SPORTS Monday had something for all FROM THE SIDELINES BV JAYSON JACOBY Monthly was anotherone of those days we sports enthusiasts tfrt'.im altoul After till, it had somothing to please just about anyone for openers, it was baseball's 122nd Opening Day Sure, there are ltll games left, but that first day always seems special Although it will be hard for any events this season to match last fall s classic braves Twins World Series. 1 ‘>‘12 does of fer the possibilities for some important mile stones Kansas City's C.eorge Hrott and Milwaukee's Robin Yount both have solid chances to reach the A.000 htt plateau That mark whic h basically guarantees a spot in the Hall ol l ame is only 122 hits away for Yount and 1(14 lor ltrett Only IS major leaguers have ever accomplished the feat, and newer two in the same season On the opposite side of the ball, 45 year old Nolan Ryan continues to amu/e The aging lexas Rangers wonder can add to ins own rec ord of soy en no-hitters, and few would probably lie sur prised il he does Ann it will hu imrrrstmn to mm? now mu Ainm i.i Braves fare. playing from a position they're not used to defending National League champion The Braves went from worst-to-finsf a year ago, and with basically the same lineup, Atlanta should have a good chance at holding oil the (.in cinnati Reds in the National League West Then there's the Cecil Fielder watch The lie troit Tigers' slugger added a few more inches to his waistline in the off-season It will I*- interest ing to see if that translates into another 50 homer season for baseball's most powerful power hitter Always of interest are the exploits of Oakland's unpredlr table Jose Canseco When he s not engag ing in highway demolition derbies with his wile, Canseco is probably the world's !>est offensive player Maylxi this will la- the year he at hleves the vaunted and never In-fore reat bed 50 home run. 50 stolen base level But with all the baseball including KSl’N's tripleheader on Opening Day. the laiys of sum mer were merely a prelude lor the biggest show in town Monday's NCAA championship matchup he tween Duke and Mulligan was the highlight of the day’s televised festivities At least I hope d will he. considering I'm writing this hours ts-lore the lip-off in Minneapolis It wait certainly the most compelling i'inul game in years Would Duke fmeome the first repeat champion miii I- WC.I.A in 1 '*7.1. or would Michi gan's 1 i an t ht’lp hut refer to the already gross fy overused moniker lab l ive freshmen write their own page In the history Ixxtk' liven if you don't sufrscrtbe to the game s hill ing .is one of sports epic flatties, on paper Duke Michigan was lar more interesting than Indiana Cincinnati. Of course, by. now all the questions have been answered, hut just for the fun of it i'll offer a cou ple of predictions for tho game I ran otvlv hope that they hear some resemblance to what aituallv happened l irst unlike Dick Vitale and. numerous other analysts predicted, the most important factor in the game was not rebounding Although they may not guard each other the entire game, the perior mam e of the point guards Duke s Hobby Hur ley and Michigan's Jalen Rose will tie the key At first glance it doesn't even seet.ii lair Rose lias a seven inch height advantage and is also much quicker than the Duke floor leader Still, Hurley seems to come up with heron per formatters in unlikely situations He stored a ca reer high 2f> points in Duke's HH-HS come from behind overtime win over the Wolverines Isu k on Dei 14 and matched that point total in leading the Blue Devils to the semifinal win Saturday against Indiana Hurley has an annoy ing knack ol hilling the three point shot (list when Duke needs a lift, as he did four times in the litst half ol the Indiana game, when lie basically kept Duke in the hunt (or Iht- w m Still. In Monday's game Kose ■, athletic advari tage was I he k. i • v to thi’ filin' .is Ills lung .inns shul off Hurley's interior passing ,md penetration, forcing Duke lo create scoring opportunities in the paint Offensively Kuse used his height advantage and superior speed to (.re.lie his own offensive oppor tunities and pass oil for several easy dunks lor Mi( Ingall s lug men, ( lire. Webber and luw.in Howard Whorl Duke tries lo counter that strategy by col lapsing inside, the Wolverines' top three point threats. Jimmy King and lames Voskuil. are left open to bomb aw ay The end result' Mu lligan turns a two point halftime deficit into a ?'l 7!l win. as Duke lires in the second half Or so I devoutly hope siv hours before the game /at von /ar.obi is a sports reporter lor ihr Kmerald WSU placekicker sues NCAA over scholarship SEATTLE (At*) A Washington St»it«* student has sum) the National C'ollt« gtale Athletic Association, claiming ht> was denied a football scholarship lieemisn of unfair eligibility require men is Ken McConkey, a fourth year walk-on place-kicker, was ruled ineligthlo for a scholarship last month Im causu he never took the Scholastic Aptitude Test or American College lest, which are required under NCAA 1’ruposllion -Hi rules Mi C.onkc v r.la I ms t he Prop 4H requirements dis criminate against the Hash Ingtori Pre-College lest, whir It h>- took U'tore grade ating from high school in Issaquah in 1'inu As a Washington Mali' resident. Ins at t eptam <• at VVSU was only conditioned upon an at t optable score in tin- Washington i’re College e n t r a mo ti v a m inatlnnv which Mr McConkey tin! laki- anti received an at t opt ahlf st ore, the suit says The still was till'd ill l! S District Court in Seattle Judge ( airolyn Dimmit k on Friday issued a temporary restraining order that allows McConkey to attend spring prat tit e at the Pullman t am pus until the issue is settled The suit will In- heard April t:i The suit asks lor more than SwO.uot) in damages and an order to keep Mt (amkey on the team A comparison of Mt ••• / < a »»♦ ; /A A *. • . i w M f > ■ • ' ? » .*J. , . •; A • • * - 0U> M# AM A . A t M * -* / ■ • ’ » ,, / /M' W A . M i • . , i i ' : ‘•jWAkMlK'i./ / liY* •jw. iiv»> i ' i Kraig Norris Weasel’s World lajo i*TiWj*rnight : I OUNNtj. HALfRAO' IT GETS OLD STRIKIN' OUT AT EvtAr paatv ! / /-K YOU XH • SUPfCfif IT MAS ANYTH l*JG TO CC WITH Tlf Pick uPuhe ? \ r'Mtw ,**.r qaaun' rA (J3T SCHf fNt 8UCKN H1P5" ? ... NMHH! [M(>wwvrj WtAStL (OCW ms tvh itw* to* a c*n. ■ BWMK? IS THAT ATES? BWHak!