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Show SPORTS '" mmmmmmmmmMmmmmm " Daily Utah Chronicle y MBWaagtBgMi I HJl A vc W .V J v '' v - " M ...... .' C N .y -' U ...... . ... s baseball player Tyson Olson was one of eight players charged with a second-degre- ... f " . felony for vandalizing the letter "Y" at Brigham Young University. e aseball players charged with felony SALT LAKE CITY-W- hat was intended as a prank in the Young rivalry has a group of Utc baseball players facing punishment much more severe than either school could dish out. Painting red "U"s on the "Y" on the mountainside overlooking the BYU campus in Provo got the players charged with a felony. Defense attorneys are trying to get it reduced, but so far it's standing and a court hearing is scheduled for June 21. "I'll be the first to admit we should be punished. There should have been something Utah-Brigha- m done," pitcher Ryan Breska said Thursday. "But a second-degre- e felony charge seems a little much." Rreska, a reliever who graduated last month, and seven others are charged with second-degree felony mischief, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Breska was arrested May 10 when he went to pick up pictures taken as the "Y" was painted April 30, the night before the Utes wrapped up a three-gam- e scries at BYU. "We did it in the hopes that it would be there for our next game on Saturday, just to add some fire to the rivalry not that it needs much," Breska said. The Utes saw the effort had failed when the "Y" was a crisp white again by game time the next afternoon. comBYU also won 14-three-gam- e a sweep. pleting Breska thought that was the end of the prank, until he went to pick up his pictures at a local grocery store. A photo clerk who saw the pictures called police, who had no trouble deducing Utah baseball players were involved because the film included 9, shots from a team trip to New Orleans in February. Police were waiting for Breska when he went to pick up the photos and was taken to the Utah County Jail, where he spent the night on the felony charge. Breska was released the next day and police called Utah coach Tim Esmay to identify the other players, who were suspended for a game and later charged. Ryan Florence, Tyler Kmet-kTyson Olson, Jacob Wal-draEric Schaler, Jay Bross-ma- n and Jason Price are also charged. Schaler, a freshman o, pitcher, quit the team before the end of the season. Jeff Buhman, a deputy Utah County attorney who is prosecuting the case, said the charge is a felony because the damage estimate was more than $1,000, the cutoff between a misdemeanor and felony. Pranks between the state's biggest rivals are common. Prosecuting them is not, Buhman said. "Most of the time people don't get caught from either university. These guys got caught," Buhman said. The giant "Y" is on a moun- tainside east of campus and is not accessible by road. Because painters had to climb the rather steep hill and had to use several coats of white to cover the red, the cost of repairing the damage wTas estimated between $2,000 and $5,000. BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said pranks of similar magnitude in the longtime rivalry between the schools have been less frequent the past few years. "I think people have realized the damage that's done and the financial ramifications to the damage," Jenkins said. The Associated Press Enough excuses It's time to bring soccer to the forefront in the Hey gang! How about that U.S. national team victory over Grenada on Sunday! Wasn't DaMarcus Beasley playing out of his cleats? In case you are part of the vast majority of soccer muggles in this country, here's what went down: World Cup qualifying officially started. The United States drew soccer power Grenada to start the march toward the biggest soccer (and maybe sports altogether) tournament in the world. The Yanks beat up the little CaThis was not a ribbean nation, surprise. Grenada is ranked nSth in the FIFA rankings, compared to the United States at No. 9. (Montserrat bottoms out the list at 205.) Yes. that's right. The United States national soccer has the ninth-bes- t team in the world. But docs anyone care? Sure, Sam's Army (the American soccer version of the MUSS) showed up in full force, but well more than half of the 28,000 scats were empty, and many Of those attending were fans of Grenada's "Spice Boyz." ' How can this be fixed? What can ; 3-- , be done to make U.S. soccer as popular as it is in Brazil or Fngland? Here are some ideas. Get Freddy Adu on the national team today. Adu is already THE big draw of MLS, and he's 14. That is a g age. Landon Donovan is considered one of the up and coming young players in soccer, and he is 8 years Adu's senior! Sure, Adu may not be up to snuff with the American players, but Pele played in his first World Cup at age 17 and Adu will definitely have more to offer than the also-ran- s like Gobi Jones. I guarantee that attendance and TV ratings will triple for the first national team game that Freddy Adu suits up for. Keep the U.S. stars in the United States. Nothing kills fans' desire to go to a soccer game faster than knowing they are seeing less than the top talent. Would baseball be doing as well if most of the good players were playing in Japan? The MLS needs to step it up in keeping our boys at home. Tim Howard is one of the rising stars in soc- - in Nothing kills fans' desire to go to a soccer game faster mind-bogglin- top-flig- the U.S. stars United the States. Keep Joe Beatty Sports Writer cer. He's the starting goalkeeper for Manchester frcakin' United. How great would it be to have Freddy Adu trying to get a shot past him? Were the MLS to raise salaries and bring all of the national team home, the talent level would rise incredibly. That's three new world-clas- s stars per team. Get rid of football. This might be a toughic, but think of the possibilities. In Brazil, the only sport is soccer, so soccer gets all the athletes. Can you imagine how good a defender Dcion Sanders could have been? Or what a striker Steve Smith could be? Try get- - than knowing they are seeing less than the top talent. Would baseball be doing as well if most of the good players were playing in Japan? ting a shot past Ray Lewis in goal. And the perplexing thing is, they probably all played soccer as kids. But who gets on SportsCentcr or a Whcatics box playing with a soccer ball? The stigma is that soccer is like believing in Santa you outgrow it when you turn 8; this needs to be broken. Get past the scoring deficiency. U.S. This is the big complaint that sports fans in this country have about soccer and hockey. The scores are too low and the game pace is too frenetic to know what's going on. This is an issue that can be solved with success. In 1998, the United States, finished dead bst in the World Cup. Jay Leno was having a field day and the common soccer watcher in this country was complaining about the low goal output. Four years later, when the United States was having its great run through the 2002 World Cup, suddenly scoring wasn't a big deal. The team was winning and casual fans were creeping out of the woodwork. That is a step that America needs to build upon. This country loves a champion to hang its hat on. Once g Freddy Adu nets his 2006 goal in Germany, soccer will be not only the game of 8 year olds, but the game of everybody. Besides, what's the harm in believing in Santa anyway? jbea tty&rhr onicle. utah. edu Cup-winnin- j " in i' 11 !;POOR |