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Show THE . DAI UTAH LY CHRONICLE POK Even I Caught The Tourney Premature Madness Bug ER!C Five Ute Seniors Had Careers End WALDEN Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor Over Weekend I know that technically "March Madness" is just a theoretical term which attempts to capture the unpredictable nature of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. But for a while, I actually believed that it was a legitimate disease, completely infectious and replete with unusual and bizarre symptoms. That would certainly have helped explain some of my more recent behavior. After all, over Spring Break I shaved my head, actually agreed to babysit my nephew in spite of an intense aversion to children, and, in what is unquestionably the surest sign of insanity, failed to fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket. I realized quite belatedly that my actions were quite sacrilegious and blasphemous to the basketball gods, but there was nothing I could do about it then. Once I realized my egregious error, I sat in perplexed wonderment at how I could become so careless. I am a hoops junkie, addicted to rattling the rim and tingling the twine, always in need of a fix of roundball. So how could I neglect to fill out a bracket? I sat down, racked my brain, and reached into the deepest recesses of my mind for the answer. Thirty long seconds later, I still didn't have it figured out. Finally, though, I reached a conclusion. It wasn't some mind-numbin- personality-alterin- g, r ng STERLING CLIFFORD Chronicle Sports Writer CLEVELAND Just after midnight, as the Utes were headed home from their final game of the season, a tired Jeremy Killion stretched his injured knee into the isle of the plane and thought about his career at Utah. "I'm damn sad," Killion said, his hands waiving for emphasis. "I thought I had a grip on it. As soon as I got into the iocker room, it was the saddest thing, ever." Like four of his teammates, Killion has put on the red 2nd whites for the last time. The next Utah game he sees will be as a other Utes, Alex Jensen, see MEM HOOP, page 10 RIGHT: Jeremy Kiilion's career ended with the Utes' ioss to Michigan State last Saturday. BELOW: Tiana Fuertes' career as the Utes' point guard is done after a loss to Illinois. Fuertes and Wliitman Say Goodbye to Utah JEN SMOCK first time. Fuertes is used to starting at the point. Whitman was not a starter Chronicle Sports Writer g, DNA-twist-i- disease that caused Two guards stood in front of the Utah beach loaded down with flowers and Ieis during the traditional Senior Night. Janna Whitman ("Dubs") and my behav- ior. The problem was not due to too much March Madness, but too little of it. Tiana Fuertes ("T") played their last home game after four years with the simply didn't care. had tuned into the Tournament Selection Show, casually watched the matchups unfold with a disinterested and detached attitude, then returned to the important task of counting the number of fibers in my bedroom carpet. With no dominant teams, a number of questionable inclusions, and a lackluster year from the local squad, there just weren't any storylines sufficiently compelling to pique my interest. Of course, I looked at a pairing here and there and ventured a guess as to who Would emerge as the victor in those individual contests, but I was pretty much too apathetic to believe that filling out a bracket would be worth the time it took to do it. After asking me who 1 had going to the "Final four" and winning it all, other people were incredulous upon hearing that I hadn't bothered to make any predictions. I I see WALDEN, page Utes. That was three weeks ago as the Utes demolished Air Force. Fuertes and Whitman started together for the but every team needs inspiration and that was her strength. "Janna is one of our senior captains but does not play a lot," Utah coach Elaine Elliott said. "But she is responsible for our team's confidence and the belief we have in ourselves." Motivational flyers covered with pictures of trophies of the team could see WOMEN, page 11 R ice Eccles Will Sport Real Grass -- BRANDON WiNN Chronicle Sports Editor Like most experiments, Utah's work with Sports-Gras- s half-tu- rf surface in Rice-Ecclthe half-grasStadium failed. It will be replaced with the real stuff before the next football season. With help from the Utah Blitzz, the new outdoor es its home soccer team which will make this spring while it waits for a new stadium to be completed, the stadium floor will be completely overhauled. Instead of the combination of carpet and gr3ss, stadium officials have decided to go with just Rice-Eccl- es grass. 11. The Biitzz is scheduled to play its first home game May 19; the field should be replaced by May . The new soccer franchise, playing in the United Soccer League, agreed to pay for a field expansion CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR which added 10 yards of grass to each side of the field. Utah Athletics Director Chris Hill figured rather than just have real grass on the field's perimeter, he would pay for a brand new field altogether. "That seemed the most logical thing to do," Hill said, '"it was too slick was always the biggest complaint. That and 'it was too hard.' With grass, there will be a more consistent surface." Hill estimated that the U will play around $100,000 to dig up the old stuff and put in the new. "It's not a huge project," Hill said. "We gave the SportsGrass a go, but we feel the grass will be better." Players frequently complained about the field being too slick and tough to plant on. Visiting teams suffered even more than the Utes because they were unaccustomed to the surface and looked like they were trying to cut while wearing roller blades. "I wasn't that dissatisfied about the SportsGrass, BRANDON WINN WINNCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU but it was a little slipper)'," Utah coach Ron McBridc said. "It was a fast surface, but it was tough to plant and cut on. You had to learn to run on it. Grass will be easier to play on." Utah was the first school to use the SportsGrass, which was supposed to provide better footing and durability. The grass roots intertwined themselves with the artificial surface to provide a stronger hold. It didn't work. After games, the field looked like a driving range at a golf course because there were so many divots dug up by the players' cleats. Utah' eventually would like to host exhibition World Cup and Major League Soccer matches, which is another motivating factor behind the switch. To attract professional teams, the stadium had to have a professional feel. Stadium Moving to grass is one W3y can move in that direction. Rice-Eccl- 581-704- 1 es |