3
Tuesday, January 31, 1995
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports facts
Knight-Ridder Tribune/PAUL TRAP
Two shot in post-game celebrations
Partying, arrests litter San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — Two men were shot and about 30 people were arrested Sunday night during violent celebrations following the San Francisco 49ers' record fifth Super Bowl victory.
The Associated Press
"It's definitely getting worse, big-time," police officer Miguel Granados said two hours after the 49-26 rout of the San Diego Chargers in Miami. "People are just completely out of control."
Dolores Gomez, nursing supervisor at San Francisco General Hospital, said two men were brought in from the Mission district, one with a gunshot to the leg and the other
The arrests, for fighting, drunkenness and the firing of celebratory gunshots, also came in the Mission, traditionally the wildest part of the city after a Super Bowl.
with a wounded arm. Both were fine and in stable condition, Gomez said.
San Francisans had been through this kind of party four times before, but that didn't stop them from packing bars and dancing in the streets after the 49ers won.
Police closed off three streets, a routine crowd-control measure in the Mission, and looked for other sites to hold arrested people after the neighborhood's jail became full.
Horn-honking motorists and screaming bar patrons joined in an impromptu acadony of celebration outside the Bus Stop bar in the Cow Hollow district of the city. In the Sunset district, people set off fireworks from their apartment windows.
Along Union Street, celebrities applauded when a flatbed truck drove past with the cab decorated to look like a 49ers helmet. One fan jumped on top of a newspaper rack to lead the crowd in repeated choruses of "We Are the Champions."
Another man appointed himself crowd cheerleader, standing in the middle of the street to direct throngs on one side of the street, then the other, in alternating shouts of "Go. Niners."
Police, in riot gear, were tolerant of the Union Street partying — one officer edging through the crowds on a motorcycle stopped long enough to give a high-five to a fan.
And no one seemed to mind the toilet paper hanging from electric bus lines, the artistry of exuberant fans.
Not everyone was whooping it up. A block from the boisterous Bus Stop bar, Sondra
Roberts sipped white wine while watching the celebration from the relative civility of the Antipasti restaurant.
In nearby San Leandro, the owner of Ricky's Sports Lounge said the familiarity of the celebration made it no less intense this year.
"They're pretty joyful. Maybe a bit smugly happy," Ricky Ricardo said. "They're just slapping hands and having fun. I guess the Niners can call it a real high five now."
Fans spilling out of bars, encouraged by a mix of alcohol and triumph, expressed their devotion to the 49ers and their love of players such as quarterback Steve Young.
Young, who graduated from Brigham Young, threw for a record six touchdowns in the victory.
Haase tabs weekly conference award
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas sophomore Jerod Haase, who scored 20 points in Saturday's 88-59 upset victory over then-No. 2 Connecticut, was named Big Eight Conference player of the week yesterday.
Against Nebraska, Haase had a career-high 25 points, including seven three-point goals, in the Jayhawks' 84-67 victory. For the week, Haase shot 52 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free-throw line.
Haase was picked for the second time this season in a split vote over Iowa State's Loren Meyer, who led the Cyclones to victories over Northern Iowa, 81-62, and Kansas State, 87-79, last week. Meyer averaged 23 points in 68 percent shooting from the field.
Aycock earns honor once again
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Angela Aycock, who scored 29 points and had 14 rebounds in Kansas' losing effort against No. 1 Connecticut on Sunday, was named the women's Big Eight Conference player of the week for the third time this season yesterday.
The senior forward-guard, a native of Dallas, scored 23 points and had 12 rebounds in a victory against Missouri earlier in the week. Aycock leads the conference in scoring at 23.2 points a game.
TCU center solidifies his game
Texas The Associated Press
Compiled from The Associated Press.
Christian's Kurt Thomas is trying to join Hank Gathers and Xavier McDaniel as the only players in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Christian's Kurt Thomas always knew he could score. It was his rebounding he wanted to improve.
The 6-foot-9 senior center has done such a good job with both this season that he could become just the third person in NCAA history to lead the nation in each.
Thomas entered the weekend leading in both, and as of Monday was averaging 28.5 points and 13.4 rebounds. The NCAA's weekly stats will be released Tuesday.
Not bad for a guy who didn't even start until last season.
"Basically, I came into this year focused," said Thomas, who's vying to join the double-leader feat of Loyola-Marymount's Hank Gathers in 1889-89 and Xavier McDaniel of Wichita State in 1984-85. "I didn't expect to do what I'm doing. That's just a positive, showing that I'm working hard."
Thomas has been pushed to succeed by first-year coach Billy Tubbs, who has TCU off to a 13-5 start after the Horned Frogs won a total of 13 games the last two years.
"He's an ideal fit for our system. He's what our offense needs," Tubsb said. "I see improvement every day. I think he legitimately wants to do the right things."
Although seemingly undersized at center, Thomas is a sleek, strong 225 pounds. He's also quick and has long arms that help him shoot over tall defenders and has made him TCU's
career leader in blocked shots.
"I'm more mobile than most centers and I don't need to stay inside. I'm able to step outside and hit the 15-foot shot," said Thomas.
Using a decent blend of inside and outside scoring, Thomas has had games of 41, 43 and 45 points. Five more times he's scored in the 30s.
He's also improved his free-throw shooting,
going from 64.5 percent last year to 73.4 this
year with games of 16-of-16 and 10-of-10 from
the line.
As for his rebounding, Thomas has grabbed 10
or more in all but three games this year. He's had
16 or more five times, with highs of 20 and 21
But all this success has come late in Thomas' career.
He played sparingly in 28 games as a freshman and saw a little more time as a sophomore until an injury ended his season after 21 games. Then he missed a year with a broken leg.
He finally got his chance last year, starting all 27 games and averaging 20.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in the boring offense of then-coach Moe Iba.
Now Tubbs has given him a chance to shine and he has used it to become a possible first-round NBA pick, although nowhere near the No. 1 spot of last year's NCAA scoring leader Glenn Robinson.
"Billy Tubbs has let me show all my true abilities," Thomas said. "People always had the questions in the back of their mind whether I could go up the court. In his style, I'm able to show I can."
TV SPORTS WATCH
Live, same-day and delayed national TV sports coverage for today. All times CST.
8 a.m.
ESPN—World Cup Skiing, World Alpine Champi onship, men's super G, at Sierra Nevada Spain (same-day tape)
6:30 p.m.
ESPN — NCAA Basketball, Indiana at Purdue
7 u.
TNT — NBA Basketball, Dallas at Milwaukee
7:30 p.m.
ESPN2 — CIAA Basketball, Norfolk St. at Hampton U
PRIME — NCAA Basketball, Texas A&M at Southern
Meth.
8p.m.
Strike goes on despite Clinton's effort
USA—Boxing, champion Derrrell Coley (25-0-2) vs. Ray Lovato (20-0-0) for NABF welterweight championship, champion Rocky Balboa (62-15-1) vs. Reggie Green (17-1-0) for NABFjr, welterweight championship, at Washington, D.C.
8:30 p.m.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - About a week before President Clinton's deadline for progress toward settling the baseball strike, neither owners nor players appeared willing to 'budge much.'
Owners began arriving last night. Management's negotiating committee is scheduled to meet today. The union's negotiating committee met for about six hours Sunday. About 60 players are expected to attended an executive board meeting today, the day before talks resume.
"We'll see what they've got to offer," Detroit's Cecil Fielder said. "If they don't have anything to offer, then we're just going to be talking about the same old things. What they have on the table isn't anything worth considering."
Talks broke off Dec. 22, a day before owners implemented their salary caps. When negotiations collapsed, management was insisting on a luxury tax plan designed to eventually reduce the percentage of revenue going to players from 58 percent to 50 percent. The union's last tax plan was designed to ensure the discrepancy in payrolls between large and small markets didn't get any larger.
Chuck O'Connor, management's chief lawyer, said there wouldn't be any "major changes" in the new proposal owners intend to make tomorrow.
"We're going to talk about it with our committee tomorrow," he said. "We're going to put a menu before them."
If that's the case, mediator W.J. Usery will have a difficult time producing a breakthrough that would end the strike, which began last Aug. 12.
"If we get a proposal from them that is not significantly different from the last one, our response will not be significantly different from our last one," union head Donald Fehr said.
Last Thursday, Clinton ordered talks to resume and set a Feb. 6 deadline for progress toward a deal. If there isn't any progress, the president said that he would ask Usery to formulate his own proposal for a solution.
While Clinton can't force a settlement, he can lobby for one. He also could ask Congress to enact one as law.
On Capitol Hill, Rep. John LaFalce introduced a bill to establish a seven-member National Commission on professional baseball. The panel would have power to impose a settlement and to settle all disputes among major league owners and between major and minor league owners. It would have subpoena power and could make any financial record public.
"We will have the equivalent of compulsory arbitration to resolve the short-term problems and get major league baseball on the fields again," the New York Democrat said, "followed by an in-depth study of how we can organize baseball at all levels under conditions that provide future stability."
Within 60 days of enactment, the president would appoint three members to represent the interests of fans and one each to represent the interests of owners, players, the minor leagues and municipalities.
"I think it's a very close call," agent Tom Reich said. "If I had to guess right now, I'd have to guess that the freeze will continue on. As long as they (union leadership) believe it enhances their position, we have to support it."
When the union's executive board meets today, among the items on the agenda will be whether to lift the signing freeze. No player has signed a major league contract since owners implemented.
The Associated Press
UNLV interim coach steps down
LAS VEGAS — UNLV's belegauered basketball program received another jolt today with the announcement that acting coach Howie Landa is stepping down.
Landa had coached the Rebels to a 5-2 record after taking over earlier this month for ailing Tim Grigurich.
Grgurich stepped aside in early January, complaining of medical symptoms related to exhaustion.
It's not certain when he'll return to active coaching, although he's been involved in Rebels practices in recent days.
Interim UNLV president Kenny Guinn met with Landa on Saturday and said he felt the pressure had been building since the assistant took over the team for Grgurich.
"We don't want somebody under pressure or trying to do too much," Guinn said of Landa's decision. "I think it needed to be done. He (Landa) had indicated the pressure was building."
Landa, 63, said he would move to an administrative position with the team.
Assistants Cle Edwards, who will serve as the new acting coach, and Dave Rice, will run the Rebels (7-7) until Grurghir returns.
Edwards and Rice said they knew little about Landa's decision.
"It caught us by surprise; it shocked us," Edwards said. "But it hasn't bothered us. We've just got to go on."
Landa did not make the trip to Long Beach State for yesterday's game.
Landa told a booster group last Tuesday that he was quitting at the end of the season. But he retracted the statement later in the day when Grurgirich told him he was returning to coach the team.
Ggrurgh later said he had decided he would just coach the team at practices, and would remain absent from the games.
Ggrurich told a news conference two weeks ago that his doctors had suggested he take at least six weeks off before returning to coaching.
Guinn said he hopes to have a definite answer from Grgurich about his future within six weeks.
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