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Show StatesmanSports Page 8 Friday, Jan. 23, 2009 The Blue and die White Sports Debate Tim Olsen is a junior majoring in print journalism. Comments can be sent to him at token® ";••'. ' •". aggiemail.usu.edu Nathan Laursen is a senior with a dual major in public relations and political science. He can be reached at n.laursen@ aggiemail.usu.edu Comments can also be posted on The Statesman Web site: utahstatesman. com 1. Thoughts on the men's basketball team M A I X O M DELANEY, 23, A N D PAUL D E B N A M , TOP, celebrate the Hokies win over No. Wake Forest Wednesday night. The 78-71 loss was the Demon Deacons first of the season. AP photo No. 1 falls again WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Hank Thorns screamed in jubilation as he came off a hostile court proudly holding out his Virginia Tech jersey. A hundred or so fans hung around the visitors' tunnel to chant coach Seth Greenberg's name. Whoop it up, Hokies. You just knocked off No. 1 - again. Malcolm Delaney scored 21 points and Virginia Tech held on to upset top-ranked Wake Forest 78-71 on Wednesday night for its second victory over a No. 1 team in three seasons. "Just coming onto their home court and doing it - that makes it feel a little more special," A.D. Vassallo said. Vassallo and Jeff Allen added 16 points apiece for the Hokies (12-6,3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who made all the big shots while lighting up the league's best defense - shooting 50 percent against a Wake Forest team that was allowing teams to shoot just 36 percent. None of the Demon Deacons' first 16 opponents shot better than 47 percent. "We spread them out. We had a lot of movement. Coach told us that if we moved them, we'd get the shots that we want," Delaney said. The Hokies led nearly from the opening tip to the final buzzer, pushed their lead to 16 and made it stand up for their first win over a topranked team away from Cassell Coliseum. They beat then-No. 1 North Carolina two seasons ago in Blacksburg. "With these guys being undefeated, that's totally a big one," Delaney said. Jeff Teague scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting and James Johnson added 18 points before fouling out with 1:17 remaining for Wake Forest (16-1, 3-1), which was playing as a No. 1 team for the first time since November 2004 when Chris Paul was running the show. That team held the top spot for two weeks. These Demon Deacons won't match them, thanks in large part to a Virginia Tech team that forced 16 turnovers and turned them into 25 points. "You never want to lose, but I'm kind of glad we got it out the way," Teague said. "Everybody was trying to play perfect, and everybody didn't want to mess up and things like that, because they wanted to stay No. 1. But now we've got that out the way, we're just going to get back to doing what we were doing." The Demon Deacons' early 16-point deficit was by far its deepest - before this game, they hadn't trailed by double figures all season - and they trailed by 10 at halftime before they made it a game again. They used a 14-4 run early in the second half that brought them within single digits, then cut it to two twice in the final 4 minutes - the last coming when Teague's 3-pointer with 1:49 remaining made it 71-69. "We had them right where we wanted them," \ See HOKIES, page 9 Itiot Caught Another week, two more Aggie victories, but this 17-1 team definitely got more than it bargained for - especially from a game Fresno State team. After completing a road sweep that USU hadn't done since joining the WAC, this team listened to its coach preach and preach about not looking past the Bulldogs. After trailing throughout the entire first half and into the intermission, I think they finally got the message. This team has a lot of potential and could end up being one of, if not the best men's basketball team ever at USU. However, this team needs to stay grounded if it wants to avoid an upset. With the NMSU road swing out of the way, the toughest games remaining on the Ags schedule are road games at Nevada and at Boise State. First though, they must win at Hawaii - something they've yet to do. It is nice to have a great team at Utah State, and not an individual with a supporting cast. A few minutes into the Boise State game I was discussing with my wife how I felt that Tai Wesley was not playing with the passion, intensity or emotion that he has in the past. I'm glad Tai spent the next 33 minutes proving me wrong. I am happy everyone is taking their turn being the player of the game, but now that everyone has had their turn I'd like to see more than one player take control of a game. The goal for Stew's crew for the rest of the season should be to have three or more players sharing the game ball. It is nice to see everyone concerned with where the Aggies rank in the polls - especially with the recent losses by Michigan State and Wake Forest - but quite frankly 1 don't care about the rankings. All I care about is us cutting down some nets in Reno and getting more than just one tango in the Big Dance. 2. What's the deal with fantasy sports? I started playing fantasy sports in small doses a few years back, but it quickly grew on me and now I'm hooked. However, for those who haven't taken the plunge yet, beware. Not only do fantasy sports become time consuming, but whatever your level of sports craziness is, playing fantasy sports will only heighten it. Not only do you have to research how your players perform in certain games against certain opponents, but often you will want to watch them and when you can't do that, then you have to get online and check all their stats. There is constant updating and trading that must take place to be successful, and in the end you can get ousted in the championship by your wife who's never played before - 1 know, I've seen me do it. But fantasy sports add a whole new dimension to watching sports as well as trash talking with your buddies. In my opinion participating in fantasy is worth every second of time you waste doing it. Before you sell your soul to the abyss that is fantasy some words of advice: 1) Fantasy requires commitment. If you are going to stop participating 30 seconds after the draft, save your league the frustration of having to deal with dead weight. 2) If you are married or in a serious relationship, invite your counterpart to join your league or help you manage your own. 3) Play at your own risk; fantasy is a sports fans heroin. 4) Beware of joining leagues in which alliances exist. If your buddy has a team, as well as his wife, or brother or something, watch the insider trading that goes on and be prepared to counter attack. Finally, although fantasy has its many perks like killing time at work or between classes, remember that it is called Fantasy Sports for a reason. 3. Thoughts on the Super Bowl teams The Arizona Cardinals and the Super Bowl go together about as well as Superman and kryptonite but here they are, just over a week away from playing in the big game. With the way they ended the regular season and this franchise's penchant for losing, I thought it would be a quick exit from the playoffs for the Cards. Suddenly though, Kurt Warner shed 10 years and returned to MVP form and large part of that can be attributed to the emergence of wideout Larry Fitzgerald. Fitz has . already destroyed Jerry Rice's record for most receiving yards in a postseason - and he still has one game to play. The Steelers have been on the radar to punch a ticket to Tampa all season, but really, who thought the Cardinals had any real shot of going to the Super Bowl? For a franchise that had only won two playoff games in franchise history this is a true underdog story and I'll be pulling for them on Feb. 1. I congratulate the Arizona Cardinals for giving teams like the Detroit Lions hope, but I find it hard to root for them. I'm pretty sure my dislike for the Cardinals is rooted in Fantasy Football and watching Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner and Anquan Boldin defeat teams single-handedly. I just want to see a good game, and lucky for Arizona the game will be in Tampa because they would not have had a chance in a place like Pittsburgh. We know the Cards can score and they have kept their D a secret until the postseason. There is no secret to the Pittsburgh defense and that team is physical. Both teams got the job done and deserve a shot. I just want the game to be more entertaining than the commercials and watching guys like Fitzgerald and Polamalu should be enjoyable. 4. Thoughts on Lance Armstrong's return I was sorely disappointed to hear of Armstrong's retirement. When I heard that he had decided to go for it again this year, my emotions were the exact opposite. I understand the desire many athletes have to go out at the top of their game - to leave as champions. But as a former athlete I can also attest to the self-questioning one goes through wondering if they still have "it," not to mention the void that comes from not competing. I have no doubt that if Armstrong puts his mind to the single goal of winning the tour that he will accomplish that feat. He is head and shoulders above the other competition in the sport of cycling and can be compared to Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and similar athletes. Lance did a lot for the sport of cycling and for the quest against cancer. I would say that Lance is the Michael Jordan of cycling, and if that is true then Lance should be wearing yellow shirts for a few more years, but he needs to make sure he stays in his own sport. I don't want to see Lance putting a Detroit Lion emblem on his helmet and headed towards the Silverdome. He claims he came back "in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden." I respect what he has accomplished and the guy is legendary, but his reputation is on the line. I just hope Lance doesn't end up diminishing his reputation by retiring and then coming back. 5. Rant Augusto Rodriguez Augusto Rodriguez, master s student in Electrical Engineering was caught reading the Statesman Wednesday in the Juniper Lounge. He wins a free T-shirt and thanks for his many admirers. Keep reading! /Statesman L If Deron Williams doesn't make the '.."•:• NBA All-Star game it will be a travesty. I understand the Western Conference is full of great point guards, but I'm baffled that D-Will has yet to be invited. Sure, Chris Paul is the trendy pick and has already been tabbed the starter, but I would take Williams over Paul any day. That's not v • hometown bias talking, either - look at their head-to-head matchups. Williams has dominated Paul not just in wins but also in production during those games. I'm not saying Paul doesn't deserve the ,' attention he gets, because New Orleans - ' would be nothing without him and he is a legitimate MVP candidate. I'm just saying that D-Will deserves that same kind of recognition. Williams has shouldered the Jazz this season, and without him they would be a sub .500 team. The year of 2008 has come to an end and I would like to introduce a new award, the Obama Athlete of the Year. As the name implies, this award goes to the athlete who received an inordinate amount of attention and media coverage before doing anything that really justified the amount of hype. Therefore, the 2009 Obama goes to... Brett Favrel The retirement dance was ridiculous. I was disgusted when he was selected to the AFC Pro Bowl team for an unfinished season full of interceptions and more worthy candidates like Rivers, Pennington and Collins, who I was relieved will be replacing him. I liked Favre before he decided to stay longer to beat Marino's records and until he ruined his reputation with his unretirement, but with the future tornado of hype about whether or not he will come back, Favre was a shoe-in. |