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Show 6 Tuesday, April 7,2009 Tuesda SPORTS Baseball Softball www.dailyutahchronicle.com Thursda Wednesda Men's Golf Women's Tennis Baseball Utah @ Utah Valley Utah @ Utah State Univ. of Wyoming Cowboy Classic Utah @ Colorado Utah vs. New Mexico 7PMMT0rem 2 P.M. MT Logan All Day, Scottsdaie, Ariz. TBA, Denver, Colo. 6 P.M. MTOgden (Lindquist Field) Opening day is what truly begins spring BASKETBALL Tar Heels trounce Spartans NBA-worthy North Carolina squad too much for Michigan The Associated Press TONY PIZZA T he calendar said March 21 was the first day of spring. I beg to . differ. Sports writers know nothing of sentimental things such as birds, flowers and love, but my heart was all aflutter yesterday as I wrapped my arms around the temperate weather and wondered why I wore pants on a day like that. I then pondered why I wasn't golfing before settling in to watch Major League Baseball's opening day. In the words of Tony "Scarface" Montana: "I don't need no stinkin' calendar or groundhog to tell me when spring is, mehn!" Personally, the start of the baseball season is synonymous with spring. The trigger is as powerful to my imagination as smell is. But it's not just the fact that I now get to sit around cheering for my favorite sports franchise for eight months (God willing), but the way people act around me. Some people wear baseball hats because they forgot to brush their hair that morning. Some people (like me) haven't accepted their inner Jason Statham yet and wear it to cover up a receding hairline. Either way, there doesn't seem to be much thought process behind the wardrobe accessory. Hats don't really even indicate allegiance anymore. But putting on a team's shirt takes a conscious decision, particularly when April rolls around. I've been wearing a Boston Red Sox hat for basically the past three years of my life. After October, nobody says a word about it. Today, I mixed in a Red Sox T-shirt with the three-quarters sleeves. I quickly found out every New York Yankees fan who had been laying dormant all winter. I had to sign for a FedEx package today. The delivery guy said, "I just have to tell you one thing: I hate your shirt." I can smell the freshly mowed blades ofgrass and I can see the apple blossoms now. In my creative writing class, I had my short story workshopped. I noticed a fellow classmate wore his New York Yankees hat and sweatshirt for this momentous, albeit perennial, occasion of opening day. I thought of saying something, but was nervous to read my story in front of the whole class. When everyone turned in their corrections and comments to me afterward, Chris Alberico told me he liked my story, but Boston sucked. I can drive with my windows down now, and I hope I get something pastel in my Easter basket. I'was a bit bummed that my noon appointment to watch the Red Sox play the Tampa Bay Rays was cancelled due to inclement New England weather, but I was able to rekindle the almost comparable pleasure of seeing the Yankees get shelled by the same Baltimore Orioles team that hasn't had a winning record in io years. Making it even sweeter is the fact that my new girlfriend is a Yankees fan, which should make every day of spring enjoyable, but particularly at the end of April when the Sox host the Tankers for the See BASEBALL Page 8 DETROIT—There was a team of destiny out there, all right. It was the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the final chapter of their story was about as heartwarming as a demolition derby. Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and North Carolina won a national championship a season or more in the making, stomping out Michigan State's inspirational run Monday night with an 89-72 blowout that wasn't even that close. Hansbrough scored 18 points, Wayne Ellington had 19 and Lawson led all scorers with 21 and also had a record eight steals—and now they and Danny Green can all head to the NBA feeling good about their decision to return to school to bring home Carolina's fifth championship, and the second for coach Roy Williams. All those upperclassmen, save Hansbrough, came back in part because their draft prospects didn't look so good. They also didn't want their college careers to end on last year's embarrassing loss to Kansas in the Final Four. That was a dud of a game in which they trailed 40-12 in the first half and Billy Packer was telling CBS viewers it was over. This time, North Carolina led 36-13 around the time "Dancing With The Stars" was starting on another network. At least nobody knew how that one was going to end. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina head coach Roy Williams celebrates with his team after their 89-72 victory over Michigan State in the NCAA men's basketball championship game late Monday in Detroit. "We've been working so hard'since last year when we fell short," said Ellington, named most outstanding player. "I wanted to redeem myself. We worked so hard." Michigan State (31-7) simply never got any momentum. From the start, it was clear there was no way Carolina was losing control of this one, no chance for the Spartans to serve up that See BASKETBALL Page 7 GYMNASTICS Rocks compensate for Kim's absence Gymnasts hitting stride at right time of season Bryan Chouinard STAFF WRITER f" -•" Kim still getting over illness Senior Nina Kim was forced to miss the first Western regional final qualifier of her career this past weekend when she came down with the flu just 48 hours before the meet. Kim tried to overcome the illness to perform a bar routine, but in the hours leading up to the meet, the Texas native knew she would be unable to compete. "It was hard," Kim said. "Just because it was my last time at regionals, but it's nice to have your team do so well. If they win, I win, so it's all good." Kim said Monday that though her body was not as achy, she still had a fever. The team had conditioning on Monday, which Kim did not take part in but the senior will look to get back into the swing of things today. "We'll just have to wait and see," said head coach Greg Marsden. "We'll just have to build throughout the week and leave her next week to hopefully regain her confidence." Although Utah has managed to dodge the injury bug all season, it is that time of the year when colds and viruses tend to spread. Sophomore Gael Mackie had a similar bug last week leading up to regionals, but on the day of the meet, Mackie was feeling well enough to compete on vault (filling in for Kim), bars and beam. TYLER COBB/Jftf Dally Utah Oucnldt Nina Kim was unable to compete at the NCAA West Regional because of illness but is looking ahead to the National Championship. However, her absence allowed other gymnasts to step up in her place. Role players shine in Kim's absence Although senior Kristina Baskett won her eighth all-around competition of the season Saturday-night, the most valuable performers of the night might have been Mackie and fellow sophomore Jacquelyn- Johnson, alongside freshman Stephanie McAllister. On short notice, the trio had the job of filling in for the Kim, who was not only Utah's secondleading performer, but also the No. 6-ranked allaround competitor in the country. Mackiefilledin on vault and received her highSee GYMNASTICS Page 7 RUGBY Kamrani's Corner: Team advances to D-I playoffs The Chronicle Assistant Sports Editor's blog A trip to the Division I playoffs is in order for the Utah rugby team. After winning a close contest against Central Washington, 28-27, tne U t e s wiU now advance to the National Division I playoffs after having secured the No. 4 seed from the Pacific Coast. The Utes will take on the Louisiana State Tigers at Berkeley, Calif., on April 17-' Utah needed to survive an onslaught by Central Washington during the final six minutes of Saturday's match. Trailing 27-25, Utah's Danny Christensen made a penalty kick from 10 me- ters out to give the Utes a 28-27 Central Washington tried to plow its way through the Utes' line, but as time expired, the Utes were able to strip tne ball loose and kick for a touch, giving them the victory. At the start of the game, the Utes looked as if they would have an easy time with Central Washington, jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead after two tries by Zach Taylor and Camden Burd. Penalties brought Central Washington back into the game, however, and the Wildcats only went into halftime down 17-13. Other notable standouts against the Wildcats were AJ Tuineau, who also had a try and Christensen, who had one other conversion to go with his clutch kick that sealed the deal for the Utes. Utah will now have a very tough test awaiting it in the national Division I playoffs. The LSU Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the West after stomping Air Force 51-18. The Tigers had the Falcons down 42-3 at the half and they never looked back. If Utah is fortunate enough to beat LSU, it will take on either No. 3 seed Air Force or No. 2 seed Cal Poly in the Round of 8. .. Quinn Wilcox Thank goodness that Boylen is a Utah man I t would've been much more excruciating than 2005. It would've been like getting teeth pulled without the morphine. » As of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, every Utah fan should have knelt down and kissed the ground that Sean Miller walks on. read more, visit: wwwMlyutohchfonicle.com/b!og/kam^ni_s_CQFf^ |