News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 33

PRO HOCKEY Everblades Defenseman Ian Forbes arrested and charged with DUI Sunday night C4 SECTION TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2004 1 THE NEWS-PRESS SCORELINE: 332-5600 or 1-800-848-0515 COLLEGE BASKETBALL GLENN MILLER Saint Joe's sits atop AP poll Undefeated Hawks rise as Stanford slips ing positions with Duke (25-4), which was No. 1 on two ballots after losing to Georgia Tech and beating North Carolina. Air Force moved into the Top 25 for the first time in school history. The Falcons (22-5), the No. 1 defensive team in the country, won the Mountain West regular-season title.

Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Kentucky and Connecticut held sixth through ninth from last week, and Wisconsin moved up seven places to No. 10, its highest ranking of the seasoa a Also see Women's poll C4 and this can be a springboard." The Hawks moved up from No. 2 thanks to the loss by Stanford (26-1) on Saturday. That ended the Cardinal's three-week run atop the AP polL Saint Joseph's received 67 first-place votes and 1,795 points from the national media panel. Second-ranked Stanford was No.

1 on two ballots and had 1,648 points. Gonzaga (26-2) moved up one spot to No. 3, the highest ranking in school history, and received one first-place vote. Mississippi State (25-2) moved up one place to fourth, switch only unbeaten team in Division now that previously top-ranked Stanford was upset by Washington. Saint Joseph's needs three victories in the Atlantic 10 tournament to become the first team since UNLV in 1991 to enter the NCAA tournament without a loss.

"AH along, we have discussed the idea of having a great program," said Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelll "Obviously, we have a great team, and now we can talk about a great program, The Associated Press Tiny Saint Joseph's and its ever-flapping Hawk have soared to the top of the basketball world. The Philadelphia school with an enrollment of 3,400 and not much recent sports history to brag about was No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll Monday for the first time. "It's a dream come true," said Hawks senior guard Jameer Nelsoa The Hawks (27-0) are the MEN'S TOP 25 The top 25 teams In The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Record Pts Pvs 2 1 3 5 4 6 7 8 9 16 10 18 13 19 11 14 17 20 23 12 21 24 22 15 1. Saint Joseph's (67) 2.

Stanford (2) 3. Gonzaga(l) 4. Mississippi State 5. Duke (2) 6. Pittsburgh 7.

Oklahoma State a Kentucky 9. Connecticut 10. Wisconsin 11. Texas 12. Illinois 13.

Cincinnati 14. Georgia Tech 15. Wake Forest 16. North Carolina 17. N.C.

State 18. Kansas 19. Syracuse 20. Providence 21. Arizona 22.

Utah State 23. Memphis 24. S. Illinois 25. Air Force 27-0 1,795 26-1 26- 2 25-2 25-4 27- 3 24- 3 23-4 244 21-6 21- 6 22- 5 21- 6 22- 8 19-8 18-9 19- 8 20- 7 21- 6 20- 7 194 25- 2 21- 6 25-4 22- 5 1,648 1,604 1557 1519 1,451 U10 1,370 1.158 927 914 898 844 817 672 665 654 607 593 521 400 322 310 264 73 BASEBALL Minnesota's B.J.

Garbe slides TODAY'S GAMES Who: Reds (3-4) at Red Sox (3-2) When: 7:05 p.m. Who: Twins (4-2) at Phillies (3-2) When: LOS p.m. NFL Browns s'v WHERE ARE THEY NOW Papa Jack generates hits at plate Long ago, he played for something called the Fort Myers Sun Sox in an outfit called the Senior Professional Baseball Association. He's 50 now, a grandfather sporting touches of gray in his moustache and works as the Boston Red Sox's hitting instructor. He's known in baseball as Papa Jack.

His real name is Ron Jackson, which might surprise some. To one and all, from players to umpires to coaches, he's Papa Jack. "Around the league, peo ple are like, who's Ron Jackson?" Jackson said Monday morning, sitting at a picnic table by the City of Palms Park batting cages. "Pretty much everybody knows Papa Jack." Jackson JACKSON Broke into the major leagues with the California Angels at the age of 22 picked up the nickname in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala. "My wife, everybody calls me Papa Jack," Jackson said.

"Then when my first kid was born, back in Birmingham, Ron Jackson, everybody started calling me Papa Jack. Nolan Ryan started calling me Papa Jack. So it stuck. I was Papa Jack at 22, 23 years old." Jackson was in the major leagues at 22. breaking in with the California Angels.

le played for 10 years in the majors, hitting 259, with 56 homers. His playing career took him to the Sun Sox in the late 1980s, to a league where the minimum age was 35, except for catchers, who could play at 32. "1 remember guys pulling muscles," Jackson sail "Some of the older guys tried running the bases like they used to." Their hamstrings weren't ready for daily sprinting. Still, the league was fun, even though it folded halfway through its second season. "Just seeing old friends," Jackson said.

"Some of them are a little heavier, a little thicker, but it was a lot of fun." Jackson is in his second season as Boston's hitting instructor. His first season was extraordinary. The team set a big-league record with a .491 slugging percentage and topped the majors in most hitting categories. Third baseman Bill Mueller, a career .286 hitter, led the American League in hitting, at J26. The 2003 Red Sox had eight different players drive in 85 or more runs.

That had never been done before. For the first time since 1984, Boston had three players with 100 or more RBI. A team-record six players hit 20 or more homers. Jackson works with All-Stars such as shortstop No-mar Garciaparra and left fielder Manny Ramirez. "Sometimes we forget that they're all human," Jackson said.

"I'm here to be another eye for them. We put things together and work together and put a formula together for each and every one of these guys to maintain their swing. "Most of the time it's nothing major the guys do. It's just small things, making adjustments here and there. Just being there for them." The players know who to ask for when they have hitting questions.

They ask for Papa Jack. ahead of Boston third baseman ANDREW WESTTHE NEWS-PRESS Kevin Youkilis during the fourth inning of Monday's game. safely into third base with a triple Twins' trio strive for spots Spring key for Offerman, Morneau, Garbe ON THE HILL Boston ace Pedro Martinez is scheduled to make his 2004 debut today when the Red Sox play the Cincinnati Reds house of 7,513, Offerman was 2-for-4, with a homer and a double. "I'm getting the chance," Offerman said. "It all depends on what I do." If he keeps doing what he did Monday, Offerman should be in good shape.

Morneau comes from a place about as far away from the Dominican Republic as one can get in North America. The 6-foot-4 See TWINS C5 BY GLENN MILLER They don't have much in common other than their uniforms. Monday, they all wore Minnesota Twins' uniforms and played in their team's 9-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox at City of Palms Park. Jose Offerman, Justin Morneau, B.J. Garbe and Kyle Lohse all reported to work Mon 1 MARTINEZ at 7:05 p.m.

at City of Palms Park. Curt Schilling also is scheduled to pitch for the Red Sox. 1 11 offer ex-49er Garcia deal day with different backgrounds and one objective: being on the team's Opening Day roster. Offerman, 35, a native of the Dominican Republic, is trying to get back to the major leagues after playing for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League last year. He has 11 years of service in the majors, including two All-Star Games.

Monday, in front of a full work out a new deal and remain with the Browns. "I still want to be here," Couch said after working out at the team's training facility. "I still COUCH Puzzled by Browns' offer SCORES BASEBALL Marlins 8 Orioles want they by met Tampa Bay still in running for free-agent QB to be part of this organi-zatioa still believe in my teammates here and believe can get it done." Garcia, recently released San Francisco, also has with Tampa Bay and Atlanta. The three-time Pro Bowl See GARCIA C5 Also see Notes C5 Couch said Monday he's surprised the Browns offered the 34-year-old Garcia a two-year deal worth $8 million. The package includes a signing bonus of between $4 million and $5 million.

But Couch remains optimistic that he'll be able to THE NEWS-PRESS FILE Former San Francisco 49ers quarter-back Jeff Garcia is mulling over an offerl" to play for the Cleveland Browns. The Associated Press BEREA, OHIO Free-agent quarterback Jeff Garcia has been offered a contract by the Cleveland Browns, although Tim Couch hasn't been asked to turn in his orange helmet just yet. CONTACT US Virginia Lewis, Sports Editor 335-03571 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday 6 Rangers .4 White .2 CLARIFICATION The complete results of Saturday's Caloosahatchee Adventure Triathlon can be found on page C6 today. The results that ran in Sunday's sports section were incomplete from the source.

14 Red Sox 9 Mets Cardinals Twins Yankees 4 Padres 13 D'backs 2 Expos 1 Dodgers 5 Twins 4 Tigers 8 Blue Jays. 6 Reds 6 Astros 4 Pirates 5 Devil Rays 3 Royals 9 Giants Indians 7 Red Sox Braves 3 Phillies 5 Reds 9 Angels 5 3 Pirates 5 3 Brewers.