Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 16

Lansing State Journal NBA PLAYOFFS Suns finally shine against L.A. 81 Stoudemire scores playoff career-high 42 in 118-109 Game 3 win over Lakers. MONDAY MAY 24, 2010 Page 5B EDITOR: MARK MEYER SPORTSLSJ.COM 377-1073 WWW.LSJ.COM Chicago advance itaeley Cop 5P stoS final Blackhawks capture Western Conference for first time since '92 Rick Gano fore many of the current players were born. "It's an honor to be going to the Stanley Cup. We beat a very good team over there.

It wasn't easy," Byfuglien said. The 257-pound Byfuglien was parked in front of the net with 7 seconds left on the power play. He took a nice pass from Patrick Kane and knocked the puck past Evgeni Nabokov to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead at 14:05 of the final period. "I got my stick open in front of the net, and Kaner game me a nice ence finals, converting on a third-period power play as Chicago rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Sunday and complete a four-game sweep that sent the Blackhawks to the NHL finals for the first time since 1992. "Seems like he likes the spotlight.

He likes being the hero. He steps up in big time," teammate Patrick Sharp said. "He told me before the third period he was going to be the guy to go get it. True to his word, he got it." Chicago will play either Montreal or Philadelphia and be in search of its first NHL title since 1961, more than two decades be Still chasing the Cup: Ex-Spartan Duncan Keith is hugged by Kris Versteeg (32) and John Madden after Versteeg's goal during Chicago's 4-2 win over San Jose on Sunday. CHARLES REX ARBOGAST Associated Press Associated Press CHICAGO Dustin Byfuglien has emerged as a force for the Chicago Blackhawks and now he is taking his game to the highest level.

He and his teammates are headed to the Stanley Cup finals. Byfuglien scored his third go-ahead goal of the Western Confer See HAWKS I Page 5B ol Tigers Ex-Tiger Oph-la-la! Venus has Ditcher ima racy start dies at 37 Detroit Free Press -J. at Frenc Former Detroit Tigers right-hander Jose Lima died Sunday morning at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 37. The eccentric righthander was at the Ti gers-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. He was introduced between in jma JAE C.

HONGAssociated Press Leavin' the Ravine: Miguel Cabrera (24) hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and Magglio Ordonez (30) hit a solo shot in the eighth Sunday as the Tigers defeated Russell Martin and the Dodgers, 6-2. in nn Co nnnco Howard Fexdrich Associated Press PARIS Whistles and whispers circulated through the stands at Court Suzanne Lenglen on Sunday, a reaction brought about not by Venus Williams' play at the French Open, but rather by her outfit. With a lacy, black over- I mcinc lay giving it the illusion IliwIUt of being see-through, and complete bright red trim on the bod- first-day ice, Williams' corset-like French Open get-up made her look as resuts if she were ready to per- Page 43 form in a 19th century Pa- risian cancan chorus line. Her game, a mix of power and niftier-than-usual footwork on this day, was very 21st century, and befitting a star of the show. The red clay of Roland Garros never has been Williams' best stage her seven Grand Slam titles all came at Wimbledon or the U.S.

Open. At this year's French Open, she is assured of at least one more performance, thanks to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over former top-10 player Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the first round. "I always goes without saying believe I can win," said Williams, whose biggest hitches Sunday were eight double-faults. There are others who will have some say in that, of course, including defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who also won in straight sets Sunday, and the top-ranked Serena, whose first-round match is today. Venus lost in the third round at each of the past three French Opens and only once has been beyond the quarterfinals in 13 previous trips: She lost to younger sister Serena in the 2002 final.

Generally, the better players were, well, better than their opponents on Day 1 of the year's second Grand Slam tournament. Only one seeded man, No. 23 Ernests Gulbis, departed. Two seeded women left: No. 10 Victoria Azarenka and No.

20 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. UU v-) Target for line drives minimizes Dodgers' damage nings and received an ovation from the crowd. The Dodgers had a moment of silence in his honor before today's game against the Tigers. The cause of death was ruled a heart attack, his wife, Dorca Astacio, told espndeportes.com. "Jose was complaining while sleeping and I just thought he was having a nightmare," Astacio told the site.

"I called the paramedics, but they couldn't help him." Lima was something of a cult hero in Detroit, with his wild on-field antics, colorful quotes and "lima Time" description of his outings. He was a Tiger in 1994-96 and again in 2001-02. "Lima was an exceptional man. This is a great loss for Dominican baseball and the country," said Winston Llenas, president of Aguilas Cibaenas, a winter ball team that Lima had played for in the Dominican Republic. Referring to his often high-energy outings as "Lima Time," Lima posted his best season in 1999, when he was selected to the All-Star Game while with the Houston Astros.

"It saddened me greatly to hear of Jose's passing," said Astros owner Drayton McLane. "He was truly a gifted person both on the field and off of it He could dance, he could sing, but his best gift of all was that he was an extremely happy person. He just lit up our clubhouse with his personality, which was his greatest asset Jose was not shortchanged in life in any way. He lived life to the fullest every day." Associated Press LOS ANGELES Rick Porcel-lo felt more like a clay pigeon in a shooting gallery than a pitcher. The Detroit Tigers' 6-foot-5 right-hander fought off three line drives right back at him to get his first road victory of the season, and the Detroit Tigers got home runs from Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez in a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.

"I've had games where there's After all those line drives at him, Porcello still managed to maintain his focus. And he wasn't intimidated at the possibility of the next one going at his head. "If I start worrying about that stuff, then I'd lose sight of what I'm out there to do," he said. Danny Worth had three hits for the second time in just six big league games, but fellow rookie Austin Jackson was out of the lineup after getting beaned by Ramon Troncoso in the eighth inning of Saturday's 6-4 loss. Porcello allowed two runs and nine hits over six innings in his Dodger Stadium debut, striking out two and walking two.

He is 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA in five in-terleague starts. His biggest out came in the sixth, when Manny Ramirez pinch-hit for Hiroki Ku-roda with the bases loaded and grounded out to third on the first pitch to end the inning. "Getting him out on the first pitch, that was absolutely huge," Detroit manager Jim Leylind said. "You're not ever comfortable when you see Manny Ramirez walk off the bench with the bases loaded. It's not a very good feeling.

But Porcello threw a real good sinker to him, it got in on him a little bit and he rolled it over." NEXT GAME I Tuesday: Tigers at Seattle, 10 p.m. Inside Lugnuts win in 10: Sobolewski, Eiland get big hits in 5-4 victory. Page 7B Baseball page: Get the MLB standings, Sunday's recaps and box scores from USA Today. Page 6B ond," Porcello said. "I think the hardest ball that was hit back at me was the one Kemp hit that I caught.

I didn't have time to move, and it kind of found its way into my glove, really. The one on the forearm hit me pretty square. But if only a bruise and I should be fine." Casey Blake followed Loney's liner with a grounder that third baseman Brandon Inge bobbled before throwing him out, extinguishing the Dodgers' first real scoring threat. Porcello (4-4) got drilled by another line drive in the fifth, this one off the bat of Blake DeWitt, whose single caromed off the back of Porcello's right leg. DeWitt got to third on a single by Jamey Carroll that Ordonez bobbled for his second error of the season.

A walk to Russell Martin loaded the bases for Xavier Paul whose single sliced Detroit's lead to 3-2. been a lot of base hits up the middle, but I haven't been hit this many times in one game," Por-cello said. "I said to myself, Tut it where I'm supposed to put it, and that won't Porcello I just knew I wasn't getting the ball down, and that's why they were putting good swings on it." Porcello, who turned Matt Kemp's line drive into an inning-ending double play in the first, had to fend off another liner by James Loney in the fourth that hit him in the arm before he scrambled to get the force at second. "I saw them all for a split-sec- MICHEL SPINGLERAssociated Press Starting strong: Venus Williams defeated Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-3 during their first round match of the French Open on Sunday at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris. See LIMA I Page 7B Michigan prepared to answer NCAA's football charges today would punish itself.

In drafting its response, Brandon told the Detroit Free Press that U-M had response, would publicly release its response one day later and would include self-sanctions in ii i Ar -T Brandon Coleman stood out against Eastern Washington football, Southeast Missouri State men's basketball, Nevada men's and women's golf and Alabama's entire athletic department One conclusion is obvious: U-M faced several hurdles in crafting a response that the committee would accept without adding penalties and that would allow turn, analyzed the rulings by the NCAAs Committee on Infractions in the 30 Division I major infraction cases since 2008. The newspaper selected recent cases because the 10-member committee can turn over from year to year. In 2009, for instance, two new people joined it The Free Press especially focused on cases that had elements in common with U-M's allegations. Four cases tion. By today, U-M must respond to the NCAA's notice of allegations, which arrived in February and accused the football program of five potential major violations.

Athletic director Dave Brandon, who was the CEO of Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza when the NCAA started an investigation last September, said this past week that U-M would meet the 90-day deadline for a Idea is to punish internally, hope it helps at hearing Mark Snyder Detroit Free Press DETROIT How to punish thyself? Michigan had three iTponths to ponde that ques the response. Previously, Brandon, president Mary Sue Coleman and coach Rich Rodriguez had admitted mistakes were made but never said U-M spent plenty of time "to pore over the allegations" and to review NCAA enforcement cases to look for precedents. Tjhe Detroit Free Press, in A See U-M Page 7B 9L.