Best Sports Team '97

Best Sports Team

University of Arizona Men's Basketball Team

READERS' PICK: We'd seen it all many times before, so we didn't let our hopes get too high. The magical team of 1988, the one that couldn't lose--did. The 1989 squad lost even earlier in the tournament. The Tucson Skyline came up short, and then came the horrible stretch of one-and-out three years out of four. This year's team was supposed to be a year away, with no senior leadership. Indeed, they sputtered to a fifth-place finish in the Pac-10. But then they put together a six-game run that is the stuff of legend. Building on their underdog status, they beat three No. 1 seeds along the way, to claim the Cats' first title in one of the two mega-sports. And speaking of underdogs... Despite returning virtually everybody from the national championship team, the UA isn't favored to win this year's title. In fact, some people (including the Star's Greg Hansen) don't even think Arizona will win the Pac-10. Stay tuned.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: UAWomen's Softball. We'd seen it all many times before, so we knew just what to expect. The UA women are so dominant in softball, the NCAA ought to think about changing the name of the national championship tournament to the Mike Candrea Invitational, where the other seven teams get to vie for second place. The UA has been trifled with over the years, but it doesn't matter. You want to send them to Florida to play in the regionals? No big deal. You want to change the tournament format? Go ahead. This year, back-up pitcher Nancy Evans pitched every inning of the NCAAs and led the Cats to another title, administering a mercy-rule whuppin' on much-hated UCLA in the final game. The epitome of a great program.

A REAL SCREAM: "He shoots, he scores, hey goalie, you suck!" Such are the indignities showered upon opposing teams when the mighty University of Arizona Icecats put the biscuit in the basket at the Tucson Convention Center. Though a club team, and thus not supported financially like the UA's NCAA teams, Leo Golembiewski coached the Icecats to a fourth-place finish in the American Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs last year. The Icecats are perennial contenders for the ACHA championship, skating in the playoffs the last 13 years running. The local games offer a cheap, action-packed evening of sport and verbal abuse for total strangers. It's fun for the whole family! The games feature an organ player masked like Jason, who entertains the crowd with every theme song from Jaws to Mortal Kombat (yeah, so, it isn't an organ recital). Fans of all ages, sleazy arena eats, and occasionally smash-mouth hockey; and the games with Arizona State are a spectacle not to be missed.

1998 Winner: UA Men's Basketball
1996 Winner: UA Women's Softball
1995 Winner: UA Women's Softball