Sports
Saints don’t have a prayer against CCC
WedNEsdAy^^lARch 6, 2002
rldE CÍAckAMAS P r ÍNT
NICK BARRON
Business Manager
The men’s basketball team put
he wrapping on the 2001-2002
egular season, with a 95-80 shel-
acking of the Mount Hood Saints
jnFeb. 27.
The Cougar men face the North
pt Athletic Association of Com-
nunity College’s Championship
Tournament, on Mar. 8-11 in
Kennewick, Wash, where
Clackamas looks to capture the
first-place crown.
Michael Kuebler, Clackamas’
leading scorer, put up a stellar per
formance against the Saints. The
guard finished the night with 31
points, eight rebounds and six as
sists. Three players, Lawson
Struve, Marvin Noble and Matt
Tabisz each scored 16 points.
Cougar coach Clif Wegner was
satisfied with his team’s perfor
mance against Mount Hood. “We
were aggressive on offense. We
took the ball hard to the hole, and
we shot pretty well,” Wegner said.
The end of the regular season
brings accolades to those players
and coaches who illustrated their
talent throughout the year.
Kuebler captured the Most
Valuable Player award for the
Southern Division, while he and
Noble both were named as first-
team all-stars for the league. Struve
was voted to the second-team,
with Tabisz and Mat Tondreau gar
nering honorable mentions. For
the freshman, Evan Kieling is a
member of the all
freshman team in the
Southern Division,
and Russ Schneider
received an honorable
mention.
Those who re
ceived the most votes,
Striive, Noble and
Kuebler, will play in
the All-Star’s Sopho
more game on Mar. 17
in Seattle. Tabisz is a
first alternate and will
be the first one chosen
to replacte a player who
is unable to make the
trip. The Southern Di
vision All-Stars will be
coached by Clif
Wegner, Clackamas’
head basketball coach.
Along with the
honors comes the final
NWAACC Coaches’
Poll, which has the
Cougars sitting in
, fourth place, the low
est they have been in
the poll all season.
Clackamas debuted in
the poll at number one
in early January, but
slipped recently due
to dropping three out
of four games during a
stretch in February.
Two out of the
three squads that are
ranked
before
Clackamas have fallen
to the Cougars this
year. Big Bend, resting
SALENA DE LA CRUZ I Clackamas Print
Left: Lawson Struve skies toward the basket against Mt.
Hood on Feb. 27. Struve scored 16 points in the Cougars'
victory over the Saints. Above: Clackamas'Jon Rylaarsdam
looks to pass the ball to a teammate against Mt. Hood.
at number one, lost to Clackamas.
Fellow league member Southwest
ern Oregon holds the number three
spot, and split their season series
with the Cougars at a game apiece.
The only unknown club is the
Tacoma Titans, which fell from the
number one rung to number two.
Clackamas has yet to play the Ti
tans this year. Tacoma holds a 26-
3 record, with only one loss in their
division.
Clackamas should have the en
ergy to compete in the tournament,
as Wegner granted his team three
days rest after their defeat of
Mount Hood.
“I always feel like fresh legs
tromps everything else, so We
want to be fresh,” an excited
Wegner said.
Practices for the Cougars have
not been changed to accommo
date the tournament, with the team
focusing on defensive communi
cation, rebounding and offensive
execution. Along with condition
ing, the coaching staff has been
prepping the players with scout
ing reports of their first round op
ponent, Clark.
The Penguins of Clark College
are holding a 14-4 season record
and will be riding into the champi
onships fresh off their upset of
Tacoma. Clark has only nine play
ers on its roster, eight of them
freshmen.
In offense, the Penguins are av
eraging just 82.2 points per game,
while allowing 82.6. Clackamas
slaughtered Clark last November
by a margin of 26 points in the Red
Devil Classic, a tournament the
Cougars went on to win. Regard
less of what the stat sheets say,
the calendar does read March, and
that can be a powerful thing for an
underdog in college basketball.
The Cougars will take on Clark
Mar. 8 at 8 a.m.
This weekend’s tournament
could turn out to be a large cherry
on top of a fantastic season, or it
could become a worm which
Clackamas will have to live with
until next year.
To reach Nick Barron e-mail
barronoru@hotmail.com or drop by
B-104.
Raise the piano, break the curse, wait
By Nick Barron
______________________ _____________ ______________ «_______________ ______________ —_____ —______________________ —_____________________________
A curse haunts the Red Sox of Bos
ton, Mass.
This isn’t a spell thatjust “poor Irish
drunks from Southie believe in,” as
Russell TeeBrazil, a good friend of mine
from the Boston borough of Chelsea
puts it Itis aplagueof Biblical propor
tions that has lasted for nearly a cen
tury and kept the Red Sox from suc
cess at every turn. This “Curse of the
Bambino,” as it is known, begins with
a Mr. Herman Ruth.
Everyone has a favorite sports team,
whether it be college or professional.
We root for them when they win or
I lose, and we do not appreciate exter
championship, and the year Babe Ruth
was sold from the Red Sox to the New
York Yankees. Legend has it that Ruth
so despised being pawned to the hated
rivals that he cursed his former team.
“The Bambino’s vengeance was
unleashed on the Red Sox organiza
tion,” Brazil says, and it is hard to ar
gue with the evidence given to sup
port his claim.
Boston and the St Louis Cardinals
are tied at three games apiece going
into Game 7 of the 1946 World Series.
St Louis is batting, with a runner on
second and one out. The hitter bats
into a double play, with the runner scor
nal forces messing with our teams. If a
new player is traded to one of our fa
vorite organizations, and he or she
does more harm than good to our team,
ing.
Although the inning ends with the
double play, umpires rule that Boston
second baseman Johnny Pesky holds
onto the ball too long before throwing
it allowing St Louis to score before
his throw made it to first base.
St Louis wins the game, capturing
the World Series.
we do not appreciate that Imagine
what the people of Boston have had
to deal with for nearly a century.
The birth of the curse occurred in
1919, a year after Boston won its last
Ranked as one of the best in his
tory, the World Series of 1975 serves
as a menacing reminder of the
Bambino’s curse. In Game 3, umpires
fail to call interference on a Cincinnati
runner on a pop-up, which allows the
Reds to score and eventually win that
game. Then one of the most memo
rable home runs in baseball occurs in
Game 6 of this fall classic.
Carlton Fisk smacks a shot off the
foul pole in Fenway Park’s left field,
winning that game for Boston and
sending the Series to a seventh
game. The Red Sox lose, but Bos
ton knows that if the Game 3 inter
ference had been called, Fisk, with
his Game 6 heroics, would have won
them their first Championship since
1918.
Boston doesn’t make it to a World
Series until 1986, facing the New
York Mets. The Red Sox hold a 3-2
game lead over the Mets going into
Game 6, and in the tenth inning they
reign with a 5-3 lead and two outs.
The Shea Stadium scoreboard is al
ready flashing its congratulations to
the “World Champion Boston Red
Sox.”
Then three Met singles push New
York one run behind Boston.
The Red Sox replace their pitcher
with Bob Stanley, who throws a wild
pitch to New York’s Kevin Mitchell,
allowing the tying run to score from
third.
Next up for the Mets is Mookie
Wilson, who dribbles the ball to
wards an awaiting Bill Buckner,
down the right field line. The Red
Sox first baseman crouches on his
haunches, eyeing the white ball as
it lazily makes its way towards him,
his glove dropping down to scoop
it up. Instead, the baseball slithers
underneath Buckner’s leather mitt,
venturing into right field and allow
ing the go-ahead run to score for
New York.
The Mets go on to win Game 7,
and the Red Sox haven’t been back
to the Series since.
Some Bostonians believe the
curse can be broken, according to
Brazil, by salvaging a piano from a
New England pond and refinishing
it. Rumors swirl that Ruth tossed the
piano into the pond after the 1918
World Series. Most feel, though, that
the “Curse of the Bambino” will lin
ger for exactly 100 years, and until
then the Red Sox are out of luck.
So I’m making hotel reservations
for Boston in October of 2019. I
could be a little crazy, maybe jump
ing the gun a bit, but I have spoken
with Russell Tee Brazil, and he has
made me a believer. The Red Sox
won’t win this year or the next, but
in 2019, Ruth will finally lose his grip
on Boston.
To reach Nick Barron e-mail
barronoru@hotmail.com or drop by
B-104.