Show I SEC women make record NCAA showing BvThe Associated Press Looking for a sure way to get women s basketball tournament? into the NCAA Scheduling tough opponents certainly helps So docs winning a lot of games But what really helps is playing in the Southeastern Conference The NCAA selection committee loaded up its brackets with SEC teams Sunday giving berths to defending national champion Tennessee and seven others from that league — four of whom finished at 500 or below in the conference That s a record for one conference and a deserved one at that Georgia coach Andy Landers said The SEC previously had as many as seven teams in the NCAA field "Certainly we’ve lived for years with the idea that we play in jhe most competitive conference in the country” said Landers whose team is seeded third in the Midcast Regional‘‘Eighl teams is certainly a compliment to the players and coaches Most years we easily could have had one more team” Other SEC teams chosen for the tournament were Auburn Alabama Florida Kentucky Louisiana State and Mississippi State Tennessee (28-2- ) was seeded No 1 in the East The second-ranke- d Lady Vols begin their quest for a fourth consecutive NCAA championship at home Saturday against Appalachian State (14-1which qualified by winning the Southern Conference tournament There were no surprises in the No 1 seeds with the other slots going to Purdue (Midd Louisiana Tech (West) and west) Connecticut (Midcast) The selection committee felt comfortable taking so many SEC teams because it was the No league all season and all of those selected had strong power ratings said Bernadette McGlade who chairs the committee “The committee felt strongly that teams that got in from the top three or four conferences in the 4) top-rank- third-ranke- sixth-rank- Lakers Continued from Pip Hero ge 17th-rank- of the bullpen just as DiMaggio was reaching second base Joe D kicked the dirt in disgust It was a rare peek behind the public facade Years after his record hitting streak DiMaggio revealed the pressure he fell “I was able to control myself" he said catch in front 56-ga- “That doesn't mean I wasn't dying inside” He demanded that on Old-timer- s' Day at Yankee Stadium he always be the last to be introduced as a gesture to his status In 1968 the year Mickey Mantle retired the club chose to intro- duce Mantle last DiMaggio viewed it as a slight and it strained his relationship with the front office for years DiMaggio was a private man on the field and off At one Day at Yankee Stadium Old-timer- s’ ed of Rodman and Derek Harper they're effectively 27 seasons in the postseason Jazz fans shouldn’t bother bringing any playing hard for their new coach Cm I get that Armani in Perhaps they want people to know they weren’t the problem before Are they strong enough to stage a Western Conference coup? Probably not But one thing seems certain: should the Lakers again cross the Jazz's path gathmany of his in a lounge near the clubhouse telling stories to and about one another DiMaggio sat alone at a comer table a solitary figure And yet his closest friend when he played was pitcher Lefty Gomez the perpetual life of the party “I wish I could be like Lefty” he once confided to restaurateur Toots Shor But he couldn't It just wasn't in him If you gained his confidence he could be a charming storyteller Once when I asked him about his hitting streak DiMaggio lit up as he told an anecdote laughing as he recalled the details ts 'Die only subject that was was his short stormy marriage to Marilyn Monroe Years after Monroe’s death DiMaggio came to the offices of The Associated Press for an interview When he arrived he saw a poster-size- d picture of Monroe — the famous AP photo of her skirts billowing as she stood over a ered Continued from Page 6 56-ga- off-limi- brooms to the Delta Center pur- ple lam? Leave it to Dennis Rodman to score just one point and grab only four rebounds and still cause a stir First before halftime Worm got into a the Laverne-and-Shirley-li- ke slap fight with Mai- - subway grating — hanging in the hall Seething he made an imme- diate and left the building U-tu- rn NIT TBA thunday NIT at TBA Sky View al Ban Lomond 330 pm Logan al Baar River 3 pm Logan al Waal 3 pm Dtata BunaMna Tournament Mountain Cmat va Tlmpanogoa 7 pm NIT TBA the first ball at the World Series Arriving at the gate for his flight he was ushered across the hall seated out of the way at an empty gate where he could remain fairly undisturbed DiMaggio was recognizable everywhere he went Once I walked one block with him in heading from his Manhattan hotel to an appearance at Radio City Music Hall In the streets he n must have been stopped a times by vendors cabbies pedestrians all calling to him “Hey Joe D how you doin’?” Ami that was more than 40 years after he played his last game DiMaggio responded with a wave and a smile He enjoyed the half-doze- acclaim Nobody deserved it more Utah Stale al Eattam Waahmglon B a m U8U WOMEN'S TENNIS Sunday Utah State al Eaatam Wuhmgton Saturday 1 pm Saturday Logan al St George Toumamanl Sunday frock USU TRACK AND FIELD USU GYMNASTICS Saturday VfoiHInfl Tueedey Logan al Nurthridge 4 pm WRESTLING Saturday FRII T8W PIN Mjrll lOUvTMnWH Flrat place: Willie Maughan Logan 132 Northern Arizona al Utah Stale 2 pr Weber 8taie U Utah SUM 2 pm USU SOFTBALL Ttniraday pound! Sunday G R EAUS E R V I G 3C O U RO N Detailing COMPLETE MUFFLER ALIGNMENTS Front End WAX March 28 TM COLLISION REPAIR A OH 8) EAST Tutor ft JaaaphafM' Ml) (ft Duka (M)NoCraaa (10) Mam ptOMDonman i M) Comacaruf lift ft Franca iMt (I) Xam m Florida Hmvi 12) Crarma (4) lomftaia 8) Vtyna tft iMHibama 8) SI 121 MarytCA LSU Santa Clara LosAngsMi MIDEAST wit WEST I a a (4 04 IvmMrito m (HI (11) 8MU 0) Qaergu pi - UCLA (14) Ubarty Wmc trri Bay IT) ftnoa SWMaioijnftali Oft LOMU Santa Barbara f PI Ctonwon IIS) Florida AAM MM law m 7) (K4 i ft tf) i Nurthfldga UN 1 Cvtwado ( (14) I Huskies lost three of six games They've won 12 of 13 since including an impressive three-gam- e run through the Big East tournament Last year a injury to Nykesha Sales kept Connecticut from becoming a No seed and the Huskies were dropped to a No 2 This year a key injury cost Notre Dame expected to be among the top 16 seeds before losing point knee injury in guard Niclc Ivey to a season-endin- g the Big East tournament The eighth-ranke- d Irish with their best record ever at 25-- 4 became the No 5 seed in the West “I don't get it” said Notre Dame coach Muffct McGraw whose team beat three of the tournament's late-scas- an 1 one that elicited a double-technicThen as he strutted out of the Delta Center amidst a small gaggle of backpcdaling reporters hie mumbled that “Utah will never win a championship here” These things are to be expected What was weird was this: al during fourth quarter crunch time Rodman was not to be found in the Lakers' lineup Having agun demonstrated he is fantastically unsuited to the task of guarding Karl Malone — who scored 34 points for the game many of them at the Worm's asked evidently taking the slight in stride "It’s been like that my whole career I'm about ning" win- But when Rodman did exit the game he didn't strike his usual laconic pose on the floor — not for long anyway More than once No 3 seeds this season “I think Niclc is a great player but I think with a week to practice we're ! going to be fine” The Final Four is in San Jose Calif and the national semifinals will match the Midwest against ) the West and the East vs the Mideast That creates the possibility of a Tcnnessce-Louisian- a Tech ! rematch in the championship game Tennessee beat Tech 93-7- 5 in last year's title j game in Kansas City Mo to complete a 39-- 0 sea-- "' son And while the Lady Vbls haven't been as dotni-- ! nant this season Summitl says they're ready to go J “I think this team has been waiting for March" she said “We’re all excited that it's finally here” ! he got up to whisper something in Rambis' ear and during timeouts while his teammates clus- tered in front of the bench Rodman hovered behind the Lakers' braintrust Could it be that the guy who was once the jester to Michael Jordan’s king now fancies him- self the Kissinger to Rambis' Nixon? "He helps out all the time” shrugged Rambis who often didn't seem to be paying much attention to Rodman's sideline-strategi- st act “I have a complete open-dopolicy for players to say anything to me at anytime I believe there's a lot of intelligence on this team and I want them to come to me and tell me if therp’s something they see out there" I Want To ’Dike You Higher When Bryant slashed into the lane and threw down a monster or tomahawk dunk over Greg Ostertag in the fourth quarter the Utah third quarter Campbell and Bryant each scored 10 in the period Continued from Page 6 "They're a great team and even though we’ve got a few wins against them you can't come out and not have a great third and game and expect to beat them" said John Stockton who scored 16 points for Utah "They put us on the bottom side trying to dig out all game long and it was just too much at end" field goals in the last 7:14 two of them coming after the game was out of reach “We didn't do the things in the fourth quarter that we needed to do" Malone said "We kind of went cold down the stretch I had some good looks I just didn't knock them down" Los Angeles led 45-4- 4 al halftime and extended that lead to nine by the end of the points 77-6- 8 777 SALE COMPLETE MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER SYSTEM DISCOUNT COMPUTERS CENTER UMIM MAIN LOGAN 713-466- 1 UKMADM FARTS HSTEMR A (435) NKTWOMdNM Delta Center let out a collective ! gasp Erstwhile Red Hot Chile'! Peppers frontman and die-har- dj Lakers fan Anthony Kiedis meanwhile sprung from his scat LA bench and behind the howled ) “Oh my God quite simply that' was a phat dance" Kiedis said when asked to lend a Chili-Pepper description to Kobe's dunk Being a thorough journalist (and tragically unhip) I made sure to' ask Kiedis if his adjective of choice ! was spelled and -t “That’s actually Kiedis explained Oh Of course Bryant naturally was all! smiles when asked to revisit the ' spectacular play “Ostertag had it coming” Kobe beamed “He blocked my’ dunk like three times last year during the playoffs I don't forget about that man" Poor Ostertag It seems he j always gcLs made the phfnol The Lakers on the other hand-rolle- down the stretch — “We shot the ball well in the our guys took high per- contrast to the last meeting' between the two teams when ilJ was the Lakers who sputtered stepped up" Utah cut the deficit to one point 0 with 7:14 to play on a layup by Shandon Anderson but the Jazz derailed down the stretch “The bottom line is we missed free throws and we didn't execute very well defensively or offensively" said Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson handling the coaching duties for the second straight game in place of Jerry Sloan who was recovering from knee surgery The Jazz shot 69 percent on free throws but were just in the closing 5:17 And the Jazz normally fluid offense faltered from with Malone going the field in the last 7 12 minutes and Stockton throwing the ball away twice in the final five Fisher hit one of two free throws' and Bryant drove around Bryon' Russell straight down the lane and elevated over Greg Ostertag to throw down a monstrous dunk with 4:38 to play with Harper added a centage shots" said O'Neal “We played well and everyone 81-8- O'Neal scored underneath 3:57 left to put Los Angeles ahead 89-8- 1 and the Jazz would not come closer than four points t J the rest of the way After his dunk Bryant hit six straight free throws to ice the game “It was a gutsy win and we did all the things we needed to dor when we had to do them" Ram- bis said “You have to love the mentality that we're developing-on this ball club — attacking i aggressive a defensive-minde- d' J team" CACHE DEMOCRATS Support the Democratic Party Join the Big CD Party Dal Jotinaon 248 6464 wwweartianmnniataoiR John Nauhold AW1TEP Big Spruce Trees Tmi tna 6 t so' firms itiidi sr tingles irslctnt tfs fay fair priest far qaality traai Ws fay friar ta digging Ufa elaaa if iftar tna jab it Jana DECIDUOUS 33199 Logan lift ML 8) Oregon (13) I la State I'nnkte CALL for an appointment 595 W Center March 1? or 13 ft FCtort PINE A OTHER 753-442- 1 Ftrtl round March 14 or IS 1mm PONIEROSA PINE Expires Second round 22 Magnate!) AUSTRIAN 33199 Call IWglonrt March 20 BtAutoan (12) On any muffler job Expires c CHAMPIONSHIP tamlflnBla March28 motoSL PARTS 33199 K Rsfsrsaesa Available tfs ara iatsrsitsJ ia C010RAP0 SPRUCE OFF $3995 Expires a 4 Button Coatga 81 Saturday Utah Stale at New Mexico Invitational USU MEN'S TENNIS Tueedey PREP SOFTBALL 20 & 21 Samlflralt iwattpamnioi Utah Stale al New Mnico Invitational Alabama al Utah Stale 7 pm Tonnlf Softball pm Logan at SI George Toumamanl Oymastlcs Saturday Dtata BunaMna Tournament Mountain Cratl va BpnngvNa Played game TBA 1 BOYS TENNIS Friday Bear Lake al Sky View 2 pm Logan al NoMwdga 3 pm Dtata BunaMna Tournament Mowlam Cmel va Provo 7 pm March The Lakers held Utah to three San Joae alien Joea Rtglonalt i alien Joae Tueeday Match 1201 13 the NITalSanJoee Utah Stale vi Arkanaaa 10 am Utah Stale vi Loyota Marymount nc Utah Stale vi Arizona State B pm PREP BASEBALL Sacond round Match 14 or IS For DiMaggio privacy was expense — Rodman was yanked in favor of Eldcn Campbell always hard to maintain "If we win who gives a ' In 1996 he was flying' from daihn?" Rodman rhetorically York Miami to New to throw out VALLEY Basaball WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FMreund lesser-know- older) and they are definitely 6 of things to come than either the Lakers (who want to retain the role of disrespected underdog) or the Jazz (who want to maintain their veteran unflappability) care to admit These Lakers are a season older (in fact with the import - country were all teams that definitely were one of the best 64 in the country" McGlade said “That does not mean the SEC will forever get eight” she said “1 think it fluctuates by teams and conferences on an annual basis” Two other SEC teams Arkansas and Mississippi were selected for the women's National Invitation Tournament which was expanded from 16 to 32 teams this year “I think most folks would tell you that one you go into the through those top eight or nine arena knowing you have to play strong basketball to win” Summitt said “When you weren't ready to play you didn't come away with a win” The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 followed the SEC with five teams each in the NCAA field The Big East Big Ten Conference USA and Pac-1- 0 all had four n The committee also rewarded teams that tried to play competitive schedules outside their bid league Maine for instance received an out of the America East Conference which usually gets only its tournament champion in the NCAA field “There's nothing in our rules that says the America East can only have its automatic qualifier" McGlade said “They did make an effort to schedule They had Tulane Mississippi Western Kentucky — out of region games against teams that were projected to be tournament teams” The lack of a challenging schedule left Cal Santa Barbara ranked 17th and winner of 21 straight games as a No 10 seed in the West Cal Santa Barbara plays in the Big West the nation's conference “Scheduling out of conference becomes very important when teams can't rely on their conference ranking to get them in the tournament” said McGlade who noted Santa Barbara didn't play anyone with an RPI in the top 25 “I would recommend scheduling a handful of (strong) nonconference opponents" Connecticut claimed a No 1 seed after bouncing back from a rash of injuries at midseason when the The Herald Journal Logan Utah Monday March 8 1999 — Page 9 (208) v S28-41- 40 TREES |