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Show THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE as belli t o Clash With SB U Utah Sports Fans Need To Get Into the Game AU HASNAIN Chronicle Sports Columnist After living in Utah for more than five years, I don't have much to complain about. However, there is one thing I noticed immediately after moving here from Seattle, Washing-ipn- . Utah sports really suck, and I'm not talking about the quality of play. From the teams to the actual games, there's a distinct factor which lessens the quality of sports in comparison to other markets. I like to label it as lameness. The "lameness most often resides in the fans. As I'm from Seattle, I am a Seattle sports fan. By moving here, I didn't change my loyal" ties. ' ' ?: ASAD KUDIYA Chronicle Sports Writer Bat every time I'm around Utah fans, I feel like I'm obligated to root for the teams here. If I don't, then I'm supposed to be a good sport about it. What the hell for? I'm not playing the game. The fun part about being a fan is being able to yell and scream and make fun of the other teams' players, and maybe even the fans. That, of course, is not a legal definition, but it seems to be the truth. You want to have fun rooting for your team, regardless of whether anyone else is or not, right? One time I was at a Jazz game, and Karl Malone was stepping up to the free throw line. Everyone in the Delta Center became quiet in order for the Mailman to concentrate on his free throw. "You suck, Malone," I yelled at the top of my lungs.1 The woman sitting one row down from me turned to stare at ' see HAiKAiri, pay t! Even though the U baseball team has faced two conference opponents, its series with San Diego State starting today will allow it to see how far the team has come, and how far it can go. San Diego State has a record of is ranked No. 38 in the nation and head coach Jim Deitz is adding more wins to move up the list in total all time wins, and he's already 21-- "" ,V um--Jl i , 1 1 I '1 I ! 1 "" 4-- -- A ,( - ' j n inconsistency rather than venue. Beam me up For the second straight year, the Red Rocks finished No. 1 in the nation as a 'A '7 M v' -- - S3 Tv " - 'XX ,SX I ' "iiu 4" 33 O ili ' 2??s ' " ' . ;r if rx -- it: vnr: If i 1 I ,'r- It zrr'""""'' - - ' i f . " ir- - ? : ? m4X w i . hr '"'t(-- 't .nfji " ') i- - TIAA CREF '- - i Vf.3fMf4V ' '"r 'j.. a I 1 - 1 ir--- - nrrt s a !,,,; 4;,,' v 1" - 1 I'lrfsiiMirsiHnidiiii, f "' I I y- 1 , - - 0 iTit 1 f" a?? z? jx "?'J'IU""'"'""" f I 1 1 1 rbrunnerchronicle.ut3h.edu 1 n 11 " , 1 mid-seaso- i " I ill -- if . iyr-'- -- see BASEBALL, page - p ill- r ... percentage of .706 in the "wr-xx-- j.35 I " "T ' " r along with Theresa Kulikowski, freshman Annabeth Eberle and either Shannon Bowles or Melissa Vituj. But an even greater psychological obstacle for the Utes is the competition site. The Utes have not been the same potent machine away from the Huntsman Center this year. In the Huntsman Center, Utah averaged a 197 225 team score in six meets. In five meets outside the JMHC confines, the score dipped to 196.335. But Marsden isn't overplaying the discrepancy. "I'm not convinced it was road struggles," he said. Marsden attributed the troubles the Utes experienced during the Olympic break to a result of flMti llSllil lis ' 1 1 -- l'llll"IIIMl I """1ISpMr ?! 1 W'll se on-ba- 3-- 0. I M Tony Gwynn. However, it is not as if the Aztecs hitting has been, complete garbage. Taber Lee has been playing very well, as he won the Mountain West Player of the Week award for his efforts against BYU. In the scries, Lee hit .667 with a pair of doubles and 4 runs scored. He also had an unbelievable four-gam- II " State and assistant coach 0-- 7 I j. - Dunwell started the season 2 and has not lost a game since. Rory e winShortcll is the other ner for the Aztecs. Shortcll is 2 and has an ERA of 4.12. The biggest surprise this season for the Aztecs has been redshirt sophomore Rob Harrand. Harrand pitched 6 innings and only allowed one run last weekend, Harrand's upping his record to ERA stands at 3.97. If f J If I 1 .... Utah welcomes No. 38 San Diego 1 1 iWttnir mini, " C mMb11M)mi..rt. """".i.i mn" 1 continued from page 8 .' 1 M ii"" - 8 team on the balance beam. With a team regional qualifying score of 49.38, the U gymnasts topped current No. and defending national champion UCLA (49.305) for the beam crown. Junior Theresa Kulikowski earned the No. spot in the nation, earning a 9.960 RQS. Senior Shannon Bowles was not far behind, finishing third nationally with an RQS of 9.945. The only other Utc in the Top 20 was sophorriore Melissa Vituj. Vituj's 9.875 RQS tied for 20th. The three aforementioned gymnasts are three of the top four event winners this year. Kulio led the team in the regular season with 25 wins, including seven beam and bars titles each. Bowles collected 11 victories and Vituj was" fourth place on the team with five. native Quebec Sophomore seven wins, LeClerc's Vcroniquc her enabled on vault, three including durwins individual on to third place ing the regular season. : 'V, iuiirr-.awf- 4-- 1 L, GYririASTICS rx V four-gam- II I the balance beam. v seventh. The Aztecs came into the season with a new assistant coach in future hall of fame big leaguer Tony Gwynn. Even with Gwynn's superior intellect in the art of hitting, the team is proving its winning ways derive from the superb pitching from the starting staff. "They have the most depth and the best pitching staff in the conference," U baseball coach Tim Esmay said. The Aztecs have a team ERA of e 3.71 and have two individual winners. Chris Dunwell, who has been named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week, has a record of 2 and an ERA of 3.33. ' . V,.;" 9, x Iz Shannon Bowies is ranked No. 3 nationally on 9 29, 2002 FRIDAY, MARCH i ' |