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Show ++ey ae DAILY HERALD Wednesday, February 15, 2006 TosDAY PAGE }}\ Boys basketball Jim Pleasant Grove Litke at Spanish Fork . 7 p.m. ARENA FOOTBALL ee ; honored Blaze receiver ———— ON THE AIR Offensive specialist Siaha Burley was named of- Television Auto Nextel Cup practice : 259 yards. Healso added 86 yards onfive kickoff re- BaBurley,in al ee his sixth AFL season, was named t Busch Series practice Craftsman TuckBasketball 2 pm. "SPO. practice Men's the AFL’s All-Rookie team in 2001 with the Orl Predators and was secondteam All-Arena at OSfwith ArizonaRattlers in 2005. Ga, Tech at North Carolina 5 p.m. ESPN Cincinnati at Syracuse Oklahomaat Colorado NBA Washington at Dallas ESPN BASEBALL Clemens picked for U.S. 30-man roster NEW YORK — RogerClemens will be firing fastballs andsplitters for the United States at the World Baseball Classic, testing whether his 43-year-old body can withstand another major league season. Clemens, who led the major leagues in ERA last year, was among 30 players chosen Tuesdayfor the US.roster. He made his decision to play for the AmeriCe nly after he spent some time working out. leeded a couple of weeks to see where mybody Vai gaeeeoe get my mind right for this” Clemens said. “My arm feels good, Mylegs are taking little bit longer than I expected to get in shape for Nextel Cup practice 10am, ae SPD ip.m. SPD Noon SPD 5:30 p.m. ESPN2 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 7 p.m. Radio Men's Basketball Colorado St. at Utah 7 p.m. 700 AM VOLLEYBALL Pleasant Grove star among BYUsignees The Cougars(10-2) were ranked secondlast week, behind Pepperdine. The Waves (7-2) dropped to No. 2. BYU gotninefirst-place votes, while Pepperdine Twohghly regarded high schoolathletes have signed national lettersofintent to join the BYU wom- got seven. (See poll, C7.) Theclassincludes outsidehitter Hailey Jeppson, who was named the most valuableplayerin the state of Utah after leading Pleasant Grove High to the statetitle as a senior; and setter Kiana Rogers, a DiamondSprings,Calif., native who waslisted as oneofthe top 100 volleyball playersin the nation by prepvolleyball.com. Jeppson will add to BYU's already powerful collection ofoutsidehitters that includes All-MWC performers Chelsea Goodman,Erica Lott and Kim Wilson. Rogers bringsdepthat the setting position for BYU. “As we seek to improve our program,it is importantforus to recruit athletes whonot only excel on the court but also understandour process and add to our competitive environment,” said BYU coachJason Watson.“Both Hailey and Kiana have embraced the expectations of our team. Their commitmentto improving our program will be provenin the years to ao BYU womensecondafterfirst day en's volleyball program for the 2006 season. come. The5-foot-11 Jeppson wasthe 5A state tournament MVPand helped her team compete for the statetitle as a sophomore,junior and senior, bringing homethe crowninherfinal season. She was namedfirst-team All-State as a junior and a senior and second-team All-State in both her freshman and sophomoreseasons.Jeppsonset P.G. records in both kills and aces. Rogerswasan all-league selection at Union Mine Highall four years, earningfirst-team Sierra Valley Conference honorsas a junior and senior while Slovakia | 6am. eurng: — Women’s ve, US Denma a CUTTING CORNERS Ces EPOOS USA — Men'shockey:U.S.vs. Latvia 3 p.m. CNBC — Men'scurling: U.S.vs.Italy 4p.m. NOTHING NEW FOR BODE MILLER NBC — Speed skating: women's team pursuit competition; short track speed skating: wom- en's 500m semifinal 4 p.m. USA — Olympic Ice 7pm. Medalfinal; freestyle skiing: men's moguls gold medal final; short track speed skating: women's 500m Gold Medalfinal, men’s 5,000m relay semifinal, men's 1,000m competition; luge: men's doubles gold medalfinal; Nordic combined: team gold medalfinal; ski jumping: largehill team jumping; cross country: women's team 20kmrelay 1pm. NBC —Speed skating: men's team pursuit competition; Medals Plaza: award ceremonies rime-time replay from Turin, Italy COLLEGE GOLF BAJA, Mexico —The BYU women’sgolf team is in secondplaceafterthefirst two rounds of the Baja Invitational on Tuesday. BYU's Rachel Newren is also in secondplacein the individual competition, two strokes back of Nebraska’s Steph Ruiz. Newren shot 76-74-150. Three other Cougars arein the top eight. Juli Wightman shot 75-79 (fourth), Danielle Von Arnim shot 78-78 . cae fifth) and Ashley Childres shot 78-81 (eighth). BYU by twostrokes after the first round with.a 307. But Nebraska, which hada first-round 309,took the lead after the second roundat 618. BYU is at 619. D UVSC improves two spots: At St. George, the UVSC men's golf team shot a 296 andfinished ninth after the final day of the Pat Hicks ThunderbirdInvitational on Tuesday. The Wolverines began the dayin 11th place. Nic van Vuuren was the top UVSC finisherat 28th after shooting a 73 on the final day. Teammate Andrew Smith also shot a 73 andfinished 36th, Jordan Rogers shot the best roundof the day for UVSC with an evenpar 72, Hefinished 41st overall. Jeff Gibson shot a 78 and finished 61st and Cody Powers shot an 80 tofinish 77th. Four other UVSC golfers competed as individuals: Chris Cole (76, tied for 43rd), Adam Taylor (78,tied for 59th), Dustin Robinson (80, tied for 71st) and C.J. Rhineer(86,tied for 87th). HONORS ¥ UVSCjunior David Heck has been named Division I IndependentPlayer of the Weekfor his performances at Texas-Pan American and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In the two games Heck averaged 13.5 points and shot 47 percent from the field. Two Cougars earn softball awards: BYU junior Jodi Norton was recognized as the player of the week and BYU seniorright-hander Summer Tobias and UNLV fres} right-hander Christy Robinson werepitchers of the week in MWCsoftball. Nortonled the Cougars with a .500 batting average, three homeruns, seven RBIanda 1.250 slugging percentagein a five-game tournamentin Hawaii. Tobias pitched a complete-game shutout over tournament-host Hawaii, striking out 10. She got wins in three of the five tournament games. » Beamangets newcomer award: UVSCfreshman Hollie Beaman has been namedDivision-I Independent Newcomerof the Week for her performance in a win at Northern Coloradoon Saturday. Beaman scored 21 points, on 7-for-12 shooting, to go along with sevenassists and four reboundsin the 75-73 win. 4, counter. Unfortunately, barter- Dallas John ing the old-fashioned way has becomea thingof the past and considered by myself to be as obsolete as someof those neckties now being sported by certain membersof our (the Daily Herald) advertising staff. Yes,over-the-counter permits, coonskin caps, moccasins, muskets andhalf the clothes in my closet have since becomethe exception rather thantherule. While it is not my intention to suggest that today’s hunter eee On Huntin: is is without oneof these overthe-counteroptions,I must submitthatif it is worth pursuing, you must first apply. Case and point — individuals wishing to participate in the upcoming big-game season must do so by this Friday (Feb. 17). Mail-in applications must be re_ceived nolater than 5 p.m. Now,I don't know about the rest of you, but the process of filling out any application can only suggest eatthas havea personal need or desire which someone or something (computer)is about to reject. For me, this has certainly been the case as I have yet to draw for that ultimate bigbull tag ... and, I’m not too sure there's any reason to believe my luck is about to fe. today’s “draw” system. They wanted to knowif I feel our current system was working _. . and, if in fact, if 1 think the draw is equallyfair. The answeris yes. Despite mysuggestions — and disap_pointment — that today’s big-gametags are becoming moreelusive, I do feel that Utah's “draw” system is work- sought-after elk permit, matters mayeven get tougher next year for myself and those hunters over the ageof 18. This aftera ‘was made to reduce the number of permits in each unit by 15 percent. That reduction will benefit those participants applying as “today’s youth.” So ... does the system work? And,is there a wayto improve your odds? In recent months,I've had several hunting enthusiasts call to askif I’m in favor of equally fair. The system is working because — again, in my opinion —a “draw” allowsour herds to not only grow,but mature. As _our state’s population of hunters continues to escalate, so does the need for big-game management and/or protection. yy without some sort of “pressure” control, our big-game herds ould become extinct. Does this mean our current management methods are the only option? In addition to that highly ing. And, in myofinion,it is Probably not! As for improving your chances,I'd suggest you visit Utah's Divisionof Wildlife Resources Web site (wildlife.utah. gov). There hunters can view a “success” publication compiled from 2005.This will allow you to compare the numberof applicants versus permits allowed for a particular hunt and species before drawing your own conclusionas to your odds, With timerunning out, the Internet or an overnight mail service might be the best way to make sure your application meets the deadline. Hunters are reminded that applications postmarked before or on Feb. 17, but that are not received by 5p.m. that day,will not be entered in the draw. » Dallas John can be reachedat 344-2972 orat djohn@heraldextra.com. NASCAR to begin policing bumpdrafting Mike pats HE ASSOCIATEDPRES DAYTONABEACH, Fla. — Twodaysafter Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart said the bumping and banging at DaytonaInternational Speedway must stop before somebody gets hurt or killed, NASCARdecided to begin policing what drivers call “bump drafting.” The practice — slamming into the rear of another car to maintain momentum — is common at Daytona and Talladega,the only two NASCAR tracks that require carburetor restrictor-plates to choke horsepowerandlimit speeds. Althoughthis has been going on for years, Stewart thinksit's out of control. And NASCARapparently agrees. Nextel Cupofficials saic Tuesdaythat spotters in “zones”in the turns on the 2.5-mile Daytona track will feed information to NASCAR, whichwill then determine whetherto penalize cars in Sunday's season-opening race. repeat offenses, The decision came in the Hesaidit will be up to the wakeof Stewart's criticism of drivers to keep from getting bump drafting iin superspeedinto trouble on track. way racing following a particu“It's a serious matter,” Pemlarly wild ride in Sunday'sBud- bertonsaid.“Toleaveit in weiser Shootout exhibition. our hands whenwe'renot out Robin Pemberton, vice presithere, they may geta call they dent of competition, and Nextel _didn't bargain for.” Cup director John Darby outTwo-time Daytona 500 win—_linedaplanto begin policing the ner Michael Waltrip, said the afting in Thursday's new policy could be a problem. two Sbovale ing races “That's going to be really arfor Sunday's Daytona 500. bitrary to police because even “As wego forwardin ee the most sublime bump drafts _ing to control bump at a time when a guy’s getthose areas, there's going to be ting ready to make a movein some very subjective being anotherdirection can result in made,”Darby said. “That'sthe sending a guy out of control,” reason we'dlike to get thisunWaltrip said.“It seems to me it der wayas quickly as possible. would havetoresult in a crash .. Hopefully we don't have to before (NASCAR)could react, makea call, But if we do make “If you bump going a call in the twins,it wouldn't i ee that’s OK, be quite as painful as havingto You haveto the other guy makeit in the Daytona 500,” is going to continue in a straight Pemberton said penalties for heEven if you bump overzealous bumping could draft him, it would cause acrash range from driving through ithe’are to ake oe the pit lane atthepit road Darby NASCARis going speed limit to being parked for to try to work with the com- , \\ SESTRIERE, Italy e wouldn't be the last guy to waste a worldoftalent. The sports landscape is already littered front to back withathletes every bit as good andjust as full of themselves. But as Bode Milleris fast on his waytofinding out, there’s always room for one more. Talent has always been equal parts blessing and burden. This should not be news,atleast not to Miller,least of allnow. The recklessness that makes him the most dangerous skier on the planet is the same thing that make& Miller his own worst enemy. The genius that enabled him to survive one close call after anotheris the same thing that lures himout onto the edge again and again. Tn that sense, Tuesday was Exhibit A: Wolverine named playerof the week Big-game deadline near; Over-the-counter permits a thing of the past any of you younger hunters maynot rememberthe day, but there was a time whenbiggamehunting in Utah was as simple as buying loaf of bread or a gallon of milk from thelocal supermarket. What I mean bythis is that, in the early days, basicallyall hunting permits could be purchased over-the- a: Perea MSNBC — Men's hockey: Sweden vs. Kazakhstan, Canadavs.Italy, Finland vs. Switzerland, Germany vs. Czech Republic, and Russia vs. NBC — Alpine skiing: women’s downhill Gold leading her team to the outright leaguetitle in 2002 and '03 anda share of the crownin ’04 and '05. The 5foot-11 setter has competed at the USA Junior Olympic Championships four times. Cougar men ranked No.1: The BYU men’s volleyball team moved into the No.1 spot in the CSTV/AVCA volleyball poll after two wins over Southern California last weekend. this.” — Olympics iSh fensive player of the week by ArenaFan Online for his performancein the Utah Blaze's 84-81 loss to the New York Dragons last Saturday, Burley scored six touchdowns on16 receptions in Saturday’s loss and led all receivers in Week 3 with —————— To Early in the afternoon,Miller careened down one mountain like a banshee in the downhill portion of the Olympic combined andstole everybody's breath. As nightfall setin, carved his way down a second andin one foolhardy momentleft them shaking their head. The difference in quality betweenthose tworuns, between leaving one audience impressed and the other depressed, could be measured by the length of a gold medal. Butthat’s a distinction that might forever be wasted on him. “I don't really intendto get that disappointed,” Miller said.“I mean,atleast I don't have to go all the way downto Torino tomorrow.” Miller was referring to the medalstandset up. at Piazza Castello, a 90-minuteride from the bottom of the slope wherehe’djust been disqualified. He was joking — we think. This was half-hour or so after the tip ofhis left ski bounced Just outside the 42ndof 56 gates in the first of the twoslalom runs that along with the downhill make up the Olympic combined. The DQ for straddling the gate was nothing new.Since winnil a World Cupslalom race overthis samecourselittle more than two years ago,Miller has failed to finish 11 of the last 14 onthe circuit, includingfive of seventhis season. Apparently, he found that comical, too. “I've straddled probably more times,” Miller said, “than most people havefinished theslalom.” Five years ago,Miller was arguably the best slalom skier on thecircuit, a point U.S. skiteam coach Phil McNichol made during the break between the downhill portion of the combined and the slalom. McNicholwas oneof those breathing easiest after Miller's win in the downhill gave him almost a third of a second cushion on the field and better than 2 seconds on the man who figured to be his closest rival, Benjamin Raich of Austria. “A very importantpieceof the puzzle,” the coachcalled it. Andthat wasn't the only reason McNicholwas feeling confident. “Bode'’s very rested, very focused and you always like to see your guys that way,” he added. “He's spending lot of time in the athletes’ village, hanging«out with his Se laughing.” it description was in sharp contrast to the picture Miller has been painting for the public. During a whirlwindroundofinterviewslast fall, he talked about’skie ing “wasted,” about battling with team officials, sponsors even his coaches, and how all of it was draining his desire. The Olympics were supposed to wipe t slate clean. Since ar- riving in Sestriere, though, Miller has been rumored to havevisited half the saloons in town. He was Supposed to competefor all five the medals,and he’s already If Milleris as ‘as he contends,half as Pee Mette LYNNE SLADKY/Associated Press Defending NASCAR champion Tony Stewart gets into his car during practice at Daytona Beachon Friday. Stewart's complaints about bumping have been heeded by NASCAR officials. fore the race, his father th viata sone area t's gt on bachy Wehtotines he's in,” Ponty Mile sed,a di —_petitors on the situation, noting: “Every bump draft will not create a penalty. Every time acar touches another car will not create a penalty; Unless it becomes very apparent to us that there is an unnecessary hit,ry in one of os no zones, we _not issue Darby Dated that bump draftEece offer ‘, ing is a symptom that, not the problem PrWoody Miler was clear about this, too. His son made his own bed, Winning brought the sponsors See LITKE, C4 |