• Mie Battalion
S PORTS
Page 3 • Wednesday, July 14, 1999
ra|A. duel for the ages?
mTiger Woods, David Duval try to become
Wmhe next big rivalry in the world of sports
ise vntp, ; E O ' J x
ise voted
that has
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Doug
SHILLING
adies and gentleman.
On this tee, from Jack-
sonville Beach, Fla.,
spends standing 6 feet tall and weigh-
oter coig in at 180 pounds, the lead-
UnderttsBg money winner on the PGA
I grants:Tij)ur this season, the man with
tile shades, David Duval. And
a $14.1 It oil this tee, from Orlando, Fla.,
Imentatistjanding 6 feet 2 inches tall and
cal year, weighing in at 160 pounds, the
:ted 15?--Bcond leading money winner on the PGA Tour, the
Republic:jian with the magic sand wedge, Tiger Woods.”
—If Michael Buffer could get anywhere near the
■•st tee at the Carnoustie Golf Club in Carnoustie,
a plansr Sitotland for the 1999 British Open, that is how he
1 Bould probably introduce the two best golfers in
: pay fo-Be world as they prepare to square off.
one of™ For Woods, who has only won one major, and
HMOs-Buval, who has not yet captured a major, the
British Open provides them a wonderful shot at
nade hei shagging one.
dentwiB Since 1995, Americans have had a stranglehold
tractice on probably the most prestigious tournament in
timesiltBe world.
Theyre;! Ever since John Daly beat Constantino Rocca in
arovisio: a playoff in 1995, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard and
a appeal Bark O’Meara have all brought the Claret Jug back
to the United States.
I But beyond a win, this year’s British Open pro-
I Bides Woods and Duval a perfect setting for their
/ I lllfrdding rivalry that everyone wants to see take off.
[AJ|f People are so eager to see it happen that they
——-pre starting it off under false pretenses. The folks at
■ lBbC Sports have scheduled a “Lord of the Links,”
made-for-prime time match between Woods and
Duval in which the winner will take home $1.1
million and a big ego boost — but that’s about it.
Rivalries aren’t made in a made-for-TV setting,
they are made on the field of play.
Competition might be the most important part
of sports, but rivalries are what add the spice to
them. Over the years, there have been some very
heated rivalries.
In baseball, there was Mickey Mantle vs. Willie
Mays; in basketball, it was Larry Bird vs. Magic
Johnson; and before Woods and Duval it was Jack
Nicklaus vs. Arnold Palmer in golf.
The only difference between Woods and Duval
and the other rivalries is that the other men settled
their rivalries on their playing field.
Mantle and Mays never held a home-run derby
to determine their rivalry, they settled it in the
World Series. Bird and Magic never had a three-
point contest to see who was the better man, they
duked it out in the NBA Finals. Palmer and Nick
laus dueled mano-a-mano on the final day of major
tournaments, not in some made for TV event.
There is no doubt that Woods and Duval are the
future of golf. Both have won multiple tourna
ments this year and in most major statistical cate
gories they rank No. 1 and No. 2.
Duval has the most birdies on the PGA Tour
while Woods is second, and Duval also leads
Woods on the money list with over $3 million
earned this year, a tour record. Woods leads Duval
in scoring average, top-10 finishes and just over
took the top ranking in the world from Duval.
However, in the recent major tournaments they
have played in. Woods and Duval have done well
TERRY ROBERSON/The Battalion
Newly hired women’s swimming coach Steve Bultman comes to College Station from the University of Georgia
here he helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to the 1999 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship.
ultman brings experience to A&M
BY JOHN GIBSON
The Battalion
Steve Bultman was named the
ffiew women’s swimming coach for
h e 1999-2000 season. Bultman, a
K w i mmin 8 coach with 20 years of
:>rocluC®xperience, comes to Texas A&M
V Edito ! i rom Ih 6 University of Georgia,
y Fr1it(lM iere h e has been an assistant
JS ^ Roach for the last four years,
lion Ecp While he was at Georgia, he
Editof Helped establish the swimming
Brogram that eventually led the
JasW Bulldogs to the 1999 NCAA
Mvomen’s Swimming and Diving
-“•‘^Ehampionship.
ithonyI® “i was happy at Georgia, but I was
in assistant and the opportunity to
:ome here and be the head coach
vas to good to pass up,” he said.
‘A&M is a great school with tremen-
ious facilities, and it is in the south,
•vhich was a big deciding factor. ”
Before coaching at the collegiate
level, Bultman was primarily
roaching for club teams.
[ He was a head coach for the Lin
tiranha Swim Club in New Or
leans, La., the Dynamo Swim Club
in Atlanta, Ga. and also in Pen-
fsacola, Fla.
During his time at the Dynamo
Swim Club, he had several swim-
win Olympic Festival gold
medals and many set new junior
w^Btational records.
In 1988, while he was coaching
in Pensicola, he had three swim-
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atioaSi > !
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surnind Tiers
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mers qualify for the U.S. Champi
onship and make it onto the
Olympic swimming team.
He was also selected as an as
sistant coach to accompany the
team on the trip to Seoul, South Ko
rea. That year the U.S. Swimming
Team finished with the silver medal
for overall team competition.
"We are looking to
contend for the [Big
12] Championship
as well as be within
the top 10 on the
national level”
— Steve Bultman
Women’s Swimming Coach
“It was a great experience to be
able to go over there and to repre
sent our country in that manner,”
Bultman said.
During his stint as a head coach
on the club level, Bultman coached
three members of the 1991 World
Championship Team and swim
mers who participated in the 1985
Pan-Pacific games and the 1990
League of European Nations Cup.
Bultman had at least one na
tional champion every year from
1985 to 1990.
Bultman began his swimming
career at Jesuit High School in New
Orleans, La., where he won the
Louisiana State Championship in
the 50-meter freestyle event.
He attended Louisiana State
University, where he was a mem
ber of the swimming team, and he
eventually became an assistant
coach by his senior year.
After he graduated from LSU
with a degree in psychology, he lat
er went on to receive his teaching
certificate in physical education
from Tulane University.
While in Pensacola, he re
ceived his master’s degree in
physical education from the Uni
versity of West Florida.
Last year A&M’s women’s
swimming team finished 31st na
tionally and 4th place in the Big 12
conference, behind Nebraska,
Texas, and Kansas.
Bultman remains very opti
mistic about this year’s squad be
cause of last year’s outstanding
performance of team captains
Monica Williams and Tracy Evans
and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year,
freshman Clara Ho.
“We are looking to contend for
the [Big 12] championship, as well
as be within the top 10 on the na
tional level,” Bultman said. “As
each girl individually gets better,
the team as a whole will get better.
but never challenged each other.
In last year’s British Open, Woods finished third
and Duval ended up tied for 11th. In this year’s
U.S. Open, Woods again finished third while Duval
ended up in a tie for seventh. Not exactly battles
for the ages.
The best thing that could happen for Woods,
Duval and the sport of golf is to have the two of
MARK MCPHERSON/The Battalion
them stroll up the 18th fairway on Sunday in Scot
land tied for the lead in the British Open. That
way we could see who is the real “Lord of the
Links ”.
Doug Shilling is a junior
agriculture journalism major
Martinez, AL shine in All-Star game
BOSTON (AP) — On a night when
history filled every crooked comer of
Fenway Park, Pedro Martinez left his
own mark on the mound.
Moments after Ted Williams
threw out the first ball, Martinez
pitched himself into the All-Star
game record book Tuesday night by
striking out the first three hitters.
Mixing a blazing fastball, dart
ing curve and tantalizing change-
up, Martinez struck out five in two
innings, leading the American
League over the Nationals 4-1 for
its third straight win.
With Hall of Fame pitchers Bob
Feller, Warren Spahn and Bob Gib
son looking on, Martinez did some
thing that no one — not even the
great Carl Hubbell — had ever done.
Martinez fanned Barry Larkin,
Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa to
start the game. The Boston ace, al
ready halfway to the magic 30-win
mark at the break, kept up the
streak by striking out Mark McG
wire to begin the second inning.
After Matt Williams reached on
an error by second baseman Rober
to Alomar, Martinez got Jeff Bag-
well on a 3-2 curve. And when
Williams was caught stealing on
the play, Martinez walked off to a
standing ovation, his night finished
after 28 memorable pitches.
Martinez said he wasn’t really
trying for the strikeouts.
“After seeing the guys in BP and
in the home-run contest, I knew I
had to get my pitches where I want
ed or else I was going to get hurt,” he
said as he received the MVP award.
Martinez tied an AL record with
his five strikeouts and became the
first AL starter to win an All-Star
game in his own park. And he did
it on a night when the greatest liv
ing players in baseball had come
together for the final All-Star game
of the 1900s.
Stan Musial, Willie Mays and
Hank Aaron were among the many
honored as part of an all-century
team in a moving pregame tribute.
As the sport’s past met its present
and future, the biggest ovation was
left for Boston’s own Splendid
Splinter, with Ken Griffey Jr., Tony
Gwynn and every other player in
uniform forming a circle around
Williams.
“Just to see so many glories of
baseball all together at one time,”
Martinez said. “So many names
that I recognize by just names and
numbers they have out there.”
Though the Green Monster was
never a factor — no one came close
to hitting the famed left-field wall —
the AL got enough offensive support
from Cleveland’s quartet of starters
in cutting its deficit to 40-29-1.
Voting begins on baseball All-Century team
BOSTON (AP) — With nearly two dozen Hall of
Famers sitting beside him, Bud Selig said Tuesday
that, as long he’s commissioner, Pete Rose can pret
ty much forget about reinstatement to baseball.
The occasion was the launch of voting for baseball’s
All-Century team. While Rose is among the 100 play
ers on the ballot, he wasn’t invited to the news con
ference before Tuesday night’s All-Star game and won’t
be asked to any ceremonies if he’s among the winners.
“I don’t think there’s anything I would do to change
what Bart Giamatti did,” Selig said, referring to the for
mer commissioner who kicked Rose out of baseball.
Because of the lifetime ban he signed with Giamatti
in August 1989, Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
Rose applied for reinstatement in September 1997,
but Selig hasn’t announced a decision. From his state
ments Tuesday, it’s clear the only two options Selig is
considering are rejection or never acting on the petition.
“Without question, Pete Rose in one of the top play
ers in the century,” Hall of Famer third baseman Mike
Schmidt said. “I truly believe the ball’s in Pete’s hands.
Pete needs to take some serious steps in his life.”
Of the 100 players on the ballot, 85 are in the Hall
of Fame. The exceptions include eight active players:
Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr., Tony
Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Greg Maddux, Mark
McGwire and Cal Ripken. Also not in the Hall are re
cent retirees Dennis Eckersley, Paul Molitor, Eddie
Murray and Ozzie Smith.
The only other three are Carlton Fisk, who fell 43
votes short of the hall this year; Shoeless Joe Jack-
son, who was bypassed by the baseball writers and
the veterans committee before the prohibition against
banned players took effect in 1991; and Rose.
Jackson was among eight Chicago White Sox play
ers banned for throwing the 1919 World Series, and
there’s been a campaign to reinstate him, too. Selig
said he expects to make a decision on Jackson’s case
later this year.
Twenty-nine of the 54 living players on the ballot
attended the news conference, including 22 Hall of
Famers, among them Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and
Stan Musial.
Fans can vote for two players at each infield posi
tion, two catchers, nine outfielders and six pitchers,
and a committee can select up to five additional play
ers to make up for any imbalance slighting the early
part of the century, bringing the total to 30.
Balloting runs through Sept. 10 and the team will
be announced before Game 1 of the World Series. A
panel selected by baseball will pick and All-Century
starting lineup from the team.
Ventura defends return to professional wrestling
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov.
Jesse Ventura defended his return
to professional wrestling yesterday,
insisting he’s entitled to a life out
side politics.
Ventura bristled when asked
whether his renewed ties to the
World Wrestling Federation threat
ened the dignity of the governor’s
office.
“If I were a nightclub singer in
Caesars Palace, would you ask the
same question?” he asked.
That wasn’t the only time he
compared himself to a Las Vegas
lounge act. Within the hour, he
was on Minnesota Public Radio,
using an identical argument
against his critics.
The governor, who wrestled pro
fessionally as Jesse “The Body”
Ventura until retiring in 1986,
scheduled a news conference today
with the World Wrestling Federa
tion.
He plans to participate Aug. 22
in the WWF’s $29.95 pay-per-view
“SummerSlam” event.
Ventura’s role has been billed as
a return to the ring. Whether he will
wrestle or referee is a secret for now.
The sold-out event is scheduled for
the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Ventura wouldn’t divulge his
role in the event or answer ques
tions about how much he would be
paid or where the money will go,
though he said Monday some will
go to charity. He did respond to
criticism.
“There’s no rule that says a gov
ernor can’t have fun,” Ventura said.
“There’s no rule that says a gover
nor on his own time can’t be a hu
man.”
His appearance on the WWF
event is simply a return to his pro
fession before he was governor, he
said.
“The perception is that people
need to be professional politicians
and that therefore being a politician
is your entire life,” he said. “Well,
it’s not Jesse Ventura’s entire life
and I think I was elected upon the
fact that I came from being a pri
vate citizen.”
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