Show lHiTiy f iy my mn Upon sa68tos$8tia Thursday March 1 8 Standard-Examine- r 1 ut- further review Movies Instant replay for controversial calls to return next season in NFL 7B Scoreboard 999 Executive Sports Editor: 625-426- 1 I i i Tonight’s games Utah (181) at Washington (MDT) KJZZ i SIDE Sweet 16 on CBS) Tonight’s games South Regional semifinals (All games ’l ( f LIMES At Knoxville Tenn vs St John s ) Maryland (27-5 38 p m Auburn (29-3- ) vs Ohio State (25-8-) (28-5- 8 Coaching moves 755pm West Regional semifinals Gonzaga At Phoenix (27-6- ) vs Florida (22-8- Fresno State to keep Tarkanian as coach for at least 2B another season ) 5 55pm vs Iowa (20-9-) ) Connecticut 8 15 pm Fnday’s games East Regional semifinals At East Rutherford NJ Duke (34-- 1 ) vs Southwest Missoun State (22-15 38 pm vs Temple Purdue 7 55 p m Midwest Regional semifinals At St Louis vs Oklahoma Michigan State (31-5 55pm Miami Ohio ) vs Kentucky ) 8 15 pm Toronto turmoil (30-2- 1 I NBA Boston 118 Clippers 84 Philadelphia 1 1 4 Indiana Orlando 103 Chicago 94 New Jersey 88 Dallas 87 4) (22-1- Advance coverage I 2B Wildcats Swingley adds distracAll of the tions surrounding the Weber State men’s basketball program this season could have hindered the Wildcats’ perfor mance The ’Cats simply refused to let that happen Even with their coach on his way out allegations of NCAA violations popping up and one of 2nd Iditarod title KORTDUCE Standard Examiner NOME Alaska - Despite two broken sleds Doug Swingley won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race for the second time Wednesday completing the 1100 mile Anchorage to Nome trek in 9 12 days off-cou- rt S Ski Team racer Sarah Schleper shown here competing in a race at Park City in November be competing in the U S races will also be at Snowbasin on the courses set Alpine Ski Championships that begin Fnday at Snowbasin with the downhill races The super-for the 2002 Winter Games IN THE TITLE HUNT: U will - rt their star players being suspended the Wildcats main- tained their fo-- l cus and cruised the cam-- I P4ign Along the Weber State collected Way a Big Sky championship a conference tournament title and a victory over North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament “It was a whirlwind season but I loved it” Ron Abegglen said after coaching his final season at WSU “It was a challenge but 1 think the team and the coaching staff came out of it better than we anticipated “We reached our goals we got to the ‘Big Dance’ and we beat one of the most prestigious programs ever W hat could he better than that?” WSU’s 25-- 8 record was the top overall mark m Abegglen’s eight seasons as head coach and the third-bein school history And the Wildcats’ surprising d 4 victory over the Tar Heels likely will be remembered as the program’s greatest win “That’s one of those things that you dream about” Abegglen said But the season easily could have been a nightmare for Abegglen and the Wildcats The popular coach was being forced to leave the university as a result of alleged minor NCAA infractions and a domestic alter-- ‘ cation with his wile In August Abegglen and WSU President Paul H Thompson reached an agreement to cut the coach's contract short by three years in exchange lor a $95000 payday Abegglen's departure originally was thought to be a consequence of his highly publicized quarrel with his wife However during the season Thompson cited minor NCAA violations committed by a former restricted-earning- s coach as the determining factors But Abegglen didn’t let that hurt his coaching and he did his See WSU4B Snowbasin’s ‘Wildflower’ not without thorns By PAT BEAN US Alpine Championships Standard Examiner staff The new women’s Olympic downhill at Snowbasin got its first workout Wednesday when U S Alpine Championship competitors took some practice runs down the mountain Wednesday was also the first day the proposed name for the course - Wildflower -- was made public The course will be officially dedicated Enday morning after the completion of the downhill races which will begin at 8 30 a m and finish around 11am In keeping with the flowery title sites along the course have been given names like Sego Start Shooting Star Jump Paintbrush Meadow Lupine I lats Columbine Tum and I irecracker Alley The names are all representative of wildfiowers that can be found around Snowbasin There’s also a Draba Drop in honor of the discovery of the new and rare draba mustard plant found at the ski resort last August 1 he plant was first spotted near the top of where the men’s downhill will begin But skiers weren’t thinking much about Rowers when they shot down the mountain Wednesday morning They were mostly thinking about just hanging m there Today Downhill training at Snowbasin 10 a m aero training at Park City 2 8pm mogul training at Deer Valley Resort 10-- 3 p m Fnday: Men s downhill at Snowbasin 8 30 a m Women s downhill at Snowbasin 10am mogul training at Deer Valley 1 0 a m 3 p m aerial training at Utah Winter Sports Park 10 a m 3 p m aero semifinals and finals at Park City noon-dus- k Saturday Women s FIS downhill at Snowbasin 10am men s FIS downhill at Snowbasin 11am mogul semifinals and finals at aerial training at Utah Deer Valley lOam-lp- m Winter Sports Park 10am 3pm Sunday Women s super G at Snowbasin 10 a m dual moguls at Deer Valley 1 0 a m 1 p m Monday: Women s giant slalom at Park City 9 30 a m 1 p m aerials at Utah Winter Sports Park 10 30 a m 1 p m men s super G at Snowbasin 1 1 am Tuesday: Men s giant slalom at Park City 9 30 am1 pm Wednesday: U S Alpine Championships Women's slalom at Deer Valley 9 1 5 a m 1 p m men's slalom at Deer Valley 1 1 a m 2 1 5 p m A steep area near the Shooting Star Jump appeared to cause skiers the most problems T our skiers coming off the mountain one after another all said they missed at least Swingley from Lincoln Mont is the only non Alaskan to win the annual race As he did in 1995 when he set the course speed record Swingley relied on a fast well trained team as much as strategy decisions such as when to rest his dogs and when to push one of the gates in the area “The course is really curvy and lets you pick up a lot of speed” racer Mike Prado of Squaw Valley Calif said “It ran smooth if only you could stay ahead of the turns I was late for one ol the jumps during a big tum and missed the gate” them Haggard looking and unshaven Swingley led his 11 dogs past a cheering crowd and through the finish chute at 1 31 a m Alaska time (3 31 MST) He completed the race in 9 days 14 hours 31 minutes The victory earned him $60 000 and a new pickup truck to go along with $9 000 in bonus money he won along the way for leading at the halfway point at the Yukon River and when the race hit the Bering Sea coast Prado also said the course had a tendency to “suck you down low because of the steepness and gravity” Cody Smith of Jackson Wyo said the course wasn't nearly as scary as he had expected "But it sure was hard to make all the gates And 1 didn't Things just seem to come at you too quickly" Smith said Another skier said the big advantage in a race might just be making it unscathed to the finish line “Speed doesn't count if you don’t make all the gates” he said Along with the flowery names the name-giver- s didn’t forget two female skiers who have made names for themselves in the ski world and are familiar faces at Snowbasin There is Picabo’s Street Inti I indh's Launch named of course alter Olympic See COURSE 8B Take a Ticket Prep sports: See complete schedule on Scoreboard 5B Friday skiing- U S Alpine Championships men s downhill at Snowbasim 8 30 a m women s downhill at Snowbasin 10 am - st 76-7- Grizzlies gain ground 13th-rank-e- On The Air despite shootout loss all-ti- ' Utah moves within five points of IHL playoff berth after falling to Long Beach By DENNIS LARSEN Standard Examiner staff WEST VALLLY CITY - At this point of the season as they chase a Turner Cup Playolls berth the Utah Grizzlies will take points any way they can get them Staring into the face of defeat m the game’s final minute Utah defenseman Darren Rumble blasted a shot from the top of the slot with just 34 2 seconds remaining Wednesday boosting the Grizzlies into a tie with the Long Beach lee Dogs Long Beach converted shootout opportunities dealing on Utah - which went Brent Hughes’ goal - a 1 shootout setback in the E Center ending the Grizzlies’ three-gam- e 2-- SPORT: Utah Grizzlies’ Don gets tangled up with Biggs Long Beach’s Sean Taliaire on Wednesday night at the E Center CONTACT (right) unbeaten streak Even with the shootout loss the Grizzlies gamed a point m the International Hockey League standings closing within five points (73-6of the idle Kansas City Blades for the sixth and final Western Conference playofl berth With goaltender Jimmy Waite pulled for a sixth attacker Utah center Don Biggs won a crucial faceofT in the Ice Dogs’ zone with 37 4 seconds left Rumble wasted no time in zipping the puck between Long Beach goalie Manny 30-29(- 8) NBA 8pm- - NCAA basketball basketball Men s Tournament Auburn vs Ohio State CBS 7pm- - NHL hockey Carolina at Colorado ESPN2 Sports Quote Nowhere sport? Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune “MasterCard signed a deal to sponsor soccer s World Cup In other words it s everywhere " you don t want to be - Standard Examiner staff and wire services Legace’s legs “Obviously we were looking at a tough loss with less than a minute to go” Utah coach Butch Goring said “Bggs did a tremendous job for us winning the draw We had Rumble go to the middle - shooting lrom his forehand - and w e had M ick ( V uko- - See 5pm- - Utah at Washington KJZZ 5 30 p m - NCAA basketball Men s Tournament Maryland vs St John s CBS GRIZZLIES 4B I COPY 1 Sports Shorts Standard Examiner staff w4yi 3B Phoenix 4 Detroit 3 Chicago 3 Calgary 1 New Jersey 4 Edmonton Ottawa 2 Anaheim 2 San Jose 4 Florida 2 By JARED PAGE 9 0 Washington 2 Dallas 1 Pittsburgh 2 Tampa Bay 0 Boston 4 Toronto 1 WSU overcame distractions to complete one of its best seasons 1998-9- 1 NHL stayed on task through 1 Toronto 103 Detroit 101 Miami 86 Atlanta 85 Charlotte 114 Phoenix 110 Houston 114 Denver 109 San Antonio 82 G State 78 (24-7- (27-8- ) 3B (23-1- (21-1- J Blue Jays fire manager following complaints about his lack of honesty 6B |