Great Example of Sportsmanship

We like to talk about the lessons that sports provide and how it makes us better people. And once in a while, you see a great example that brings home the point. Here is one. A high school basketball team misses free throws on purpose so that a player who was late to the game to grieve over his mother's passing can play...WOW!

Click here for more details. Great story.

Shaq and Kobe not the only comebacks going on!

(Photo from NBA.com)

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant staged a bit of a comeback Sunday night at the NBA All-Star game...reliving the "good times' from their days as Lakers teammates (1998-2004)....

By the way, did you see Shaq's "dance" intro at the game with the Jabbawockeez dance troop...? Check it out a must see! Who could imagine a person 7'3" tall can move like that...we have some players who think they can dance well, but don't know if we can top this!


Well, the Utes started training again after the long Valentine's Day weekend (I guess it's actually the President's Day weekend...but it's hard to top Valentine's Day...did you get any good presents or treats?). And we have some comebacks of our own going on... Goalkeeper Hannah Turpen is back taking some shots after over two months off from her knee injury. Forward Jen Christoffers is easing her way back into some non-contact drills after knee surgery last summer. Forward Erin Dalley is almost all the way back...training regularly...after summer knee surgery. Goalkeeper Emalee Rogers is running again after her broken leg from Christmas break. And Anne Shallenberger and Katie Martinez and walking and jogging after compartment syndrome procedures since the end of the season...We hope to have all back for our spring games starting at the end of March.

3 cheers for comebacks!

Utah Ski Resorts Featured in USA Today

We've written about our love for the mountains and ski resorts in Utah before. And we were stoked to see an feature article in today's USA Today newspaper about the great and reasonably priced ski resorts in Utah...

Check out the article in the USA Today!

Utah Spring Schedule Taking Shape

Today was the first day of official spring practice. We worked a bit on our speed of play and some individual defending. We had 12 healthy bodies as last fall's seniors are not training with us. A few players are still recovering from injuries: Katie Martinez, Emalee Rogers, Christine Quinn, Anne Shallenberger and Jen Christoffers are still in various stages of recovery. Hanna Turpen is just coming back and slowly getting up to full contact. And Erin Dalley is back from last summer's ACL surgery.

We are practicing in the beautiful Spence Eccles Fieldhouse on campus. Check it out here!

We will play 5 "games" during the spring, the maximum allowed by the NCAA. Some days will be multiple games. Here are the dates and details:

Saturday, March 28 vs. UNLV and BYU Las Vegas, NV
Wednesday, April 1 vs. Utah State at Ute Field
Saturday, April 11 at BYU event Provo, UT
Saturday, April 18 vs. Oregon NIKE Campus in Beaverton, OR
Sunday, April 19 vs. Seattle U. NIKE Campus in Beaverton, OR

We'll have more details as they arrive.

Huge Sports Day in Salt Lake City

If you follow this blog regularly or occasionally, you have probably figured out that the Utes are big sports fans. There is a lot to follow here in Salt Lake City and today is one of those days when that stars are aligned and there is major action going on everywhere you look. So here is the run down:

5:00 PM Mountain Time:
US vs. Mexico World Cup Qualifier ESPN 2 from Columbus, OH
World Cup 2010 CONCACAF qualifying begins with another version of "La Guerra Fria"...(the Cold War). There is no greater rivalry in soccer in these parts and it will be intense and dramatic, for sure. We've got some links:
Check out this pictorial of the Top 10 US-Mexico games of all-time from SI.com
Check out this story on the U.S. forward, Brian Ching
And this one with some background on the game from the Los Angeles Times


We'll share some exciting news about World Cup qualifying and Salt Lake City here later this week!...

7:00 PM Mountain Time:
Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz (Energy Solutions Arena)
Kobe and Phil are in town and it always brings good basketball and excitement!


8:00 PM Mountain Time:
San Diego State Aztecs at Utah Utes (Men's Basketball)
Okay, the real big one for the Utes tonight...men's basketball is hosting the Aztecs. Both teams sit at 7-2 in MWC play and first place is on the line. The Huntsman Center will be rockin' and rollin' in red tonight and many team members will be there..You can watch on "the Mtn." channel, if you have it.. We hope Ute sophomore Carlon Brown will have another dunk like he did last week against TCU...it was the #1 play of the night on ESPN's Sportscenter! If you haven't seen it yet...click here...WOW!

Okay, let's root for our teams hard and we'll see you tomorrow with sore throats and no voices left!

New Ute: Ashley Mosley Brings Speed to the Defense

Ashley Mosley came onto the Utah recruiting radar somewhat late in the process. She was spotted at the Thanksgiving Surf Cup in San Diego. And we are very thankful indeed! Ashley is a fast and versatile defender. She is two-footed and can play on any row of the field (defense, midfield, forward). Ashley is a great competitor and will bring speed and toughness to the Ute back line.

Ashley is from Las Vegas, Nevada, where she plays for the Players SC and coach Saeed Bonabian (a former Utah men's soccer coach!) as well as Centennial High School. Ashley spent some of her early years in Okinawa, Japan...sounds like a great adventure. She also had some great battles with current Utah defender Lauren Dudley as Ashley's Centennial and Lauren's Palo Verde are great rivals!

Welcome, Ashley!

New Ute: Hanna Terry goes to Sweden to prepare for next fall

It was a great adventure this week to get new Utah forward Hanna Terry to sign and turn in her National Letter of Intent (NLI). You see Hanna is currently in Sweden. Her mom is in Aspen on a ski week...and the logistics of getting signatures and faxes in has been a challenge..but it's done and now official...Hanna has joined the team!

Hanna is a fast and skillful attacker. She can beat defenders on the dribble, with a pass or just by running by them. Hanna (along with fellow New Ute, Zoe Van Gorder) led her Park City High School team all the way to the State 3A Championship game this fall and led the team in scoring...she scored a number of goals during the state playoffs to propel her team to the final. Hanna played with Zoe on the Black Diamond club team coached by Richie Breza. Zoe and Hanna played as freshman with Kelly Isleib on Park City's state champions.

Hanna's mom is from Sweden. And Hanna graduated from Park City this December. She is currently in Malmoe, living with relatives. She is going to school to learn Swedish a bit better and to practice her soccer for this fall. She'll return in April...what a great way to finish high school!

Welcome, Hanna!