Vednesday • June 25, 1997
tfPORTS
Briefs
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edWing player
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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