Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Saturday September 21 2002 — B3 Mets deny ‘rampant’ pot use by players NEW YORK (AP) — Mcts general manager Steve Phillips denied there is widespread drug use on the team following a report that at least seven players smoked marijuana this season “In my opinion there is not rampant drug use on our major league - roster” Phillips said Friday Tony Tarasco Mark Corey and reliever Grant Roberts were identified by Newsday as among those who had used marijuana The paper which did not name any other Mets cited unidentified sources cjose to the team “I guarantee you no one was in uniform and smoking marijuana ' I don’t know I don’t party with the guys” ' A picture of Roberts smoking marijuana appeared in Newsday Phillips said it was taken in the winter of 1 998 while Roberts was in the minors The pitcher was visibly shaken as he spoke “I’d like to start by saying I’m sorry” Roberts said “I’m embarrassed I made a mistake I apologize to the New York Mets organization and their fans I love and respect this game The picture you all saw the woman who gave up the picture has also threatened me and tried to get me to give up other ' things which I obviously have not” 95-m- ph ®i? ffncoiraD a hotel near Shea Stadium in June Sam Levinson Roberts’ agent said his client was the victim of extortion “Major league baseball security was notified about a month ago about this incident” Levinson said “Grant was told that if he didn't pay the picture would be released to the press Obviously Ire didn't pay and the picture was released" Kevin Hallinan executive director of security in the commissioner's office declined comment Corey traded to the Colorado Rockies in July told Newsday he smoked marijuana just before having a seizure in a parking lot outside wards unless they were running around with a whole lot of Visine in their a eyes” manager Bobby Valentine said' “1 grew up in the '60s I think I could tell by looking in a guys’ eyes if he was smoking dope” Valentine said he couldn't understand why a player would use marijuana before a game and he did a ' silly impression of what it would be like to get in the batter’s box while under the influence “Marijuana is not a performance enhancer I don’t think anybody would want to get in there and try to fastball” he said dodge a naive I'm Maybe after “Maybe Phillips said the Mets have not traded players because of suspected drug use “We make baseball trades for baseball reasons” he said Several newspapers reported that Tarasco who drove Corey to the hotel and was with the pitcher when he was stricken had used marijuana with Corey “All I can go on is what I know — and what I know is two players had an incident earlier this year and there is a picture in the paper of another player from four years ago” Phillips said ©©DtfDDimGO Crowton returns to Dim Second round of 65 leaves him up by two stomping THOM ASTOWN Ireland ( AP) — For someone who thinks a World Golf Championship is more meaningful than the Ryder Cup Tiger Woods is sure making this look like an exhibition " f ! :'' i: "U-r- ' 'ML - £' I1- r WV V-- T ' A ' V ' a 'if ?' tr r 4 V Woods took another step toward the $1 million payoff with his second 65 on Friday giving straight lead over Jeny him a two-stroKelly heading into the weekend at the American Express Champike T onship Mount Juliet was a pushover again in cool relatively calm conditions Or maybe Woods is just making it look that way He hasn’t made a bogey in 36 hples finished his two rounds at H- ' tv rfV v -v V’ er 64-m- an rv Ti v-- -- ' er meeting between the schools was going to be a trip down memory ' lane Not now O’Leary left Georgia TpchjpL Notre Dame then resigned aflffi admitting he lied on his resume All the coaches Crowton had worked with left too scattering around the country in search of jobs after the O'Leary fiasco Even athletic director Dave Braine is new “When 1 left Georgia Tech I could ‘ hardly wait to get back there and play against George O’Lealy because I knew a lot of players” Crowton said “Now most of those ' guys are gone All the coaches are gone The athletic director is new AH the players are gone “It doesn't have the same fee) it would have if it was right after I left They're doing everything different” That doesn't tarnish the school’s reputation though “Football is very-bidown there from a fan’s standpoint kind of like BYU” Crowton said “There is a lot of old tradition It is a really neat ' v ' : ’ : i ' ' - s A i! 130 and then gave the elite field something else to con- - sider “Can I play better? Yes" he said s 1 AP photo ' Kelly who grew up in Wisconsin biit has Irish in his blood is making his first trip to the Emerald Isle a memorable one He had a 65 that put him at 132 and in the final for the first time Woods with group since The Players Championship last Tiger Woods takes a shot from the 16th fairway during Friday's play at the American Express Championship er year an “exhibition” as he did three years plenty British Open champion Ernie Els ago Woods caused a stir by saying he would rather win the American had a 67 to finish at 135 and said he was In contention although “it all Express Championship and the $1 million prize than a team event and xdepends on what Tiger does” die Woods has won his last14 events gold cup He clarified those comments Fri- - fvsoh the PGA Tour when leading after 36 holes dating to the 1999 Byron day but just barely Nelson Classic Asked whether he would rather' win the Ryder Cup or the Disney Still there are plenty of chal- Classic he chose the trophy with lengers David Toms recovered from back- Mickey Mouse “from a selfish point of view” bogeys with five birdies on “I’d like to win Disney but from a the back nine to salvage a 67 and finish at 1 1 -- under 133 along with Steve team aspect it’s completely different” Woods said ‘‘You want to conLowery tribute to your team You don’t want Relief Goosen had his second to let your teammates down straight 67 and was at 134 while Els Stuart Appleby and Gary Evans of Whether I win or lose this week it’s not going to affect any guys out England — the only man in the field who has never won a tournament — here” When he’s leading a stroke-pla- y were another stroke back Even David Duval got in on the tournament however it affects them fiction making eight birdies in a round of 65 that put him at 136 along with Davis Love III Vijay ' Singh and Justin Leonard Told about Woods’ comments 0n the Ryder Cup Duvalcouldn’t agree 14-in- ch An inexperienced Kelly held his own that day despite a 73 that left him in a tie for fourth Now he has two PGA Tour victories and is looking forward to Saturday “It’s a great stage” he said “It’s the ultimate to be playing with him and in the final group If you can’t get up you’re dead The question is whether you can control yourself I feel like I can” Kelly made it sound like the third round would contain the pressure and emotion usually found only at the Ryder Cup Everyone knows how Woods feels more “In an individual sporC yeah this is every bit as important as next week if not more” Duval said “Considering the year I've had it would be great to win this thing That doesn't take anything away from next week and the desire to win there" US captain Curtis Strange working for ABC Sports at Mount Juliet said he wasn't the least bit worried that Woods doesn't consider the to-ba- ck about that While he didn’t call the Ryder Cup ATLANTA (AP) — Few people were looking forward to BYU’s trip to Georgia Tech as much as Gary Crowton Eight years ago he was the offensive coordinator for the Yellow Jackets working under head coach George O'Leary Now Crowton is one of the hottest coaches in the country leading the Cougars to a 14-- 3 record the past two seasons Saturday’s game the first-ev- - place" Ryder Cup a top priority: “I understand where he's coming from” Strange said “We know ' Tiger Whenever he plays he goes to win Both teams are coming off disappointing losses and in need of a pick- me-u- p and beating a quality nonconfereiice opponent probably would do the trick The Yellow Jackets (2-- dropped their Atlantic Coast Conference opener to Clcmson losing 24-1- 9 in a driving rainstorm Meanwhile Nevada jumped on BYU (2-early tak- ing a big lead and then holding on for a 3 victory “They are a very confident foot- 1) QB Continued from B1 down the field and scoring on a run try Olsen bringing the score to 7 On the following kickoff Bon- neville’s Cooper fumbled and the Grizz recovered Olsen then quickly slashed and dashed his way in the end zone from 26 yards out putting the Grizz on top 13-- 7 with 5:03 left ' 7-- -- up Bees B1 Continued from i The Mustangs had four possessions in the third quarter and scored on every one of them Quarterback Ryan Zimmerman threw three touchdown passes in the to Carl Blad period His began the rally but after Mountain Crest missed the extra point it still trailed 6 Following a Bees punt the drove 68 yards in nine plays Icapped by Zimmerman’s 18 yard 'touchdown strike to Mark Wtterson Timmerman converted the conversion by running it in to tie it at 24 with 5:23 left in the third Then after Eric Rollins scored to give Box Elder the lead back Zimmerman again found Watterson from 5 yards out to knot the score up at j er 24-1- Mus-tan- gs -- two-poi- 31 Mountain Crest’s D then came through as Luke Lofthouse picked off Graves to set up Erik Taylor's field goal giving the Mustangs 1 their first lead of the night ' with 29 seconds remaining in the third 39-ya- 34-3- The two teams battled back and forth until Bonneville got a break Jimmy Schmidt fumbled a Bon- neville punt and the Lakers recovered with great field position On the third play of the possession Budge found a streaking Zellmer for an touchdown pass pushing the Laker lead to seven In the third quarter despite the loss of Olsen the Grizzlies showed some life Larsen pounded and ground put yards as Logan advanced to mid- - in the first quarter The Lakers threatened again late in the first quarter However the drive was squashed when Chris Egbert delivered a smashing blow to Aaron Zellmer to break up a first down conversion on a third and long Early in the second quarto Olsen was picked off by Brady Howe who returned it down to Logan’s line Cooper then smashed it in again from one yard out putting the Lakers rd 14-1- 18-ya- rd 3 “We just came in the locker room and we all just needed to calm down” Zimmerman said of the MC offense turning it on in the second half “We calmed down instead of We had to being so fired up lodsen up and just mellow out “And we did We came out in the second half and played a lot better than the first half Unfortunately they came out on top” The Mustangs looked as if they ' had things wrapped up when Blad intercepted Graves with 3:50 remain- ing in the game Mountain Crest took over on its own 48 but couldn't get the firsti downs it needed to sew up the victory Instead the Bee defense rose to the occasion and sacked Zimmerman twice forcing the Mustangs to punt ' “One of the most disappointing things is once we take a 1 lead we take sacks at inappropriate times we had a dropped ball by (Wyatt) Grantham off to die side I don't ' know” Erickson said “But still the defense turned the ball over with a three-poilead Offensively we need to go push die ball down the field and keep moving it “If we kick a field goal or score a toufhdown it’s a totally different 34-3- nt field Then it was time for Larsen to do his thing And boy did he scampering in for the score from 48 yards out to even things up 20-2- 0 The Lakers quickly answered however driving down the field and then handing to Cooper for the touchdown and the final score ' “Our defense had an outstanding performance” Favero said “The points that Bonneville did score Other than the one touchdown were ballgame But we didn't do it we came up short” A punt return by Teny Larsen gave the Bees the ball back at midfield where Graves needed just one play to scamper intis the end zone for the score “(Graves) ran the option and we had too many people crashed at out oh the dive” Smith said “ That was a good run” ' Mountain Crest still had a chance t6 possibly tie it or even win when it got the ball back on its own 27 with 1:02 and three timeouts But' Zimmerman was sacked for a loss on the first play from scrimmage then picked off by Larsen on the next play Once die game was secured by Box Elder Bees fans began mocking the Mustangs by chanting “overrat-game-winni- ed" Coming into the game Mountain Crest was raniked No 2 in 4A by The Salt Lake Tribune Zimmerman threw for a season-hig- h 314 yards in the loss Watterson led all receivers with nine catches for 111 yards Lance Weeks had four receptions for 93 yards while Blad had 91 ball team they always have been” Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said “Some very unusual things happened in their game last week to get the score to 4 and they could just not make a 31-1- comeback” ' Indians 6 Royals 2 At Kansas Gty Ellis Burks and Jim Thome hit consecutive home AL runs in the first inning as Cleveland cruised past Kansas City The Royals are 2-in their last 18 home games and need to win four of their final eight games to avoid their first 100-loseason in franchise his- Continued from B3 Nomar Garciaparra had two doubles and two RBIs to help Lowe (21-win his third straight start Ugueth Urbina got his 37th save Jay Gibbons homered for the Orioles who have lost 23 of 27 Pat 16 7) ng rd 28 off of turnovers” 12-ya- rd ' 1) Hentgen (0-- 3) ss tory took the loss White Sox 10 Twins 2 At Chicago Carlos Lee hit a three-- i run homer and drove in another run as Chicago took advantage of Rick Reed's early exit to beat Minnesota There were no security problems at Comiskey Park one nigjht after a father and son came out of the stands e coach and attacked Royals ' ' innings Danys Baez got his fifth save tost in his Wes Obermueller (0-for the debut Royals major league Devil Rays 11 Blue Jays 7 1) 500 again At St Petersburg Tanyon Sturtze losing streak stopped his and Chris Gomez hit a three-ru- n f triple as Tampa Bay beat Toronto Sturtze gave up five runs and five hits in eight innings and tied his career high with eight strikeouts as he avoided becoming the AL’s first loser since Scott Erickfor Minnesota in son went four-ga- first-bas- Tom Gamboa ' Nine of Chicago's runs came off Twins relievers after Reed left the game in the fifth inning as a precaution with a hyperextended left knee Jose Valentin added a solo homer for the White Sox who climbed back to i Jason Davis (l-making his third major league appearance gave up one run and three hits over five ' (4-1- 7) 18-ga- 8-- Dan Wright (13-1gave up two runs and five hits ip eight innings for his fifth victory in six starts Juan Rincon (0-took the loss 2) 2) 1993 Esteban Loaiza gave up a nine runs and seven hits in 2 innings (8-1- 0) career-hig- h 1- -3 ' |