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THREE GAMES OUT Colorado Rockies 303-762-5437 today San Diego 8:05 p.m. ROOT 850 AM tuesday San Diego 8:05 p.m. ROOT 850 AM wednesday San Diego 4:35 p.m. ROOT 850 AM Colorado Springs 719-591-7699 today Sacramento 7:05 p.m. 1300 AM tuesday Sacramento 7:05 p.m. 1300 AM thursday Reno 7:05 p.m. 1300 AM HOME OTHER GAMES soCCer: Rapids at Portland, 8:30 p.m. Saturday, ALT AwAy cOnTAcT US Phone:636-0250•email: [email protected]•Fax: 636-0163 Jim o’Connell, editor•636-0263•[email protected] Brent Briggeman, Prep editor•636-0186•[email protected] BaseBaLL 5 p.m. – ESPN – L.A. Dodgers at Philadelphia 7 p.m. – 1300 AM – Sacramento at Sky Sox 8 p.m. – ROOT, 850 AM – Rockies at San Diego 9 p.m. – ESPNU – NCAA regionals, teams TBD, at Fuller- ton, Calif. (if necessary) CyCLInG 3 p.m. – VS – Criterium du Dauphine, Stage 1 (taped) hoCKey PLayoFFs 6 p.m. – VS – Finals: Vancouver at Boston, Game 3 soFtBaLL 6 p.m. – ESPN2 - College World Series, championship se- ries, Florida vs. Arizona State, game 1 On THE AiR — TOdAy Soccer: U.S. tops Mexico in final tuneup for World Cup Lauren Cheney scored in stoppage time to give the U.S. women’s team a 1-0 victory over Mexico in Harrison, N.J., in a final tuneup before the women’s World Cup. The Americans dominated Sunday’s match through 90 minutes, but were unable to score until Cheney unleashed a 25-yard blast in the first minute of stoppage time at Red Bull Arena. Abby Wambach had the assist on the goal in her 157th interna- tional game. The warmup win was the third straight for the U.S., which takes an eight-day break before resuming practice for its World Cup opener against North Korea in Dresden, Germany, on June 28. • CONCACAF GENERAL SECRETARY CHUCK BLAZER refused to discuss allegations that he made against two FIFA executive committee members accusing them of bribery. Blazer instead welcomed fans and the media to the beginning of the Gold Cup during halftime of the opening match of the 2011 event between Costa Rica and Cuba. “I won’t be addressing any of the jurisprudence issues,” Blazer said. Blazer has accused FIFA vice president Jack Warner and fellow executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam of bribery in connection with last Wednesday’s election. Bin Hammam had been the lone challenger to Sepp Blatter, who was elected unopposed to a fourth termas president after Warner and bin Hammam were suspended pending a full investi- gation. Blazer accused bin Hammam and Warner of offering Caribbean soccer leaders $40,000 each in exchange for votes in the presidential election. — Massey races to second consecutive win in NHRA ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. • Spencer Massey raced to his second consecutive Top Fuel victory, beating points leader Del Worsham in the NHRA SuperNa- tionals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Mike Neff (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won their categories at the eighth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Massey beat Worsham in the final with a run of 3.821 seconds at 319.07 mph. “It’s awesome to beat the Alan Johnson/Al- Anabi/Del Worsham car in the final,” Massey said. “The Al-Anabi car has been on a roll and running killer numbers, so we knew we had to be on our ‘A’ game, that the car had to run well and I had to be on my game. I even had a Full Throttle to amp myself up before I got in there.” Worsham kept the points lead with his fourth final-round appearance of the season, while team- mate and defending event winner Larry Dixon reached the semifinals to move around seven- time world champion Tony Schumacher for the second spot in the standings. — Augusta State wins 2nd straight NCAA golf title STILLWATER, Okla. • Coach Josh Gregory was jubilant at the notion of tiny Augusta State winning its second straight NCAA men’s golf title, yet tearfully sad because it also meant saying goodbye. Patrick Reed closed out the Jaguars’ repeat, beating Georgia’s Harris English 2 and 1 in the featured matchup between each team’s top player. Now, he and the rest of the team — including Gregory — will scatter. The rest of the Jaguars’ lineup — Henrik Norland- er, Mitchell Krywulycz, Carter Newman and Olle Bengtson — are seniors, and Ryan is turning pro. “It was a bittersweet win,” Reed said. “We’re all glad to win, but at the same time we’re sad it’s over because that means all of us are going dif- ferent directions and none of us are coming back.” Even Gregory is set to become the next coach at his alma mater, SMU, and said it was his last day at Augusta State. “This is storybook. This just doesn’t happen,” Gregory said. “You just don’t win two national championship and then get to go to your alma mater and coach.” — Dartmouth beats Army for USA Sevens rugby title PHILADELPHIA • Dartmouth used speed and finesse to run over Army 32-10 in the final of the USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship. Chris Downer scored a pair of tries as the Big Green stayed on the attack from the outset and proved that sevens is vastly different from the more traditional 15’s that schools play. “We stepped on the gas from the get-go and never gave them an opportunity to get going,” Downer said. “To do that and keep them on their heels all day was really something special.” Army won the women’s tournament, beating Penn State 14-5. — Carwin returns in main event of UFC 131 Shane Carwin has opted to hang out the Do Not Disturb sign for the next six days. Carwin, Greeley’s home-grown potential heavyweight world champion Ultimate Fighting Championship contender, will take on Brazil’s Junior Dos Santos on Saturday night at UFC 131 in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the right to be considered the top contender for the world championship belt. Carwin has secluded himself in his training camp, has asked not to be disturbed by the media or even his posse in his final week of preparation for Dos Santos, like himself, considered to be a heavy puncher. However, a Denver Post fan mail/question-and- answer column is accepting questions for Carwin through Tuesday. UFC officials have indirectly predicted this fight may not go the distance because both fighters’ strategy is to land a knockout punch, evidenced by their combined 22 first-round finishes and 12 knockouts. BRIEFLY Lauren cheney Dawn, and their three sons, Dillon, Chris and Taylor. “He’s an outspoken, bold Christian man,” Dan said, “and in today’s world Christian men are beat up and put down and when a bold Christian man stands up, he stands up for all of us.” But can he deliver victories? Dan thinks so. “We’re confident.” he said, glancing at his family, “that he’s going to be a Hall- of-Fame quarterback and lead the Den- ver Broncos to the Super Bowl, several times, and be MVP and all the while be true to his faith.” That, my friend, is quite a sentence. Tebow completed 50 percent of his 82 passes this season and lost two of three starts. Please, remember NFL quarterbacks are essentially doomed to fail. The suc- cess rate is microscopic. The Broncos have been around for 60 years, and how many of their quarterbacks inspire fans to now shout, “Wow, he was great.”? That’s right. One. John Elway. Tebow fans expect a second coming, of sorts. When Tebow arrived for his book signing, shrieks rose from the crowd. Later, fans began spontaneous chants, which meant disinterested shoppers looking for a huge box of cereal listened to echoes of “Tebow! Tebow! Tebow!” He has a touch. His unrelenting smile and good nature melt even the hardest of hearts. On Thursday, Tebow appeared on “The Daily Show,” where host Jon Stewart enjoys roasting his guests with wise and wicked humor. But Stewart was no match for Tebow. “You do such nice things!” Stewart said, impressed by Tebow’s charitable work. Miranda Schmitz understands. Schmitz, 24, got a serious look on her face when she talked about Tebow. “He’s sincere.’ Schwitz said. “You see his innocent soul in his eyes. A lot of athletes out there quote scripture and still do bad stuff but with him when you look at him you know it’s real. You know he’s living it.” This authenticity explains Tebow’s mass appeal. Sunday, the crowd spanned the generations. Tebow appeals to your grandmother and your daughter. But maybe most especially to your daughter. “I mean, come on,” said Emily Cleek, 27, of Castle Rock. “Anyone with eyes can tell he’s very attractive.” She paused. “But I think what makes him more at- tractive is he’s awesome inside and out. That’s what makes girls flock to him.” There’s no doubt Tebow marches to- ward a promising future as a heartthrob and humanitarian. I spent 2 hours roam- ing through the crowd Sunday, talking with those thrilled by all things Tebow. I’m sure big things — and big sales — are ahead for the man who wrote his autobiography at 23. I’m not so sure about him rescuing the Broncos. ramsey: Tebow appeals to fans for many reasons from page 1 — A fan leafs through Tim Tebow’s book while waiting in line to have it signed. GENNA ORD, THE GAZETTE ond violation that left Wade pounding both fists on his head in frustration. Jason Terry missed a chance to put the Mavericks ahead, then Bosh nailed his clutch jumper from the left side, a huge thrill for the Dallas na- tive who’d been 0-8 in his hometown. The Mavericks of course went back to Nowitzki on its last two chances, and his streak ran out. He tried pass- ing out of a Haslem-led dou- ble team and threw the ball into the stands, then hit the back iron on a jumper over Haslem as time ran out. Miami’s Chris Bosh takes the winning shot against Dallas. Bosh was booed as much as anyone during pregame introductions. So much for cutting the local kid some slack. the aSSoCiateD preSS game 3: Haslem’s defense key for Heat from page 1 — pistons fire coach kuester John Kuester juggled his lineup, benched veterans and tried seemingly every combination to shake the Pistons out of their funk. When none of it worked, he lost his job. The Pistons fired their coach Sunday. He was 57-107 over two seasons with Detroit. Haslem anticipated what Nowitzki was going to do and walked the fine line be- tween disrupting the shot while avoiding a foul. “He’s a great player, 7 feet, so he’s going to shoot over me,” Haslem said. “I’ve got to make it tough on him.” When the buzzer went off, Haslem swung his arms and screamed in delight. “It was a good offensive play, and a good defen- sive play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And he hap- pened to miss.” Wade and Bosh each scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Bosh, who played through a a swollen left eye- lid caused by a poke during the first quarter, finished with 18 points. James added 17 points and nine assists. olympic sports TV bidding will be interesting With Dick Ebersol out of the pic- ture, NBC’s multi-billion-dollar grip on the most valuable property in sports faces a serious challenge this week when U.S. networks bid on the next set of Olympic televi- sion rights. NBC, the Olympic network in the United States for much of the past two decades, goes up against ESPN/ABC and Fox in a high-stakes auction that could potentially command fees of more than $2 bil- lion for two games and more than $4 billion for four. Network executives will make closed-door presentations and sealed bids to the International Olympic Committee today and Tuesday, the first U.S. broadcast rights contest in eight years. The implications are huge: The networks and their giant parent companies are weighing massive long-term investments in an uncertain economic climate, and the IOC is hoping for a deal to keep money flowing from one of its biggest sources of revenue. Triathlon At Madrid: USA Triathlon National Team members Sarah Groff and Laura Bennett recorded top-eight finishes at the second stop of the ITU World Championship Series. Groff posted a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 28 seconds to earn a career-best seventh-place finish. Bennett, of Boulder, crossed the line just 5 seconds behind Groff in eighth place. Jillian Petersen (Colorado Springs) finished 39th in 2:10:39 and is 31st in the series rankings. bruins trying to relax and not think of deficit stanley cup finals canucks lead series 2-0 VancouVer, British co- lumbia • The Boston Bruins couldn’t have enjoyed the scenery late Saturday while their team bus crawled through the raucous street party that consumed down- town Vancouver after the Canucks moved halfway to their first NHL title. Maybe the Stanley Cup fi- nals’ move to the East Coast will finally give the Bruins something to celebrate. With Game 3 looming to- night at TD Garden after a quick cross-continent trip Sunday, the Bruins realize the jam they brought back from Canada isn’t sweet. Only four teams have ral- lied from an 0-2 finals deficit in 46 tries. Boston must win four of the next five games to beat the Canucks, the NHL’s best regular-season team and the winner of seven of their past eight playoff games. “We’ll be disappointed, and we’re allowed to be,” said Mark Recchi, who ended an 11-game goal drought with a power-play score in Game 2. “But we’ll take a lot of posi- the associated press — Canucks fans cele- brated after Game 2. Vancouver is two wins away from the title. the aSSoCiateD preSS tives out of these games. When we get off that plane, we’ll forget all about it.” Boston has rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win a series just once in 27 tries — in the first round of this postsea- son against Montreal. “Now is not the time to squeeze your stick and to panic,” Boston’s Patrice Bergeron said after the team arrived in Boston on Sunday. “It’s time to go back to what’s been giving us success. ... Squeezing our sticks is not going to help us at all. We’ve got to go out there, play our game, make sure we play loose, and at the same time play hard and desperate.” The Bruins are smarting from their late struggles in Game 2, in which they lost for just the third time in 41 games this season when they had a lead after two periods. Vancouver domi- nated the third period for the second straight game, with Daniel Sedin tying it midway through before Alex Burrows won it with his thrilling wraparound goal 11 seconds into overtime. “We have four lines that go out there and play the same way,” said Sedin, the NHL scoring champion. “We get pucks deep. We forecheck really hard. It wears teams down. It’s been like this the whole season. It’s nothing new for us.” nhl nba finals notes B2 ❘ the gazette ❘ Monday, June 6, 2011
