C1'f g iu rila nò ODbserucr
Page B6
P o r tla n d . O b s e r v e r
Æ u t o R e v ie w
A p ril 5. 2 0 0 6
S ports
I
Florida Gators Take NCAA Title
Gators chomp
Bruins to win
2006 Nissan Murano SL AWD
by
K athleen C arr
T he 2(X)6 N issan M urano is a good ex am p le o f a cro sso v er
vehicle: It’s d esigned to haul carg o like a sport-utility , but ride and
drive like a car. T he M urano reflects an em p h asis on refinem ent
and o ver-the-road confidence o ver off-ro ad ruggedness.
For 2006. the M u ran o ’s styling has been freshen ed w ith a new
g rille design, a ch ro m e low er grille insert and o th e r su b tle
changes. It also gets L E D taillights that look distin ctiv e.
T he M urano has co m bined a com plete package w ith a sm ooth
ride, responsive h andling o f a car, the carg o space of a w agon, and
the high driving position o f a sport utility.
M uran o integrates
aerodynam ics and high fashion, w ith a sleek front en d and sm ooth
lines from front to back.
T he C V T T ran sm issio n in the M urano has ju s, three ranges: D
for norm al driving, S for sportier acceleration and L fo r the low est
range. S hifting from D to S raises engine revs 25(X) rpm at a given
road speed. D ropping from S to L increases eng in e speed by
an o th er KXX) rpm .
T he S L upgrades w ith a 10-way pow er adjustable d riv e r's seat,
up g raded au d io w ith steering w heel controls, a com p ass, a garage
d o o r opener, autom atic headlights, auto -d im m in g rearview m ir­
ror, pow er o utlets, fog lights, and a theft alarm . SL and SE m odels
w ear new b rushed alu m in u m trim on the rear bu m p er and ch ro m e
accents along the sides. Base price o f the SL is $30,600.
T he N issan M urano offers the room iness and practicality of a
sport utility w ith the handling, pow er and sm o othn ess o f a sporty
sedan. It com es w ell equipped and its luxurious am b ien ce gives
it the feel o f a luxury SU V .
Tested Vehicle Information: Price: $40,335; Engine: 245
HP 3.5 Liter DOHC V6; Transmission: Xtronic CVT (Continu­
ously Variable Transmission)
ACQUIRE
11 i l l
PROPERTIES.
Wally Tesfa
Residential and
Commercial Broker
Oretjon/Washington
A P - The Florida G ators won the
NCAA m en’s cham pionship M on­
day, blow ing ou, the UCLA Bruins
73-57.
Joakim Noah dominated the Bru­
ins on with 16 points, nine rebounds
and a record six blocks for Florida’s
first title in that other sport. .
“ It’s like I’m in a cloud,” Noah
said. “Not only d o esth is feel good,
bu, it sm ells good and it tastes
good. I can ’t even describe it.”
The G ators and all their fans
would certainly agree, especially
after watching this runaway - apick-
your-score kind o f gam e that was
decided early.
Many thought itco u ld n 'tb ed o n e
IO years ago when Billy Donovan
took over a basketball program that
lived well in the shadows o f Steve
Spurrier’s brash, high-flying foot­
ball juggernaut. Now, Spurrier is
long gone and the G ators have as
many national cham pionships in
hoops as they do in football. “It’s
undescribable,” said N oah, who
now will decide whether to turn pro,
"better than I'v e ever felt in my
life.”
For 40 lopsided minutes, the
G ators (33-6) were too big, too long
and too quick for UCLA, which
cam e up a win short o f its 12th
national title on a night when 95-
y e h r-o ld fo rm e r c o a c h Jo h n
W ooden w atched from a hospital
bed in LA. He was adm itted for an
undisclosed illness that w as said
not to be serious, but the Bruins
d idn’t try to use that distraction as
an excuse.
“O ur heart and everything we do
on the floor is always a tribute to
him, w hether h e’s healthy or not,”
UCLA guard Arron A fflalo said.
Florida and Noah, voted most
outstanding playerin the Final Four,
won by putting on a thorough dis­
play o f versatility and unselfish­
ness, a tradem ark o f this team all
season.
Lee Humphrey added 15 points,
A lH orford 14 and Corey Brew er 11
for Florida. UCLA (32-7) was on a
defensive tear coming into the cham-
Florida players celebrate their 73-57 win over UCLA in the
NCAA Final Four men's national championship basketball
game in Indianapolis on Monday.
p io n sh ip g am e, sh u ttin g dow n
LSU ’sG len “Big Baby” Davis in the
semifinals and allowing a total o f 90
poi nts in the last two games. Florida,
th o u g h , w as ju s t too m uch to
handle.
T he G ators ran to a double-digit
lead early and staved o ff every
UCLA run.
Noah capped it o ff with a m on­
ster dunk with 1:09 left. When the
buzzer sounded, he lay fiat on his
back at halfcourt and let the con­
fetti rain on him. His team m ates
were in a pile a few feet away and
Donovan was sharing hugs with
his longtim e assistant A nthony
Grant.
The G ators won this by taking it
right to UCLA early, looking inside
to Noah, Brewer, Horford and se­
nior Adrian Moss. Unafraid to make
the extra pass, even in traffic down
low, they finished with 2 1 assists,
eight by point guardTaurean Green.
More im pressively, IO cam e from
their frontcourt.
It c o u ld n ’t h av e b een w hat
UCLA coach Ben Howland ex­
pected after Florida's 73-58 win over
G eorge M ason in the sem is, agam e
the G ators won from outside and
that H um phrey ended early in thq
second with three straight 3s.
The scrappy Humphrey, the lone
ju n io r in a starting lineup full of
sophom ores, did the honors again
in this one, spotting up for open
looks against a collapsing defense
early in the second half.
His first 3, 80 seconds into the
half, gave Florida a 39-25 lead and
forced H ow land to call tim eout. A
sloppy offensive possession en­
sued, then Humphrey cam e back
with another 3.
•
After Ryan H ollins’dunk, one of
the few easy baskets for the Bruins,
Brewer hit a 3 to m ake it 45-27 and
prompt yet another Bruins TO.
There was no strategy to stop
N oah. T h e 6 - f o o t- ll fo rw ard
dunked, sw atted shots and dom i­
nated the game much like his dad
Al Horford o f the Florida Gators
dunks the ball over the UCLA
Bruins defense.
did during his m agical run to the
French Open title in 1983.
Noah shot 7-for-9 and also had
three assists and a steal. W hen it
was over, the kid ran to the stands
to try to find his family.
“ I'm so happy,” Y annick Noah
said, wiping aw ay tears from be­
hind his sunglasses. “ I'm so happy
for him, but also for allo f his friends.
They deserve it. It’s a beautiful
story.”
UCLA had all the history behind
it, and a pretty good team , to boot.
The Bruinsjust d id n 't have enough.
Farm ar, w ho chose UCLA over
Florida, w as their only scoring
threat. He finished with 18 points.
His backcourt mate, A fflalo, fin­
ished with l(), but was shut out in
the first half, w hile this gam e was
getting away.
Florida is still IO titles behind
UCLA, but this was one that should
quiet the d iehards w ho said it
co u ld n 't be done in Gainesville.
PSU Track Athletes Honored
«
503-2677586 cell
503-2491903 office
503-249-6527 fax
wtesfa1@comcast.net
Multi-Million $ Service
MARTIN CLEANING SERVICE
CARPET & UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Residential & Commercial Service
Kenneth Mackins
_______CARPET CLEANING
2 CLEANING AREAS OR MORE
PRE-SPRA Y TRAFFIC AREAS
INCLUDES 1 SMALL HALL
$ 2 5 .0 0
1 CLEANING AREA
PRE-SPRA Y TRAFFIC AREA
(HALL EXTRA CHARGE)
$ 3 5.00
STAIRS (with other service)
The Portland Beavers unveil their
2(X)6 season this weekend with a sum ­
mer o f giveaways, theme nights, fam ­
ily-friendly events, three firew orks
shows and the return o f Bark in the Park
and Mullet Night. The activities kickoff
a 72-gam e home schedule with P G E 's
traditional giveaway o f 2(X)6 schedule
m agnets during O pening W eekend,
April 6 through 8, as the Beavers play
Sacram ento nightly at 7:05 p.m.
A long list of special dates highlight
Each Area
$ 1.50 Each
A d d itio n a l S ervices
• AREA A ORIENTAL RUG CLEANING
• AUTO/ BOAT/ RV CLEANING
• DEODORIZING & PET ODOR TREA TMENT
• SPOT A STAIN REMOVAL SERVICE
• SCOTCHGUARD PROTECTION
the schedule, but regardless o f day, the
Beavers feature a theme for every game.
Tickets start at eight dollars and are
available at area Ticketm aster outlets,
the PGE Park box office, by phone at
5 0 3 - 2 2 4 -4 4 0 0
or
o n lin e
at
w w w .ticketm aster.com . A variety of
season-ticket options are still available
by calling the Beavers ticket office at
503-553-5555. Ticket information is also
availableatw w w .portlandbeavers.com .
Kerry-Ann Blackwood
Ju n io r K enneth M ackins
and senior K erry-Ann Black­
wood were nam ed Big Sky
C onference Track A thletes o f
the Week Thursday by the co n ­
ference office. Both Viking ath­
letes qualified for the Big Sky
C ham pionship last weekend at
the Oregon Prevjew in Eugene.
M ackins placed first in the
lOO-m eter d u rin g a recent
m eet fin ish in g in a tim e o f
10 . 9 1 -s e c o n d s . T h e ra c e
m arked the o u td o o r season
deb u t for the reig n in g BSC
Indoor 60m ch am p io n . T his
is the first ath lete o f the w eek
a w a rd fo r th e T h o u s a n d
O aks, C a lif., native.
For Blackwood, the award
is her second career award,
having earned athlete o f week
honors during the indoor sea­
son on Jan. 25. Blackwood took
second in the l(X)m hurdles
March 18 with tim e of 14.65.
Negro League Comes to Portland
UPHOLSTERY CLEANING
SOFA--------------------------------------
$6 9 .0 0
LOVESEAT --------------------------
$ 4 9 .0 0
SECTIONAL ---------------------------- $ 9 9 ,0 0
CHAIR OR RECLINER ---------------- $ 3 5 .0 0
THROW PILLOWS ------------------------ $ 5 .0 0
continued
from Metro
o n at th e m u se u m .
T h e 5 3 - f o o t m o b ile e x h ib it
title d “ T im e s o f G r e a t n e s s ,”
w ill tra v e l th r o u g h 25 c itie s
fro m A p ril to A u g u s t, w ith
h is to r ic p h o to s , v id e o , u n i­
fo rm s , a n d a lo c a l h is to ry o f
P o r t l a n d - a r e a le a g u e s . T h e
m u s e u m r o lls in to to w n
W e d n e s d a y fro m 5 p .m . to 8
p .m . a n d T h u rs d a y
fro m 6
p .m . to 7 p .m . at th e m a in
e n tr a n c e o f P G E P a rk , 18 4 4
S W M o r ris o n . S e e h u n d r e d s
o f o th e r p h o to g r a p h s a n d e x ­
h ib its at th e N e g r o L e a g u e s
B a s e b a ll M u s e u m , in K a n s a s
C ity .
COUPON SPECIAL
I
A N Y 3 C LE A N IN G A R EA S
I
■
PLUS HALL & SOFA
OR
HALL, LOVESEA TA CHAIR
,
I
I
$ 1 3 5.0 0
Michael E. Harper, Sr.
I
l
Here when you need uet
A .D . W illia m s
CALL FOR APPOINTMENT:
(503) 281-3949
I
9045 SW B ahr. Suée 109
Hrtail.<)R972l9
(5(B)22l-.iW)
STATE FARM IN S l IR A N IT COMPANIES
• I liiM I
OFFICES: BLOOMINGTON.
Shop 503-282-2920
Cell 503-309-4488
213 N.E. Hencock
Portend, OR 97212
9 em-8 pm Tuee.-Set.