Inciting to riot

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Chris Jackson

Anyone remember what happened when the lowly Beavers upended UA last month? Their fans stormed the court, pushed around the Wildcat players and even stole some warm-up outfits from the team manager.

Now while no one wants to advocate that the fans at McKale try to do any of that, as most would probably die from cardiac arrest even trying to run, it would be nice to see the 100 or so students present rush the court when Arizona wins to laugh in the faces of all the OSU players.

Too bad there aren't going to be any OSU fans down there. They're the jerks who really deserve to be mobbed and humiliated...

Mark this down: Stanford will lose tonight at Washington, and then Arizona will upset the Cardinal in Palo Alto next week. That translates to a second-straight Pac-10 title for UA and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament's West Region. With the Sweet 16 being played up in Phoenix for the West Region, there could again be a Cinderella Arizona team in the Elite Eight, if not even the Final Four.

Now who would have thought that after the loss at UCLA in January?...

UA senior left-hander Rob Shabansky is going in for "Tommy John" surgery on his left elbow today. One can only hope that the grit he showed in hitting .439 last year as a part-time DH will work into his rehabilitation.

Shabansky may have been the difference between Arizona advancing beyond regionals this year, but with the way the team is playing right now, if the Wildcats can keep things up going into Pac-10 play, they could make it that far without him.

Still, best of luck, Rob. All UA fans will look forward to your return in 2000...

From a Pirates fan to the Diamondbacks:

Take Al Martin and Tony Womack. Please. Martin hit a woeful .239 last year, and Womack had an on-base percentage of around .350. For those who don't understand OBP, .350 is bad, especially for a lead-off hitter. The Pirates can live without his 60 stolen bases, even if it means taking on the worthless Bernard Gilkey...

Going into spring training, here are some picks for the baseball races:

The Yankees repeat in the AL East, the Indians have a cake-walk in the Central and the Rangers squeak by the Angels out West. Anaheim gets the AL Wild Card over Toronto and Baltimore.

Over in the Senior Circuit, Atlanta wins the East again, the Astros repeat in the Central and the Dodgers beat out the Diamondbacks and Giants in the West. The Mets grab the Wild Card.

Still, many more changes could be on the way, especially involving guys like Roger Clemens, Kenny Rogers, Curt Schilling, Denny Neagle and Greg Vaughn, all of whom could be free agents next October, save for the unhappy Clemens.

Any one of them could shift the balance of power considerably, and with spring training being a haven for odd injuries, a lot could happen between now and opening day...

Oh, and it seems the men's swimming team took umbrage to what was said in this column last week about the fact they have no chance to win the NCAA Championship.

Prove me wrong, gentlemen. Every once and a while it's okay to eat some crow...

See you at one of the Icecats' two games against ASU this weekend.

Chris Jackson is the Wildcat sports editor and a senior majoring in journalism. He can be reached at Chris.Jackson@wildcat.arizona.edu