1987_05 The Daily Collegian May 1987

              Wednesday, May 6,1987
Sports
)
Page 6
No. 6 FSU's enthusiasm No. 1
"»
KurtHegre/ ThaDaH/Colaglan
Team spirit has helped the Bulldogs to a winning season and a chance at the national title.
Warriors will proudly fall to LA
\m\
BojanflleS
By Jim Bohannon
Win or lose in their best of seven
Western Conference semifinal
series against the Los Angeles Lakers, the
Golden State Warriors can be proud of
their accomplishments during the 1986-87
XA
It's easy to believe that the*
extnwrdmariry dramatic comeback, against
the Utah Jazz was the frosting on the cake
for the Warriors, but with these boys —
you never know.
Nobody gave them much of chance at
the beginning of the season, despite the
brilliant off-season hiring of George Karl
as head coach by rhe new ownership.
Karl look rhe Warriors from a run- and-
gun loser organization to a team that still
likes to run-and-gun, yet plays defense.
His players have respect for him and want
to win for him. They know Karl once
played die game and he knows what it
takes to win—and thai winning attitude
has rubbed off on Ms players.
If you had told me that the No. 3 pick
of the draft, Chris Washburn, would be out
six weeks because of drug problems and
not contribute to the learn; and Purvis
Short would miss most of the year with
injuries — I would have said Golden State
would be in for more sad days.
But Eric "Sleepy" Floyd and Joe Barry
Carroll blossomed into NBA all-stars.
Floyd ran second to Magic Johnson all
season long in assists and was the
backbone of the Warriors. When they
needed him to score — he did; when they
needed him to give leadership — he did;
and when they needed someone to stand up
and play defense — he did.
1      Carroll has certainly lived through his
share of controversy in the Bay Area. The
big center was ragged on for not hustling,
for being a quitter and just not giving a
darn about his team. He didn't want to be a
.Warrior, he even played in Italy one year.
With the Warriors playing well that
has changed. Carroll has become a gamer.
His offense is paralleled by few in the
league — and now he has the desire to
win.
Role players like Ben McDonald, Rod
Higgins, Perry Moss, Jerome Whitehead
and especially Terry Teagle have turned in
stellar performances. Teagle leads the "O"
when the second team is in, and the others
have performed up to anybody's
expectations.
After Golden State got off to its hot
sun, the team went intc a mid-season
shnrip. NBA "experts" sod they were
corning back down to earth. They said the
team was playing above its head — that
now the Warriors were playing like the
Warriors of old.
But a late season surge turned that
philosophy around. Golden State clinched
its playoff berth against San Antonio and
then struggled to earn fifth place in the
Western Conference.
Their 42-40 record pitted the Warriors
against the Utah Jazz. All went according
to form in the first two games in Utah, but
an incident at the end of game two sparked
Golden State to the greatest playoff
comeback since 1956.
Greg Ballard and Karl Malone started a
fight that the Warriors, the Jazz and the
Utah fans all joined in on. It was an attack
on the Warriors' pride — one that the
Golden State boys would not stand for.
At the Colesium in Oakland, Golden .
State downed the Jazz two straight games.
However, nobody figured the Warriors
could go to the Salt Palace and topple
Utah in the deciding game five. J
Yet on that glorious Sunday afternoon
three days ago. Golden State came out on
fire and built a 22 point lead in the third
quarter. Utah made a late push, but there
was no stopping Golden State on this day.
The Warriors dumped Utah 118-113 to
gain a best of seven series against the
Lakers.      r \
I don't think there is any stopping the
Lakers in the '87 playoffs, but I do feel
that if any team is going to give them
trouble, it will be Golden State.
That No Cal-So Cal rivalry always
seems to give the Warriors a shot in the
arm. Over the past four regular seasons,
Golden State has played LA as well as
any team in the league.
•'   Tuesday night, the Lakers beat Golden
State 125-116, but the WarrioTs proved
that they are not going to be an easy task
for Los Angeles. The Lakers will be in a
dogfight until they dispose of G.S.
And, should Golden State go down, the
Warriors will at least know they lost to
See GOLDEN, page 7
High fives,
many cheers,
get'Dogs up
By Mike But we II
Co-Sports Editor
When    in    attendance    at Bulldog
Diamond, one can't but ovemotice it It
sums up in the first inning and continue*
throughout the contest until the result of
the game is final.
What is if. It is enthusiasm. It is
chants, cheers and lots of high fives. And
it is one of the many reasons why Fresno
State has soared to No. 6 in the nation and
owns an impressive 46-14 record.
"The enthusiasm of this team is great,"
freshman Carie Dever said, who's the
Bulldogs' third baseman and one of the
many "cheerleaders" on the club. "It really
shows how together we are as a team. We
are all individuals, but this is a way for us
to get momentum and get our team fired
up.
"Every player has their own mood and
personality, but as a team we like to be as
noisy, rowdy and supportiv*: for the rest of
our teammates as we can. Tve never been
on a team with so much spirit"
NCAA Top 20
1. Fullerton State
140
2. Texas A&M
133
3. Nebraska
123
4. UCLA
122
5. Arizona
110
6. FRESNO STATE
106
7. California
99
8. Central Mighigan .
83
9. Northwestern
69
10. Florida State
69
11, Arizona State
68
12.CP-Pomona
66
13, Oklahoma State
58
v 14. Creighton
53
15. Louisiana Tech
49
16. Long Beach State
44
17. Utah State
24
18. South Carolina
23
19, Adelphia
16    ;
20, Michigan
'10
The first "song" from the Bulldog gang
comes right before the start of the contest
It stars catcher Laura Macedo as the lead
singer. Macedo hollers a line, then the
rest of the team follows in sync. Here are
the lyrics:
"Why must I feel like this"
(repeat)
"Why   must   I   chase   the   (name   of
opponents)"
(repeat)
"Must be the 'Dog in me"
(repeat)
This is followed by the team letting out
a giant "ruff— just to assure that the
Bulldogs are 100 percent prepared to
pursue a victory.
But yelling and reciting chants is not
the only way the Dogs get psyched. The
FSU infield, consisting of Dever,
shortstop Martha Noffsinger, second
baseman Kathy Mayer, first baseman Gena
Strang and either "pitcher Lori Romeiro-
Gardner or Melanie Parrent does high
fives as much as a bookies bet on horses.
After nearly every out registered, each
See*1 DOGS, page 7
V