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Show su Tie Dan? Utah Ctoick, Tcdy. JmbwT 1. PORTS VWHght's At a natuiffll Ibalplayeir Sports bigot errs, finds U. gymnastics to be a worthy sport she keeps 5-foo- t-5, pressure on opponents Miry Lou who? Forget the Rcttons. Forget the Vidmars. Forget the McNamaras and the Gaylords and the Talavcras and the Johnson and Johnsons. Gold isn't "in" anymore. Red is. This columnist just loves athletics. The roar of the crowd, the excitement of a race down to the wire, all the things that make sporting events a memorable experience. I will, however, admit that I've had my doubts when it by John Youngren Chronicle staff For Lady Ute pla making guard Reggie Wright, what she's doing is just what comes naturally. leader of the Utes, is generally Wright, the acknowledged as the team's best ball handler and passer 92 assists last year). Also a (she passed a team-hig- h defensive presence, the guard says her height (or lack of it) helps her keep pressure on opposing players. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, she has the ability to back up and arch one up there, and has emerged as the team's best outside shooter, despite being sometimes streaky. You could say she has the, uh, Wright stuff. "She has the green light to shoot from three-poirange," Ute Coach Elaine Elliott said, "And we need her to make things happen for us by doing that." Both Elliott and Wright said there are certain things Reggie must do in order for her to succeed personally and for the Utes to do well as their HCAC season opens, next week at home against Wyoming. "She needs to be able to create things without losing control while running our offense, and she has an understanding of that," Elliott said. Reggie agrees. "I have to apply more leadership than I have been," she said. "Elaine says I'm the quarterback, and I've got to direct people more. I also think if I can score more, we can do better." For Wright though, most of what she must do for the Utes are things she has been doing for most of her life. A While other players might not look upon heading to practice as the biggest thrill of the day, for Wright it is the Utah point guard Reggie Wright backs up and pops highlight. a shot over defender's head in recent Ute action. "All the stress from the day the reading and the Wright, the team leader in assists, is going to be homework builds up. But I come to practice and it's like called on more often to add scoring punch to her I'm in another world. It's my time to relax and just have team once the High Country Athletic Conference on-flo- or Mi nt And ever since the third grade, Reggie has been having fun shooting that jumper. "My brother and I would go out to our outdoor hoop and we'd play in the snow, if we needed to. We didn't care; we'd shovel the walks just to play. I was kind of dumb because I'd wear a dress and play in my high heels. I was lucky I never turned an ankle or anything," Wright said. So from the age of eight on, Reggie Wright has been popping the shots. Her brother is Willie Wright, a prep star at Olympus High School in the late 70s. To this day, Reggie credits him with a good deal of her basketball know-ho- w. "I look up to my brother. He helped me a lot. I kind of followed what he did; I learned a lot from him." She can outplay him, too, occasionally, in basketball shooting I can games. "In HORSE, I can beat him. In his he with when (beat him) only right hand," she plays one-on-o- ne said. Reggie will take credit for forming a team when her school didn't have a women's basketball squad at Bonneville Jr. High. She'll also rightfully take credit for a Mark Sool 0i season begins. so-call- ed ON SPORTS i n fun," she said. sporting events. Boxing is one. Greyhound racing is another. And right up there near the top was gymnastics. I say was. comes to some 5 What follows is a sort of "Confessions of a repentant sports bigot." In the United States, the sport of gymnastics has not exactly enjoyed the popularity of say, football, baseball or basketball. And while the recent antics of the U.S. Olympic Team may have garnered a few converts, the majority of Americans would still prefer a root canal to watching a group of gymnasts. So when it came time for assigning a sportswnter to cover the Ute gymnastics team this year, I wasn't holding my breath for any volunteers. It came time for our weekly staff meeting, and I was beginning to regret the fact I hadn't brought any thumbscrews. "It's getting about time for gymnastics," I began, staring down at a crack in the floor. I looked up. Every hand in the room was up, and beneath each hand an eager face which seemed to say, "Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!" "Maybe there is something to this gymnastics stuff," I thought, trying as best I could to conceal my surprise. I changed tactics at once, deciding that if they all wanted it that bad there must be something to it. Instead of the planned offering of a reward to anyone silly enough to accept the gymnastics beat, I made a snap decision. "I just wanted you to know that I'll be covering that sport this year." I looked into their faces. Their hands dropped to their sides, their shoulders slumped and all hope fled from their eyes. I was beginning to feel like I'd just told Timmy that Lassie got run over. Oh well, it's lonely at the top. The next day, however, I was beginning to feel like I'd made a terrible mistake. I happened to mention to a friend that I would be covering the Ute gymnasts (thinking it would provide me with some heavy ego gratification). I was wrong. My friend chuckled lightly. "How can you even justify putting that stuff on the sports page," he groaned. "It ain't a sport if it's not played with a ball. If it should be printed anywhere, it belongs in the Arts section of the paper, not -- tremendously successful career at Hillcrest High School, where the Huskies gained two state championships and Wright was MVP of the state tournament both her junior and senior years. The rest of her prep credits include just about every honor offered. She was an star four years and and was region MVP three of those. She was her high school's outstanding female athlete, she was the team's most inspirational player as a sophomore and she was a BCI High School It was during those BCI tournments that she first came into contact with present Ute Coach Elliott. "There were four schools I was really considering. Utah, BYU, Arizona State and Louisville. But the main reason I ended up at Utah was Elaine had coached me in the BCI tournaments two years in a row. I knew she was a great coach I knew what she could do, she knew what I could do, and that's the main reason I came here," Wright all-regi- on All-Americ- an. said. continued on page seven sports." The idea of covering the meets myself, which I seemed so sure of only the day before, now began looking like another one of my mistakes. Maybe I should call it off. But it was too late. Word Processing Goes Portable! The Logical Choice for People on the Go WP-60- iZr Mr Ms &dL4fes M -- rb-10- WP-60- 0 bifier brother WP-60- 0 FB-10- 0 gymnastics coach Greg Marsden understands this. He says it happens frequently. continued on page seven tyiaiJe 0 The Brother now makes it possible to carry along a fully functional word processor in your briefcase Not a computer. Not tust a portable typewriter. A compact, lightweight word processor capable of file storage, editing, printout, and telecommunications. A 9 file, 14.3K memory provides enough storage capacity lor vrtualiy any application. But for volume jobs, memory is infinitely expandable with the ' 0 optional 3.5 floppy disk i.t.vc' unit. See what portability is about, with the pt.rscnjl wore processor by I will admit I am now ashamed of my previous attitude toward the sport, but I take consolation in the fact that Ute FB-10- SPECIFICATIONS: ! Memory j's Displ.iy .'J ms-- '' . rfu-.K---- - Power 4 ; Paper capacity rvPrinting speed 2nd shift key AddiUon.il 44 international v .v ,i.:.-tvMtetos. AC adaptor 16 .1 LCD 'IF 0 SPECIFICATIONS: Media 35" Micro floppy disKMemory capacity 100KB Power 4 a a sue alkaline batteries. AC adaptor ma mm TYPEWRITER COMPANY 777 South State (Across from Sears) Phone 328-494- 1 My o o o Oq o o Still time o o to register o o o o Plan to o o o graduate during o o o our 50th o o o Anniversary o o Q o oooooo oooo o |
