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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 1993)
Sports 12,1993 Thursda y' J ul y 22,1993 The Battalion Page 3 nt least e exer- oy fire ie gun cle down- e vehi- into a Idiers. :>art of know gotten 'taking ■rts re- ler the 2tS. ring tent | i.m. ross East i tor ditor J Franlc •mesters and Is), at Texas /\ University, m of Student ild Building ertising, a™ day ttirougn o charge by MATTHEW J. RUSH Sportswriter ol Fire in Atlanta was sign from baseball gods Tuesday night's fire at At lanta's Fulton- County Stadium was no accident, it was a sign from the gods of base ball. The fire that swept through a dozen press box es should be served as a warn ing to the Atlanta Braves' Western Division foes: Watch out. Like the phoenix that res urrected from the ashes, so too will the Braves awaken from their early season slump. The Braves, like the phoenix, will rise from the ashes and claim their third straight Western Division title. "The San Francisco Giants," you say. Unfortunately, recent injuries to two of their prominent pitchers. Bud Black and John Burkett, will take a toll on the Bay Bombers' chance of a division title. Their offense is unquestionably power ful, but it is too bad that Barry Bonds and Will Clark cannot pitch. The Braves are undaunting in their at tack and, not only have a flare for the dramatic, but have compiled astronomi cal second half records the past two sea sons. In fact, in 1991, they found them selves nine games behind Los Angeles Dodgers, only to claim the outright title three days before the end of the season. The fire was not only symbolic of the resurgence that the Braves will make in the next few months, but is also indica tive of their new found scoring machine. Because the Braves have the most domi nant pitching staff in all of baseball, they only lacked a true homerun hitter to make them virtually dominant. They have now found one in Fred "The Crime Dog" McGriff who hit over 30 homers in each of his last five seasons and his pres- See Rush/Page 6 Bates signs $4.74 million deal with Raiders By Matthew J. Rush The Battalion Former A&M defensive back Patrick Bates signed a multi-year contract late Monday night with the Los An geles Raiders, estimated to be worth $4.74 million over five years. The twelfth pick overall in April's NFL draft. Bates became only one of a few first round draft choices to sign. Bates, who chose to forgo his senior year at Texas A&M, has signed and reported to the Raiders' training camp where, he is eagerly awaiting a chance to force his way into the starting lineup. "I wanted to get into camp," Bates said. "I've got a lot to get used to, but once I do, I will be more confident that I can make an immediate impact." AL Locasal, the Executive Assistant for the Raiders, said that Bates' signing was expected and that he be lieves that Bates has the tools to be a defensive force in the years to come. "We don't expect many draft choices to be prominent in their first year," Locasal said. "This is the NFL, but in time we expect great things from him." Bates, on the other hand, wants to make his presence felt in his first season as a Raider. "I'm definitely looking forward to making an imme diate impact," said Bates. "There is some extra added pressure and higher expectations of a number one choice, but they draft you to make an immediate im pact." "If we draft a person number one, we expect them to wear the Silver and Black," Locasal said. "This is only a part of working to our number one goal which is to be at the top of the division." Bates is excited to be playing for the Raiders and sees many assets to playing in Los Angeles, including the cli mate. "The intangibles are great here," said Bates. "The weather and the atmosphere are similar to Texas." "I like the intense style of play and I think I fit in," said Bates. "It is exciting to be in a place where you're wanted." Battalion File Photo San Antonio hopes torch ignites local economy By MARK SMITH Three Aggies to compete in U.S. Olympic Festival The Battalion The U.S. Olympic Festival-'93 gets un der way Friday in San Antonio. City offi cials there expect the event to gain the city a great deal of revenue, but more importantly it will show that the city can host a major event. Texas A&M will be represented at the festival by several athletes. Donyale Canada, a guard for the Lady Aggie bas ketball team, will play for the south team, Dana Yarbrough will participate in the race walking event and Ty Sevin, a member of the A&M track team, will throw the javelin in the track and field competition. Estimates for the festival show that the city could get as much as $70 million in revenues. If the festival reaches that esti mation it would place it as the largest J Sevin event that the city has hosted to date. The National Collegiate Athletic Associa tion's Final Four basketball champi onship is predicted to bring $120 million in revenues to the city in 1998. "We've never had anything like this in San Antonio before," Fern Dillard, busi ness manager for the Alamo, said. Dillard said she hopes many of the athletes that have come to San Antonio from around the country will take time to visit the city's most famous structure. San Antonio was denied the 1991 Olympic Festival because the city lacked a major arena. City officials responded by arranging to build the Alamodome. The multi-million dollar facility is suited for a number of functions and is the only facility around that has two regulation ice rinks within its walls. Joe Krier, president of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, told the San Antonio Express-News, "The pure impact of dollars is ijice, but what the fes tival does is leverage us in bringing in fu ture conventions and other events." Cheryl Patrick, media and program di rector for the festival's organizing com mittee, said, "Commissioners from all of the sports' governing bodies will be here. Hopefully if we do a good job, they will bring back their tournaments and time trials." The other events that the city hopes to lure include Southwest Conference tour naments, college football games, exhibi tion hockey games and figure skating fi nals. In addition, Robert Marbut Jr., pres ident of San Antonio's U.S. Olympic Fes tival and former president of the San An tonio Sports Foundation, said he really hopes to get the Pan America Games. Patrick said as of Tuesday 266,000 tick ets had been sold, earning the festival ap proximately $2 million in revenue. The festival will have over 3,500 ath letes competing in 37 different events. Opening ceremonies begin at 8 pm on Friday with music from Bruce Hornsby, an appearance by U.S. Gold Medalist fig ure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and other en tertainment provided by Hollywood stuntmen and world-class figure skaters. Coverage of the festival will be provid ed on cable television by TNT and Prime Network. Canada and the South team are sched uled to compete against the West team on Saturday at 2 p.m., the North team on Sunday at noon and the East team on Monday at noon. Both Sevin and Yarbrough will com pete in their respective events on Friday, July 30 at 6:30 p.m. U.S. Olympic Festival ‘93 San Antonio Under the Water Tower 696-2427 CALL FOR FOOSBALL, POOL, & DART TOURNEY INFO HAPPY HOUR O'* vx 10:00 MONDAY- SATURDAY $1.00 LONGNECKS $1.75 PITCHERS $5.00 BUCKETS OF BEER 50Ft DRAFT (8-10) THURSDAY LIMO'S AUSTIN’S BEST COVER BAND FRIDAY RIF-RAF LIVE FROM WACO SATURDAY HOUSE OF USHER COUPON GOOD FOR $1.00 OFF COVER WHATSTHE GPrt*LUNCH BUFFET! |^ SvwinwBi vurrsvi ♦ Choose from a variety of Pizza Hut ; pizza, loaded with two layers f of cheese and heaps of top- jf pings. Plus pasta, salad, | breadsticks and cinnamon dessert breadsticks - all for just $3.99! And, get FREE Texas-Size drink refills! It’s the BIG deal in Texas. And Texas Knows Best! LUNCH BUFFET AVAILABLE MON. - FRI. • 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM Sunday Dinner Buffet Available 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. 1993 Pizza Hut. Inc. Available at participiaSng festauri^ls. 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