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Sports | Basketball Men's 1037

SPORTS

Underdog sports lack attention

Chris Mackinder
June 10, 2003

Of all the male sports at MSU, football, basketball and hockey soak up most of the attention. But seriously, what makes those three sports any more important and entertaining than the other male sports? The answer: nothing. Despite the pre-season powerhouse football team plummeting into the nation's biggest laughingstock, a fall that included two embarrassing losses by a combined score of 110-10, football is football. Basketball will be one of the nation's top programs as long as Tom Izzo is at the helm and hockey, though it faded a bit in 2003, will get back on the map. But in MSU's smaller sports there is just as much of a winning tradition, if not more of one. The MSU baseball team entered the 2003 season after setting numerous Spartan records in 2002 en route to a superb 38-19 finish.

SPORTS

Lugnuts fall flat against Quad City

Dawn Klemish
June 9, 2003

Lansing - After a successful weekend, the Lugnuts were kept off the board in a 7-0 stomping from the Quad City River Bandits on Sunday in a rain-shortened matinee at Oldsmobile Park. The Bandits (27-34) took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the second off a triple from left fielder Garrett Guzman to score designated hitter Omar Burgos and center fielder Alex Romero. Lansing (35-24) had an opportunity to slice into the lead in their half of the frame, but third baseman Robinson Chirinos grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the chance. A costly error from Lugnut shortstop Buck Coats in the third allowed Quad City first baseman Danny Matienzo to cross home and increase the lead to three. With Lansing struggling to get its offense going, the Bandits tacked on two more runs in the sixth, courtesy another Coats error and a sacrifice hit. Coats has a team-leading 21 errors, but said his teammates' support allows him to keep his head up despite the loss. "People pick each other up, it's fun to be on a team like that," Coats said.

SPORTS

Critics should put cork on Sosa issue

Sports media has been "bery, bery" bad to Sammy Sosa.It seems Sosa's popped cork unleashed some of the worst media coverage, as bubbly airheads hit the airwaves spouting off all the hot air they could muster from their inflatable minds.Phrases such as "Say it ain't So-sa," "Whammy Sammy" and "Busted" were tossed around like a busy bullpen, as the all-star right fielder was given the Martha Stewart treatment - though, at least the design diva didn't say her stock move was a practice trade.ESPN, err

SPORTS

Jorgensen prepares for pros

Amy Davis
June 5, 2003

Former MSU golfer Eric Jorgensen's golf career excelled on amateur golf courses, and now he hopes to continue his success on the professional circuit.Jorgensen's performance on the men's golf team earned him several recognitions - All-Big Ten Second-Team honor and being named to the Ping All-Midwest Regional Team for the second straight year to name a few - along with a load of confidence in his prospects as a pro."I was thinking about it before school ended," he said.

BASKETBALL

'U' hopes to make team

Dawn Klemish
June 4, 2003

After a weekend of tryouts, three MSU athletes have taken another step toward taking the summer off from Spartan basketball and representing the United States against the rest of the world.Junior guard Chris Hill, sophomore forward Paul Davis and sophomore guard Maurice Ager all made the cut as finalists under consideration for placement on two different USA Basketball teams."It just shows that we're more than just basketball, we can go out and represent our country," Davis said.

BASEBALL

Tigers spoil day for 'The Rocket'

Detroit - Professional baseball's worst robbed a milestone from its best on Sunday. Dubbed "The Rocket" for his fiery fastball, New York Yankee starting pitcher Roger Clemens was set to earn his 300th win but the Tigers spoiled the day.

SPORTS

Women's crew team places 13th in NCAA

Indianapolis - The MSU first varsity eight women's crew team propelled themselves to win the C final Saturday to place 13th at the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships at Eagle Creek Reservoir after two near defeats.

SPORTS

Lugnuts down Peoria, 7-6

Dawn Klemish
May 28, 2003

Lansing - In a game that closely resembled the final game of the 2002 Midwest League Championship Series, Lansing downed the Peoria Chiefs 7-6 on Monday.Last year's matchup saw the Chiefs (26-23) surprise the Lugnuts (28-18) with an eight-run ninth inning to steal the championship, 11-10.

SPORTS

Fast, Sunryd honored for academic success

Hockey senior defenseman Brad Fast and senior swimmer Karl Sunryd garnered academic recognition last weekend, as both were named to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-American District IV University Division Men's At-Large second team.

SPORTS

Rowers and diver nab honors for bookwork

Senior diver Stephanie Anisko and senior rower Amy Slider were both named to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-American District IV University Division Women's At-Large First Team, initializing their eligibility for Academic All-American team consideration.As part of the women's swimming and diving team, Anisko won 13 diving events for MSU this season on the one- and three- meter boards, and holds a 4.0 grade-point average.She was awarded the Michigan State Student Athlete Support Services' President's Award, an annual award to the student-athlete with the highest GPA.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Crew team headed to NCAA tourney May 30 MSU has been awarded a team bid to the 2003 NCAA Women's Rowing Championship.

BASEBALL

'U' immortalizes former coach, player

Dawn Klemish
May 19, 2003

On Sunday, the MSU baseball team retired its first two numbers in school history.Former MSU greats Danny Litwhiler and Robin Roberts were on hand for the ceremony, in which the fence in left center field was adorned with banners brandishing the numbers one and 36, respectively."It was a great day for Spartan baseball," MSU manager Ted Mahan said.