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Show OREM TIMES Page S I X OWE " - "Kir- Tadd Brewer lnfielder, No. 26', from Sturgis, Ky COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Giving a hoot about the Owlz Thursday, September 7, 2006 " ASHLEY FRANSCELLNorth County Scott Benson, 18, of Orem waits as Hootz the Ow! in a locker room before the start of the Owlz game on Aug. 30. "My costume feet are bigger than Ronald McDonald," he said. "We've measured. " Below, Hootz the Owl's antics gets laughs from the crowd during the seventh-inning stretch on Aug. 30. MV graduate has seen, felt it all as mascot for baseball team NORTH COUNTY Nobody in the stands can see Scott Benson sweat. Almost every night from June to September, Benson, who plays Hootz, the Orem Owlz's mascot, has the best job in the world. Or so he thinks. He flirts with girls. He makes people laugh. He gets to watch baseball - for free. His last two years at Mountain View High School were spent on the sidelines of basketball, football and wrestling matches. in a bear suit. He enjoyed it so much that last year Benson went to the Owlz and proposed he become their mascot. His experience at Mountain View made an impression with the Owlz. He was hired as the first and original Hootz. Last season he was the only Owlz preparing for Pioneer playoffs PhillipMorgan NORTH COUNTY After clinching the second half of the Pioneer League season against their in-state rivals, the Ogden Raptors, manager Tom Kotchman and the Orem Owlz are using a meaningless series against the Casper Rockies for some much needed "R-and-R" for many of the regular starters. "We needed to get guys a day off that needed it," Kotchman said. "Guys like (Chris) Pettit, (Peter) Bourjos just missed a week; (Abel) Nieves, (Tad) Brewer and then (Scott) Knazek catching catch-ing all of time, they needed it. Plus we got some of our younger guys time on the field." With the Idaho Falls Chu-kars Chu-kars waiting just off-stage and a possible meeting the championship with the Billings Bill-ings Mustangs, Kotchman will not let his team lose focus fo-cus on the important games in front of them. "We are not looking past Idaho Falls," Kotchman said. "That's the worst thing you could and say, 'It's going to be us versus Billings.' No, we're not thinking that at , OPY ; ; Hootz. He worked almost 40 home games, missing three because be-cause of illness and the removal remov-al of his wisdom teeth. But this year he shares the title, switching switch-ing off each home game. The 18-year-old isn't sure he wants to make his hobby a career. The constant harassment ha-rassment from children, the 20-pound costume and busy schedule leave much to be desired. "I just don't know if I can get in a sweaty costume night after night after night," Benson Ben-son said, adding he sweats t off 5-to-7 pounds each game. "That'd be a hard job to do the rest of my life." But for now, Benson loves his job, especially flirting with the girls. Girls and women of all ages flock to him. "They don't see my ugly See HOOTZ, Page 7 Schedule South Division championship Idaho Falls vs. Orem Be st-of -throe Friday At Idaho Falls, 7 p.m. Saturday At Orem, 7 p.m. Sunday (if necessary) At Orem, 4 p.m. A victory in the division championships would send Orem against the North Division champion for the Pioneer League title Tickets available by calling 377-2255 or at the UVSC ticket office. all." It might be easy to think that way for the Olwz. Especially Es-pecially after Orem beat the Chukars in 10 straight games. "Everything went right for us to win those games," Kotchman said. "They beat us the last two over there, so it should be a close series. See PLAYOFFS, Page 7 V 0 Owlz clinch title against Ogden NORTH COUNTY The Orem Owlz clinched the second half South division di-vision championship this week while eliminatring their in-state rival Ogden Raptors from the playoff picture. Here's a look back at the week that was. Aug.31: The Owlz rattled off seven straight singles during inning number seven, scoring six times to take command of the ball-game ball-game as they cruised to an 11-3 victory. With one out in the frame and the game tied at 3-3, PJ Phillips and Carlos Colmenares each singled putting runners on first and second. I Sept. 1: The Chukars snapped their ten game losing los-ing streak against Orem with a 3-2 victory Friday evening from McDermott Field in Idaho. The game was tied at 2-2 heading to the bottom of the ninth Deciding to sell was tough. Using a REALTOR made it easy. Utah County Assoctlon of REALTORS www.ucaor.com Disc Herniation? New FDA Approved Technology Treats Herniated Discs Without Drugs or Surgery Utah County- A new free report has recently been released that reveals how breakthrough medical technology is offering surgery free new hope for disc pain sufferers. Research has proven that FDA approved non-surgical spinal decompression has a 86 success including sciatica and multiple herniated disc. It looks like another NASA discovery has lead to the most promising non-surgical disc treatment today For your free report entitled, "How Space Age Technology Is Solving Back Pain Without Drugs Or Surgery!" call 1-80O-308-233X and listen to the toll-free toll-free 24 hr recorded message for all the details or go to WWWDRXL'TAH COM. These free reports are available ) ..j i t-; - , t' "I when Owlz reliever Blake Holler entered the game. Sept. 2: Owlz gave up seven sev-en runs in the bottom of the first after taking a 3-0 lead in the top half. Orem would get within one at 7-6 before the Chukars would score the final five en route to a 12-6 victory, taking two of three in the series. I Sept. 3: With two down, Abel Nieves lined a single to right center in the bottom bot-tom of the tenth, scoring Carlos Colmenares from second base to hand the Owlz a 4-3 victory over the Ogden Raptors Sunday in Orem. I Sept. 4: For the second night in a row, the Owlz came from behind to defeat their Utah rival Ogden. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Carlos Colmenares Col-menares led off the frame with a single to right. Following Fol-lowing a sacrifice bunt by Tadd Brewer, Peter Bourjos rate for treating debilitating back pain for a limited time 4 4i 4 was plunked by a 2-2 fastball fast-ball and Chris Pettit walked to load the bases. Abel Nieves singled through the right side of the infield to score the tying and go ahead runs for the home team. Sept. 5: In game one of a meaningless series, the Orem Owlz mustered just two hits and were shutout by the Casper Rockies 3-0. With the playoff picture already set, the Owlz used an unusual lineup and were held scoreless for the fourth time in 2006. Trevor Bell was a tough luck loser. He tossed six marvelous innings, giving up just one run on five hits while striking out a season high nine batters. AMLKI 1 tVM ft J f 1-800-377-2907 PrOVO and Draper, t T Campuses iiuw.amvrilech.edu niA ii. -rfhrf r iftj i fTi if i ft rtfj i iff i n4nrfii i A if 1 4 n r4i if "Hfj 11 va Nickname: Brewskie BrothersSisters: Sister, Kassie My favorite movie: Voung Guns II My favorite TV show: Sopranos My favorite food: Fried mushrooms My favorite singergroup: George Strait My favorite team: Kentucky Wildcats My favorite athlete: Ozzie Smith My favorite subjectclass in school: Organizational MG My pet peeve: Bad driving Before a baseball game, I: Focus on plays I picked my number because: I didn't pick it My walk-upwarm-up song is: Jump On r(SirMix-A-Lot) I spent the off-season: Working out and hunting The greatest influence on my career: My dad and many coaches My favorite activity away from baseball base-ball is: Hunting If I could play another sport, it would be: Golf 20 years from now, I hope to be: Retired People say I look like: My dad My most embarrassing moment: Too many One thing I'd like to do sometime in my life: Visit every Major League stadium One thing I can't live without: Sleep One thing most people don't know about me: I'm a country boy My advice to young fans: Play your heart out every game eye FOOTBALL Coach depicted in Titans' to speak at UVSC on Sept. 13 'iM!H r)U t Herman Boone, the original TC Williams High School football coach made famous by the Disney Dis-ney production, "Remember the Titans," will be coming to UVSC Sept. 13 to give a speech titled, "Remember the Titans: Conflict Resolution and Unity." Boone's presentation will take place in UVSC's Grande Ballroom in the Sorensen Student Center at n(xn. The event is free and open to the public. In the midst of segregation and racism in Alexandria, Va., resulting result-ing from the conjoining of black and white high schrxjls in the area, Boone overcame color barriers barri-ers and unified a football team of mixed races. Asa result, Boone's 1971 Titans went on to accumulate accumu-late a 13-0 record and a Virginia state championship. "I think his life example and accomplishments make him a great role model for everyone," said J. P. Spagnolo, coordinator of student leadership at UVSC. "He's talking about bringing a community together, and that's See TOWN EYE, Page 7 M A f i . r4 rn i. a jl.. ' . - Ai n rifrirfii i4i4fii d Cilf"'Ci C. 'i.Aj....nKmt,4' ij 4tjtt |