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Show Sports he SaltLakeCribune SATURDAY, May 4, 1996 Malone Won’t Deliver An Interview for NBC BY STEVE LUHM morning's practice. THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ‘Bad’ Offers Karl Malone blew off NBC Friday morning. If the Jazz brushed aside Portland as Worm’s Eye easily Sunday, they won't have any problems in Game5 of their first-round play- View of Life NBC will carry the final game of the Utah-Portland series at 1 p.m. and, in preparation for the Jazz's first appear- Fifty percent of life in fis NBA is sex. The other 50 percent Hang with me here for 2reaate, you deep thinkers, you pursuers of wisdom. We enlightened have our dusty reporter Jim Gray to interview Malone. off series with the Trail Blazers. ance on the network this season,it sent icons, our clutch ruminators — Aris- He's alsoirritated at the TV-mandated delay of three days between Games 4 and 5 of the Jazz-Blazerseries. minutes, then spew profundity, too? Did any of them ever have the fore- ‘sight to write a hardback filled with Combined with the fact that he has struggled in the last two games games — 17-for-46 shooting in consecutive defeats — Malonewas in a foul mood when NBC personnel approached him after Friday damn anybody whogets in your way. I mean, did Madonna ever beg Kant Grizz Doze, Wake Up to Don't let what other people think decide who you are. Would Plato have agreed that white Semis Loss bold-faced, italicized personal thought, then saddle up buck naked and backwards on a hog on the front cover, bare his buns on the back, then stick the reader for $22.95 American? Go ail out for what you want, and not to wear a condom? ‘women get into relationships with black men because they think the sex is going to be better? As long as I play ball, I can get any womanI want. Would Aristotle have worn a sequined halter top to a bar? Sometimes different is better. Would Tolstoy have been of one mind that John Stockton is the cheap- est cheapshotartist in the leagne? Find a way to stop me on your own, What would Nietzsche's thoughts have been on Daddy (David Stern) and all those NBA kids who kiss a--? create the image, then they control the image. But they didn't cre- ate me, and they can't contro! me. We'll never know,bro, but we have philosopher Dennis Kodman's thoughts. People take sports too seriously. Thousands of them. On the importantissues of the day, everything from life and death to Larry Bird and Mi»chael Jordan to sex to cross-dressing to race relations to the ugly injustice of making a mere $2.5 mill a season you ball, the whole thing is simpie: a black player knows he can go out on the court and kick a white player’s a~. All collected in one volume,titled Bad As I Wanna Be. Now readers everywhere, seekers of reason and depth and understanding, can partake ofthe bad man’s outlook on the human condition. This role-model business is mostly hypocritical Having already read Bad, Tlookatit notjust as a Tip-off celeb bio, but as a handy reference book of wisdom. To be visited, again and again. Read and studied. Sort of like Proverbs, only with tons of skewed, four-lettered lane thrown in for emphasis. easy way to do things is to cop out and do the worst s--- in the world. Then you don’t have to worry about being successful. Special thought-for-the-day type stuff. Money changes everyone. Money changes everything. Don't we all need guidance? Weshould ali be more aware. Cut the words out. Hang them on the fridge. In the end, everyone looks out for u themselves. Ponder, Gigest, cherish them. Sometimes the body doesn't listen to the mind. Andlearn te be wise, the Worm a, Sometimes I don’t even know who I am, and these people are cailing me their hero? And humble. i~ game is sacred, almostholy. phetic. ifr rittoe everybody's going to say they saw it coming. So many of the great thinkers do, bro. NBA Playoffs San Antonio 116, Phoenix 98 __—| American League 11, Detroit 0 New York . "Chicago 0 KansasCity 3, Oakland 1 Cleveland 6, Seattle4 bodyelse.” cae asked Maloneif the decision to decline the interview was “personal,” and Malone said, “No. It’s nothing against you. You've been great.” End of conversation. Gray eventually grabbed Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan for an on-camera interview, while Malone left Westminster for an afternoonoffishing somewherein the Utah wilderness. He invited several non-NBC reporters along, but “only if you don’t bring your notebooks.” Asked why he turned down NBC, Malone said, “. . We're just token to them. It’s no secret to me.” Of course, the incident was a nightmare for Kim Turner,the Jazz's director of media relations. OBITUARIES Page D-9 JAZZ VS. BLAZERS Suns Rousted From David’s 4 Blazers Neighborhood Sunday BlazersofJazz,1 p.m. (NBC) NBC is the media outlet for the league. and oneof his players told the network, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS “Getlost.’ Said Turner: “That's how someof our guys feel. They haven't been on[national] had 30 points and 13 rebounds, and TV too much, especially NBC. as San Antonio beat Phoenix 116- PHOENIX — David Robinson Vinny Del Negro added 25 points I can't persuade them to do an interviewif they don’t want to doit.” Brian McIntyre is the vice president and general managerof public relations for the NBA. “It happens,just like players blow off other members of the media from time to time,” McIntyre said. “We would prefer if nobody ever gets blown off. Butit happens andlife goes on. The world will con- tinue to turn.” McIntyre noted that Malonerarely creates this sort of controversy. “Karl Malone has a reputation as being one of the most cooperative players in the 98 Friday night to win their firstroundseriesin four games. The Spurs, who hadlost their six previous playoff games in Phoenix, will meet the winner of Sundayafternoon’s Portland-Utah battle in the second round. “Our effort was fantastic,” said Robinson, who was 12-of-21 from the field. “We maintained our intensity throughout the game. Everybody was ready to play.” Del Negro, whoset a career playoff high with 29 points in Game1, scored nine points in the third quarter Friday night, when the league,” he said. “But, from timeto time, players just don't feellike talking. When See SPURS, Page D-8 See MALONE,Page D-8 Be Questions to Be Answered At the Derby BY NEIL MILBERT CHICAGO TRIBUNE LOUISVILLE, Ky. BY BRETT PRETTYMAN ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Lacking the intensity of a do-or-die game, 122nd Kentucky Derby. Can Unbridled’s Song overcomehis anxiety, the injury to left front foot andhisterrible out: through Game| of the Western Conference semifinals against the Peoria RivermenFridayat the Delta Center. side post position to become the: first favorite to win in 17 years? While the Grizzlies were dreaming of car- Can one of trainer Wayne Lu- ryingoff the Turner Cup, the Rivermen won the game 4-2 and took a one-game leadin the best-of-seven series. Game is tonight at the Delta Center. kas’ five contestants give him hiss sixth straight victory in Triple Crown competition, dating to the 1994 Preakness? If Unbridled’s Song and Lukas’ not-so-fabulous-five can’t win, who can? “We didn’t haveanyintensity. We tried to play a hockey game without being in- volved,” said Utah Coach Butch Goring. “We expectedit to be a nice friendly game and wenevergotit in gear.” Peoria played a tight game and had some good goaltending from Andre Racicot,al- Clearly, 8-5 morning-line favor ite Unbridled’s Song is the clasis act. Lastfall in only the third start! of his career he wonthe Breeders’ though manyof the 39 shots he faced were long slapshots. “Racicot was great. He defended the net weil,” said Peoria Coach Paul McLean. The Grizzlies scored seven minutes into the game during a power p'=~ on a Chris Taylor wrist shot. It lookea uxe the team was going to pick up whereit left off in Tuesday's 3-1 emotional victory over the Kansas City Blades to move onin the International Hockey Leagueplayoffs. Butfive minutes later, Michel Mongeau beat Tommy Salo with a soft slap shot in the slot from about 12 feet out. Peoria scored again 7% minutesinto the second period to take the lead when Daniel Rick Egan/The Selt Lake Tribune Utah's Andrey Vasiljev hits the ice after being tripped up by Peoria’s Rene Chapdelainein IHL playoff action Friday night. Peoria topped the Grizz 4-2. Late in the second, Scott Arnie]tied the score when heflipped the puck at Racicot and it dribbied across the biueline. Utah had a great opportunity when the the Rivermen See GRIZZLIES, Page D-2 ENaC ing to catch it THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Bad hop or not, Tom Quinlan wasn't about to make excuses for his costly miscve Friday. Down by a tun in the seventh, the Albuquerque Dukes loaded the bases with one out. Tom Prince then grounded what appeared to be per- fect double-play bail to Quinlan at shortstop. As Quinlan went down fortheball, it took a bad hop. He managed to get his glove onit, butthe ballrolled into short left field and two runners raced home. He chased the ball down and threw wildly to the infield, his second error on the play, and anoth- er run raced home. With those runs on the board, the Dukes went on to the 7-4 win. and turn the double play. I thoughtfor sure we'd get two. It took a bad hop and was a tough but I should have madeit.” Quinlan wasn’t the only one struggling with the leather as the teams play, combined for eight errors, four by each. Albuquerque has a league-high 46 this season and the Buzz have 28, after committing just 103 in 1995, a PCL record. Quinianhas five in just 11 games. “There is some concern, because that’s one [error] a game,” said Buzz managerPhil Roof. He defended Quinlan’s slow start “Anytime I get my glove on the at shoristop, however. “We're doing him an injustice,” a regular third baseman, but forced man in the league and we're playing ball I shou!d catchit,” said Quinlan, te play out of position to allow prospect Todd Walkerhis time at third. “T might have beena little quick try- Houston 4, Montreal 1 Trent Nelsoa/The Salt him at shortstop because I want his Tribune AND THEYRE OFF said Roof. “He's the best third base- Runnerstake off at the start of the girls 1,600-meter race on Friday at the BYU! | in Provo. The huge prep meetcontinues today.Details, D-5. See BUZZ, Page D-9 ! Colorado Springs 11, Tacoma 6 Tucson 7, Las Vegas 3 Vancouver 6, Phoenix 3 | Colorado 9, Florida 5 : —— St. Louis 3, SanDiego 1 Cincinnati 5, San Francisco? in his first two races this year he: won two of the four major Kentucky Derby preps, the Florida Derby and Wood Memorial, in compelling style. “That horse has everything going for him,” said Sonny Hine,. ond choice.“He has great ability. Hebreezes faster than horses run. He had an unbelievable workout. Wednesday. Hereally is a special. horse. za. Thethird was allPeo: Cup Juvenile. After narrow losses: trainer of Skip Away, the 7-2 sec- and Brett Lievers hit the post on a backhander with seconds left in the middle stan- Bad Hop Grounder Sends Buzz Down National League Chicago 4, New York 2 Los Angeles 10, Pittsburgh 1 eS Rivermenlefi the puck deep in their zone Gauthier fired the puck across Salo, catching the inside edge of the post BY CHRIS SCHULTE — There are three baffling questions begging to be answered in today's the Utah Grizzlies appeared to sleep walk 6 Atlantas Boston 6,Toronto 1, susp. ,Curfew view area that had been set up in the student union at Westminster College. Malonesaid, “Go get a coach, or some- snub of the 55-win Jazz by the network. totle, Plato, Kant, Tolstoy, Neitzsche, Jack Handey . . . and all the rest. But, really now, did any of those guys ever win the NBA's Windex Award? Could any of them pull down 25 boards in 33 ‘ Hedeclined. Throughout the regular season, Malone has made references to a perceived Reporter Jim Gray was the pointman, and he asked Malone to come to an inter- ° SECTION D at Calgary, ppd., rain NHLPlayoffs Pittsburgh4, N. Y. Rangers 3 , St. Louis2 IHL Playoffs Peoria4,Utah2 0 Michigan 4, Cincinnati 1 Chicago 5, Las Vegas 3 @) 12:30 p.m. — Golf, Houston (®) 2:30 p.m. — Horse Racing, in Action Today () 1 p.m. — Women’sGymnas-_ 2:30 p.m. Senior Golf, Paine Webber Invitational CIES) 5 p.m. — Baseball, Phillies IHL Playoffs: Grizzlies vs. Peoria, ita Center, 7 p.m. |: Buzz vs. eetpa Seca a atFreakin FranklinQuest, | Open ties, NCAA Cl (taped) (5) 1 p.m. — NBAPlayoffs, Rockets atSuperSonics Kentucky Derby at Atlanta CESPRD 5p.m. —NHL Playoffs, Panthers a Flyers TV Sports HD 11 am. — Tennis, AT&T Challenge (BRD 12:20 p.m —Basedall, Mets at Cubs @:2p..m. — aR s Golf, Sprint Champ ship CD) 3 p.m. — NHL Playoffs, r THLPi ciunati at Michigan CESPHD10:30 p Blackhawks at Avalanche ing, Southwest2 |