The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 17

3 NBA Strickland returns to Trail Blazers 5C SPORT JoeBiddle 2C Scoreboard 7C Baseball. 8C 1 TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2001 New speedway has first workout Drivers with Earnhardt ties test tires fouled his Winston Cup plans. He and NFL quarterback Brett Favre were scheduled to form a team, but Steele's injury wiped that out, and so far he hasn't had another shot. He, like Robinson, will race primarily in the ARCA REMAX Series this season while hoping to move up at some point. "It's been frustrating," said Robinson, who had planned to run a limited Winston Cup schedule this year but is still trying to find a sponsor.

"I never thought I'd be in March without a sponsor, but here I am. It's hard to make long-range plans. I guess I'll just try to run whatever I can." Robinson and Steele were asked by Hoosier Tires to conduct yesterday's test session in preparation for the April 13 ARCA race. Hoosier supplies tires for ARCA; Goodyear, which will supply Please see TRACK, 3C 1995 crash at Atlanta "I don't remember seven months after that," he said. But he didn't hesitate to climb back into a race car as soon as he was physically able.

"I love racing and I'd rather do this than be tied down to some safe job that I hate," Steele said. "If you decide to do this for a living, then you can't think about the risks." Steele's near-fatal crash By LARRY WOODY Staff Writer GLADEVTLLE, Tenn. Shawna Robinson and Tim Steele made local racing history yesterday by becoming the first drivers to make test runs at Nashville Super-speedway, their driving ambitions undeterred by the death of racing icon Dale Earn-heardt last month. "No, it doesn't change my mind at all about racing," said Robinson, whose husband, Jeff, works for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in the engine department.

"I think David Pearson put it best when he said that if Dale could have chosen between dying in bed or dying in a race car, he'd have chosen the race car." Steele barely survived a (Hi -Tt 1 I AP n. mm Alabama Coach Mark Gottfried is led off the court after being thrown out of a game against Florida this season. TPs or tease? Refis decide Coaches nailed when they go too far Harpeth duo has the perfect touch, thanks to practice Coming tomorrow By ANDY HUMBLES Staff Writer Josh Goodwin and Caleb Baker joke that "you have to be left-handed" if you want to shoot like they do. The two Harpeth High School southpaws are a throwback to what many feel is a lost art in basketball at all levels shooting But being a lefty doesn't have much to do with their out- 1 1 fry La av Jin if 35sa( nil r.fe A' ft Tm Awards today The Mr. and Miss Basketball awards will be presented today following a luncheon at the Opry-land Hotel.

They will go to the top male and female in each of the four TSSAA divisions: Class AAA, AA, A and Division II. List of finalists, 2C. Maplewood boys to state Flonald Taylor scored 22 points and Brian Smith added 20 as Maplewood advanced to state with a 74-59 win vs. Clarksville. On 2C.

DCA coach steps down Tommy Frensley has decided to step down as coach at Donelson Christian Academy. On 3C. side shooting abilities. "The game is becoming where you have more athletes and I'm not very athletic" said Goodwin, a junior who averaged 24 points per game. "In junior high I was a short, fat kid.

I can't jump. I have to work every day. But if you want to work at it you can be as good as you want to be." The shooting touch Goodwin and Baker each possess has come from hours of practice. And for Goodwin, his ByJIM WYATT Staff Writer Alabama basketball Coach Mark Gottfried swears he never has cursed a referee, but that doesn't keep his place on the bench guaranteed. Gottfried was ejected from a game against Mississippi State last year, then escorted off the court at Florida just 10 days ago for protesting calls.

Coaches know it's not always bad language that leads them into trouble. "The last technical I got the words that came out of my mouth were You know, I think I want to change my profession and be a referee so that II never make a Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Sailings said "It wasnt for cussing the guy out, it was just because I said I wanted to be perfect like the officials are. He obviously didnt like that" For pre-schoolers, temper tantrums or a smart mouth often result in a trip to "time out." For college basketball coaches, such emotional outbursts can lead to a technical foul or even an ejectioa John Guthrie, coordinator of men's basketball officials for the Southeastern Conference, said coaches know when they're on the verge of crossing the line. But that doesn't mean they always stop. This season alone, Ole Miss Coach Rod Barnes, LSU's John Brady, South Carolina's Eddie Fogler and Gottfried have been tossed out of games.

More than a dozen technical fouls have been called on coaches in the league. "Game technicals and ejections are a part of the game, they come with it," Guthrie said. "Now definitely Please see TECH, 4C SEC tournament preview section The Southeastern Conference tournament pays a visit to the Music City and is bringing a host of session players to town in the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Look for a special section in tomorrow's editions. Tennessee vs.

Tennessee is 1. 1) using Auburn's rhetoric as moti development has meant becoming a Mr. Basketball finalist in Class AA with still another year to play high school basketball. The Mr. and Miss Basketball awards will be announced today.

"We give started giving awards for kids that shoot 20,000 shots in the summer," Harpeth Coach Barry Mangrum said of his offseason program. 7osh charted over 100,000 shots. Please see SHOOTERS, 3C vation going into Thursday's game with the Tigers. Time: Noon TV.WSMV-4. Vandy vs.

Alabama Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings says Lkw eh Hjjfj why he is not a S2r fan of conference tournaments leading to NCAA tournament bids. Time: 6:30 p.m. LARRY MCCORMACK STAFF Josh Goodwin, front, and Caleb Baker are both left-handed sharpshooters for Harpeth's boys basketball team. In the day's of dunks and 3-pointers, pure shooters are sometimes hard to come by. XFL mark the spot where NBC, affiliates cross swords Opinion rv MM 1 Laviu Climer f.g..;.,.;A.;fM1HW..i work programming at similar time slots.

He says it is just a variation on the so-called Reality TV genre that includes such shows as Survivor and Temptation Island. But there is a difference. Those shows are pulling ratings while the XFL is dragging NBC affiliates through the muck. Even the network of the peacock doesn't want to see the bird without its feathers. frjj David Climer writes daily about college sports at www.tennessean.com.

He can be reached at 259-8020 or dclirnertennessean.corn. carry it. And we wouldn't be alone. There is a lot of concern out there among the affiliates." The XFL continues to search for the lowest common denominator. In pursuit of more and better players, Vince McMahon and his goofs have hatched a plan to sign players who have finished high school and are not academically qualified to play college football That's right Coming soon to an XFL huddle near you: He Hate Me and He Flunk Me.

Meanwhile, DeTillio points out that XFL telecasts thus far have not spun out of control when compared to other net dressing room for their half-time adjustments. Where do they draw a line in the satellite feed? Hot oil wrestling between captains of the rival cheerleading squads? Guv Jesse vs. Rusty Tillman with the loser leaving town? Human sacrifice? "There's a lot of hearsay about what they're going to show," DeTillio said "The things they've done so far haven't been over the edge, so we're going to wait and see what they do. "If it gets to the point where it's something we don't need to be carrying here, we won't bound to carry the network programming up to a point. There is an escape clause for the Channel 4s of the world If it can be determined that the network's offering is unacceptable for the local audience due to questionable content, the station can substitute alternative programming.

That's why DeTillio and others are waiting and watching to see how and where the next shoe falls for the XFL And it just so happens the league is promoting Saturday's game as a walk on the wild side, complete with a trip inside the cheerleaders' "There is concern about where the XFL is headed "Are we thrilled with it? No." Four weeks in the XFL is in the kind of free fall normally reserved for skydivers and dot-com stocks. For those keeping score, national TV ratings have checked in at 103, 5J, 35 2.9 and now a 27. Anybody else smell a trend here? This hits home for DeTillio and his counterparts at NBC affiliates around the country. While they might pull better numbers by showing old Lassie reruns, stations like WSMV are contractually One of the high-water, low-life moments of the XFL came on the debut weekend when a paraplegic fan was knocked out of his wheelchair by the nearby rabble. Is it real? Is it staged? That's part of the show.

In keeping with the theme, the XFL is in the process of staging another conSfrontation: Affiliates vs. Network in a steel-cage death match. Having been dragged through the double-whammy of lousy ratings and questionable content, those running NBC affiliates like Nashville's WSMV are less than enthusi- astic about the Saturday evening programming that is being shoved down their throats by the network. "We're looking at it very closely, both from a ratings standpoint and as far as the material included in the broadcast," said Frank DeTillio, general manager at Channel 4. More stories Search our archives Playoffs a long shot, not beating Coyotes The Predators' odds of catching for recently published basketball Ohlmeyer leaves 'MNP One year after he returned to Monday Night Football, producer Don Ohlmeyer said that KfajN he is leaving the prime- vCpJJf time football show again because of the travel demands of the 22-week season.

On 6C. Selanne joins Sharks in blockbuster trade Scoring star Teemu Selanne, right, was traded to the San Jose Sharks by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for goalie Steve Shields, wing Jeff Friesen and a conditional draft pick. On 6C. Assistant Managing EditorSports: Bill Bradley, 259-8022 bbradleytenness8an.com Deputy Sports Editor Michael Jones. 259-801 3 Assistant Sports Editor: Kevin Procter, 259-8014 Assistant Sports Editor Bob McCteflan, 259-8299 Write us tinsportstennessean.com stories.

Click on Sports, Phoenix or Edmonton for a playoff spot are poor, but Nashville has better odds of catching Phoenix, which ir.tennesseaii.com hosts the Preds tonight. On 6C FILE www.tennessean.com.