Thursday •June 5, 1997
S The Battalion
PORTS
HICAGO
BULLS*
ic
Bulls beat up Jazz, 97-85
CHICAGO (AP) —The Chicago
did indeed disassemble
®ething — their once formida-
lopponent.
Michael Jordan was at his un-
jppable best, nearly getting a
double, the Bulls played team
fase at the highest level and
feago humbled the Utah Jazz, 97-
Wednesday night in Game 2 of
sNBA Finals.
We came out on the heels of
liatwedid in the first game," Jor-
aisaid."We basically stayed in the
anefocus as last game. Right from
(beginning of the game through
(end we maintained our defen-
lepressure.”
The victory came amid consid-
ile handwringing in Chicago
over the future of the Bulls, whose
coach, best player and leading re
bounder will be free agents at sea
son’s end.
But if Game 2 proved anything, it
is that Chicago management would
have to be crazy to break up this
bunch. This was the Bulls at their
best in every facet of the game.
Jordan, who had 38 points, 13 re
bounds and nine assists to barely
miss the first NBA Finals triple dou
ble of his career, simply toyed with
everything the Jazz threw at him.
As the crowd once again chant
ed “M-V-P M-V-P” for Jordan, he
burned Jeff Hornacek for 11 first-
quarter points, scored nine in the
second — primarily against rookie
Shandon Anderson — when the
Bulls pulled away for good, and
added 10 more in the third as Bryon
Russell tried to guard him.
By the time the fourth quarter
Jordan denied first Finals triple-double
arrived, the Bulls did not even
need him. But Jordan stayed in
and went for the triple-double,
barely missing it
when Scottie Pip-
pen blew a wide-
open layup with 3
1/2 minutes left, a
three-pointer with
2:15 to go and a
jumper in the lane
a minute later—all
of which would have given Jordan
his 10th assist.
“Pippen made me aware of it
when he missed that layup.... That’s
OK,” Jordan said.
‘‘I should have made the layup,”
Pippen admitted.
The series resumes Friday night
at Salt Lake City, where the Jazz
have a 21-game winning streak.
Utah will be trying to become the
first team in 20 years and the third
overall to come back
from an 0-2 deficit in
the finals.
They’ll need
something out of
Karl Malone, who
couldn’t have looked
less like an MVP.
Malone actually
gave a huge indication of the way
this game would go when he
stepped to the foul line 93 seconds
into the game and missed two free
throws.
It was a repeat of his failure at the
end of Game 1, and a roaring Unit
ed Center crowd could not have
been more pleased as it laughed at
Malone while he ran downcourt.
Before long, the Bulls were doing
some laughing of their own, with
those oh-so-familiar smiles on their
faces. And well they should be smiling.
Having won four of the last six ti
tles, the Bulls seem to have an over
whelming edge in confidence. The
Jazz, meanwhile, were passing up
open shots on the outside, failing to
penetrate inside and relying too
much on Malone to carry the load.
He finished with 20 points on 6-
for-20 shooting, and had 12 re
bounds. Hornacek added 19 and
John Stockton 14 for the Jazz, who
never led and didn’t cut their sec
ond-half deficit below double digits
until 1:34 remained.
It was not enough to undo the
damage inflicted primarily by Jor
dan, the four-time finals MVP who
made the winning shot at the
buzzer in Game 1 and seems to be
on his way to a fifth award.
He shot ll-for-20 from the field
and 15-for-21 at the line, and it got
to a point in the second half where
Jordan was looking down at his de
fender, giving him a grin and then
making his moves with his tongue
hanging out of his mouth.
Nobody else on Chicago did
anything spectacular numbers-
wise, but that did not mean the rest
of the team didn’t contribute. Ron
Harper scored 13 points and be
came the first player in a long time
to contain Stockton.
Pippen scored only 10 points,
with six rebounds and four as
sists, but he set the tone defen
sively for the Bulls by blocking the
first shot of the game, a layup at
tempt by Russell.
to Ik
The numbers never die
B aseball, just as most
sports, is a game com
posed of trillions and tril
lions of numbers combining to
Create its history. But uniquely
in baseball one single number
can, in turn, comprise the en
tire game.
You need only mention 56,
775 or 511 and even the most
casual baseball fan will have vi
sions of Joe Dimaggio, Hank
Aaron and Cy Young. But one number
has lived in infamy for 36 years and is ar
guable the most recognizable record in
sports history — 61, the number of home
runs Roger Maris hit in 1961 to break
Babe Ruth’s 1927 mark of 60.
Of the 16,000 men who have amassed
over 100,000 home runs since 1961, not
one individual has managed to collect 61
in a single season. Yet every April, within
a week of opening day, the phrase, “on
pace to,” can be noticed in almost every
broadcast, newspaper or talk show in
America. And once again this season the
media have their poster boy for the race
to catch Roger — Ken Griffey Jr.
I don’t usually succumb to the “on
Sportswriter
Jeremy Furticr
Senior journalism major
pace to” pressure, but I can’t
stand to let this opportunity
pass me by. So I’ll throw out
some numbers for your calcu
lating pleasure.
I’ll start simple and point
out that with Junior’s 25 home
runs, as of June 2, he is averag
ing one shot every 8.8 at bats.
Speculating that he will aver
age four plate appearances per
game over his last 104 games,
Griffey will blast 72 bombs. But
we all know that won’t happen.
Let’s be more realistic. The Kid has av
eraged a home run in every 16.1 at bats
over his eight-year career, so taking that
into account for the rest of the season, he
should end up at around 50. But then
consider the fact that in the past four sea
sons, when Griffey has emerged as the
premier player in the Great Game, he has
left the yard once every 11.7 at bats. That
would bring him to 60 this season. Ahhh.
Well, that’s it, he’s not going to make it.
But then again.
If you take into account the teams
Seattle has remaining on its schedule and
Junior’s career performances against
them, his projected total plummets to 47.
But considering opponents in this equa
tion, shouldn’t we also take stadiums into
account? Calculating Griffey’s projected
home run total with this constraint raises
his total to 48. But remember, he is a
quick starter. How much would the
monthly home run averages over his ca
reer affect our number? Not much, still
48, but important nonetheless.
So I guess this just isn’t the year for
Griffey. Unless, of course, we consider
how these situational statistics have im
proved over the last four seasons when
Junior has been unconscious at the plate.
So let’s pretend Griffey didn’t have those
first four years of his career when he only
averaged 22 home runs a year. Because
you know, we can do that.
After plugging and grinding Griffey’s
situational numbers since 1993, we have
made a startling discovery. Considering
Seattle’s opponents, Griff will belt 55
dingers, but including the sights of the
Mariner’s remaining games his total im
proves to 58. And using the monthly
home run averages over the past four
years we find that the Kid will fall just
short of his run at 59.
Please see Furtick on Page 4
lagwell leads Astros in 5-2 win over Reds
[CINCINNATI (AP) — Chris Holt
tided strongly from his short-
sstartofthe season and Jeff Bag-
Idoubled home a pair of runs
Mnesday night, leading the
iston Astros to a 5-2 victory over
Reds.
The Astros moved back to .500
3-29) with their third consec-
ive win. The Reds have
topped four of six to re
nin in last place in the
if Central.
Holt (6-4) scattered sev-
ohitsover seven innings,
his shutout when
Greene hit his sixth homer
'Rhtwo out in the seventh. The
fit-hander lasted only 3 2-3 in
last Friday, giving up six
ttisand seven hits in a 9-2 loss to
^ Diego.
Greene hit his second homer of
the game in the ninth off Jose
Lima. Billy Wagner got one out for
his 10th save.
Dave Burba (4-5) couldn’t throw
strikes and couldn’t get Bagwell
out when it mattered. The
right-hander threw 112 pitches in
five innings, giving up five runs and
eight hits with six walks.
Thomas Howard hit a solo
homer, his second, in the first inning,
when Houston left the bases loaded.
Bagwell gave the Astros a cush
ion with his two-out, two-run dou
ble in the second, following walks to
Holt and Craig Biggio. Bagwell is 5-
for-13 (.385) with one homer and
five RBIs in three games against the
Reds this season.
Burba is the one Cincinnati pitch
er that Bagwell has strug
gled against. He was 1-
for-15 career off Burba
before the double.
Biggio had an RBI single in
the fourth and Brad Ausmus
added a sacrifice fly that put
the Astros up 5-0 in the fifth.
Houston’s Luis Gonzalez had a
pair of singles, extending his hitting
streak to nine games. Cincinnati’s
Barry Larkin went 0-for-2, ending
his hitting streak at 12 games.
Cowboy’s Irvin says he’s unhappy
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (AP)
— Embattled Dallas Cowboys re
ceiver Michael Irvin said Wednes
day he’s unhappy with his life and
is considering retiring from foot
ball if he cannot rekindle his love
for the game.
“I honestly don’t know exactly
what I’m going to do,” said Irvin, his
usually boisterous tone sounding
lifeless and his wardrobe also dra
matically toned down.
“I am not the most talented per
son in the world. I played my game
with intensity and with emotion and
that made the difference in my abil
ity to play. Right now, I just don’t have
that intensity and emotion about the
game. I don’t have that love that I
used to have about the game.”
Irvin missed a minicamp in April
and has not shown up at Valley-
Ranch for a quarterback camp this
week, prompting staunch defender
Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith to
publicly ask him
to decide
whether he is
coming back.
“I want to
know as soon as
possible,” said
Irvin, who
would forfeit
about $5.5 mil
lion in salary if
he retires. “As
soon as I know, they’ll know. I un
derstand what they’re saying, but I
don’t think they understand the
whole situation.
“I don’t feel I’m any good to my-
Irvin
self right now. I would be more of a
hindrance than a help.”
Irvin said he told Cowboys
owner Jerry Jones in January that
he was unhappy in Dallas. He
asked Jones to look into a trade,
but Jones later told him a deal
would impossible because of
salary cap restraints.
“After that, I basically said OK,”
Irvin said. “I have never, ever sat
there face-to-face with Jerry and
said I’m demanding a trade.... I un
derstand my options.”
The usually high-profile Irvin
has tried avoiding the spotlight
since former topless dancer Nina
Shahravan recanted a rape allega
tion against him and teammate
Erik Williams in January. Shahra
van faces trial next month on a
perjury charge.
Alternative Religions?
Sure.
Alternative Lifestyles?
Ok.
Alternatives to the MCAT?
Not bloody likely!
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