Sports
Mmmmmmmmmmmaammmmnmmmmammm
Tuesday, February 16, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9
!$t$
Feb.
r the fo
gl't Cot.
sia.
Carlin
owof
dav.
5wiss skier
/vins 1st Alpine
jold medal
as, asi
I CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Swiss
fcier Pirmin Zurbriggen won the
Irst Alpine medal of the Winter
Olympics Monday, using die men’s
lownhill as a first step in his quest
ar an unprecedented five gold
'Vho m ledals in skiing.
tip spot.
nark 4
“Perso
lemon
ty
aproia
;ht i ti
ilif kli
»na(ij
vhiifp.
il all;.:
ma.iril
le
jorfral
andiv I
were I
lem.
ed
'par- |
pen
on p|
s." I
condal
erredE
Zurbriggen won the race by a
alf-second over teammate Peter
fueller in a battle of past and pre-
ent on the slopes, while preventing
n Eastern European sweep of med-
1s during the third day of the
ames.
“It was my biggest goal, and I'm so
appy,” Zurbriggen said. “It was a
real feeling.”
Alexei Prokourorov of the Soviet
nion won the men’s 30-kilometer
boss-country skiing race, and Jens
fueller of East Germany won the
aen’s luge in the day’s two other
nedai events.
The Soviet Union leads the medal
^landings with five — two gold, two
lilver and one bronze. East Ger
many, Czechoslovakia, Finland and
witzerland are tied with two apiece,
oth of East Germany’s medals are
old.
The United States has yet to win a
edal, but that could change T'ues-
ay night in pairs figure skating,
there American couples stood third
nd fourth after the short program.
In hockey, the United States, a big
tinner ayainst Austria in its first
latch, took on Czechoslovakia, a
Irst-round upset victim to West Ger
many, as the B Pool teams got back
ito action. Two other matches had
orway against West Germany and
le Soviet Union against Austria.
Mueller, 30, the best downhiller in
be world in 1979 and 1980 and a sil-
:r medalist at the 1984 Sarajevo
ames, started first on Mount Allan,
here the downhill was postponed
bom Sunday because of winds that
cached 98 mph.
Skiing in calmer winds with a little
esh snow on the course, Mueller
nished in 2:00.14. Judging by prac-
No one does it quite like ‘The Ueck’
I was sitting in the press box of
Olsen Field Saturday, chewing a
piece of that pink, two-cent pow
dered bubble gum when “The
Baseball Song” sounded over the
1 o u d -
speakers.
I hadn’t
heard it
since . . .
well, last
baseball
season.
I’m not
even sure
it’s called
T h e
Baseball
Song, but
that’s
what I
call it.
I don’t even know the lyrics ex
cept for the last line: “Willl-eeee,
Mickey and the Ueck.”
What’s that? That’s not how
the song goes? You say it’s “Willl-
eeee, Mickey and the Duke” — as
in Hall of Earner Duke Snider.
Are you sure? I thought for sure
the song was paying homage to
the self-proclaimed Mr. Baseball
— Bob Uecker.
Uecker was the type of baseball
talent who comes around only
once in a lifetime — a blessing
managers can count every spring
training.
Anthony
Wilson
Sports viewpoint
To be blunt, Uecker stunk. He
was the kind of player who
wouldn’t have been allowed to
carry Willie Mays’jockstrap. The
Ueck lowered mediocrity to new
depths. But unlike most perpet
ual losers, Uecker made the most
of his ineptness and is now turn
ing a hefty buck because of it.
The Ueck’s most impressive ve
hicle these days is the Miller Lite
beer commercials in which he
stars. Each spot always begins
with Uecker expounding on the
benefits of his celebrity status.
Each ends with Uecker wiping a
proverbial pie off his face.
Case in point:
• Before entering a bar,
Uecker says how great it is to be
an ex-major leaguer because the
fans really look up to you and are
always buying you free beer.
Meanwhile, the patrons of the bar
are locking him out.
• Uecker sits down at a ball-
game. An usher tells him he’s in
the wrong seat and to follow him.
Uecker boasts, “I must be in the
front rooowwwF’ (A phrase that
continues to retain its popularity.)
Ueck ends up sitting in the left
field corner of the upper deck.
He unsuccessfully tries to save
face by saying, “Great seats, ay,
buddy!”
• After watching a guy do a
perfect impersonation of him
complete with loud, plaid sports
jacket and obnoxious behavior,
Uecker huffs, “Amateur!” in dis
gust.
• In the latest ad, Uecker wins
Olympic gold medals in the
downhill slalom (while flashing a
cheesy grin), the ski jump (while
nonchalantly checking his nails)
and hockey (while being swarmed
by admiring teammates as he
cooly winks at the camera). He
wakes up from his daydream just
in time to watch the real Olym
pics.
Uecker then parlayed his fame
into his own television series,
“Mr. Belvedere.” The only char
acter Uecker plays really well is
U«cker and since that isn’t the
character he plays, the show is
sort of reminiscent of his playing
days. However, I do remember
one classic line. Ueck’s character’s
teenage son walked through the
living room carrying a six pack of
beer and said, “Hey Dad, want a
brewski?”
An angered UeCker replied,
“No, son. Want a pop in the eyes-
ki?”
Most of Ueck’s faithful follow
ers don’t realize that he is also a
respected play-by-play an
nouncer for the Milwaukee Brew-
I remember hearing about a
Monday Night Baseball game in
which Uecker shared the booth
with Howard Cosell. Cosell was
running off at the mouth, as he
was apt to do, and happened to
use the word “truculent.” He
then pompously said, “Of course,
you probably don’t know what
truculent means, Bob.”
Without missing a beat, Uecker
cheerfully replied, “Sure I do
Howard. When you let someone
borrow your pickup, that’s the
truck you lent.”
That story in itself explains the
Ueck’s popularity. The guy is an
upbeat Charlie Brown. Others al
ways seem to get the best of him,
but he never lets it get him down
or ruin his sunny disposition.
I think the reason we are able
to laugh at Uecker’s futility is be
cause down deep, we each see a
part of us in him that we despera
tely try to hide. We’re never as
great as we would like people to
believe. And like the Ueck, we all
want to be loved, respected and
admired. And deep down, we all
know that people don’t like us as
much as we would like them to.
So we cover up our feelings by
acting big, or cool, or carefree.
But no one does it like the Ueck.
tice times, it didn’t look like it would
hold up, but it did — until Zurbrig
gen came down, 15th in the starting
order.
Zurbriggen had better times at ev
ery interval — combining his giant
slalom genius on the twisting upper
section of the course with his deft
ness in downhill on the fiat lower
section — to finish in 1:59.63.
Franck Piccard, who skied right
behind Zurbriggen, won the bronze
medal in 2:01.24, becoming France’s
first Alpine medal-winner since
Killy. The best the United States
could do was 26th by 19-year-old
A.J. Kitt of Rochester, N.Y., who fin
ished in 2:04.94. Jeff Olson of Boze
man, Mont., was 28th in 2:05.09.
Four years ago at Sarajevo, the So
viets went 1-2 in the 30-kilorneter
cross-country race with Nikolai Zi-
myatov and Aleksandr Zavialov, the
famed “Z Boys.” In a postscript to
’84, the Soviets did it in 1988 with
the “P.S. Boys,” Prokourorov and
Smirnov.
Prokourorov won in 1:24:26.3,
followed by teammate Vladimir
Smirnov, the early leader who fin
ished finished 8.8 seconds back. Ve-
gard Ulvang of Norway won the
bronze in 1:25:11.6.
Gunde Svan of Sweden, winner of
two gold, a silver and a bronze in
1984, finished 10th, more than three
minutes behind Prokourorov.
At the bob and luge run, Mueller
said he overcame a sleepless night to
give the East Germans their second
gold medal, capturing the luge with
an aggregate time of 3:05.548 over
four runs. Mueller set a course re
cord in the first of two runs Sunday
and held the lead all the way.
“I was so excited last night I got
less than six hours’ sleep,” Mueller
said.
Georg Hackl of West Germany,
who beat Mueller in the European
championships last month, won the
silver in 3:05.916, and Soviet louri
Khartchenko won the bronze in
3:06.274.
Frank Masley of Newark, Del.,
finished in 3:07.943, falling from
10th to 12th after the wind dis
rupted his fourth run.
In figure skating, the Soviet pair
of Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei
Grinkov took the lead after Sunday’s
short program, followed by 1984
Olympic gold medalists Elana Va
lova and Oleg Vasiliev.
Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard,
three-time U.S. champions, were
third, followed by Wachsman and
Waggoner.
Rockets face
Sampson, G.S
in The Summit
HOUSTON (AP) — Former
Houston Twin Tower Ralph Samp
son faces his former Rockets team
mates in The Summit Tuesday for
the first time since being traded to
Golden State on Dec. 12.
The Rockets defeated the War
riors 120-1 13 Jan. 7 at Oakland in
the first meeting after the trade that
brought Sleepy Floyd and Joe Barry
Carroll to the Rockets.
It will be the Houston fans’ first
opportunity to see Sampson as a
Warrior. And the Warriors will be
facing the Rockets at a season high.
The Rockets have won six of their
last seven games, including a solid
victory over Boston in The Summit
and a road victory at Portland Sun
day night.
The Rockets start the game with a
14-6 record for the month, third
best in the NBA behind Los Angeles
and Boston.
“A year ago, we didn’t have the
maturity or the personnel to win a
game like this,” Houston Coach Bill
Fitch said following Sunday’s 1 15-
103 victory over the Blazers.
“Last year, when they made that
last run, we would have given in to
it.”
The Blazers rallied in the closing
minutes for a 96-95 lead but the
Rockets refused to fold.
“We’ve got a lot of veteran play
ers, guys who know how to win,” re
serve Purvis Short said. “We kept
our composure. We never pan
icked.”
The win boosted the Rockets to a
28-18 record, putting them 10
games over .500 for the first time
this season.
Houston’s only loss in its last seven
games came at Seattle, 120-115, on
Thursday night. The Rockets missed
17 free throws, four in the final 2:58
of the game.
“Right now, we feel like we’re
playing well enough to .beat any
body,” forward Jim Petersen said.
inpM|
ini
idols
Ittiioil
■ paril
8. f
art till
ionifel
in Ml
IlliilH
ieoifl
(til ill
All 1 " I
arn!
tei
D0«!
THE
NEW FAMILY
SiTiiiCe Parents
Part of the St. Joseph Hospital & Health Center “Learning to Live” series
You are invited
to a very special evening with
Kenneth Matthews, M.D., Pediatrician
Robert C. Potts, M.D., P.A., Psychiatrist
Felice Klein, ACSW, CSW-ACP, Psychiatric Social Worker
Jan Hughes, Ph.D., Psychologist
Thursday, February 25, 1988
The Aggieland Inn
6:00 p.m. - social hour
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. - panel discussion
$ 5 00 per person door charge
SINGLE PARENTS
REGISTRATION FORM
SOCIAL HOUR - A time to mix and mingle
PANEL DISCUSSION
The panel will address the problems and solutions
facing the NEW FAMILIES, Single Parents.
BABYSITTING
Spepial rates by girome-A-fe reofc
846-1143, 505 University Dr, Suite 101
DOOR PRIZES DONATED BY:
Royal Oaks Racquet Club • Up Front Screen Printing
Sullivan’s Outfitters • Nan’s Blossom Shop
Cafe d’ Amenque • Bryan Surplus & Supply
Broz Sport Shop'* The Grapevine
Brazos Landing Restaurant
THE NEW FAMILY - Single Parents
# of children for babysitting Ages of children
MAIL FORM AND CHECK TO:
St. Joseph Hospital & Health Center
Community Relations Dept.
2801 Franciscan Dr.
Bryan, Texas 77802
OR CALL 776-2458
Registration deadline - February 18, 1988
ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL & HEALTH CENTER
Surf's ZIjj of Caftforma-'
Dockweiler Station, P.O. Box 18A506, los Angeles, CA. 90007
Please send
T-Shirts @ $12.00 each or 3 shirts for
$32. OOT’Add $1.25 for postage and handling.
Name
Address_
State
Oollege_
City
Zip
Phene ( )
All T-shirts are white with colored designs. For a ocnplete
panphlet of shirt designs, send $1.00 to the above address.
Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.
SURF'S UP OF CALTPOFfrJIA
Students! Work Smart.
Work Simply...
With Hewlett-Packard!
lie
$47.00
12C
$65.00
15C
$65.00
17B
$90.00
19B
$140.00
27S
$90.00
28S
$190.00
41CV
$140.00
41CX
$200.00
71 B
$500.00
p s
Ifful
AUTHORIZED HEWLETT-PACKARD DEALER
505 Church Street • College Station, Texas
(409) 846-5332