Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 26, 2001, edition 1 / Page 12
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Sports Monday T. NOLAN HAYES SENIOR WRITER Mo' Money, Mo' Problems For Baseball It’s getting to be that time of the year again. The days are growing longer. Soon - we hope, at least - they’ll start becoming warmer. And the Boys of Summer have begun reporting to their training camps. You can almost smell it, can’t you? Hot dogs and pretzels at the ballpark. The freshly cut grass, impossibly green for this time of year. But not all of baseball’s green is so enticing to the game’s fans. Money, never far off baseball’s radar screen, has become the topic of conver sation heading into the 2001 season. And it stinks. It would be nice to open a newspa per or visit a Web site without encoun tering yet another story detailing a contract squabble. But that’s not possible these days. The reason? There’s hardly such thing as a contract anymore. A star signs a long-term deal and talks about how happy he is to get it done. Then, some other guy - some times a player not even as good (gasp!) as the star who just signed - writes his name for more money. The star is immediately not receiv ing his “fair market value.” It’s not about the money, mind you. It’s more about respect. That’s why the star must hold out and not participate in spring drills with his teammates. At least, that’s what Frank Thomas and some of his colleagues say. Whatever. Thomas, known as The Big Hurt, is acting more like The Bigjerk these days. He has yet to work out with his team, the Chicago White Sox, because he is unhappy with his contract. His case is a touching one. It seems that Thomas is due a base salary of only $9.9 million per year through the year 2006. In light of the recent signings of Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $252 million) with the Texas Rangers and Derek Jeter (10 years, $lB9 million) with the New York Yankees, $9.9 million simply isn’t enough for a great hitter. Strangely, it was enough for Thomas last season, when he was coming off the worst two years of his career. He batted just .265 in 1998 and came back in ’99 with just 15 homers and 77 RBI. Not once in those two seasons did Thomas offer to give money back to the White Sox because he was per forming poorly. But the instant he returned to his old form - he posted a .328 average, 43 homers and 143 RBI in 2000 - the team owed him a raise. That’s not the way things are sup posed to work. Players gain financial security by signing long-term deals. In the process, they forfeit the right to play the market every year. It’s a simple trade-off. The White Sox don’t owe Thomas any more money, just as the San Francisco Giants don’t owe Barry Bonds a contract extension right now, just as the Los Angeles Dodgers don’t owe Gary Sheffield a trade on demand. The bickering gets old, but it’s tough to blame the players for trying. On half of the occasions they ask for the moon, the owners are dumb enough to give it to them. One time that won’t happen, how ever, is at the end of this season. Major League Baseball’s labor agreement expires Oct. 31, 2001, and the owners will look to implement a way to stop each other from sending player salaries into anew galaxy each off-season. Players like the way things are now, of course, so another work stoppage is looming ominously on the horizon. How will the two sides react? If the players and owners are each willing to give a little bit, next season and the ones after it can be saved. But if they act like big jerks, one of the world’s sweetest games will have gone sour. T Nolan Hayes can be reached at nono@email.unc.edu. Women's Lacrosse Romps in Season Opener Junior Kellie Thompson led the Tar Heels with five goals and three assists in a 17-3 blowout of Davidson. By Kelly Lusk Assistant Sports Editor North Carolina women’s lacrosse team wanted to make a statement in its season opener. With a tough regular-season schedule awaiting it, UNC set out to flex its offen sive muscle against Davidson. In a 17-3 thrashing of the Wildcats, the Tar Heels’ biceps were certainly bulging. The 14-goal win marked the largest mar- gin of victory since March 5,1999, when UNC defeated Ohio State 19-5. Women’s Lacrosse Davidson 3 UNC 17 “Everyone was really pumped up for our first game,” junior attacker Kellie Thompson said. “We’ve been working really hard in practice.” The Tar Heels’ hard work was evi dent against the overmatched Wildcats. Just 2:09 into the game, Thompson opened the offensive flood gates with an unassisted score, and the Tar Heels del Cavaliers Drain Baskets, Tar Heels UVa. finished 11-of-22 from behind the 3-point line as North Carolina lost for the second time in three games. By Will Kimmey Senior Writer CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia guard Donald Hand dribbled around the 3-point line midway through the second half. The shot clock ticked down to one second. Hand hurled a wild shot toward the goal. It hit the backboard and caromed in. Three points for the Cavaliers. That’s the kind of day it was for No. 9 Virginia. Men’s Basketball UNC 66 Virginia 86 The Cavaliers made 11 of their 22 attempts from behind the arc as they blew out No. 2 North Carolina 86-66 at University Hall. Virginia led by 14 at the half and never let the Tar Heels trim the lead to single digits after intermission. “Give Virginia a lot of credit for play ing with a lot of energy and emotion,” UNC coach Matt Doherty said. “They had more energy and emotion than we had and that was real disappointing to me. I don’t know why we didn’t show more fight today. I don’t mind losing, but I do mind when you don’t fight back.” The Cavaliers built their lead with nine 3s in the first half. Sharp-shooting Keith Friel nailed three. Virginia’s lead ing scorer Roger Mason Jr. added two. And Donald Hand, who had been strag gling with his shot and missed practice Third Sets Frustrate Men's Tennis Twice By Kelly Lusk Assistant Sports Editor When matches came down to the wire this weekend, the North Carolina men’s tennis team couldn’t deliver. The third set proved particularly fatal for the Tar Heels. UNC fell Meo’sTennis Tulsa 5 UNC 2 South Florida . .6 UNC I 5-2 against Tulsa on Saturday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center after drop ping a 6-1 decision to South Florida on Friday. Saturday, the Tar Heels’ first close match came during doubles play. Freshman Nicholas Monroe and sophomore Marcio Petrone teamed up l|i : . I lggp|pp^\ M- k' *' |h| is, DTH/MIKE MESSIER Davidson goalkeeper Becca Nussbaum (39) stops UNC midfielder Beth Ames' (center) shot on goal. Nussbaum had 13 saves. uge of goals never stopped. Thompson led UNC with five goals and three assists. Senior attacker Amy Havrilla and junior midfielder Lindsay Stone both added four goals. “The offense played really well today,” Havrilla said. “We kept the field spread, time to see his ill grandfather, drilled three more. “By statistics, they’re not a real good 3-point shooting team,” Doherty said of the Cavaliers, who were hitting 36 per cent of their triples coming into the game. “But they were tonight.” Hand finished with 17 points (just behind Mason’s team-best 18) and a game-high six assists. “Donald Hand, he had a great game today,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. “And when he plays well our team goes up another level.” After trading leads with Virginia six times in the first half, North Carolina dropped a level when Ronald Curry picked up his third foul on a charge with 8:17 left before intermission. Virginia led 29-28 at that point, but when Curry sat down, Virginia took off. The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels 27-14 the rest of the half to grab a 56-42 advantage. It marked the most points allowed in the first half and largest half time deficit faced all season by the Tar Heels. “It started slipping when Ron came out of the game,” said Brendan Haywood, who totaled 20 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. “When he went on the bench, we had to put in freshmen in a tough role.” Freshmen Adam Boone, still recov ering from an ankle injury, and Brian Morrison couldn’t get the job done against Virginia’s aggressive full-court pressure. The press forced 15 UNC turnovers and even when the Tar Heels (22-4, 12-2 in the ACC) controlled the ball, they were forced out of their offensive sets. North Carolina then forced up bad shots, especially in the second half when See MEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 9 at the top-seeded position against the Golden Hurricane’s Dane McGregor and Shiranga Sudhaker. UNC claimed the victory at No. 2 doubles, and Tulsa had just won the No. 3 match. And it looked as if the Tar Heels would come back and steal the doubles point out from underneath Tulsa’s No. 1 tandem. Monroe and Petrone were down 7-4 when they broke and held serve to rally and tighten the score to 7-6. But Tulsa denied the Tar Heels’ comeback attempt and held serve to win 8-6. “We were just trying to grind it out, and it didn’t happen,” Monroe said. “We both missed a couple opportunities at the net.” Both Monroe and Petrone bounced See MEN'S TENNIS, Page 7 and everyone was in the right place at the right time. This is how we’d like to play each game: get a lot of goals in.” UNC dominated the field and out shot Davidson 22-5 in the first half. The See WOMEN'S LACROSSE, Page 7 ■'vnPMb*) \ "f ' W C ifl DTH/SEFTON IPOCK Virginia point guard Donald Hand (center) troubled North Carolina's defense and finished the game with 17 points. mm DTH/BRENT CLARK Freshman Scott Manshack (center) gave up a two-run home run Sunday in the first against Seton Hall. Tar Heels Capture 2nd Place in ACCs North Carolina's Stephen Krebs (left) finished second in 3-meter diving to help UNC take second at the ACC Championships. See Page 9 W i M Stone's Career Day Boosts Tar Heels Midfielder Lindsay Stone scored four goals against the Wildcats after tallying just 11 goals last season. By Brad Lewis Staff Writer Midfielder Lindsay Stone opened her junior campaign with a bang as the North Carolina women’s lacrosse team began its regular season Sunday. She didn’t let the rain stop her offen sive fireworks as she scored four goals to help the Tar Heels crush Davidson 17-3. Stone responded to the Wildcats’ only goal of the first half with her first goal. She rebounded a shot off Davidson goalie Becca Nussbaum and put it in the back of the net 8:40 into the first half to give UNC a 4-1 lead. With 1:39 left in the first half and Baseball Rolls Past Pirates By Rachel Carter Sports Editor Standing on Boshamer Stadium’s grass Saturday, Seton Hall assistant coach Rob Sheppard said he knew why his base ball team wasn’t winning. “No timely hitting,” said Sheppard, who took over at the helm for his ailing father, Mike, who stayed in New Jersey for the week end series. Sheppard’s crew had just suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of North Carolina - its second in as many days. The Pirates stranded seven batters Saturday, five of which were in scoring position. The Pirates didn’t suffer the same problem Sunday, but the See BASEBALL, Page 7 INSIDE: ■ Aggressive pitching helps Tar Heels. Page 9 ■ Gymnastics defeats the Tribe. Page 9 ■ Bucknell upsets men's lacrosse. Page 9 North Carolina leading 8-1, Stone added two goals in a span of 35 seconds to give the Tar Heels a 10-1 advantage heading into the second half. Stone scored 11 goals last season and is now off to a blistering pace to open this season. “Lindsay had a good season last year, but she was more of a role player in her mind,” UNC coach Jenny Slingluff Levy said. Stone showed she has re-evaluated her role in UNC’s attack. She doubled her previous game-high total of two goals, which she achieved last season against James Madison, Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. Stone’s solid performance against the Wildcats was well supported by her fel low teammates, junior Kellie Thompson and senior Amy Havrilla, who scored five and three goals respectively. See STONE, Page 7 Balanced Offense Paces UVa. By Matt Terry Assistant Sports Editor CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Thursday against Florida State, Joseph Forte took 24 shots from the floor and scored 36 points, and North Carolina won by 28. Virginia let Forte put up similar num bers (27 shots and 28 points) Sunday, but the Cavaliers had a response that the Seminoles did not. Each of the Cavs’ starters tallied dou ble-digit point totals in their 86-66 win, proving that old axiom about the sum of the whole being greater than the parts. Roger Mason Jr. led UVa. in scoring with 18 points, and the starters con tributed 75 of the Cavs’ 86 points. The Tar Heels, in stark contrast, had two players - Forte and Brendan Haywood, who chipped in 20 points - account for 72.7 percent of their scoring. “They’re tough to guard because Haywood kills you inside, and Forte kills you outside,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. But luckily for Gillen and his Cavaliers, they didn’t really have to worry about anybody else. Jason Capel scored just eight, Kris Lang four, and Ronald Curry laid a See BALANCE, Page 9 Baseball Seton Hall 7 UNC 8 Seton Hall 0 UNC 3 Seton Hall 6 UNC 7 12
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 26, 2001, edition 1
12
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75