While students were busy losing themselves to the relaxation of summer, Dixie State University gained a new floor, LeBron James gained a new ring and the Blackhawks gained a new trophy.
Many students would be surprised to hear all of the changes and events that have happened over the summer. If you were one who didn’t pay close enough attention to the television, all of the exciting moments in summer sports could have passed you by.
DSU FLOOR
Because of DSU’s university status, a new floor was installed into the Burns Arena. The new floor sports the words “Dixie State” to replace the old “DSC” in red and blue letters
DSU Athletic Director Jason Boothe, said the old floor was going to need quite a bit of repairs, which would become very costly. It became a hazard when chips in the wood became large enough for fingers to get caught in.
“The cost to sand it all the way down to bare wood, make all the necessary repairs and re-paint it was going to be at least roughly $40,000,” Boothe said. “And it could have even gotten higher.”
Boothe said they would have had to replace the floor in a couple of years anyway. In the end, it was a better decision to just replace the floor completely.
Along with that, the Student Activities Center’s floor was also re-done. The floor was sanded all the way down as well as re-painted and re-finished with the new “Dixie State” logo.
BASEBALL
The Pacific West Coast Conference baseball tournament took place shortly after spring semester ended. DSU was the No. 3 seed in this conference and was chosen to host this tournament on its home field. DSU played a total of two games. The team lost the first game in the double-elimination series to Grand Canyon University and lost in the second round to California State University, Chico.
SOFTBALL
The Dixie softball team was ranked No. 2 in the PacWest and also had the opportunity to host its tournament. The women made it all the way to the championship round where they lost to California State University, Dominguez Hills in a 15-inning game.
NHL
The Stanley Cup Finals took place June 12-24. The battles between the Western Conference Champion Chicago Blackhawks and the Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins were sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of games. All games never reached more than a two-goal deficit between the teams.
Although the Blackhawks won the Cup two out of the last four years, this one didn’t come as easy. There was an unpredictable ending to game six, where the Blackhawks scored 17 seconds apart with a little over a minute left in the game.They became the first team in league history to win a Cup game by conquering a one-goal deficit in the final two minutes of a game.
MLB
As exciting as baseball is, it’s also a very unpredictable sport—especially this season.
“The St. Louis Cardinals have surprised me the most in a good way,” said Kris Kaplan, a senior biology major from Las Vegas. “They don’t have a lot of household names on the roster. They have had to deal with injuries with their two best players and are constantly using their farm system to bring up guys that impress.”
The Cardinals are currently in second place in the National League central division with a 73-53 record.
As of Aug. 27, the top teams in the National League included: the Atlanta Braves,the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The top teams in the American League included: the Tampa Bay Rays, the Detroit Tigers, the Texas Rangers, and the Boston Red Sox.
NBA
The Miami Heat was on fire as it barely cinched past the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals for back-to-back championships. They won the series 4-3.
Miami’s LeBron James received the NBA finals MVP award. He was announced as the fourth player in history to win two consecutive MVP’s in a row as well as the ninth player to win more than one.
In game seven, James put up 37 points and 12 rebounds in 45 minutes. Those moves would pay off in a hurry as the Heat defeated the Spurs 95-88.
“It was a great finals,” said Jayson Allmond, a junior criminal justice major from Inglewood, Calif. “Everybody who played, played great. Overall, I loved it. I liked finals like that because [it wasn’t a blow out]. I’m happy the Heat won and LeBron got his second ring.”
MLS
With a couple of months left in the MLS soccer season, there is still plenty of time to see who comes out on top.
The current leaders of the Eastern Conference are the Montreal Impact followed by the New York Red Bulls.
Real Salt Lake currently sits atop the Western Confence with a record of 13-8-6. Leading the team in goals is forward Alvaro Saborio, who has nine goals. Also leading the team is midfielder Javier Morales with nine assists and goalkeeper Nick Rimando with 67 saves for RSL and eight shutouts.
