Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 24

2D Pensacola News Journal Friday, February 1 2008 TOP OF THE Page edited by Matt Foster, 435-8521 after 5 p.m. Pensacola's Fantastic Five are ready for more success D.C. Reeves On the NFL Saturday's top 3 college basketball games 1. Tennessee (8) at Mississippi State (25), 4 pan. If you haven't seen Tennessee play yet, do yourself a favor.

One of the most explosive offenses in the nation comes to a venue that always gives road teams fits. Behind all-word shooter James Lofton, UT will continue to build his team's No. 1 seed resume. Pick: Too much Tennessee 80, MSU 74. 2.

Stanford (14) at Washington State (9), 2 p.m. (FSN) The exact opposite of the above game. WSU likes to bore teams to death with a slow offense and strong defense, and winning in Pullman ain't easy. Pick: Too much Washington State 55, Stanford 46. 3.

Florida (19) at Arkansas, 2:05 p.m. Can the young Gators beat a good SEC team on the road? They are 5-1 in SEC play, but 2-1 with a loss to Ole Miss and slim victories over Alabama and South Carolina, who are a combined 3-9 in conference play. Arkansas enters 4-2 in the SEC after a 20-point win over Mississippi State. Pick: A bit too young, Arkansas 71, Florida 67. We're up to our ears in transition this time of year.

Double Bridge Run. Boys Soccer playoffs. Girls Soccer playoffs. Girls basketball playoffs. Boys basketball playoffs (starting next week).

High School baseball, PJC baseball and UWF baseball all firing up. National Signing Day. Super Bowl. I could go on. With the last few weeks being like this, we find a way to prioritize, move, shake and shimmy our way into a weekend coverage plan.

We've got everything down (in pencil, of course) then we usually turn to each other and ask the same question like its Groundhog Day. What are we doing about golf? It's not that covering golf isn't a priority The News Journal is covering The Masters in April for the first time in years but it has now become an every week thing with our professional fivesome. in the airport for leaving bullets in his luggage, someone tell the media that Tiger Woods should only play with a 2-iron and someone shoot a career-best 62. And all of that was just Boo. Pate won his second Champions Tour event Sunday, the same day Durant played in the final group with Tiger Woods at the Buick Invitational.

The week before, Weekley shot that 62 and finished in a tie for 8th at the five-round Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. And the week before that, Slocum grabbed a tie for 10th at the Sony Open in Hawaii. (What do they put in the water fountains out in Milton, anyway?) Entering today's action at the FBR Open in Phoenix, Slocum and Durant struggled their way to 2-over 73's. But, with what should come as expected for the next, oh, nine months, two of the four put themselves in decent position. Watson shot one-under 70 and Weekley is three-under, just three back of the lead.

And while that happens, we're clearing some space. Tucker leading Dukes An addition to the list of Pensacola players making key contribution in Division I-A basketball this season: Gary Tucker, a former Woodham standout, is averaging just over 8 points per contest for Duquesne University located in Pittsburgh. Tucker helped Woodham to a state championship during the 2002-03 season. Now with the Dukes, members of the Atlantic 10 Conference, are 13-6 this season and 3-3 in conference play. Tucker has started 9 of the team's 19 games and averages 22 minutes a game.

After two years at Southern Union Junior College in Wadley, Tucker chose Duquesne over Southern Arkansas, Gardner-Webb and Lynn University. Joe Durant, Heath Slocum, Bubba Watson, Boo Weekley, Jerry Pate: It takes time getting used to having four PGA Tour players and a Champions Tour player that all have the ability to win on any given week. That's something most metropolitan areas can not claim. When Joe Durant was the lone Pensacola representative on the Tour over the last decade or so, we could keep our eyes on the event he played in, see how he was doing and plan accordingly. Now at least someone is playing in every event.

It's a good problem to have. Already in this young PGA Tour season, we've had someone get stopped Golf Five-day planner Home games shaded. All times Central. PJC daily Pirates baseball team set to play home-opener today A WEEKLY LOOK AT THE PENSACOLA AREA GOLF SCENE Pensacola Ice Pilots www.icepilots.com Augusta Augusta Columbia Columbia 7:05 p.m. 6:05 p.m.

12:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. UWF Men's Basketball www.goargos.cstv.com av Basketball teams prepare to face Gulf Coast CC The Pensacola Junior College men and women's basketball teams will return to the court on Saturday to take on Gulf Coast Community College at the Lou Ross Center in -Panhandle Conference play. Both teams are seeking wins after Wednesday night's losses to Tallahassee Community College. The women play at 5:30 p.m.

while the men will play at 7:30 p.m. Admission to all Panhandle Conference games hosted at the Lou Ross Center is free. Valdosta Off State Off Off Off 2:30 p.m. From staff reports The Pensacola Junior College baseball team will play its home opener at 3 p.m. today against Baton Rouge Community College.

The Pirates will play Baton Rouge again on Saturday in a double header starting at 1 p.m. Admission is free. PJC, 2-0, will enter the three game series with wins against Indian River Community College. Todd Stevenson led PJC to a win with a grand slam in the first game against Indian River CC, while Miguel Mejia, an all-conference selection for PJC last season, pitched for the Pirates. UWF Women's Basketball www.goargos.cstv.com 4 3 -v- i Valdosta Off State Off Off Off 4:30 p.m.

UWF Baseball www.goargos.cstv.com Pensacola Ice Pilots ECHL All-Star game a success for all involved SEZ I I I I 4:15 p.m. 1p m' PJC Men's Basketball www.pjc.edusports Gulf Coast rt, i. Off CC Off Off 7cSzi 7:30 p.m. 7.30 p.m. year in a row by Comcast Charter Sports Southeast, a 24-hour regional sports network, serving approximately 5.8 million cable subscribers across PJC Women's Basketball www.Djc.edusDorts Winnik News Journal file photo Gulf Breeze's Sarah Hicks will be one of the competitors in this weekend's Moors Junior Classic, part of the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour.

Local junior golfers making experiences From staff reports The ECHL is touting the success of its recent All-Star Game. The inaugural class of the ECHL Hall of Fame Henry Brabham, Patrick J. Kelly, Nick Vitucci and Chris Valicevic -was officially inducted during a luncheon. Included in the 450 attendees was special guest speaker Brian Burke, who is the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks. Following a video highlighting their accomplishments, each of the inductees was presented an etched crystal award.

The game was available live in more than 80 million homes on the NHL Network for the sixth consecutive year and was rebroadcast for the sixth GuN Coast rh. Off CC Off Off 5:30 p.m. 5.30 p.m. II www.pjc.edusports Baton Baton Rouge CC RougeCC Off Off Off 3 p.m. 1 p.m.

12 southeastern states. Jack Michaels of the Alaska Aces was the play-by-play announcer while NHL Network and VERSUS analyst Neil Smith provided color commentary for the seventh consecutive year and Dan Weiss of the Phoenix RoadRunners handled ice-level interviews. In other matters Thursday: The Ice Pilots made two roster moves. They placed goaltender John Daigneau on the seven-day injured reserve list. They placed defenseman Andrew Winnik on the three-day injured reserve.

Joe Zwierzchowski On Golf if 1M Around the area Today's high school and college games Want more golf? Every week, the News Journal will be bringing news and stories about the Pensacola Bay Area golf community. If you have information or story ideas, please send them to joezpnj.com or call 435-8532. Pensacola Pelicans Pelicans offer help to aspiring youth players SPORT EVENT TIME BHOOPS Northview at Escambia Charter 6:30 p.m. BHOOPS Fort Walton Beach at Navarre 7 p.m. BHOOPS Rocky Bayou at PCA 7:15 p.m.

BHOOPS Catholic at Gulf Breeze 7:30 p.m. BHOOPS Foley at West Florida High 7:30 p.m. BHOOPS Milton at Pace 7:30 p.m. BHOOPS Northside Methodist at East Hill 7:30 p.m. GHOOPS District 1 -5A Semifinals at Fort Walton Beach 6 p.m.

GHOOPS District 1-4A Semifinals at Woodham Middle School 6 p.m. GHOOPS District 1 -3A Semifinals at Northview 6 p.m. GHOOPS District 1-A Semifinals at Paxton 6 p.m. SOCCER Girls: Region 1-4A Final: Jacksonville Bishop Kenny at Gulf Breeze 6 p.m. SOCCER Girls: Region 1 -3A Final: Jacksonville Bolles at Catholic 7 p.m.

A pair of Pensacola golfers won the golf trip of a lifetime recently. Andy O'Brien and Tom Allen partnered up to play a Mercedes owner's tournament at A.C. Reed Golf Course with a chance to go to Hawaii and take part in the PGA Tour's Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua. "I have been trying to win this thing for 10 years," O'Brien said. "This was a charm.

It was a great golf experience. I'm looking forward to next year." After 10 years of trying, O'Brien might be looking forward to next year, but took the time to relish his trip to the islands. That was my first trip (to Hawaii) and Tom's, too," he said. They put on a very nice show out there. They took us on cruise to see the whales then the next day, they laid out the red carpet for a luau." As nice as the tropics are this time of year, what about the golf? After all, the top 20 teams in the 145-team field qualified to play in the Mercedes Pro-Am with PGA pros.

The two-day qualifier for the big prize was held at Kaanapali. After Day 1, O'Brien and Allen were in the top 30 with a shot to crack the top 20 and make the third round. "We didn't make the pro-am but we played decent," O'Brien said. The last day, we just kind of fizzled out." Moors home to SJGT event The Southeastern Junior Golf Tour is kicking off its 2008 season with a pair of events this weekend. With tournaments in Charleston, S.C.

and at the Moors Golf and Lodging in Milton, the SJGT is opening with a bang. Sixty players from five states have registered for the Moors Junior Classic which will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Local players include Joanna Holt from Pensacola in the girls 12- to 14-year-old division, Sarah Hicks and Ashleigh Ryals of Gulf Breeze in the girls 15-19, Tyler Murphy of Pensacola in the boys' 12-13. Fisher Bodenstein (Milton) and Tyler Klava (Pace) will play in the boys' 14-15 division and Gulf Breeze's Morgan Dzwonkowski and Mike Genovese of Pensacola will compete in the boys' 16- to 19-year-old division.

From staff reports Before the Pelicans open their season, the team is helping youth baseball and Softball leagues move towards opening day. League try-outs are just around the corner and the Pelicans are provide lessons for girls and boys. The Pelicans Training Academy is currently scheduling lessons for both baseball and softball. Lesson packages are broken up into three half hour timeslots and spots are filling up fast. Hunter Vick is the Academy's lead instructor.

Vick's background includes two years in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization and one year with the Pelicans. He has a vast knowledge of the game including pitching, hitting, fielding, and base running. Charity Butler is the Academy's softball instructor, able to teach the proper skills and technique to girls ages six to 18. Butler a Tate High graduate, played college softball at the University of Southern Mississippi where she earned her degree. Following her college career, she played several seasons with the Michigan Ice of the National Fast-Pitch League.

Athletes can call 850-332-6274 to schedule lessons or for more information. All times Central On the air Today on TV Hacker's Tour fights weather Players on the Hacker's Amateur Golf Tour endured a nasty start to last week's event at The Peninsula in Gulf Shores, but were welcomed to their Sunday tee times with sunshine and warmer weather. In the precursor to the tour's first major of the season The Isle of Capri Masters in Biloxi, Feb. 16-17 Tim Folker walked away with a four-point win in the A Flight with a 8 on the Modified Stableford scoring system. Mick Schrepf carded a 7 to win the Flight, Richard Dunham played his way to a 14 in the Flight and the Flight was won by Mark Cotten's 21.

For more information on the Hacker's tour, call Waller at 221-6110. Golf Channel opener rained out It was a much-anticipated debut for the new kid on the amateur tour block. But it wasn't meant to be last weekend at The Moors Golf and Lodging as rain rendered the course unplayable. "WTe had some people come from out of town that weren't too pleased," said Scott Sime, tournament director. "You can't control Mother Nature." Despite the bad weather, Sime was upbeat about the first-year tour.

"We had 49 people show up, eight or 10 called to say they weren't coming," he said. The goal was around 50 to 55. Not bad." The tour has rescheduled the Milton event for March with an exact date yet to be determined. For more information on the tour, contact Sime at (251) 747-2396. Online exte SHARE YOUR STORIES Are you a parent of a young athlete? We're compiling weekly profiles on local residents to share their insight and perspective.

E-mail the sports staff at sportspnj.com. SPORT EVENT TIME TV BOXING Moslev vs. Cotto 7 p.m. HB02 BOXING Meza-Clav vs. Aiken 8 p.m.

ESPN2 BOXING Vazquez vs. Marguez 9 p.m. SH02 BOXING Anqelo vs. Cortes 11p.m. SHOe GOLF European Tour: Dubai Desert Classic 7:30 a.m.

GOLF GOLF PGA Tour: FBR Open 2 p.m. GOLF NBA Orlando at Philadelphia 6 p.m. SUN NBA Utah at Washington 7 p.m. ESPN NBA New York at Portland 9:30 p.m. ESPN NCAAM lona at St.

Peters 6 p.m. ESPNU NCAAW Virginia Tech at Duke 6 p.m. FSN NCAAW Kentucky at Georgia 11 p.m. SUN Saturday on TV (partial listings) SPORT EVENT TIME TV BOXING Boxing and Fitness 6 p.m. BLAB GOLF European Tour: Dubai Desert Classic 7:30 a.m.

GOLF MISC Fishing: Bassmasters 8 a.m. ESPN2 SUBMIT YOUR STUFF Have a picture worth publishing from your favorite high school team's game? Readers are encouraged to submit photos or video of a local sporting event to pnj.com. STAT PACK mm. Area high school coaches should e-mail their team's individual statistic leaders to sportspnj.com and ccorderpnj.com in order for publishing every Thursday on the News Journal prep page. I.