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14 The Firm's reign comes to an end ♦ Guest writer Greg Paylor gives an inside look at this year's intramural basketball season BY GREG PAYLOR Guest Writer Ah, the race for number one! At the beginning of the intramural season, the Firm, as always, was the front-runner in a long line of contenders. Chocolate City, in its first year of exist ence, last year had reached the champi onship game, only to be defeated by the Firm. The City, though, had made the significant additions of Tim Wooten and Nick Glenn. The Pines, also, were significant competitors. The Pines had won three consecutive tournaments going into this year, but there were many questions of the Pines' ability to play a full court game. These questions would be answered quickly. From there it was a battle not to be the worst in the league: the very physi cal Vipers were followed by the over achieving Finberg, the inexperienced Young Guns, and the lovable loser Tigers. The regular season followed many of the preseason assessments. The Firm demolished the competition, winning by an average margin of 25 points per game. Chocolate City did not quite live up to expectations. They earned a 4-1 record heading into the season finale with the Firm. Arguments over playing time and shot attempts were tearing down Choco late City from within. The Pines, meanwhile, gave Choco late City its only loss and was poised to take the second spot in the regular sea son standings. Unfortunately, schedule conflicts cost the Pines some key play ers in key games. An 11-point loss to Finberg removed the Pines from top place contention and salvaged Finberg's serason Editor applications are now available for the following publications: ♦The Guilfbndian ♦The Quaker ♦The Lighthouse Applications can be picked up beginning March 20 at the info desk and must be returned to Dawn Watkins in the office of student activities no later than March 27. Any main campus student is invited to apply. at 3-3. The biggest surprise of the regu lar season was the ability of the Vipers to be competitive. A team full of football offensive linemen and a few linebackers went 3-3 in the regular season and fin ished forth overall. The regular season title came down to the Firm versus Chocolate City. The Firm had been de- ' straying its opposition, while Chocolate City had just been sneak ing by, so many ex pected a blowout. The Firm took an early lead 6-5, but a three-point shot by Greg Paylor sparked a big Chocolate City run, and the Firm never recovered. Chocolate City took the regular season title in only their sec ond season, and the Firm lost for the first time in four years. With the release of the tournament bracket, viewers were expecting the Firm versus Chocolate City II and possibly 111, starring Keanu Reeves as Chocolate City player Greg Paylor. Both Chocolate City and the Firm were looking forward to this rematch and forgot about their first round opponents, who both beat them. The Firm was man-handled by the Pines, thanks to the great efforts of the Caruso twins and Paul Ferrell. Meanwhile, Chocolate City lost to a focused Finberg team by one point in overtime at the hands of a ten foot jumper by Sean Tapley. Jamaal Murphy also added his first career triple double, scoring 12 points, grabbing 10 re bounds, and getting 11 assists. This led to a heated do-or-die match between Chocolate City and the Firm. Chocolate City got off to a great start Sports and led by as many as 16 in the first half. Due to the intense physical defense by Barrett Wiley and Junior Lord, the Firm took a two-point lead, only to be removed by a 15 foot jump shot by Tim Wooten eight seconds later. From there, Choco late City went on to win by four points. The win moved Chocolate City's fran _____________ chise mark This was a great year for intermural basketball. It proves that anyone can get a team and win with that team. = The cham pionship, then, was to be decided by two games. Due to the Pines' withdrawal from the tournament, Finberg had not played since its opening round victory. This game was intensified by remarks made by point-guard Jamaal Murphy, who had left Chocolate City for Finberg the year before. When asked why he left, Murphy responded, "I want to play for a real contender. Someone who can win the big game." He should have stayed Cubs not the same without Car ay OK, so he occasionally mispronounced a name. Didn't he make up for it the time you heard him attempt to spell "Andres Galarraga" backwards? It seems that every one has a story about former Cubs, White Sox, and Cardinals an nouncer Harry Caray, who died in late Febru ary There was the time he called a Ryne Sandberg at-bat in this fashion: "Sandbeig hits a towering drive, it's go ing to be out of here, it could be, it might be, ahhhh, it's caught by the shortstop." I've never known Chicago Cubs baseball without Harry. Infect, he's solely responsible for converting me to the against the Firm to 3-1. This also set up a rematch to avenge their opening round loss to Finberg. BY ADAM LUCAS Editor-h-Chief with his old team In game one, Chocolate City seized the momentum and never let go. Collie Bryant and Tim Wooten put on a 3-point shooting clinic to put Finberg far behind. Wesley Elam tried to keep his team in the game with low post dominance but it did not work. Chocolate City won the first game, 50-34. Game two was very similar. The early advantage was taken by Chocolate City, but costly turnovers and errors let Finberg back in the game. With 1:48 re maining, the game was tied. In the end, clutch free throw shooting, which had been the Achillies heel of the team, lifted Chocolate City to a 24-20 victory and its first Championship. Jamaal Murphy was held to five points total in both games thanks to the dynamic duo of Jimmy LaMour and Dwayne Cherry. This was a great year for intramu ral basketball. It proved that anyone can get a team and win with that team. It also put an end to the three-year domi nance by the Firm. Cubs During those lazy summers without school while I tuned in to WGN I may not have known any of the players, but 1 certainly recognized the gravelly-voiced play-by-play announcer. During a time when baseball needs all the help it can get, the loss of Caray is a major blow. The venerable announcer made it a habit of signing autographs for free while play ers held out for SSO per signature. By the way, it's "Agarralag Serdna," and writing it just doesn't do justice to his pnonounciation. The Guilfordian March 20,1998
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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March 20, 1998, edition 1
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