The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 27

WEDNESDAY October 30 1991 D1 Sports Scores: 1-900-680-8778 Park West Ski Area Closes Down for 1991-92 Season PSEINNWP USU President Let Shelton Slip Away By John Keahey THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Copter Skiers Out of Luck? D-4 ViOMIIMUMMEMM would open during the 1992-1993 season "I understand the Gwner is working on a new approach to developing ParkIA'est" said Nancy Volmer spokeswoman for the Park City ChamberBureau She mourned the closure saying Park West filled a unique niche in the skiing community because its lift prices at $24 last season were much lower than other Park City resorts Deer Valley charges $41 and Park City Ski Area charges $39 a day Park West was also the only Summit County ski area that allowed snow boards Park City Ski Area President Phil Jones also mourns the closure "It's just a shame I don't see anything positive from it" He said many Park West employees have applied for jobs at his resort and he hopes to hire as many as possible "We don't have a problem hiring good people" he said "and there are a lot of good people down there" "Thank you for calling Park West We are busy getting ready for the ski season" The recorded voice late Tuesday belied an announcement earlier in the day that Park West ski area north of Park City will not open this winter Word of the closure from President Jerry Gilomen greeted Park City residents during a morning interview on a local Park City radio station The announcement means that 13 year-round employees and some 300 seasonal workers will be looking for jobs elsewhere Gilomem who did not respond to several phone calls Tuesday afternoon reportedly told his radio interviewer he hoped the 24- year-old financially beleaguered ski resort lazers akers est the est it- rs ak ers 1 14 the est Somebody has pulled a major athletic department gaffe at Utah State which when you measure the athletic successes at the Logan enclave is not all that surprising Football coach Chuck Shelton has resigned effective Nov 24 -g which came as no big surprise 7-1 since he's been a lame duck the past 10 months or so having decided in December he wanted )' out Who let this good and honorable man fall through the cracks? Athletic Director Rod Tueller says not him "This was not a course I wanted" he said Big Blue boosters say not us "We hate to see him go" said Logan's Dave Harrison the club's president "I think he had a quality program overall although the won-loss record is not what we'd like" weiw 4 ow47z 4 i rn I I '414-- -I" 4 "i i'- )1 4- I i 4'''' 1 I 1 CI: 14' I' 'g A ''t tl -4 1 l'-) I ---1 i Lt 1 't 'A i a "A -1 it 2 i I z- i '1 4 7 Pt' -4' 'it I 41 r-4 -4 Editor's Note: This is the third of a four-part series previewing the division races in the upcoming NBA season which begins Friday Today: the Pacific Division ird of a four- ision races in which begins vision The Associated Press Blazers sit dejected as Lakers oust them from last year's playoffs but Portland will be team to beat in West this year A -1-7-21)t- Dick te ib Rosetta 141d I Sports FAlitor lt will fight for the division title Here is a glance at the Pacific Division teams: Portland Trail Blazers They've won more regular-season games (122) and played more playoff games (37) than any other NBA team over the last two years They've made it to the NBA Finals and they've ended a nine-year Laker reign in the Pacific Division They've done a lot and yet they feel they haven't done enough because they haven't won the NBA championship With that goal in mind all the main players return except Walter Davis who couldn't even make the team This is the only team deep enough that it could lose a starter to injury and still push 60 wins But the regular season is not the issue in Oregon that's just a holding pattern for the playoffs The Blazers feel they've paid their dues Projection: 60-22 Los Angeles Lakers The Lakers used 1990-91 as a transition year They broke in a new coach (Mike Dunleavy) and a new power forward (Sam Perkins) and they solidified a foreigner lade Di-vac) at center While doing all that they erased an 812-game deficit before surrendering their division title to the Blazers beat them in the playoffs and advanced to the Finals not bad for a transition year Now unless Magic Johnson's 32 will fight for the division title Here is a glance at the Pacific Division teams: Portland Trail Blazers They've won more regular season games (122) and played more playoff games (37) than any other NBA team over the last two years They've made it to the NBA Fin- als and they've ended a nine-year Laker reign in the Pacific Divi- By Lex Hemphill THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The Pacific Division is the NBA's version of the American League West No all seven teams won't finish 500 or better here like they did in the Al West the Sacramento Kings will make sure of that But the other six Pacific teams could do it And yes just as the AL West produced the world champion so could this division since it houses two of the three most likely candidates the Trail Blazers and the This is where the NBA's finest basketball is played Five of the seven starting point guards have played in the All-Star Game four of them last year Five of the seven off-guards have had at least one season of averaging over 20 points a game All seven of the small forwards are capable of going for 30 (their career highs range from 32 to 47) The coaching is pretty good too Only 14 coaches in league history have won more than 500 games in their careers and four of them are coaching here Dick Matta Cotton Fitzsimmons Don Nelson and KC Jones And yet it will be two of the relative newcomers Rick Adelman and Mike Dunleavy who ill NE II in is the American ron't finish they did in as the regular small forward so the depth that propelled them to the '90 Western finals represented by Meijer le and EJ off the bench has evaporated The new weapons will have to be Cedric Ceballos and Negele Knight backing up a solid starting five that needs a comeback year from Tom Chambers Projection: 54-28 Golden State Warriors Operating on the every-other-year theory the Jazz won't have to worry about this maddening team in 1991-92 The Warriors knocked the Jazz out of the playoffs in '87 and '89 and beat them on the final day of the season in '91 to cost them the Midwest title So the Warriors can give the Jazz a break this year and concentrate on pestering other teams which they'll do No team in the league is as good See D-3 Column 3 years begin to show the Lakers should be better To make sure Magic doesn't get exhausted they finally got him a reliable backup in Sedale Threatt who had the best of his eight NBA seasons last year in Seattle Now the team runs nine deep and Magic will have his rest so he'll be fresh for June Projection: 59-23 Phoenix Suns This is the classic case of a team that got so close to the top that it couldn't resist making one move too many Unable to rationalize their slow start (8-7) like the Jazz did after the Tokyo trip the Suns made a Dec 7 trade that blew up their team chemistry dealing Eddie Johnson for Xavier McDaniel They went for overkill paid for it and finally admitted it when they dumped the X-Man in the off-season So now what? Sixth-man Dan Majerie has to replace McDaniel NHL NY Islanders 8 San Jose 4 NY Rangers 3 Minnesota 2 Washington 8 Pittsburgh 0 Quebec 7 Winnipeg 2 Vancouver 4 New Jersey 3 TV Sports ITSPIC 6 pm Women's Bowling Midwest Open Eagles to Face Wings The Salt Lake Golden Eagles go for their second IHL win in a row and only the third of the year when they open up a three-game series with the Kalamazoo Wings Wednesday at 7 pm at the Delta Center The Eagles who defeated San Diego 3-2 en Monday also play the Wings Friday and Saturday Quotable "I told them I didn't think we would have won that game without the plane" Dick Motta Sacramento coach whose Kings were 1-40 on the road last season after the team's owners asked him to justify using a charter plane to travel Heard of Phoenix? The NCAA's "1991-92 Basketball Preview" opens with an introduction stating: "College basketball in particular has grown dramatically since its days of infancy surviving a devastating point-fixing scandal to rise out of its own ashes like the Sphinx" COX Is Top Skipper Manager of the Year voting announced Tuesday by the Baseball Writers of America (first-place votes in parentheses): Manager Points Bobby Cox Braves (13) 96 Jim Leyland Pirates (9) 74 Joe Torre Cardinals (2) 41 Tom Lasorda Dodgers (0) 5 Morning Briefing: D-2 Just Noticed? Football coaches miss a lot by spending so much time looking at game films Ron Meyer who was fired earlier this month by the Indianapolis Colts told the Associated Press: "I was 000hing and aaahing about the brilliant fall colors the other day My wife said 'But Ron this happens every fall' New Managers The New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners ended their searches for new skippers on Tuesday with both clubs pro moting their their third base coaches to the top jobs The Yankees settled on Bucky Showalter while Bill Plummer takes over in Seattle Story: D-2 UTEP Gets Probation The NCAA placed Texas-El Paso's basketball program on probation for three years for the school's "casual attitude" about NCAA rules Story: D-5 Rankin i the Starters the Pacific Division Team Small Forward Power Fonivard Center Point Guard Oft Guard Total Portland Trail Blazers4 Jerome Kersey 3 Buck Williams 1 Kevin Duckworth 4 Terry Porter 1 Clyde Drexler 13 Los Angeles Lakers 2 James Worthy 2 Sam Perkins 2 Vlade Divac 1 Magic Johnson 6 Byron Scott 13 Phoenix Suns 3 Dan Majerle 1 Tom Chambers 3 Mark West 3 Kevin Johnson 3 Jeff Hornacek 13 Golden St Warriors 1 Chris Mullin 7 Tyrone Hill 6 Alton Lister 2 Tim Hardaway 2 Mitch Richmond IS Los Angeles Clippers 6 Danny Manning 4 Charles Smith 5 Olden Polynice 5 Doc Rivers 5 Ron Harper 25 Seattle Supersonics 7 Derrick McKey 5 Shawn Kemp 4 Benoit Benjamin 7 Gary Payton 4 Ricky Pierce 27 Sacramento Kings 5 Lionel Simmons 6 Wayman Tisdale 7 Duane Causwell 6 Spud Webb 7 Bobby Hansen 31 Notes Trail Blazers: Imagine All-Star Porter being only fourth best at the point lakers: Scoff's in great shape could play up in this tough group of 2s Suns: They may want to return Majerle to the sixth man role later but he's their 3 now Warriors: Either Hill or Lister could lose their starting jobs this season if rookie Victor Alexander keeps improving Clippers: Smith is out for the first month so by Vaught will get some good minutes In his place Manning may deserve better in a solid bunch of 3s SONCS: It's difficult to rank them higher Benjamin and Pierce got generous ratings Kings: As soon as Billy Owens signs he moves in at the 2 In place of Hansen Anthony Bonner will play a lot at the 4 Lex Jazz Will Open Season With Familiar Look The trail leads to another lame duck USU President Stanford Cazier who's announced he's leaving the school June 30 1992 Cazier controlled Shelton's future and he turned his back on him last December Tueller to his everlasting credit wanted Shelton to stay He lobbied for a contract extension Cazier said no opting for a "re-evaluation" at the end of the 1991 season "I was not satisfied with the comments that were made or with the outcome of the meeting with Cazier last December What we needed to continue the program was non-existent" Shelton said Noted Cazier in a Salt Lake Tribune story on March 29 coaches have been let go for doing more than Shelton has" Sounds like a "re-evaulation" had already taken place Shelton was charged after his hiring in 1986 with "being competitive in the Big West Conference" Even saddled with a 1-2 conference record so far this season the 57-year-old Shelton is 21-16- 1 in the league That's the third-best mark behind San Jose State and Fresno State Having kept the Aggies in the upper echelon of the league other major considerations would be in maintaining a solid academic standing and running a clean program "Chuck Shelton has been a productive positive program-builder for Utah State football" said Tueller "He's leaving the program in much better shape than he found it six years ago He has recruited high caliber student-athletes and has taught them their athletic and academic responsibilities" The USU program was not nor has it been in recent memory tainted with any scandal So what was Cazier's thinking last December? "Who knows?" said Salt Lake Aggie booster Jack Worthington "I'm outraged I'm boiling We've been crippled by this Our fund-raising effort has taken a big blow We'll recover but it will take a long time" Cazier has not been known as an athletics president "We have a president leaving and we've met with the search committee in order to make our feelings known for a president who supports athletics like he would academics" said Harrison The Ag boosters are using new Utah President Arthur Smith as an example "It's pretty clear where Dr Smith wants to take the Utah athletic program" said Harrison It's a curious dilemma the USU heirarchy is facing How car Cazier who's out in June possibly have a hand in hiring Shelton's successor? And if he does will the criteria for the new guy still be "stay competitive in the Big West" collect big paychecks as sacrifi- cial lambs for the Nebraskas Oklahomas and Southern Ca Is of the football world and beat Utah and BYU? With Shelton (22-39-1) now out and head basketball coach Kohn Smith teetering on a 37-49 overall record heading into the fourth year of a five-year contract and attendance way down on both fronts it's not difficult tJ read the USU athletics up-and-down indicator With President Cazier's help it's way down right now ent things you'll face" he said "That's why it was so ragged out there We were stopping and talking and going over everything someone might try to do against us "I think we're in pretty good shape to play a game and open the season I feel pretty good about it right now Of course we haven't lost one yet either" The Jazz leave Thursday on their first road trip of the season After Minnesota they play at Indiana on Saturday and Atlanta on center instead of incumbant Mark Eaton But Sloan has apparently decided he needs Brown who is more offensive-minded than Eaton and led the Jazz in rebounding during the preseason off the bench The decision means John Stockton Jeff Malone Eaton Karl Malone and Blue Edwards will start the Jazz's opener for the second straight season Sloan meanwhile called Tuesday's two-hour practice "ragged" "You've got to be ready for so many differ By Steve Luhm THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Jazz coach Jerry Sloan says he'll use his regular starting lineup in Friday night's season-opener at Minnesota After practice Tuesday morning at Westminster College Sloan said "We've pretty much decided to go the way we have and we'll see how it works out" After Mike Brown's 24 minute per game performance in last spring's playoffs there had been some speculation that he'd start at Clearfield Rises From Dust of 3-Way Playoff -1 rf'" 'J nt Ntki ii I 4 4C014 A tzr4 4 1 i I -ft di i 1r I 4' ikkr 'v 4 kl 1 't i It 1 liPioo ft ---n l'u '4 wi I 1 6 r--N -v-'' 1 C'134141 400--- Nt r----- 1 1 il 6- ik 0 i A 44 e''' 4 N''''''''''' L'Ilil -k 00' 1 A 0 44 ks 41' Aro A -1 -1 By Jay Drew THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE KAYSVILLE Region One staged its annual version of late-October madness Tuesday afternoon at Davis High School When the three-way contest to decide one playoff spot ended the victorious Clearfield coach was looking for his first-round playoff opponent Weber's coach was wondering what happened to his kicking game and Layton's coach was grumbling about the process that had the three teams alternating overtime sessions to determine a winner "This sucks that's all there is to it" said Layton coach Curtis Page after his team bowed out first by losing to Weber 7-0 and then to Clearfield 7-6 in three overtimes "This format sucks This ain't football" Ironically the three coaches involved in the playoff voted against the format Page said but were outvoted by the region's other coaches at the beginning of the season "We got outvoted by people that aren't here" he said Paul Fraughlon The Salt Lake Tribune Layton's Brian Hoskins runs away from Falcon de- qualifying game at Davis High Clearfield did pre-fender Daren Pugmire to score tovehdown in state I vail however over Layton and Weber in playoff See 1)-2 C91umn 3 okg4 AwdtkAAltif1-0 03 40 40 At-AW" As.