Friday October 1, 1999
Quick Looks
11A
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Kansas State president issues apology to Texas
As if last year's 49-7 loss to Kansas State wouldn't be motivation enough for the Texas football team this weekend, the Longhorns may be spurred by a verbal attack by Kansas State president Jon Wefeld.
The battle started Saturday, when Sporting News columnist Will Leitch wrote
Yesterday, Wefald issued a letter of apology to the entire state of Texas and to the University of Texas after a war of words between Wefold and *Sporting News* magazine escalated to include the Lone Star State.
that Will Letch Write a section, entitled "We Hate K-State," in his weekly column. The column stated that K-State was the most hated team in the nation in 1998, that the Wildcats
played a "pretty dirty" brand of football, that K-State was "not all that," and that "we're fully expecting Texas to stomp you in Austin this Saturday."
Wefald responded with a letter that stated that "outside of Texas, very few people cheer for the Longhorns because the University of Texas represents ... incredible wealth and arrogance. Many Texans believe that the world begins and ends with Texas."
Yesterday, Wefalp posted a letter of apology on the K-State athletics Web site saying that Texas was only mentioned because Leitch wrote about how everyone in America would be cheering for the Longhorns this weekend.
"I have a great admiration for the people of Texas and the University of Texas, which is certainly one of the greatest academic institutions in the nation and world," the apology said. "Again, I apologize."
Michael Rigg
Former Nebraska back may head to Northern Iowa
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — DeAngelo Evans, the disgruntled Nebraska running back who quit the team two weeks ago, might
be interested in transferring to Northern Iowa to finish his football career.
Evans has been released from his scholarship, and Northern Iowa has received a
copy of a letter from Nebraska officials freeing him to talk to other schools, a Northern Iowa administrator said. Northern Iowa coach Mike Dunbar is prohibited by
NCAA rules from talking about potential transfers. But he confirmed yesterday that his office did receive a copy of the letter releasing Evans.
Evans, Wichita junior, has one season of eligibility remaining. If he transferred to a Division I-AA school such as Northern Iowa, NCAA rules would allow him to play next fall.
"We have received a generic letter of release to contact other schools signed by Nebraska's associate athletic director," said Sandra Williamson, Northern Iowa's associate athletic director in charge of compliance. "It was forwarded to me by our football coaches late last week."
Evans' football coach at the Collegiate School in Wichita, Mike Gehrer, said that while he was not involved in helping Evans pick a new school, he had heard that Northern Iowa was one in which he was interested.
A call to Evans' home in Wichita was not immediately returned.
PRO BASEBALL
Candlestick Park closes after 40 years of baseball
SAN FRANCISCO — The fabled winds were quiet, the familiar shroud of cold and fog nowhere to be seen or felt.
Defying 40 years of history, Candlestick Park, home to Wille Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal, was the scene yesterday of a long goodbye on a brilliant day for baseball.
Before a roaring crowd, Hall of Famer Marichal, in a business suit and a baseball cap, returned to the mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Candlestick. Maligned for its bitter weather and isolation, it was also remembered for some of baseball's great moments and its strength in withstanding the October 1989 earthquake that ravaged the Bay area and interrupted the World Series.
The All-Star game was played at Candletick in 1961, when the winds blew pitcher Stu Miller off the mound.
That signaled the beginning of the end for
Dedicated the year before by Vice President Richard Nikon as "the finest ball-park in America," Candlestick also was the scene of the 16-inning scoreless duel between Marichal and the Braves' Warren Spahn (Mays won it with with a homer), McCovey's 500-foot upper-deck homer in a 1966 loss to the Mets and lefty Dave Dravecky's August 1989 miracle comeback from cancer, in which he beat the Reds.
BASKETBALL
Hoyas coach, Celtics star to be added to Hall of Fame
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Kevin McHale pushed himself beyond pain and whatever else stood in his way. John Thompson pushed himself and everyone around him until they sometimes felt like shoving back.
The high standards of the Boston Celtics star and the Georgetown coach propelled them into the Basketball Hall of Fame. They will be inducted tonight, along with Cleveland Cavaliers executive Wayne Embry, women's college coach Billie Moore, and the late NBA pioneer and owner Fred Zolner.
During 13 seasons with Boston, McHale played on championship teams in 1981, 1984 and 1986. He made seven NBA All-Star teams.
Thompson captured his share of glory too. During 27 seasons at Georgetown, he stalked the sidelines with a towel habitually draped over his shoulder. Georgetown made 24 straight postseason appearances and three NCAA Final Fours and won the 1984 national championship — the first ever won by an African-American coach.
ive Thompson three tries to reach the Hall of Fame.
"When you're standing for your views, you're going to have enemies," he said.
Capitals general manager suspended for role in melee
HOCKEY
But it took the outspoken, even combat
NEW YORK — Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee was fined $20,000 and suspended for one month by the NHL yesterday as the result of a fight during an exhibition game with the Chicago Blackhawks. Sept. 25.
In addition, Washington coach Ron Wilson was fined $5,000 and Chicago owner Bill Wirtz was fined $3,000 for comments they made during the investigation conducted by the league.
The fight occurred after the game. McPhee's face was cut and one arm of his suit was torn off when he was surrounded and punched by Blackhawks players. McPhee gave Chicago coach Lome Molleken a black eye. The Washington Post reported.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman conducted a hearing Wednesday with McPhee and Capitals president Richard Patrick.
Penguins ship top defender to Rangers in payroll trim
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins traded their highest-paid defenseman, Kevin Hatcher, to the New York Rangers yesterday for defenseman Peter Popovic, barely 24 hours before the Penguins open the season in Dallas.
The Penguins were eager to trim their payroll after signifying defenseman Darius Kasparaitis to a $3 million, two-year contract on Wednesday. Hatcher was the Penguins' highest-paid defenseman at $3.1 million per season and was the second-high paid player on the team to
Jaromir Jagr's $10.4 million.
Penguins owner Mario Lemieux joked after the Karasaintis signing that general manager Craig Patrick probably was working on a deal to get the payroll less than the $30 million budget set by Lemieux and his advisors.
The 33-year-old Hatcher was the Penguins' most productive offensive defenseman, with 45 goals and 95 assists in 140 career games with them. A 15-year veteran and the brother of the Stars' Derian Hatcher, he is one of only five NHL defensmen to score 30 goals in a season.
Vancouver signs defender to $9.2 million contract
VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks tried to patch up their tattered defense yesterday by coming to terms with restricted free agent Ed Jovanovski on a four-year, $9.2 million contract.
The Canucks also signed free agent defenseman Greg Hawgood.
Vancouver also claimed goaltender Manny Legace off waivers and sent center Matt Cooke to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League
Jovanovski, 23. picked first overall by Florida in the 1994 NHL draft, came to the Canucks last year along with goaltender Kevin Weekes in the Pavel Bure trade. The six-foot-two, 210-pound Windsor, Ontario, native had two goals and nine assists in 31 games with the Canucks.
Hawgood, 31, played with the Houston Aeros of the International Hockey League. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Edmonton native has played nine NHL seasons with six different teams. His one-year deal is believed to be worth $450,000.
Legace was in the Detroit system last year. He played 17 games in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings and had a 2.60 goals against average.
The Associated Press
Sports Calendar
Yankees smash the Orioles 12-5 take second straight division title
The Associated Press
Scott Brosius hit two homers, and Bernie Williams reached 200 hits for the first time in his career as the Yankees won their second straight division title by defeating the Baltimore Orioles 12-5 yesterday for a split of their day-night doubleheader.
BALTIMORE — It took a lot longer than last year, and the final margin won't be nearly as impressive. Yet the New York Yankees are once again the American League East champions.
The victory eliminated the Boston Red Sox, who will enter the playoffs as the wild-card team.
The Yankees have spent much of the year trying to come up with a sufficient encore their amazing 1998 season, when they went 114-48 and won the World Series. That team clinched the AL EAST crown on Sept. 9 and finished 22 games ahead of second-place Boston.
This year, the Red Sox made the Yankees work a lot harder. But for the third time in four years, New York will enter the postseason as division champions.
In the first game, Mike Mussina pitched seven innings of five-hit ball to lead the Orioles to a 5-0 victory.
Williams and Derek Jeter are the first two Yankee teammates to have 200 hits in a season since Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio did it in 1937. Williams scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning of the nightcap after hit No. 199 and drove in a run in the sixth with No. 200.
Orlando Hernandez (17-9) allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings.
New York went up 4-3 in the fifth when
Williams, Tino Martinez and Chili Davis hit successive singles on Jim Corsi (1-3).
Run-scoring scores by Jeter and Davis made it 6-3 in the sixth. Paul O'Neill hit a three-run double in the eighth and Brosius hit a three-run homer.
Shane Spencer also homered for the Yankees, who are a game behind Cleveland in the battle for best record in the AL.
Jerry Hairston Jr. had four hits including a homer for the Orioles. Derrick May and Jesse Garcia also homered and B.J. Surhoff had three hits.
Spencer and Brosius hit solo homers in the fourth inning to put New York ahead 3-2, but May tied it in the Orioles' half by hitting Hernandez's first pitch over the right-field wall.
New York got to celebrate its eighth AL East
The Orioles took advantage of Roger Clemens' control problems and built a 4-0 lead after three innings. That was more than enough offense for Mussina, whose 18 wins is tied for second in the AL behind Boston's Pedro Martinez (23).
The right-hander struck out 10 — nine looking — and walked one. Mussina (18-7), who retired 13 straight at one point, is 5-0 in seven starts since Aug. 6.
true after the nightcap, but Mussina made sure the Yankees wouldn't pop any champame corks at his expense.
The Associated Press
Mets defeated by Braves in extra innings; coveted playoff spot looks uncertain
Brian Jordan tripled and scored on Ozzie Guillen's sacrifice fly in the 11th inning as the Atlanta Braves handed the Mets their eighth loss in nine games, 4-3 last night.
The game was played with playoff intensity, with the 48,364 fans out of their seats with each key at-bat as they hoped the Mets could continue their magic from Wednesday night, when they beat Greg Maddux and the Braves 9-2. The way the game ended, it might be as close as the playoffs get to Shea Stadium.
With three games remaining, New York trails Houston and Cincinnati by two games in the NL wild-card race. To make the postseason for the first time since 1988, the Mets likely need to sweep Pittsburgh and hope either the Astros or Reds lose at least twice.
NEW YORK — One night after John Olerud put the Mets back into the National League wild-card race, the Atlanta Braves dealt New York's playoff chances a huge blow.
After New York tied the game at 3 in the eighth on Edgardo Alfonzo's 26th homer, the Braves took the lead in the 11th.
Shawon Dunston overran a high fly to right by Jordan leading off the inning, turning a routine out into a triple. Rookie Octavio Dotel (8-3), making his fifth career relief appearance, then intentionally walked Andrew Jones.
Guillen followed with a fly to shallow center and Jordan narrowly beat Darryl Hamilton's throw to break the tie.
Terry Mulholland (10-8) got four outs as the Braves won for the ninth time in 10 games and clinched home-field in the NL playoffs. After Mike Piazza walked with two outs, Robin Ventura hit a game-end flout.
The frustration of the loss led to a fight in the stands by the third-base dugout in the 11th inning, drawing the Braves out of their dugout and the umpires to the stands to check out the melee.
The lone bright spot for New York was that Rey Ordonez didn't make an error for his 96th straight game, breaking Cal Rinken's record for shortstops.
diving stop to rob Ozzie Guillen of a single in the second inning. Ordonez has fielded 387 chances during the streak.
Kevin Millwood allowed two runs and five hits in
seven innings for the Braves. The right-hander has been the most consistent pitcher for the Braves this season, outperforming Cy Young winners Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Millwood is 6-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last 10 starts.
Ordonez made a leaping grab of Williams' liner to lead off the game and a
The Braves opened the scoring in the fourth. Ryan Klesko doubled with two outs for the first hit off Yoshii. After Jordan walked, Andruw Jones lined an RBI single to left.
Hey Students...
I want YOU to join HAWK Club
and help us establish a home
field advantage!
Be a part of the NEW Tradition... HAWK Club... the official student booster organization that's Helping Athletics Win at Kansasl Sign up at the KU Athletics Ticket Office in Allen Fieldhouse.
Sat., Oct. 2 (KU vs. SMU) • 1 PM
HAWK Club Members' Calendar
Come to the HAWK Club table at the base of the MegaVision video board to pick up your official club t-shirt and membership card. Bring your KUID to verify you are in the club. Then, get ready to sit in "The Nest"!