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Show Orem-Geneva Times Wednesday, May 27, 1992 Page 10 Cougar Commentary WHITE MEN CANT JUMP. SO WHAT? WHO CARES? The fact is -- they don't have to. But if white men can't jump, why is it that Tom Chambers of the Phoenix Suns can fly about as high as any player in the NBA? "White Man Can't Jump" is also the title of a recent motion picture, and it is very likely that if not for that movie, I would not have had the nerve to write this article. If youll remember, it was not too long ago that, "Jimmy-the-Greek" lost a cushy job on national nation-al television because of a simple statement of truth as he saw it -- that: "black athletes, are better jumpers than whites; it's in their genes" (paraphrased, of coarse). It didn't matter if he statement state-ment was true or not. It didn't matter that others had made these same, unscientific observations. observa-tions. It only mattered that a few people of all color cried bigotry, and Jimmy, quicker than a shooting shoot-ing star flaring-out from the evening eve-ning sky, found himself rudely detached from his network paycheck. A lot of water has passed under the goal posts since Jimmy made that famous declaration, yet I still haven't figuredout what all of the fuss was about; it was merely an opinion, nothing more. But just in case ole Jimmy's statement state-ment happened to be true, what in the world is so degrading about being able to jump high? Let's look at it from an expert's point of view. Mine. Also, I need to point out that this -- like Jimmy the Greek's -- is just one man's opinion, mine only. From the very first day I came to BYU as a student, then returned to Provo a few years later to wallow in the highs and the lows of cougarmania, I have heard the same old, wornout battle bat-tle cry, "If BYU ever wants to get serious about sports, if they ever want to play in the 'real world' with 'real' teams (sound familiar?), they need to recruit more black athletes'" (recruiting minorities into Utah Valley in a separate subject entirely, -- later, please). This article is not about football foot-ball or baseball. Lest we forget, Babe Ruth was white, fat, and couldn't jump a lick, yet he was one of the most, famniis afhWoa in the history of sports. So when we talk white kids, black kids, and jumping, we are talking basketball. bas-ketball. One morning a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't sleep. I mean, I really couldn't sleep. I crawled out of bed at 2 in the morning, turned on my VCR, and leaned back expecting to watch Iowa play BYU one more time in the Holiday Bowl. Surprise, surprise; the tape was mis-labeled, and I ended the early morning hours watching the BYU basketball team play the University of Michigan. Do I really need to remind anyone that Michigan made it all the way to the "final two" in this year's NCAA tournament, and played Duke for the national championship? In the replay of that first game in Red Lobster Classic, BYU played Michigan dead-even for the first half. And in the second half, sparked by an 11 to 0 run, the Cougars came back from an 18 point deficit to lose the game by a mere 3 points, a game that very nearly won. That was the obvious part. The not so obvious part -- the important im-portant part - is the part I want to talk about. After closely watching the game for the 2nd time, it seemed obvious to me that when it comes to jumping, the important partis not always how far off the floor a player's feet gets, the important part is -- how fast they get there. More than once during that Michigan game, Russell Larson and Chris Webber attacked the boards for the same ball, and there wasn't a flea's eyelash of a difference between the heights of their finger tips. In fact, Larson's hands were sometimes even higher. There was another difference, however. Webber, a 240 pound "battering-ram", got to the ball quicker than did Larson, BYU's 215 pound greyhound impersonator. imper-sonator. Thus, quick is the operative word here not high. The best part of this article is still to come. Unfortunately, there is too much to say, and not enough room to say it in. It really would be nice if white men could jump, wouldn't it? Actually, Ac-tually, though, white men can jump. Next week, well talk. Hard boiled eggs can be easier to peel if you plunge them into cold water, crack the shell and then roll the egg lightly between the palms of your hands. Tiger unexpectantly finish 5th in State 4A Baseball Playoffs By Kemari Rawlings Early on in the 1992 Baseball season, the Golden Tigers were expected to finish in one of the top two spots in the State 4A playoffs. Unfortunately, the season ended rather disappointingly for the mighty Tigers. After finishing an exciting preseason, pre-season, Orem battled to build an impressive regular season standing stand-ing of 8-2 and won their region title gloriously. The state playoff hopes for Orem were a reality but when thing got tough, according to Tiger Eric Boyer, "We choked." The Tigers didn't necessarily choke but luck didn't appear to be on their side. The Tigers undoub-tably undoub-tably had the talent and skill that could earn them the 1 ranking, but as Coach Terry Harward com-mented, com-mented, "Sometimes it takes more than being good to win." Orem's hopes were officially shattered in games on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. First on Tuesday afternoon, the Tigers met up with the Bingham Bin-gham Miners, who are well known for an outstanding baseball program and an impressive impres-sive record to match. Outscoring the Tigers in the first inning alone, and leaving Orem off guard, the Miners walked away with a merciless 14-3 14-3 victory. Orem pitcher Tim Terry struggled defensively to keep a comeback hope alive for his team, but consecutive errors on the Orem defense diminished any of his pitching strategies. Frustrated at only earning three runs against the Miners but with still two victories behind the Tigers and a chance for at least second place, the Tigers met up with neighborhood rivals, the Mountain View Bruins. The party wasn't over yet. Jamie Jeffords got the ball rolling roll-ing for Orem, pitching the first 8 12 innings. Jeffords only a sophomore, held the Bruins to only four runs. He then turned the reins over to senior Tim Terry.; Mountain View had come to the realization, that this wasn't a friendly game of catch and much more was at stake. They started an offensive rally with Ryan Roberts hitting a fly ball to center, cen-ter, D.G. Nelson walking on and Harris hitting a double to put men on second and third. The bases were loaded as another Bruin batter walked to first. Han seen hit a grounder that was stopped expertly by Orem's Mountain Bike Summer Utah County Travel Council (UCTC) and Sundance will sponsor the first annual "Mountain Bike Summer" Saturday, June 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. "Now you don't need to just ride your bike around the block to get some exercise. You also don't need to travel far to do some serious mountain biking. You can come to Sundance and spend the day up in the hills," Michael Mack, director of the UCTC and president of Bicycle Utah, said. Sundance ski lifts are open in the summer for recreational use including mountain biking, hiking and picnicking. Saturday, June 6 there will be discount coupons available through Steel Breeze, Mark Preston, but then on attempting at-tempting to make the out at second, ended up in night field. Needless to say the Bruins scored. The Bruins seem to have it under control defensively as well. Dale O'Conner gave up 4 runs to the Tigers including a 3-run homer from Tiger Matt Jackman in the fourth inning. D.G. Nelson and Jesse Cotton-Betteridge assisted as-sisted O'Conner for the Bruins and ended the 9th inning battle by grounding out Eric Boyer on a double. Bruins head final at bats and closed the game 5-4. The loss put the Tigers in fifth place. The American Fork Cavemen, also from our region took fourth place and the Bruins slid into third. Overall the Tigers had an excellent ex-cellent season and played well in representing Orem. The team will lose several varsity var-sity players but have also molded some great talent for the following follow-ing '93 season. Congratulations to both the Orem Tigers and the Mountain View Bruins on an outstanding season and good luck next year. Legion Baseball begins June 6th for several of the varsity players form both teams. UCTC and X-96 Radio. There will also be a live X-96 remote from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. according to Mack. The cost for one trip up the lift is $4 and $10 for a full day. There will also be one free trip on the lift with a coupon, plus a discount on the full day passt on June 6. For more information regarding regard-ing the bike festival contact the Utah County Travel Council at 370-8390 or 1-800-222-UTAH. miiinmm hi I" 'in Mil I " 1 j mm'"m ul' ; a Head Coach Terry Harward helps player with equipment. Orem finished one of the top teams in the state. 1 J H uet i n LIk ihape and 5 O Feel Good And Sale Ends Saturday, May 30, 1992 RESIDENT Family Individual Senior Citizen Family Swim Pass NON-RESIDENT Family Individual Senior Citizen Family Swim Pass ANNUAL $231.00 128.00 64.00 183.00 $306.00 165.00 82.00 209.00 20 OFF $185.00 102.00 51.00 146.00 $245.00 132.00 66.00 167.00 SEMIANNUAL SEMI-ANNUAL $128.00 75 43.00 NA $164.00 93 52.00 NA 20 OFF $102.00 60 34.00 NA ave Save Save $131.00 LMJV 42.00 P Ji J win FACILITY INCLUDES: Fifty meter swimming pool, track, racquetball courts, basketball, tennis, volleyball, weight and exercise room, small bore rifle range, shuffleboard, locker rooms, showers and sauna. Sale Ends Saturday May 30, 1992 ...where your family is the star formerly the OREM RECREATION CENTER 580 West 165 South Orem, Utah 224-71 55 Mon.-Fri.6a.m.to10p.m. Saturdays 10a.m.-7 p.m. |