The Salt Lake Tribune SPORTS BB STARZZ TO OPEN EXHIBITION SEASON B-3. GORDON MONSON PRO BASEBALL B-4 @ GRIZZ TO NAME BOURNEB-5. B SATURGAY MENHL PLAYOFFS B-7 MAY22, 1999 Jazz Fare Better aly From Home When They're The Men in Black Uniforms BRANDO! BY THE SALT L: Black? Or purple? Forget the Jazz’s recent tendencytoward turnoversor the suddensoftnessof their interior defense. For superstitious Utah fans, the big question heading into today's Game 3 matchup in Portland is: Which road uniforms A Tale of Three Colors Doclothes make the men? This season the Jazz fared muchbetter intheir new black road uniforms than in their traditional purple ones. They are most successful, however. in their white Delta Center jerseys provingthere's noplacelike home will the players wear? Why Ask Why? Jazz Doing It “T don't know why. Why ask why? It just happens.” — Jazz forward Bryon Russell the league approved the newblack color scheme and design — which replaces the mountain rangewith sleek copperside panels. The Jazz are one of 10 NBA teams. with twosets of road uniforms. Ofthose 10 teams, five sport black on their alternate road jerseys. In recent years, black has become increasingly popular with professional sports franchises seek- Ever notice how some people including certain basketball teams trying to win an NBAtitle — always seem to do things the hard way? Andthey don't even have a clue why? Theyjust do? It just happens. I have a friend who reads magazines from back to front. Anotherplaysgolfright-handed, even though he’s a lefty. My dad, who was a child of the Great Depression, to this day drives 25 miles out of his wayon a 50-mile trip to avoid wear black,” Clark says. “But I've never had one of them come upto me and ask, ‘What are we wearing tonight?’ I'll talk to John [Stockton] and Karl [Malone] and a couple more of the guys and see what they say. Or sometimesI'll just put ‘em out there days later in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Both games were Jazz victories, so the team woretheblack Coincidence? “Guyslike the black,” says Jazz forward ThurBailey. “Fashionwise, it’s different than what the Jazz have had in the past. It's a nice changeto have theselection.” For the first 24 years of their existence, the Jazz had no selection. They wore white jerseys at home and green, then purple oneson theroad, In 1997, reflecting a league fashion trend, Utah petitioned the NBA for permission to wear a second road uniform. Last year, the uniforms and hangs themin players’ lockers the morning of each game. If the players had a preference. they'd probably The team debuted the black uniforms at its Feb. 5 seasonopener at the Delta Center, then wore them two During the regular season, the Jazz sported a 14-4 record while wearing their newblack jerseys. In its traditional purple road uniforms, the team finished 2-6. The Hard Way aries CTIOn, uniforms for its next three road games — all of them wins ea Tae 4 LOSSES rE} du) 21 wins GLOSSES BER Rhonda Halles Malet) The Salt take Tribu ing to project a bad-boy swagger. Someteams, such the NFL's Oakland Raiders or the NHL's Boston Bruins, even market themselves with the slogan, “Real Men Wear Black.” Decisions on whichjerseys the Jazz wear on the road are made by TerryClark, the team’s equipment manag- It's not a superstition,” says Clark. “But when we werereally rolling there, we didn’t want to ¢ hangeany- thing.” Not until their fifth road game, on Feb. 16inSeattle. didthe Jazzlose in the black uniforms. For their next away game, a week later in Denver, they switched to purple. Andlost. Aftersplitting their next twogamesin purple, the team returnedtoblack andreeled off three straight roadwins. The Jazz might have mothballed their purple uniforms entirely this season, except that the NBA re- quired teams with twosets of road uniforms to wear er — often withinput from the players. Clark washes See UNIFORMS,Page 8-8 ‘Two for the Road a toll road, even though he could proba- bly buy the freaking road. BLAZERS I once interviewed an athlete who runs marathons — backward. } j I know a homemaker whofeels swamped by the time-consumingchallenges of keeping her family going, but who, nonetheless, insists that her children take baths and change their clothes — resulting in mountains of wasted time and unnecessary laundry — every time they re-enter her home. A friend wanted to see America coast to coast, so she rode her bike. A friend of a friend needed moneyfor college tuition to improve the quality of his life, so he robbed a convenience JAZZ Rider’s Blazers seeking a sweep Will ‘small bail’ do trick for Utah? BY DICK ROSETTA BY STEVE LUHM THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PORTLAND,Ore. — Isaiah Rider was THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PORTLAND, Ore. — Small Ball helped the Jazz win their first-round playoff series against Sacramento, andit nearlylifted them fromgreat depthsin like a time bombjust waiting to explode store and went to prison I don’t knowwhy. The Jazz knewit, since he had led the Neither, apparently, do the Utah Jazz. Watching them in their current inconsistent state is like watching the backward marathoner. You want to shout: “Hey, turn around!” They're playing from the wrong side, going too far out oftheir Portland Trail Blazers in scoring in the regular-seasonseries with Utah. But the Game 2 of the Western Conferencesemi- finals against the Trail Blazers. ‘Though Portland escaped Thursday night with an 84-81 win that evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1, the small quicklineup that produced Utah's furious-if-fruitless rally could get moreuse Jazz were nearly powerless in the face of his 11-point fourth-quarter performance in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Thursdaynight Rider's momentumfrom perfectfi- wayeven though they could own the road, taking too many baths, doing too muchlaundry, pedaling when they could be on cruise control, using the wrong means to what mayend up the wrong end nal eight minutes and newlydiscovered composurehave the Trail Blazers think- ing of a weekend sweepin the Rose Garden with Game 3 today (1 p.m. MDT) Rider, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, got into a shooter's groove in the final quarter and the Blazers leaped on his band- Tipoff time is 1 p.m. (MDT) at the Rose Garden in Portland. Headinginto theseries with the gigantic Trail Blazers, Jaz» Coach Jerry Sloan downplayedthe notion that he could surround 6-foot-9 power forward Karl Ma. lone with guards and smal! forwards and still effectively compete against Portland He had the hot hand, so we kept feeding him.” he added of Rider, who aver- After Game 2. however, Sloanis re. considering Game4 on Sunday night. ‘That's been our thing all season,” says Shandon Anderson. “We makeit too hard. One night, we look and play great. The next, we lookandplayterri- wagon. “He had mismatches,” said Blazer teammate Rasheed Wallaceof Rider's Jazz defenders, Jeff Hornacek and Shan: don Anderson ble. It’s confusing. Especiallyin the playoffs.” Game2 against the Portland Trail Blazers is the Jazz’s latest example. Theywereup, 1-zip, in games, had the ‘They're toobig.” aged 15.7 points in three gamesagainst young Blazers complaining about the refs, worrying about Karl Malone's el- the Jazz in the regular season bows, questioning the commandof their own composure. Had they comeout and conjured a vintage Jazz performance on The Blazers’ Brian Grant. who ended with 23 points in the 84-81 Game 2 vie their homecourt, not only would they have taken a two-game advantage in the best-of-seven conference semifinals, they virtually would have crushed the volatile and vulnerable Blazers. One Jazz player figured the series would have lasted five games, tops. Tooeasy Withthe Jazz trailing 71-64 withonly 3 remaining. Malone was moved to center. He was joined by Bryon Russell Shandon Anderson, Jeff Hornacek and John S| ‘ton. The mini-Jazz lineup brought Utahback andthe teamfailed to reach overtime only because Stockton missed on a drive in the final two seconds. tory, yielded to Rider's offense in the fourth and spenthis eight minuteslimiting the Jazz's Karl Malonetotwofieldgoal attempts. “This is what a team isall about, going to the person whohas the hot hand. Wehaveseveral players who can be our go-to guy and that’s what makes us dangerous.” said Grant See MONSON, PageB-8 hesaid See BLAZERS, Page B-8 See SMALL BALL, Page B-8 Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune The Jazz have had success in the playoffs whentheyuse a smaller lineup. @ Dunleavy Eams Coaching Award Pacers Take 3-0 Series Lead B8 88 Bingham Clobbers Mountain View Brighton’s ‘Perfect’ Season Twice to Claim 5-A Baseball Crown Ends With State Title Victory championship for Bingham. The South BY JAY DREW THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE OGDEN — After the BinghamMiners had punctuated a glorious season with Jordan school is now tied for second ers coach Joey Sato and carried him half. way onto the field in a giant bear hug six-RBI day. onelast perfect day of baseball, athletic director Brad Bevan gathered tiny MinBevanwas acting on behalf of the en tire Bingham community with his salute to Sato. | am so happy for Joey, I can't even tell you,” said Bevan, the coach when Bingham wonits last baseball title, in 1985 Displaying relentless power hitting and the deepest pitching in the state. Bingham swept Mountain View 14-4 and 8-2 on Friday in surprisingly easy fash said Bingham slugger Curtis Clayton, after a “We can always say we werethelast team to win it in the 1900s Always quick with a quote, Clayton hadplenty oftimeto think that oneup in took a shutout into the seventh inning It feels like a big relief to finally win who also had a marvelous tournament as 1 Mouniain Crest lakes 4-A Title BS R COPY PCL Memphis 18, Salt Lake 1 View High would have to go right to win and it,” said Sorensen, a junior left-hander See MINERS, Page B-6 Mountain I'mdoing fantastic,” Cushing said. “I knew it would be very close and that [Jordan] would never quit. I knew everything ond game. He posted 11 strikeouts and : SCORE:LIN NBAPlayoffs Indiana 97, Philadelphia 86 3-2 at School right field, as Miner ace Logan Sorensen mowed down Mountain View in the sec- ion at Lindquist Field to claim the 5-A state title It was the state-record 15th baseball OREM — After Friday's Class 5-A soccer final, Brighton coach TomCushing couldfinally let out a sigh ofrelief The Bengals, ranked No. 1 all year, beat Region3 rival Jordan School Record Book What a way to end a century,” Simmons scored Brighton's first goal six minutes into the BY MEGAN CROTTY THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE most baseball championships in the country, according to the National High Steve Gritfia’The Salt Lake Tribune Mountain View's Brady Jonesstretchesfor a throw from the catcher as Bingham’s Logan Sorensen slides safely into second. it did Everything going right includ ed Brighton's getting some of fense from star forward Andy Simmons — player theBeetdig. gers knew they would have to shut down match, breaking away from two Jordan defenders for the shot This season “couldn't have been more perfect.” Simmons said. “This was the best team we've had, ever. The Bengals also wonstate ti tles in 1989 and ‘93 Jared Rasmussen and Skyler Rohbock added Brighton's other scores — all in thefirst half. Ryan Hansen scored twice for Jordan — the second on a second-half penalty kick. thanks to a Brigh ton handball We finished inthe first half — See BRIGHTON, Page B-6 1 Bountiful Wins 4A Sc A quicklook at keyfinal results in the world of sports American League Boston 5, Toronto 2 Baltimore 3, Texas 2 Tampa Bay 10, Anabeim 9 9, Cleveland 6 New York at Chicago, ppd, rain 5. Kansas City 2 2, Oakland 1 15innings National League Florida 8. Pittsburgh 1 New York 7, Milwaukee 5. Montreal 3, 11 in. nings Colorado 8, Arizona 3, 11 innings Philadelphia 5 Chicago 8. Atlanta 4 Diego 5, Cincinnati 4 St Louis 10, Los Angeles 6 SanPrat asco 4, Housto, 3