University Daily Kansan/Wednesday, Aug. 19, 1987
9
Suns' center killed in crash
The Associated Press
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Phoenix Suns fans flooded the switchboard of the NBA team Monday when they learned that center Nick Vanos, a crowd favorite, was among 153 people killed in the crash of Northwest Airlines flight 255.
The fans are "just calling to find out what happened," said public relations director Keni White.
"We are stunned, shocked and deeply saddened at the loss of Nick Vanos," Suns General Manager Jerry Colangelo said in a statement. "It's just a terrible shock when a young man loses his life at such an early age.
"Nick recently appeared to be coming into his own, and to have his life taken away at this time is a family, friends and to our organization."
The McDonnell Douglas MC80 in which Vanos was riding crashed and burned Sunday evening after taking off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport on a flight for Phoenix. Authorities said everyone aboard died on impact
or of injuries suffered in the blaze which followed.
The athlete's father, Peter Vanos of San Mateo, Calif., said his son had spent four days in Plymouth, Mich., vacationing with a friend.
He said he hadn't talked to his son since Nick left the Suns team August 11, when the squad completed play in the Southern California Summer League, which some Western NBA squads use to season rookies, free agents and some younger players.
Vanos, 24, appeared to be a likely starter for the Suns this season after averaging 7.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in the team's final 10 games last year.
The Suns had traded William Bedford before this year's NBA college draft in part because of Vanos' late-season devleapment. Their other center, James Edwards, faces trial this fall on cocaine-conspiracy charges, so "you would have to project him (Vanos) your starting center." White said.
from East Carolina and Ozell Jones, a 6-11, 235-pounder who left Cal State Fullerton in 1984.
In addition to Vanos, centers at the Suns' summer camp included Leon Bass, a 6-foot-10, 227-pounder from
White said that there had been no decision before the crash on who to invite to fall tryout camp, adding that "Nick was going to have to compete for a job like anyone else."
White said the Suns staff was mourning the death of "a member of the family."
Vanos was the Suns' second-round draft pick in 1985 after his college career at Santa Clara and was the first 7-footer ever drafted by the Phoenix franchise. He saw limited action during his rookie season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, which forced him to sit out 70 games. He was used sparingly last season until injuries to Edwards and Bedford forced him into a starting role.
During his two-year career with the Suns, Vanos averaged 3.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 68 games, with a career high of 14 points against the Sacramento Kings on April 14 and a career-high 13 rebounds against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Cuban officials seek security in midst of tension at games
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Cuban officials asked Monday for stricter security measures to halt what they called "harassment, insults and attacks" on their athletes by anti-Castro Cuban exiles at the Pan American Games.
Conrado Martinez Corona, president of the Cuban National Institute of Sports, requested a Tuesday meeting with organizers of the Games in which he also will ask that the Miami Sound Machine be excluded from performing at Sunday's closing ceremonies.
Mark Miles, head of the PAX-I organizing committee, said he would meet with the Cubans but indicated their demands could clash with the constitutional right to free speech in the United States.
"I am not aware of what the Cuban officials will discuss with us tomorrow, and we will listen carefully to what they have to say," Miles said. "But there is a matter of the right to free expression in the United States."
Manuel Guerra, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, told the Associated Press that any harassment of Cuban athletes would not be tolerated.
"We simply wish that our athletes be treated as the athletes of other countries are treated, that they do not be exposed to insults, attacks and harassment," he said.
A note written to Miles by Martinez Corona specifically cited concerns about security at an expected United States-Cuba baseball game for the Pan Am gold medal Saturday.
Last week, anti-Gastro demonstrators scuffed with members of the Cuban delegation at a Cuban game and Martinez Corona complained that the demonstrators were still allowed to sit near the Cuban dugout.
On Friday, nearly a dozen members of the Cuban boxing team rushed into the stands at the boxing competition and beat up two people who had been taunting them and began to rip up their flag.
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