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Friday, April 24, 1987/The Battalion/Page 11
Sports
Ice Hockey loved up North,
but lacks national interest
By Homer Jacobs
Sports Editor
It’s mid-spring, and it’s time for the
NBA playoffs, the Kentucky Derby,
Opening Day in baseball and that
sport they play
up North. ■ " ,| ’
That sport Viewpoint
with the ice, the
French players
and the blue and red lines.
It’s the sport where people mainly
goto watch the gloves and punches
It’s the sport of hockey.
The word alone is about as for
eign to this Texan as “y’all” is to a
Minnesotan.
1 think 1 know as much about
hockey as I do about nuclear physics.
Sure I know Wayne Gretzky plays
for the Edmonton Oilers; but which
teams play in the Smith, or is it the
Smythe Division? And who or what
isthe Adams Division named after?
And don’t forget the Norris and
Patrick divisions. Come on, Norris
and Patrick?
Wasn’t Norris a cat on TV?
But what really gets to me about
jockey is that people actually love
this sport. Just watch a hockey crowd
when a player scores a goal.
Put Hog hats on these fans and
you’d think you were in Arkansas.
I guess watching a sport with ice
skating in it while I’m in College Sta
tion in April just doesn’t tickle my
fancy.
Give me Larry Bird or Mike
Schmidt, but don’t give me Jacques
LaFontaine de la Fleur from the
Canucks or Nordiques.
And that brings me to the illus
trious nicknames of these hockey
teams.
A Canuck. Now a Canuck is either
a rare red-bellied bird in southern
Australia or the French translation
for “Achoo.” But a hockey team it
can’t be.
So I don’t understand these nick
names or know many of the players.
But I do know the rules of the game
like the back of my hockey stick.
The object of the game is to skate
around and smack that little Sbisa
hamburger pattie past the guy who
looks like Jason from “Friday the
13th: Part III”.
And if at First you don’t succeed,
skate around and hit somebody.
Just as fans go to car races for the
spectacular crashes, hockev buffs
frequent arenas for one reason —
they want to see a nasty fight.
Don’t let hockey fans tell you
about the graceful skating and unbe
lievable athleticism that accompanies
a hockey game. The fan really wants
a good old-fashioned brawl, com
plete with blood and/or broken
bones.
And another thing about hockey
that confuses me is why point totals
are kept for assists and goals.
Why not just call them assists and
goals instead of converting them
into points?
The main problem with hockey,
though, is that nobody south of St.
Louis ever gets to see a hockey game
in person.
Granted Lake Sommerville does
freeze over in early November and
thaws in May so Texas A&M stu
dents can enjoy this leisure activity
of hockey almost year round. But
without any professional franchises,
hockey will go unnoticed in these
parts.
I guess I can live with football,
basketball and baseball for now.
But in the meantime, I’m going to
brush up on my hockey and go feed
my Canuck.
Ex-Cowboy Bethea found dead
after apparent suicide incident
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP)
— Larry Bethea’s troubled life
began when he left pro football.
It ended Thursday when he ap
parently shot himself in the head
within hours after he was identi
fied as the gunman in two rob
beries.
Drug abuse was blamed for the
problems of the former Dallas
Cowboys defensive lineman, a
first-round NFL draft pick.
“This man, who had so much
going for him, lost everything, in
cluding his life. I believe that
Larry Bethea would be alive to
day if he had been able to stay
away from drugs,” Newport
News Police Chief Jay A. Carey
said in a statement read by Sgt.
Lynn Pearson, a police spokeswo
man.
On Jan. 23, Bethea was given a
four-year suspended prison term
for his guilty plea in December to
stealing his mother’s life savings
of $64,000.
Newport News Circuit Judge J.
Warren Stephens also ordered
Bethea to spend two years on
probation and repay the money.
Bethea was arrested by Dallas
police on Aug. 4 with $61,375 in
cash in his pockets after he alleg
edly accosted his estranged wife,
Gloria. She summoned police,
who found her with bruises and a
bloodied lip.
Bethea’s mother reported the
next day that her $64,000 was
missing.
Bethea said in January that he
was grateful for his lenient sen
tence.
“I got a little confused in the
big picture, and I hurt my fam
ily,” he said. “I didn’t mean to
hurt them.”
Bethea pleaded guilty in 1985
to setting three fires in Mount
Rainer National Park in Paradise,
Wash. He was ordered to pay
$1,000 to the park to cover the
cost of fighting the fires.
In the latest and final incident,
police were called by an unidenti
fied friend of the former football
player while officers were still
questioning witnesses who said
Bethea robbed two convenience
stores shortly before midnight
Wednesday.
Bethea, 30, was found in the
friend’s backyard with a gunshot
wound to his right temple and a
.38-caliber automatic pistol near
his body. He was taken to Hamp
ton General Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead at 2:08
a.m., said Jan Dunning, a hospital
spokeswoman.
The friend told police that Be
thea had given no warning that
he was going to commit suicide.
He left no suicide note, Pearson
said.
The gun used in the shootings
and the two robberies is believed
to be a weapon that was reported
stolen from a parked vehicle in
the city Wednesday, she said.
Witnesses said a lone gunman
took an undisclosed amount of
cash from the two stores, which
are near the house where Bethea
lived with his mother, Alice Be
thea.
His body was taken to the Nor
folk crime lab for an autopsy to
determine the cause of death and
whether he had drugs in his sys
tem.
Bethea was the 28th overall
pick in the 1978 NFL draft and
played for the Cowboys until
1983.
; of Texas
establish a
ing to
dren a
tided with
leer Part,
aid House
attle over
sometimes
gs because
re.
it “it’s not a
natter
ig of ihe
■ decorum
ist.
■ed 1294
nents
Dallas destroys Seattle 151-129
n opening round of NBA playoffs
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas’ Mark
iguirre led nine teammates in dou-
ile figures with 28 points Thursday
light in a 151-129 NBA first-round
(layoff rout of the Seattle SuperSon-
the most points the Mavericks
lave ever scored in a game.
Dallas took a 1-0 lead in its best-
f-five Western Conference playoff
eries, with game two scheduled for
iaturday night in Reunion Arena.
Dallas scored 149 points twice in
85 for its previous high total in a
ame. Reserve guard Dennis Nutt
litthe 151st point with 10 seconds to
ilay on a driving layup for the re-
ord.
Roy Tarpley scored 25 points,
Derek Harper and Rolando Black
man each had 18 points, James Don
aldson scored 15 and Sam Perkins
had 12. Brad Davis, Detlef Schrempf
and Bill Wennington all had 10
points each.
Tom Chambers was high for the
Sorties with 35 points, and former
Maverick Dale Ellis scored 22 points
before fouling out late in the fourth
quarter.
The Mavericks surged to a 77-59
lead by intermission, the most points
they had scored in a half this season
and the most ever in a playoff game.
The game was over early.
Seattle led 2-0 on Xavier McDa
niel’s dunk after the opening tip,
then it was all Dallas. The Mavericks
hit 12 of their first 18 shots to pull
away before 17,007 fans in a sold-
out Reunion Arena.
Dallas’ biggest lead was 77-57 as
Aguirre scored 20 in an explosive
first half. The Mavericks shot 59.6
percent from the field as Tarpley
added 11 rebounds.
Seattle’s Xavier McDaniel added
18 points and 13 rebounds.
Dallas, a 10-point favorite, had
defeated Seattle all five times it
played the Sonics during the regular
. 10 ^
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Culpepper Plaza
Houston defeats Atlanta 5-3
Bass gets 3 hits, 3 RBI to pace Astros
HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Bass
had three hits and drove in three
runs 2:v the Houston Astros won
their ninth straight home game,
beating the Atlanta Braves 5-3
Thursday night to sweep a three-
game series.
Rookie Dave Meads, 1-0, got the
win in relief, striking out the only
batter he faced. Dave Smith re
corded his fifth save, pitching 1 1-3
innings of scoreless relief. Rick
Mahler, 2-1, was the loser, going 6 1-
3 innings and giving up four runs on
eight hits.
Terry Puhl started things off in
the Astros’ three-run seventh with a
pinch-hit double and moved to third
on Bill Doran’s groundout. After a
walk to Billy Hatcher, pinch-hitter
Phil Garner doubled in Puhl. One
out later, Bass bounced a two-run
single into right field.
The Braves had moved ahead 2-0
in the first. Gerald Perry singled
with two out, stole second and
scored on a Dale Murphy double.
Ken Griffey singled in Murphy.
Houston tied, the score with runs
in the second arid third. Bass led off
• nqt) i
the second with a single, Jose Cruz
walked and Bass advanced to third
when Alan Ashby forced Cruz at sec
ond. Craig Reynolds doubled in
Bass.
Hatcher extended his hitting
streak to all 16 games with a leadoff
single in the third inning. He later
scored on Bass’ groundball forced
Davis at second.
The Braves cut their deficit to 5-3
in the eighth when Rafael Ramirez
doubled off reliever Charlie Kerfeld
and scored on pinch-hitter Graig
Nettles’ single. f
The 1988 Aggieland will
be accepting applications
for yearbook staff and
photographer positions
until Tuesday, April 28.
Applications can be
picked up in room 011
Reed McDonald.
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