S2 THURSDAY, THE SUN MARCH 8, 2001 d A Arnies Predictions By Arnie Graff Sports Editor k 7hocmailcom There are some things in -- - Jared Allred (50) to get position for a possible ! rebound after a Marcus Banks free throw. r life you can just count on. You know, things like the old TV Show, NewsRadio, always tickling the funny bone, the King Sourdough Burger from Hardees always satisfying the mightiest of hunger, and, of course, the Dixie State Cob lege men's and womens basketball teams rolling through the SWAC tournament with their own premium blend of skill and pizazz That nght sports fans1 I am predicting that both the men and women from our great school will find themselves in the championship game on Saturday night For the men, I believe that the SWAC regular season champs and the nations No. 1 team from the great land of St. George will absolutely devastate Eastern Utah and pull away from Utah Valley State College in the second half with their deadly assortment with both a swarming defensive effort and massive point production from team leaders Marcus Banks, Eddie Shelby and Jaime Lloreda on their way to finals. Also look for Josh Clark and Gary Colbert to do some sen-ou- s damage. In the finals, the Rebels will meet their old buddies from Southern Idaho who gave the Rebs the only blemish on their 29-- 1 season earlier this year. However, this time the Eagles will surely pay the fiddler as the Rebels will be firing on all cylinders and will win a tight, dramatic thriller that is only fit for the championship game. As for the women, the recent heartloss to 8 Snow colbreaking lege on Saturday night at Snow will be fresh on 72-6- Dixies Jaime Lloreda (14) battles Snow Colleges $ I ' photo by Stanton Roseman their minds as they the Rebs meet them again in the semis after a convincing win over Salt Lake Community College in the first round. Like in the meeting last week, I think Dixie stalwarts Candace Baldwin and Nicki Howard will step up and play big while teammates Lindsay Heiselbetz and Jaime Phillips add to the tourney fun as the Rebels get sweet payback on the 17-- 1 Badgers and meet Ricks College in the finals. In the finals, the basketball zen that I have been channeling of late indicates to me that the Rebels will jump out to a nice lead with an aggressive, exciting style of play but will lose a close thriller in the second half due to poor shooting and flat defense. - The Dixie State College cheerleaders perform during a timeout at the Snow College basketball game last weekend. photo by Stanton Roseman Vincent makes cnr-se- s By Stephen Vincent Editor in chief . vincent77hotmatl com See, Ive got a disease. Well, besides my social diseases. Its not something that I like to discuss m public, so well have to keep this between you and me so, its not easy, but here goes: Whomever I pick when I make predictions always loses. Apparently, this all started in third grade when I accidentally laughed at a woman from North Dakota. Who hexed me with the worst North Dakota curse imaginable, the inability to pick winners of sporting events correctly. Years of therapy and millions of dollars lost in Mequite have not yet proven to help me overcome this fatal disease. But one day, I had an epiphany and realized I could harness this power for the betterment of the world. By picking the most vile teams to lose, I would be benefittmg all of mankind and 95.4 percent of womankind. Ive already applied this unique power of mine to curse the Atlanta Braves, which I will time and time again, so long as Braves fans continue to want to pound my skull whenever I np on them. Its unreal, actually. I can make all sorts of bold statements and at worst get some letters of disagreement. But say the Braves cant beat the Yankees and out come the threats of physical violence. Which is why I am now a hermit. Yeah, back to the cursing ... er, selecting (wink! wink!) the team that I (dont) want to see win. So with that I in mind, I am proud to announce that I have selected (cursed) Snow College to wm both the mens and the womens SWAC basketball tournament. Clearly, Snow has the best two teams (to picks curse in all the league). For mstance, Im sure the Badgers can overcome their difficulties in handling the ball agamst the speedier and more talented Rebels (if perhaps those Rebels were the Santaquin YMCA Rebels), and Im sure that they will (not be able to) outmuscle the stronger College of Southern Idaho inside players. (IU be honest here. Snow does have a very talented team, and winning the championship will be difficult for the Badgers, like any other team, but they certainly have a hard road ahead of them) . As for the Snow women, okay, so maybe cursing them is the best way to defeat them. I do think that Dixie showed that they could beat the Badgers, but the Rebels will have to play one of their better games of the season to do so. As will Ricks, should the Vikings and Badgers meet up in the title match Saturday night, as is expected. Ricks certainly has a talented team, but if should come to Ricks and Snow all cursing aside I would have to pick Snow to wm that battle. Anyhow, for real picks, this is what I think will happen. MEN. Utah Valley will beat North Idaho. It should be close, but I think the Wolverines have a more team than the Cardinals. Dixie, CSI, and Snow are obvious choices m the other first round matchups. I think the Rebels can handle Utah Valley, promises to be a classic, as both teams could win that one. I like CSI, and I think Dixie will beat CSI for the title. CSI-Sno- w WOMEN. Dixie will wm its first round game, and have to hope for my cursmg of Snow to work m the second round. Snow vs. Ricks seems likely. I like Snow.