Star-Gazette from Elmira, New York • 9

EFA ROLLS PAST JC Jeff Mathers, left, strikes out six batters over six innings, leading the Blue Devils to a 15-4 win over Johnson City. PAGE 3B Live sports scores on your cell phone Send a text message to 44636 (4INF0) with SPORTS, then select your team (Yanks, Mets) FIND LATE RESULTS ONLINE For late results, see "AP Sports News" after clicking the Sports link at stargazette.com IB Saturday, April 25, 2009, Star-Gazette, stargazette.com Sports Editor Andrew Legare, (607) 271-8295, alegaregannett.com. Fax: (607) 734-3004 JP) Veterans on the trading block add to intrigue Both wideouts would carry a hefty price, including at least a first-round selection today. What about Julius yond the actual selections. Such as the trades and the trends.

Will Cleveland deal Braylon Edwards to the Giants or the Eagles or the Titans or another receiver-needy club? Don't expect any hints coming out of Browns camp, where new coach Eric Mangini is more secretive than the CIA. How about the Cardinals, tired of dealing with Anquan Boldin's contract demands, sending him to one of those teams? sation if anyone signs him. But the Panthers likely would settle for less in a trade, albeit not less than at least one first-round spot. Otherplayers considered available this weekend, regardless of what camouflage is being used by various teams, are receivers Chad Ocho Cinco of Cincinnati and Roscoe Parrish of Buffalo; and running backs Ronnie Brown of Miami and Edgerrin James of Arizona (who likely will be released this spring if he is not dealt). By Barry Wilner The Associated Press NEW YORK Let's forget, for now, who will wind up in Detroit as the top pick in today's NFL draft.

And what team will get star receiver Michael Crabtree. And where the six offensive tackles likely to go in the first round will land. Sure, the draft is all about grabbing new talent, plugging holes or beefing up a pro team's depth. It's also about the intrigue be ECHL PLAYOFFS Game! Cyclones crush Jackals in If 'Mm 4fcfc if LEADING OFF GOLF EC's Christo, Jackson earn Empire 8 honors Elmira College golfer Brandon Christo and coach Dean Jackson were named Empire 8 Player and Coach of the Year, respectively. Christo, a senior, won nine titles in the fall and spring, including wins at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and the Empire 8 Championship, helping him earn the overall conference title.

Christo was also named conference Sportsman of the Year, given to an athlete who competes with honor and in- tegrity. Jackson coached the team to one of the best finishes in the history of the program, including three team wins and a second-place finish at the Empire 8 Championship. Christo's teammates, freshmen Nick Decker and Alex Marcoux, were named to the all-conference second team Decker finished seventh and Marcoux eighth at the conference championships. BASKETBALL Woman charged inPitinocase LOUISVILLE, Ky. An equipment manager's estranged wife was charged with trying to extort Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, at first demanding cars and tuition for her children, then later asking for $10 million, according to a federal complaint filed Friday.

Karen Cunagin Sypher, who also is accused of lying to the FBI in the case, did not enter a plea at a court appearance Friday and was released qn her own recognizance. Sypher's husband, Tim Sypher, brought Pitino a written list of demands including tuition, two cars of her choice, paying off her house and $3,000 per month, according to the complaint. The demands later escalated to $10 million, the complaint said. What sort of information Sypher may have been trying to use to extort the successful coach was not included in the complaint, which only said Pitino believed it was related to an unspecified encounter with the woman in 2003. Pitino took over Louisville's basketball program in 200L The 56-year-old coach first brought up the extortion allegations last week, when he said he had reported them to the FBI last month.

Since then, Karen Sypher has given some media interviews, mostly saying she's just defending herself. One station that did an extensive interview said it chose not to air her allegations because they could not be confirmed. As for any trading frenzies, consider the flux the NFL is in these days. With the possibility of a non-capped 2010 season staring teams, players and agents in the face, the rules under which business has been conducted for so long could readily change. That might impact how the clubs treat this draft.

Will some teams look to unload picks to save money for bidding wars caused by the disappearance of the salary cap even See DRAFT Page 5B Opening Day set for Sunday at Watkins Staff report WATKINS GLEN Sunday is Opening Day for the 2009 season at Watkins Glen International and will include a full day of on-track activities, including fan laps around the course. The feature event of Opening Day will be the release of the Mark Donohue biography "Mark Donohue: Technical Excellence at Speed," from David Bull Publishing and with a foreword written by race car owner Roger Penske. The book, written by Watkins Glen native Michael Argetsinger, will be available for purchase at the track. Also on hand for Sunday's festivities will be eight cars associated with Donohue's career, including the 1974 Porsche 91730 known as "the Can-Am Killer." Donohue won every race but one during the 1973 season in his Penske Porsche 91730. Because of circumstances beyond their control and other endeavors in mo-torsports, Donohue and Penske Racing left the Can-Am Series before they ever raced the 1974 version of their car.

One year later the series was canceled. Other Donohue cars that will be at the track are the rare 1973 Penske PDC-1003 Formula 1 car, 1973 Eagle-Offy Indy Car, 1967 Trans-Am Camaro, 1965 Shelby GT-350R, 1970 Elva Courier, and two Lola T70 Can-Am cars. Fans who would like to drive the track get three laps for $20. Gates open at 9 a.m., with fan laps beginning at 10 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m.

Additional information can be found tin the WGI Web site: www.theglen.com. Tickets for the 2009 WGI season are on sale on the Web site or by calling (846) ON TV TODAY NFL Draft 4 p.m., ESPN Peppers? Carolina franchised the standout defensive end and would get two first-rounders as compen- Teslak as Brandon Roach and Kevin guys to play up to their ability and be hard to play against. We have other guys that want to get in the lineup. I'm obviously looking at some changes." One change he won't make is replacing goalie Michael Teslak in the net. Although Teslak entered Friday's game with a .942 postseason saves percentage, he allowed four Cincinnati goals in the first 33 minutes.

Martinson promptly yanked Teslak for backup Riku Helenius, who allowed three Cyclones scores in a span of 3:18 in the final period. "We're down 4-0, we're not playing hard and I wanted to rest him for (tonight)," Martinson said. "The idea was to rest him, because I don't think our team was playing hard enough to win the game." Wluchbafflesjohnson'smind. "I don't know what we have to do to motivate ourselves," said Johnson, who scored the final Rangers Green, of course, but also trailing some stay-at-home defense-men with a total of five goals, only one over the final 42 games. Yet Bradley put the puck in the net twice in a span of less than Th minutes Friday.

The first goal was short-handed and came on the game's first shot, before 5 minutes had elapsed. Several Capitals skated over to pile on Bradley, knocking him to the ice. Then, 12:07 in, Bradley squeezed the puck past Lundqvist from a seemingly impossible angle beside the net. Suddenly, it was Bradley 2, Rangers 0, and he was receiving celebratory head-butts on the helmet from Ovechkin. Lundqvist, so good earlier in the series, particularly Games 2 and 4, was serenaded by loud taunts of "Hen-rik! Hen-rik!" from the red-clad crowd.

Those taunts retu rned 457 into the second perbd, when Semin's fourth goal of the series made it 3-0. TONY TRIBBLE Contributed Photo Quick of the Jackals, and Dustin goal of the game with 350 to play. "It's the second round. Four games go by quick. My first year in Rockford, we played Kalamazoo, they swept us 4-0 and that series went by quick.

If we keep playing like this, this series will go by quick." Against a team that had been so vulnerable at home in the first round of the playoffs the Cyclones lost every game at U.S. Bank Arena, except for the Game 7 clincher vs. Wheeling and despite the fact the Jackals won more than they lost in this arena this season, Elmira took its worst loss of the year. Johnson is ready to make amends for that performance here in Game 2 tonight at 7:30 p.m. "We have to hit that team," Johnson said.

"We have to get guys to finish their checks, and we didn't do that at all. They made us look like a pee wee team, and that's not us." Ian McKenzie of the Cyclones gets Sproat of the Cyclones, look on. By Josh Katzowitz Correspondent CINCINNATI Going into the ECHL North Division finals against the defending Kelly Cup champions, the Elmira Jackals knew they'd have to play more physical than the Cincinnati Cyclones. They'd have to play with more grit They, like Elmira coach Steve Martinson said, would have to play more greasy. That's why Cincinnati's 8-3 blowout victory in Game 1 at U.S.

Bank Arena on Friday night was so disappointing to Martinson. After knocking off Trenton in the first round of the playoffs, he had talked to his squad about learning from the shortcomings Elmira had experienced in the seven-game series namely, playing hard on every shift. He didn't see that determination Friday, and as a result, the Cyclones made the Jackals look, the puck past Jackals goalie Michael CYCLONES 8, JACKALS 3 Series: Cincinnati leads 1-0 Today: Elmira at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. Wednes day: Cincinnati at Elmira, 7:05 p.m. Friday: Cincinnati at Elmira, 7:35 p.m.

May 2: Cincinnati at Elmira, 7:35 p.m. (if necessary) May 5: Elmira at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. (if necessary) May 6: Elmira at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. (if necessary) in the words ofElmira right wing Chaz Johnson, like a bunch of amateurs. "I tried to say in the last round that we had to learn from the mistakes that we made," Martinson said.

"Obviously, we didn't learn them You have to challenge these placing him with Steve Valiquette. It was an all-around lousy trip to the nation's capital for Rangers coach John Tortorella, who used a towel to wipe off his gray suit jacket after it appeared a spectator spilled something on him in the third period. The Capitals are in a familiar position: They also faced a 3-1 deficit against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round last season before rallying to win Games 5 and 6 only to lose Game 7 at home in overtime. Knowing they need to win three consecutive games, Washington picked up some momentum Friday from an unlikely source. Bradley is a 30-year-old right wing who never recorded a goal in 21 previous career postseason games.

Indeed, Bradley ranked 17th on the Capitals in points during the regular season behind Ovechkin and Semin and Mike "ear 2r Caps stay alive vs. QUICK HIT til n( a Three Wisconsin assistant football coaches have been admonished for violating NCAA rules by visiting prospects during an off-limits recruiting per riod, according to records released Friday. The coaches defensive coordinator Dave Doeren, recruiting coordinator Randall McCray and wide receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander made the Jan. 4 trips during a "quiet period" in which no recruiting visits to players can be made. LOCAL STARS Kayla Bollen of Broadway Middle School won the 500-meter race during a meet Thursday with a time of 6:05.7.

It was the first meet back for Kayla after knee surgery. Staff and wire reports By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press WASHINGTON Thanks principally to Matt Bradley yes, Matt Bradley, not Alex Ovechkin or another of Washington's stars the Capitals get to keep playing this seasoa Bradley scored his first two playoff goals, Ovechkin added a highlight-reel tally, rookie Simeon Varlamov posted his second shutout of the opening round, and the Capitals beat the New York Rangers 4-0 in Game 5 on Friday night to avoid elimination. The seventh-seeded Rangers, who played without Sean Avery, lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading to Game 6 in New York on Sunday. Alexander Semin also scored for No. 2 Washington, and the Rangers pulled goalie Henrik Lundqvist after two periods, re TC-V-'-i -TV.

it .1 The Associated Press The Capitals' Eric Fehr has his shot stopped by Rangers goalie Steve Valiquette during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals..