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Show SPORTS-- Inside Pro Basketball... Hockey B3 Scoreboard ....... B7 B8 CG Weather EDITOR: TAD WALCH Today Boston's Pedro Martinez is "Slapped e with a Bl 1 five-gam- suspension. B4 THE DAILY HERALD (www.HarkThcHerald.com) 344-255- 0 THURSDAY, . 4, 2000 SONICS 104 JAZZ 93 THS FRONT ROW safe; c '0 Dick Harmon Televised sports not the same lure in 21st Century Seattle still alive after home wins i Quiz time. Are you a big sports fan? Did you watch the Kings beat the Lakers on Tuesday night on TV? Did you tune in and watch the Jazz against the Sonics last night? Experts say chances are you watched your local team, but couldn't find the time to watch another complete NBA playoff game in the past five days. A quick survey around some local friends proves this true. We're swamped. We're overloaded. We're bombarded with information. We have too many TV choices now that we're in the age of cable and satellite programming. The baby boomers that were once the cornerstone of network TV watching are older now, with more diversified interests. The younger fans born of the digital age are finding information and entertainment somewhere , ' ? ' SEATTLE (AP)-.It didn't the 'seem Seattle likely SuperSonies would get another chance to play in Salt Lake City. Considered all but dead after two. woeful performances at Utah, the Sonics are headed back there for a deriding Came o in their playoll" series with the Jazz. Cary Payton had his first career playoff with U5 points, 10 rebounds', and 11 assists, while Kashard Lewis had 20 points and Vin Baker added 18 as the Sonics made it two straight wins at home with a 104-9victory Wednesday night. "If we play like this again Friday night, we'll be OK." Payton said after setting a career playoff high with the 35 points. i if sports-minde- d first-roun- d triple-doubl- e ft 1 KI.AINE THOMPSON.! he Associated Press else. And kids these days don't head out to vacant fields, playgrounds and backyards for pickup games like they once did. "My son comes home from school and watches Episode I of Star Wars every day" one friend said. result? TV sports viewer ratings have slumped like Charlie's Angels. Last month's NCAA men's basketball championship series drew the lowest ratings ever, for CBS. The Final Four weekend TV ratings were down 14 percent from the previous The all-tim- What game are you watching? Foul problems plagued Utah forward Wednesday's Game 4 loss to Seattle. fountain NBA ratings on NBC are down 21 percent from last year, registering a record low. Monday Night Football on ABC hit rock bottom in the rat-- . ings this past season. No amount of production, glitz, personality changes, or innovations like microphones in the huddle or locker room appear to help. TV stepped up with big bucks for broadcast rights and owners gave much of it to high-paisuperstars, tu ui: ; v i j network and cable moguls projected. According to U.S. News, what we have here is a failure to communid : cate.'- The TV guys have dumped so many games on us in the past six years that Americans have started tuning out the big sporting events. In 1994, a typical family hooked up to cable TV had access to 21,000 hours, of sports programming per year. liuo yeui, uiiu setmc laiuuy win have access to 86,000 hours, or four times as much stuff If you've got a q!i llofrm f of urrwlro ri if fr hours and 40 minutes of sports per V day. Amazingly, viewership for sports programming in general is up six. percent. But it's the major events in sports, the World Series, the Final Four, the NBA nlflvnfFs and Mnndav Ninhr. Football, that are taking the hit. One report had a bass fishing tournament on Fox rating higher than Major League Baseball. Video games and the Internet are kidnapping younger minds these days. According to an annual survey by the Soortine Goods Manufacturers Association, basketball and football half of youngparticipation is flat sters (ages 12 to 21) do not participate in vigorous physical activity on a regular basis at all My neighbor, Pete Bushnell, who's been told since he :. twe-by-hi- ia fatheihak-his-pos- i tion in baseball would be "slugger," enters his second season of coach-pitcplay this summer. But he's the exception in America. From 1987 to 1998, the number of kids playing baseball fell by more than 18 percent. We no longer grab our mitts and run. We now ask if it's by Sega. h Executive sports editor Dick Harmon can be reached at or at dharmonheraldextra.com. 344-254- 7 Karl Malone throughout the first half of See JAZZ, B2 View up Vs. after opening day By PATRICIA low. e -- was- 3 KNOELL Herald Correspondent OREM At first glance, it looks like Mountain View is in complete control on the boys side of the Region 3 track and field after L championships Wednesday's first day of competition, while things are much closer on the girls side. But going into today s final events, Mountain View coach Dave Houle is more concerned about the boys title than he is about the girls. "It really is close," Houle said. "People look at the score (M.V. has 57 points while its nearest competitor, Alta, has 29 and Hillcrest 20) and think we're way out there, but Alta and Hillcrest got a lot of people in the finals. "We'll have to really perform to win the region." The main concern for Houle on the boys side is the depth of Alta and Hillcrest in the sprints and hurdles, as opposed to Mountain View's strength in the distances and field events. "It may come down to . the relays," Houle said. "We're going to have to watch the results whatthrough the whole meet ever they do in the 100, we need to match in the mile, whatever they do in the 200, we have to match in the shot put and so on." On the girls side, Mountain View has 46 points, with Orem in second with 31 and Alta third with 24. Even though Orem stands second after four events, it's Alta that Houle feels has the best chance to catch his squad, because of the number of people qualified for finals. Orem does have one more athlete in the finals than it did after the initial qualification race. Chelsea Shields was disqualified for a false start in her heat of the hurdles, 100-met- See but the REGION 3, B5 "4lv. " luui in .Li. j. iiri! The Daily Herald help but break into a wide grin - A poker SALT LAKE CITY face and Utah Starzz coach Fred Williams just don't work well together. No matter how hard he tries to, hide his true feelings about this season's ballclub, Williams can't LOUISVILLE, four-yea- See STARZZ, B2 , 9-- 5 e 1979. Trainer Bob Baffert, who won and Real Quiet in 1998, drew the first pick for post posi tion Wednesday, and he selected the No. 8 post for Captain Steve, the third-placfinisher in the Santa Anita Derby, who will be ridden by Robby Albarado. e Neil Trainer Drysdale, who , calls Fusaichi Pegasus playful, hot temperamental, had the 12th pick and ' "": ; ; ' , I i. .1 14 LP's Larsen bests magic mark 7-fo- ot By DOROTHY KNOELL The Daily Herald HIGHLAND was when Lone Peak's Rich state Larsen went for an in the high jump record Wednesday at the Region 6 track and field championships. Larsen's second attempt at 7 to be good as he flipped his feet over the bar and started downward. But something, maybe a shoulder blade, maybe ' his back, had brushed the bar as he went over, and it teetered and fell. "It was so close," the Lone Peak senior said with a smile. "If I'd s Silver Charm in ejby-W-i- th Fusaichi Pegasus, the curious colt who likes to look around, will view the start of the Kentucky Derby from the No. 16 post. He also is the early favorite to get a good look at the winner's blanket of roses after a full field of 20 contest the 1 Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday. to win the . The last favorite Derby was Spectacular Bid in 14-mil- when thinking about what's undoubtedly the best crop of women's basketball talent to suit hisr up for Utah in the of franchise. the tory He was at it again Wednesday as the Starzz hosted their annual 'ii ... t ' JASON OlSOVliic I)aik liujil For the record: Lone Peak's Rich Larsen clears 7 feet, inch to claim a new state record in the high jump during Wednesday's Region 6 meet all-clas- By SCOTT TITTRINGTON .f. J , It Starzz ready for 2000 season , .: taken the approach just six 7-- 0 7-- 0 G-- 1V1V.11 I'Ml OVH HIIIM 11V 4 A record, TT butnnpj ..; (4.3 to eclipse the Sec 'REGION 6, H5 -p- bought for $4 million as a yearling by Fusao Segiguchi of Japan. "He's a good gate horse, said Drysdale, who added he saw no reason to have the colt stand inlthe gate any longer than necessary. Drysdale said he is not concerned that the hoopla of Derby Day might unhinge the colt because he really isn't temperaF mental. inch- es closer, I'd have done it. It was so close. I really wanted that." This from a guy who, just a couple of attempts earlier, broke Class JA high jump a mark with a leap of 14. The old mark was by Weber's Corey Swenson in 1983. Vnd Larsen didn't even start high jumping until his sophomore year in high sehool. "It's just natural talent," said Rich Larsen's brother, Joe, who took second in the high jump competition at flS'TPftSITinNS-RTWW. ww..,w..wy w. "He likes to play around," Drysdale said of Fusaichi Pegasus, who took his time getting into the gate and then the winner's circle at the Wood Memorial. He also reared up and fell, unseating his rider, while leaving the Churchill Downs track last Thursday. "I'd be worried if he went out See DERBY, B2 ' |
