Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / March 1, 2000, edition 1 / Page 17
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Men end hoops season by keelhauling PImtes, 70-55 Hugh Fisher Although it is revered by many in the South and around the world, auto racing remains one of the most dangerous spectator sports - a fact proven in a near-tragic manner two weeks ago when a racing truck driven by Geoff Bodine slammed into the wall at Daytona International Speedway. Nine fans were injured by flying debris, and Bodine himself was in the hospital for days with broken bones, bums and other wounds. Were it not for the safety gear in his truck, he surely would have been ^lled in the 100 mUes- per-hour-plus colhsion. Wrecks like this one raise some important questions, namely; “Why on Earth do we al low people to drive around in tight circles at over a hundred miles per hour and pay them prize money when one of them gets by with out hitting something or somebody, blowing an engine, or breaking down?” Once generally found only in the East and in the South, NASCAR and the other racing leagues have gained popularity nationwide in the last decade. New speedways have been built in a number of states, and American rac ers have begun to compete in more events over seas. Still, those who don’t criticize auto racing for its simple nature, or for the fact that it makes heroes out of people with names like Lake Speed and Ted Musgrave, say that it’s too vio lent a sport for America to be fascinated with. Oh, really? How about these other national treats? Spain: Bullfighting, not to mention the an nual running of the bulls in the city of Pamplona, which has killed and/or maimed numerous idiots and increases the numbers each year. Britain: Soccer plus lots of English-, Welsh-, Scots- and Irishmen, plus booze, equals one smashing good time for all (moreso if there are lead pipes or bricks handy). Switzerland (and elsewhere): Skiing. Think of the opening to ABC’S “Wide World Of Sports” and the poor dope they always show flipping head over heels down a ski slope as the announcer intones: “.. .the agony of de feat!” Think of how many times that hap pens and there isn’t a camera handy. I’m sure there are other sports worthy of mention - but the four I’ve singled out so far as “strange” to Americans are quite all right, thank you, for people who hve in the coun tries where these sports are most popular. I’d wager that most Spanish, British, Swiss and Japanese people look at films of American raceway pile-ups and shake their heads in dis may. And, just like your average Busch Series fanatic, NFL junkie, or armchair baseball coach, people around the world look at their particular pastime, smile lovingly and wonder, “Now this is sports at its best! Why can’t the rest of the world get into this?” by ROSATYSQR Staff Writer The UNCW basketball team trounced their chief rivals in Saturday night’s game, the fi nal game at Trask this season, sending the East CaroUna University Pirates back to Greenville on a 70-55 loss. ECU came into town facing long odds, with UNCW holding an eight-win streak against the Pirates at home and sporting two-time CAA Player of the Week, freshman Brett Bhz- zard, in the starting five. Despite extra screens set up to guard Wilmington’s rising star it wasn’t enough to contain him: Blizzard con tributed 26 points, hitting nine of 13 field goals and shooting 3-for-4 from the foul line. “Blizzard is tough,” said ECU head coach Bill Heirion after the game. “He hit two or three difficult three-pointers that hurt us to night.” Blizzard hit five out of seven shots from outside the three-point arc. Blizzard’s 26 points boosted his season total to 393, eclipsing the previous record for most points by a freshman, 371 by Steve Langston in 1972. Barron Thelmon also showed strength: in thirty minutes of play, he contributed fifteen points and six rebounds, shooting 4-for-6 at the line and sinking his only three-point at tempt. Thelmon’s energy sparked a surge in the second half to pull UNCW away from the marginal lead they had sported for the first por tion of the game. Holding on 34-31, an eigh teen-point rally in the middle of the second half gave the Seahawks the edge. “I am extremely dehghted that this story had a happy ending for the seniors,” said UNCW head coach Jerry Wainwright. “Going 11-1 in Trask, and certainly locking up fourth place in the conference with a victory over ECU is a great send-off for these guys.” The Seahawks’ overall record for this sea son, 15-11, locks them into fourth seed for the CAA Championships, set for mid-March in Richmond, VA. With a 8-7 record over their conference rivals this season, high-energy play is going to be essential for a shot at the title. “It isn’t over yet,” said Wainwright. “We have to take the emotion of this night and put it into the [UNCW versus James Madison] game. We have a long bus ride, and then we have to regroup for the tourney.” Fouls didn’t help scoring There is a fine line between good defense and fouling, and both teams crossed it often during the game. In the first five minutes of play, ECU fouled five times, UNCW a more modest two. By die end of the first half, the Seahawks stepped up their aggression, finishing with 11 fouls to the Pirates’ 13. Even the high foul rate didn’t raise the scores, as both teams fin ished the first half with only .500 free throw shooting. In the second half the Pirates made up a small fraction of their scoring deficit, shoot ing .760 compared to the Seahawks’ .640. But as the night wore on, foul tallies grew. At the end of the game, ECU had 26 personal fouls compared to UNCW’s. In spite of the high numbers only one player on each side fouled out. With the help of Blizzard’s 26 total points, Wilmington kept then- lead the length of the second half. A jumper by Blizzard with 5:43 left in the game brought the Seahawks up to then- biggest lead of the game, 23 points. See HOOPS, oaae 17 A new tradition? James Flint/Tfw Seafrawk As the ECU players were introduced at Trask Coliseum at the begin ning of last Saturday’s game, many UNCW fans seemed to be more concerned about the week’s happenings as written in the Seahawk. Women’s tennis bounces back, ready to battle by ROSATYSOR staff writer The UNCW women’s tennis team has put the resignation of their coach behind them, and are looking forward to a successful sea son. Going into the Sunday, Feb. 27 match against College of Charleston, the Seahawks were holding their own at 2-2 overall, hav ing lost their first two matches against the powerful teams of Old Dominion and Will iam and Mary. Despite the resignation of head women’s coach John Glascione, two weeks ago, they claimed victory in matches against High Point and Mount Olive. Alan Farfour, UNCW’s director of ten nis, expects the match against Charleston to be “a battle.” “We haven’t beaten Charleston in the four years I’ve been here,” Farfour said. He char acterizes his team as “very resilient” and expected that the doubles’ teams would make the difference in the match. “I think we’ve got a good chance of win ning,” said women’s team co-captain Samantha Thompson. “The first matches were against nation ally ranked teams, and we performed kind of as we expected,” said co-captain Eliza beth Perry. “Especially in conference matches, we have to buckle down and work hard. Scores have always been close, we just have to not give up and focus, especially during tough matches.” “We’re going to have fun and just work hard,” Farfour said. On his expectations for the season: “We hope to obviously move up in the conference standings. We finished ninth last year. This year we want to finish seventh or higher. The team is looking forward to spring break, which will be spent on the road. They will travel to Hilton Head, SC where they will meet with Belmont Abbey, Charleston Southern, Evansville, Sacred Heart, and Mis souri-Kansas City throughout the course of the week. “We have a lot of matches we’re favored to win there, so we should do well” said Th ompson. “We’re all good players and we all should win.” The next home match for the women’s tennis team will be held Friday, March 3 at 2 p.m. against Elon College.
University of North Carolina Wilmington Student Newspaper
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March 1, 2000, edition 1
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