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Show DAILY THE CHRONICLE UTAH 0$0&fi GO0Q Football Is L ackin Atlantic Division Ought NBA's To ERi.C WALDEN walden I :A Chronicle Sports Editor . V-- 3 While the baseball season mercifuiiy crawls toward its inexorable conclusion, and the football schedule reaches s halfway point true lovers of true sport can take comfort in the knowledge that, after several grueling months of tortuous inactivity, basketball is finally almost upon us again. The upcoming NBA seasoa, which begins a week-frotoday, offers hope to virtually all 29 teams. Yes, even the Clippers . and Mavericks teams traditionally so low they have to look up to get a glimpse of hell feel reason to be optimistic this year. Granted, for many of them, it will be a false and fleeting sense of hope, but that won't stop them from playing all $2 However, a lack of talent has not been the problem. While the Utes certainly may not have all the ability everyone though they did when they were universally proclaimed the favorites to win the league this year, neither are they incompetent hacks struggling against physically superior competition. No, the problem behind this disastrous season lies elsewhere. And while coach Ron McBride continues to say, "I can't give a reason for what happened," as he did on Saturday night, perhaps some of the players are finally catching on, at least. Among those few players who Josh Lyman and the Utes have been lacking mental acuity this season, leading felt capable of trying to explain yet who had the team's only offensive another disappointing loss, the touchdown in the CSU game. "I common theme vas that, as in don't really know how to explain it we get it done on one series but years past, the Utes biggest problems once again exist inside their not on others." own heads. That trend has been evident all "We just have to focus out on the throughout the season. In virtually field," said tight end Matt Nickel, every loss the team has suffered W A V . ' )' f I v behold. It should be even ' more impressive now that he's got Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady to work with a pair of es who fly high enough to regularly confuse local air traffic controllers. 11 The men's swimming team took third place at the SWIMMING UtaE at at Las Vegas, Nev. jjr .y"7'!.-'''- ' to their disappointing season. this year, either McBride or one his players has attributed the defeat to "shooting ourselves in the foot." Missed field goals, costly, turnovers, a stagnant offense, and a defense prone to occasional ill-tim- ed see FOOTBALL, page 10 BYU 10-2- 7 6 p.m. & Provo, Utah CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR CSU At Year's First Meet Over the last several years, the Utah swimming program had become incredibly stagnant with the men's team never nearing the glory days in which it won 22 conference championships, and the relatively new women's squad never managing to finish in the top half of the league. However, along with new coach Mike Litzinger have come new expectations. And, if the team's first meet of the 2000-0- 1 season is any indication, these new results will be the norm. This past Saturday, the Uteswere in Fort Collins, Colo., participating in the Colorado State Early Bird Invitational. Aside from Utah, n other teams including three from the MWC were at. the competition. In that field, Utah got off to a good start for the season. The men swam to a third-plac- e finish, coming in behind Air Force and Wyoming, while the women berth last year with only recycled players, disposable parts. and smoke and mirrors at his disposal was something to . -- Ute Swimmers Solid J. Orlando Magic: Watching NBA. Coach of the Year Glenn "Doc" Rivers almost lead this team to 2 playoff 9 ... all. -- 1025-2- , tory. players such as Mike Anderson, John Frank and Jay Hill are difficult to replace, after - ITA Region VII H 9-- " Conference's Finals representative it will at least include enough drams, and intrigue 10 make the action in your favorite soap opera look bke a v day in Nebraska, MEN'S TENNIS UtaE cient focus '!!'. share of the conference championship and a bowl game vic- kt see WALDEN, paqfc mi three-wa- y , atn-let- .n Saturday. Anyone can tell you that they lost some key players from the team that went 3 last year, earned a - s Ji nt games anyway. v That being said, t is time to examine who can legitimately run their mouths and shou'.d start scouting he college ranks for next year's : ' .N tery picks: C : s Jvjtb-thstart Today, seven teams of .the Atiaatic Division, which features a psif of title hopefuls, another pair of playoff perennials, and a trio of teams thathow haIJ I say ' this in a nice aud polite way?- -, suck, Whiie the division may "not end up yielding the '"Fastens i MIHHM....III.I...U.II.II. Seven games into the season, no one on the Utah football team is sure what's going on. . , Coaches and players alike are still dumbfounded as to why the Utes stumbled out of the gate en route to losing their first four games of the year. They are likewise devoid of an explanation as to why, after heading down the path to righting themselves with consecutive wins against Utah State and San Diego lead and State, they blew a the game against Colorado State :ric "SJ5 ..WiMtiliy,!!! .hi. Chronicle Sports Editor Be Magical dy 66n 0000 Invitational. VOLLEYBALL CROSS COUNTRY Colorado State vs Utah at UtaF MWC Title Meet 1027 8 7 p.m. 3 Crimson Court ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN 1028 Fort Collins, Colo. finished fourth overall, losing only to host CSU, Fresno State and Wyoming. Along the way, many Ute swimmers registered quality individual performances. The team's most successful swimmer of the day came from the women's side, where freshman Kristen Kaiser made an impressive debut placing first or second in three different events. In her first official collegiate meet, she won both the 400 individual medley and the 1,650 freestyle. She also was the runner-u- p in the 500 free. Another top performer for the women was team captain Erin Blun-delShe managed a second-plac- e finish in the 200 free and also turned in a third-plac- e performance in the 200 fly. Meanwhile, on the men's side, l. see SWIMMING, page FOOTBALL UtaE at VOLLEYBALL Wyoming vs Utah . New Mexico 1028 i p.m. 10928 581-704- p.m. Crimson Court Albuquerque, N.M. EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU 7 1 10 |