Whether it's on the court or in the community, Fred Lewis has been lending a hand all his life.

Half a century of legendary handball has landed Lewis in Tucson as head coach of the UA's club handball team.

Can you remember what you were doing when you were eight years old? Fred Lewis, now 56, was winning handball tournaments against competition two years his elder. Born in the heart of The Bronx, New York City in 1947, Lewis took to the game, created in Ireland during the 16th century, at the impressionable age of five. Three years later, he was playing in his first tourney. [Read article]

With four wins in a row, the Wildcat women's basketball team is on a roll - but pollsters have failed to take notice.

After sweeping last weekend's Fiesta Bowl Classic in McKale Center, capped with a 74-42 drubbing of Massachusetts, Arizona (5-2) actually fell out of the top 25 in the coaches' poll, and wasn't anywhere close to being ranked in the AP poll.

UA head coach Joan Bonvicini was surprised when she was told of the news yesterday, but said the team shouldn't be too concerned with such things. [Read article]

Cats to return all but one member of current roster

-A first round exit and a 17-15 record would normally be an embarrassing year for Arizona volleyball.

But this was hardly a normal year.

The Wildcats overcame an 0-5 start in the Pacific 10 Conference, which dropped their record to 6-9 overall, to finish 10-8 in what is widely considered the best volleyball conference in the country.

"I'm very proud of this team, and maybe as proud as any team I've ever coached, because of what we had to do to get to the playoffs," UA head coach Dave Rubio said. "I still think it's pretty remarkable that we were able to pull it off and play at the level we needed to. We're such a young group, and to be able to do that, I thought it showed quite a bit about what the team is all about and about the character of the team." [Read article]

Dateline: late 1997/early 1998:

Fresh off a 28-16 win over Arizona State, the Arizona football team is invited to the inaugural Insight.com Bowl, played in Arizona Stadium, because two Big 12 teams are selected for the three-game Bowl Alliance. The Wildcats go on to beat New Mexico despite starting their third-string quarterback because he is a senior.

Meanwhile, the Bowl Alliance - the Fiesta, Sugar and Orange Bowls - picks Tennessee and Nebraska in their "National Championship," while Michigan, No. 1 in both polls, plays Washington State in the Rose Bowl. The Wolverines win and take the AP title, but in the Coaches' poll, the Huskers win the national title because their head coach, Tom Osborne, is retiring. [Read article]

Oklahoma vs. LSU
The only potentially positive thing about this game would be Michigan beating Southern California, making the Sugar Bowl a true national championship game. How many screw-ups will it take to realize that 1-A football needs a playoff system just like I-AA? It's a little odd that most people think Oklahoma doesn't belong in the Sugar Bowl, yet most believe the Sooners will win. It's also odd that I agree with them on both counts. [Read article]