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Show SPORTS B4 Lockouts loom after historic sports year Sports Briefs WAC FROM B1 Holland to be present during last week's meetings was a sign of encouragement. The third-year president attended last Monday's session in Park City, where he presented the school's case for admission. His pitch lasted less than an hour however, and he was told he would be contacted Tuesday by 2:00 p.m. MST at the latest. Ironically, Holland made his pitch the same day UVU received the GWC Commissioner's Cup from league commissioner Ed Grom, who after congratulating the Wolverines in a statement added, "What I appreciate about UVU is their loyalty to the Great West and their commitment to a very well-rounded program." It's a loyalty Utah Valley now has no choice but to keep, even as other GWC members succeed in jumping ship. North Dakota and South Dakota are slated to leave the Great West after the 2011-12 season, leaving Utah Valley, Chicago State, Houston Baptist, Texas Pan-American and New Jersey Institute of Technology as the only GWC members a year from now. "We're going to continue to try and build up the Great West," Jacobsen said. "I think there's going to be some opportunities there with some decisions the NCAA is making. We're committed to helping them continue to be successful and build itself." BY MATT PETERSEN Sports Editor UVU takes 2nd straight Commissioner's Cup NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- For the second year in a row, Utah Valley University was the winner of the Great West Conference Commissioner's Cup the league office announced Monday. The Wolverines won the inaugural award with a total of 80.5 points and tallied the same total of 80.5 points this year. The award is given to the institution that performed best overall in GWC-sponsored sports. "I congratulate Utah Valley on its second consecutive Great West Conference Commissioner's Cup," said Commissioner Ed Grom. "Athletic Director Mike Jacobsen has developed quite an athletic program, and he expected the Wolverines to be successful at the Division I level. What I appreciate about UVU is their loyalty to the Great West and their commitment to a very well-rounded program. Each of their sports have performed extremely well in league play, and I don't see them slowing down at all." The order of finish of the seven schools competing for the GWC Commission- on the community college lev- ZONE FROM B1 el, but boasts a mere two years Namely: —Not just football, but potential for football. After 27 years of trying, Jacobsen still hasn't managed to convince the university to fund a gridiron program (there's no room in UVU's jam-packed campus for a field and seats anyway). —Tradition is huge for college athletics. UVU has a ton of NCAA credentials. Seattle? A Final Four appearance in the 1950s (with NBA legend Elgin Baylor as their star) and roughly 40 years of NCAA history under its collective belt. — Market value. Utah Valley is just down the street from BYU, 40 minutes away from University of Utah, and w ,WOL E INE er's Cup also remained the same as last year with some fluctuation in the point totals. As it did last year, UVU won six Great West championships in 2010-11. Those GWC titles won by the Wolverines included men's and women's cross country, men's basketball, baseball, and men's and women's outdoor track and field. In addition, UVU was the runner-up in volleyball and men's and women's indoor track and field. North Dakota finished in second place in the standings with 68 points, while South Dakota garnered 63.5 points for third place. The Fighting Sioux won the title in volleyball and finished second in women's soccer, women's tennis and softball. South Dakota claimed the men's and women's indoor track and field championships and finished second in women's basketball and men's and women's outdoor track. Larry O'Brien and Vince Lombardi are rolling over in their graves. The sports whose championship trophies bear their respective names are either in the middle or on the verge of being embroiled in ugly owner-player lockouts. Actual games haven't been axed yet, but pessimistic experts say it's a matter of when, not if, that happens. And the timing couldn't be worse. All due respect to the "good old days," but has there ever been a more compelling year in professional sports? You want polarizing opinion and karma? Look no further than LeBron and Favre. Their respective disloyalties had an entire nation up in arms against them — and celebrating in the streets when they failed. LeBron fell short, underwhelmed, and all but disappeared on basketball's biggest stage, while Favre saw the team he spurned win it all without him That leads to the other extreme: feel-good stories. Green Bay won it all without Mr. Packer himself. The Mavericks, a collection of luckless vets, snagged their first ever championship behind the first European to ever reach franchise-guy status. and softball. After finishing as the runner-up in women's cross country and women's golf, the Broncs of Texas-Pan American tallied 46.5 points for fifth place. NJIT and Chicago State rounded out the rankings finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. The Highlanders, who tallied 32.5 points, won the women's tennis championship and finished as the runner-up in men's basketball, while Chicago State claimed the women's basketball title and earned 25 points in the standings. The GWC Commissioner's Cup is given each year to the Great West member which accumulates the most points in relationship to placement in conferencesponsored championships for its combined men's and women's athletic programs. "In our second full year of the conference, I see every athletic program improving from one year to the next," concluded Grom. "I see this Commissioner's Cup competition getting closer and closer each year." Houston Baptist ranked fourth with 58.5 points. The Huskies won titles in women's soccer, women's golf a couple hours from Utah State. University of Washington is Seattle's only immediate competition, giving them a potentially larger following in an already bigger market. What did the WAC overlook? Potential, potential, potential. Even with other universities surrounding UVU, there would have been a huge market for another NCAA pro- gram, especially in pro-sports starved Utah. Benson probably isn't aware of UVU's unofficial status as BYURU (Brigham Young University Rejectees University). As SpenceT25 said on Twitter, "The WAC obviously doesn't understand how much ppl who've been denied admission 2 BYU will watch UVU sports." As for Seattle, their NCAA history also makes them a known quantity. Their potential has been realized, while Utah Valley's remains untapped. Why is the WAC suddenly so non-football friendly? You got me. Even after extending Seattle the formal invite, WAC commissioner Karl Benson admitted to ESPN that having only seven football schools was "workable, The overall talent level is overwhelming The NBA is riding its highest influx of stars since the 1980s. The NFL's up-and-comers boast a game to match the league's fame. And both leagues are screeching to a halt. Blame is irrelevant here. You can blame the players for being millionaires, or you can blame the owners for giving millions to athletes even after they underperform (funny how fans overlook the latter). It's a jarring halt for the fans that just want to watch sports. Trivial as they sometimes seem to the missus, sports are a big deal. We get just as emotionally involved with our team as she does with her reality show. We follow the stars, hope for them, despise them, make the journey with them. When we're old enough to realize our GMs are idiots, we use fantasy sports to prove we're smarter than them. And if you want a tangible reason to miss the football and basketball, look at the local parking, hotels and restaurants. You don't think this will hurt fiscally as well as emotionally? Please. Sports should be taking the nation's collective mind off the depressing economy, not highlighting it. Especially since the sports themselves are richer than they've been in years. but not ideal." So why jump the gun and add another pigskin-less university at all? Benson followed his previous comment by saying the WAC's "No. 1 priority will be to get to eight or nine or more football-playing schools." I'm glad I'm not the only one who puts off No. 1 priorities until the last minute. C 05S1NG • COM RATES STAVING NT • FOR SUMMER: • MOVE IN DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE, OW \NEU * WAIVE YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT OF $2501 FOR FAIL: 0 6 A117111 REDEEM THIS AD 014 001111 DURING THE MONTH OF RINE AND GET A $10 MINES GIFT CAIID1 , TEXT --7 "WOLVERINE" viz W4 tez N student living.redefined. *CALL LEASING OFFICE FOR DETAILS, SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY. TO 47464 MORE INFO FOR rA PM MOST NIGHTS 1 N 1 CALL 11S140 0 1—i000 801w-43 OPEN TILL 8 • nos. 135o IN. OREM 1 UT 8058 |