News about Mormons, Mormonism,
and the LDS Church

By Kent Larsen

Sports: Madsen Back from Injury, Another Mormon QB Disaster

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- The Los Angeles Lakers' Mark Madsen was back on the court last week, playing in his first game of the season after recovering from an abdominal strain. He was joined in Football by Cinninnati Bengals quarterback Scott Mitchell, who got to play for the first time this year, but unlike Madsen, Mitchell's play was a disaster, as he gave up 3 interceptions and completed just 4 passes of 12 attempts for 38 yards.

Madsen played just six minutes in his only game last week, and didn't score in that time, but getting back on the court is an important step regardless. The Knicks' Travis Knight continues to get some playing time, and seems to be making something of it, scoring 10 points in 32 minutes over four games. Better is Dallas Mavericks center Shawn Bradley, who scored 26 points in 69 minutes over 4 games. Their performance contrasts with last year's best Mormon basketball player, Scot Pollard, who can't seem to score as much, even though he is still getting more playing time than every other Mormon player.

Meanwhile, Mitchell, who came into the game in the third quarter in relief of starter Jon Kitna after he had already given up two interceptions, wasn't able to do much and was himself pulled from the game in favor of Akili Smith late in the 4th quarter. More impressive performances came from Mormon players Rob Morris (Indianapolis Colts) and Derek Smith (San Francisco 49ers) who recorded 6 and 7 takles respenctively in their games last week. Football coaches Andy Reid and Dave Campos both lost last week, Campos despite a strong come-back late in the Cowboy's Thanksgiving-day game against the Denver Broncos.

In Hockey, Aaron Garvey managed three assists over four games last week, doubling the number of assists he's had so far this season. But Nashville Predators assistant coach Brent Peterson will have to work with at least some of his players on penalties, after recording five major penalties in the team's first 20 games, the Predators managed 3 major penalties in 3 games. Peterson is responsible for managing penalties and coaching goalies for the Predators.

[If the listings below aren't clear, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as courier - Ed.]

Baseball

Major League Baseball

The regular season has ended.

We have identified the following Mormon players:

Position Players McKay Christensen CF Los Angeles Dodgers Jeff Kent 2B San Francisco Giants

Pitchers * Brandon Duckworth SP Philadelphia Phillies (MH) Shawn Estes SP San Francisco Giants Kyle Farnsworth RP Chicago Cubs Mike Fetters RP Pittsburgh Pirates Roy Halladay SP Toronto Blue Jays Jason M. Johnson SP Baltimore Orioles * Omar Olivares RP Pittsburgh Pirates (MH) Garret Stephenson SP St Louis Cardinals (MH) Dave Veres RP St Louis Cardinals (MH) Jaret Wright SP Cleveland Indians

Coaches Iorg, Garth 1st Base Coach Toronto Blue Jays

Please help us find out if the following are Mormon: Scott Eyre RP Toronto Blue Jays Ryan Jensen SP San Francisco Giants

Minor Leagues

All Minor League Seasons are now over. However, we are still interested in identifying Mormon players in the minors, especially those at the AAA level. Also of interest are those playing in foreign leagues, such as Japan and the Venezuela winter league. Here are the minor league players we know:

AAA Minors Banks, Brian Catcher Calgary Cannons (Florida Marlins) Perez, Santiago CF Portland Beavers (San Diego Padres) Secrist, Reed 1st Base Nashville Sounds (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Please help us find out if the following are Mormon: Nate Tebbs SS Richmond Braves (Atlanta Braves) Ron Wright 1B Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) John DeSilva SP Las Vegas 51s (Los Angeles Dodgers) Jeremy Lambert SP Memphis Redbirds (St Louis Cardinals)

Basketball

NBA

Bradley, Shawn Center Dallas Mavericks G GS Min FG/FGA Reb Pts Ppg Pp60min This Week 4 69 10/ 19 18 26 6.5 22.6 YTD 14 296 32/ 65 64 91 6.5 18.5

Knight, Travis Forward New York Knicks G GS Min FG/FGA Reb Pts Ppg Pp60min This Week 4 32 4/ 8 7 10 2.5 18.8 YTD 7 41 6/ 14 12 14 2.0 20.5

Madsen, Mark Center Los Angeles Lakers G GS Min FG/FGA Reb Pts Ppg Pp60min This Week 1 6 0/ 1 0 0 0.0 0.0 YTD 1 6 0/ 1 0 0 0.0 0.0

Pollard, Scot Forward Sacramento Kings G GS Min FG/FGA Reb Pts Ppg Pp60min This Week 3 91 5/ 13 27 13 4.3 8.6 YTD 14 406 33/ 71 113 86 6.1 12.7

Pope, Mark Center Minnesota G GS Min FG/FGA Reb Pts Ppg Pp60min This Week 2 17 3/ 4 2 6 3.0 21.2 YTD 8 108 9/ 20 18 19 2.4 10.6

WNBA

The WNBA's season has ended for 2001.

We know of the following players: * Kristen Rasmussen Forward Miami Sol (MH) Natalie Williams Forward Utah Starzz

Football

NFL

Quarterbacks Ty Detmer Quarterback Detroit Lions G GS Att/Comp Yds TD Int RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week 0 0 0/ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 YTD 2 2 60/ 37 361 1 8 4 4 0

Joe Germaine Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs G GS Att/Comp Yds TD Int RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week 0 0 0/ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 YTD 0 0 0/ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Scott Mitchell Quarterback Cincinnati Bengals G GS Att/Comp Yds TD Int RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week 0 1 12/ 4 38 0 3 0 0 0 YTD 0 1 12/ 4 38 0 3 0 0 0

Offense Greg Clark Tight End San Francisco Forty-Niners G GS Rec Yds TD RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week Injured - Hamstring YTD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Todd Heap Tight End Baltimore Ravens G GS Rec Yds TD RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week 1 1 3 39 0 0 0 0 YTD 7 2 11 136 1 0 0 0

Chad Lewis Tight End Philadelphia Eagles G GS Rec Yds TD RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 YTD 10 10 27 263 3 0 0 0

Brandon Manumaleuna Tight End St Louis G GS Rec Yds TD RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 YTD 10 0 1 1 1 0 0 0

Itua Mili Tight End Seattle Seahawks G GS Rec Yds TD RushAtt RushYds RushTD This Week 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 YTD 10 5 7 95 2 0 0 0

Offensive Line David Dixon Guard Minnesota Vikings G GS This Week 1 1 YTD 10 10

Edwin Mulitalo Guard Baltimore Ravens G GS This Week 1 1 YTD 9 9

John Tait Tackle Kansas City Chiefs G GS This Week 1 1 YTD 10 10

Kyle Turley Tackle New Orleans Saints G GS This Week 1 1 YTD 10 10

Defense Marcus Bell Linebacker Seattle Seahawks G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 YTD 10 1 22 19 3 1 0 0

Brant Boyer Linebacker Cleveland Browns G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 1 0 4 2 0 0 1 0 YTD 10 2 41 35 8 0 2 0

Byron Frisch Defensive End Dallas Cowboys G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 YTD 7 0 4 4 1 1 0 1

Travis Hall Defensive Tackle Atlanta Falcons G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 1 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 YTD 10 10 25 20 8 1 0 1

Chris Hoke Defensive Tackle Pittsburgh Steelers G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 YTD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Junior Ioane Defensive End Oakland Raiders G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 YTD 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Rob Morris Linebacker Indianapolis Colts G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 1 1 6 5 3 0 0 0 YTD 10 10 60 38 21 1 0 0

Derek M. Smith Linebacker San Francisco Forty-Niners G GS Tkls Solo Assist Sacks Int Fumb This Week 1 1 7 3 4 0 0 0 YTD 8 8 56 36 18 1.5 0 0

Special Teams Punter Lee Johnson Punter New England Patriots G GS Punts Yds TB This Week [Released by Patriots 15 October] YTD 5 5 24 1045 3

Kicker Owen Pochman Kicker New York Giants G GS FG/FGA XP/XPA Kicks Yds TB This Week 0 0 0/ 0 0/ 0 0 0 0 YTD 7 6 0/ 1 0/ 0 23 1454 2

Coach Andy Reid Head Coach Philadelphia Eagles W-L Yds Plays PassYds/PassAtt RushYds/RushAtt Possess Pen Yds This Week 0- 1 186 49 92/ 27 94/ 22 00:22:11 6 52 YTD 6- 4 3036 601 1816/ 316 1220/ 257 04:45:54 59 429

George Henshaw Asst Head Coach - Offense Tennessee Titans W/ L Yds Plays PassYds/PassAtt RushYds/RushAtt Possess Pen Yds This Week 0- 1 405 60 324/ 37 81/ 21 00:29:25 6 45 YTD 4- 6 3050 642 2064/ 339 986/ 275 05:12:28 68 633

Dave Campo Head Coach Dallas Cowboys W/ L Yds Plays PassYds/PassAtt RushYds/RushAtt Possess Pen Yds This Week 0- 1 191 53 164/ 33 27/ 16 00:23:26 5 34 YTD 2- 8 2531 575 1237/ 260 1294/ 292 04:50:48 49 388

Darrell Bevell Offensive Asst Green Bay Packers W/ L Yds Plays PassYds/PassAtt RushYds/RushAtt Possess Pen Yds This Week 1- 0 339 55 235/ 26 104/ 27 00:29:49 8 63 YTD 7- 3 3512 589 2437/ 316 1075/ 259 04:57:27 54 403

CFL

The CFL season began June 20th. We still have identified only two Mormon players!

Wide receiver Ben Cahoon of the Montreal Alouettes is LDS, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers Linebacker Sefa O'Reilly is LDS.

While we are compiling a list of Mormon players in the CFL, that league doesn't make available player by player statistics.

We have also identified the following possible Mormon players, based on the 2001 Rosters:

Rob Hitchcock, Hamilton Tiger-Cats -- Weber State Trevor Shaw, Hamilton Tiger-Cats -- Weber State Kevin Alexander, Montreal Alouettes -- Utah State Anthony Calvillo, Montreal Alouettes -- Utah State Josh Cochran, Montreal Alouettes -- Utah Neal Fort, Montreal Alouettes -- BYU Chad Folk, Toronto Argonauts -- Utah Profail Greer, Toronto Argonauts -- Utah State Errol Martin, Toronto Argonauts -- Utah Morgan Welch, Toronto Argonauts -- Weber State Brandon Dyson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers -- Utah State

College NCAA - Division I We plan to begin limited coverage of NCAA Division I football players and coaches who are Mormon. Here is a list of the players OUTSIDE OF UTAH we have identified to date. Many of these come from H.B. Arnett's "Cougar Sportsline," with the assistance of Mormon News subscriber Brent Romney:

Brittain, Brad TE Arizona Feula, Vince DL Arizona Fraser, Keoki DL Arizona Fraser, Keoni DL Arizona

Brittain, Grant TE Arizona State Fulton, Skyler WR Arizona State Miller, Matt WR Arizona State Niko, Damien OL Arizona State Pace, Tom RB Arizona State Unck, Mason LB Arizona State Wallin, Kurt DT Arizona State Wolfgram, Jared DL Arizona State

Gustaveson, Josh Cal Jensen, Mark K Cal Lupoi, Tosh DL Cal

Hoover, Adam QB Cincinnati

Flores, Jeremy P/PK Colorado

Kay, Russell LB Colorado State Porter, Guy DB Colorado State

Findlay, Garren OL Georgia Tech

Ilaoa, Nate WR Hawaii Peters, Hyrum DB Hawaii Peters, Leonard DB Hawaii Tafuna, Sione OL Hawaii

Ross, Ethan WR Houston

Dunn, Marc QB Kansas State

Brinton, Spencer QB Michigan Probst, Jake DL Michigan

Weathers, Brad OL Mississippi State

Bowen, Jake LB Navy

Bingham, Ryon DL Nebraska Brown, Manaia DL Nebraska Fonoti, Toniu OL Nebraska

Johnson, Cody OL Nevada Kretschmer, Chance RB Nevada

Fife, Jason QB Oregon Line, Scott LB Oregon Loftin, Ryan LB Oregon

Casper, Cameron OL San Diego State Thompson, Tyson TE San Diego State

Hunter, Tommy TE South Florida

Blackhurst, Cooper DE Stanford Chambers, Kirk OT Stanford Giles, Scott OLB Stanford Heitman, Eric OL Stanford Leonard, Matt DL Stanford Schindler, Greg Stanford

Coffin, Junior DL Washington Kava, William OL Washington McLaughlin, Derek P Washington Stevens, Jerramy TE Washington

Ena, Tali QB Washington State

Belshe, Matt QB Wyoming Gough, David OL Wyoming Merrill, Peter, DB Wyoming Ralph, Brock WR Wyoming Rollins, Josh DL Wyoming

Stansbury-Ieremia, Ed UCLA

Bair, Brandon OL UNLV Palepoi, Anton DL UNLV Parkhurst, Matt OL UNLV Parkhurst, Scott LB UNLV

Mailo, Faaesea OG USC

Coaches Afoa, Ulima Assistant Coach San Diego State Chow, Norm Offensive Coordinator USC Crowton, Gary Head Coach BYU Holmoe, Tom Head Coach CalState Leach, Mike Head Coach Texas Tech Mallory, Rick Offensive Line Memphis Uperesa, Keith Offensive Line USC

Hockey

NHL

Gavey, Aaron C Minnesota Wild GP G A PTS SOG This Week 4 0 3 3 5 YTD 21 2 6 8 26

Konowalchuk, Steve LW Washington Capitals GP G A PTS SOG This Week [Injured - Shoulder - Out 3-4 months] YTD 5 0 3 3 6

Coach Peterson, Brent Asst Coach, Nashville Predators Coach Peterson's responsibilities cover penalties and goalkeeping, and the statistics listed are team statistics that reflect his responsibilities. GP PIM MAJ MN MC SOGA GA SV This Week 3 37 3 11 0 85 9 76 YTD 23 272 8 116 0 622 63 559

Len Barrie, formerly of the Florida Panthers, is now an unrestricted free agent.

Soccer

WUSA

The WUSA's season has ended.

We know of the following player: Maren Hendershot Forward Carolina Courage

Golf

PGA Tour

Jay Don Blake This Week: Idle YTD: Entered 31 events, made cut 21 times, earned $436,576.39 Ranked 118 on money list

Keith Clearwater This Week: Qualifier School 2nd round T32 76-71-70-74-- YTD: Entered 24 events, made cut 7 times, earned $66,178.33 Ranked 208 on money list

Dan Forsman This Week: Idle YTD: Entered 25 events, made cut 16 times, earned $456,194.03 Ranked 114 on money list

Mike Reid This Week: Idle YTD: Entered 13 events, made cut 5 times, earned $47,607.66, Ranked 216th on money list.

Buy.com Tour * Richard Zokol This Week: Idle YTD: Entered 22 events, made cut 18 times, earned $194,617.75 Ranked 13 on money list

JPGA Tour (MH) Dean Wilson This Week: Phoenix T5 67-70-68-70 6,975,000 Yen YTD: Entered 20 events, made cut 16 times, earned $115,114,750 Yen Ranked 2 on money list

Playing on Exemption Jeff Quinney This Week: Idle YTD: Entered 3 events, made cut 1 times, earned $11,400.00

Senior PGA Tour

Billy Casper This Week: Idle Year to date: Entered 3 events, earned $6,568.50

Johnny Miller This Week: Idle Year to date: Idle

Bruce Summerhays This Week: Idle YTD: Entered 34 events, made cut 34 times, earned $904,616.57 Ranked 20 on money list

* Mormon News has enough information to make it likely that this athlete is either Mormon or has Mormon heritage. But we have so far been unable to confirm this suspicion. (MH) - Mormon Heritage - This athlete is either an inactive LDS Church member, or has Mormon heritage.

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