Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1997)
Vednesday • June 25, 1997 tfPORTS Briefs Cl cco edWing player instantly improving , S The Battalion PORTS OAK, Mich. (AP) — The cess of weaning Detroit Red igs defenseman Vladimir Kon- itinov from a ventilator began sday, a doctor said. Konstantinov has been on a ven- lor since he and two other mem- isofthe Red Wings organization leinjured when the limousine they iein struck a tree on June 13. ‘Mr. Konstantinov continues to ike purposeful movements in re use to family, teammates and deal staff, opening his eyes and wiftieezinghands on command,” said dmi Karol Zakalik, a neurosurgeon at tersi liam Beaumont Hospital. re i livorce finalized )rDavid Justice I® (JLANTA (AP) — David Justice and TBerry are officially divorced, lie couple, in a joint statement re- sed Tuesday, said terms and condi- jsofthe divorce were confidential. Miss Berry and Mr. Justice each ^.ethe highest respect for the h” erpersonally and professionally 1(61,1 ;they both deeply regret that the tto iiriage was not a successful ® the statement said. “They ex- s 31 ® their hope that they will re- n a good friends." IfTFulton Superior Court judge the final order June 20 in y divorce of the former At- Bta Braves outfielder, who now ays for the Cleveland Indians, id the actress. hoenix guard will ome back for 1998 PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns ard Kevin Johnson, who toyed with e idea of retiring after last season, returning for one more year and a ported$7 million salary. intended to play 10 years and tytfouldbe it. At the endof the sea- Jstillfelt that way,” Johnson said sday at a news conference at ricalVest Arena. I'ButJerry (Colangelo) said we had plk.ldug down deep in my soul for ecision and this is it.” louston Oilers' arlyexit approved HOUSTON (AP) — With neither tenor discussion, Harris Coun commissioners Tuesday unani- agreed to accept $3.5 mil- Ufrom the Houston Oilers so the fl team can escape its As- lome lease a year early and set ■shop in Tennessee. The action took just a few sec- feand was included in several «en items rubber-stamped si- taneously by the Harris County tenissioners Court. “I'm pleased we have now got »s behind us,” County Judge %t Eckels said after the 3-0 He. “I think it’s a fair deal for the Rpayers of Harris ‘County. We teinwith a practice facility and think we’re coming out lead of the game.” The man who is behind madness of A&M sports Groff heads one of the nation’s biggest athletic departments Photograph: Derek Demere A&M Athletic Director Wally Groff has a rich A&M background. He was a student and has worked for the University for 31 years. When people think of college ath letics, athletes pumping iron, prac ticing and competing in games come to mind. What may not come to mind are the hard working individ uals behind the scenes. Officials in the Big 12 conference, those who work for various parts of the athlet ic department and those who keep the athletes in line are crucial to any athletic program. The Battalion will feature these individuals who make the A&M athletic program one of the tops in the country and illustrate the people behind the names. Part one in a series By Travis V. Dabney The Battalion W ally Groff is the definition of a loyal company man. He began his career at Texas A&M University as a student and has not left since. Groff became A&M’s athletic di rector in 1993 after working his way up from business manager. He has a difficult job because he has to deal with many different aspects of running one of the largest athletic departments in the country. Although Groff’s duties vary, he has several that usually present themselves on a consistent basis. They range from running the busi ness department and making him self available to coaches and assis tant athletic directors, administra tion, alumni, student athletes and the 12th Man Foundation. These tasks, as well as the formation and continued development of the Big 12 Conference, dominate Groff’s job as athletic director. During his time here at A&M, Groff has found time to raise a family. He has a wife, two sons and a daughter. Everyone in Groff’s family has gradu ated from A&M, except his youngest son Dennis, who plans to attend A&M. When he can find time in his busy schedule, Groff describes him self as an “outdoors man.” He enjoys fishing and hunting as well as just putting in a hard days work outside. Groff has recently purchased land on the Brazos River, where he plans to build his family home. Although Groff admits he enjoys these things, his time is limited, so he looks for personal pleasures in his job. For example, Groff gets a tremendous amount of satisfaction from the several conventions that he travels to each year, as well as speak ing engagements that he attends at A&M clubs around the state. Groff believes there are four as pects that make a good athletic de partment. His criteria include a great university, good facilities, good coaches and good students. Groff said he believes A&M meets all of them. While Groff said the A&M Ath letic Department has all the tools necessary to be an overall impres sive department, he does acknowl edge that the department had a less than spectacular performance in the previous academic year, but said the Athletic Department will be as strong as ever for years to come. One of Groff’s main goals since he has become athletic director has been to improve the facilities at A&M. Groff calls himself a “frustrated architect.” Since Groff took over the posi tion of athletic director, he has overseen the the building of Reed Arena, the planned improvements of Kyle Field and the building of a new tennis facility. Also, the athlet ic department has overseen the re placement of the turf in Kyle Field with grass and the planned building of of two new grass practice fields south of Kyle Field. “There will be no reason to be lieve that our facilities will not be in the top five to ten in the nation when all of the planned projects have been completed,” Groff said. The main duty of a Big 12 athletic director, besides running his own school’s program, is to the conference. While the Big 12 members have had several disagreements in the past year, Groff said this situation is a positive one and that all the mem bers have made several sacrifices for the improved state of the league. ’ Groff said he is happy with thp status of the new conference. Please see Groff on Page 6. NBA Draft ’97 outcome will be unpredictable Only certain thing: Duncan is first * CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The NBA draft will be held Wednesday night and Wake Forest center Tim Duncan will be the No. 1 pick. That much is certain. It’s a guessing game as to what happens after that. “In past years we’d at least know who the Nos. 2,3 and 4 picks are,” Minnesota general manager Kevin McHale said Tuesday. Not so this year. What follows is an educated guess at which teams will do what. 1. San Antonio — OK, no educated guess here because the selection of Duncan is a certainty. Coach Gregg Popovich says only four or five teams called to ask about the pick because every one knew the Spurs would be foolish to even think of trading it. 2. Philadelphia —The chances are 50-50 that this pick ends up with some other team. The 76ers are flooded with of fers from teams wanting to move up and select Utah forward Keith Van Horn. The guess here is that coach Larry Brown trades the pick and gets an awful lot in return. 3. Boston — Coach Rick Pitino on Tuesday publicly listed his team’s needs: center, point guard, shooting guard, power forward. What he really wants is Van Horn. If he’s gone, look for the pick to be Colorado point guard Chauncey Billups. 4. Vancouver—A couple of weeks ago, this pick, too, was a 50-50 shot to be dealt. General manager Stu Jackson still has n’t hired a coach, maybe because he has big plans for a swap. If the Grizzlies keep it, Bowling Green point guard Antonio Daniels is the man. 5. Denver — With Antonio McDyess rumored to be look ing to flee as a free agent next summer, the Nuggets are faced with a trade-him-or-lose-him dilemma. In the absence of a decent offer, though, they should be expected to add Tony Battie of Texas Tech as insurance. 6. Boston—If Pitino keeps the pick, the ex- Kentucky coach grabs Wildcat Ron Mercer after scaring everyone else off him. 7. New Jersey — The Nets, ever cautious since theYinka Dare fiasco, figure to go with what worked last year — a Vil- lanova player. Please see Draft on Page 6. hud AP David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs look to the winning track with the first round draft pick. file photo get on San Antonio Spurs have first pick SAN ANTONIO (AP) —Armed with the No. 1 pick, the' San Antonio Spurs enter Wednesday’s NBA Draft in the en viable position of getting to select center Tim Duncan of Wake Forest. And after the gloomy 20-62 season San Antonio suffered through, the Spurs are savoring and celebrating every moment of draft week. “It just makes it easy to have a big smile on your face,” said Spurs coach and general manager Gregg Popovich. “It make's it easier to forget last year and just move on.” When San Antonio won the NBA Draft lottery in ^ ^ May, beating out Philadelphia and 1 Boston, there was no question the 6-foot- 10 Duncan would be the player the Spurs would choose. The NCAA Player of the Year and twice a first-team All-American, Duncan av eraged 20.8 points, a national-best 14.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots per game his senior year at Wake Forest. With All-Star center David Robinson expected to return healthy from back and foot injuries this fall, the Spurs are view^ ing the versatile Duncan as part of a powerful frontline along side the 7-foot-1 Robinson. “We’ve got two guys that are very dangerous at both ends of the court. At that size, it’s a pretty awesome tandem,” Popovich said. Robinson, who also expressed excitement about Duncan, has been working out daily and is expected to have physical contact on the court with Duncan by August. Since the lottery, Popovich has met with Duncan, a native of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and said he has been im pressed by the player’s intelligence and sense of humor. m Please see Spurs on Page 4. COMPUTER REPAIR & SUPPORT College Station Facility UCS continues to grow with more than 2000 clients nationwide. We sell and support powerful systems including PC’s, CRT’s, printers, modems, controllers, mainframes, and many other devices. Current open positions require formal electronics training and an interest in the computer industry. The following positions require relocation to our multimillion dollar expansion site in Bryan/College Station. TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Will provide ongoing, daily support regarding the repair and maintenance of customized computer systems to our technicians and client base. Duties also involve testing and researching hardware issues relating to all UCS equipment. Associate’s degree or military electronics training is required. BENCH TECHNICIAN TRAINER: Will involve component level repair of all UCS peripheral equipment at our College Station facility. No travel involved. All tools and scopes provided. Associate’s degree or Military electronics training is required. HARDWARE TECHNICIAN TRAINER: Will involve developing and conducting training programs lor incoming UCS hardware technicians. Should possess knowledge of electronics and an interest in teaching. Degree preferred. HARDWARE TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION: Will involve writing, editing, support and production of hardware publications. Bachelor’s degree is preferred. Any knowledge of Interleaf, Photoshop or Windows software would be helpful. All offer full salary plus a benefits package including medical, dental and vision insurance, direct deposit, 401k and semi-annual performance evaluations. UCS promotes a healthy lifestyle by sponsoring a variety of sports events and hiring only non-tobacco users. EOE. To find out more about these opportunities, please call or submit resume to: Universal Computer Systems, Inc. Attn, ad# 486 6700 Hollister, Houston, TX 77040 1-800-883-3031, fax (713) 718-1401 http://www.ucs-systems.com Now fi UNIVERSITY KENSINGTON TERRACE APARTMENTS PLACE fiPfiRTMENTS § Swimming Pool § Laundry Facility § Covered Parking %> Walking Distance to Campus § 1,2 & 3 Bedrooms • 2 Swimming Pools • Exercise Room • Free Tanning Beds • Covered Parking • Water & Cable Paid Free Bus Pass or $100 gift certificate at Bothers with lease signing. 1700 George Bush Dr. College Station 401 Harvey Road College Station 693-1930 693-1111 MONTERREY APARTMENTS <£» Swimming Pool O Laundry Facility O Water & Sewer Paid 0 Quiet Cul-de-sac location ^ Vaulted Ceilings 0 Near Shuttle Bus Route 0 Abundant Parking # 1 & 2 Bedrooms 2000 Kazmeier Bryan 268-0840 The Battalion’s now offering access to The WIRE A 24-hour, multimedia news service for the Internet from The Associated Press The WIRE provides continuously updated news coverage from one of the world’s oldest, largest news services via The Battalion's web page. ■ A comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news report combining the latest AP stories with photos, graphics, sound and video. ■ Headlines and bulletins delivered as soon as news breaks. http://bat-web.tamu.edu IIIH