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Sports

SPORTS

Shimek's life a whirlwind since end of MSU season

Laura Collins
April 26, 2006

A couple of hours after Liz Shimek finished her final college paper on April 19, she packed the past four years of her life into a couple cardboard boxes — sorting old clothes she hasn't worn in a while from keepsakes of her time at MSU. The next day, she left East Lansing and headed to Chicago, where she began a new chapter of her life at rookie orientation in the WNBA. "I'm never going to move back down to East Lansing," the former MSU forward said.

SPORTS

Spartans drop 5 straight

Eric Fish
April 26, 2006

A little bit of home cooking didn't do the MSU softball team any good Tuesday when it dropped a 2-1 nonconference contest to Western Michigan at Old College Field. The loss extends the Spartans' winless streak to five games — their longest of the season.

SPORTS

Lugnuts duke it out in 17

Ethan Conley
April 24, 2006

Lansing — With the way the rain was coming down at Oldsmobile Park on Sunday, it looked like the Lansing Lugnuts and Beloit Snappers might not even take the field. After a 30-minute delay the two teams did finally get out on the dampened grass and play a game. In fact, they nearly played two. Holding a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh, the Lugnuts surrendered a tying run the Snappers' Andrew Thompson scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by Paul Kelly. The teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 through the bottom of the ninth, and the game stretched into extra innings. The Lugnuts found themselves in a hole in the bottom of the thirteenth, trailing 3-2.

SPORTS

Kicker Boleski continues to impress

Steve Highfield
April 24, 2006

In 2005, MSU's special teams were anything but special. Senior John Goss and sophomore Matt Haughey combined to go just 5-of-16 on field-goal attempts last season, and senior punter Brandon Fields averaged about six yards less per punt in 2005 than the year before. The feeling this spring is that someone other than Goss or Haughey will be the kicker come fall. At Friday's spring scrimmage, sophomore Todd Boleski handled all the field-goal duties, connecting from 23 yards, 32 yards and twice from 52 yards, which drew the loudest crowd eruptions at Spartan Stadium. Boleski, who shared kickoff duties in 2005 with Fields, also was good on all of his extra points Friday, sailing two over the net behind the goal posts. "He's had a pretty good spring," head coach John L.

SPORTS

Front and center

Tom Keller
April 24, 2006

The State News caught up with freshman outfielder Kyle Day. • His favorite baseball movie... "I'll keep it young and go with The Sandlot.

SPORTS

Rain delays MSU's loss

Tom Keller
April 24, 2006

Mother Nature kept the MSU baseball team from turning a good weekend into a great one. After walk-off wins in the first two games of their series against Minnesota, the Spartans (19-18 overall, 8-8 Big Ten) managed only a split after losing the rain-shortened finale, 6-3, on Sunday. With a spring shower steadily sprinkling at Kobs Field, the Golden Gophers (20-17, 8-8) scored in each of Sunday's first three innings to take a 4-1 lead. MSU started its comeback with one out in the fourth when junior outfielder Adam Tripp homered off Minnesota starter Cole DeVries.

SPORTS

Monday musings

Tom Keller
April 24, 2006

Gonzaga's Adam Morrison announced last week that he plans to forgo his senior season and enter the NBA Draft. He's rumored to be drawing interest from Portland, Seattle, and the Hair Club for Men. For the second straight season, the NBA broke its own attendance record. Meanwhile, for the sixth straight season, attendance at Mark Cuban's house parties remained at zero. The Chinese government will not pressure Yao Ming, who's recovering from a broken foot, to play for the national team, The Associated Press reports. Instead, Yao will be asked to fill in for a portion of the Great Wall of China that's undergoing construction this summer. The New York Yankees are worth $1 billion, according to estimates released last week by Forbes magazine. About $200 million of that, the magazine finds, comes from the sale of Johnny Damon posters to teenage girls. Deena Kastor, a 33-year-old American, won the London Marathon last week. Not bad for a colonist.

FOOTBALL

Whatever it takes

Laura Collins
April 24, 2006

Drew Stanton put an end to the back-and-forth trash-talking featuring suggestions for Slim-Fast and winter hibernation jokes from MSU head coach John L.

SPORTS

Edmonton's style of play trapped Detroit

There's an old saying that goes "Beware the fury of a patient man." In the case of the Edmonton Oilers, it's more like the fury of a patient team which is exactly what has Red Wings fans nervous after splitting the first two games of the playoffs with their Canadian nemesis. Two giveaways were enough for the Oilers to win 4-2 on Sunday, and two power-play goals nearly propelled them to a win in the series-opener on Friday night. How did the Oilers do it?

SPORTS

Former Detroit Red Wing in town

Eric Fish
April 21, 2006

It was Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup finals. The best-of-seven game series between the Detroit Red Wings and Carolina Hurricanes was tied 1-1 and game three was in the middle of a triple overtime. Taking a drop pass from Tomas Holmstrom, Igor Larionov skated into the Carolina zone and angled toward the net.

SPORTS

Who will be QB heir to Stanton in 2007?

Eric Fish
April 21, 2006

The spread offense has been a continuous force of production for MSU's offense since John L. Smith took over the head coaching job in December 2002. The spread offense all starts with the quarterback. Former signal-caller Jeff Smoker had a career senior year in 2003 with the passing-style offense, and Drew Stanton is set to become the next great product of Smith's football philosophy as he enters his senior year this fall. But aside from Stanton, redshirt freshman Domenic Natale and sophomore Brian Hoyer are competing for the backup spot this spring and for the starting spot in 2007. "There's no problem with that because it'll bring out the best in both of us," Hoyer said of the competition with Natale. As of now, Hoyer is the backup.

SPORTS

DVD features little of everything

Eric Fish
April 21, 2006

Very few athletes get the chance to close out a professional career at the way Igor Larionov did in "Farewell From Moscow: The Igor Larionov Farewell Game." After hanging up his skates following the 2003-04 season, the former Detroit Red Wing took advantage of the 2004-05 NHL lockout season and invited his friends and former teammates to Moscow, Russia on Dec.

SPORTS

International flavor

Steve Highfield
April 21, 2006

Most incoming college athletes have to deal with lack of playing time and balancing academics with athletics. For Sarah Andrews, a junior on the MSU women's tennis team, the biggest concern was getting a Social Security number. Andrews is from Australia and never had been to America before coming in August 2003 for MSU's International Orientation Program.

SPORTS

Spartans season marred by unusual 'streakiness'

Eric Fish
April 21, 2006

After losing standouts Jimmy Chestnut and Andrew Ruthkoski at the end of last season, the MSU men's golf team is in the midst of a season with a young, inexperienced roster. The eldest members of the team are three juniors, but seventh-year head coach Mark Hankins said the group is slowly making headway. "As we go along, these guys continue to learn and get better as the season progresses," Hankins said.

FOOTBALL

Defensive link tinkered as Ryan moves inside

Ethan Conley
April 20, 2006

The MSU football team's defensive linemen have been shuffled around throughout the spring practice schedule as the coaching staff searches to find a combination that works best. Senior Clifton Ryan, who tallied a team-high three sacks as a defensive end during the 2005 campaign, has switched over to defensive tackle.