Sparks Take Next Step

By Gary Montgomery

BVN Staff

Commentary The Los Angeles Sparks finished a two game sweep over the San Antonio Silver Stars 101 to 93 on Saturday and are now awaiting the winner of the series between the Minnesota Lynx the league’s reigning champs and the Seattle Storm, the 2010 season’s champion. The Storm forced a series deciding third game on Tuesday in Minnesota after winning a double overtime thriller in Seattle on Saturday. LA, the Western conference’s second seed behind Minnesota is playing its best basketball in years. LA’s leading scorer is point guard Kristi Tolliver at 17.5 points per game. Tolliver, the WNBA’s most improved player this season has taken off under the tutelage of first year head coach Carol Ross.

Right on Tolliver heels, all everything Candace Parker is averaging a distant 17.4 points per game and is a leading candidate for WNBA Player of the Year honors. In two playoff games, Parker and Tolliver have raised their averages to 28 and 26 points per game respectively.

If the Sparks win the WNBA championship you can bet Parker will hoist two trophies. Parker has turned in the kind of performance this season that everyone has been waiting for since her arrival in the league 4 years ago. But before collecting their gold, there is a huge challenge ahead. LA will play the winner of Tuesday’s Minnesota Malay.

Both teams represent different but significant challenges for the Sparks. Seattle dismissed LA from playoff contention in the first round two years ago. Led by a group of crafty veterans, Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Tina Thompson off the bench could give the Sparks a lot of trouble. The Lynx, led by Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen have been the league’s best team for the last two seasons. LA beat the Lynx on September 27th in a season ending blow out at Staples that the the Lynx will likely not forget.

Minnesota, with it’s a allstar cast or Seattle with its experienced veterans both present a real test for the young Sparks team. A matchup with Seattle would give the Sparks home court advantage. In the shortened WNBA playoff formats home court advantage is big. The Sparks probably won’t say it but my guess is they are rooting for Seattle. If LA plays Seattle game 1 will be at Staples Center on Thursday October 4th. If the Lynx prevail, LA will travel to Minnesota for game 1 on Sunday October 7th. G. Montgomery can be reached at HYPERLINK "mailto:sports@blackvoicenews.com"sports@blackvoicenews.com

Photo by Robert Attical, BVN Staff TOO LATE – Candace Parker rises above a defender during one of the season’s final games. Parker averaged 17.4 PPG this season and is a candidate for the league’s most valuable player honors. Photo by Robert Attical, BVN Staff YOU CAN’T SEE ME – LA’s point guard sensation Kristi Tolliver slashes past a defender during a game earlier in the season. Tolliver was voted the League’s Most Improved Players this season. Tolliver averaged 17.5 point per game this season.

By Steve Finley

The Oregon Ducks are not the only good college football team in the State of Oregon. Just ask the UCLA Bruins.

The Oregon State Beavers came into the Rose Bowl on Saturday and beat the Bruins 27-20. The Beavers out-played the Bruins in every phase of the game. UCLA is now 3-1 and Oregon State is 2-0."Our hats are off to Oregon State," said UCLA head coach Jim Mora. "They are a very good football team. We had three wins, now we got knocked back a little with this loss, so this should be a great lesson for our team. We will come back ready to go next week.

"The Bruins will need to be ready next week when they travel to Colorado to take on the Buffaloes who recorded their first victory of the year over Washington State on Saturday.

UCLA will need to find their running game if they expect to pull off a victory in Colorado. Oregon State held the Bruins to a season low 72 yards on 28 carries and held Jonathan Franklin, the nation’s leading rusher (180.3 yards per game) to 45 yards on 12 carries.

UCLA's passing game continues to thrive under freshman quarterback Brett Hundley. Hundley completed 27 of 42 passes for 372 yards and one touchdown. "We left a lot of points on the field," said Hundley. "This loss is not going to kill our season."

Another bright spot for the Bruins in the loss to the Beavers was the play of wide receiver Shaquelle Evans. Evans caught six passes for 148 yards including an electrifying 65 yard touchdown. Oregon State hit Evans hard all day, even knocking his helmet off on one play but Evans kept coming back. "He is a tough player," said Mora. The Bruins' game against Colorado is set for 3 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 29) and will be aired on the Pac-12.

Network Steve Finley is a former Daily Bruin staff writer and contributor to the Black Voice News –Steve can be reached at HYPERLINK "mailto:sfinley50@aol.com" sfinley50@aol.com

Photo by Robert Attical – BVN Staff Shaq Attack – UCLA’s junior wide receiver Shaq Evans is brought down by an OSU defender was the Bruin’s brightest star on Saturday. Evans had 6 catches for 148-yards, including a 65-yard touchdown run. UCLA’s 27-20 loss to the Beavers was their first loss of the season.

By Jon D. Gaede

Bvn Sports

FONTANA – It had been seven long years since open-wheel racecars last competed at the Auto Club Speedway. Saturday night marked their return as enthusiasts filled the grandstands once again. The Indy Car Izod Series of racing brought the high profile drivers and their race teams to a track that has only had NASCAR events in recent years. This year’s guests were granted free parking from the Auto Club Speedway.

Andretti, Franchitti, Dixon, Castroneves, Kanaan, Power and Hunter-Reay, were just a few of the top drivers to compete at the Auto Club Speedway on Saturday night. Dario Franchitti, a crowd favorite who won the iconic Indianapolis 500 in May, as well as the past two Izod Indy Car championships, did not contend for this year’s checkered flag. Racing fans would be treated to not only the final race of the season, but also a competition between two drivers for the title. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who just five years ago, could not find a racing team to support him, would do battle with Will Power at Fontana for the 2012 Indy Racing title.

This year’s race, billed as the MATV 500 Indy Car World Championship, started at 6 pm and went well into the Southern California evening. Front-runner Will Power enjoyed a 17-point lead over Hunter-Reay before the race. Of the many scenarios, these two figured in most. The only other drivers who had a mathematical shot at the championship were Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon.

The drivers race for 250 laps on the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval. These open-wheel cars go a little faster than the typical NASCAR as they reach speeds upwards of 240 miles per hour. The track record for one lap is 241.426 mph, at Fontana, by Gil de Ferran. As the race developed under the 105 degree trackside conditions, contenders Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay found themselves adjacent with each other as they jockeyed for 13th place on lap 55. This lap would prove be Reay’s good fortune because Power slammed into the wall of turn 2. Team Penske tried to repair extensive damage to the right side of Power’s Chevrolet, however, they just couldn’t get up to necessary speed and quickly went down 11 laps to the field. Hunter-Reay eventually moved up to the top ten, where he stayed for most of the 500-mile distance. Hunter-Reay eventually moved up to fourth, finishing high enough in the points to take this year’s Izod Indy Car World Championship. In the post race, Reay said, “This is unbelievable, I can’t put it into words, how hard I had to fight”

“What a race. I was on the edge the entire time, just trying to hold onto the car. This is amazing, you know. This is what racing is all about, what sports are about. I’m going to let this one sit in for a second and really enjoy it” -Ryan Hunter-Reay In the actual race, Ed Carpenter took the checkered flag in the Fuzzy Zoeller Chevrolet. The professional golfer’s name and golf motif adorns the Carpenter vehicle to promote Fuzzy’s Premium Vodka. Zoeller has been associated with racing for several years.

The return of open-wheel action to the Speedway in Fontana was a success. From free guest parking to great competitive racing at the highest level. Roger Penske, the man who built the race track said, “A 500 mile race at the Auto Club Speedway should be an Indy Car Series staple and finale, once again”

In another development, legendary driver and owner A.J. Foyt announced that he would endorse Indy Light race driver Chase Austin to enter the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 next May. “My son Larry and I have watched Chase and we want him to have a chance” said A.J. Foyt, four time winner of the iconic race. Austin, the 22 year old from Indiana would be the third African American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Bruins resort to trickery trounce Houston for 3-0 start

By Gary Montgomery

BVN Staff

Pasadena – Sporting their new national ranking for the first time, the number 22 ranked Bruins didn’t look nervous at all. In fact, the Bruins’ looked as if they are intent on moving up another couple of notches. After losing the coin toss and kicking off to the Cougars, the UCLA defense allowed Houston only two plays before UCLA linebacker Eric Kendrick’s picked up a Houston fumble and raced 23 yard to give the Bruins’ a 7-0 lead with only 0.16 seconds elapsed in the game. After trading several series of three and out drives, UCLA finally got its no huddle offense on track. Red shirt freshman quarterback Brett Hundley engineered a 16 play drive culminating with a 7 yard touchdown pass to Datone Jones to push the Bruins’ lead to 14-0 and taking irreversible control of the game.

Datone Jones scored his first collegiate touchdown on the play. Jones is the Bruins’ Left Defensive End. The 6’4”, 275 senior from Compton is one of UCLA’s top defenders. Jones switched his #56 jersey to an eligible number for offense and lined up at tight end. “We have a short yardage package where we line Datone up at the tight end position. He made a really tough catch tonight,” said UCLA head coach Jim Mora.

Saturday’s win over Houston gets UCLA out of the gate to another great 3-0 start, normally a reason for celebration. But, the Bruins for good reason are exercising extreme caution. UCLA has started the season 3-0 twice before during the past 7 years. Each of those previous starts has ended badly. In 08 UCLA opened the season with an upset wing at Tennessee and then lost 5 of their next 6 games.

The 2011 Bruin team is keenly aware of this history and finally might have all of the right pieces to avoid the painful meltdown as previous teams. The Bruins’ offense is averaging almost 600 yards per game. Running back Jonathan Franklin is in the top 10 nationally in rushing with 541-yards total and quarterback Brett Hundley has 827 yards passing and 6 touchdowns and most important of all, The Bruins’ defense is playing at a level not seen in any of those previous years.

G. Montgomery can be reached at HYPERLINK "mailto:sports@blackvoicenews.com"sports@blackvoicenews.com

Photo by Eric Wade, BVN Staff CELEBRATION – UCLA’s senior defensive end, Datone Jones celebrates with Cassius Marsh after scoring his first collegiate touchdown on a 7-yard from Brett Hundley. Jones changed his uniform number and lined up at the tight end position. UCLA beat Houston 37-3.