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Show oomewe | AMBIDEXTROUS ACCOMPLISHMENT:Bill Mueller hits grand slamsfrombothsides of the late. C4 She Halt Lake Tribune \ Fishing C3 cs Scoreboard CS WEDNESDAY Jour.30, 2¢ 2003 Golf C6 WWW .SLTRIBCOM — MWCFoorsBaLL Impressed: Based on the fi > Goapes Momtox predicting the Utes the summer, we've got a shot. And they would “walk away” impressed with them.” least. says the Utes “could be good” really impressed with anything. High expectations are a Meyer hallmark, and heclearly expects the Utesto finish higher than fifth place — where the preseason media poll picked them to to play well, and they proved the opposite was also true last year, when they collapsed into a 5-6 heap thatcost former ship the way linebacker Are you T iy for some football? ootbail cometh. Andso,at longlast, doth foot- ball news. At this point, as July steameth to an end, we'll cutteth outteth the bogus biblical verbiage, born here out of sheer enthusiasm, and simply take what we can get, evenif it begins with an un- By Micuaet C. Lewis ‘The Salt Lake Tribune LAS VEGAS — Coach Urban Meyerhas spent mostof the seven months since he was hired at Utah publicly fretting about the condition of the team and wondering about the quality of the players:he will try to mold into a uigh-flying offensive circus this season. All of that changed Tuesday. Although he came nowhere near The Utes typically havefared better ‘That, from a guy who seldom seems in seasons when theywere not expected Sheldon Deckart did year, Meyer History seems to be on their side, at worked hard in the summer. I'm really team's summer work, coach ith a champion last did make a noticeable shift in his assessment of the team while his fellow Urban Meyer coaches made assessments of him. Y. 4th, Utes 5th C2 “We could be coach Ron McBridehis job after Deckart's infamous statement and a’ pre- finish. The BYU Cougars were tabbed to dicted second-placefinish. finish fourth, behind defending champion Colorado State, New Mexico and “It’s just paper,” tackle Thomas Her- “I like our chances,” defensive end Jason Kaufusisaid. While Meyerwas participating in his first media event in the Mountain West good,” he said at the rion said. “I think New Mexico was Conference — Wyoming’s Joe Glenn fifth annual Mountain West Conference down there last year, and they're up with the big dogs now. . I think the winning is going to come back to Utah.” was the other new coach Football Media Day.“I said after spring practice that if our team works hard in Air Force. he was not completely unfamiliar with the See MWC, C2 Utau INDOOR FOOTBALL abashed and unbiblical load of selfindulgence straight out of the Mountain West Conference from league meetings in Las Vegas.Staying with that theme, quite selfishly, because football is love, despite the fact that the college version does not begin play for another month, wepresent, then: Football Notes On a Scorecard. And, somewhere, Allan Malamud, rest his soul, smileth ... Although it might be smart business onthe part of the MWCtodistance itself from any renegade coalition wanting to threaten the BCSinto moving toward a more fair and equitable playoff for col- lege football, it sure sounded shamelessly egocentric andself-interested, maybe even hypocritical, on the part of league commissioner Craig Thompson to back awaytheotier day from the newly formed anti-BCS coalition ... ‘Thecoalition, a loose alliance of nonBCS schools that wantgreater access to postseason opportunities and, more significantly, the money those big bowls generate, was formed last week, spearheaded by Scott Cowen, president of Tulane University. In the long run, Cowen wants a playoff that would find place for Division I-A conference champions, along with at-large berths, to take the myth\— andtheelitism — outof the national championship . Traditionally, talk, though mostly informal, among fans and schooloffi- cials in the Mountain Westhas favored a push fora playoff, citing God, mother, apple pie, and the American Way, fre- quently lambasting the avaricious, conniving, money-grubbing pigs in the BCS leagues .. Sensing, however, that there eventually might be more reasonable room created by the BCSfor a conference such as the MWC,via an added bow! game, Thompson shanked a chance at driving atop a philosophical high road, bailing for cold, cruel pragmatics: “We're very selfish,” he said. “Whatevercan help us get what we want, we will use those resources.” . . In other words,the BCS conferences Puotos ny Danny CHAN La/The Salt Lake Tribune Alfred Tufuafu (75)leads the Utah Warriors in a Pacific islander chant known as the Haka, meant to bring out the flercenessof a player. Warriors War Cry are filled with sorry, greedy chumps, unless they allow us to take our plush seats among them . . ‘Then, everything’s peachy ... Andscrew therestof the lessfortunate . Proving, once again,thataltruism in PacificIslandersfire team up college sports,football in particular,is By Brerr PaerryMan a joke, concern forreal justice a mirage The Salt Lake Tribune EST VALLEY CITY Utah Warriors players are fond of saying the defending Na- tional Indoor Football League cham: pion Ohio Valley Greyhounds have neverseen an offense quite like the one headed to Wheeling, W.Va., for Satur- Utah gets Texas A&M at A&M, Cal at Rice-Eccles, shown on ESPN, Oregon at day’stitle game. Rice-Eccles, ESPN2. BYU gets Georgia Tech, ESPN2, and Stanford, and plays That may or maynotbe true, but one thingis certain. The Greyhounds have at USC, ABC, and at Notre Dame, NBC. probably never heard “The Haka” be- On top of that are the key conference ish 4th in the Mountain West . Utah wound up 5th in the poll . Colorado State was the favored selection . Does anybodyreally care whether the Mountain West Conference ex? Or, whether a bow! game is initiated Utahto a higher level, the first-year Warriors perform a war chant before every game, ‘Those Utah and BYU fans who have grown weary of tired schedules including the same old familiar opponents, few of whom stir much excitement, can rejoice, at least going in, at this season's games, some televised nationally .. BYU was picked on Tuesdayto fin- Trophy Presentation ‘National Indoor Tufuafu Is one of five Pacific Islanders on the roster contributing with play and motivation. fore. Taking a Pacific Islander tradition practiced by various state high school football teams and the University of Football League officials failed to attend the Pacific “Wedoit to bring the out thefierce. nessin a player. It is about getting moti Conference vated andtolet the other team know they will get hit and they will get hit Omaha, Neb., on hard,”said Utah offensive lineman Al. fred Tufuafu, who takes turns leading the Haka,along with thefour other players on the Warriors of Pacific Island descent. Wes Amitoelau says the Hakais par ticularly appropriate considering Utah's pro indoor football mascot “The war chant andthe war dance was thereto pump up warriors before champlonship in July 19, 80 the Utah Warttors had to wait {or the mai to arrive bolore recetving thelr trophy. Now that the trophy has arrived, the team is asking fans to join in the celebration tonight (7:30 p.m.) at the E Center, See WARRIORS, C5 Clips match Maggette’s deal in Denver? ... If Thompson pushes the Liberty Bow!for possible inclusion in the BCS a worse place for a bow!, played in worse conditions? ‘The Holiday Bowlis a more sane, more humane choice Look-a-likes: Thompson and the kid your daughter went with to the junior prom . Whispers in Provo say that team: mates already are divided before fall camp even begins. One contingentfor Jobin Beck, the other for Matt Berry . One last question: Are you ready for some football? We thoughteth so, L* . Staying put: After losing out on the L.A. guard, Utah hopes the same won't happen with Atlanta’s Jason Terry By Pru Minter The Salt Lake Tribune ‘The Jazz decided weeks ago that Corey Mag: gette is going places in the NBA. Because the Clippers finally realized the same thing, Mag: gette is going nowhere. ‘The Clippers exercised their right to match the Jazz's offer to the fourth-year guard on Tues day, dealing an expected,butstill painful, blow to Operations. O'Connor signed Maggette to a reported six year, $42 million contract on duly 16, but because he wasa restricted free agent, Los Angeles had until Thursday | morning to offer the same deal and keep their starting guard. “We're really glad he will Corey Maggette be back for the long term,” Clippers vice president Elgin Baylor said in a statement announcing the transaction with See JAZZ, CS Utah's attempts to rebuild through free agency. “You say, ‘I think the Clippers were smart and said Kevin O’@onnor,the Jazz's vice presidentof basketball signed a terrific player,’ and go on,” Next season's schedule © Karl Malone will returnto the Delta Cente on Jan, 24, C5 DaxCHA L/TheAmatPag Salt Lake third baseman Keith Johnson tags Oklahoma's Jeff Pickler. The Stingers lost 8-5. See story, Page C5. |
