NBA
BULLS KEEP HEAT DOWN
Not even a visit to Chicago and a game with the struggling Bulls could give the Miami Heat a touch of relief from their pathetic season. The Bulls outlasted the Heat 99-92 at the United Center as both teams limped into the All-Star break.
With the win, the Bulls crawled to within 10 games of .500 at 21-31 as they continue their surprisingly lost season of 2007-2008. And the Heat, who have lost the winning combination, fell for the 24th time in their last 25 games. They still stand at nine wins for the season.
The Bulls got a big scoring night from Kirk Hinrich, who scored 24. Three Bulls were in double figures in rebounds as they outboarded the Heat 53-35.
The Miami duo of Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion had 30 and 23 points, but no one else did much damage—which shows that the Heat are still a couple of top players from competing.
But for now, one thing is sure. The Miami Heat will now go an entire week without losing.
OTHER NBA SCORE
Phoenix 109, Dallas 97
NHL
HURRICANES BLOW PAST PENGUINS; TAKE OVER FIRST
The Carolina Hurricanes blew past the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night into first place in the Southeast Division—but doing so was costly!
Carolina 4, Pittsburgh 2.
Already down a trio of key defensemen, the Hurricanes lost team captain and leading scorer Rod Brind’Amour to a torn knee ligament in the game’s opening moments. Brind’Amour is likely done for the season.
On Thursday, the Hurricanes got three power-play goals to beat the Penguins and take over first place in the tight Southeast Division. Carolina is two points ahead of Washington and Atlanta.
Ray Whitney scored one of Carolina’s power play goals and assisted on two other tallies. Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward wasn’t all that busy in net. He stopped 20 shots to earn the win. Carolina outshot the Penguins 46-22!
OTHER NHL SCORES
Chicago 6, Nashville 1
New York Islanders 5, Toronto 4
Tampa Bay 5, Philadelphia 3
St. Louis 4, Colorado 1
Phoenix 5, Dallas 2
Minnesota 5, Vancouver 4 (Shootout)
Edmonton 3, San Jose 2
FACTS OF THE DAY
THE BUZZ IN NEW ORLEANS
CONFERENCE RACES
Here’s how the NBA conference races would look if the end of the season—not just the All-Star break—were upon us.
EAST
Boston 41-9 -
Detroit 39-13 3
Orlando 33-21 10
Cleveland 29-23 13
Toronto 28-23 13.5
Washington 25-27 17
New Jersey 23-30 19.5
Philadelphia 23-30 19.5
WEST
New Orleans 36-15
Phoenix 37-16 1
LA Lakers 35-17 1.5
San Antonio 34-17 2
Dallas 35-18 2
Houston 32-20 4.5
Denver 32-20 4.5
Golden State 32-20 4.5
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE" TONY CLARK
BIO NOTE:
RECENT NEWS: The San Diego Padres will enjoy Tony Clark¹s presence in 2008.
FAITH QUOTE: "My perspective on pretty much everything has changed. Baseball is not the center of my universe. Jesus Christ is the center of my universe.
In the scheme of things, baseball is not nearly as important as our eternal salvation, and that's something that I came to grips with, which allows me to keep all of this in perspective. The things I've experienced and the people I've met have all happened for a reason. If I can make a difference in someone else's life as a result, I've accomplished what the Lord hascalled all of us to do--share the Good News!"
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
POLES APART
The pole position is set for the Daytona 500, along with everyone else in the first two rows. As a result, it appears that the Joe Gibbs team and its squadron of Toyotas will get some early head-to-head testing with the Hendrick Motorsports team and its pack of Chevys. Hendrick’s Jimmie Johnson is on the pole. Michael Waltrip will start second in a Toyota owned by his own team. Then Hendrick’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his Chevy. Fourth is Denny Hamlin in a Gibbs Toyota. Tony Stewart, in a Gibbs Toyota is sixth, and Jeff Gordon, in Hendrick’s Chevy is eighth.
REAL BASEBALL NEWS
You have to look long and hard, but it is possible to find baseball news that has something to do with baseball. For instance, the San Diego Padres have landed themselves a good guy. Tony Clark, who had been spent a few seasons hitting long home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks, got some great personal news on Thursday. He will finally get a chance to play for his hometown San Diego Padres. Clark, who grew up in the San Diego area and attended a Christian high school there, will in 2008 be wearing the uniform of the team he grew up rooting for. The Padres will pay him $900,000 to play first base and be a positive influence on a team expected to be in the running to win the NL West. Clark has 244 career home runs.
NIU AND THE PROLIFERATION OF VIOLENCE
Sadly, another deranged person has brought unspeakable tragedy into the lives of some intelligent, directed young people who were doing nothing more than attending class. The college this time is Northern Illinois University, and the grizzly toll this time is seven students whose parents are now left with funerals and a life of grief ahead of them because one man with no regard for others thought he was making some kind of statement. The Huskies have closed their campus for the weekend, canceling Friday’s classes and all sporting events as the remaining students try to resume some form of normalcy in their lives. One has to wonder if there is any connection between the proliferation of violent images in movies, television, video games, and some forms of music and these people who so readily reach for guns when they face crises that could better be solved with discussion. Why does our entertainment media feel it must spew on our citizenry continual images of graphic violence, normalizing the idea of explosive deaths?
WHO IS HE?
Testing your knowledge of past sports stars—taken from “Legends” articles from the pages of Sports Spectrum magazine
WEDNESDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• Made the
• At one time held the world record in the 880-yard run, the one mile run, and the 1,500-meter run.
• Was selected the Sullivan Award winner in 1967 as the top amateur athlete in the
• Became a
WHO IS HE? JIM RYUN
THURSDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He was in not one, not two, but six Super Bowls.
• He played in all four of Buffalo’s SB appearances.
• He played for Green Bay in XXXI an XXXII.
• He is perhaps best known for being the guy who ran down Leon Lett in SB XXVII and preventing LL from scoring a touchdown.
WHO IS HE? DON BEEBE
FRIDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He led the NFL in TD passes in 1979 (28) and in QB rating (91.4) in 1980 while with the Browns.
• He was the MVP of the 1980 Pro Bowl.
• While quarterback in
• Originally from southern Californian, he moved back there after his career ended, and he coached at a Christian high school in Del Mar.
WHO IS HE?
SPECTRUM RADIO
SS DAILY INTERVIEW
To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.
THE FRIDAY GUEST
RON PEGRAM, SS NASCAR analyst
Sunday is the big day for NASCAR. The Daytona 500 will rumble around the old track in that Florida city, and the 2008 Sprint Cup races will be underway. Will this be rough and tumble year—as indicated by the fisticuffs of Stewart and Busch already this year? Or will cooler heads and reasonable drivers prevail to give us a great year of concentrating on the new teams and newer possibilities? What will the 2008 NASCAR season look like? Ron Pegram will talk about that.
