In case anybody didn’t go outside yesterday, it was about three degrees hotter than perfect with exactly four clouds in the sky.
This means three things – summer is about to hit us with more sweat stains than a Weight Watchers convention, girls around campus are going to start the annual “”who can pull off the shortest shorts”” contest and spring sports are wrapping up.
With that, I’ll hand out my last installment of the annual spring semester sports grades, given out to a handful of the teams who competed this spring, with the award for best team possibly going to the FIJI basketball team for smoking my team in the intramural basketball finals (sigh).
Men’s basketball
When I was a freshman in college, I had narrowed my collegiate picks down to Syracuse University or Arizona. Arizona had the top basketball team in the nation. Syracuse had a team basing its success around a freshman from Oak Hill Academy who some call “”‘Melo.””
This year I again picked either the Wildcats or the Orange to cut the nets down. Troubles off the court, no one other than a freshman capable of making a 3-pointer, and the fact that we never lived up to the hype makes this year’s team almost as big a disappointment as 2003-04. I would say that they deserve a “”D,”” but beating Wisconsin and giving Villanova a run in the NCAA Tournament left me with a decent taste in my mouth.
Grade – C+
Women’s basketball
Forget the record, don’t think about the losses, quit worrying about how they finished. The women’s basketball team never had a chance, and the fact that they went out there and competed as well as they did day in and day out is worth more than winning a national championship to me.
If Joan Bonvicini isn’t named coach of the year for the next decade for what she had to deal with this year, things aren’t right in the world.
Grade – A+
Spring football
If you don’t normally read me, I’m sort of obsessed with the potential of freshman quarterback Willie Tuitama. The kid has the upside of Mount Everest.
He supposedly had a good spring showing, which makes me smile like that girl from “”Laguna Beach”” must smile every day when she realizes how she got famous. Also, and this might be a rumor, but I heard kicker Nick Folk has big feet, and ladies, you know what that means … guys with big feet kick 62-yard field goals.
Buy your Zona Zoo pass now.
Grade – A
Women’s golf
The women’s golf team might have had a tough year, but it has to be excited about the next couple of years. With freshmen Lauren Espinosa, Amanda Wilson and Adriana Zwanck all winning honorable mention All-Pacific 10 Conference honors, Arizona head coach Greg Allen must be pumped about the future.
Also, in case you were wondering, Zwanck won an individual title as a freshman, and she’s from Madrid, Spain, which is pretty cool and deserving of a couple of extra points in the grading.
Grade – C
Softball
I can honestly tell you that in four years of college, I have never attended Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium for a softball game (but I have walked by it on my way home from Dirtbag’s, so that must count for something). The team is ranked No. 3 (which is good) but just lost to UCLA, ranked No. 1 (which is normal).
If the softball team doesn’t win a national championship this year, we can tally another championless season for Tucson. No pressure ladies.
Grade – A
Baseball
The team is 6-9 in the Pac-10, which means it has as good a chance of reaching Omaha as a fresh lobster.
Grade – C