Section B·Page 22
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 17, 1998
Ticket sales soar as McGwire's quest continues
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Forget the field-level box seats. The hottest tickets to Cardinals games are in the nose-breed seats in left field.
"That's where Mark has a tendency to hit, especially during batting practice," said Kevin Wade, director of ticket sales for the Cardinals.
In his assault on the home-run record, only two of his homers have gone to right field.
have gone to right.
And that makes the Terrace Reserved sections 383 and 385 the choice seats at Busch Stadium. Only a handful of the $11 seats in
those sections are left for the rest of the season.
Equally popular are the lower left-field bleacher seats. Those seats were sold out weeks ago.
McGwire could break the record in late September in Milwaukee, and the Brewers are ready.
and the Brewers they have turned their first come, first-serve bleachers into reserved seating for McGwire's visit. The left-field seats for the series sold out last week, as well as the one in September.
the one in apposition.
"A lot of these owners should be really happy," McGwire said.
"They're making a lot of money.
It's definitely great for the game,
but let's realize that I'm just one person who plays this game. There are a lot of other great guys that are hitting home runs."
True, but consider that the Cardinals were only 8 1/2 games out
McGwire: Draws
tanks to buy tickets
for upper left field.
of first place in the NL Central this time last year. They are now further behind Houston and have been below .500 most of the season. Yet attendance is up more than 400,000.
The owners are not the only ones to benefit. McGwire's contract calls for him to receive $1 for every ticket sold over 2.8 million.
"We'll have to wait until the end of the season, but right now it looks like he'll be looking at a $250,000 bonus or somewhere around there," said team representative Brad Hianje.
The Florida Marlins also are gearing for McGwire's show. The Marlins have been averaging about 20,900 fans at home, but they already have opened four sections
in the club and upper deck areas in left field for McGwire this month. That increases capacity to about 45,000.
"Tickets are selling very well," said Jim Ross, vice president for sales and marketing for the Marlins.
Even at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati, one of the few ballpark where McGwire has yet to homer, outfield seats for the Cardinals' Sept. 9-10 visit are selling briskly.
"Fans usually want to be close to home, but they seem to be interested in getting to an area where a home-run ball might land," said Reds representative Charles Henderson.
Many teams have no limit on the number of tickets a person can buy. In other words, the closer McGwire gets to the record, the more fans as well as scalpers and collectors will begin scooping up tickets.
It's a gamble that could pay off.
Tickets, particularly ones that have not been torn by a gate attendant. could fetch a nice price.
"He's got to be closer before people are going to start buying blocks of 100 tickets," said Rich Klein, price guide analyst for Beckett's in Dallas. "But you may want to protect yourself and buy a couple of tickets for the late games."
Boxing legend steps back in to ring
Bivins makes recovery after neglect incident
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Jimmy Bivins climbs slowly into the ring, gripping the squeaky ropes frayed by hot and musty air. Once inside, he leaves his cane behind. He seems to move faster, gliding across the faded canvas.
He knows this is the greatest comeback of his life.
hise me.
"I just put my mind to it and came on through it," said Bivins, the boxing great found neglected in the attic of his daughter's home in April. "I said, 'I got to get up and walk again.' I had a lot of boxing friends come around, and that made me feel better."
Jimmy Bivins
Former boxer
bivins, a top contender in the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions in the 1940s and '50s, was found amid squalid conditions four months ago. Part of the middle finger on his right hand had to be amputated. He nearly lost a leg that was wracked with infection. He is partially blind in his right eye.
ath, who met him."
"It's Jimmy Blimb's again, back in the gym, being himself," said Horvath, trained by Bivins in the 1960s. "The inspiration that the kids get, the kids are real loving toward him. They look up to him. He gets better respect or
But after two hospital stays and nearly three months in a nursing home, Bivins, 78, is back on his feet. He visits a stuffy old gym three times a week with friend Gary Horvath, who helped nurse him back to health.
attention around here than I do."
Bivins weighed only 110 pounds when he was found wrapped in a soiled blanket in a dank, filthy attic. Only the determination and years of conditioning that made him a 5-foot-9 fighting machine got him through the crise
fighting machine. Bivins now weighs 176 pounds, one pound more than the light-heavyweight limit. Wearing a new outfit of slacks and a fashionable collared shirt, he sat ringside Wednesday at the Loft Boxing Club, where he tutors about a dozen of Cleveland's up-and-coming fighters.
"Most of the gyms are down near the joints, you know, where the guys are drinking liquor, beer, wine and whiskey and all that." Bivins said. "I tell them, 'You either work out or go out.' That's the way I tell them."
The wit and old boxing bravado are sharp as ever. He recalls his fights with the likes of Joe Louis, Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles. His career included a 28-bout unbeaten streak from 1942-46 and eight victories against future champions.
"They were going around saying they were going to knock me out, and they didn't even knock me down," Bivins said.
Horvath, 51, was named Bivins' legal guardian on July 9, and three days later,
Bivins was released from the nursing home. His daughter, Josette, and her husband were indicted on neglect charges on June 23.
Horvath organized a boxing benefit in June that raised $ 100 for Bivins' hospital bills. Bivins, born in Dry Branch, Ga., near Macon, now lives with two sisters.
He came back to the gym on his first day out of the nursing home after being away from the gym for years. The boxer walked slowly to the rusted metal door, guarded by a giant padlock, and stepped into the makeshift lobby to let the memories bombard him like a punch combination.
"It was quiet, just like it is today." Horvath said. "He said, 'I can hear them now.' You can hear the workouts and the noise and everything that a gym makes. If these walls could talk, I'm sure there'd be a lot of stories."
talk. I missure the street from a Baptist church, has one speed bag, two scales, five cracked mirrors and gloves and headgear stacked in a metal cabinet. The floor creaks, the walls await a paint job. Its origins as a church and movie theater are obvious from the high, curved ceiling and balcony from which a choir once belted out gospel.
With its rundown, humble atmosphere and thick air, it seems a perfect place to prepare fighters for their sweaty, brutal trade. They listen as Bivins punishes the speed bag with one arm.
None of them has trained harder than Bivins these past few months.
"If I got something to do, I go on and do it," Bivins said. "It's just like training. If you have some thing to do, and they want to see if you can do it or not, I show them that I can do it."
Two Kauffmans join a bid for KC Royals
Women commit to purchase offer from Prentice III
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The adopted daughter and daughter-in-law of the late founder of the Kansas City Royals have joined New York lawyer Miles Prentice III in his bid to purchase the team, sources told The Associated Press.
Julia Irene Kauffman and Nancy Kauffman each has agreed to "significant and separate" financial commitments to Prentice's offer, sources close to the process said Thursday.
"Each investment is significant. They arise from their deep
commitment to the legacy of Ewing Kauffman and to their desire to keep the team in Kansas City," the source told AP.
The Royals have been in ownership limbo since the death of Ewing Kaufman in 1993. Lending the Kauffman name to Prentice's effort would greatly strengthen his effort to add local investors.
Prentice is the only major biddor who does not have ties to Kansas City. The two groups he is competing against, in contrast, are headed by two of the most popular individuals in Kansas City — former Royals star George Brett, and Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt's bid is shared by Western Resources, an area utility giant.
WDAF-TV first reported Thursday that the two women might join the Prentice group. Julia Kauffman is the daughter of the
late Muriel
Kauffman,
Ewing Kauffman's second
wife, and was
adopted by
Kauffman several years ago.
Nancy Kauffman is the widow of
Larry Kauffman,
Ewing Kauff.
man's only son, who died on July 1.
The Royals' board of directors, which hopes to make its selection before major league baseball's ownership committee meets next month, is scheduled to meet Friday.
Neither Julia Irene Kauffman nor Nancy Kauffman could be reached for comment.
A source close to the Royals' board said he did not expect any
announcements on Friday.
Julia Kaufman runs the charitable Muriel Kaufman Foundation, named for her mother. She also is active in performing arts and health care causes in the Kansas City area.
"We are operating on a day-to-day basis. There is nothing scheduled," the source said.
WDAF said its source indicated Julia Kauffman would contribute between $5 million and $10 million to the Prentice bid.
Sources told AP that Julia Kauffman's bid was "significantly greater" than the $3 million which has been added to the Prentice group by Kansas City banker R. Crosby Kemper Jr. Kemper, whose family is among the wealthiest and most respected in Kansas City, said Aug. 3 that he had pledged up to $3 million to the Prentice group.
Tyson to try again for boxing license
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — The bizarre cross-country saga of Mike Tyson is coming back to Nevada.
Nevada.
Taking a bite out of Evander Holfyfield's ear got Tyson suspended from boxing in Nevada and sent him looking to fight in New Jersey. Now, he is returning to where it all began.
Tyson could have reapplied for his license July 9 in Nevada. But he surprised boxing regulators by showing up in New Jersey and requesting a license.
Thursday, a day before the New Jersey Athletic Control Board was expected to decide whether Tyson could return to the ring, Tyson's advisers abruptly withdrew his application and appealed to Nevada for Tyson's return to the ring.
"Maybe he came back to his senses and decided the best way to go about this was to come back to the state that revoked his license," said Elias Ghanem, chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission. "We have a very fair commission. And we make decisions on the spot. We vote on it on the spot, and we don't delay our decisions."
two weeks ago, New Jersey regulators listened as the former heavyweight champ asked for his license back — but also got angry and cursed in front of them.
"We were surprised to get it today, but we will set up a hearing, and it will be a fair and impartial hearing," said Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Ratner, who estimated a hearing could be held in two to three weeks, said he had no idea why Tyson withdrew his application in New Jersey.
Tyson adviser Shelley Finkel said that there was concern about the perception that the boxer was trying to get around the Nevada ban by applying in New Jersey. Finkel denied he feared Tyson's application would be rejected.
"I felt very positive," Finkel said. "We can always go back to New Jersey if it's bad in Nevada."
to the state regulators who revoked his license.
"It wasn't a smart move for him in the beginning," Ghanem said, referring to the New Jersey application.
Ghanem said Tyson was making the right move in returning
Nevada boxing regulators
Tysan: Has with-drawn application in New Jersey.
Asking New Jersey for the license was seen as a calculated gamble by Finkel. But many in boxing criticized the move and said that if states did not respect one another's decisions that a federal commission might be formed to regulate the sport.
James Nave, Nevada Athletic Commission vice chairman, said that he was not surprised the New Jersey application was withdrawn, although he had not talked to any of the New Jersey officials.
"I just thought there was a lot going on out there," he said. "I saw a lot of things in the press that led me to believe that there was that possibility. I could see a lot of pressure building."
Tyson's license was revoked and he was fined $3 million for biting Hollyfield's ears during the third round of their June 28, 1997, rematch for the heavyweight title.
Ghanem said Tyson was not assured of getting his license back, despite the feeling by some in boxing that he had been punished enough.
"Mike Tyson will have to convince the commission that he is fit to have a license," Ghanem said.
At a July 29 hearing in New Jersey, Tyson's advisers presented a parade of character witnesses who urged regulators to give him another chance, and the boxer apologized for biting Holyfield.
But at the end of the hearing, Tyson got angry, refused to read a closing statement and cursed in front of regulators.
EVERYTHING BUT ICE BEDS·DESKS·BOOK CASES CHEST OF DRAWERS unclaimed freight & damaged merchandise 936 Mass.
Located at Riverfront Outlet Mall
Tel: (785) 842-8266
Nail Arts
Grand Opening Special
FULL SET $18
FILL $13
Looking for something?
Check the Kansan Classifieds!
Rent-To-Own Center Monthly Rentals • Lease Purchase • Retail
APPLIANCES
Refrigerators - Ranges - Washers - Dryers
Freezers - Dishwashers - Microwaves
FURNITURE
Livingroom – Dinettes
Bedroom – Tables & Lamps – BEDS
PPLIANCES
TV/VCR
Quasar - Sharp - Hitachi 20", 25" & 27"
STEREOS
Pioneer - JVC - Alwa
Computers
FAST FREE DELIVERY!
842-8505 CALL TODAY
2204 Haskell
M+F 9-6, SAT 9-5