By Matt Welnack Sports Editor To coach Billy Tubbs, Monday's game against Southern Methodist University is just another game for the Frogs. But to junior guard Larry Allaway, the game will be a chance to bring the Mustangs back down to earth. "They're coming off a win against Fresno (State), and they should be feeling good," Allaway said. "But, even though we lost to Fresno, we still feel good about ourselves. It'll be an intense game. There will be lots of bodies flying around." The Frogs (15-13, 6-6 Western Athletic Conference) are coming off of a close loss to Fresno State Sunday, 98-93. TCU pulled within three points with 11 seconds remaining, but Fresno State's Demetrius Porter hit four free throws to finalize the victory for the Bulldogs. The Mustangs (21-5, 9-3 WAC) defeated Fresno State 82-72 on Jan. 17. The Frogs will take the crosstown rivalry to Dallas this time around. TCU beat SMU on Jan. 29 when the Frogs used a 32-10 run in the second half to defeat the Mustangs 92-75. The game will be at 7 p.m. and will be shown on Fox Sports Southwest. "It's really just another game to us, and that's how we are going to approach it," Tubbs said. Allaway said the key matchup for Monday's game will be junior guards Ryan Carroll and SMU's Jeryl Sasser. In the last game, Sasser was held to 12 points. "We know Sasser and (senior guard Stephen) Woods will get their shots," he said. "We just have to lock down on them." Tubbs, however, said the Frogs won't key in on particular matchups. He said TCU's main focus will be on keeping the Mustangs from getting offensive rebounds. SMU out-rebounded the Frogs 23-15 on the offensive glass last time. Nine of junior forward Willie Davis' 16 rebounds were on the offensive end. "They're a good team and very good offensive rebounding team," Tubbs said. "We have to get some defensive rebounds. We have to (have) a better job guarding them. We make our shots, and we win." Freshman center Rebel Paulk said his job will be to help senior forward Marquise Gainous and junior forward Derrick Davenport with the inside game against the Mustangs. Gainous and Davenport combined to score 41 points and pull down 19 rebounds. "My job is to just get rebounds and play defense," he said. "(The Mustangs) have three guys that come in to just bang on Marquise and Derrick. I'm just there to get the rebounds and play defense." Another key to the game, Tubbs said, is the time the Frogs have had to rest their injuries. Junior guard Estell Laster missed the Fresno game with an Achilles' heel injury, and junior forward Myron Anthony has been afflicted with a groin injury for about three weeks, Tubbs said. Allaway said the Frogs will need to cut down on turnovers and move the ball around more on offense in order to put themselves in winning position. Both Paulk and Allaway said it is important for the Frogs to win Saturday so they can receive a better standing in the WAC tournament held in Fresno, Calif. "It's going to be very important for us to win because it's going to show us where we are going to be seeded in the WAC tournament," Allaway said. "We need wins so we can feel confident going into Fresno." Tubbs said despite playing the game in Dallas, he expects a good showing from his team. "We like to play at SMU," Tubbs said. "It'll be an exciting game, and I hope we get a lot of our students there. (SMU) had a pretty good crowd last time."
Matt Welnack
The results of a recent television survey revealed that if nightly National Hockey League games and ESPN programs "SportsCenter" and "NHL 2 Night" were no longer broadcast, violence on television would be reduced by nearly 40 percent. OK, not really. But you have to wonder if the NHL is reassessing its no-holds-barred approach to fighting after the brutal incident involving Boston Bruins' Marty McSorley and the Vancouver Canucks' Donald Brashear on Monday night. With only 2.7 seconds left in an intense matchup between the Bruins and Canucks, McSorley skated up behind Brashear and inexplicably swung his stick at Brashear's temple, knocking the Canucks' player unconscious. Replays of the incident showed Brashear sickeningly collapsing to the ice, bleeding, as the back of his head hit the ice. Luckily for all participants involved, Brashear suffered only a concussion and will be out two to three weeks. I say luckily because Brashear's family could have been making funeral arrangements. In response, McSorley has been handed down the NHL's most severe punishment ever - suspended for 23 games and the playoffs. Think about it: The NHL usually tacitly encourages violence, which typically is limited to fisticuffs, but even McSorley's actions shocked teammates, opponents and NHL officials. "I've never been a part of anything like that or witnessed anything like that," McSorley's teammate Ray Bourque said. "There is no way to justify it." McSorley, for his part, offered this weak explanation: "It's not what I intended to do. I wanted to go fight." McSorley has developed quite a reputation throughout the league as a brawler, including being in third place on the NHL's all-time penalty list. Had McSorley slugged someone on the streets in this manner, his only concern would be making arrangements for bail. It makes me wonder what Tony Limon thinks of this. Limon, an 18-year-old San Antonio high school student, made national headlines two weeks ago for throwing a particularly nasty elbow at an opponent in a January basketball game. So nasty it fractured the guy's nose and cut his gum and lip. So nasty the opponent needed plastic surgery to repair the damage. And so nasty it earned Limon a five-year prison sentence. There's not much precedent for the sentence, so Limon was made out to be a cautionary tale for others. An article in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated stated, "the harshness of (the) sentence may cause others to think twice before striking a blow in the heat of battle." Well, think again. Now it's McSorley's turn to face the music. How about some "Cell Therapy"? n Vince Carter, arguably the most exciting player in the NBA since World B. Free or Michael Jordan (whatever), has shown maturity beyond his years on the court. But just one season removed from his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign, Carter's greatest strides appear to have been made off the court. It would be easy for fans to have become disenchanted with the gaggle of NBA stars-to-be, who haven't exactly endeared themselves to much of anyone other than their assorted cliques of hangers-on. The incident that induces the most vomit is Patrick Ewing's refusal to sign autographs at a children's charity function because in his words, "I don't sign autographs on game day." Ewing was injured at the time. But let's get back to Carter, who seems to have a perspective that many people, not just athletes, should embrace. When asked if the grind of being of a highlypaid, highly-visible athlete was ... agitating, if not, bothersome (the reporter called it "baggage"), Carter responded, "I just look at it as something you have to do, it's an opportunity. I could have nothing. I could just as well come out here and play ball, nobody say anything to me, not here talking to you, nothing. So all of this is not bothersome to me, it's an honor." Do you hear him, Bobby Knight? Albert Belle? And Kenny Anderson, who had to sell a "fleet" of his luxury cars just to get by on his multimillion dollar salary during the NBA's lockout last season. n It's usually more likely that John Rocker will be named head of the Rainbow Coalition than a modern-day athlete or athletes will voice an opinion on something other than their contract extension, but the New York Knicks organization has really impressed me as of late. The Knicks recently decided to not hold its playoff training camp in Charleston, S.C., because of the state legislature's decision to continue flying the Confederate flag atop the state capitol's dome. Knicks forward Larry Johnson said, "If we have another choice, let's get out of there. If you've got a state that wants to fly that flag knowing what it means to people, and me being black, I don't need to be in that state." Well done, guys. If you really want to make a point, hit them where it hurts. The wallet.
Opinion Editor Joel Anderson is a senior
news-editorial journalism major from Missouri City, Texas.
By Chris Ray Skiff staff The TCU men's tennis team takes to the net at 2 p.m. today against Abilene Christian University at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Abilene Christian brings a two-match winning streak to the table against TCU after starting the season 0-2. The Frogs hold a 5-0 all-time mark on the Wildcats. The last time the Frogs and Wildcats met was March 3, 1976. The Frogs took that meeting 9-0. The Frogs host the Wildcats to open the home portion of the schedule. The Frogs held a record of 9-1 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center last season. TCU also placed six singles players in the ITA top 100 rankings. Junior Esteban Carril holds the No. 23 ranking with a record of 13-3 and 3-1 in dual match play, and junior Martin Jirak holds the No. 51 ranking. Junior Petr Koula, at 17-5, is the No. 61-ranked player. Freshman Antonio Gordon comes in at No. 65, junior Trace Fielding is No. 72, and rounding out the top 100 is junior Scott Eddins at No. 99. The Frogs face Texas A&M University when the No. 18-ranked Aggies come to campus at 1 p.m. Saturday for a non-conference match.
Chris Ray |
Coming off a loss to the No. 11-ranked Baylor Bears, the
Frogs dropped one spot in the International Tennis Association poll to
No. 15. TCU received 490 votes, two votes behind No. 14 Tennessee.
| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |