KFDM COOP

Vitale's Inadvertent Remark Could Affect Team's Chemistry [Hidden Content] GAINESVILLE - When you agree to a live radio interview, make sure you know when you're on the air. ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale learned that the hard way Monday, and his words may end up harming the University of Florida basketball team's chemistry. Vitale tried to do his scheduled interview with WNML-FM in Knoxville, Tenn., while dining at The Broken Egg in Siesta Key. He didn't realize he was on the air with hosts Mike Griffith and John Adams when he revealed an off-the-record conversation he had - or didn't have; more on that later - with Gators coach Billy Donovan concerning the draftability of Gators F Joakim Noah and C Al Horford. Here's the transcript as taken from an audio file on the Knoxville News-Sentinel Web site. Griffith: Dickie V! Vitale: They're bored. Griffith: Dick, are you there? Vitale: There's no excuse to lose to LSU. No excuse. Griffith: Hey, Dick. Vitale: LSU without Davis? No way. Griffith: Hey, Dick. Vitale: This is interesting. [Taurean] Green and [Lee] Humphrey [Vitale's line is cut off]. Griffith: Hmm. Not sure what happened with Dickie V. there. Adams: That was an interesting commentary. Did he know he was on-air? Griffith: I don't think he did. Adams: He said there was no excuse for Florida to lose to LSU. Griffith: There's no excuse to lose to LSU. I think that's true. I don't have a problem with that. Adams: How does LSU win that game? Griffith: OK. [Vitale's line is open again.] Vitale: Right now, I talked to some NBA guys who have a little doubt about [Noah]. I mean, he's still going to get drafted top six or seven, but [he has] no shot. No shot. I'm going to tell you what. I'd take Horford over him. You know who told me that in confidence? Billy Donovan grabbed me all alone and said the pro scouts are making a mistake. He said there's no way I would take Noah over - he said he would never say that publicly - over Horford. Griffith: Hey, Dick. Vitale called into the show again after receiving a phone call from someone at Florida. He recanted, saying the conversation with Donovan never happened. He also said he was joking. "This is a non-story," Vitale told the hosts. "It's absurd." Asked about Vitale's revelation on the Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference, Donovan claimed he never made the statement. "I'm not going to comment," Donovan said, "on something I didn't say." What Donovan did or didn't tell Vitale isn't news. Anyone who has watched Florida this season can see Horford's skills have progressed. Noah knows this, and he probably would acknowledge it. But Noah probably doesn't want to hear about his coach telling media members who he'd prefer to draft. The other problem is the breach of trust. Vitale, a genuinely nice guy who always tries to stay positive publicly, may have burned a source by revealing an off-the-record conversation in a crowded restaurant. Off-the-record is off-the-record. As juicy as the nugget may be, you have to be careful whom you tell. The world might learn something meant for your ears only.

Let's stop the name calling.

Congrats! Yea i spoke with Coach Hennigan after the game and he said the kids played a great game against a very good Lufkin central team.

Just in case you missed an Episode, click here! [Hidden Content]

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;D

Good luck!

A reminder HJ will face Navasota as the UIL's ruling was in favor of Navasota.

Typical!

Well Deserving!!

NM

Port Neches-Groves girls 2, Silsbee 0

Lady Titans' Pulido wins shootout at Humble HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER The Port Arthur News HUMBLE -- The first Port Arthur soccer win over Humble ever took quite some time to accomplish. Both teams went eight rounds into a sudden-death shootout before Memorial's junior Maricela Pulido made a high attempt of 18 yards over a tall Humble goalkeeper. The only thing that mattered was that Pulido scored the night's only goal at Turner Stadium and Memorial claimed a 1-0 shocker over the Lady Wildcats. Pulido and Memorial raised their record 7-6 overall and 2-5 in District 21-5A. The team erupted for quite a celebration after eventually prevailing in the shootout. "I thought our girls played one heckuva game from offense to defense," Memorial coach Phil Mattingly said. "It was the best game we have played on defense since we played against Channelview. "We barely missed some shots in the last 10 minutes that could have won the game for us but I have to say that Maricela played a tremendous game. She played with two bad ankles." The teams went directly to a 35-yard shootout after playing 80 minutes of scoreless regulation time. Mattingly believed the chemistry of Cynthia Rodriguez at sweeper, Jessica Cuellar (nine saves) at goalkeeper, Susan Ward at left fullback, Heather Reynolds at stopper and Claudia Ramiro at right fullback proved instrumental in Memorial's win. Memorial will visit Channelview on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Yes.

Yea he just called me back and the UIL sided with Navasota. Thanks

Houston Chronicle is reporting that Navasota is out and HJ will play Splendora!!

What a night tonight!! Good luck to all our teams! I believe i'm covered on each game with text messages for updates.

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Gimenez gets bad news on injury Timeline: Review Astros in '06 Switch-hitting catcher Hector Gimenez, who was expected to battle for a spot on the roster this spring, could be lost for the season due to a shoulder injury. Gimenez was examined Monday by team physician Dr. David Lintner and diagnosed with a tear of the labrum in his right shoulder. "I think I'm going to lose the year," Gimenez said. "For me it's difficult, but it's a problem I've had for two years now. I get better and then it gets hurt again, better and then hurt again. I'd rather lose a year than my whole career." Gimenez was in competition with Humberto Quintero and Eric Munson to be Brad Ausmus' backup. General manager Tim Purpura said it's likely Gimenez will undergo surgery, which would keep him out at least three to four months. "I want to sit down with Hector and the trainers and doctors and see what the game plan is," Purpura said. "He's had some labrum issues that haven't gone away. He's rehabbed this a couple of times in the course of his career and each recovery period takes longer. The results aren't quite as good as the time before." Gimenez, who is out of options, likely will be placed on the disabled list, opening a spot on the 40-man roster. Injection for Ausmus Catcher Brad Ausmus took Monday off after receiving a pain-killing cortisone injection in his right shoulder one day earlier. He expects to throw and hit on Tuesday. Ausmus' shoulder began bothering him in December, and he couldn't lift his arm by January. He had an MRI and an X-ray and was diagnosed with fluid in his rotator cuff. "It got markedly better, but I could never get it over the hump where I could let it go," Ausmus said. "I could toss, but I couldn't let it go. I asked the doctor to inject it and get it past that last hump. There's no rush, but I don't want to wait until the end of March and get a shot." Qualls, Patton improve Righthander Chad Qualls was the only pitcher to throw off the mound Monday. Qualls, who has been bothered by right shoulder tendinitis, threw a bullpen session and will face live hitters for the first time Wednesday during batting practice. "That looked like Qualls to me," manager Phil Garner said. "It's kind of like his first day. He'll face some hitters and then we'll see what we do after that." Meanwhile, lefthander Troy Patton has made great strides in his recovery from a sprained left ankle suffered when he tripped over a sprinkler head Saturday. "If (today) I improve as much as (Monday), I'll be in good shape," Patton said. Looking sharp Some of the Astros on Monday began using a pitching machine that's designed to help improve their vision. The machine shoots balls marked with colors and numbers at speeds of up to 140 mph, and the players try to identify the markings when the ball goes past them. Manager Phil Garner first used the device while he was managing in Milwaukee, and Mark Loretta, who played for Garner with the Brewers, helped bring the idea to the Astros. "The one thing we don't train like we do the rest of our bodies is our eyes," Garner said. "We, in a sense, dumb down. "When we take batting practice, the eyes are looking at the ball and it's a whole lot slower. It's a good idea."

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Lamar fights for control of destiny BEAUMONT - Mike McConathy would love to tell you how proud he is of Steve Roccaforte, the first-year head coach at Lamar University, for pulling his Cardinals off the canvas at just the right time. Advertisement But he can't right now, because, well, today pits two teams from the Southland Conference East Division. And all things being equal, McConathy wouldn't mind beating his old buddy's brains out. McConathy - the eighth-year coach at Northwestern State and godfather to Roccaforte's son - will allow this much: He's not surprised that the surging Cardinals have gone from a struggling also-ran to a hot team on a four-game winning streak. "Steve's a young, dynamic guy, and this is his first year as a head coach," McConathy said via cell phone Monday. "They had to work through some certain things and kind of figure out some things. So, I'm not surprised they've gotten it together." Now, as Lamar (13-14, 7-6 SLC) visits Natchitoches, La., for a rematch with Northwestern State (14-13, 9-5) at 6:30 p.m. today in Prather Coliseum, McConathy will try to pull the Cardinals apart. If Lamar wins, it will be tied with the Demons in the conference loss column, a half-game behind Northwestern in the East Division - and the Cards will be in control of their own fate. Since that might be a little hard to digest, here's another way to look at it: If Lamar wins tonight, then defeats Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana in its final two games of the regular season, the Cards will win the East. "We've won four in a row and I think we're finally clicking," center James Davis said. "Coach Roc said the whole season that there was going to be a turning point where we all were going to click. I think we've finally hit that point. Now, we're a team to be reckoned with." Virtually no one would have believed that after these teams met Jan. 20 in the Montagne Center. That night, everything went wrong for the Cardinals. Facing a quick, athletic team that loves to press, create turnovers and score easy baskets, Lamar trailed by just three points at halftime, 33-30. Then the wheels fell off. The Cards were on the wrong end of a 21-2 run - and what they didn't score in points, they made up for in technical fouls. SLC official Sean Casey teed up Roccaforte twice, resulting in an automatic ejection and a one-game suspension for the coach. For Lamar, that game started a tailspin of epic proportions. The Cards lost four of their next five games. Roccaforte momentarily kicked Davis off the team, then brought him back. During one four-game stretch, Lamar shot just 37 percent from the floor Heading into their Feb. 10 game against Texas State, the Cardinals were 3-6 in conference play and in serious danger of missing the conference tournament. Then, it was as if the team decided it had enough. Lamar has reeled off four in a row - including last Thursday's mammoth 78-77 upset of first-place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a physical, 75-71 win over McNeese State on Saturday. Roccaforte and Casey got to bury the hatchet when the official called Thursday's game in the Montagne Center. What's more, Darren Hopkins was named the SLC Player of the Week, with a combined 40 points and seven assists in the Cards' last two wins - including the game-winning three-point play against Corpus Christi. "I just think our guys are very resilient, tough-minded guys," Roccaforte said. "They care about winning, and they care about what they're doing. You just have to challenge them in the right manner. Once you find out what that is, then those guys pick it up, and they're ready to go." Now they're facing Northwestern, which has lost three of its last four - including an ESPN "Bracketbuster" game at Tennessee Tech in which the Demons fell by one point, 85-84. It its last game, however, Northwestern State overcame its own struggles and a 13-point second-half deficit Saturday night, getting a combined 36 points from seniors Jermaine Spencer and Kennan Jones to rally past Southeastern Louisiana, 71-65. Meanwhile, the Cardinals - for all their recent success - haven't even clinched a berth in the tournament. In fact, should they lose their last three games, they could finish behind McNeese, Nicholls and Texas-Arlington. Then the feel-good story from the Montagne Center would turn rotten in a hurry. A losing streak could start today against Northwestern - which, lest anyone forget, gave Lamar fits in the first matchup. Roccaforte, for his part, isn't focusing on the negative. At this point, why would he? "We win, and it boosts us," Roccaforte said. "That's what we're concentrating on: every time you win, it's boosting you and what you're doing. If we win Tuesday night, we're tied in the loss column for first place in our division. That's all that matters."

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