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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 />

SALES EVENT<br />

Sofas from $399.<br />

(sale ends 4/1/07)<br />

Stop in to Enter to Win a<br />

$500 Gift Certificate!<br />

DRAWING ON APRIL 1<br />

75 Mill St., Newton • 973-579-1982<br />

Parking & entrance in back of building


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 />

Easter<br />

uffet<br />

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Chicken $22. 95Francaise,<br />

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Hop over to HIDDEN VALLEY<br />

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April 8, 2007<br />

2 Seatings:<br />

10 am-noon or 1-3 pm<br />

Menu<br />

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French Toast with Toppings • Scrambled Eggs • Bacon & Sausage<br />

Omelette Station • Assortment of Bagels, Muffins & Danish • Home Fries<br />

Carving Stations with Honey Smoked Ham & Prime Rib • Grilled Chicken<br />

Flank Steak with Mushroom Demi-Glaze • Salmon • Rice Pilaf<br />

Sauteed Fresh Vegetables • Extensive Dessert Table<br />

Coffee, Tea, Juice & Soda<br />

Rte. 23N Libertyville Rd., Wantage, NJ<br />

Rte. 23N Libertyville Rd., Wantage, NJ<br />

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

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