The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 39

page D8 Home News TkiBUNE Tuesday, july 16,2002 COLLEGE CYCUNG RUTGERS FOOTBALL TOUR DE FRANCE Sosa gives Scarlet Knights a big lineman p. I By JOHN HALEY STAFF WRITER Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 275 pounds with plenty of room for more, Pedro Sosa is just the physical specimen the Rutgers offensive line is looking for. A senior-to-be at Union Hill High School in Hudson County, Sosa recently made a non-binding committment to attend the state university. Not only is he big, but the kid can play, too. Rated as the 111th best lineman feel they (linemen) should red-shirt," said Rontunti.

"Right now, Pedro is all of 6-5, all of 275, but his frame looks like he's about 250, so he'll be 310 in a heartbeat. Pedro is a 4.9 40 guy with an 83-inch wing-span, which is great for protecting quarterbacks. When he's ready "to play, either as a redshirt freshman or a sophomore, he'll be ready. He has all the physical tools." Once he gets to Rutgers, Sosa plans on majoring in either business or criminal justice. "I'm just very excited about everything at Rutgers," said Sosa.

also liked that it was close to home and I feel if I committed to Rutgers, other players will follow." Sosa will more than likely red-shirt his first year. "They asked me if I wanted to redshirt and I said yes," said Sosa. "I feel I need to gain more weight." Joe Rontunti, who spent 15 years as a line coach in Hoboken before taking over as the head man at Union Hill three years ago, may have been an influence. "Being a line coach by nature, I in the nation by Thelnsiders.com, Sosa has been offered scholarships to 18 Division I schools, including Maryland, Syracuse, Tennessee, Purdue, Virginia and Wisconsin. He made official visits to Maryland and Syracuse and several unofficial visits to Rutgers.

"I've known coach (Greg) Schi-ano and his staff since January after visiting there and attending all the different activities," Sosa said last night during a workout in Jersey City. "I believe in what he's doing and I want to be part of it. I WNBA SPORTSWIRE At I ox? mi ALL-STAR NOTEBOOK Ackerman skeptical about labor deal by Sept 15 The Associated Press Lance Armstrong adjusts his glasses before the start of the individual time trial. Armstrong makes up ground in time trial Finishes second, climbs in standings By JOHN AJELLO STAFF WRITER WASHINGTON D.C. Before the All-Stars took the court last night at the MCI Center in Washington D.C, WNBA president Val Acker-man took center stage.

Ackerman addressed topics ranging from Title IX to potential uniform alterations, but the hot topic was the impending expiration of the league's collective bargaining agreement. The agreement, which expires on Sept. 15, is a potential source of labor strife provided the league and its players don't reach a subsequent understanding. The word was tossed around with regularity, but Ackerman made it clear that a work stoppage is not in the best interest of either side. "I'm not sure that we are going to be able to do it by Sept.

15, but I am very hopeful that we will end up with a new collective bargaining agreement for our players," Ackerman said. "We have a great relationship with our players and it's a very important process the renewal of the agreement and I'm very hopeful that we are going to make a fair deal." Ackerman also addressed the ramifications a possible strike would have on the league's deep connection with its fan base. "Our fans have been great," Ackerman said. "Their support has been incredible and certainly everything we have done in terms of reaching out to fans and trying to make sure we have the right kind of connections are top of mind for us, as well as our players." WEATHERSPOON GRATEFUL New York Liberty point guard Teresa Weatherspoon admittedly turned in a mercurial first half of the season. Averaging just 3.1 points per game and shooting 33.3 percent from the field, Weatherspoon hasn't ex actly been tearing the league apart but the voting public didn't notice.

"This is probably one of the happiest moments," said Weatherspoon, whom fans voted to start last night's game. "It's been a rough season, but the fans chose me. So I'm happy and thankful." The only All-Stars to receive louder ovations than "Spoon" were hometown heroes Cha-mique Holdsclaw and Stacey Dales-Schuman of the Mystics. TIP-INS: Liberty center Tari Phillips, who sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at last year's All-Star game in Orlando, lost her job to recording artist Brian McKnight for this year's game. Celebrities in attendance included soccer star Mia Hamm and television star Robert Towns-end, among others.

So which celebrity elicited the most heartfelt response? Noted columnist and star of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," Tony Kornheiser. Only Korn-heiser was greeted with boos. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LORIENT, France Lance Armstrong isn't the dominating force he used to be in Tour de France time trials. The three-time Tour winner recorded a rare second-place finish in yesterday's ninth stage, taking 11 seconds more than Colombian Santiago Botero to complete a windswept course through Brittany. Armstrong's performance allowed him to move up six spots into second place overall, 26 seconds behind Spain's Igor Gonzalez Gal-deano.

The Spaniard finished 19 seconds behind Botero. While the 30-year-old Texan remains the overwhelming favorite to win a fourth consecutive Tour, his rivals see the second-place finish as a dent in the Armstrong armor. WEST YOUTH SOFTBALL: The South Brunswick Lady Titans, a 16-and-under fastpitch Softball team, scored a 1-0 victory over the West Virginia Mowhawks in the first round of National Softball Association World Series in Salem, yesterday. Jill Madison singled in the bottom of the seventh and Danielle Blair doubled her home for the win. Right-hander Erin Kilelee struck out 12 in a three-hitter.

Shortstop Nikki Monfasani made a diving catch in the top of the seventh to thwart a West Virginia rally. NFL: Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, whose 296 games played is an NFL record for non-kickers, retired yesterday after 19 seasons with the same organization. Matthews, 40, made the announcement at the southwest Houston offices of team owner Bud Adams, Matthews played his first 14 seasons for the Houston Oilers before the franchise moved to Nashville after the 1 996 season. Houston's first-round pick in the 1983 draft, Matthews never missed a game because of injury in his career and played all five line positions during that time. NBA: Dee Kantner, one of the NBA's two female referees, has been fired, the NBA said yesterday.

"Dee has been terminated," NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said. "There are times in a referee's development that we find that a referee is not making sufficient progress in her own development and sometimes a change is needed. In this case, we felt that her termination was warranted." Kantner and Violet Palmer joined the NBA's officiating staff in 1 997. It was the first time in major U.S. professional sports that women officiated regular-season games in an all-male league.

Both worked through the 2001-02 season. GOLF: Hunter Mahan tied the course record with a 6-under 66 and held a one-shot lead after the first round of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at The Orchards Golf Club in Washington Township, Mich. The native of McKinney, Texas, birdied all four par-5s among his six in the round. Jay Choi had 67 and six others were tied at 68, including Michigan State's Eric Jorgensen.

Mahan's 66 also gave him and partner Brett Jones (69) a two-shot lead over Alan Hill (68) and J. Wall (69) in the team competition. Mahan and Jones are representing the St. Louis qualifier, while Hill and Wall are playing for San Antonio. The field of 1 56 will be cut to 64 after today's second round, after which the tournament will switch to match play.

LITTLE LEAGUE: A team from Moscow has defended its European title to become the first team to qualify for the 2002 Little League World Series. The Khovrino Little League beat CSS Electro Botosani Little League of Bot-osani, Romania, 1 -0 in Sunday's Europe Region championship game. The Russian team went 9-0 and out-scored its opponents 82-1 3 in the European tournament. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Penn State and Notre Dame will renew their football rivalry with games in 2006 and 2007. The Nittany Lions will travel to Notre Dame on Sept.

9, 2006, with the Fighting Irish playing in Happy Valley on Sept 8, 2007. Penn State and Notre Dame both among the five winningest college football programs last played in 1992, when the Irish won 17-16 in South Bend, to even the series at 8-8-1 TENNIS: Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian was upset in the first round of the $381 ,000 Croatia Open, losing 6-4, 6-3 to Spanish qualifier David Ferrer. Both players struggled with their serves under light rain, with breaks in four of the first six games. The top-seeded Nalbandian also was broken in the last game of the first set Wimbledon quarterfinalist Andre Sa knocked off eighth-seeded Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round of the $381 ,000 Energis Open. No.

6 Fernando Gonzalez was eliminated by Juan Balcells 7-6 (3), 6-3. Second-seeded Juan Ignaao Chela topped Andreas Vinciguem 6-2, 6-4 to end a four-match losing skid Fifth-seeded Andrei Pavel outlasted Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the first round of the $500,000 Mercedes Cup clay-court tournament Rain delayed the start of play for four hours. BOXING: Eric Lucas will defend his WBC super middleweight belt against Omar Sheika at the Molson Centre on Sept. 6. It will be the third defense for Lucas (35-4-3), who won the title by beating Glenn Catley in July 2001 Sheika (23-3) is ranked ninth by the WBC.

HORSE RACING: Canada's Magna Entertainment Corp. agreed to buy a majority interest in the Maryland Jockey Club, which runs Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park. Pimlico is home to the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Under a $1 1 7.5 million agreement with the De Francis family, Magna will receive a 51 percent equity and voting interest in the jockey club, which owns Pimlico. Magna also will receive a 51 percent voting interest and a 58 percent equity interest in Laurel Racing Association Limited Partnership, which owns the Laurel Park thoroughbred race track.

STAGE: An Individual time trial along a wind-swept 32.2-mlle course from Lanester to Lonent In the western region of Brittany. WINNER: Colombia's Santiago Botero, of the Kelme team. In 1 hour, 2 minutes, 18 seconds. HOW OTHERS FARED: Spain's Igor Gonzalez Gal-deano, of Once, retained the overall leader's yellow jersey, finishing fourth, 1 9 seconds later. Lance Armstrong of U.S.

Postal Service was ond, 1 1 seconds behind Bot- era. He rose from eighth place to second In the overall standings and trailed Gonza- lez Galdeano by 26 seconds. QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The Tour has changed Armstrong isn't as strong in the time trial as he was a year ago. The race has become more open" Gonzalez Galdeano after Armstrong's rare second-place finish. NEXT STAGE: Today Is a rest day.

Wednesday's stage Is a 91 .1 -mile course from j' Bazas to Pau. "The Tour has changed Armstrong isn't as strong in the time trial as he was a year ago," said Gonzalez Galdeano, who finished fourth in From Page Los Angeles one) by taking an early 16-5 lead and maintaining composure down the stretch. Houston forward Sheryl Swoopes (11 points) sank two free throws with 18.7 seconds left to give the West a 79-76 lead. The East had two chances to cut the lead to one, but Leslie stripped and blocked New York center Tari Phillips on subsequent possessions. Houston's Tina Thompson (20 points, seven rebounds) added two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to close the game.

"I thought they forced (the West) to slow down and stop running and they made us change our style," Xeslie said. "Therefore, it was a very close game." After earning league, All-Star and finals MVP awards in the 2001 season, Leslie turned in one of the more memorable mid-season performances last night. She was, however, roundly booed by the pro-Eastern Conference crowd. "(The West) guaranteed a victory," said Liberty point guard Teresa Weatherspoon. "It got physical, but it was a great game for everyone.

I had a great time." WEST (It): Swoopes 4-12 3-4 11, Thompson 7-16 5-6 20, Leslie 8-13 6-10 18. Pencheiro 1-1 0-0 2. Bird 1-8 W) 2, Dixon 2-6 04 5. Jackson 6-11 1-1 15, Smith 2- 4 04 4. Goodson 0-2 04 0, Mabika 14 04 2.

Mane Feiotnand 1-3 04 2. Totals 31-81 15-21 81. EAST tU-STUtS (76) Catehlngs 4-12 2-2 12, Slinson 3-10 2-2 9, Philips 1-9 2-2 4, Weatherspoon 2-3 04 4, Statey 2-5 04 4, Johnson 2-7 04 6, Sales 3-1 1 3-3 9, Sam 3- 9 04 7, Sutton-Brown 3-5 34 9, Taylor 4-8 1-1 9, Dales-Schuman 1-5 04 3. Totals 28-84 13-14 76, Wnt M-Stan 40 41-81 tut Sun 4 J6-76 3-Point Goals West All-Stars 4-22 (Jackson 2-3. Thompson 1-3, Dixon 1-3, las-lie 0-1.

Swoopes 0-1, Goodson 0-1, Smith 0-2, Mabika 0-3. Bin 0-5), East All-Stars 7-27 (Caterings 2-5. S-Johnson 24, Oaks-Schuman 1-3, Slinson 1-4, San 1-4, Weatherspoon 0-1 Safes 02. Taylor 0-2). Fouled out Phillips.

Rebounds West All-Stars 64 (Leslie 14), East All-Stars 49 (Philips 10). Assists West All-Stare 18 (Bird 7). East All-Stars 16 (Staley 5). Total fouls West All-Stars 13, East AJ-Stare 20. A 19,487.

1 I I 7 li i the stage to retain the overall leader's yellow jersey. "The race has become more open." Here's a measure of Armstrong's dominance in individual time trials: Since his first Tour victory in 1999, he had won seven of the last nine coming into yesterday's stage. Not counting two quick prologues, he was seven for seven. Yesterday's stage marked the end of a flat, speedy first week full of crashes. The race now heads to the mountains, one of Armstrong's other strengths.

Armstrong dominated in the mountains last year, winning the Tour by more than 6 V4 minutes. Today is a rest day, when the riders fly down to southwestern France. The race resumes tomorrow with a 91.1-mile trek from Bazas to Pau. The Tour enters the Pyrenees on Thursday for the first of six mountain stages this year. We 11 now see if he as unbeatable as he The Associated Press All-Star Game MVP Lisa Leslie finds New York Liberty center Tari Phillips in her path as she attempts to drive the lane in last night's game.

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