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Show THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE TUESDAY, MARCH 21, WALDEN continued from page 11 What's the point? I wondered. This thing's going to be more boring than Al Gore presiding over the latest meeting of his stamp collectors club. Listening to an anthropology professor lecture on the variances of finch beaks would have been interesting by comparison. People kept telling me I was wrong, how March Madness was invariably exciting, inherently dramatic, and inevitably entertaining. Yeah, and the only crack that George W. Bush knows about is the one down the middle of his rear end. So I sat in the Jon M. Huntsman Center last Thursday, preparing to sleep games and through four daring any of the eight teams there to prove me wrong. MisAnd while the souri State game did provide a finish, the only other even remotely interesting thing to happen that day was the fashionably late n perappearance of and the formances by the incredible Jackson State band. That night, after seeing the opening day of tournament play yield only the modest upset of No. io seed Gonzaga over seventh-seede- d Louisville, I felt smugly vindicated in my assessment of the tourney. It was not until the second round of play that something previously unpar first-roun- d LSU-Southea- st down-to-ihe-wi- soul-drive- The Wisconsin Badgers were orse of many surprise ing to the 'Sweet 16' of the NCAA Tournament teams advanc- alleled happened: I was proven wrong. began to witness the change of events that Saturday as I sat and watched college basketball from my chair in the Huntsman Center. LSU and Texas generated some real excitement when they were still even after 38 of the game's 40 minutes. Then No. 8 Wisconsin picked apart Arizona as methodically as a vulture making dinner of some road-kii- l. I re top-seed- ed the time Sunday's games were through, two No. seeds, three No. 2 seeds, and three more No. 3 seeds had been sent home faster than a second-grade- r with lice.' Ironically, while having eight of the top u teams faii to make the "Sweet 16" confirmed my original complaint regarding the lack of dominant teams, it also proved to me that you can never underestimate the entertainment value of unforseen chaos. Sure, I might have saved myself the aggravation of seeing my bracket shot to hell, but I missed out on some of the joy that results from surrounding yourself fully with the heavenly glow that ccmes from the greatest sports spectacle in existence. basketball Being the fan I am, I know now I should have had more faith. I should have known March Madness is not a disease, but rather the cure for basketball apathy. Now, if I could only figure out what it was that made me agree to babysit that devil child... By 1 self-proclaim- Basebrawi Set For High Noon: Utah vs. Mesa Area hospitals better have a few extra bags of blood and some IVs ready because the Utes and Mavericks meet again today. A quick trip to the local hospital ended the weekend series for a few players the last time the Mesa State and Utah baseball teams met. The last time the teams met, the Mavericks won the series with three wins to Utah's one, in a series that yielded a ton of runs and a bench-clearin- n-1- four-gam- streak coming into today's double-heade- r. The Utes currently sit in third place in MWC standings. Today's double-heade- r begins at noon at Franklin-Cove- y Field. WOMEN be found in the rooms of everone associated with it while at the MWC Tournament. The were always signed "Dubs." "Four years went by fast. It was a great experience...the friendships, just everything," Whitman said. "It was a lot of hard work, but it was totally worth it." leading up first career start, she cried a little and hugged fellow senior and Fueites. Fuertes led the Utes this season in assists and, on more than one occasion, stepped up to be the team's leading scorer or to hit the game-winnishot. Fuertes led the team in both assists, averaging five per game, and in minutes played during the regular season. She was second in both steals and free-thro- w percentage. has given the best consistent leadership of her career this season with this team," Elliott said. "That's been critical. has remained so positive and so emotionally motivated that the team has really followed her." Fuertes' leadership on the floor was "T T never more obvious than during the MWC Tournament. Before being named MWC Tournament MVP, Fuertes awed the crowd with her quickness and skills. During the championship game Fuertes burned BYU with nine assists. Fuertes' most important play, however, was in the semifinal game against ball-handli- Backpack to Briefcase I www.utah.editmajonJay.. Jyjy UNLV. Fuertes knocked down a three-pointto lift the Utes over the Rebels 67-6- 5 with only 14 seconds left to play. It was Fuertes first game-winnibasket of her career and it put Utah in the chamer pionship game. "For the last 25 years Utah's been the team to beat," Fuertes said. "I enjoyed playing for four years and I wouldn't trade it for anything." excited to see Christine Kanei-Wonfinal daughter Tiana play her year, made the move from Hawaii to Utah to live with her daughter. Fuertes was followed to Las Vegas this year by family members who are always excited to watch her play and are easily the most enthusiastic fans Utah brings to the tournament. "These two kids mean so much to our program. T' is obviously going to be missed as a floor leader," Elliott said. "And Janna is the glue of this team. The characteristics and the class she brings to the tcam...you can't replace that." March 22, 2000 Union Ballroom 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m g, Sponsored by Student Afumni Association, Career Services, University Co!iege Generously supported by Kaplan g Nordstrom t 4r 3 if g brawl. In the four games played, Utah and Mesa State totaled 90 runs with the Mavs scoring 24 runs in the first game alone. Utah is 4 on the season (4-- 2 in MWC play) and looks e win to continue its continued from page 9 In 2000 It JEN SMCCK |