THE m iffiM!M9lWnawwpm i AILY D ijf : a I; if; CHRONICLE UTAH M ,V .n l 3 I e. i J t Judgment Day Here for Young, Raw DEs fears are minuscule. In speaking of his cornerback ERIC WALDEN Chronicle Sports Editor toonwhich features redshirt For coaching a game in which experience is supposed to count just as much as athleticism, Jugi Hogue and Bill Busch seem eerily calm to be directing athletes with plenty of the latter, but precious little of the former. As the Utah football team's ' '.' y jkj. corner-back- s and safeties coaches, respectively, Hogue and Busch ought to be ready for intensive mental therapy at this point, given that, between them, they have exactly one player sophomore Arnold Parker, the starting strong safety who's seen meaningful action in a Division I college 'ft game. And even Parker has an asterisk by his name. "Arnold is the only guy with any experience, but he only played at nickel he wasn't at safety at all," Busch said. L Parker is the only member of the Arnold U secondary with real experience. Consequently, the secondary is reputed to be the weak link of a defense that was tops in the Mountain West Conference a year ago. And with Saturday's season opener against Utah State rapidly approaching, the architects of the U's defensive backfield ought to be at least minimally concerned about whether or not the guys they have are up to the task, right? If the coaches are apprehensive, they're not letting on. And while it could be true that they're simply either in denial or extraordinarily good liars, they maintain that their pla- fresh- man Bo Nagahi starting on the right side, junior Airabin Justin, a former special teams standout, on the left side, and D'Shaun Crockett, last year's starting running back, as the primary backup for both Hogue acknowledged their lack of actual game time, but praised their potential, nevertheless. "None of those guys have really played DI football. They're all young guys and they're talented, but they are inexperienced," Hogue said. "It's a little scary, but I don't expect them to struggle." And while Hogue knows what he's missing at the U, as he is entering his 12th year with the team, Busch is a newcomer to the Utes and has nothing to compare his current crop to. And so, as he gets ready to go into battle with Parker and juco transfer Antwoine Sanders as the starters, and Anthony White and Dave Revill as the backups, Busch purports to be content with his sophomore quadruplets. "Right now I feci I've got four great guys who all can play and all will play," he said. "I feel very confident about them. Even though they're sophomores, they're redshirt sophomores, so they've been around a little while." Beyond merely feeling compelled to defend the reputations and abilities of a group of athletes they personally oversee every day, Hogue and Busch maintain their optimism is - . 'hi- " . ' - vv Airabin Justin has a solid hold on the starting left corner job. as it springs from the watching players' work ethic. "They're very attentive, they work hard every day in practice I hope to get some carryover of that," Hogue said. "They're pretty focused, and that's what you look for." Busch agreed that the defensive backs are, at the very least, putting in the requisite effort to be successful. factor is huge. "Their 'want-tall They're playing extremely hard, and that's a big plus," he said. But then, neither is naive enough to believe that going all out in practices and participating in situational simulations is an adequate substitute for well-founde- d, o' see FOOTBALL, page 7 Little League Baseball Tainted by Issue of Age ASAD KUDIYA :-- i Chronicle t Sports Columnist enough viewers to get their money's worth, is too much. Long before I see a kid catcher crying on SportsCenter for the hundredth time, I think of just shooting myself. Why is this on TV? I don't understand who cares about little league baseball. I would d match of shuffle-- , rather watch a a board than that sham of game we call little league baseball a game that is, incidentally, full of overacting parents who like to live vicariously through their children, and all the while blowing out their lungs yelling at their kids. Additionally, why in the hell is George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch? I am pretty sure the man controlling the executive branch of the American government might have something more important to do, like getting an education or stopping delusional tax cuts. Now that I have that off my chest, we can get back to the real point. Danny Almonte, of the Bronx team, was the best player in the Little League World Series. Even though his team did not reach the finals, everyone had their eyes on this gem. He only allowed one run throughout the entire tourney, recorded 16 strikeouts on three occasions and even threw a perfect game in the opener. This kid had wicked stuff: a heater that could tear through the little kids' bats and a well-playe- Knowing that I will never be a professional athlete (who would have guessed?), I still have dreams of going back in time with the abilities I have now and beating little kids down in junior high basketball and such. Just think how fast and strong and athletic I would seem, with my advanced ability being pitted against a bunch of But then, I suspect that is the secret wish of every former athlete whose professional career never quite panned out. Or maybe I am the only delusional one and need to be put into a mental hospital However, never have I seen this actually happen until this year's Little League World Series. I hate the Little League World Series. I think it is the biggest joke on TV. Seeing little crying on the field when they lose, makes me want to puke. I realize that they have put their heart and soul into this, but the sick-pu- d TV producers the kids' emotions exploiting by making sure that we see the "drama" that will "touch our hearts forever," just so they can draw in Jii VOLLEYBALL vs Rhode Utah Island(O-o- ) (0-0- ) 831 at 12 p.m. Crimson Court (HPER SOCCER vs Utah Florida 831 at 5 p.m. (0-0- ) (0-0- ) MT Gainesville, Fla. CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR a I Si K VS 1 1 , curve that would break a college player's ankles. One opposing manager even went so far as to make his players bunt, just so they wouldn't get struck out. This kid was on his way, and even made it onto the cover of USA Today. WAIT A SECOND, THOUGH. Usually, when we see a player that is this amazing, and can already dominate as a we inherently have to believe that something illegal is going on. Maybe it's the fact that the kid is "allegedly" 14 (according to an affidavit obtained by Sports Illustrated, which lists his date of birth as April 7, 1987) and therefore too old to play Little League, according to the rules. What I'm wondering is, 'Why did it take so long to figure that out?' Maybe the fact that he actually had stuff to was a hint. Or the fact throw as a that he was twice the size of anyone else playing. Never mind that he is a Dominican native and likely would do anything he could to stay in America. Coaches and parents are not above resorting to illegal tactics to help their teams and their children, after all. If I was Danny Almonte, and I was told that and beating the pretending to be a living hell out of the competition would allow me to stay in America, what wojjld I VOLLEYBALL CROSS COUNTRY Georgia at Utah Tech(o-O- ) Utah (0-0- ISU ) 831 at 7 p.m. ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN all-st- ar 1) FOOTBALL ) vs Utah State (0-0- Invitational 91 Crimson Court (HPER es ' . I 1', do? Of course I would agree to it. Who wouldn't? Right now, though, it is still just an allegation, and I am moving too far forward by kid accusing him... But how docs a to be tall and that that big? get Now little league baseball representatives are going to the Dominican Republic to find out how old he actually is. I hope that this kid really is 12, but there is no way I can believe it. He probably is a great but, as a pitcher for a he was prodigy, being compared to Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. I mean, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson called him before his last game to wish him good luck. Probably because they believed that he would be their teammate in 6 years. Still, even if he is guilty, I will never blame Danny Almonte. He was deliberately trapped into a web of hopes and dreams, only to have it end in tragedy. His coach and whoever else was involved are low-livwith some serious explaining to do. In the end, though the older kid whupping the younger competition was an experiment that went all to hell, I think I could pull it off. Maybe I should go to Cuba, claim I am 15, and become an player. There isn't any Cuban version of Sports Illustrated to prove me wrong, is there? Asad welcome feedback at: All Utah ) 91 at 6 p.m. Day Pocatello, Idaho EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU (0-0- Rice-Eccle- 581-704- 1 s Stadium