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University Daily Kansan / Thursday, April 9, 1992
SPORTS
Ashe has AIDS virus infected by bad blood
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — First, Magic Johnson Now. Arthur Ashe.
Ashe, the first African American to win Grand Slam tennis titles and a role model for a generation of inner-city players, said yesterday he had AIDS. He said he contracted the disease from a blood transfusion during heart-bvnsurgery a decade ago.
The announcement was eerily similar to one in Los Angeles in November when Johnson, the superstar guard of the Lakers, announced he was HIV-positive and was retiring from the NBA.
The two have talked only once many years ago, and although they acquired their conditions in vastly different ways, they now will be linked as the most visible sports casualties of the AIDS epidemic.
Johnson went public immediately.
Ashe chose to keep his condition private for 30/year, telling only a small circle of family and friends.
"Magic's situation was a little different than mine," Asshe said. "He was in a less enviable position. There was no other way to explain his sudden retirement from the Lakers. An active athlete is more in the public eye."
As when Johnson announced he was HIV positive, Ashe's statements shocked those who took up his sport partly because of the way he played it.
"He was my inspiration — the reason I started playing tennis when I was 10 years old," said Randy Johnson, a player at Indiana State University on court city courts in Central Park.
Ashe said that when he learned of his condition, he chose not to reveal it. "Any admission of HIV infection would have seriously, permanently and unnecessarily infringed upon our family's right to privacy," he said. "Everyone has some personal matter he or she would like to keep private."
That changed this week when rumors spread and a reporter from USA Today, acting on a tip, approached Ashe.
Policinski, defended the pursuit of the story.
"Someone just called and ratted on me and they felt journalistically they had to follow it up." Ashe said. "It put me in the unenviable position of having to lie if I wanted to protect our privacy. No one should have to make that choice."
The newspaper has not published anyreport of Ashehaving AIDS, butits managing editor for sports, Gene
"For any news organization, when any public figure becomes ill ... there's no question that it's news," he said.
Arthur Ashe
he said Ashe was a public figure far beyond the world of tennis.
Ashe has had a series of medical problems. There was a heart attack in 1979 followed by open heart surgery, another open heart operation in 1983 and then brain surgery in 1988. Ashe said he was 100 percent sure he contracted the AIDS virus through a transfusion.
"I got two units several days after the surgery when I wasn't feeling good, "Asa said. "I told the doctors, 'I feel awful.' They said, 'You can wait it out or we can give you a couple of units.'"
Transfused blood has been tested for the AIDS virus since 1985.
Aug.1, 1963 Becomes the first African American named to a U.S.
Davis Cun队
Arthur Ashe
June 21, 1965 Leads UCLA to the NCAA JV championship
Nov.7,1965 Becomes the first American to win Queensland Lawn championship.
Aug. 25, 1968—Becomes the first African American to win U.S. men's singles championships by beatin' Bob Lutz.
Sept. 9, 1968 Wins the first U.S. Open title, beating Tom Okker.
Doc. 12, 1968 Ishrank No. 1 of the U.S. Open and won the U.S. I-10 Tennis Association.
July 5, 1975 Becomes the first African American to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon.
Dec. 21, 1979 — Eight days after undergoing quadruple bypass heart surgery he announces a comeback
April 16, 1980 He suffers a back, and his comeback falls short. He announces his retirement from competitive tennis.
Sept. 7,1980 Named new captain of the Davis Cup team replacing Tony Trabert
June 21, 1983 Undergoes double bypass heart surgery
March 21, 1985 Named to the International Tennis Hall of Fame and is inducted July 13.
April 8, 1992
April 8,1992 Announces he contracted the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery.
A's drop Royals late in 13th,4-3
K.C. rallies after falling behind 3-0
The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rickey Hen derson homed with two outs in the 13 inning last night to lift the Oakland Knights against the Kansas City Royals.
Henderson drove a 3-1 pitch from Neal Heaton into the left-field seats as the athletes won their second straight game against Kansas City.
Jeff Parrett, Oakland's six pitcher, worked two innings to earn the win. Heaton, 0-1, had worked 62-3 innings in relief before Henderson's homer.
Kansas City, which trailed 3-0 after five innings, tied the score on George Brett's leadoff homer off reliever Rich Gossage in the eighth inning, but Oakland pitchers faced the minimum 18 batters from that point.
Oakland starter Mike Moore worked out of trouble until the sixth, when Kevin McReynolds led off with a double, took third on a groundout and came fly on Mike MacFarlane's sacrifice fly to make it 1-3.
Rick Honeycutt relieved Moore in the seventh and surrendered a leadoff triple to pinch-hitter Gary Thurman,
who scored on Brian McRae's ground- out.
Willie Wilson, starting in center field for the injured Dave Henderson, scored Oakland's first two runs after singles in the first and third innings.
In the first, Wilson reached on a checked-swing single to left, was balked to second by Tom Gordon, stole third and scored on Jose Canseco's groundout.
Wilson singled up the middle with one out in the third. After Canseco struck out, Harold Baines and Mark McGwire hit consecutive singles to score Wilson and put the A's up 2-0.
Canseco hit his first homer of the season on a first-pitch offering in the fifth from Gordon, the emergency starter in place of Mike Dobbicker. The right-hander flew back to Kansas City on Tuesday night to be with his wife, Lisa, who gave birth earlier yesterday to the couple's fourth child.
The homer, a solo shot that cleared the left field wall, gave the A's a 3-0 lead and chased Gordon, who gave up six hits and three runs in 41-3 innings.
Former 'Hawks shine in young football league
By Jerry Schmidt
Kansan sportswriter
But for two former Jayahawk football players, it may be a stepping stone to the
With the helmet-cam, end-zone celebrations and teams named the Sacramento Surge and Montreal Titans, they were barely not the National Football League.
Mike Norseth, a quarterback for the Birmingham Fire, who played at Kansas from 1984 to 1985, and Curtis Moore, a linebacker for the London Monarchs, who played for the Jayhawks from 1986 to 1990, are both pursuing their careers in the two-year-old league.
Norseth holds Kansas passing records for a single game and season and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the all-time passing list at Kansas.
"I was in the NFL for four years and didn't play," he said. "The biggest thing for me to is play. I think if I play well I have a chance at getting back."
Moore was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1991, but was released before the start of the season. Moore is fourth on the Kansas single season and career tackles list and, along with three others, holds the Kansas record for most tackles in a game with 25. Moore accomplished the feat against Iowa State in 1988 to tie with Willie
The Browns were set at quarterback with Bernie Kosar and the Bengals were led by Boomer Esiason, Norseth, a third round draft pick of the Fire this year, said all he needed was playing time.
Mike Norseth
Through three World League games, Norsett has passed for 392 yards with one touchdown and has thrown two interceptions. He has rushed for 57 yards on 18 carries and is the tenth passer in the league.
"I feel I have the talent to be in the NFL," said Norseth, who also played with the Cincinnati Bengals. "I hope they do that and they had a great player in front of me."
Curtis Moore
Pless and Steve Towle.
Moore was drafted by the Ohio Glory, but was later traded to defending World League champion London. Moore said the ultimate goal of most players in the league is to reach the NFI.
"A lot of guys play in the World League," said Moore, a league leader.
re said the talent level in the league, although not NFL-caliber, was good.
"The overall level of ability of the guys that play here is better than I expected. Sanchez, who has seven Monarchs and two game guards, Monarchs and has caused one fumble.
Besides playing football, Moore has had to adapt to living in a foreign country. Four of the 10 franchises are in a foreign country. There are teams in London, Frankfurt, Germany, Barcelona, Spain, and Montreal.
"London is all right and the people are nice," he said. "I've been out a couple of times and the music is similar, but the beer is not as present. The beer here is much stronger."
Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to play football games is also a change of
"The travel is tough," he said. "We had a nine-hour trip from Florida and I had some real jet lag."
Although they never played together while at Kansas, Norseth and Moore could have a reunion of sorts when Birmingham plays at London Saturday. Kick-offs at 11 a.m. central time. The Fire is 2-1 and the Monarchs are 1-2.
SPORTS BRIEFSE
BEARS defeat Jayhawks, 5-1
The Kansas baseball team lost 5-1 to Southwest Missouri State yesterday in Springfield. Mo. The bears defeated the Jayhawks for the second time in two days.
Bears defeat Jayhawks. 5-1
The Bears' Mike Whitley pitched a complete game to pick up the victory. He held the 'Hawks to four hits and one run as he struck out 10 and walked two.
Senior pitcher Curtis Schmidt was the losing pitcher for Kansas. He pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits.
Kansas has lost six of their last eight games and 13 of their last 17.
Davis will remain at Kansas
Amid rumors to the contrary, Kansas basketball player Ben Davis said Tuesday night that he was not planning to transfer and would stay at Kansas for his sophomore season.
Rumors have been circulating campus that Davis, unhappy with his playing time, was considering transferring to another school, possibly Florida. Davis is originally from Fort Pierce, Fla.
*It's just been a rumor. That's all it*
is," the 6-foot-9 freshman forward said. "I don't think I could be in a better place. I'm happy I came to Kansas."
The Kansas men's golf team finished second behind Baylor at the Diet Pepes Shocker Classic in Wichita. The tournament was held on Tuesday was at Wichita Shale.
Kansas finished 10 stokes behind Baylor. Freshman Tom Sims was the Jayhawkstop golfer, finishing second, and then the champion Jason Hull from Baylor.
Golf team second in tourney
Kansas finished ahead of all four Big Eight Conference schools and District Five opponents at the tournament.
From staff and wire reports
Members of the KU Rugby Club, (left to right) Scott Emerson, Louis Reider, Tom Kirk and (center) Doug McCauley, prepare to drop and drive into the scrum practice machine. The machine improves the team's reaction to the cadence, which signals the unit to drive as one and clear the ball out through the back of the scrum. The Rugby Club practiced Tuesday afternoon in preparation for an upcoming match.
Kansas rugby gains respect, stature
By Cody Holt
Kansan sportswritei
Although the Kansas State rugby team will be playing instead of Kansas in the Western College Championship this weekend in Lawrence, the 'Hawks gave the Wildcats something to think about on the way into town.
Last weekend, however, a rejuvenated Kansas team whipped K-State 30-0 in the Kansas City Rugby Club Tournament at Swope Park, in Kansas City, Mo. Missouri defeated the Jayhawks 37-24 in the championship game.
Two weeks ago, K-State defeated a short-handed Kansas team 17-12 and captured the Heart of America Union championship as well as the division's only bid to the national championship qualifying tournament this Saturday and Sunday at the Shenk Complex, 23rd and Iowa streets.
"It's a little frustrating because of how badly they pounded them with all of our guys back," said Kansas rugby player Kelby Marks. "But we feel better about ourselves after this weekend because we showed that KU rugby is still on top."
The tradition and strength of the Kansas rugby program is what attracted Patrick Delargy, who has been playing rugby for 16 years, to come to Lawrence from his hometown of London, England. He saw them play during a European tour in 1986.
There are differences, however, between how the game is played in the United States and England, where he said ruvby was the most popular sport.
"The tackling is the main difference," he said. "Americans learn not only to tackle but to drive the opponent back. In England there is much more finesse in the game."
Matt Delargy, Patrick's younger brother and also from London, has been playing for 13 years. He said there was a higher standard of play in England because youths are able to grow up playing the sport.
Right now, though, there is a big push to integrate rugby into the mainstream of U.S. high school athletic programs, Marks said.
"Rugby is well-respect and extremely popular throughout the world," he said. "But it's hard for Americans to realize that because they know very little about the game."
Apparently, foreigners know a little about the U.S. game, especially Kansas' game.
Patrick Delargy said that a Scottish club team currently touring the United States requested to play KU because of Kansas' rugby tradition. He said club teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have traveled to Lawrence to battle the Jayhawks.
He added that Kansas was planning a tour of New Zealand and Australia late this summer to experience more international competition.
*Win or lose there are still good feelings between competitors.* he said. "A big part of rugby is social."
But Matt Delargy said that no matter where he plays rugby, the social aspect of the sport remained constant.
He said that there were some exceptions, but that usually the host team is responsible for entertaining the visiting team after the match, when they traditionally drink away their bumps and bruises.
Mark said the social aspect of rugby was usually the only side of the game outsiders see.
"We're not just a bunch of beer-guzzling hooligans, like everybody thinks," he said.
With the program thriving socially and competitively, there are still financial concerns for the organization. Patrick Delargy said.
"I'd love to see Glen Mason and Roy Williams come out and see how well we do with how little we have," he said. "I think they'd really be impressed."
The KU rugby club currently has about 75 members. They sponsor a collegiate team for competitive undergraduate students, a club team for anyone else and other teams for the less-competitive student.
"The great thing about rugby is that whatever size, shape or color you are, whatever beliefs you have, there is room for you on the team," he said.
The KU rugby team will host the Western College Championships this weekend but will not compete in the tournament. Instead, they will play an exhibition game Saturday against the Kansas City Blues club team.