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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1995)
Thursday • April 6, 1995 The Battalion • Pagfe 7 SPORTS Woods youngest golfer to play in US Open AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — It’s impossible to turn around at the Masters without tripping over tradition. The Augusta National Golf Club is simply hip-deep in history, wading in milestones and awash with wonderous accomplishments. And like with any institution, change comes reluctantly and progress is measured more in inches than yards. All of that will be evident Thursday when play starts at the 59th Masters. Tiger Woods, the 19-year-old U.S. Amateur champion, makes his debut 20 years after Lee Elder broke the color line at the Masters. Arnold Palmer plays here for the 40th consecutive year. And Nick Price tries to become the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1971-72 to win three consecutive major championships and join only Nicklaus and Ben Hogan has having held three major titles simulaneously since the Masters became a major. Modano injured in Stars’ tie with Vancouver VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Dallas Stars may be without scoring star Mike Modano for an extended period after he apparently suffered tendon damage in his right leg. Modano was hurt in the second period of a 2-2 overtime tie against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. One unconfirmed report indicated Modano seriously hurt his right leg when slashed by Vancouver’s Pavel Bure. He continued playing after the slash, but crashed into the boards when dumped by backchecking Canucks winger Tim Hunter, who drew a hooking minor. "Mike twisted his ankle and couldn’t skate on it for the rest of the game,” said Dallas coach Bob Gainey. "It was the same ankle he hurt before. "It might be a different problem this time, I don’t know for sure.” Olajuwon, Maxwell grounded by anemia HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Rockets team doctor recommended Wednesday that Hakeem Olajuwon and Vernon Maxwell miss the three remaining games of the team’s road trip because of their iron- defiCiency anemia. ‘They’re each up the equivalent of 2 1/2 units of blood from the iron (supplements) but they’re still low,” Dr. Jim Muntz said. The two players, who already have missed four games, have been practicing and are nearly at full speed. “If they went back and played in the next day or two, they’d probably feel some ill effects,” the doctor said. Muntz believed the pair would be ready for the next Houston home game, Tuesday against Dallas. Bulls cut down Nets, Jordan scores 37 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Michael Jordan, shaking off a 2-of- 13 first half, scored 30 of his 37 points after halftime Wednesday night to lead the Chicago Bulls to their fifth straight win, 108-101 over the New Jersey Nets. The loss was the fifth in a row and ninth in 10 games for the Nets, who played Chicago tough despite being without injured starters Derrick Coleman and Chris Morris. New Jersey actually had several chances to tie the game in the final five minutes, but it couldn’t make the big shots or stop Jordan. Jordan scored 30 of the Bulls’ 54 second-half points, 15 of their 23 points in the final quarter and seven of their final nine. He finished 13-of-31 from the field and added 11 rebounds. Bench contributions make Spurs best in West AP photo Boston Celtics’ Rick Fox gets screened out by San Antonio Spurs’ J.R. Reid as Spurs’ Sean Elliot dri ves past earlier this season. The Spurs currently have the best record in the NBA. □ San Antonio is 9-0 since Dennis Rodman's shoulder injury. SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Win ners of 12 straight and owners of the league’s best record, the San Antonio Spurs want to make one thing perfectly clear: there’s more to this team than David Robinson and Den nis Rodman. Yes, Robinson is putting up MVP-type numbers and Rod man’s rebounding keeps the Spurs from being just another Western Conference finesse team. But their climb up the NBA standings has been fueled by an assortment of oft-injured veterans and other players who have spent their careers being overlooked and underestimated. The Spurs are 9-0 since Rod- man separated his shoulder in a motorcycle wreck, and on Sun day, San Antonio beat Phoenix in a game in which Robinson played only 32 minutes because of foul trouble. “I don’t know what else we have to do to convince people that we're really for real and that these guys are on a mis sion,” Spurs coach Bob Hill said. “But we’ll keep it up.” What has kept the Spurs go ing in Rodman’s absence — he likely will be out another week — is the play of Sean Elliott and Terry Cummings, the first a flop on a weak Pistons team and the second an aging forward getting his first significant minutes in 2 1/2 years. Also in the mix are ninth- year pro Chuck Person, adding firepower off the bench, and 33- year-old Doc Rivers, waived in December by New York after missing more than 11 months with injuries. "Everybody says we’re vul nerable without Dennis, and we are. We’ve known that,” said El liott, averaging career-high 18.3 points a game in his second stint with the Spurs. "But there are other guys on this team.” In fact, Elliott thinks the veterans, aches and all, are the Spurs’ best weapon, lending maturity that could prove cru cial in an NBA Finals with youthful Orlando. “You can knock old guys all day,” Elliott said, "but I love them. They have proven them selves individually and now they want to prove themselves on a team. That makes our chemistry so much better.” Taking Rodman’s place in the starting lineup, 34-year- old Cummings has helped take up the rebounding slack and defensive duties. He also was the only Spur to publicly criticize the flamboyant forward for getting hurt while doing something forbidden by his contract. Despite what he saw as Rod man's irresponsibility, Cum mings said the Spurs would have kept winning anyway. “The team was getting ready to go to the next level anyway,” he said. “It made us get to where we were going quicker. We were right there before Dennis went down.” With Rodman back, San An tonio is confident they can win the title, especially if they se cure home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Even finishing atop the conference would be a first. Any skepticism about the Spurs’ title chances may stem from the fact that of their 12 consecutive wins, only three — over Seattle, the Lakers and Phoenix — have come against teams with winning records. And the rest of their schedule invites the Spurs to cruise right into the playoffs. After next Wednesday’s game at Phoenix, San Antonio’s final six games are against sub-.500 teams with the Clippers and the Timber- wolves among them. There’s also the matter of get ting past the first round, some thing the Spurs have failed to do in three of the last four seasons. “We’re focused towards where we want to be,” Robinson said. “We feel like there’s still three or four steps we want to make be fore we get to the playoffs, and we’re trying to use these games to do that.” Former Baylor □ Three of Johnson's assistant coaches were convicted for wire and mail fraud. WACO, Texas (AP) — A federal jury acquitted former Baylor basketball coach Darrel Johnson Wednesday, but convict ed three of his assistants on various wire fraud and mail fraud charges in connec tion with their recruitment of five junior college players in 1993. The jury found that although John son was responsible for the Bears basket ball program, he was unaware of improper help his assistants gave to enable the re cruits to pass classes they needed to enroll at Baylor University. Johnson, who was indicted one day after Baylor fired him in November, was ac quitted of all seven counts: four counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy. His assistants, however, were found guilty of various charges: —Assistant coach Gary Thomas was convicted of four counts of wire fraud and acquitted on three counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. —Assistant coach Troy Drummond was convicted of three counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud and acquitted of three counts of wire fraud. —Assistant coach Kevin Gray was convicted of three counts of wire fraud, the only charges that he faced. The jury’s verdict came after a third Johnson coach acquitted day of deliberations. The NCAA has not announced the re sults of its investigations into the re cruiting violations of which Johnson’s staff was accused. Prosecutors had accused the Baylor coaches of helping the five junior college players make higher grades by providing them term papers written by others and changing grades. The mail fraud and wire fraud charges were filed because the U.S. mail and telephone facsimile equipment were used in the process. The jury began deliberating the case late Monday afternoon following almost five hours of summations from attorneys in the case. The assistant coaches face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each of the wire fraud and mail fraud counts. No date was set for the trial’s punishment phase. That will be up to the judge. Johnson refused to comment after the verdicts and walked out of the courtroom with a solemn expression. His attorney, Jim Darnell of El Paso, said, “The jury worked for Darrel John son. I don’t want to say anything about anybody else.” Members of the jury also declined to comment. The jury foreman, Manuel Lopez, issued a brief statement. “None of us wants to be bothered by the media. Adios. Goodbye,” Lopez said on the cour thouse steps. Lopez then handed a reporter a handwritten note he had signed that stated: “Our duty as a jury was to make a decision based upon the evi dence presented in court. We fulfilled that obligation.” Streetball: I love this game! O n Monday night, basketball fans from coast to coast watched as UCLA beat Arkansas for the NCAA basket ball championship. While the college basketball year may be over, street court bas ketball continues year round. On any given Saturday around Bryan-College Station “mini-championships” are played as basketball enthusiasts invade the court to “replay” the championships of years past. Everyone from the 13-year-old sport ing Michael Jordan’s retired number, 23, to the 43-year-old “weekend athlete,” is on the court practicing their hook shots and lay-ups while alluding defenders. The typical player, as I discovered last Saturday at the South wood Valley court, comes in various shapes and sizes. Any one has the potential to play street ball. There are no scouts gate keeping who captures their dreams and who does not. Meet Rick Garcia. You know this kind of player. He’s the one who al ways makes the shots, but he’s just plain lucky. He doesn’t jump much, nor does he make many quick moves, but somehow he makes the NBA three or the inside shot every time he touch es the ball. In fact, he looks like he would make a better offensive line man than a basketball player. Then, there’s Bryan Baldwin. He’s quick, and even has a few old moves from his high school days that he dis plays a couple of times a game. The best part of his game is his mouth. The intim idation factor is definitely on his side. Phillip Strickhausen is the kind of player everyone wants on their team. He’s serious and he has fun. He makes some serious shots, too, to keep his team in the game. He also analyzes everyone else’s play. He says, “Hey, you need to shoot more,” or “Thanks for riding my way to the basket.” Of course, there’s the athlete. Sean Aguilar is the one that everyone wants to pick for their team. Everyone assists this player on his way to the basket. He makes shots. When he’s off, he gets mad at himself and his teammates. He’s the competitor on the team. Then, of course, there’s always a slew of guys who just quietly play the game and add to the score. Finally, there’s the underrated, experienced player that al ways has to prove themselves. Vickie Hennings is probably the most experienced player on the team besides Aguilar. She shoots from the perimeter and the inside. She has a few break away moves for several lay-ups. She has no problem proving herself. Twelve points, three blocks and two steals later, she gains enough respect to earn the la bel ‘the Shaq’ at the end of the game. Streetball players have the desire to win. They use their own styles to play the game. And, the funny thing is that each works in his own way. With these players, the true spirit of competition is displayed. College or professional ball may have great athletes with big hearts, but neighborhood ball does not discrimi nate against any type of player. Every one wants to play. And each wants to be a champion. Quality Deals in Bryan - College Station ‘95 Buick Le Sabre • Power Locks, • Power Windows, • Tilt Wheel, •AM/FM Cassette, • Much more. ‘95 Pontiac Grand Am SE Coupe • Power Locks, • Power Steering, • ABS, • AM/FM, • Driver Air Bag & more MSRP *21,309 Disc 1014 Rebate -300 MSRP *14429 Disc 934 Rebate -500 Sale Price *19995 st. #S4-ii4 Sale Price *12995 st. #32-205 "Quality m ☆ SUPER STORE ^ PONTIAC • BUICK • CMC ^ Where Quality Always Exceeds The Price! 779-1000 Where Quality Always Exceeds the Price! 601 S. TEXAS, BRYAN 779-1000 ' ^ 4.0 and GO Tutorinci Located at 700 E. University Dr., Suite 108 Behind Golden Corral and Blockbuster Video across from the Hilton On the Centerpole Bus Route For questions call 846-TUTOR (846-8886) Cl his Week! Sunday April 9 Monday April 10 Tuesday April 11 Wednesday April 12 Thursday April 13 5-8 p.m. Acct 230 Review 7-9 p.m. Math 152 Part 1 Math 152 Part II Math 152 Part III Math 152 Part IV 6-9 p.m. Acct 229 Prac. Prob. 7-10 p.m. Fine 341 Ch. 8, 16 Fine 341 Ch. 16 Test Review • 8-11 p.m. Fine 341 Ch. 7,8 9-11 p.m. Bana 303 Part I 9-11 p.m. Bana 303 Part II Bana 303 Part III Bana 303 Part IV For questions call 846-TUTOR (846-8886)