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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1997)
pfonday -June 16, 1997 S The Battalion PORTS 'iPORTS Briefs for? led Wings player | nc |owing good signs pen!ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — Detroit i m^Wings defenseman Vladimir Kon- I julntinov appears to be responding ItireJUie voices of his teammates and 1% a doctor said Sunday, ipel’lt's a hopeful sign,” said Dr. 'uspes Robbins, a trauma surgeon at liam Beaumont Hospital. “We're Jlnotout of the woods. ... There’s lighilreason for a lot of concern. ] ‘But it's an optimistic sign and it leof^sgood reason to remain hopeful bhipoptimistic that he’s going to ulti- thofpy do well.” [lead: tonstantinov, 30, and team iroiipeur Sergei Mnatsakanov, 43, re- ^nafred in comas Sunday on ventila- fsand in critical condition. Wings de- Ihu-teeman Viacheslav Fetisov and linjjwsine driver Richard Gnida, 28, re- irallfced in good condition and should }in|treleased soon, Robbins said, here The four were injured when the 3me»sine carrying the team mem- Ity lets home from a team golf outing apshed into a tree in a median about [s orpp.m. Friday in Birmingham. The Id. phoccurred six days after the Red lorpgs won the Stanley Cup for the | thpttime since 1955. kely pros top Twins fchjn inter league play HOUSTON (AP) — In the National .eague, bunts are a big thing. And a botched bunt led to a totalled fielding play Sunday, giving he Houston As hes a 3-2 victory ficejMr the Min- heeliesota Twins. (tudy ‘Itwasagam- He;Astros man ager Larry Dierk- ersaid. “It could iiavebeen a dou- should have been a dou ble play. But it Dierker % time to JMethings up." Terry Stein bach allowed the win- f if run to score when he failed to Pat Listach’s popped up . her I squeeze attempt in the ninth inning. 3Urs 'We hadn’t tried anything like that 302. fcyear but there was a sense of ur- Sency,” Dierker said. With the score 2-2 and one out in p ninth, Eddie Guardado (0-2) and talked Derek Bell and Mike Trombley ies. talked pinch-hitter Sean Berry and no,todAusmus, loading the bases, nee With Bell running on the pitch, Lis- pplHtach bunted the ball about four feet larelfrontof home plate. Steinbach al- |n in host caught the ball, but hobbled it ues-Wan error. SportsLine Young athletes in training Texas A&M hosts a plethora of camps for kids this summer Ras Sykes of Pershi Tony Barone’s Aggie The camp runs from ng Middle School Basketball Camp June 15-19. Photograph: Robert McKay takes a shot at the basket during practice at Sunday afternoon at G. Rollie White Coliseum. By Matt Mitchell The Battalion Ihey have arrived with such a common vig or and excitement, one might at first think that Texas A&M had been the victim of a cloning experiment gone horribly awry. Sweaty, sunburned adolescents running around campus and jostling for position at the ar cade in Hullabaloo have turned the first summer session into the closest thing to Disneyland this side of Captain Eo. And they’re just getting started. The kids are a primarily part of the summer camps offered by branches of the Texas A&M Athletic Department, most no tably women’s basketball and both men’s and women’s ten nis. As the summer progresses, however, camps for virtually every varsity sport will be of fered, ensuring a steady flow of young people to Aggieland. The campers inhabit A&M and Cain Hall for the better part of a week, making life hectic for coaches and counselors alike. Tracy Lange, an assistant women’s basketball coach, says that of the five camps her program runs, the week- long camps draw anywhere from 200 to 220 girls, while the shorter position camps attract as many as 150 players. Using G. Rollie White Coliseum and that spe cial part of the Reed Building known as “the Sweatbox,” Lang and her fellow coaches put the young cagers through their paces nearly every waking hour, stopping only briefly for meals and an occasional afternoon nap. Even after supper, the girls are back in the gym, but this time the activities are steered away from the drilling of offense and defense, and they get to apply what they’ve learned earlier that day with games of five-on-five. We want them to leave here getting their money’s worth and improve and have a good experience.” Tracy Lange assistant basketball coach “We want them to leave here getting their mon ey’s worth and improve and have a good experi ence,” Lange said. “It’s very fundamental, basic basketball, but there is some time to go swimming, to the MSC or at least explore campus a little bit.” The girl’s basketball camp is open for grades 5- 12, but almost half have been 7th and 8th graders. This age player undoubtedly presents a different challenge to coaches used to working with older, more mature players. “It’s a nice break, but it’s very different (from coaching college players),” Lange said. “But the re warding part is when you actually see a kid come in and work on whatever it is, and by the end of the week seeing them make that move and improving, and feeling more confident about their basketball skills.” Coincidentally, Lange’s hus band Kel, an assistant men’s ten nis coach for A&M, is a director for the co-ed tennis camps of fered for four weeks this sum mer. The summer tennis camps have historically been some of the most well-attended and well-run camps A&M offers. Lange credits the staff, made up of local high school coaches and an assortment of college players, for keeping the camps at or near their 125-camper capacity each week. “The instructors have the freedom and cre ativity to do things that are helpful to them as well as us giving them ideas,” he said. “The camp is run, basically, by the instructors we hire, and they’re given the freedom to teach the way they’re comfortable teaching, and I think that really makes it successful.” Unlike the basketball camp, the tennis camp tries to balance tennis and social activities for the campers. These social activities serve to acclimate the campers to Texas A&M, as well as helping the young teens feel more comfortable with meetings and getting to know new people. Please see Camps on Page 4 Els wins second U.S. Open A&M’s Maggert finishes fourth Maior League Baseball Houston ....3 Cubs ...A Minnesota 2 Milwaukee 3 Wees 8 Baltimore ....5 tek 5 Atlanta 3 Ihite Sox ...14 Cleveland 9 Cincinnati 6 St. Louis ? loronto ...11 Yankees 6 Madelohia... 1 Marlins S Montreal ...10 Texas 7 Detroit 2 San Dieao 4 Maior League Soccer San lose 3 Dallas 3 Kansas City... 1 NY-NI 1 Colorado 2 Los Angeles.... 4 Columbus 0 Tampa Bav 1 BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Ernie Els handled the heat on Congres sional Countiy Club’s grueling back nine Sunday and won his second U.S. Open championship in four years in a stirring four-way duel down the stretch. Els, just 27 years old, knocked in a testy 4-foot putt on the final hole to finish at 4-undef-par 276, one stroke ahead of Colin Montgomerie and two better than Tom Lehman, who suffered his third U.S. Open disappointment in three years. When the final putt fell, the South African raised both arms in triumph over his head, gave a play ful hug to his caddie, and then sank into a warm embraces with his mother, father and girlfriend. While the putt on 18 was the win ner, Els had the shot of the day on the 480-yard 17th hole when he hit a 5-iron from 212 yards to just 12 feet on the dangerous peninsula green. “Seventeen was probably the shot of the tournament for me,” Els said. “I’m unbelievably delighted. Win ning U.S. Opens doesn’t come easy. I really worked hard for this one.” Lehman and Montgomerie both lost their chances on No. 17 — Montgomerie when he made a bo gey for the fourth consecutive day and Lehman when his bold shot at the flag came up short and left and bounced into the water. It was the third straight year Lehman has played in the final group at the U.S. Open and the third time he has come up short, finishing second last year and third in 1995. Montgomerie has had his own disappointments in major champi onships. In addition to losing the 1994 U.S. Open in a playoff to Els, he lost the 1995 PGA in a playoff to Steve Elkington. Els had to go extra holes to win his first U.S. Open, enduring an 18- hole playoff at Oakmont in 1994 with Loren Roberts and Mont gomerie and then going an addi tional two sudden death holes with Roberts before victory. He needed to play some extra holes Sunday as well. Returning to the course at 7 a.m. to complete the rain- delayed third round, Els made three birdies in the five holes he played, then shot a 69 in the final round. His 4-under-par effort for 23 holes on Sunday was a magnificent effort on a day when the field aver aged nearly 4 over par. Lehman started the day with a two-stroke lead over Els and Jeff Maggert and three ahead of Mont gomerie. But by the time that four some — playing in the final two groups of the day—reached the 11th hole, they were tied at 4 under par. Only Els was able to walk off the 18th green still at that number. He got to 4 under with a chip-in from 15 yards on No. 10 and got to 5 under on No. 12 when he stuffed a 5- iron on the 187-yard par-3 to 12 feet and made the putt. Els gave that stroke back with a bogey out of the deep rough on the next hole, but fin ished with five straight pars — some thing none of the other three could do. “Funny things happen in ma jors,” Els said. “You’ve just got to hang in there. At U.S. Opens, you just try to make par.” Maggert, who ended up shoot ing a 74 to finish fourth at 1 over par, was the first to fall by the wayside. He had a three putt on No. 13, miss ing a 5-footer, then bogeyed No. 16 out of the greenside rough and made a double on No. 17 with an other three putt. Lehman slipped back with a bo gey on No. 14, playing two shots from the rough, but roared back on the next hole with a sand wedge from 107 yards that nearly went in the cup on the fly, ending up 18 inches from the hole for birdie. When he made a bogey on No. 16 — again from the rough — he tried to attack the dangerous pin on No. 17 and ended in the water. Please see Open on Page 4 Rodman needs to just go away N ow that the Chicago Bulls have finished pummeling the rest of the NBA into submis sion, answers to ques tions long pondered may be addressed and answered with some degree of certainty. We may finally be granted some relief to speculation that the Bulls are are a modern-day dynasty and one of the greatest teams ever. Make no mistake, they are. But the six-game Finals se ries only served to further es tablish Michael Jordan as the finest player of the modern era rather than as a testament to the Bulls’ greatness. It could be said that the Bulls played uninspired basketball un til the fourth quarter, when they allowed Superman to once again don his cape. Jordan managed to carry a mediocre team to the promised land with decidedly limited contributions from such disap- Sportswriter Matt Mitchell Junior journalism major pearing acts as Luc Longley, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr, deci sive 15-footer (again created by Jordan) notwithstanding. The greatest ab sence of all, however, was that of the erst while snow-cone Den nis Rodman, whose technicolor noggin was last seen being smacked around by the likes of Karl Mal one and Greg Ostertag. With Scottie Pippen nursing a foot injury, the role of Jor dan’s sidekick was up in the air, and though Rodman’s head was already full of that very same substance, he was never theless expected to be the most likely candidate to have a good series. But the man who once dressed as a bride was nowhere to be found, and as the ball caromed time and again, disappearing Den nis left Jordan standing at the alter. Please see Mitchell on Page 4 Gaming Night . '■ ' •••: ;> sit Hullabaloo Come join us for an evening of FREE bowling, FREE pool, and FREE refreshments at Hullabaloo in the Memorial Student Center!! June 17 from 7 PM - 10 PM. Sponsored by Food Services, TAVS, Inc., ^rr MSC-NOVA University Center Complex, TAMU Bookstore, and Residence Life & Housing. Persons with disabilities please call us at (409) 845-1515 so that we may assist you at the event. WHAT’S IT LIKE AT THE PLASMA CENTER! To the staff of the Plasma Center, I would like to start by saying thank you to each and every employee for making the past three years enjoyable in a professional, efficient and courteous environment. As a donor since 1993, I have been more than satis fied with every aspect of your operation, which allows myself and others to contribute what we can to community service, all the while being serviced by diligent, but relaxed, workers. Everyone at the Plasma Center, from those behind the front counter to the phlebotomists to the supervisors, have made great efforts to insure that each donor feels hygienically safe, as well as keeping the atmosphere lig^it. Like most, I started coming to the Plasma Center for monetary reasons, but I soon developed acquaintances that appealed to me almost as much as the original need for money, enabling me to look forward to each donation, not only for my wallet’s sake but also to see my friends. Like I commented to some one recently, talking to people at the Plasma Center was like getting mail from a far-off friend that you don’t get to do much with, but who you can talk to as often as you write. For those acquaintances and for your continual services. I would like to thank all of those I’ve come to know and appreciate over the past three years - Emily, and Tracy, Heath, and Marty, Ada and Josie, etc... more I can’t remember or those who have gone on to better things. So, as I graduate from this great University, I bid you all a fond farewell and strong commendations on such a successful blend of quality medical practice and friendly service. Thank you all and have a great sum mer. Thanks, C.L BiologicalS THE PLASMA CENTER 700 E. University Dr. 268-6050 4223 Wellborn Rd. 846-8855
