North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 28, 2008 Page: 3 of 8
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Thursday. February 28.2008 Page 3
O
Sports
Richard C. White
Sports Editor
richieatUNT@hotmail.com
Mid-season report
Read Sports tomorrow to recap the
first half of the tennis season.
\ -w
Men's basketball hits the road before Sun Belt playoffs
By David A. Lucio
Staff Writer
With the Sun Belt Conference
playoffs starting Wednesday
and a second consecutive
championship season in
mind, the NT men's basket-
ball team is aiming to win its
last two regular season games
to secure a first round home
playoff game.
"We can see the finish
line," senior forward Quincy
North
Texas
Daily
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Williams said. "We've got that
chance to get that bye in the
tournament, take care of busi-
ness and get two games in a
row and we need that."
Tonight NT (18-9, 9-7)
will face the University of
Louisiana-Lafayette (13-14,
9-7) in the Cajundome. The
Ragin' Cajuns are tied with the
Mean Green for first place in
the West Division.
"They [ULL] got a chance
to share first place or win it
depending on what happens
and who wins and loses. So
they've got a lot to play for,"
head coach Johnny Jones said.
"Everybody's still trying to
position themselves for a seed
in the tournament."
Saturday night NT will shift
gears to play the University of
New Orleans (18-10,8-8), which
will oppose the University of
South Alabama tonight.
"We just got to come out
there focused," Williams said,
"and be tough enough just
like we were last week on the
road, go out there and estab-
lish ourselves."
The team is in the midst of
a four-game winning streak
since Saturday's victory over
Arkansas State University.
"Basically, I'm just trying
to do everything right now,"
junior guard Collin Dennis
said. "Coach just pushed
me and told me I'm going to
guard the best player on the
other teams, so I take that as
a personal challenge."
Dennis has been leading the
charge for NT, and Jones feels
he will continue to perform in
these remaining games.
"He [Dennis] accepts chal-
lenges," Jones said. "He looks
forward to being challenged
as well."
NT defeated ULL 72-65 on
January 12 in the Super Pit.
During the victory, Williams
tallied up 18 points while
Dennis scored 17. Despite the
win, Williams believes the
Mean Green shouldn't under-
estimate the Ragin' Cajuns.
"I'm going to antici-
pate an even harder game,"
Williams said. "It's going to
be a dogfight. They're coming
off a loss...they're a wounded
animal right now, they're going
to go out there and be hungry
just like we are."
The UNO Privateers came
into the Super Pit and defeated
the Mean Green 83-61 on
January 17.
The game was NT's first
home loss of the season.
"We're looking for revenge,"
Dennis said. "We'll definitely
be ready going into New
Orleans as our last game."
For UNO senior guard Bo
McCalebb it was the night
when he scored his 2,000th
career-point. He leads the
conference in scoring with
24.6 points per game.
"I think we were prepared
for him [McCalebb] last time,"
Jones said. "I just didn't think
we played our best. They did
what they needed to all game
long to keep us at bay."
McCalebb scored 23 points
for that game. Williams, who
scored 14 points that game,
hopes the tides will turn for
NT this time around.
"It's going to be their [UNO]
senior night, and Bo [McCalebb]
is a heck of a player," Williams
said. "It's going to be a tough
game too, we just got to be
10
Photo by Jonny Carroll / Intern
Freshman Josh White drives by four OSU defenders for a layup previously in the season on Nov 14,2007.
tough enough to execute."
The Mean Green has been
stressing a new defensive
strategy the past two weeks.
Jones attributes much of NT's
recent winning streak to the
defensive adjustments. Dennis
feels that the new defense
could be NT's key to another
conference title.
"We're riding real high on
defense right now, shutting out
a lot of people," Dennis said.
"It seems like everything's
clicking like at the beginning
of the season, and if we just
keep this winning streak going
and make it six games before
the beginning of the tourna-
ment then that would be an
even greater accomplishment
for us."
Jones said if NT wins either
of its two remaining regular
season games, the Mean Green
would secure a first round
home playoff game.
"Our goal is to win as many
as possible," Jones said, "and
obviously it would be great if
we could have another 20-win
season."
He added that if NT wins
both games and the University
of Arkansas-Little Rock
happens to lose either of its
remaining two, NT could
receive a first round bye and
play a home game in the play-
off's second round. But for
now, the team has its eyes and
efforts focused on ULL.
"We'd love to get a home
game," Dennis said. "If you
look at the stats on paper,
we're pretty good at home.
We'd love to get it but, even if
we do have to play on the road
or get a bye or whatever, we're
just ready for whatever is put
in front of us."
Baseball's 2008 season full of incredible storylines
Opinion
By Richard C. White
Sports Editor
Major League Baseball had
a busy offseason with federal
indictments against its all-time
home run leader Barry Bonds
and the expectation of poten-
tial perjury charges against
7-time Cy Young Award winner
Roger Clemens.
Thankfully, it's now time
to turn our focus towards the
field. With spring training
games now underway, here
are a few of the game's biggest
issues for 2008.
One-Year Wonders?
No two teams had a more
incredible season in 2007 than
the Colorado Rockies and the
Arizona Diamondbacks.
The oddity of the
Diamondbacks was that they
were actually outscored by
their opponents for the entire
season and yet they somehow
not only won their division, but
also advanced to the National
League Championship Series
and tied for the most regular
season wins in their league.
As for the Rockies, they were
one of the greatest underdog
stories of all-time. They won
an improbable 21 of 22 games,
including seven straight playoff
games that propelled them into
their first-ever World Series.
Will these two Cinderellas
sustain greatness or will
they end up being one-year
wonders?
Bronx Blasphemy
This year's All-Star Game is
in the Bronx for one and only
one reason: It's the last season
the New York Yankees will play
in Yankee Stadium .
Only the clueless Yankees
ownership and equally unap-
preciative fan base would think
it's a good idea to tear down
historic Yankee Stadium, in
favor of a cold, artsy, steel
replacement void of the rich
history that Gehrig, Mantle and
DiMaggio once instilled in the
house that Ruth built.
This is an unfathomable
sin that only the out-of-touch
Yankees could commit. In
contrast, you will never see the
Red Sox or Cubbies tear down
their famous, timeless and
beloved shrines for the finan-
cial benefit of newer models.
Fenway Park and Wrigley
Field will proudly outlast
Yankee Stadium.
Taking a bite out of
the Big Apple
While Missouri may be the
"Show Me State," it might as
well lend its nickname to New
York since the Yankees and
Mets have plenty to prove this
season.
The 2007 Mets had a historic
collapse, blowing a seven-game
division lead by losing 12 of
their final 17 games, missing
the playoffs by one game.
Meanwhile, the Yankees
have gone nearly a decade
since their last World Series
title in 2000. Eight years is
an unbearable eternity
for the win-at-all-cost
Steinbrenner family.
Let's see which New
York team one-ups the other
in 2008. The Mets currently
have the upper hand by signing
the off-season's ultimate prize,
two-time Cy Young Award
winner Johan Santana.
Paper Tigers?
On paper, the Detroit Tigers
have undoubtedly the most
ferocious lineup in all of
baseball. You know you have
a monstrous offense when
your manager says he plans
on batting future Hall of Fame
catcher Pudge Rodriguez
eighth.
It's no wonder, with such
stars as Miguel Cabrera, Carlos
Guillen, Edgar Renteria, Jacque
Jones, Magglio Ordonez and
Gary Sheffield stacked into the
lineup card. The Red Sox, Cubs
and Rockies are also deadly
with a bat in their hands, but
not like the Tigers.
The question is will these
Tigers roar throughout the
season or will they fall short
of their great expectations?
Arms race
It's not often that you see
several teams as loaded in
pitching as you'll see in
2008. If healthy, rota-
tions like the ones of
the Giants, Mets,
Tigers, Padres and
Cubs will be tough
to beat on any
given day.
However,
none of
them are
better
thany I the
defending
World Series
Champion
Boston Red Sox.
Even with Curt
Schilling out for half
the season, the Sox
are still nearly unhit-
table with proven veteran
horses like Josh Beckett and
Tim Wakefield and the young
and fierce Clay Buchholz and
Daisuke Matsuzaka in the
stable.
The Sox even signed 2005
AL Cy Young Award winner
Bartolo Colon to a low-risk,
high reward contract as insur-
ance in place of the injured
Schilling. Watch out, Yankees,
the Red Sox are coming.
Houston, we have
a problem
In December the Houston
Astros made what initially
looked like a brilliant move,
trading with the Orioles to get
former MVP Miguel Tejada.
The problem is the trade
only looked good for 24
hours as the very next day
the infamous Mitchell
Report was published,
which named Tejade
among over 80 other players
as having taken perfor-
mance-enhancing
drugs.
When he arrived at
spring training, Tejada
ignored the issue and
refused to answer any ques-
tions. Now Houston will have
to deal with the high-profile
Tejada mess all summer. It
looks like he pulled a fast one
over on the Astros.
A prison fit
for a king
As his annoying agent has
repeatedly said all winter,
career home run king and
unsigned free agent Barry
Bonds is still available if any
team wants him.
The problem is the cantan-
kerous Bonds is a clubhouse
cancer who will be 44 this
season and has balky knees that
severely limit his mobility.
Oh yeah, there's also his
pending federal trial for
obstruction of justice and
perjury charges for allegedly
lying to a grand jury.
Hmm, maybe the possi-
bility of having one of your
most expensive and prominent
players serving prison time is
the reason why not a single
team wants him. I wonder if
Barry and his agent have real-
ized this.
Guillen is believin'
The verbally abrasive
Chicago White Sox manager
Ozzie Guillen hands down has
the boldest, craziest prediction
of the 2008 season. Guillen said
he was too quiet last season
and warned that he will be
more like his cursing and bois-
terous old self from now on.
He also promised that if
the White Sox win the World
Series this year that he would
run naked down the streets of
Chicago in celebration.
Guillen usually talks a big
game but more often than not
he normally delivers on his
promises and his threats, which
leads him to be as equally
despised, as he is loved.
However, this is a pretty
tall order even for him, so I'll
believe it when I see it.
Ozzie, Chicago is usually
near freezing in late October,
so you may hope your Sox
come up short or.. .you know...
*brrr.*
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 28, 2008, newspaper, February 28, 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145552/m1/3/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.