COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
Page 4B — THURSDAY, January 31, 2013
Game of crashes
Moore still hospitalized after being in one of many Winter X Games crashes By PAT GRAHAM
The Associated Press ASPEN, Colo. — The image was chilling: Snowmobile rider Caleb Moore, launched over his handlebars on a backflip gone wrong, rolled down the landing hill with his 450-pound machine somersaulting behind him. Run over by his sled, Moore lay on the snow for several minutes before being helped off the course. As of Wednesday, he was hospitalized in critical condition because of bleeding around his heart and a complication involving his brain. Moore’s was the worst accident at the Winter X Games, which wrapped up Sunday night after four days of competition, but it wasn’t the only harrowing moment. The wipeouts included a runaway snowmobile that sent spectators scrambling. Even the highlights were hardly tame. Snowboarding star Shaun White soared a competition record 24 feet into the air during the superpipe competition, and fellow boarder Elena Hight showed off a difficult trick called a “double alley-oop backside rodeo” that involved a couple of backflips and a 180-degree rotation. It had never been seen in a competition. All that, plus Moore’s crash, has some wondering whether dialing up the difficulty each year improves action sports or has simply made them too dangerous. “Should we be asking these questions? We absolutely should be,” said Dan Lebowitz, the executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, which examines the role of sports to promote healthy development and social responsibility. The people performing these superhuman feats “really are just human,” he said. “How do we maintain safety in that progression when that progression sometimes pushes every envelope to some amazingly extreme point?” Moore’s injuries underscore the
dangers at Winter X, which was filled with numerous cover-your-eyes crashes. Halldor Helgason of Iceland overrotated on a flip in the snowboard big air competition and had to be taken off on a sled with a concussion. Rose Battersby of New Zealand sustained a lumbar spine fracture in a wipeout during practice before the skiing slopestyle competition, which will be an Olympic sport next winter at the Sochi Games. Then there was this: Summer X Games motocross champion turned snowmobile newcomer Jackson Strong tumbled off his machine during the best trick competition, the throttle sticking and the sled swerving toward fans as they scurried away. The machine came to a rest when it got tangled in some netting and no one was seriously hurt. Such a scenario had already crossed the mind of Levi LaVallee, a snowmobiler who captured two gold medals only to be sidelined for the final two competitions after tearing a muscle in his back. “I’ve always thought about, ‘What happens if the thing tips over and the throttle sticks?’” LaVallee said. “It was good, though, because it showed that X Games has a good setup with the fencing.” Whether action sports are too dangerous is an issue that’s been raised before. When freestyle skier Sarah Burke died in a training accident a little more than a year ago in Park City, Utah, there were questions about the halfpipe. Before that, the sport was examined when snowboarder Kevin Pearce suffered a severe brain injury in a fall in the same pipe as Burke two years earlier. Pearce has recovered and served as an analyst at Winter X. But in general, the athletes accept the risks and defend their disciplines.
Gamecocks’ new assistant coach won’t treat Jadeveon Clowney differently By PETE IACOBELLI
CHRISTIAN MURDOCK/The Associated Press
Caleb Moore falls over the handlebars during the freestyle finals at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. Moore remains in critical condition in a Colorado hospital with bleeding around his heart and brain complications.
Quinnipiac reaching top of college hockey The Bobcats are undefeated in their past 17 games, and are ranked No. 2 By PAT EATON-ROBB
The Associated Press HAMDEN, Conn. — Quinnipiac captain Zack Currie says a lot of friends and family back in British Columbia didn’t even know until recently how to pronounce the name of his school. “They would say Kwin-ahpick, or Kwin-ah-PIE-ack, there were some pretty bad ones too,” the senior defenseman said. For the record, it’s pronounced KWIN-ah-pee-ack and its making a name for itself among the elite in college hockey. The Bobcats are 18-3-3, unbeaten in their last 17 games. They are ranked second in the nation, just behind perennial power Minnesota in the latest polls. Coach Rand Pecknold believes his team would already be No. 1 if the name on the front of the jersey read “Michigan” or “Boston College.” “There’s still some oldschool voters that don’t have the respect maybe they should have for our program,” he said. “I bet some of those people haven’t even
JOHN HASSETT/The Associated Press
Quinnipiac goalie Eric Hartzell guards against Princeton. The Bobcats are 18-3-3, unbeaten in their past 17 games and ranked second in the nation. seen us play.” A lot of people haven’t. Quinnipiac, a school of about 8,500 students located north of New Haven, is in just its 15th season as a Division I program. It joined the ECAC conference in 2005 and the No. 2 ranking is the highest in the school’s history, for any
sport. The team began its 15-02 unbeaten streak on Nov. 9 with an overtime win over Colgate. The biggest threat may come Saturday when it heads seven miles down the road to face its top rival, No. 8 Yale. The game already is sold out.
Pecknold is in his 19th season at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats were a Division II program until 1998, and he has guided it to 20-win seasons 14 times, including last year. But he acknowledges this year the team has a chance to be something very special. That, he said, is due in large
part to the play of goalie Eric Hartzell, a senior from White Bear Lake in Minnesota. The 6-foot-4 netminder has a save percentage of .934 and leads the nation with a goalsagainst average of 1.46. And he’s considered a leading contender for the Hobey Baker award (hockey’s answer to the Heisman trophy), a prize normally reserved for offensive stars. As a result, Hartzell has been getting a lot of attention recently from NHL scouts and the national media. But he said it doesn’t bother him, and won’t affect his focus. “We’re not going to lose,” Hartzell said. “I don’t use the words, ‘don’t,’ ‘can’t’ or ‘lose.’ We have lost, but it’s not something I like to use for future reference.” Pecknold said he first saw Hartzell play in a juniors tournament, where he performed poorly. Many schools, Pecknold said, lost interest after that. But Pecknold had come a day early to watch practice, and was convinced Hartzell had the skills to someday play in the NHL.
Rodman pens children’s book about red-haired bull Former NBA star’s new book, “Dennis The Wild Bull” came out Wednesday By BRIAN MAHONEY The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Even Dennis Rodman laughs at the idea. “Kind of funny, huh?” he said. It’s true, though. One of basketball’s most outrageous personalities has written a book for kids. The Hall of Famer’s book, “Dennis The Wild Bull,” came out Wednesday and fans will immediately recognize Rodman’s influence. The large red bull on the cover has flowing red hair, two nose rings, a tattoo and red stubble under his chin. “They’ll see me, literally see me. They’ll say, ‘Wow, this is just like him,’” Rod-
ARNULFO FRANCO/The Associated Press
Former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman’s new book teaches children that it’s OK to be themselves. man said in a phone interview. And he deals with the same issues. Rodman, known as much for his wacky looks and lifestyle off the court as his considerable success on it, said the purpose of the book is simple. “More than anything, I just
Coach expects Clowney’s best effort
want little kids today just to understand, ain’t no matter what you do in life, be different, rich or poor man, guess what, it’s OK to be who you are pretty much and you’ll be accepted,” Rodman said. Rodman already wrote books about his personal life — the wild nights as a player, relationships with Madonna and Carmen Electra, and everything that allowed him to be famous long after he finished winning five championships with Detroit and Chicago. The author whose previous works include titles such as “Bad as I Wanna Be” and “I Should Be Dead by Now” chose a different audience this time. He said even now he is still recognized by children who never saw him play, and those are the ones he wanted to reach. “For a guy like me to be very eccentric, to even go to extremes to write a children’s
book with all the wild things I do and make it believable was pretty much incredible,” Rodman said. Co-written with Dustin Warburton, the book tells the story of Dennis, a bull who is captured away from his family and forced to live with other bulls in a rodeo. Though he looks nothing like them, they come to accept him and he becomes friends with them. “Once I got to know the other bulls, I liked them,” Rodman said. “I enjoyed their company and stuff like that, and they accepted me for who I am no matter how I look.” Dennis becomes so close with them that when he plots his escape to return to his family, he makes sure his new friends can come with him. Dennis originally was to escape alone until Rodman decided to change the ending.
“That’s not really Dennis. Dennis thought it was so cool that these other bulls accepted him and he stayed loyal to them. He wanted to see his family but he wanted these other bulls to come along,” said Darren Prince, Rodman’s marketing agent. “Anybody that knows the real Dennis Rodman knows how loyal he is to anybody that he’s close with and Dennis didn’t like that part, so they tweaked it at the end.” Rodman, ordered to pay $500,000 in back child support to his ex-wife last month, acknowledges a couple of his children on the cover, where two little bulls are pictured in front of Dennis. The book is available on Rodman’s website, www. dennisrodman.com, and Amazon for $16. His web site also has information regarding upcoming book signings in the New York area and Chicago.
The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney won’t get any special treatment from his new position coach. Deke Adams said he’s continually been asked since becoming the Gamecocks defensive line coach how he’ll handle Clowney, the dominant, 6-foot-6 pass rusher who finished sixth in this past year’s Heisman Trophy voting. “I think everyone else has thought about it way more than I have,” Adams said. “My personality won’t change. I’ll continue to be the person I am that got me to this point. I’ll continue to coach hard and continue to demand perfection from my guys.” And that includes Clowney. That doesn’t mean that Adams, who spent last season on North Carolina’s staff, isn’t much happier to have the junior standout on his sideline than playing against him. The Tar Heels and Gamecocks open next season at WilliamsBrice Stadium on Aug. 31. “That’s always a bonus,” Adams said of Clowney. “He’s a great kid and I’ve heard a lot of exciting things about him.” The quick hire — Adams was named on Jan. 21, a day after longtime South Carolina defensive line coach Brad Lawing took a similar position at Florida — has not left Adams much one-on-one time with Clowney. The two talked last weekend as South Carolina hosted several college prospects they hope to sign next week. “I got a chance when I shook hands with him why that football looks so small in his hands,” Adams said. “He’s a great athlete.” Clowney seems poised for a special season in 2013. He closed last year by getting 4 1-2 sacks on Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd in the Gamecocks 27-17 victory over their state rivals, then perhaps had the highlight of New Year’s Day with his helmet-popping hit on Michigan runner Vincent Smith. Adams watched the game with his sons, Jaylen and Jordan, and all three jumped up after Clowney’s tackle. “It was just an amazing hit,” Adams said. “But the game is changing so much, and it was so fast and so violent, I thought, ‘OK, they’re going to throw a flag.’” But as the hit was replayed again and again at various speeds and camera angles, Adams marveled at the textbook hit Clowney made. “It was perfect,” he said. Adams was also amazed Clowney had the presence and poise to think about the football, which was lying on the ground. Clowney casually picked the ball up with his left hand for the fumble recovery. The coach saw up close last weekend how much bigger Clowney’s hands look in person. “When I shook hands with him, I saw why the football looked so small in his hands,” Adams said. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier believes he and defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward made a perfect selection in Adams as Lawing’s successor. Lawing was the Gamecocks coach who first watched film of Clowney as a South Pointe High sophomore with uncommon speed and power for someone so young. Spurrier said he did not think the team would miss Lawing, who spent the past seven seasons on South Carolina, with Adams on board. “He’s sort of my kind of coach, good family man, wonderful personality. I think our players are really going to enjoy playing for him,” Spurrier said. Expectations for Clowney next season already through the roof. Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. projected Clowney as the top selection if he were eligible this year and Spurrier’s frequently called his standout linemen a “three-year player.”