St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 33

A1 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH I A BASKETBALL SLU signs its first 7-footer since 1992. WEDNESDAY-j APRIL 25 fV 2003 3Tj 3 NBA: The Timberwolves and the Bucks even their playoff series. SECTION 4 NL Finally playing a game in Montreal, the Expos beat the D'backs. BRYAN BURWELL NHLPLAYOFFS GAME! GAME2 MME3 GAME4 GAMES GAME6 GAME BLUES CANUCKS BLUES BLUES CANUCKS CANUCKS CANUCKS rn i li 6 2 3 4 5 4 4 CANUCKS BLUES CANUCKS CANUCKS BLUES BLUES BLUES Oil 13 3 1 UJ i Ricky demons now f- L.7i- the chance to turn his life around Because it had happened to him so many other times in his troubled and incredibly tragic I past, Ricky demons probably wouldn't have been surprised if the University of Missouri ath- letics department and the Boone County judicial system had all decided to give him a swift, unforgiving kick to the curb.

5 That would have been the easiest thing to do. The easiest thing to have I done with demons, the University of Missouri guard who was accused of choking and re-. straining a woman in his off-i campus apartment in January, would have been to kick him out of school, lock him up and throw away the key. But easy isn't always right. Thankfully, for the first time in demons' young life, he ap- pears to be surrounded by grown-ups that do not see him as easily disposable human rubbish.

Finally, it appears that there are responsible adults surrounding him who seem to be more concerned about sav- 3ng his life, rather than using Him for whatever he's worth, i then quickly discarding him. By being allowed to plead guilty to amended charge's of third-degree assault and false imprisonment, Clemons was given a huge blessing and a valuable second chance by Boone County prosecutor Kevin Crane to get his confused life straight. The plea bargain was an in-l credible gift. It means Clemons will likely spend 90 days in jail, Irs i'A A 1 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Atlanta's Gary Sheffield points to the sky after homering in the fifth inning Tuesday night. Braves sock the punchless Cardinals Birds get just one hit with men in scoring position By Joe Strauss Of the Post-Dispatch ATLANTA After winning for more than two weeks because of their offense, the Cardinals lost again Tuesday without it.

The Atlanta Braves and starting pitcher Russ Ortiz exploited a slumping Cards lineup missing left fielder Albert Pujols, while jumping on out-of-sorts Garrett Stephenson for a three-run third inning and a solo home run by right fielder Gary Sheffield in the fifth. The result was a 5-3 Braves win and the Cardinals' third consecutive loss, leaving nagging questions about a team's ability to win without a big inning. Sheffield, one of the game's most potent mistake hitters, beat the Cardinals with three RBIs. They came via a two-run double in addition to his fifth home run. Played out before 20,969 at Turner Field, the Redbirds trailed 5-1 after six innings and could do little with an offensive mix of seven singles and first baseman Tino Martinez's solo home run.

Since Pujols was diagnosed last Thursday with a sprained ligament in his right elbow, the Cardinals have foundered offensively, scoring 12 runs and batting only .227 in their last four games. They entered Tuesday's game having scored in only one of their last 22 innings. Their team batting average has fallen from .309 to .293 in their last four games. "It's a coincidence, and it's not," said second baseman Fernando Vina, who contributed three singles to raise his average from .200 to .241. "This is still a very good lineup, but you See Cardinals, DS ABOUT THE GAME Gary Sheffield homered and drove in three runs as the Cardinals lost for the third straight game.

UP NEXT 6:05 p.m. today at Atlanta (FSN) Newman has been motivated by the doubters, not to mention the schools that may have looked past him when he was a skinny 150-pound high schooler. "You want to make every team that doesn't recruit you, you know, kind of open their eyes and say there's talent in small places like Salina, Kansas," See Draft, D3 Ed Jovanovski (center) and Brendan Morrison celebrate in the face of CHUCK STOODYTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS Chris Pronger after Markus NasJund's goal gave Vancouver a 3-1 lead. rather than five to 10 years. The two years' probation rneans he can have a chance to get his act together outside of a prison and stay in college.

Most of all, it means that Crane probably thinks demons' life is worth saving. Now we have to see if Clemons thinks the same thing. We all now know the details of Clemons' harsh and unsettling young existence. This was, a' horror story of adult neglect, abuse and irresponsibility. He has been used and abused by relatives, friends and strangers.

But now he has been given a blessing. Ricky Clemons has a chance to change all of that around, because there are people around him who think he's worth saving. Last February, Missouri coach Quin Snyder said: "Why did I recruit him in the first place? I trusted my intuition and I still do. I believe he can get through this and become something that only recently he thought he could become." And what was that, Snyder was asked. "A young man," he said.

"A young man with a col- lege degree. A success, by how-; fcver you define success." the time, Snyder said he did not know how bad demons' bast was. "A lot of this stuff is just not the sort of stuff that comes up in a discussion voluntarily," Snyder said. Some people may have questioned how much Snyder really knew and when he knew it. But at the time, Snyder told him none of that mattered to him.

"All we care about is what are you going to do now?" ISnyder said everything and anything to help Ricky Clemons become that "suc- mount as Note bow out Playoff exits The Blues have lost in the first round of the playoffs five of the past 10 years. A year-by-year look at the round they were eliminated: YEAR ROUND OPPONENT took a 3-1 lead in a series and lost; they had been 6-0 before Tuesday. The Blues failed to get out of the first round for the third time in seven postseasons under Joel Quenneville. It is the first time since 1995 that the Canucks have moved beyond the first round, and they did it that season with a Game 7 victory against the Blues. See Blues, D7 Minnesota shocks Colorado In OT: Andrew Brunette's goal sends the Wild to the second round.

D7 2003 1st Vancouver 2002 2nd Detroit 2001 3nJ Colorado 2000 1st San Jose 1999 2nd Dallas 1998 2nd Detroit 1997 1st Detroit 1996 2nd Detroit 1995 1st Vancouver 1994 1st Dallas Playoff woes Vancouver cruises to victory in Game 7 By Derrick Goold Of the Post-Dispatch VANCOUVER, British Columbia Vancouver forward Trevor Linden said a Game 7 can be the defining moment for a player. It can define a franchise, too. Playing in his sixth Game 7, Marquette of running Crean signs extension with Golden Eagles By Jeremy Rutherford Of the Post-Dispatch Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean, thought to be the leading candidate to replace Bill Self at Illinois, took himself out of the running Tuesday by signing a contract extension with the Golden Eagles. Terms of the deal were not announced. Crean said, "It's a long-term contract and it's more than generous." NFL DRAFT PREVIEW I The two-day draft begins Saturday Kansas State cornerback runs past doubters Linden defined himself with two points as the Canucks defeated the Blues 4-1 on Tuesday at GM Place to win the best-of-seven conference quarterfinal.

Not even the return of captain Al Maclnnis to the Blues lineup could reanimate the team as the Blues continued to define themselves: Good, but never quite good enough. For the 36th season and 24th consecutive postseason, the Blues finish short of the Stanley Cup. This was the first time in franchise history that Blues' coach is out for Illini job So, Crean is out of the running to become the next Illini basketball coach. But was he ever in it? Marquette officials would not say if Illinois athletics director Ron Guenther had contacted them Crean Contract "more than generous" about Crean, who was also rumored to be a candidate for the Kansas job before Self was hired Monday. "I (won't) talk about that," Marquette athletics director See Illini, D2 Rams are thin at cornerback The losses ofDri Bly and Dexter McCleon to free agency mean the Rams return just four cornerbacks who played last year: cess." What was done on Monday by Snyder and athletics director Mike Alden was a strong and positive step in the right direc-t tion.

It wasn't some bogus 10-game suspension in November and December against Austin Peay or Sacramento State or Athletes in Action that was delivered with a wink and a It was a stiff and meaningful one-year suspension that was delivered like a big wallop. It was a powerful message delivered to Ricky Clemons that says that someone does care enough to smack him upside his head and say, "This is wrong. This will not be allowed." Keeping him on scholarship during the suspension said something equally powerful: "We also care for you and will abandon you." Everyone is now telling him I his life is worth saving, the next 12 months, we'll find out if Ricky Clemons thinks so. E-aafl: -T-; Phone 314-3404185 PLAYER LAST SEASON Aeneas Williams 12-year NFL veteran missed 10 games with injury Travis Fkher Rookie started 1 1 games James WblUey Rookie started one game and played 13 Jerametrlus Butter Rookie played little at cornerback Speed has helped Terence Newman excel despite his lack of size By Jim Thomas Of the Post-Dispatch Speed comes easy for Terence Newman. Always has.

"I grew up being chased by dogs in the street, so I guess thafs good training," Newman said. Newman, who grew up in Salina, said he never got caught by a canine. "I was pretty quick on my toes back in the day," he said. "I wasn't the biggest guy on the street, so to me, they looked like a big wolf." Back in high school, one of his friends told him he was too small to amount to anything in football. Most college recruiters must have thought so, too.

"I had three visits one to Tulsa, one to KU (Kansas), and one to Kansas State," he said. "I wasn't highly recruited for football." 2 lj nil! lu..