Friday • March 24, 1995
111111 H - N V M s -1 s . C" s i
SPORTS
Austin makes plans
for pro baseball team
AUSTIN (AP) — Professional
baseball could be in Austin by
1997 under a plan hammered out
between city officials and the Triple-A
Phoenix Firebirds.
The Austin City Council still
must vote on the plan, but city
and team officials say the terms have
been finalized.
“We know what we’re doing,” said
Mike Heitz, Austin’s parks director.
“We’re not negotiating anymore.”
Craig Pletenik, the team’s general
manager, said team Firebirds officials
would travel to Austin next week to
garner support for the plan before the
City Council votes on March 30.
Under the plan, the city and the
minor-league team would share the
costs of an $18 million stadium to be
built on city parkland about three miles
east of downtown.
Heitz said the agreement is a “good
deal for the city” because most teams
don’t help build the stadium.
Itoo to interview for
Big 12 commissioner
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — With
their base of support sharply divided
along North-South lines, Bob Frederick
and Steve Hatchell face one final
interview before one is named
commissioner of the Big 12.
Hatchell, 48, is Southwest
Conference commissioner and
enjoys solid backing among most of
the Texas schools that will help
comprise the new superconference.
Frederick, 55, the affable athletic
director from Kansas and chair
man of the NCAA tournament
selection committee, draws greater
strength among the northern Big
Eight schools.
Supporters of both men have been
actively lobbying Big 12 presidents
since nominations began more than
two months ago. In Dallas on Sunday,
the 12 CEOs will interview Hatchell in
the morning and Frederick in the
afternoon. They will announce their
decision later Sunday.
Defending champs face tough test
□ Arkansas Razorbacks
match up with Memphis
in Sweet Sixteen
[AP]-Having survived two close
games in the NCAA tournament,
defending champion Arkansas
now faces a team it beat by only
one point during the regular sea
son — and a bitter rival.
On deck for the Razorbacks
(29-6) Friday night in the Mid
west Regional semifinals at
Kansas City, Mo., is Memphis
(24-9), whom they defeated 88-
87 at Fayetteville on Feb. 9.
Arkansas opened defense of
its title with a 79-78 victory
over Texas Southern, then fol
lowed with a 96-94 overtime
triumph over Syracuse.
Arkansas coach Nolan
Richardson said his team’s ri
valry with Memphis is more a
matter of players than fans.
Richardson has recruited in
the Memphis area since he was
coaching at Tulsa. He continued
the practice at Arkansas, and
three of his players are from
Memphis — Corey Beck, Dwight
Stewart and Elmer Martin.
“Any time you have three play
ers on your team from that city, it
makes it a rivalry,” Richardson
said. “I don’t think it would be
such a big rivalry if we didn’t
have as many players from Mem
phis. You have more of a rivalry
among the players than among
the fans right now.”
In Friday’s other Midwest
Regional semifinal, it’s top-
seeded Kansas (25-5) against
Virginia (24-8).
The East Regional semifi
nals also will be played Friday
night, with top-seeded Wake
Forest (26-5) against Oklahoma
State (25-9) and Tulsa (24-7)
against Massachusetts (28-4)
at East Rutherford, N.J.
The regional semifinals be
gan Thursday, with George
town (21-9) against North Car
olina (26-5) and Kentucky (27-
4) against Arizona State (24-8)
in the Southeast at Birming
ham, Ala., and UCLA (27-2)
against Mississippi State (22-7)
and Maryland (26-7) against
Connecticut (27-4) in the West
at Oakland, Calif.
Richardson is concerned
about two important factors for
the game against Memphis —
Arkansas’ lack of defensive re
bounding and Corliss
Williamson’s foul troubles.
Memphis has the ability “to
get offensive rebound stick-
backs,” Richardson said. “They
get a lot of second-chance points.”
‘We have to be much more ag
gressive and try to get off from
the beginning of the game play
ing that way,” he said. “Usually
when we are playing with aggres
sive board work, we won’t have
too much of a problem.”
Williamson was on the
bench with five fouls Sunday
by the end of regulation play in
the narrow overtime victory
over Syracuse.
Richardson said, “You don’t
want your guy that ... (you) want
to get the ball to fouling out.”
The Kansas-Virginia game
could hinge on the play of the
teams’ big men — the Jayhawks’
7-foot-2 Greg Ostertag and the
Cavaliers’ 6-8 Junior Burrough.
Ostertag is the all-time lead
ing shot-blocker in Big Eight
Conference history with 256.
His intimidating presence in
the middle is a major reason
the Jayhawks are third nation
ally in field goal percentage al
lowed, 37.8.
“He changes things in there,
he’s so big — just the amount
of space available in the paint,”
Virginia coach Jeff Jones said.
“Then when you throw in an
other 6-10 (Scot Pollard) and
another 6-11 guy (Raef
LeFrentz) in there, there’s even
less space.”
Burrough, Virginia’s fifth
all-time leading scorer and No.
2 rebounder, has averaged 26
points and 10 rebounds in the
past six games. He scored 28
points in a 60-54 overtime win
over Miami of Ohio in the sec
ond round.
Arkansas’ Corliss Williamson (left) and Davor Rimac watch a free throw that tied the game with
Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regionals Sunday in Austin.
CBS coverage of women’s basketball NCAA
tournament should equal men’s coverage
I t’s March and
that usually
only means
one thing to
sports fans,
madness.
While the of
fice pools have
already taken
place and em
ployees are either laughing or
crying over their picks,
one thing seems to be wrong
with the picture. Isn’t there a
women’s basketball tourna
ment as well?
Television stations and most
of the media seemed to have
forgotten that the NCAA has
two basketball tournaments.
While the women’s Final Four
will be televised, what about
the other rounds?
It seems that many corpo
rate sponsors are not willing
to risk money on a sport they
believe nobody has any inter
est in. However, they are
wrong. People do watch wom
en’s basketball games and ac
tually like them.
During the regular season,
CBS televises at least two
games a weekend and the rat
ings are usually pretty good.
Now that the tournament has
arrived, those ratings should
be even higher because the best
teams in the country will be go
ing against
each other.
Consider
the No. 1
team in the
nation, the
University of
Connecticut.
Connecticut
boasts a 29-0
record and sold 6,541 season
tickets this season. This illus
trates an interest in women’s
basketball. Some of the best
games in the country will be
played by the 64 teams in the
women’s tournament.
High caliber teams such as
Stanford, Vanderbilt, Ten
nessee, Texas Tech and UConn
provide the excitement neces
sary for any sports nut to grab
a beer and sit down to watch
the game. The play of athletes
such as UConn’s Rebecca Lobo
who is averaging 17.3 points,
10.3 rebounds, 3.4 blocks and
3.8 assists per game are draw
ing an increasing number of
fans to the game.
Women’s basketball has
definitely evolved. Many peo
ple characterize women’s
teams as slow paced and me
thodical but this is no longer
the case. Women players are
bigger, stronger and some of
them can dunk.
Although the attention is
primarily focused on the
men’s tournament, the tide is
beginning to turn. Women’s
teams are just as capable of
providing the upsets, over
times and last second buzzer
beaters that March Madness
fans crave.
While the women’s Final
Four is televised, the net
works must realize that the
earlier round games are just
as if not more exciting that
the semi-final and final game.
It is usually the earlier
rounds that provide the up
sets and last second buzzer
beaters as been seen so far in
the tournament.
For many of these athletes
this is the last chance to “show
their stuff.” Since there is no
professional league this is the
last opportunity for women
players to show off their tal
ents and prove that women’s
basketball is a real sport. Play
ing in the tournament is the
biggest honor that women ath
letes have, they deserve the re
spect of national coverage.
You can’t get too much of a
good thing, so why not extend
March Madness and include
the earlier rounds of the wom
en’s tournament. The interest
is definitely there and it would
benefit both the players and
the fans.
A&M archer wins gold
□ Vic Wunderle brings
home four medals from
Pan Am Games.
By Mark Evans
Special to The Battalion
Texas A&M freshman Vic
Wunderle brought home three
gold medals and a silver medal
in archery after competing in the
Pan American Games in Ar
gentina earlier this week.
Wunderle, a general studies
major from Mason City, Ill., cap
tured gold medals in the 30-me
ter, 50-meter and team competi
tions. In the 30-meter competi
tion, he broke a Pan American
Game record that had stood
since 1987.
He also won a silver medal
in the elimination round
competition.
“The competition was pretty
stiff but not as much as it could
have been because the United
States tends to be a little domi
nant over the other countries.
“I was very happy with my
shooting. I knew I could do it, it
was just a matter of getting up
there and doing my best.”
Wunderle participated in the
Games’ opening ceremonies and
met athletes from all over
the Americas.
“It was really a lot of fun,” he
said. “I enjoyed getting to see
and talk with people from other
sports, spending time learning
about their sports.”
Though he spent most of his
time shooting arrows in competi
tion and in practice, Wunderle
had the chance to play spectator,
taking time to watch the gym
nastics competition.
Wunderle was one of four
men selected to represent the
United States last October in
the trials for the Pan American
Games. At 18 years old, he was
the youngest member of the
men’s team by about 15 years.
Wunderle started shooting at
age five when he used a bow
made out of a willow branch to
shoot arrows at a bale of hay.
The following year he won his
first archery tournament. At
first, he didn’t know he had won.
He was only expecting a medal
for participating.
“I ended up winning the tour
nament, but I was too young to
read the scoreboard, so I didn’t
know,” he said.
Since then, he has traveled
all over the United States and
the world competing in archery
tournaments. He has twice cap
tured archery’s junior world
champion title.
Wunderle said he plans to take
time off from school later this
year to train for the 1996
Olympics.
“I’m just going to try and
work hard and do my best when
the time comes,” he said.
The Battalion • Page 7
Swedish
golfer
makes mark
at A&M
By Jim Anderson
The Battalion
Freshman golfer Isabelle Ros-
berg brings a bit of international
flavor to the Texas A&M wom
en’s golf team.
The “Swedish sensation” has
been one of A&M’s best in her
first season on the links. She
leads the Lady Aggies as they
enter the Texas A&M Book
store/Monica Welsh Memorial
Tournament starting today at
the Pebble Creek Country Club.
Rosberg credits her play this
year to the encouragement of
her teammates. They have
helped her get through the
pressure of collegiate level golf
as well as adjusting to a for
eign country.
“Kristina (Edfors) is also from
Sweden so she has helped me
adapt to everything that goes on
here at Texas A&M,” Rosberg
said. “There are many differ
ences both in the style of golf
and socially between the United
States and Sweden.”
Rosberg has been playing golf
since the age of nine. She credits
her family for stimulating her
interest in the game and encour
aging her competitive nature.
“My older brother is my
biggest idol in golf,” Rosberg
said. “He’s beat me all of our
lives, but I think that I’m about
to catch up with him.”
Sweden’s excellent junior golf
program provided the perfect
opportunity for Rosberg to fine
tune her game. She moved from
the junior level to the national
team, for which she still plays.
“The Swedish national team
is one of the best in the world,”
Rosberg said. “I played on the
junior team for one year and
will be on the senior team for
my third straight year.”
The difficult courses in Swe
den also allowed Rosberg to
develop into a player who could
compete on the collegiate
level. These courses are quite
different from those in the
United States.
“In Sweden all of the courses
are public,” Rosberg said. “There
are no country club courses
which allows everyone to play
and improve.”
Rosberg finished among the
top three in the Betsy Rawls
Longhorn Classic held March 10-
12 in Austin. This was a feat ac
complished by only three other
Aggies in the last twenty years of
Betsy Rawls competition.
She attributes her success
this year to the fact that she has
improved her game mentally.
“Golf is vpry much a mental
game in that you have to visual
ize in your mind what you want
to accomplish and then put it
into action,” Rosberg said. “You
have to set long term and short
term goals for yourself.”
Rosberg said she is not so
goal-oriented that she loses
sight of the overall purpose of
the game.
“I love playing the game of
golf and have fun every time
that I go out there,” Rosberg
said. “You have to have fun at
what you do or else you will not
be successful.”
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MSC Political Forum
S’ . -A
presents:
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»us Issues:
Student Body President Forum
A question and answer session with the candidates for
Student Body President
Monday, March 27, 1995, at 8:00 p.m.
in the MSC Flagroom
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The views expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of
MSC Political Forum, Texas A&M University, or the MSC.