Show By The Associated Press Chuck Finley to team He entered last jrear having won just All-St- ar the Cleveland Indians via free There’ftill be no sur- Edmonds Jim agency during the rounding offseason BottenOn a busy day at spring training the Anaheim Angels ended months of field gives diem a ' e their proven starter: "When it startrold Glove outfielder to the St Lotus Cardinals on Thursday for 18-- ed to become game winner Kent Bottenfield and apparent that we V second baseman Adam Kennedy might be able to more-ramo- 18 : J - two-tim- fillti Also Thursday Adrian Beltre needs signed an extension with Los Angeles AiM&rtin made a difficult return to the San Diego Padres and Urn Raines retired from the New York Karrie Webb drives on the 17th tea during the first round of- - the ' such an attractive Jim Edmonds deal that it just made a lot of sense to us” Angels GM Bin Stonemah said Bottenfield went 18-- 7 with a 397 ERA last season and made the NL y Yankees AP photo of our it :was Starting pitdiing nas been a major question for die Angels who lost ace big league games ' Edmonds hit JIS0 with five homers and 23 RBIs in just 33 games last season after being sidelined until August while recovering Kent Bottenfield from surgery on his right shoulder: “When you get an opportunity to a guy of Edmonds’ stature you can’t pass it up" Cardinals GMWalt Jocketty said ‘ Beltre agreed to a $505million contract With the Dodgers ending a dispute and rfcmain he’ll foe team’s as assuring third baseman v ’’It was my fiife choice to be here ' and I appreciate! that I’m going to 11 ' stay here” Befyrrtaid for rails the players agreement association to dismissthe grievance filed against baseball seeking free r agency for Belize t ' Commissioner Bud Selig ruled December that the Dodgers signed Beltre before hjs 16th birthday in1'' 1994 and frahdulenUy altered doctf-ge- t ments to make the 'signing appear three-ye- ar three-mon- ' th v 1 e J hr vo: V J vO-7- ' ' See ANGELS oriltage 10 ' Nabisco Championship in Rancho ' Mirage Calif Thursday Webb ahota5-under6- 7 Sporti briefs iV Jones named USU’s an academic Michigan St Purdue move on to Elite 8 all-st- ar Utah State track athlete Jason Jones was one of 20 athletes from IS schools named to this year's Men’s Division University FallWinter ic GTE AcademVIQ team At-Lar- ge All-Distr- ict a sophomore ' from Edmond Okla carries a 399 GPA in business while also leading Jones USU’s men’s Cross country team Jones was the top Aggie finisher in By John Nicholson AP Sports Writer ' three of the five regular season meets and finished 17th at the Big West Championships To be eligible for the academic team each athlete must cany a GPA Of 32 or higher be in his second year of participation at the school' and be an important contributor 'r win - HYDE PARK— Before Sky View’s matchapThuix-da- y against visiting Weber Bobcat midfielderDarin Christensen chatted with a couple of rain soaked friends f I $ before kjekoft Their question? Are you ! guys going to win? His answer? A nod of the head aqd a barely audible ’'e yeah1 Well it seemed Chris- tensca’s confidence was v matched Bryant said “It’s a gritty conference a real tough conference — great defense and hustle” PHOENIX (AP) — The Suns signed Kevin Johnson one of the most popular players in their histopoint guard ry to replace Jason Kidd who broke hi4 ankle and uoderwenturgeryj 01 The sea-'-1 hasn’t played since thel997-9son was the Suns’ floor leader until they acquired Kidd in December 1996 Kidd is questionable for the playoffs and Johnson a three-tim- e 10th in league history with 6687 career assists will beavail-atri-e' All-St- ar - Weven tyqghiUQok fkyf 8 view an entire half to score when they did Weber ii(as finished y: Despite slick conditions Cedu Ridge Middle School Sky View opened it’s 2000 soccer season with a win' 2 over the Waniora But it ' was the Warriors that gat on foe board first ' Sky View is Wpber falls to 1 on the yoimg j Region 4 season " All-St- ar 5-- Thursday's scores NBA sixth-seed- 1- -0 1-- ed 'r 73-6- NHL Top-seed- IHL Cincinnali 4 Orlando 3 SO Grand Rapids 3 Detroit 2 SO - ed 73-5- i On television AUTO RACING - 80-3- Sparked by star guard Mateen Cleaves’ halftime tirade Michigan State (29-7- ) overcame a deficit against Syracuse before a parti14-poi- NASCAR Winston Cup ESPN2 qualifying for Food City 500 at Bristol Term BOXING 7 pj& ESPN2 — Champion James Butler vs Arthur Allen (28-5-- 0) for USBA super middleweight championship at Philadelphia GOLF (15-1-- 61-4- all-B- ig Florida 3 Boston 1 Buffalo 4 Calgary 2 Toronto 3 Ottawa 2 Los Angeles 3 Philadelphia 2 OT Washington 4 NY Rangers 1 Detroit 6 Nashville 3 Colorado 4 Phoenix 2 1pm The Badgers sixth in the Big Ten standings beat LSU 8 in Albuquerque NAL to set up an Ten West Regional final against Purdue The Boilermakers beat Gonzaga 6 “It’s just amazing to know that we have ooe more game — 40 minutes — and we’ll be going home to Indianapolis” Purdue forward Brian Cardinal said The West champion will face the State winner in Michigan State-Iow-a the national semifinals Michigan State foe Big Ten tournament winner and one rtf two conference teams in the Final Four last year beat Syracuse 8 in foe MidIowa west semifinals Second-seede- d 6 in the secState routed UCLA ond game in Auburn Hills Mich regular-seaso- n Mlwaukee 105 Indiana 84 Houston 110 LA Clippera 95 Cleveland 104 Dallas 98 Washington 100 Denver 86 ” 0) nt san crowd at The Palace “At halftime I didn’t think we were playing hard” Cleaves said “I don't mind guys missing shots I don’t mind if things aren't going right But if SeeCATSMlPafeli’ Bobcat 550 pm C8S — NCAA tournament regional semifinals East Regional at Syracuse NY Duka vs Florida 8:15 pjn CBS — NCAA tournament regional semifinals South Regional at Austin Texas Tennessee vs North Carolna NBA BASKETBALL 4 6:30 pm WGN— Denver at Chicago pjn FSR— Utah at Seattle Today's quota "When I was playing it was never done You didn’t create Magic Johnson or Larry Bird They created themselves When I came out no one knew I had to prove myself Kobe Bryant came out of high school and everybody had already projected him as such a great player” — Michael Jordan speaking about the way the NBA is trying to create stars you're not playing hard then I’m Indiana making it in going to get in your face” Michigan State broke a 8 tie by scoring 17 straight points over the last 38-5- 5:54 “I had to pick' up foe pieces at halftime when I got to foe locker room” coach Tom Izzo said “Mateen did most of foe challenging He did a heck of a job in talking to them” The Big Ten also was the last conference to send three teams to the final eight with Michigan Ohio State and 1992 Ohio joined Michigan State in the Final Four last year1 ’‘v ? Fourth-seede- d Syracuse looked ready to run the Spartans (29-7- ) right out of The Palace But Cleaves who returned for his senior season with foe expressed hope of winning a national title wouldn’t let it happen Cleaves scoreless in the first half had 10 points — most of them early in i- 9 rr p S' ir - n By Rick West sports writer 7 SMITHFIELD--'6- - i ‘ ‘ oa bad day for pitchers' Sky View’s Jodi Randall played1 nii With an unexpected f shower laving tfe) pitdiing mound damp and' foe nails soggy it was hard to throw foe tall wielL Randal djdq’t seem to mind however as ' he entered foe fburfo inning to relieve Brett Alvey and held Weber hitless for fora and a third innings to lead the Bobcats oyer the See BADGERS on Page 9 Eustachy ’s squad earns date with Michigan State V high-flyi- i v It wu Sky View’s second straight region win this sea- son and Weber is now 14 The win wu especially sig- nificant since Weber was ranked fifth in the state this week by the Salt Lakelri- bune ' s T A think Brett wu starting to get tired” Sky j View ng ps above-the-ri- ' riors6--4 AUBURN HILLS Mich (AP) —One measly dunk That’s all the usually UCLA Bruins could Iowa on State manage against Thursday night No aUey-ooNo highlight reel baskets No chance of winning That’s the way Iowa State played defense in a 80-3-6 victory in the Midwest Regioiud semifinals Marcus Fizer clogged the middle contesting anyone who came his way and every time foe Bruins sent a pass over foe rim three was a Cyclones player there to intercept it or knock it away “We wanted to come out and control the inside and establish that part of our game with tough hud defense” Iowa State guard Jamaal Tinsley said “We just didn’t think it was going to be that m : 1 coach Rick Thorne said “The pitchers had to work harder because the mound was pretty wet Josh came in man-to-m- an : ' fresh and kept the ball down and threw strikes” Randall also had trouble with his ball control giving easy” - UCLA cater Jerome Moiso said the Bruins let the Cyclones teke them out of their game plan “They got great pressure on foe ball and we tried to See BRUINS on Page 9 ' I' : up two walks and hitting two tatters But be saved his AP photo Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley drivee around UCLA's Earl Watson the first half of Iowa State's 80-5- 6 win Thursday night ! t i A1 : I r- - - it-- AP photo' Wisconsin's Travon Davis (2) celebrates the Badgers' 61-4- 8 win Over LSU In the NCAA West Regional semifinals in Albuquerque NM Thursday night 150 pm ESPN — LPGA Nabisco Championship second round at Rancho Mirage Calif MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL i By Katrina L Montagu sports writer The Big Ten is at it again Michigan State Purdue and Wisconsin advanced to the final eight in the NCAA tournament Thursday night and the conference is guaranteed a spot in foe Final Four in Indianapolis “We knew all year it was a great conference" Wisconsin guard Jon Suns sign on KJ j In V ' I’' ' I ’ See BASEBALL on t Pie 9 : |