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Wednesday, May 28

Articles from the past week

[MAY 27, 2003]  Not too many things you say are ever remembered. Unless they're things that you wish people would forget. And not too many things you've ever done are remembered. However, when it comes to Memorial Day, it's hard to argue as to whom this day belongs! We take our hats off to the brave men and women of our country who serve in the armed forces or who are veterans!

I like to think that one of the reasons our country is so blessed and favored is because not only do we pay tribute to our active and fallen heroes, but a whole day is set aside to remember the price that has been paid for our freedom. As I enjoy another fun-filled holiday, I hope none of us will ever forget at what price this day was delivered to us! With that being said, let's head for the sports pages…

Speaking of hats off… what about the performances turned in by the LCHS track squads? For those who don't know anything about track and field, the workouts are often much more grueling than the actual meets. Regardless of that fact, Tricia Dorsey of the Lady Railers, along with a host of Railer athletes, put up some impressive performances in postseason meets. Also posting some fantastic numbers were Chris Sheley, Jarryd Cooper, Luke Sheley, Aaron Steffens, Troy Tolan and Jordan Tabb. Congratulations to these fine athletes and to all their Lincoln High School teammates and coaches!

And what a great choice Lincoln College made in hiring John Andrews as their new softball coach! In fact, we can't think of anyone who would be a better choice. A guy with professional baseball experience, Andrews has also coached at LCHS for five years, Lincoln Legion for two years, Lincoln Collegiate for two years, was an assistant at LC for a year and head coach there for a year as well. This past year he assisted the unflappable Allen Pickering. Andrews will return eight ladies from this year's squad that went 21-17 on the campaign and 17-12 in league play. It appears that the future for the Lady Lynx softball program is incredibly bright! Good luck, Coach Andrews!

…as they took their record to 16-14 and 7-7 with a win over Springfield Southeast. The Railers were to play Pontiac on Saturday, but no results of that doubleheader were available to the LDN. Regional play for LCHS is scheduled to begin Saturday.

…will go on sale on Monday, June 2. You can purchase tickets at 1 (866) ILLINI-1 or in person at the Assembly Hall or on the Net at www.fightingillini.com! This year's home opponents include Illinois State, California, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern. You can also purchase tickets for the showdown with Missouri in St. Louis. All in all, a decent home schedule considering that the big three -- Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State -- won't be coming to Champaign this season. That doesn't hurt this reporter's feelings all that much!

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Cubs waste Wood's performance...

…but appear to be making a bid to stay in first place through the month of May. Kerry Wood battled the Pirates and limited them to one hit while striking out 10 before the bottom fell out for Chicago. Pittsburg went on to win 10-0. I'm guessing -- now that Sammy Sosa is expected to get back into the lineup -- that the Cubs will still be a formidable opponent in the division. A very nice 8-5 road trip should squelch the fears of most Cubbie fans, who seem to always fear the worst. This division may be won by a team that spurts for two weeks and then staves off the rest of the wannabes!

St. Louis did to the Astros what you'd like to see them do to every interdivisional rival… beat the tar out of them! The Cards were up 10-0 before Houston knew what hit them! It's good to see Drew swinging the hot bat, and even Tino Martinez got in on the act a little bit. Edmonds seems to be breaking out of the mini slump he was in, but what can you say about the pitching of Matt Morris and Woody Williams? Anyone STILL want to roast me on why I said I'd trade Lankford for Williams in a heartbeat? I would've made the deal for a hot dog vendor… but, that's just me. In case you've been on another planet during the first two months of the baseball season, Williams is now 7-0 heading into his next start with a NL-leading 2.1 ERA! The Redbirds continue to fight off injury woes however. To go along with a decimated bullpen we now learn that Fernando Vina will be lost through the All Star break… Who's next the organist?

How many ways can you say, "This series is over?" I guess you could say it was over once Dirk Nowitski went down. But who do you like in the finals, SA or NJ? You have to like NJ's experience in going there in back-to-back years. But, you've also got to like Tim Duncan and the great perimeter shooting the Spurs have been displaying of late. I really like the Spurs, but as well as the Nets are playing right now, don't be surprised to see them pull this thing out.

Have a great week, everybody!

[Jeff Mayfield]

• Last week: Cards and Cubs at it again

• Archived columns

Announcements

Basketball camp dates announced

[MAY 14, 2003]  NORMAL -- First-year Illinois State head basketball coach Porter Moser has announced his camp dates for the summer of 2003.

Moser and his Redbird staff will host three camps this summer, with a pair of day camps and one team camp.

The first day camp runs June 16-19 and is for boys entering grades 1-12. The second day camp is open to boys entering grades 1-8 and is scheduled for July 15-18. The day camps are designed for commuters only and focus on the basic fundamentals of dribbling, passing, shooting, rebounding, defense and game play.

The cost for either day camp is $170. Each camper receives a basketball and a T-shirt.

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The team camp, which caters to high school and junior high teams with boys entering grades 6-12, will be June 20-22. The camp format is round-robin and tournament team play.

The cost for the team camp is $170 for commuters and $205 for resident campers. Each will receive a camp T-shirt.

For more information about the basketball camps, call the Redbird men's basketball office at (309) 438-8681 or click here for an application form.

[Click here to download the Adobe Acrobat reader for the PDF file.]

[Todd Kober, director of media relations,
Illinois State University]

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