Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 21

Sports Star-Telegram COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUPS 11C LOCAL MOTORSPORTS REPORT 13C SCOREBOARD 12C MONDAY MARCH 5 2001 wwwstar-telegramcom Leading off Modano taking over He picks up slack for injured Nieuwendyk in triumph over Sabres 92 points right now that is what it is going to take to get in the playoffs I know if desperation I think the pride factor is involved now We hung around this thing all year We like to be in that The Stars have 81 points which puts them three points ahead of San Jose for the Pacific Division lead Modano realizes keeping that lead is going to be difficult especially with Nieuwendyk gone for three to six weeks with a groin tear suffered on Wednesday in Vancouver and he has to soak up a lot of what they lose in Nieuwendyk But (More on STARS on Page 5C) By Jennifer Floyd Star-Telegram Staff Writer DALLAS Worst-case scenario has Joe Nieuwendyk missing the final 16 games of the regular season with a tom groin The usual cliches apply about the Stars feel sorry for themselves everybody needs to step up one person replace him Which is all well and good except somebody forgot to tell Mike Modano He played his minutes and a good portion of in 4-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres Modano had an assist and a short-handed goal in 22 minutes 43 seconds and look for that playing time to be shrinking anytime soon got to play Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said looking at thinking 91 Mike Modano is all smiles as he is greeted by teammates Jere Lehtinen left and Brad Lukowich right after scoring a short-handed goal WOODS FALTERS Tiger Woods misses a chance for his first victory of the season when he doublebogeys the final hole of the Dubai Desert Classic 6C Sur-TelegramSHARON Sti inman i Difficult REPEAT SWEEP GORDON ROLLS TO WIN A midrace pit stop alleviates a tight condition and paves Jeff way to victory in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler400 in Las Vegas 13C STAYING CENTERED Mavericks coach Don Nelson says that next year when the Western Conference needs a center to fill its All-Star roster it need look no further than Dirk Nowitzki 9C UNT WOMEN WIN North Texas defeats Middle Tennessee 72-54 in the Sun Belt tournament and will play No 5 Louisiana Tech today 11C choices ahead Selecting final roster a tough task for Oates By TR Sullivan Star-Telegram Staff Wnler PORT CHARLOTTE Fla Rangers manager Johnny Oates likes to walk around the warning track at Charlotte County Stadium every morning and every afternoon not a picturesque walk but Oates interested in the view He needs the time to think and there is much to think about this spring when the time comes to decide on a final 25-man roster for the Rangers In that regard the Rangers may be facing one of their toughest springs ever Oates said Sunday he has never had so many players competing evenly for the final few spots on his team and talent be the only thing the Rangers can take into consideration Both Oates and general manager Doug Melvin know that each roster move they make could have long-term implications for the franchise Contracts roster flexibility and potential injuries must be considered Long-term benefits over short-term needs will also be (More on RANGhRS on Page 4C) Stdr-TelegramJrm-RY Washington Audi continued to dominate the Amencan Le Mans Senes on Sunday as Tom Knstensen left and Rinaldo Capello drove to the ninth consecutive victory Audis complete second 1-2 finish at Grand Prix of Texas SCORELINE For updated pro and college scores call: (817)390-7990 For updated high school scores call: (817)390-7091 A day at the racetrack in photos 14C season-opening Leather Center Grand Prix of Texas good to be in a good car in a good environment and with good teammates the key to Kristensen said Sunday after leading the second 1-2 Audi sweep in as many series events at TMS been lucky to be there and so far not doing too much That has been the approved script for an Audi Sport North America outfit that scored its ninth consecutive ALMS Le Mans Prototype (LMP) victory Sunday and has been undefeated for more than seven months Despite limited practice laps for himself and new teammate Rinaldo Capello and an unexpectedly strong effort by the all-new Panoz LMP07 shared by Jan Magnussen and David Brabham the Audis successfully launched defense of their ALMS championship (More on ALMS on Page I4C) By John Sturbin Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH After two nearly flawless performances at Texas Motor Speedway the superlatives used to describe the Audi R8 Prototypes competing in the American Le Mans Series are beginning to sound redundant So Tom Kristensen offered a simple explanation for the German recurring run of road-racing success after piloting the winning Audi R8 in the BASEBALL 3-4C BOXING 7C COLLEGES 10-11C GOLF 6C HOCKEY 5-6C HORSE RACING 12C MOTORSPORTS 13-14C OUTDOORS 8C PRO BASKETBALL 9C PRO FOOTBALL 6C RODEO 7C SCOREBOARD 12C SPORTS BRIEFLY 2C Kapler silenced this critic PORT CHARLOTTE Fla time to come clean Rangers general manager Doug Melvin says he never lost confidence in Gabe Kapler Manager Johnny Oates never lost confidence in Kapler Gabe Kapler never lost confidence in Gabe Kapler But if 1 may confess I lost confidence in Gabe Kapler I saw the oh-so-tight muscles I felt the downdraft from his then-futile batting swing I saw the batting average which was a feeble 200 as late as June 8 of last year And I wondered like a lot of other people did this guy this brawny Kapler is one of the reasons that the Rangers traded away Juan Gonzalez? What happened after that to be frank stunned us hasty jurors (More on lrHRLTON on Page 3C) BIG 12 GUARDS TO WATCH Backcourt players who could make a difference in the Big 12 tournament: March: On guard If backcourt play is key Big 12 teams should make NCAA impact defenses because defenses determine how offenses said Baylor coach Dave Bliss a veteran of 1 1 NCAA Tournament appearances the pros defense is altered by the rules so the post becomes more prominent because you have help-side defense from other players In college you can put an umbrella around a good post man But guards can create shoot and therefore have a greater effect (More on GUARDS on Page 10C) By Mike Jones Star-Telegram Staff Writer March is traditionally the time when guards shine Other players might be instrumental in getting teams into the NCAA Tournament the theory goes but guards win Tournament games Four of the past five to be voted the most outstanding player in the Final Four have been guards difference becomes how you handle Big 12 men's and tournament brackets IOC No 1 (seeds) in NCAA Tournament? 10C rmw tUau ITS rsteweatorijp'B 301 Lift jutrinTfliiftMMiilii iitfyriO 3EZ.