ortlanò UlBV Page A7 ^ortlanh ©bseruer January 02,2002 Sports/METRO Jefferson Senior Leads at Tournament Ducks Hope for » » A " l , : * , Mi » "■ w** I l 1 m 1 W W * . < 2 ’ v is Jefferson High School's head coach Marshall Haskins (at left) goes over what proved to be the game stealing jumper with Senior Brandon Lincoln. Jefferson went on to beat Jesuit 69-66 in the third-place game at the nationally renown Les Schwab Invitational on Dec. 22. . * a Split National Championship photo by D avid G iezyng / T he P ortland O bserver Bonds Named Male Athlete of the Year SAN FR A N C ISC O -(A P) Ina record-breaking season capped by major awards, one home run was especially significant to Barry Bonds. It was not his 500th career homer, or his 71 st of the season, which broke Mark M cGwire’s record. It was a memorable year for baseball’s new home run king. He started it O-for-21 at the plate, but finished with 73 homers and a record .863 slugging percentage. Besides smashing M cG w ire’s 3-year-old record for homers, the San Francisco slugger broke a pair o f Babe R uth's records with 177 walks and the gaudy slugging percentage. Bonds hit .328 with 137 RBI while moving from 17th place to seventh on the career list with 567 homers. Bonds edged three-time Tour de F ra n c e w in n e r L an ce Armstrong to claim the AP award announced W ednesday. T iger Woods, who won in 1999 and 2000, tied for third. Hitting his 73rd home run this year, Barry Bonds breaks the national record set by Mark McGwire three years ago. Bonds received 33 first-place votes and 136 points from sports­ w rite rs and b ro a d c a ste rs. Capriati, AP’s Female Athlete of the Year (A P )-In late 1988, when Jennifer Capriati was 13 and about to turn pro, she played in an exhibition event in Haverford, Pa. Some players worried she was too young to start a career and would be off the tour within a few years; others were certain she was too talented not to become a star. It turns out both predictions were on the mark. Capriati’s remarkable return from career crisis to the top of tennis in 2001, with championships at the Australian and French Opens and a brief turn at No. 1, earned her The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award on Thursday. “I’m no longer going to doubt m yself in anything,” Capriati said after winning her first major title this year. “If I can come home with a Grand Slam, now I know anything is possible.” She received 37 first-place votes and 157 points from sportswriters and broadcasters to top Venus Williams, also the runner-up in 2000. Williams had 26 first-place votes and 120 points, Annika Sorenstam was third with 94 points, while Stacy Dragila and Lisa Leslie completed the top five. Williams stopped Capriati’s streak at the majors by winning W imbledon and the U.S. Open for the second straight year. Sorenstam won eight times on the LPGA Tour, the most in 22 years, and became the first woman to shoot 59 in competition. Points were awarded on a 3-2-1 basis, and eight women received at least one first-place vote. Capriati’s resurgence was stunning, coming years after she first flashed the power game that would carry her back to the top. She won three titles and reached four other finals, posting a 56-14 match record, includ­ ing a year-best 24-2 in Grand Slam tourneys. “I am proud to be able to come back from every­ thing that’s happened in my life, and just to enjoy tennis and play this well,” Capriati said in October, when she moved up to No. 1 in the WTA rankings. While Capriati won just one other event this year — at Charleston, S.C. — she was strong at the other Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the semis at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. That was enough to push her to No. 1 in the WTA rankings in October; she finished the year at No. 2, behind Davenport. A b Armstrong, who finished second in the voting for the second straight year, had 26 first-place r i e votes and 127 points. American League MVP Ichiro Suzuki and W oods tied for third with 43 points, though Suzuki had seven first-p la c e vo tes and Woods, who also won the AP honor in 1997, had two. Randy Johnson was fifth and Allen Iverson sixth. Points were awarded on a 3-2-1 basis. The 37-year-old Bonds is the 24th baseball player to win the AP award. Pepper Martin won the first award in 1931, and other baseball winners have included Bonds’ godfather, Willie Mays, who won as a member of the New York Gi­ ants in 1954. McGwire won in 1998 when he hit his record-breaking 70 homers. After briefly testing the free- agent market, Bonds accepted the G iants’ offer of salary arbitration and will be back in San Francisco for at least one more season. Bonds said he’s already prepar­ ing for the 2002 season and trying to figure out how he can become an even better player. f Oregon Ducks Coach Mike Bellotti declared, “The hype is exciting, but we still have to go out and stop the best running team in the nation if we want to be co-national champions. ” The University o f Oregon Ducks prepared for New Year’s day Fiesta Bowl with the possibil­ ity of a national championship. Ducks coach Mike Bellotti was miffed that his team could be ranked No. 2 in both major polls and not play in the Bowl Championship Series national title game. Retribution could come if the Ducks pull out a win against Colorado. An Oregon victory and a M i­ ami loss to Nebraska in the Rose Bowl could mean split national cham pions, w ith the Pac-10 champion Ducks earning the top spot in The Associated Press rankings. The ESPN-US A Today poll, determined by a vote of coaches, has a pact with the BCS that automatically gives the Miami- Nebraska winner the national title. The AP poll, determined by a vote o f sports writers, has no such agreement. “I hope the AP people vote their minds,” Bellotti said. s Bears, Jauron to Sign Long-Term Deal LAKE FOREST, 111. - Dick Jauron is going to be the first Chicago Bears coach for a long time. With the Bears at 11-3 and assured of a playoff spot after going 5-11 last season, general manager Jerry Angelo finally gave Jauront he security he had sought. Angelo said he would negotiate a contract extension after the season with Jauron, who has one year left on a four-year deal. Cowboys Great Harvey Martin Dies at 51 G RA PEV IN E, Texas - Form er D allas Cow boys defensive end Harvey Martin, once a Super Bowl M VP, died of pancreatic cancer. He was 51. The four-tim e Pro Bow ler starred for the C ow boys in the 1970s and highlighted his 11 -year career by being the co-M V P o f the 1978 Super Bowl. BYU's Staley May Declare for NFL Draft PROVO, Utah - Brigham Y oung’ s Luke Staley, the 2001 Doak Walker Award winner as the best running back in the country, is expected to announce his intent to enter the NFL draft. Nash's 3 Spoils Duncan's 53 SAN A N TO N IO - Steve N ash scored 27 points and m ade a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds rem aining in overtim e as the D allas M avericks overcam e a 53-point effort by Tim Duncan and beat the San A ntonio Spurs 126-123. D allas won its seventh straight despite a career night from D uncan, w ho scored 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtim e and also pulled dow n 11 rebounds. M ichael Finley led the M avericks w ith 28 pointsand Tim H ardaw ay had 15 for Dallas, w hich defeated San A ntonio for only the 1 l lb tim e in their last 50 m eetings. Nuggets' Issel Resigns After Insensitive Comment DENVER - Dan Issel accepted a buyout and resigned as head coach and president o f the D enver N uggets, after he was suspended for m aking an insensitive ethnic rem ark to a spectator. The announcem ent came after Issel and general m anager Kiki Vandeweghe finalized the details o f Issel’s departure in private m eetings. A ssistant coach M ike Evans, w ho has been serving as interim coach, will rem ain in charge of the team. Staley Leaving BYU for NFL Draft PROVO, Utah - Brigham Y oung's Luke Staley, the 2001 Doak W alker Award w inner as the best running back in the country, announced he will forgo his final year o f eligibility and enter the NFL draft. D espite a broken leg, suffered earlier this m onth, and a history o f injuries, some expect the A ll-A m erican to be a first-round draft pick. He set school m arks this year w ith 28 touchdow ns, 1,582 yards rushing and 170 points. He is B Y U ’s all-tim e leader with 48 TDs. CLASS BEGINS WITH A HEARTY BREAKFAST Monday through Saturday: 7am to 10:30am Sunday: 7am to 1 1:30am Floyd Resigns as Bulls Coach DEERFIELD, 111. -T im Floyd resigned as coach o f the Chicago Bulls as the team stum bled through its fourth straight rebuilding season o f the post-M ichael Jordan era. The Bulls are 4-21, last in Central D ivision, and have the N B A ’s w orst record. F loyd’s overall record was 49-190. 3 7 3 6 \ l 33r