Things in the Dumke Gymnastics Center had been fairly normal for freshman gymnast Annie DiLuzio. The only real difference for her was that she was used to training in a gym by herself instead of with 11 other gymnasts. On Jan. 11--the day before the Red Rocks' opening meet against UCLA--DiLuzio got her first big shock at the U.
As I watched the Jazz improve to 1-0 in the second half of the 2006-2007 season Monday night, one question formed in my mind that I couldn't stop pondering: Is this the best Jazz team that Utahns have ever watched? If not, is it at least the most fun, professional basketball team this state has been able to call its own? Here are 10 reasons I said "yes.
In light of Amber Walter's dominance this year, head coach Mike Litzinger might want to just call up the Mountain West Conference and have them get the MWC Swimmer of the Year award ready for departure to Salt Lake City. The MWC shouldn't have any trouble spelling Walter's name, either.
In many ways, gymnastics is different from every other collegiate sport. For one, it is one of the only sports in which a team's toughest opponent can be itself. This was the case for Utah's gymnastics team Friday night at the Huntsman Center. It was clear early on that Washington was not going to be posting many scores to keep the meet competitive, so the fact that the Utes came away with a 196.
Now that the Utah gymnastics team has a bench mark to their 2007 season set, things will likely be a little easier for Greg Marsden and his gymnasts going into the Red Rocks' second meet. Answers to injury problems and issues with routines were all addressed in practice this week, but the biggest question yet to be answered is how some of the gymnasts have healed mentally.
Amber Walter is steadily proving why she won Mountain West Conference Swimmer of the Year honors last year. The same can be said for Diver of the Year Kelsey Patterson. Each woman won weekly MWC honors this week for their performances against TCU and both women performed equally as well on opposite sides of the pool to lead the Utes to a 180-120 win over the Colorado State Rams Thursday.
One of the only things I regret about being a sports writer is learning the reality of professional athletes' personalities when I started having up-close access to them. There is no athlete I regret talking to more than Deron Williams. I think the Jazz made the right choice drafting Williams over Chris Paul in the NBA draft two years ago.
The last thing most normal college students want to do during their summer break is to be stuck inside working when it's nice outside. However, if you wanted to find Kristina Baskett last summer, the best place to find her was in the Dumke Center hard at work on improving her beam routine.
Josh Groban Awake Reprise/Wea Two-and-a-half out of five stars. When my creative writing class embarked on a "tell the class your name and admit a guilty pleasure" game on the first day of class, I found myself drawing a blank on what to say. When it came time to give my spiel, I admitted that I kind of like those televised math classes you see on KUEN Channel 9 after midnight.
