<br />
For more information, call<br />
Steve Smolen at (973) 702-0139 or<br />
email him at woodnwings@earthlink.net.<br />
<br />
The Stillwater-Fredon Little<br />
League is accepting registration<br />
for the upcoming season. Forms<br />
can be found online at www.stillwaterfredonlittleleague.com.<br />
For more information, call<br />
Brian Reznik at (973) 948-7341.<br />
<br />
Frankford-Branchville Little<br />
League is looking for umpires for<br />
the 2007 season. Training will be<br />
provided and umpires will be paid<br />
for the games officiated.<br />
Candidates should be 13 years of<br />
age or older. Applications will be<br />
available at registration. For more<br />
information please contact Tim<br />
Depuy at (973) 579-5472.<br />
<br />
The High Point U13 traveling<br />
team has openings for its spring<br />
team. Players must be 13 or under<br />
by April 30, 2007. Games begin<br />
April 1 and run through June.<br />
Home games are in Branchville<br />
or Wantage, and away games are<br />
in Morris, Passaic and Bergen<br />
Counties.<br />
For more information, call<br />
Scott Conklin at (973) 702-0384.<br />
<br />
Basketball<br />
SCCC women’s basketball<br />
coach Cori Harrington will be<br />
holding a clinic at Lafayette<br />
Elementary School on April 15<br />
from 9 a.m. to noon. The cost of<br />
the clinic is $75 per player. More<br />
than one player per family will<br />
receive discounts.<br />
For more information contact<br />
Harrington at (201) 320-8011 or<br />
Cori45@hotmail.com.<br />
<br />
Bill Maranz will be offering a<br />
basketball camp at the Vernon<br />
PAL building July 30 through<br />
August 3. The camp runs from 9<br />
a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to boys<br />
and girls ages 7 to 17. Cost is $145<br />
E-mail: duffer30@earthlink.net<br />
www.rollinggreensgolf.com<br />
for Vernon residents and $160 for<br />
out-of-towners.<br />
Download a registration form<br />
at www.vernontwp.com or for<br />
information call (973) 764-6607.<br />
<br />
Field hockey<br />
Ramapo College will host a<br />
spring clinic on alternating<br />
Sundays starting April 15 and<br />
ending June 17. The eight-week<br />
program consists of instruction<br />
and supervised play, and run from<br />
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $240, and<br />
beginners are welcome. Players<br />
will be grouped by ability and skill.<br />
They must come equipped with<br />
cleats or sneakers, a mouth<br />
guard, shin guards and a stick.<br />
Goalkeepers must provide their<br />
own equipment.<br />
<br />
The Lady Braves Field Hockey<br />
Camp will be held July 30 through<br />
August 3 at Saint Paul’s Abbey on<br />
Route 209 in Newton. The camp<br />
will be for girls in grades 4-12. All<br />
skill levels welcome. The cost is<br />
$12 and includes instructional<br />
time, insurance, facilities, equipment,<br />
camp T-shirt and guest<br />
speakers.<br />
Contact Lisa Bechtel at<br />
Newton High School at (973) 383-<br />
7573 ext. 223 for a camp brochure.<br />
Football<br />
HERALD CHAMPIONSHIP CORNER<br />
<br />
Sparta little league football and<br />
cheerleading will be holding several<br />
events this year: The annual<br />
golf outing at Skyview Golf Course<br />
on June 21, the pancake breakfast,<br />
kids dance in September and<br />
the Milkbowl in November.<br />
Sparta football registration is<br />
taken at Sparta day. Cheerleader<br />
registration runs April 17 through<br />
24.<br />
For more information visit<br />
www.spartafootball.org.<br />
<br />
Vernon youth football and<br />
cheerleading association are<br />
being offered to anyone who participated<br />
in either program for at<br />
least one year and plans to continue<br />
their education after high<br />
school. Application deadline is<br />
May 1. Applications are available<br />
in the guidance offices of Vernon<br />
High School, Wallkill Valley High<br />
School, Vo-Tech, and Pope John.<br />
For more info call Karl Klein<br />
(973) 209-2059.<br />
<br />
Registrations for High Point<br />
midget football, flag football, and<br />
cheerleading will be held at the<br />
Sussex Firehouse on May 19 10<br />
a.m. - 1 p.m., June 2 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.,<br />
and June 8 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. There is<br />
a $25 late fee after June 8.<br />
For more information call Rita<br />
Gallo at (973) 219-9625.<br />
Golf<br />
<br />
The fourth annual Sonnie<br />
Lehman Agency — Survivors’<br />
Resources Tournament will be<br />
held May 7 at the Great Bear Golf<br />
and Country Club. The cost is<br />
$125 for the best ball, blind flight<br />
tournament. Cost includes continental<br />
breakfast, golf and cart,<br />
skill contest, prizes and awards<br />
luncheon buffet.<br />
For more information, call<br />
Peggy Emmanuel at (570) 296-<br />
2827 or Sonnie Lehman at (570)<br />
296-6416.<br />
<br />
Hockey<br />
To all incoming freshmen, new<br />
or transfer students, Newton<br />
Braves Ice Hockey will offer<br />
Varsity and JV teams for the<br />
November 15, 2007 season. A<br />
meeting is scheduled for Saturday<br />
April 21 at 4 p.m. at the rink in<br />
Newton behind Shop-Rite.<br />
For more information call Jim<br />
Hofmann at (973) 903-9774.<br />
Lacrosse<br />
<br />
Contributed photo<br />
The Vernon PAL girls completed the Sussex-Warren County<br />
Crossfire League 12-0. Team members include eighth-graders<br />
Tara Fisher, Ann Yaccarino, Kellianne Baumann, Brittany Ast,<br />
Jess Mills, Brianne Young and Leah Furrey, and seventh-graders<br />
Mallory Costello, Kim Hill, Katelyn Moran and Jess Pittelko. The<br />
team was coached by Joe Ast.<br />
Contributed photo<br />
The Newton High School cheerleading squad finished second at<br />
the Eastern Atlantic Championships on Dec. 17, second at The<br />
Jersey’s Best All-Stars on Jan. 14 and third at the American<br />
Masters Cheer and Dance Championships Feb. 2 and 3 in<br />
Baltimore.<br />
The Jefferson Township<br />
Recreation Department, in conjunction<br />
with the U.S. Sports<br />
Institute, is offering clinics for<br />
kids between the ages of 7 and 14.<br />
The clinic is for beginners and will<br />
be held at Chamberlain Field<br />
from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. beginning<br />
July 16 and running through July<br />
20. Cost is $110 per child, and registration<br />
forms are being distributed<br />
through the Jefferson<br />
Township School District.<br />
For more information, call the<br />
recreation department (908) 534-<br />
8404.<br />
Keglers League<br />
March 29<br />
Mom’s Time Out 121 75<br />
Hot Shots 120 76<br />
League Us Alone 109 87<br />
Something Else 100 96<br />
Gutter Gals 100 96<br />
Shut Up & Bowl 93 103<br />
Still Plays With Balls 77 119<br />
Who Cares 64 132<br />
High Games: Karen Masel 203, Rose<br />
Velie 203, Lisa Grunn 195, Sharon Muller<br />
190.<br />
High Series: Karen Masel 567, Rose<br />
Velie 516, Lisa Grunn 509.<br />
Sparta Mixers<br />
March 29<br />
Womens High Games: Eileen Morse<br />
203, Leighanne Konek 191, Michelle<br />
Walker 173, Helaine Guerino 173.<br />
Womens High Series: Eileen Morse<br />
540, Leighanne Konek 488, Helaine<br />
Guerino 485.<br />
Mens High Games: Joshua Kays 299,<br />
Tony Steele 284, Paul Kays Jr. 259.<br />
Mens High Series: Paul Kays 758,<br />
Joshua Kays 742, Tony Steele 740.<br />
Wanderers League<br />
March 28<br />
Team Motto 136 76<br />
Four Play 122 81<br />
Audio Video Concepts 111 92<br />
Life of Riley 111 92<br />
Pro Image Bowling 110.5 92.5<br />
The Crazy Team 108 95<br />
Dee’s Gang 104 99<br />
Raging Hormones 103 100<br />
Gutter Sluts 102.5 100.5<br />
HUGE 101 102<br />
Team 6 101 102<br />
APX Engineering 101 102<br />
Out of Sync 101 102<br />
Erratica 99 104<br />
Stag Team 99 104<br />
Spare Us 97.5 105.5<br />
STFU 95 108<br />
Gray Hawks 91.5 111.5<br />
Osmosis 89 114<br />
Spare Change 88 115<br />
Kings & Queens 83 120<br />
Larry’s Girls 79 124<br />
Womens High Games: Karen Fisher<br />
252, Jacqueline Wasniewski 245, Dale<br />
Weaver 232.<br />
Womens High Series: Dale Weaver<br />
661, Jacqueline Wasniewski 619, Jennifer<br />
Morciglio 601.<br />
Mens High Games: Jim Benson 300,<br />
Frank Wasniewski 290, Steve<br />
Hundertmark 279.<br />
Mens High Series: Jim Benson 817,<br />
Jason Palladino 741, Buddy Cutler 718.<br />
Newcomers Bowling League<br />
March 28<br />
Georges Salvage 134 69<br />
NJ Excavating 132 71<br />
Tech Check 123.5 79.5<br />
First Hope Bank 121 82<br />
Northern Mechanics 116 87<br />
Elms 90 113<br />
DePues Cleaning 88 115<br />
Andover Garden 87 116<br />
Conklin Home Improvement 76 127<br />
Nobodys Home 46.5 156.5<br />
High Games: Sue Issler 257, Jan Many<br />
225, Anne Morrow 201, Dorothy Haggerty<br />
196.<br />
High Series: Sue Issler 646, Jan Many<br />
617, Dorothy Haggerty 527, Anne Morrow<br />
513.<br />
Early Gals League<br />
March 27<br />
K & L Plumbing 121 82<br />
Gatwyns II 116 87<br />
Roy Bischoff Inc. 115 88<br />
NJ Excavating 111 92<br />
Tom K Accounting 106 97<br />
A Shore Thing 96 107<br />
She Devils 83 120<br />
Time To Spare 64 139<br />
High Games: Jennifer Morciglio 209,<br />
Carol Valotta 180, Ceil Lantingna 165<br />
High Series: Jennifer Morciglio 570,<br />
Ceil Lantingna 485, Carol Valotta 461<br />
Selective Insurance Mixed<br />
March 27<br />
Awesome Foursome 153 57<br />
The Selected Few 132 78<br />
Alley Gators 127 83<br />
No Such Luck 124 86<br />
Eleanor’s Boys 118 92<br />
Deadwood 118 92<br />
Silver Bullets 117 93<br />
Ywaal 116 94<br />
Fantastic Four 108 102<br />
Bowling Thunder 105 105<br />
Byram Bombers 96 114<br />
Motley Accrue 94 116<br />
Gutter Rats 90 120<br />
The Tropical Depressions 88 122<br />
Little Rascals 87 123<br />
Lucky Strikes 82 128<br />
Alley Oops 79 131<br />
The Fowl Ups 56 154<br />
Womens High Games: Lyndsey<br />
McCole 201, Jill Paddock 190, Ginny<br />
Titman 190.<br />
Womens High Series: Jill Paddock 504,<br />
Lyndsey McCole 496, Ginny Titman 477.<br />
Mens High Games: Brian Krick 261,<br />
Roger Johnson 257, Rob SImons 257.<br />
Mens High Series: Brian Krick 690,<br />
Roger Johnson 671, Rob Simons 670.<br />
Super Sexy Seniors<br />
March 27<br />
I Don’t Care 125 64<br />
JC’s Guys and Dolls 123 66<br />
2 Does and a Buck 115 74<br />
2 Jacks and a Jill 110 79<br />
Jersey Jems 99 90<br />
Leo’s Lions 99 90<br />
Triple D’s 95 94<br />
The Nomads 94 95<br />
Supremes 91 98<br />
The Rocking Pins 90 99<br />
Striking Seniors 90 99<br />
KLM 87 102<br />
Lucky Three 86 103<br />
make your home a better place to live.<br />
create the perfect, comfortable climate.<br />
It’s Hard To Stop A Trane. ®<br />
<br />
The New Jersey Interscholastic<br />
Officials Association will be holding<br />
cadet classes for individuals<br />
interested in becoming high<br />
school officials. Classes will be<br />
held at various locations throughout<br />
the state starting in January.<br />
Prior playing experience is not<br />
necessary. Individuals must be 18<br />
or older.<br />
For more information call<br />
Charles Talley at (908) 753-1926 or<br />
visit ww.njiloa.org.<br />
Soccer<br />
<br />
Stillwater-Fredon is looking for<br />
coaches for the spring season.<br />
Experience and soccer knowledge<br />
is not required. For more information,<br />
call Eldy Halsey at (973) 579-<br />
5574.<br />
<br />
The Kittatinny travel team is<br />
looking for players to fill spots on<br />
its U9 boys team and an experienced<br />
goalie for its U12 boys flight<br />
one team.<br />
For more information, call<br />
Nancy Fernandez at (973) 948-<br />
2210.<br />
<br />
The Lenape Valley Soccer Club<br />
is looking for volunteers to fill various<br />
positions including head and<br />
assistant coaches. For more information,<br />
call (973) 691-7070 or visit<br />
www.lenapesoccer.org.<br />
<br />
The Wallkill Valley travel club is<br />
looking for players from Sussex<br />
County for the upcoming fall season.<br />
Girls in seventh- or eighthgrade<br />
should contact John<br />
Fresella at (973) 209-4833 or Greg<br />
Hoffman at (973) 209-2968.<br />
<br />
The High Point Soccer Club is<br />
starting a U9 girls travel team for<br />
the spring of 2007. Players must<br />
turn 10 after Aug. 1.<br />
For more information, call Joe<br />
Hayes at (973) 702-1220.<br />
<br />
Vernon Youth Soccer is holding<br />
registration at the Vernon PAL<br />
March 31 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 18<br />
6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., and April 25 6:30<br />
p.m. to 9 p.m.<br />
Coaches are needed. High<br />
schoolers are welcome to coach.<br />
Nike cleat sale during registration<br />
sizes 7 through 13. $25 for one<br />
pair, $35 for two pairs, and $50 for<br />
three pairs.<br />
Go to www.eteamz.com/vys for<br />
more info on registration and cleats.<br />
Softball<br />
<br />
The New Jersey Senior Softball<br />
Association is looking for players.<br />
There are up to 4 levels of competition,<br />
50-, 60-, 65- and 70-year-old age<br />
brackets. Leagues offer all-star<br />
games, a state championship tournament,<br />
and opportunities for playing<br />
in tournaments all season.<br />
Email pwhewett@msn.com or<br />
call (732) 925-7997. For more info<br />
visit our website, http://njssa.us.<br />
<br />
The North Jersey Angels fastpitch<br />
team is looking for 10 and<br />
under players for the upcoming<br />
tournament season. For tryout or<br />
general information, call Gary Tullo<br />
at (973) 980-3503 or email him at<br />
hr44gt@aol.com<br />
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COMMUNITY BOWLING SCORES<br />
We Three 86 103<br />
The Lucky Strikers 83 106<br />
Lucky Ones 80 109<br />
Wildthings 78 111<br />
2 Peas and a Pod 70 119<br />
Womens High Games: June<br />
Eisenecker 191, Kitty Sparta 175, Flo<br />
Elmo 162.<br />
Womens High Series: June Eisenecker<br />
514, Anna Kent 498, Flo Elmo 423, Norma<br />
Napoitano 420.<br />
Mens High Games: Sal Berta 241, Mike<br />
Radocne 184, Al Sibilla 163, Paul<br />
Santinelli 154.<br />
Mens High Series: Larry Dombal, Sr.<br />
645, Mike Radocne 473, Paul Santinelli<br />
414.<br />
Monday Morning<br />
March 26<br />
Good Time Girls 107 61<br />
Full of Suprises 101 67<br />
Bad Girls 100.5 67.5<br />
Fun Time 97 71<br />
Strikes R Us 86.5 81.5<br />
Ball Busters 85 83<br />
Chickens 84 84<br />
Alley Cats 78 90<br />
No Split Ends 77 91<br />
Pin Heads 74 94<br />
Penn Pals 69 99<br />
Nobodys Home 48 120<br />
High Games: Pattie Hoon 236, Trina<br />
Thompson 206, Theresa Morel 185.<br />
High Series: Pattie Hoon 594, Rosemry<br />
Lyon 525, Trina Thompson 515.<br />
Hits and Misses<br />
March 26<br />
3 C’s & a D. 120 69<br />
Where’s Jackie, Who’s Na 114 75<br />
Celebration 110 79<br />
Burke’s Liquors 106 83<br />
Z & His Munchkins 103 86<br />
Komline-Sanderson 102 87<br />
Awesome Foursome 100 89<br />
J R Carpentry 93 96<br />
Newton Hospital 93 96<br />
Two Plus Cordts 91 98<br />
Ladies Knights 89 100<br />
Four Bees 84 105<br />
Up and Coming 80 109<br />
Gatwyns II 80 109<br />
Salt n’ Pepper 79 110<br />
North Church Gravel II 68 121<br />
Womens High Games: Karen Dodd<br />
278, Marie Alcock 242, Debbie Armeno<br />
226, Krista Cutler 219.<br />
Womens High Series: Karen Dodd 779,<br />
Marie Alcock 635, Debbie Armeno 632,<br />
Krista Cutler 619.<br />
Mens High Games: Jimmy<br />
Zuckniewovich 279, Pete Madden 268,<br />
Rick Smith 255, Buddy Cutler 255.<br />
Mens High Series: Jimmy<br />
Zuckniewovich 772, Pete Madden 696,<br />
Rick Smith 691, Ray W Cordts 669.<br />
Sparta Lanes Classic<br />
March 26<br />
Stacool 158 82<br />
Vreeland Insurance 156 84<br />
Tm 11 151.5 88.5<br />
KCM Construction 145.5 94.5<br />
Partytime Tents 135 105<br />
Tm 16 133 107<br />
Tm 5 133 107<br />
Villa Capri 131.5 108.5<br />
Hundley CPAs 121 119<br />
Tm 17 119.5 120.5<br />
Eastern Propane 116.5 123.5<br />
Building and Remodeling 111.5 128.5<br />
Grinnell 110.5 129.5<br />
Ten in the Pit 100.5 139.5<br />
Murderers Row 96.5 143.5<br />
DX 92.5 147.5<br />
Tm 15 88 152<br />
Air Purifiers 60 180<br />
High Games: Joe Golden 300, Tink<br />
Washer 280, David Huff 279, Lou<br />
Beneduce 279.<br />
High Series: David Huff 752, Lou<br />
Beneduce 751, Pete Madden 750.<br />
Sussex County Church League<br />
March 26<br />
The Pizza Place 115 67<br />
Jimenez Landscaping 110 72<br />
Partytime Tents 107 75<br />
Jokers Wild 104 78<br />
Toll Brothers 102 80<br />
Village Saloon 94 88<br />
Hampton Auto 93 89<br />
First Hope Bank 84 98<br />
Hampton Deli 83 99<br />
Chokers 82.5 100<br />
Boat Doc 80.5 101.5<br />
Colby Boys 76 106<br />
Bras Balls 75 107<br />
County Welding Supply 73 109<br />
Dick and Sons 70 112<br />
High Games: Chris Johnson 300, Gary<br />
Malone 279, Joe Kalinich 268.<br />
High Series: Gary Malone 794, Dave<br />
Greene 724, Chris Johnson 722.<br />
Sunday Nite Mixed<br />
March 25<br />
Mike and 3 nit wits 137 59<br />
R D F M B 131 65<br />
Fubar 121 75<br />
Eric Who 120 76<br />
We Be Here 111.5 84.5<br />
One Short 111 85<br />
Team 10 107 89<br />
Killer B's 106 90<br />
Harry and His Harem 105.5 90.5<br />
Round Two 105 91<br />
Fa Fuu 99 97<br />
Wbs 98 98<br />
Wheres Dave ? 98 98<br />
Team #19 97 99<br />
Team # 18 96 100<br />
F Troop 92.5 103.5<br />
Team # 6 83 113<br />
Left Overs 82 114<br />
Thunder and Lightning 80 116<br />
Gutternots 70 126<br />
Team # 17 67.5 128.5<br />
Casper 194<br />
Femal High Game: Diane Winfield 249,<br />
Dee Rielly 231, Kelly Force 222.<br />
Male High Games: Leroy Babcock 258,<br />
Doug Holston 243, Terry Storms 238.<br />
SCIL spring<br />
sports start<br />
Monday<br />
Be sure to visit<br />
www.njherald.com<br />
for up-to-the<br />
minute scores<br />
from all the<br />
SCIL’s<br />
baseball,<br />
softball and<br />
lacrosse<br />
games
Sunday, April 1, 2007 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD B—3<br />
SPORTS<br />
Girls<br />
Continued from Page B1<br />
She credits people like Randy Mills, Harry and Sherri<br />
Shortway for starting youth programs and remaining coaches<br />
even though their children no longer play.<br />
“The key to starting any program is support from the parents<br />
and then fundraising,” Quinn said.<br />
Once the money and support are in place, it’s not long until the<br />
numbers begin to multiply. Quinn said it begins as a novelty and<br />
quickly becomes a deep rooted passion for first time players.<br />
“It’s new to them, it’s exciting, it’s fast moving,” she said. “It’s<br />
different than soccer and field hockey but similar in enough<br />
respects.<br />
“Some girls come to us having not quite mastered sports like<br />
soccer or basketball and find that lacrosse is definitely their<br />
sport.”<br />
Pope John coach Wendy<br />
Morris agrees.<br />
“There’s a lot of action going<br />
on,” she said. “With 12 players<br />
on the field there’s a lot of kids<br />
involved at one time. Put a<br />
stick in a girl’s hand and she<br />
feels empowered.<br />
“It’s a very free moving<br />
game it’s not slowed down by<br />
the ground. It’s not as restricting<br />
with the ball almost constantly<br />
in the air.”<br />
But not everybody is as<br />
enthusiastic.<br />
It’s not a cheap sport. Sticks<br />
go from $40 to $200. Quinn and<br />
Morris said the majority of<br />
their teams spend over $100 on<br />
sticks, and the mandatory protective<br />
goggles go for between<br />
$50 to $70.<br />
A new lacrosse team means<br />
spring coaches competing for<br />
athletes and watering down of<br />
already successful programs.<br />
Softball coaches may not see<br />
their star pitcher trade her<br />
glove for a crosse, but it<br />
almost always cuts down the<br />
number of freshmen.<br />
Morris has seen both sides of the debate at Pope John. Aside<br />
from being the girls lacrosse coach, she’s the field hockey coach.<br />
She remembers in 1988 when soccer invaded the SCIL.<br />
“I definitely took a hit when soccer came in,” Morris said. “But<br />
we only felt it for two years and than our numbers popped right<br />
back up.”<br />
She points to Pope John’s ability to run three successful girls<br />
sports all in the same season.<br />
“We have about 61 girls,” Morris said. “Track has a ton of girls<br />
and the softball team is always successful.”<br />
Both coaches hope the SCIL expansion doesn’t stop with<br />
Lenape Valley. They’d both love to see a day where there would<br />
be a SCIL for girls lacrosse.<br />
“The energy is definitely tangible when we are playing a team<br />
from the SCIL,” Morris said. “They don’t know girls from the<br />
school’s from other counties, but when we play Vernon or Sparta<br />
or Jefferson we’re playing for bragging rights.”<br />
The logical next step would be in Wantage where High Point<br />
has seen some interest in starting a program.<br />
“I think High Point could have a team they have a lot of field<br />
space and the interest is there,” Morris said. “When Vernon had<br />
a team it made it easier for us to make one too the same thing<br />
might happen with Lenape Valley and High Point. When one new<br />
school adds a sport it puts some pressure on the rest of them.”<br />
Girls capsules<br />
Volleyball<br />
Continued from Page B1<br />
Vernon is the only other SCIL<br />
school with a boys volleyball<br />
team, so Pope John has to travel<br />
all over New Jersey for matches.<br />
So far the team’s scrimmages<br />
have included trips to Montclair,<br />
Jersey City and Kearney.<br />
Bohden admits Pope John<br />
expectations may be hard to fill<br />
especially so soon.<br />
“This season we’re just trying<br />
to grow the program, win some<br />
games,” Bohden said. “Our goal<br />
is to get the program going in<br />
the right direction.”<br />
Nerves were high for their<br />
first game against Montclair, but<br />
the past few scrimmages have<br />
gone well. But regardless of the<br />
standings at the end of the year,<br />
Bohden knows he made a great<br />
decision to coach. He’s teaching<br />
13 interested kids a new sport,<br />
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“There’s a lot of<br />
action going on.<br />
With 12 players on<br />
the field there’s a<br />
lot of kids involved<br />
at one time. Put a<br />
stick in a girl’s hand<br />
and she feels<br />
empowered. It’s a<br />
very free moving<br />
game it’s not slowed<br />
down by the ground.<br />
It’s not as restricting<br />
with the ball<br />
almost constantly in<br />
the air.”<br />
Pope John coach<br />
Wendy Morris<br />
on the allure of lacrosse<br />
Vernon<br />
Coach: Sherri Quinn (ninth year)<br />
League: North Jersey Patriots League (stripes)<br />
Who’s back: Silje Karlson Sr. (Mid), Stephanie Messina Sr.<br />
(Att), Briana Bischoff Sr. (Def), Amanda Matos Sr. (Att), Amy<br />
Buffalino Sr. (Mid) Casy Quinn (Mid)<br />
Who’s gone: Linda Bohn, Jess Hegner, Kristin Oyen, Shannon<br />
Gillen<br />
Who’s new: Julia Bohn So. (Att), Maggie Jernick Jr. (Att),<br />
Chelsea Hegner Jr. (Att), Adare Jordan Jr. (Def), Megan Decker Jr<br />
(Def), Alyssa Zmuda Jr. (GK)<br />
Pope John<br />
Coach: Wendy Morris (eighth year)<br />
Last year’s record: (6-10)<br />
League: North Jersey Patriots League (stripes)<br />
Who’s back: Jade Borromeo Sr. (GK), Lauren Cartier Sr. (Att),<br />
Grabrielle Luongo Sr. (att) Victoria Simpson Sr. (Def), Nattlie<br />
Sutherland Sr. (Def), Regan Albertson Jr. (Def), Astin Alburg Jr.<br />
(Mid), Mallory Bark Jr. (Att), Aubree Williams Jr. (Att), Erin Frick Jr.<br />
(Att).<br />
Who’s gone: Katy Frick, Sam Dowgin, Katherine Pompelio,<br />
Tatianna Altamirino, Maura Frischmann.<br />
Who’s new: Meredeth Harcelrode Sr. (Att), Alexa Dalzell Jr.<br />
(Att), Tiffanny Del Gatto Jr. (Def), Aimee DiBernard Jr. (Def),<br />
Christine George Jr. (Att). Kaitlin Hennighan Jr. (Def) Mary Kate<br />
McCormick Jr. (Def) Lauren Pizzulli Jr. (Att) Megan Lang So. (GK).<br />
Editor’s note: Numerous attempts to track down information<br />
from the Jefferson and Sparta coaches were unsuccessful. The<br />
Herald apologizes for this inconvenience.<br />
and enjoying himself too.<br />
“In the beginning, I didn’t<br />
know what to expect. But now I<br />
know it’s definitely worth it,” he<br />
said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”<br />
Pope John’s season begins<br />
Monday against Ridge in<br />
Basking Ridge. Its home opener<br />
is Wednesday against Millburn.<br />
Vernon’s capsule<br />
Coach: Jeff DeYoung (nine<br />
years)<br />
Last year’s record: 6-11<br />
Who’s back: Evan Intveld (Sr.,<br />
Opp) Kyle Walburn (Jr., Out H)<br />
James Gibson (Jr., Set) Mark<br />
Whitty (Sr., Def Sp) Thomas<br />
Burke (Jr., Mid Bl).<br />
Who’s gone: Jeremy Palmieri<br />
(Opp) Ken Murphy (Set) Travis<br />
Both (Def Sp) Bryan Mate (Lib)<br />
Scott Struck (Out H).<br />
Who’s new: Adam Aldrich (Sr.,<br />
Lib) Nick Bulwin (Jr., Out H)<br />
Myles Eustace (So., Mid Bl) Bill<br />
Lhotsky (Def Sp) Eugene Santos<br />
(Jr. Def Sp).<br />
Vernon<br />
Continued from Page B1<br />
He started by scheduling tougher games<br />
this year in hopes of building experience. In<br />
their first week, the Vikings — a Division-C<br />
squad — plays two Division-A teams —<br />
Kinnelon and Westfield — then at Division-B<br />
Montclair Kimberly Academy.<br />
“That’s Murderer’s Row right in the beginning,”<br />
Bocech said.<br />
There is also a purpose to this team, a<br />
greater reason to overcome youth and inexperience.<br />
The Vikings have already dedicated<br />
the season to Fisher, a two-sport athlete<br />
and National Honors Society member who<br />
got varsity time on defense last year. They<br />
will have a ceremony before Monday’s opener<br />
against Kinnelon and will wear Fisher’s<br />
No. 72 on their helmets all season.<br />
They also saved a spot for Fisher on the<br />
roster.<br />
“He was one of my players that was the<br />
most positive person,” Bocech said. “He<br />
never said a bad thing about anybody.<br />
“He was a great kid. I wish I had a whole<br />
team of him.”<br />
Boys capsules<br />
Jefferson<br />
Coach: Harry Shortway (sixth year)<br />
Last year’s record: 12-8<br />
Who’s back: Mike Agber (Sr., D), Adam<br />
Koontz (Jr., A), George Warburton (Jr., D),<br />
Devin Gormley (Sr., D), Ned Marini (Jr., G),<br />
Ryan Mullins (Jr., MF), Dean Combos (Jr., A),<br />
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UNITED WAY OF SUSSEX COUNTY SCHOLAR-ATHLETES<br />
And the winner is ...<br />
SCCC baseball and softball split<br />
By Herald Staff<br />
EWING — When the situation<br />
got dirty, Kevin Flexer was there<br />
to clean it up.<br />
The Sussex County<br />
Community College closer came<br />
in to shut the door with runners<br />
on first and second and one out<br />
Saturday afternoon.<br />
Flexer got the final two outs<br />
without giving up a hit to record<br />
his second save of the season in<br />
the Skylanders’ 2-1 win over<br />
Mercer County College.<br />
Mike Manges went 1-for-3 with<br />
double and a run scored.<br />
Christian Rivera was 1-for-2<br />
with a RBI on a sac-fly in the<br />
fourth inning. Rivera also threw<br />
two runners out from behind the<br />
plate.<br />
Earlier in the day, the<br />
Skylanders lost to Mercer, 2-0.<br />
Gil Tussey threw six innings,<br />
surrendering six hits while striking<br />
out six.<br />
Mark Hoyer was 2-for-3 with a<br />
double.<br />
The Skylanders next home<br />
game is Tuesday against<br />
Brookdale at Skylands Park.<br />
SCCC 2, Mercer County College 1<br />
(Seven Innings)<br />
SCCC (9-13) 010 100 0 — 2 5 2<br />
MCC 001 000 0 — 1 3 0<br />
WP: Skyler Meeker (2-1). LP: Johnson<br />
(1-2) S: Kevin Flexer (2)<br />
MCC 2, SCCC 0 (Seven Innings)<br />
SCCC (8-13) 000 000 0 — 0 5 0<br />
MCC 020 000 0 — 2 6 0<br />
WP: Blackman (3-1). LP: Gil Tussey (0-<br />
3)<br />
SCCC stars: Mark Hoyer 2-3 2B;<br />
Tussey six innings six hits 2 earned runs<br />
2 walks six k’s.<br />
From Friday<br />
COLLEGE BASEBALL, SOFTBALL: SCCC<br />
SCCC 13,<br />
Hartford Community College (MD) 9<br />
HCC 000 009 000 — 9 7 2<br />
SCCC (8-12) 224 104 00x — 13 14 3<br />
WP: Matt Sartel (1-1). LP: Phillips.<br />
SCCC stars: Doug Bookholt 3-5, 2R,<br />
3RBI; Kevin Flexer 2-5, 2R, RBI, 2SB;<br />
Mark Hoyer 2-4, 2RBI; James Seck 3-4,<br />
3R, RBI.<br />
Softball<br />
FREDON — Too many errors<br />
resulted in a Saturday split against<br />
Burlington County College for<br />
Sussex County Community<br />
College softball.<br />
The Skylanders made four<br />
errors in two games on Saturday<br />
bringing the total to eight in two<br />
days.<br />
But coach Nick DeGennaro said<br />
their biggest mistakes were made<br />
on the basepaths.<br />
“I think we did one of the worst<br />
jobs in the history of softball running<br />
the bases,” he said.<br />
Tabitha Thompson was 2-for-2<br />
with a RBI double.<br />
Becky Hawke did well in relief.<br />
“Becky did a great job today,”<br />
DeGennaro said. “She pitched her<br />
butt off in the first game and did a<br />
great job in relief in game two.<br />
“But defensively we let her<br />
down.”<br />
The Skylanders won game one<br />
Mark McConnell (Jr., MF), Sean Hutchison<br />
(So., D), Zack Miranda (So., D), Kevin Murphy<br />
(So., MF), Matt Mancuso (So., D).<br />
Who’s gone: None.<br />
Who’s new: Same starting lineup as last<br />
year.<br />
Outlook: Returning the entire starting lineup<br />
of team that finished 12-8, although<br />
defender Mike Agber is the only senior. Junior<br />
attackers Adam Koontz and Dean Combos<br />
are a great 1-2 punch up front. “We’re excited,”<br />
coach Harry Shortway said. “We’re a<br />
year older, a year bigger and we’re looking to<br />
improve. The nice thing about freshmen and<br />
sophomores is they grow up to be juniors<br />
and seniors.”<br />
Pope John<br />
Coach: Tom Manning (sixth year).<br />
Last year’s record: 12-7<br />
Who’s back: Matt Johannes (Sr., MF),<br />
Travis Barrett (Sr., MF), Vincent Berretta (Sr.,<br />
D), Mike Falduto (Jr., A), Leo Fitzsimmons (Jr.,<br />
MF), John Steyh (Jr., G).<br />
Who’s gone: Adam Monsalve (A), Dave<br />
DiLauri (MF), Tim Lombreglia (D), Kyle Nolan<br />
(D), Alan Iannacone (MF), Courtney Morris<br />
(MF), Terence Quinn (MF).<br />
Who’s new: Connor Phalon (Jr., MF), Alex<br />
Cirone (So., D), Lucci Calvaruso (So., A),<br />
Andrew Prosser (Jr., D).<br />
Outlook: Graduated the team’s top scorer<br />
(Dave DiLauri) and top assist man (Adam<br />
Monsalve), along with five other starters. But<br />
coach Tom Manning said the goal is to make<br />
the state playoffs again. “We’re very young<br />
and I think we’ll be able to hold our own in<br />
our division.<br />
Photo by Anna Murphey/New Jersey Herald<br />
Wallkill Valley’s Mike Johnson receives the 2007 United Way of Sussex County Scholar-Athlete Award presented by D.J.<br />
Romano of Ronetco Supermarkets, left. Johnson was awarded at $2,500 scholarship. For more information on Saturday’s<br />
banquet, including more photos from the event, see Monday’s sports section.<br />
in extra innings off the bat of<br />
Jordan DeGroat who’s slap single<br />
gave SCCC the 5-4 win.<br />
Burlington County College 8, Sussex 3<br />
Burlington 120 320 0 — 8 10 1<br />
Sussex (6-10) 200 001 x — 3 6 1<br />
WP: Amanda Pollis. LP: Allison Zaleski<br />
(2-6)<br />
SCCC Star: Tabitha Thompson 2-2 RBI<br />
double.<br />
SCCC 5, BCC 4 (8 innings)<br />
Bulington 001 011 10 — 4 8 0<br />
SCCC (6-9) 001 300 01 — 5 14 3<br />
WP: Becky Hawke (3-3). LP: Sarah<br />
Fagerstrom<br />
SCCC Stars: Jordan DeGroat 3-4 drove<br />
in the game winning run.<br />
From Friday<br />
Mercer 8, Sussex 5 (7 Innings)<br />
SCCC (5-8) 310 010 0 — 5 7 2<br />
Mercer (15-2) 201 302 0 — 8 6 2<br />
WP: Jackie Sasko (8-1). LP: Becky<br />
Hawke (2-3)<br />
SCCC Stars: Tabitha Thompson 2-4 two<br />
runs and an RBI.<br />
Mercer 11, Sussex 3 (7 Innings)<br />
SCCC (5-9) 101 010— 3 8 2<br />
Mercer (16-2) 230 033— 11 13 1<br />
WP: Robin Clausen (6-1). LP: Allison<br />
Zaleski (2-5)<br />
Sparta<br />
Coach: Pat Brennan (11th year)<br />
Last year’s record: 14-4<br />
Who’s back: Brett Becker (Sr., G), Derrick<br />
Freligh (Sr., D), Bill Takacs-Senske (Sr., D),<br />
Alex Jelly (Sr., D), Mike May (Sr., D), Ari<br />
Young (Sr., MF), Kevin Echemendia (Sr., A),<br />
Scott DiStefano (Sr., MF), Tyler Steinetz (Jr.,<br />
MF), Dylan Burns (Jr., MF).<br />
Who’s gone: Nic Heckman (MF), Ryan<br />
Matthes (MF), Vinny Fiorentino (MF).<br />
Who’s new: Anders Dahlberg (Jr., D), Jeff<br />
Bird (Sr., A), Ed Flanigan (Jr., A), Dan Wilson<br />
(Jr., A), Charlie Binder (Jr., D).<br />
Outlook: Lost three stars in the midfield,<br />
including All-American Nic Heckman. Defense<br />
looks to be Sparta’s strength with Derrick<br />
Freligh in the back and Brett Becker in goal.<br />
“The younger guys need to step up,” coach<br />
Pat Brennan said.<br />
Vernon<br />
Coach: Mike Bocech (third year).<br />
Last year’s record: 14-4.<br />
Who’s back: Mike Deutch (Sr., MF).<br />
Who’s gone: Dan Colvin (MF), Greg<br />
Jensen (D), Rob Glander (MF), Anthony<br />
Selimo (MF).<br />
Who’s new: Brian Maggi (Jr., MF/A), Mark<br />
Glander (Jr., G), Brad Mills (So., A), Brian<br />
Jernick (So., D), Vic Docherty (Sr., D).<br />
Outlook: Mike Deutch is the only returner<br />
from last year’s team that shared the Pooley<br />
Division title with Caldwell. The team will miss<br />
midfielder Dan Colvin, who transferred to a<br />
private school in Connecticut, and graduated<br />
defender Greg Jensen, an All-State selection.<br />
Coach Mike Bocech is excited about sophomore<br />
defender Brian Jernick.<br />
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B—4 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD Sunday, April 1, 2007<br />
SPORTS<br />
Sheffield ready to star for Detroit<br />
MLB: DETROIT TIGERS<br />
By LARRY LAGE<br />
AP Sports Writer<br />
LAKELAND, Fla. — Gary<br />
Sheffield stood in front of his locker,<br />
quietly dressing before his first<br />
workout with the Detroit Tigers.<br />
Nearby, former Tiger great Lou<br />
Whitaker blurted out a request.<br />
“Put your jersey on,” Whitaker<br />
said. “I want to see it on you.”<br />
Sheffield obliged, slipping his<br />
arms through the sleeves of a<br />
crisp, white jersey with an old<br />
English “D” over his heart and<br />
No. 3 on his back.<br />
“For you, I’ll put it on,” he said<br />
with a grin.<br />
A month later, Sheffield fondly<br />
recalled the moment that few saw<br />
in the clubhouse.<br />
“Sweet Lou broke the ice that<br />
day,” Sheffield said in an interview<br />
with The Associated Press.<br />
“That will always stick with me,<br />
remembering how excited he was<br />
MLB: NEW YORK YANKEES<br />
Who’s the Boss?<br />
By RONALD BLUM<br />
AP Baseball Writer<br />
NEW YORK — George<br />
Steinbrenner’s grip on the New York<br />
Yankees is looser now. That’s easy to<br />
see, the moment you walk into his ballpark.<br />
Down in the dugout, Joe Torre<br />
remains as manager after six straight<br />
seasons without a World Series title.<br />
Gary Sheffield, a longtime favorite personally<br />
recruited by the owner in 2003,<br />
is gone, dealt to Detroit.<br />
And then there are the little things,<br />
the absence of that maniacal attention<br />
to detail.<br />
Early one morning at Legends Field,<br />
the team’s spring training home in<br />
Tampa, Fla., trash was overflowing a<br />
garbage can that usually had been<br />
cleaned each night. One afternoon after<br />
workouts, baseballs were scattered randomly<br />
across the floor of the indoor batting<br />
cage, the one where Steinbrenner<br />
had once scolded players for leaving<br />
bubble gum wrappers on the ground.<br />
There was the morning Daylight<br />
Savings Time began. The scoreboard<br />
clock remained unchanged, one hour<br />
behind almost until the time the gates<br />
opened. And at least twice this year, the<br />
advertising boards outside the ballpark<br />
had typos in their messages.<br />
“It’s different,” Jason Giambi said.<br />
“We kind of miss not seeing him<br />
around.”<br />
Steinbrenner’s ship isn’t as tight as<br />
it used to be. He used to supervise<br />
everything from traffic to ticket<br />
sales. Not anymore. Slowed by a<br />
bad knee, he doesn’t get around his<br />
own ballpark much these days.<br />
The Boss, his perfectly combed<br />
hair now mostly white, doesn’t<br />
even drive his own golf cart<br />
around the complex. Instead, he’s<br />
chauffeured by an underling.<br />
Famous for his fastidiousness<br />
and a Patton-like bluster that<br />
to see me put on my jersey.”<br />
Whitaker isn’t the only one<br />
fired up about Sheffield playing<br />
for the AL champion Tigers.<br />
Everyone from Hall of Famer<br />
Al Kaline to manager Jim<br />
Leyland to fans are looking forward<br />
to seeing the impact<br />
Sheffield will have on a team<br />
whose only weakness last season<br />
was the lack of a designated hitter.<br />
“His swing is vicious,” said<br />
Kaline, who helped Detroit win<br />
the 1968 World Series and is a<br />
special assistant to team president<br />
Dave Dombrowski. “It’s like<br />
he’s mad at the baseball and he<br />
swings like he’s trying to hurt it.”<br />
The nine-time All-Star has a<br />
career .297 batting average with<br />
455 homers and 1,501 RBIs.<br />
Unlike many players with impressive<br />
power numbers, Sheffield<br />
also is patient at the plate. He<br />
isn’t afraid to draw a walk as evidenced<br />
by his .398 on-base percentage.<br />
Sheffield received MVP votes<br />
each season from 2002-2005 —<br />
finishing second just three years<br />
ago in New York, and third in<br />
Atlanta four years ago.<br />
“Fans in Detroit are going to<br />
see one of baseball’s best hitters,<br />
who plays hard EVERY day,”<br />
Braves manager Bobby Cox said.<br />
Sheffield was available via<br />
trade in the offseason because he<br />
wanted a new contract and was<br />
averse to playing first base again.<br />
The New York Yankees, who<br />
had Sheffield in the lineup for just<br />
39 games last year because of<br />
wrist problems, were not willing<br />
to meet his demands and needed<br />
dominated the back and front pages of<br />
New York newspapers for three decades,<br />
his voice is seldom heard.<br />
Instead, it’s filtered through his<br />
spokesman.<br />
No longer an omnipresent leader, he’s<br />
a specter in his own empire, fading from<br />
public view like a weathered mural.<br />
“I’m going to make sure that’s all<br />
cleaned up,” Steinbrenner said through<br />
spokesman Howard Rubenstein when<br />
told about some cleanliness issues.<br />
“Don’t blame my knees, but I’ll make<br />
sure that’s taken care of.”<br />
Steinbrenner, who plans to attend<br />
Monday’s season opener at Yankee<br />
Stadium, answered a series of questions<br />
this week put to him through Rubenstein.<br />
“We should be good this year. It’s a<br />
strong team and if we can avoid injuries,<br />
stay healthy, I’m hopeful that we can<br />
bring in a championship,” Steinbrenner<br />
said. “In my opinion, we really have to<br />
perform well for the fans. We’re selling<br />
more tickets than ever before. We’re<br />
more popular than ever before, and we<br />
really have to win. We’ve got to stay<br />
sound. We’ve got to stay healthy. We have<br />
great trainers and the ability to help<br />
them stay healthy.”<br />
On the one day in spring training that<br />
he responded to<br />
reporters as he<br />
walked<br />
from<br />
an<br />
pitching.<br />
In a bold trade shortly after losing<br />
to St. Louis in the World<br />
Series, Detroit gave Sheffield a<br />
$28 million contract extension<br />
through 2009, promised him he<br />
wouldn’t play first base and sent<br />
right-handed prospects<br />
Humberto Sanchez, Kevin<br />
Whelan and Anthony Claggett to<br />
New York.<br />
The Tigers are <strong>paying</strong> Sheffield<br />
to hit, but he also has been a<br />
mentor.<br />
“During our winter caravan, he<br />
was telling me how he wants me<br />
to have a better approach at the<br />
plate so that I can get on base<br />
more,” said center fielder Curtis<br />
Granderson, coming off his first<br />
full season in the majors. “I was<br />
so impressed that he knew the<br />
area I needed to improve the<br />
most and that he cared enough to<br />
pull me aside to talk about it.”<br />
Unseen Boss: Steinbrenner’s grip on pinstripes loosens<br />
elevator to the clubhouse wearing a<br />
windbreaker that seems to be permanently<br />
attached, his answers were<br />
clipped. No state-of-the-Yankees pronouncements.<br />
No ridicule for players<br />
who failed, no praise for pinstriped success.<br />
At 76, he’s Boss Lite, no longer a<br />
storm, not even a squall.<br />
Brian Cashman, the general manager,<br />
appears to have near total autonomy on<br />
baseball decisions. Team president<br />
Randy Levine and chief operating officer<br />
Lonn Trost take care of the business end.<br />
“He’s letting the guys do their own<br />
thing now,” said Mickey Rivers, a<br />
Yankees star of the 1970s who is now a<br />
spring training instructor. “He has a lot<br />
of people that really know what they’re<br />
doing. It gives a lot of people the opportunity<br />
and the chance to go out there and<br />
do the little things right for everybody<br />
and be successful.”<br />
Sheffield views the situation differently.<br />
Just before he was traded in November,<br />
Sheffield wanted to speak with<br />
Steinbrenner.<br />
“If it wasn’t for his health, I’d have<br />
made that conversation happen, but my<br />
situation ain’t worth that to me,”<br />
Sheffield said.<br />
Unable to reach him by telephone,<br />
Sheffield went to Steinbrenner’s favorite<br />
pancake restaurant near Legends Field.<br />
“I didn’t wait for him there, but I did go<br />
to eat there that day because I know<br />
that’s one of his spots, and I was hoping<br />
to run into him,” Sheffield said.<br />
Two years ago, Steinbrenner made it a<br />
point to welcome Randy Johnson on his<br />
first day with the Yankees. Even last<br />
year, Steinbrenner was railing to<br />
reporters against the World Baseball<br />
Classic.<br />
But this spring, after he fainted for the<br />
second time in three years, he hasn’t<br />
been visible in the clubhouse since<br />
Torre’s opening-day staff meeting in<br />
February. He looked pale that day and<br />
his longest reply to reporters was five<br />
words.<br />
AP Photo<br />
MLB: AMERICAN LEAGUE PREVIEW<br />
All eyes on Dice-K,<br />
and the AL Central<br />
By MIKE FITZPATRICK<br />
AP Baseball Writer<br />
Everyone is curious about<br />
Daisuke Matsuzaka, which<br />
makes perfect sense.<br />
He throws something like<br />
seven or eight pitches for<br />
strikes, and the Boston Red Sox<br />
coughed up $103 million to<br />
import him from Japan before<br />
he even set foot on a major<br />
league mound.<br />
Spiced up that ol’ Yankees-<br />
Red Sox rivalry in a hurry.<br />
But while so many eyes are<br />
fixed on baseball’s most mysterious<br />
rookie this season, the<br />
toughest tug-of-war around lies<br />
smack in the middle of<br />
America’s heartland — the AL<br />
Central.<br />
No fewer than four teams in<br />
that dog-eat-dog division are<br />
good enough to expect a playoff<br />
berth. Of course, there’s room<br />
for only two — at most.<br />
The Minnesota Twins boast<br />
two-time Cy Young Award winner<br />
Johan Santana, league MVP<br />
Justin Morneau and batting<br />
champ Joe Mauer. By the way,<br />
they’ve won four of the past five<br />
Central titles.<br />
Jim Leyland’s Detroit Tigers<br />
return almost their entire team<br />
intact — minus injured Kenny<br />
Rogers — after a surprising run<br />
to the World Series last year.<br />
Plus, they added slugger Gary<br />
Sheffield in a trade with the<br />
New York Yankees.<br />
The Chicago White Sox won<br />
90 games last season and still<br />
missed the playoffs. But<br />
remember, they’re not far<br />
removed from their 2005 World<br />
Series championship.<br />
And the Cleveland Indians<br />
appear ready to reach the postseason,<br />
with young stars such<br />
as Grady Sizemore backing an<br />
underrated rotation. They plan<br />
to rebound from a disappointing<br />
drop-off last year.<br />
“We’ve got challenges ahead<br />
of us, but so does every other<br />
team in our division,” Indians<br />
general manager Mark Shapiro<br />
said. “Our goal is to get into the<br />
playoffs starting now and every<br />
year, and we feel we have a<br />
legitimate reason to believe we<br />
can.”<br />
Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera<br />
and the Yankees always expect<br />
a spot in the postseason.<br />
They’ve won nine consecutive<br />
AL East titles, but are without a<br />
World Series ring since 2000.<br />
Now they’re without longtime<br />
stalwart Bernie Williams, too.<br />
Looking to end the “drought,”<br />
New York brought back lefty<br />
Andy Pettitte and added a<br />
Japanese pitcher of its own, Kei<br />
Igawa. Alex Rodriguez is under<br />
immense pressure — again —<br />
as the Yankees try to hold off<br />
Boston in the AL East — again.<br />
The Red Sox went on a<br />
spending spree in the offseason,<br />
signing J.D. Drew to protect<br />
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez<br />
in the middle of a dangerous<br />
lineup.<br />
Jonathan Papelbon filled a<br />
huge hole when he switched<br />
from starter back to closer late<br />
in spring training, and<br />
Matsuzaka joins a rotation that<br />
also includes Curt Schilling and<br />
Josh Beckett.<br />
“I think he’s a perfectionist,<br />
like a lot of good players, a lot of<br />
good pitchers,” Boston manager<br />
Terry Francona said. “He wants<br />
to make every single pitch.”<br />
Sounds like Roger Clemens,<br />
who could alter the AL East<br />
race this summer by choosing<br />
to pitch for either Boston or<br />
New York, two of his former<br />
clubs. Of course, he could also<br />
just stay retired this time.<br />
The race out West is expected<br />
to be between defending champion<br />
Oakland and Los Angeles<br />
again, though the Athletics lost<br />
ace Barry Zito when he jumped<br />
across the bay to San<br />
Francisco. Big slugger Frank<br />
Thomas also bolted, for Toronto.<br />
The Angels have injury concerns<br />
— pitchers Bartolo Colon<br />
and Jered Weaver will miss the<br />
start of the season. So maybe<br />
38-year-old comeback kid<br />
Sammy Sosa and the Texas<br />
Rangers can sneak up on a few<br />
people under rookie manager<br />
Ron Washington.<br />
“When you were out for a<br />
year like I was, sometimes they<br />
think you are finished — and<br />
I’m not,” Sosa said. “I feel hungry<br />
again.”<br />
A look at the AL East in predicted<br />
order of finish:<br />
New York Yankees<br />
Mike Mussina headlines an<br />
aching rotation, which already<br />
lost No. 1 starter Chien-Ming<br />
Wang to a hamstring injury.<br />
Last year’s Cy Young Award<br />
runner-up is out until at least<br />
late April. Pettitte’s back acted<br />
up in spring training, too, so<br />
opening-day starter Carl<br />
Pavano — that’s right, openingday<br />
starter — needs to stay<br />
healthy and prove his resolve.<br />
Randy Johnson is gone, but<br />
there are some promising<br />
young arms on the way. And<br />
even if the pitching falters, the<br />
relentless lineup has more than<br />
enough firepower to carry this<br />
team to another division title.<br />
Boston Red Sox<br />
The additions of Matsuzaka,<br />
Drew and shortstop Julio Lugo<br />
might have helped the Red Sox<br />
close the gap on New York —<br />
but not enough. Look for them<br />
to stay in contention longer<br />
than last season, when a fivegame<br />
sweep by the Yankees at<br />
Fenway Park in August sent<br />
Boston spiraling to a third-place<br />
finish. This time, the Red Sox<br />
win the wild card. But they’ll<br />
need bounce-back seasons from<br />
Beckett, Jason Varitek and Coco<br />
Crisp.<br />
Toronto Blue Jays<br />
The Blue Jays have big stars<br />
in Thomas, ace Roy Halladay<br />
and center fielder Vernon Wells.<br />
The powerful lineup will make it<br />
tough on opposing pitchers, but<br />
this team is relying too heavily<br />
on injury-prone starters<br />
throughout the rotation. Lefty<br />
closer B.J. Ryan is one of the<br />
game’s best.<br />
Baltimore Orioles<br />
Erik Bedard has developed<br />
into a front-line starter. Now the<br />
Orioles are just waiting for two<br />
other talented young arms —<br />
Daniel Cabrera and Adam<br />
Loewen — to follow suit under<br />
pitching guru Leo Mazzone.<br />
Kris Benson’s injury hurts the<br />
rotation. Baltimore upgraded its<br />
bullpen in the offseason, which<br />
should help, but this club can’t<br />
really expect to compete with<br />
New York and Boston.<br />
Tampa Bay Devil Rays<br />
Plenty of promising kids to<br />
watch: right fielder Delmon<br />
Young, shortstop Ben Zobrist,<br />
catcher Dioner Navarro. Carl<br />
Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and<br />
Jorge Cantu have already<br />
established themselves in the<br />
big leagues, so there is hope for<br />
the future. Third baseman<br />
Akinori Iwamura comes over<br />
from Japan, and lefty Scott<br />
Kazmir was an All-Star last<br />
year. He must stay healthy.<br />
Behind him, though, the pitching<br />
staff is a mess.<br />
Everybody else<br />
Central Division<br />
Detroit Tigers<br />
Cleveland Indians<br />
Minnesota Twins<br />
Chicago White Sox<br />
Kansas City Royals<br />
West Division<br />
Los Angeles Angels<br />
Texas Rangers<br />
Oakland Athletics<br />
Seattle Mariners<br />
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Sunday, April 1, 2007 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD B—5<br />
SPORTS<br />
Everyone is chasing milestones — and the N.Y. Mets<br />
By MIKE FITZPATRICK<br />
AP Baseball Writer<br />
Barry Bonds is approaching 755<br />
homers, Craig Biggio is closing in on<br />
3,000 hits and Tom Glavine is nearing<br />
300 wins.<br />
While some of baseball’s oldest stars<br />
are set to pursue milestones this season,<br />
MVP Ryan Howard and the<br />
Philadelphia Phillies are gearing up to<br />
chase down the New York Mets in the<br />
NL East.<br />
“We’re the team to beat. I can’t put it<br />
any other way,” Phillies shortstop<br />
Jimmy Rollins said. “Look at our team<br />
and what we’re bringing. Look at the<br />
improvements we’ve made.”<br />
Those improvements include adding<br />
Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton to a<br />
deep rotation. That’s why right-hander<br />
Brett Myers figures Philadelphia has<br />
more starting pitching than the Mets,<br />
who will be without ace Pedro Martinez<br />
until at least midseason following shoulder<br />
surgery.<br />
“It’s competitive talk. We think we’re<br />
good. They think they’re better. It’s fun,”<br />
Myers said.<br />
The Mets still have Glavine, who<br />
enters the season with 290 victories. But<br />
after coming within one win of the World<br />
Series last year, they weren’t so amused<br />
by all the one-sided analysis coming out<br />
of Philadelphia’s clubhouse.<br />
“The Phillies, they can come out and<br />
talk as much as they want,” All-Star<br />
third baseman David Wright said in<br />
spring training. “Until they prove it on<br />
the field, then it’s just talk. As far as<br />
throwing out predictions and talking<br />
about it, talk is very, very cheap.”<br />
Nobody knows that better than<br />
Bonds, who re-signed with San<br />
Francisco in the offseason after plenty<br />
of haggling over his $15.8 million, oneyear<br />
contract. Now, he needs 22 home<br />
runs to break Hank Aaron’s career<br />
record of 755.<br />
“I’ll drag it. I’ll let you guys wait,” he<br />
joked. “You know how I do it, the anticipation,<br />
the hype, the talk. I’ll let you<br />
guys talk about it.”<br />
The 42-year-old slugger is also 159<br />
hits from 3,000 and 70 RBIs shy of 2,000.<br />
But what he wants most, he maintains,<br />
is his first World Series ring.<br />
First, he and the Giants, with $126<br />
million man Barry Zito pacing the pitching<br />
staff, might have to get past their<br />
oldest rivals in the NL West — the Los<br />
Angeles Dodgers, who added former<br />
San Francisco ace Jason Schmidt to the<br />
rotation, and brought back No. 3 hitter<br />
MLB: NL PREVIEW<br />
Nomar Garciaparra. But Greg Maddux<br />
jumped from the Dodgers to the San<br />
Diego Padres, who have won consecutive<br />
division titles.<br />
The 41-year-old Biggio begins his 20th<br />
season with Houston needing only 70<br />
hits to become the 27th player to reach<br />
3,000. That achievement probably<br />
means a ticket to Cooperstown.<br />
“It’s not even the numbers any<br />
more,” Biggio said. “It’s the clientele<br />
you’re having your name associated<br />
with in certain categories. That is overwhelming.”<br />
A look at the NL in predicted order of<br />
finish:<br />
New York Mets<br />
After a painful loss to St. Louis in<br />
Game 7 of the NLCS last year, the Mets<br />
will try to take another step forward.<br />
But getting all the way back is difficult<br />
to do. The biggest concern is an unsettled<br />
rotation. New York is counting on<br />
John Maine, Oliver Perez and rookie<br />
Mike Pelfrey to provide consistent<br />
starts. Glavine and Orlando Hernandez<br />
are both 41. Still, the balanced lineup is<br />
one of the league’s best and the reliable<br />
bullpen could be the difference in edging<br />
Philadelphia.<br />
Philadelphia Phillies<br />
The Phillies also boast a formidable<br />
lineup with Howard, Rollins and All-Star<br />
second baseman Chase Utley. They have<br />
scrappy winners, too: Aaron Rowand and<br />
Shane Victorino. The bullpen, which features<br />
aging closer Tom Gordon, might be<br />
the weak spot. But after barely falling<br />
short the past two seasons, the Phillies<br />
finally win the wild card and return to<br />
the playoffs for the first time since 1993.<br />
Atlanta Braves<br />
The Braves won an unprecedented 14<br />
straight division titles before going 79-83<br />
last season. They upgraded a shaky<br />
bullpen by acquiring Rafael Soriano and<br />
Mike Gonzalez, but traded power-hitting<br />
first baseman Adam LaRoche to get<br />
Gonzalez. John Smoltz highlights the<br />
rotation, and Tim Hudson hopes to rediscover<br />
the form that made him such a big<br />
winner with Oakland. Mike Hampton is<br />
injured again. Chipper Jones’ health<br />
could be the key to the offense, which finished<br />
second in the NL in runs last year.<br />
Andruw Jones enters the final season of<br />
his contract.<br />
Florida Marlins<br />
Joe Girardi was fired after one year in<br />
Florida, then selected NL Manager of<br />
the Year. He was replaced by Fredi<br />
Gonzalez, who inherits an extremely<br />
young team that showed great promise<br />
last season. Hanley Ramirez was the<br />
Rookie of the Year. Dontrelle Willis leads<br />
the pitching staff, and Miguel Cabrera is<br />
one of the best hitters in the league. Josh<br />
Johnson (12-7, 3.10 ERA) is expected to<br />
miss at least the first two months with an<br />
ailing elbow. The bullpen is unproven,<br />
even with the late addition of closer<br />
Jorge Julio.<br />
Washington Nationals<br />
Playing in a tough division, this team<br />
could easily lose more than 100 games.<br />
The rotation is a complete mess behind<br />
No. 1 starter John Patterson, who is<br />
coming off an arm injury. Several youngsters<br />
and castoffs will get a chance to<br />
prove themselves — for better or worse.<br />
Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is a<br />
budding star, but he might not get much<br />
to hit — especially while Nick Johnson is<br />
still recovering from a broken leg. Led by<br />
closer Chad Cordero, the bullpen isn’t<br />
bad. Rookie manager Manny Acta<br />
replaces Frank Robinson.<br />
MLB: NEW YORK METS & PHILADELPHIA<br />
Rivalry picking up steam<br />
By ROB MAADDI<br />
AP Sports Writer<br />
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The National League could have its<br />
version of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.<br />
Ever since Jimmy Rollins proclaimed in January the Phillies<br />
were the team to beat in the NL East, the vitriol between<br />
Philadelphia and the New York Mets has grown more intense.<br />
The three-time All-Star shortstop never meant any disrespect<br />
with his comments but he isn’t backing off now.<br />
“It was the truth. It’s the way I felt,” Rollins told<br />
The Associated Press on Wednesday. “People<br />
don’t expect you to express yourself. They<br />
think you sound cocky. It depends on how<br />
you say it. If you say it straightforward, you<br />
say it straightforward. People can take your<br />
words and try to twist them in any form they<br />
want.”<br />
One locker away, reigning NL MVP Ryan<br />
Howard chimed in on Rollins’ prediction.<br />
“It was shocking because other people<br />
weren’t expecting him to say it,” Howard<br />
said. “He’s basically saying what everyone<br />
feels. Everybody in this locker room feels we<br />
have a great team this year. We got a chance<br />
to do a lot of good stuff. Jimmy was the one<br />
who came out and said it. When he said it, it<br />
opened up a lot of people’s eyes.”<br />
The Mets won the division last year, and<br />
the Atlanta Braves finished first the previous<br />
11 seasons. The Phillies? They haven’t been<br />
to the playoffs since 1993.<br />
Still, expectations are high in Philadelphia<br />
after the Phillies fell short of a wild-card spot in<br />
the final weekend the last two years. General manager<br />
Pat Gillick added Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton<br />
to a deep rotation, and Howard, Rollins and All-Star<br />
second baseman Chase Utley anchor a potent offense.<br />
Anything less than a trip to the playoffs would be considered<br />
a failure.<br />
“If you can’t walk around with swag, don’t walk around,”<br />
Rollins said. “I’m not here to play second-fiddle or bow down<br />
to anybody and neither are the Mets.”<br />
The outspoken Rollins first made his bold statement at an<br />
offseason media luncheon. He reiterated<br />
it when he arrived at spring training<br />
last month.<br />
That’s when the tabloids ran with<br />
it.<br />
The back page of the New York<br />
Daily News on Feb. 22 read: “Silly<br />
Phillie.” Inside, Mets All-Star third<br />
baseman David Wright and others<br />
responded.<br />
“The Phillies, they can<br />
come out and talk as much<br />
as they want,” Wright said.<br />
“Until they prove it on the<br />
field, then it’s just talk. As<br />
far as throwing out predictions<br />
and talking about it,<br />
talk is very, very cheap.”<br />
Rollins said the reaction to<br />
his comment was “mind-blowing.”<br />
He wasn’t trying to insult<br />
the Mets or the other teams in<br />
the division.<br />
“I like them,” he said. “It has nothing<br />
to do with them personally. I like those<br />
dudes over there. It’s good for baseball.”<br />
Just wait until the Phillies<br />
visit Shea Stadium for the<br />
Mets’ home opener on April<br />
9. The teams play each<br />
other five times in the<br />
first 14 games.<br />
“I like it because<br />
everybody is getting<br />
stirred up and it’s<br />
building this new<br />
rivalry,” Howard<br />
said. “Everybody<br />
wants to be in<br />
that one rivalry,<br />
that knock-emdown-drag-itout<br />
rivalry.”<br />
New York’s<br />
Carlos Beltran<br />
Philadelphia’s<br />
Ryan Howard<br />
Mets<br />
Continued from Page B1<br />
While the Mets won 97<br />
games during the regular season,<br />
matching the Yankees for<br />
the major league high, the<br />
Cardinals were 83-78, the second-worst<br />
record of any World<br />
Series team, trailing only the<br />
82-79 mark of the 1973 Mets.<br />
“I think it’s good for us to be<br />
there when those guys get their<br />
rings, when those guys raise<br />
the banner, because they outplayed<br />
us for seven games,”<br />
Mets third baseman David<br />
Wright said. “Also, I think it<br />
pushes us and motivates us<br />
because we know how close we<br />
came last year.”<br />
After more than six weeks of<br />
spring training, both teams<br />
were ready to get out of<br />
Florida.<br />
“After a while, you get to the<br />
point that you’re just ready to<br />
go,” said Cardinals ace Chris<br />
Carpenter, who will oppose<br />
Tom Glavine in the opener.<br />
“You want it to start counting.<br />
It’ll be a long season, and I’m<br />
looking forward to going out<br />
and competing every day, and<br />
hopefully we can get back to<br />
October baseball.”<br />
Both teams begin the year at<br />
less than full strength. Mets<br />
ace Pedro Martinez and the<br />
Cardinals’ Mark Mulder are<br />
both coming off shoulder surgery<br />
and will miss the first half<br />
of the season. The Mets also<br />
are without setup man Duaner<br />
Sanchez, who has a broken<br />
bone in his right shoulder and<br />
is not expected back until<br />
August, and Guillermo Mota,<br />
suspended for 50 games following<br />
a positive steroids test.<br />
Edmonds, who got a late<br />
start to spring training following<br />
operations on his right<br />
shoulder and left toe, expects<br />
to play in the opening series.<br />
Fellow outfielder Juan<br />
Encarnacion needs more time,<br />
though, to build strength in his<br />
surgically repaired left wrist,<br />
“It’s a long, long season. People like to get<br />
caught up in the first couple of games, but<br />
in reality there’s 162 games, and it’s the<br />
teams that can endure that are going to be<br />
on top.”<br />
Mets outfielder Shawn Green<br />
an injury that landed him on<br />
the bench for the last three<br />
games of the World Series.<br />
“I’m all right,” Edmonds<br />
said. “I’m doing well enough to<br />
play, and that’s what I was<br />
looking to accomplish in spring<br />
training.”<br />
Carpenter has established<br />
himself as one of the major<br />
leagues’ best pitchers, finishing<br />
second in NL Cy Young Award<br />
balloting last year after winning<br />
in 2005. The 15-game winner<br />
spent much of spring training<br />
refining a changeup to add<br />
to his repertoire.<br />
Glavine, a two-time Cy Young<br />
Award winner, also won 15<br />
games last year and needs 10<br />
wins to reach 300. He’s one of<br />
two 41-year-olds, along with<br />
Orlando Hernandez, in a suspect<br />
rotation that includes<br />
John Maine, Oliver Perez and<br />
rookie Mike Pelfrey.<br />
Just like the Cardinals’ rotation<br />
in some ways. Carpenter is<br />
the lone holdover from opening<br />
day last year, backed by a foursome<br />
of Kip Wells, Anthony<br />
Reyes, Wainwright and Braden<br />
Looper that combined for just<br />
18 major league wins.<br />
“It’s a long, long season,”<br />
Mets outfielder Shawn Green<br />
said. “People like to get caught<br />
up in the first couple of games,<br />
but in reality there’s 162<br />
games, and it’s the teams that<br />
can endure that are going to be<br />
on top.”<br />
SPRING CLEANING<br />
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(sale ends 4/1/07)<br />
Stop in to Enter to Win a<br />
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B—6 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD Sunday, April 1, 2007<br />
SPORTS<br />
Phil Mickelson always will be linked with Tiger<br />
AP Photo/David J. Phillip<br />
Phil Mickelson, left, last years Masters champion, puts the Green<br />
Jacket on Tiger Woods, right, after Woods won the 2005 Masters<br />
in a playoff at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., in<br />
this April 10, 2005 file photo.<br />
By NANCY ARMOUR<br />
AP National Writer<br />
There were no limits to the greatness Phil<br />
Mickelson was going to achieve when he<br />
turned pro back in the summer of 1992.<br />
Major championships, titles on the PGA<br />
Tour, the history book — they were all there<br />
for the taking. This was a guy who won a PGA<br />
Tour event while he was still an amateur juggling<br />
schoolbooks, not to mention three NCAA<br />
titles and a U.S. Amateur crown. With his<br />
focus now squarely on golf, how could he not<br />
make a run at Jack Nicklaus’ long list of<br />
accomplishments?<br />
“His future,” Nicklaus said back then, “can<br />
be anything he wants to make it.”<br />
Fifteen years later, Mickelson has accomplished<br />
plenty. With three majors and 27 other<br />
titles to his name, not to mention truckloads<br />
in earnings, it’s far better than most golfers<br />
could ever hope for.<br />
Problem is, a guy named Tiger Woods has<br />
accomplished much, much more.<br />
“We’ve got a guy here that probably would<br />
have been remembered as one of the greatest<br />
players in his time if it wasn’t that he was<br />
playing at the same time as Tiger,” Thomas<br />
Bjorn said of Mickelson. “Tiger just overshadows<br />
everybody.”<br />
And never is that shadow bigger than when<br />
it’s hanging over Lefty.<br />
Go back to that summer Mickelson turned<br />
pro. A few months earlier, the other kid from<br />
California played his first PGA Tour event. It<br />
would be another four years before Woods<br />
turned pro, but when he started piling up wins<br />
in record numbers, the search for somebody<br />
to rival him settled squarely on Mickelson.<br />
With a pure, sweet swing, exceptional creativity<br />
and folksy demeanor, he was supposed to be<br />
the Arnold Palmer to Woods’ Nicklaus.<br />
“The reality is, even if I play at the top of<br />
my game for the rest of my career and<br />
achieve my goals — let’s say, win 50 tournaments<br />
and 10 majors, pretty difficult to do,<br />
since I’d need 20 more wins, including seven<br />
more majors — I still won’t get to where Tiger<br />
is right now. So I won’t compare myself with<br />
him,” Mickelson said in the March issue of<br />
ESPN the Magazine.<br />
“It makes no sense,” he said. “I’m playing<br />
perhaps the greatest player ever while he’s in<br />
his prime.”<br />
Even this week, when Mickelson returns to<br />
Augusta National as the defending champion,<br />
it’s Woods bringing the buzz. His PGA Tour<br />
winning streak ended at seven back in<br />
February, but a win at the CA Championship<br />
makes him the heavy favorite.<br />
Lefty is stuck in the shadows. Again.<br />
When he strolled to victory at the Masters<br />
last year, it looked as if he might finally be<br />
that dominant force everyone had expected<br />
after all. That guy who had seemed almost<br />
reckless at times as he piled up an 0-for-42<br />
record in the majors was now a model of control<br />
and precision. Phil the Thrill now carried<br />
charts and analyzed every shot as if he was<br />
being graded.<br />
His win gave him his second green jacket,<br />
and his third title in nine majors. When he<br />
walked to the 18th tee at Winged Foot two<br />
months later, all he had to do was make par to<br />
join Woods as the only players in the last 50<br />
years to win three straight majors.<br />
Ah, but that 18th hole.<br />
After hitting only two fairways the entire<br />
round, he overcut his drive on the par-4, 450-<br />
yard hole and the ball clattered through trees<br />
before landing in trampled rough. He could<br />
have played it safe and punched out to the<br />
fairway.<br />
Instead, he went for the green. And hit yet<br />
another tree.<br />
When his third shot found a plugged lie in a<br />
bunker, it buried his U.S. Open title hopes<br />
right along with it. He finished with a double<br />
bogey, a collapse so spectacular it will be<br />
remembered right alongside those of Greg<br />
Norman and Jean Van de Velde.<br />
Many predicted Mickelson wouldn’t do<br />
much the rest of the year after such a spectacular<br />
flameout. They were right. He didn’t<br />
come close to winning again, and wasn’t a factor<br />
at the British Open or the PGA<br />
Championship. He was dismal at the Ryder<br />
Cup, going 0-4-1 as the U.S. team was routed<br />
at The K Club.<br />
“It was an ‘interesting’ year, I guess would<br />
probably be the best word to describe it,”<br />
Mickelson said. “It started out with such<br />
promise, winning the Masters ... playing some<br />
of my best golf ever, with a great opportunity<br />
to win the U.S. Open. With the falter there,<br />
with our performance in the Ryder Cup, not<br />
contending in the other majors, it certainly<br />
didn’t end the way I wanted it to.<br />
“It was a year that could have been or<br />
almost was, if you will.”<br />
As confounding as they might be,<br />
Mickelson’s failings are part of what makes<br />
him so popular. Fans everywhere adore him.<br />
Even tough New Yorkers, who’d razz their<br />
mothers without a second thought, have nothing<br />
but love for Lefty.<br />
To them, Mickelson is Everyman. While<br />
Woods sometimes seems beyond human the<br />
way he humbles courses and opponents alike,<br />
Mickelson has the same struggles as everybody<br />
else. Going for the green when you<br />
should play it safe? Three-putting on 17 at the<br />
2004 U.S. Open? Find a weekend duffer who<br />
hasn’t done that. And who hasn’t cringed as<br />
the numbers on the scale crept a little higher<br />
each year?<br />
“In golf, you deal with failure a huge majority<br />
of the time. Even the best player in the<br />
world deals with failure more than he deals<br />
with success,” Mickelson said. “That’s part of<br />
the game. That’s part of competing, is dealing<br />
with failure. Part of the challenge and part of<br />
what makes golf fun or what makes competing<br />
fun is trying to bounce back from disappointing<br />
performances.”<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 455<br />
(Pink Dogwood) A dogleg<br />
left that can be reached in<br />
two by the big hitters.<br />
Fairway bunker on the right<br />
comes into play, but it’s<br />
difficult to reach the slope,<br />
which shortens the hole.<br />
Green is guarded by two<br />
bunkers in front.<br />
(Tea Olive) A slight<br />
dogleg right that plays<br />
uphill and has a deep<br />
bunker requiring a<br />
327-yard carry off the<br />
tee. The tee has been<br />
moved back 20 yards,<br />
and trees were<br />
added on the<br />
left side.<br />
Par 5<br />
Yards 575<br />
Green jacket<br />
suits Tiger<br />
Purse: To be determined<br />
($7 million in 2006)<br />
Field: 97 players,<br />
(five amateurs)<br />
Length: 7,445 yards.<br />
Par: 36-36 – 72<br />
Defending champion:<br />
Phil Mickelson<br />
4<br />
2<br />
3<br />
7<br />
8<br />
17<br />
9<br />
1<br />
15<br />
W<br />
ith the field set for 97<br />
players, four-time Masters<br />
winner Tiger Woods will go for his<br />
third consecutive major when play<br />
starts at the Augusta National Golf<br />
Club. This is the 10th anniversary of<br />
his historic 1997 victory when, as a 21-<br />
year-old first-year professional, he won<br />
by the unlikely total of 12 strokes with<br />
a 270 total.<br />
18<br />
10<br />
Par 5<br />
Yards 530<br />
(Firethorn)<br />
Tee has been<br />
moved back about<br />
30 yards and to the left about<br />
20 yards. A cluster of pines are<br />
starting to mature on the right side of the<br />
fairway, making it critical to be straight off<br />
the tee. The green can be reached in two<br />
with a good drive, but a pond guards the<br />
front and there is a bunker to the right.<br />
Gene Sarazen made a double-eagle from<br />
the fairway in 1935, the shot that put the<br />
Masters on the map.<br />
Par 3<br />
Yards 170<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 350<br />
5<br />
6<br />
16<br />
13<br />
14<br />
11<br />
(Redbud) The<br />
hole is played<br />
entirely over water<br />
and eventually bends<br />
to the left. Two bunkers guard<br />
the right side, and the green slopes<br />
significantly from right to left.<br />
(Flowering Peach) One of the best par 4s<br />
in golf, a hole that hasn’t been changed in<br />
23 years. Big hitters can drive the green,<br />
but not many even try because of all the<br />
trouble surrounding the L-shaped green that<br />
slopes sharply from right to left. Most players<br />
hit iron off tee to stay short of four bunkers<br />
on the left side.<br />
(Flowering Crab Apple)<br />
Tees moved back 35 yards into the woods<br />
behind the third green, and tee slightly<br />
elevated. Should be a long iron for big<br />
hitters, fairway metal for others.<br />
Deep bunker protects right<br />
side of the green, with<br />
another bunker left.<br />
Par 3<br />
Yards 240<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 455<br />
Par 3<br />
Yards 180<br />
(Juniper)<br />
An elevated<br />
tee to a large<br />
green with three tiers,<br />
with significant slopes<br />
marking the three levels.<br />
Getting close to the hole is a challenge.<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 450<br />
(Pampas)<br />
This hole<br />
literally has come a<br />
long way, from 320<br />
yards to 450 yards. Tee was<br />
extended by 40 yards for last<br />
year’s tournament. Tee shot is<br />
through a chute of Georgia pines, played<br />
to the left-center of the fairway into a slight<br />
slope. Green is surrounded by five bunkers.<br />
Par 5<br />
Yards 570<br />
(Carolina Cherry)<br />
Tee shot should be<br />
aimed down the right<br />
side for a good angle<br />
into the green, which<br />
features two large bunkers<br />
to the left. Any approach that<br />
is short could spin some 25 yards<br />
back into the fairway.<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 495<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 460<br />
(Camellia) A long hole<br />
that can play shorter if<br />
drives catch the slope in the<br />
fairway. Difficult to save par<br />
from the bunker right of the<br />
green. The putting surface slopes<br />
from right to left. Has played as the most<br />
difficult hole in Masters history.<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 505<br />
12<br />
Par 3<br />
Yards 155<br />
(Golden Bell)<br />
Perhaps the most<br />
famous par 3 in golf, and<br />
the shortest hole at Augusta.<br />
Club selection can range from a 6-iron to a<br />
9-iron, but it’s difficult to gauge the wind.<br />
Rae’s Creek is in front of the shallow green,<br />
with two bunkers behind it and one in front.<br />
Par 5<br />
Yards 510<br />
(Azalea) An accurate<br />
tee shot to the center of<br />
the fairway sets up players<br />
to go for the green. A tributary<br />
to Rae’s Creek winds in front of<br />
the green, and four bunkers are<br />
behind the putting surface. From tee<br />
to green, there are about 1,600 azaleas.<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 440<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 440<br />
Drawings are schematic<br />
(Nandina) The tee has<br />
been extended 15 yards,<br />
making the Eisenhower<br />
Tree to the left of the<br />
fairway more prominent<br />
and 210 yards from the<br />
tee, requiring another<br />
accurate tee shot. The<br />
green is protected<br />
by two bunkers<br />
in the front.<br />
Par 4<br />
Yards 465<br />
(Holly)<br />
Now among<br />
the most demanding<br />
finishing holes in golf, this<br />
uphill dogleg right is protected off<br />
the tee by two deep bunkers at the<br />
left elbow. Trees get in the way of a<br />
drive that strays to the right. A middle<br />
iron is required to a green that has<br />
a bunker in front and to the right.<br />
(Magnolia)<br />
The hole was<br />
lengthened by 20 yards<br />
five years ago, and the<br />
fairway bunkers extended 80<br />
yards toward the green. Bunkers<br />
are so deep that players can only see<br />
the sky. Green slopes to the front.<br />
SOURCE: Augusta National Golf Course<br />
(Yellow<br />
Jasmine) An<br />
accurate drive is<br />
important to avoid the<br />
fairway bunker on the right<br />
side. The hole is uphill and<br />
features trouble left of the green.<br />
No bunkers around the green, just<br />
severe mounding.<br />
(White<br />
Dogwood)<br />
Tee has been<br />
lengthened by 15<br />
yards, and more pine<br />
trees were added to the three<br />
dozen on the right side, tightening<br />
the fairway. A big tee shot is required to get<br />
to the crest of the hill. The safe shot is to<br />
bail out short and to the right in a swale.<br />
(Chinese Fir) The only<br />
hole on the course without<br />
a bunker. Even if the drive<br />
avoids trees on both sides of<br />
the fairway, the green has<br />
severe contours that feed the<br />
ball to the right.<br />
Television coverage<br />
First- and second-round coverage<br />
(all times EDT)<br />
April 5-6, 4 to 7 p.m.,<br />
USA Network<br />
Third-round coverage<br />
April 7, 3:30 to 7 p.m.,<br />
CBS Sports<br />
Fourth-round coverage<br />
April 8, 2:30 to 7 p.m.,<br />
CBS Sports<br />
AP
Sunday, April 1, 2007 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD B—7<br />
SPORTS<br />
The Pros<br />
A seven-day planner for local sports<br />
Today 2 M 3 Tu 4 W 5 Th 6 F 7 Sa<br />
New York Knicks<br />
New Jersey Nets<br />
New York Rangers<br />
Toronto<br />
7 p.m.<br />
MSG<br />
At N.Y.<br />
Islanders<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
MSG<br />
Philadelphia<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
MSG<br />
Atlanta<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
YES<br />
Montreal<br />
7 p.m.<br />
MSG<br />
www.nba.com/knicks<br />
Minnesota<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
MSG<br />
At Chicago<br />
8:30 p.m<br />
YES<br />
At<br />
Milwaukee<br />
8:30 p.m.<br />
MSG<br />
www.nba.com/nets<br />
Washington<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
YES<br />
www.newyorkrangers.com<br />
At<br />
Pittsburgh<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
FSN NY<br />
Hamlin wins pole at Martinsville<br />
By HANK KURZ Jr.<br />
AP Sports Writer<br />
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin<br />
bounced back from a difficult 14th-place run<br />
at Bristol last week by winning the pole at<br />
Martinsville Speedway on Friday.<br />
Hamlin, who was left with a pounding<br />
headache and feeling sick by a combination<br />
of carbon monoxide and hot temperatures in<br />
the first Car of Tomorrow race last Sunday,<br />
put his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Impala<br />
on the point in the second straight COT<br />
race.<br />
Hamlin’s lap at 95.103 mph knocked Jeff<br />
NASCAR: GOODY’S COOL ORANGE<br />
500 (QUALIFYING)<br />
Gordon off the top spot early in the qualifying<br />
session on NASCAR’s smallest, tightest<br />
track, and Jamie McMurray later knocked<br />
him out off the front row with a lap at 94.955<br />
mph in a Ford Fusion.<br />
Gordon, the series points leader and a<br />
seven-time winner on the 0.526-mile oval,<br />
was seeking his seventh career pole here,<br />
but settled for the inside of the second row.<br />
One week after Gibbs put two drivers in<br />
the top 10 in qualifying, the owners’ three<br />
cars all qualified in the top seven with J.J.<br />
Yeley fifth and Tony Stewart seventh.<br />
Hamlin said it appears that two years of<br />
COT research is <strong>paying</strong> dividends.<br />
“We are one of the better teams right now,<br />
and that edge is going to slowly go away in<br />
time,” he said. “We’re just going to try to<br />
ride it as long as we can.”<br />
The pole is the fifth of Hamlin’s career<br />
and first this year.<br />
He said he learned last week while leading<br />
the race at Bristol that being out front in<br />
the new cars is a big help, which makes<br />
starting first especially important.<br />
New Jersey Devils<br />
Boston<br />
12:30 p.m.<br />
NBC<br />
Ottawa<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
FNY2<br />
At<br />
Philadelphia<br />
7 p.m.<br />
FSNY<br />
www.newjerseydevils.com<br />
New York Yankees<br />
Tampa Bay<br />
1:05 p.m.<br />
YES<br />
Tampa Bay<br />
1:05 p.m.<br />
YES<br />
Tampa Bay<br />
7:05 p.m.<br />
YES<br />
www.yankees.mlb.com<br />
Baltimore<br />
7:05 p.m.<br />
Ch. 11<br />
Baltimore<br />
1:05 p.m.<br />
YES<br />
New York Mets<br />
At St. Louis<br />
8:05 p.m.<br />
ESPN2<br />
At St. Louis<br />
8:10 p.m.<br />
SNY<br />
At St. Louis<br />
8:10 p.m.<br />
SNY<br />
At Atlanta<br />
7:35 p.m.<br />
SNY<br />
www.mets.mlb.com<br />
At Atlanta<br />
3:55 p.m.<br />
FOX<br />
Around the dial<br />
Today’s TV and radio listings<br />
Arena football<br />
TV<br />
1:30 p.m. AFL: Los Angeles at Chicago ESPN2<br />
Auto racing<br />
1:30 p.m. NASCAR: Nextel Cup, Goody’s Cool Orange 500 FOX<br />
2:30 p.m. IndyCar: Grand Prix of St. Petersburg ESPN<br />
4 p.m. NHRA: Spring Nationals, final eliminations (t) ESPN2<br />
Baseball<br />
8 p.m. MLB: N.Y. Mets at St. Louis ESPN2<br />
Basketball<br />
1 p.m. NBA: Miami at Detroit ABC<br />
3:30 p.m. NBA: Dallas at Phoenix ABC<br />
Bowling<br />
1 p.m. PBA: Tournament of Champions ESPN<br />
Cycling<br />
5 p.m. Criterium International, final stage (t) VERSUS<br />
Golf<br />
9 a.m. EuroPGA: Open de Portugal, final round TGC<br />
1 p.m. Champions Tour: The Ginn Championship, final round TGC<br />
3 p.m. PGA: Houston Open, final round NBC<br />
3 p.m. LPGA: Kraft Nabisco Championship, final round CBS<br />
6:30 p.m. Nationwide: Livermore Valley Win Country Championship TGC<br />
Hockey<br />
12:30 p.m. NHL: Detroit at Columbus NBC<br />
Motorsports<br />
3 p.m. FIM World Superbike, race 1 (t) SPEED<br />
4 p.m. FIM World Superbike, race 2 (t) SPEED<br />
Rodeo<br />
8 p.m. PBR: Ty Murray Invitational (t) VERSUS<br />
Tennis<br />
Noon ATP/WTA: Sony Ericcson Open, men’s championship CBS<br />
Women’s basketball<br />
7 p.m. College: NCAA Tournament, Rutgers vs. LSU ESPN<br />
9 p.m. College: NCAA Tournament, Tennessee vs. North Carolina ESPN<br />
Tight races coming<br />
down to the wire<br />
By IRA PODELL<br />
AP Sports Writer<br />
Heading into the second-to-last<br />
weekend of the regular season,<br />
the Presidents’ Trophy winner is<br />
still as uncertain as it was back in<br />
October.<br />
A mere seven points separated<br />
the top 11 teams in the NHL<br />
entering Friday’s games. Buffalo,<br />
Nashville and Detroit were tied<br />
with 105 points, yet the Eastern<br />
Conference-leading Sabres got<br />
there in 76 games — two fewer<br />
than the West-leading Predators<br />
and one less than Central<br />
Division-rival Detroit.<br />
Sure, Buffalo’s first but you<br />
have to drop down to sixth place<br />
to find another Eastern<br />
Conference club. The Pittsburgh<br />
Penguins occupied that spot with<br />
100 points, two ahead of conference<br />
brethren New Jersey and<br />
Ottawa, and Minnesota, Dallas<br />
and San Jose from the West.<br />
Anaheim, which holds the No. 2<br />
seed in the West as the Pacific<br />
Division leader, is one point off<br />
Nashville’s pace and three points<br />
ahead of Northwest-leading<br />
Vancouver.<br />
If this tight race holds up, it<br />
would be the closest finish for the<br />
top 11 teams in at least a decade.<br />
Since the 1996-97 season, the<br />
tightest grouping of the top 11<br />
teams was 12 points when Detroit<br />
(109) took the trophy and Dallas<br />
was 11th (97). The largest gap in<br />
that span was last season. Detroit<br />
earned 124 points, and San Jose<br />
had 99.<br />
It didn’t matter much in the<br />
playoffs as eighth-seeded<br />
Edmonton knocked out the Red<br />
Wings in the first round. The<br />
Sharks advanced to the second<br />
round before also being eliminated<br />
by the Oilers, who posted 95<br />
points in the regular season.<br />
Wing and a Prayer<br />
Now that the St. Louis Blues<br />
have stepped aside, the Detroit<br />
Red Wings have become the constant<br />
participant in the Stanley<br />
Cup playoffs.<br />
Hockeytown is back in the postseason<br />
for the 16th straight season,<br />
four more than the New York<br />
Yankees — the next closest pursuer<br />
in any of the four major<br />
North American sports. The New<br />
Jersey Devils also qualified this<br />
week, marking their 10th straight<br />
NHL playoff appearance.<br />
The Red Wings don’t just back<br />
in. They have earned 100 points in<br />
seven consecutive seasons, one<br />
NHL NOTEBOOK<br />
NHL STANDINGS<br />
EASTERN CONFERENCE<br />
Atlantic Division<br />
W L OT Pts GF GA<br />
x-New Jersey 46 24 8 100 206 194<br />
x-Pittsburgh 45 23 10 100 267 234<br />
N.Y. Rangers 39 29 9 87 223 204<br />
N.Y. Islanders 36 29 12 84 231 227<br />
Philadelphia 21 45 11 53 200 284<br />
Northeast Division<br />
W L OT Pts GF GA<br />
x-Buffalo 50 20 7 107 292 231<br />
x-Ottawa 46 24 8 100 274 212<br />
Montreal 40 32 6 86 233 244<br />
Toronto 37 29 11 85 240 246<br />
Boston 35 37 6 76 213 274<br />
Southeast Division<br />
W L OT Pts GF GA<br />
Atlanta 41 27 11 93 237 239<br />
Tampa Bay 42 32 4 88 241 247<br />
Carolina 38 32 8 84 229 239<br />
Florida 34 30 14 82 233 245<br />
Washington 26 38 14 66 229 277<br />
WESTERN CONFERENCE<br />
Central Division<br />
W L OT Pts GF GA<br />
x-Detroit 47 19 12 106 238 193<br />
x-Nashville 49 22 7 105 260 202<br />
St. Louis 32 33 12 76 201 238<br />
Columbus 32 39 7 71 195 237<br />
Chicago 28 40 9 65 189 243<br />
Northwest Division<br />
W L OT Pts GF GA<br />
x-Vancouver 47 23 7 101 210 187<br />
x-Minnesota 45 26 8 98 224 190<br />
Calgary 42 25 10 94 244 207<br />
Colorado 41 30 7 89 257 240<br />
Edmonton 31 40 7 69 191 238<br />
Pacific Division<br />
W L OT Pts GF GA<br />
x-Anaheim 46 20 12 104 248 198<br />
x-San Jose 48 26 4 100 242 188<br />
x-Dallas 47 24 6 100 214 186<br />
Los Angeles 26 38 14 66 218 268<br />
Phoenix 29 44 5 63 206 273<br />
Two points for a win, one point for<br />
overtime loss or shootout loss.<br />
x-clinched playoff spot<br />
Saturday’s games<br />
Atlanta 3, Boston 2<br />
Colorado 2, Minnesota 1<br />
Buffalo at Montreal (late)<br />
Ottawa at N.Y. Islanders (late)<br />
Pittsburgh at Toronto (late)<br />
N.Y. Rangers at Philadelphia (late)<br />
Washington at Tampa Bay (late)<br />
Anaheim at St. Louis (late)<br />
Dallas at Nashville (late)<br />
Calgary at Vancouver (late)<br />
Today’s games<br />
Detroit at Columbus, 12:30 p.m.<br />
Edmonton at Chicago, 3 p.m.<br />
Boston at New Jersey, 3:30 p.m.<br />
Carolina at Florida, 5 p.m.<br />
Los Angeles at San Jose, 6 p.m.<br />
Toronto at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.<br />
Monday’s game<br />
St. Louis at Dallas, 8 p.m.<br />
off the league record set by the<br />
Montreal Canadiens from the<br />
1974-75 season until 1981-82.<br />
Detroit does have the advantage<br />
in that Montreal didn’t have the<br />
benefit of extra points in overtime.<br />
St. Louis’ streak of 25 straight<br />
playoff appearances snapped last<br />
year when the Blues finished last<br />
in the 30-team NHL. The Blues<br />
are now on a different streak —<br />
two straight non-playoff seasons.<br />
AP Photo/Steve Helber<br />
Ken Schrader, left, talks with Juan Pablo Montoya after practice for the Goody's Cool Orange NEXTEL Cup race at the Martinsville<br />
Speedway,<br />
No<br />
in Martinsville, Va., Saturday.<br />
Easy Task<br />
Teams outside top 35 stress over making races<br />
By HANK KURZ Jr.<br />
AP Sports Writer<br />
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Wood<br />
Brothers Racing didn’t get any<br />
break from the tensions of qualifying<br />
for this weekend’s Nextel Cup<br />
race at Martinsville Speedway,<br />
even though the famous team’s<br />
shop used to be just a few miles<br />
from the track.<br />
Co-owner Len Wood and the<br />
rest of the team had to sweat out<br />
qualifying because of a rule that<br />
forces drivers not in the top 35 in<br />
owners points to race their way<br />
into the field. It can make for a<br />
harrowing experience for teams<br />
trying to move up from the bottom.<br />
“Nervous probably would be a<br />
good term,” Wood said Saturday.<br />
Wood Brothers Racing showed<br />
up Friday 40th in owners points<br />
with its Car of Tomorrow but it<br />
turns out it didn’t have to worry.<br />
With veteran Ken Schrader<br />
behind the wheel, the No. 21 Ford<br />
qualified fourth for today, one of<br />
eight teams to race its way into<br />
the field.<br />
During practice, “when<br />
Schrader popped up high on the<br />
(speed) charts, I had a better feeling<br />
and then, as everybody else<br />
started going out, we fell down to<br />
what would have qualified about<br />
40th or 41st,” Wood said. “He went<br />
back out for his next run and he<br />
popped it right back up. I felt better<br />
then, but I kept saying to<br />
Goody’s 500<br />
Martinsville, Va.<br />
Martinsville<br />
Speedway<br />
Last year:<br />
Tony Stewart banged<br />
on Jimmie Johnson’s<br />
bumper for four laps,<br />
then finally beat him<br />
out of the second turn<br />
on his way to a<br />
surprisingly<br />
anticlimactic victory<br />
at Martinsville<br />
Speedway.<br />
SOURCE: NASCAR<br />
myself, ‘You’ve got to do it when<br />
it’s time.’ He did a really good<br />
job.”<br />
Schrader said Martinsville is<br />
just like every other place is, and<br />
will continue to be, until they get<br />
in the top 35 and show up knowing<br />
they’ll be able to race.<br />
“It’s just pressure every week,”<br />
he said.<br />
Schrader’s qualifying laps put<br />
his Ford Fusion right outside Jeff<br />
Gordon’s Chevrolet Impala in the<br />
Goody’s 500, and left Wood<br />
encouraged about his COT program.<br />
“We’re better right now than we<br />
were with the other cars,” he said.<br />
NEXTEL CUP<br />
Completed: 1947<br />
Distance: .526 miles<br />
Track: Oval<br />
Banking: 12° turns;<br />
0° straights<br />
Frontstretch: 800 feet<br />
Backstretch: 800 feet<br />
Seating: 65,000<br />
Schedule: Friday,<br />
qualifying (Speed Channel,<br />
3:30 p.m.); Sunday, race<br />
(FOX, 1:30 p.m.)<br />
Pit row<br />
Grandstands<br />
Next race:<br />
Samsung 500, Texas Motor<br />
Speedway, April 15, Fort<br />
Worth, Texas<br />
AP<br />
A week ago at Bristol, in the<br />
debut of the COT, Schrader qualified<br />
15th and finished 28th, his<br />
best finish in the four races he’s<br />
run in the No. 21 this year.<br />
Schrader slipped back to 17th<br />
fastest in Saturday’s final practice,<br />
but the strong early showing<br />
boosted by the experience of a<br />
veteran racer allowed Wood to at<br />
least entertain the possibility that<br />
a 34-year team losing streak here<br />
will end today.<br />
“There are obviously a lot of<br />
factors like not getting torn up,<br />
getting in some else’s mess and<br />
not making your own mistakes,”<br />
he said, “but I wouldn’t rule it<br />
out.”<br />
The Woods, whose 96 victories<br />
in the premier series came mostly<br />
in the 1970s and 80s, have their<br />
team’s own struggles to blame for<br />
their spot in the standings.<br />
Drivers of the new Toyota<br />
Camrys are having to build programs<br />
from the ground up. That<br />
means they only get what they<br />
earn until they have shown they<br />
belong, and helps explain why<br />
rookie AJ Allmendinger was highfiving<br />
and hugging his team on pit<br />
road Friday after qualifying 40th,<br />
only the second race he’s made in<br />
six tries.<br />
“They made 14 changes to the<br />
car before qualifying and I just<br />
tried to turn a lap that I thought<br />
might be good enough to get in<br />
the show, and it worked,” he<br />
gushed.<br />
Jeremy Mayfield, who qualified<br />
for the first time in five tries this<br />
season last weekend at Bristol<br />
Motor Speedway, will start 14th in<br />
the race, also in a Toyota.<br />
The stress is difficult, he said,<br />
but also character building.<br />
“It makes you tough and those<br />
weeks that we had to go home<br />
just makes you stronger,” said<br />
Mayfield, who has qualified for the<br />
10-race playoff twice. “I think<br />
we’ve handled the pressure pretty<br />
well. We’re not getting down.<br />
That’s all we can do with it. We<br />
can’t let it get to us and can’t let<br />
our confidence get down.”<br />
Nemechek bouncing back after big change<br />
By MIKE HARRIS<br />
AP Auto Racing Writer<br />
Joe Nemechek took one for the team, and it<br />
wasn’t easy.<br />
Nemechek, who easily finished among the<br />
top 35 in car-owner points last year, moved<br />
aside this season to make room for new Ginn<br />
Racing teammate Mark Martin.<br />
That meant giving up the No. 1 Chevrolet<br />
and its points, which guaranteed a starting<br />
spot in each of this season’s first five races.<br />
Nemechek moved to the No. 13, got off to a<br />
good start and made the lineup for the first<br />
four events.<br />
He came up short last week at Bristol, snapping<br />
a qualifying streak of 175 races, dating<br />
back to April 2002.<br />
“I could hardly watch the race on television,<br />
and when I did, it hurt not to be there,”<br />
Nemechek said.<br />
The good news is, despite missing Bristol,<br />
he’s 26th in car-owner points entering this<br />
Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.<br />
“It’s going to be nice going to Martinsville<br />
without the heavy baggage of pressure that I<br />
felt since the beginning of the season,”<br />
Nemechek said before leaving for the Virginia<br />
NASCAR NOTEBOOK<br />
track. “Now, we can spend more time working<br />
on our race-trim setup when we get to the<br />
track.<br />
“The qualifying issue hanging over our head<br />
and the time it consumed in practice put us<br />
behind each week. We’re ready to unleash,<br />
and I truly feel that we’re going to surprise a<br />
bunch of people this season.”<br />
The whole Ginn team can relax and just<br />
race at Martinsville.<br />
Rookie Regan Smith, who’s sharing a ride<br />
with Martin, is set to start his second Cup<br />
race. The car’s ranked third after Martin led<br />
the points standings for the first four races.<br />
Sterling Marlin, in the No. 14 Chevy, also had<br />
to qualify for each of the first five races and is<br />
31st.<br />
Marlin is the only driver who had to qualify<br />
for each event this year to start in all five.<br />
“It just shows what a strong, smart group of<br />
people we have working under the hood of this<br />
car,” Marlin said, singling out crew chief<br />
Richard “Slugger” Labbe.<br />
“When you enter race weekend, the No. 1<br />
goal is to win on Sunday. That’s the only thing<br />
that’s natural to us,” Marlin said. “So, to come<br />
to the track each week and have to think about<br />
(qualifying) before you can start thinking<br />
about (the race), is frustrating.”<br />
Mentor Calling<br />
Regan Smith started 12th and finished 25th<br />
at Bristol in his Cup debut.<br />
Not too bad, but the 23-year-old was still a<br />
little down about an early pit-road mistake<br />
that might have cost the team a better result.<br />
A telephone call from Martin, whose string<br />
of 621 consecutive starts ended when Smith<br />
took over the ride at Bristol, was just the right<br />
medicine.<br />
“One thing about Mark, when he tells you<br />
something he doesn’t do any sugarcoating,”<br />
Smith said. “And when he said he was excited<br />
for me for finishing the race at Bristol and<br />
called it a big accomplishment, that really<br />
made me feel good.<br />
“I told him about the pit-road mistake, and<br />
he told me to shake it off and not to let it get<br />
me down. After that call I had a little extra<br />
bounce in my step.”<br />
Smith, who said he sometimes overanalyzes<br />
his performances, was generally pleased with<br />
his Cup debut.
B—8 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD Sunday, April 1, 2007<br />
SPORTS<br />
Rutgers center<br />
Kia Vaughn<br />
(15) helps<br />
teammate<br />
Rashidat<br />
Junaid up from<br />
the floor during<br />
practice,<br />
Saturday in<br />
Cleveland.<br />
They will face<br />
LSU Sunday in<br />
the NCAA<br />
Women’s Final<br />
Four.<br />
AP Photo/Amy Sancetta<br />
Rutgers no pushover in women’s Final Four<br />
By BRETT MARTEL<br />
AP Sports Writer<br />
CLEVELAND — Sylvia Fowles stirred<br />
up the crowd watching LSU’s practice<br />
when she dunked during a rebounding drill<br />
— then behaved as if she regretted turning<br />
heads.<br />
A Baton Rouge, La., TV news crew<br />
asked for an encore. No such luck.<br />
Fowles was done, already shifting the<br />
spotlight back to her team, which will meet<br />
Rutgers (26-8) in the national semifinals<br />
Sunday night.<br />
“If you watched Sylvia today, she was<br />
almost embarrassed to dunk,” LSU acting<br />
head coach Bob Starkey said. “Sylvia<br />
almost never does anything to bring attention<br />
to Sylvia and to take away from her<br />
team.”<br />
Instead, she’s focused on helping LSU<br />
(30-7) do something it has failed to do in<br />
three Final Four appearances the past<br />
three seasons — win.<br />
Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said<br />
she’s unsure what kind of defensive<br />
scheme would slow down LSU’s 6-foot-6<br />
junior center.<br />
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,”<br />
Stringer said Saturday. “She is one of the<br />
few players that she will change your<br />
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:<br />
RUTGERS VS. LSU<br />
scheme. ... This is a one-woman wrecking<br />
crew.”<br />
Fowles hasn’t had to dunk to energize<br />
teammates or intimidate foes. Her speed,<br />
jump hook, ferocious rebounding and<br />
blocked shots will present enough of a<br />
challenge for Rutgers.<br />
Still, a LSU victory is no slam dunk.<br />
Starkey said he’s seen enough film on<br />
Rutgers to know the Scarlet Knights will<br />
find a way to disrupt LSU’s flow.<br />
“They’re the one team that I can say<br />
they’re every bit as quick as we are, and<br />
that, right there, helps them immensely,”<br />
Starkey said. “The things we’ve been able<br />
to do against teams that don’t have speed,<br />
we won’t be able to do against them. And<br />
their quickness creates problems for us.”<br />
That quickness could allow Rutgers to<br />
deny passes inside to Fowles by harassing<br />
the passer rather than swarming multiple<br />
defenders on Fowles. That would leave Kia<br />
Vaughn to guard Fowles mostly on her<br />
own.<br />
“I go out and play each and every post<br />
(player) the same,” Vaughn said. “I make<br />
them work for what they want to get<br />
done.”<br />
Either way, expect a low-scoring game.<br />
LSU and Rutgers have won all season with<br />
defense.<br />
LSU entered the NCAA tournament as<br />
the nation’s top-ranked defensive team,<br />
allowing the fewest points per game at 49.4<br />
and the lowest opponents’ field-goal percentage<br />
at 32.6 percent.<br />
Twice this season, LSU won while scoring<br />
fewer than 50 points — most recently<br />
against West Virginia, 49-43, in the tournament’s<br />
second round.<br />
Rutgers adopted a similar defensive<br />
style after starting 2-4. The Scarlet<br />
Knights are 24-4 since.<br />
Stringer and her squad have struggled<br />
at times this season. At one point, she<br />
banned the players from their locker room<br />
and did not allow them to wear school colors<br />
because she was so disappointed with<br />
their effort.<br />
“After a while we started playing together<br />
— playing the defense you’re used to<br />
seeing by Scarlet Knights,” swing player<br />
Essence Carson said.<br />
It paid off.<br />
In their last two victories, Rutgers held<br />
Duke to 52 points and Arizona to 45.<br />
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973-702-1011<br />
Adults: $21.95<br />
Children 6-12 & Seniors: $12.95<br />
Children under 6 Free<br />
(limit 1 free child per <strong>paying</strong> adult)<br />
The Easter Bunny<br />
will make an appearance<br />
during each seating with a<br />
treat for the kids!<br />
For Reservations, please call 973-764-4200<br />
Now is the Time to Place Your<br />
Holiday Order for:<br />
Old-Fashioned Country Style<br />
Bone-In 12-18 lbs.<br />
Spiral Whole or Halves<br />
Boneless Whole or Sliced<br />
Smoked<br />
HAMS!<br />
Traditional Legs of Lamb<br />
or Boneless Legs of Lamb<br />
Standing or Boneless<br />
Rib Roasts<br />
Homemade<br />
Fresh & Smoked Kielbasa<br />
Old-Fashioned CHEESE BABKA<br />
Catering available<br />
for all occasions<br />
1 Mill Street, Newton<br />
973-383-1640