UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday. April 16. 1996
3B
Eye injury forces Miller to the bench
Pacer's lead scorer could have to wait two months to play
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — The double vision that accompanied Reggie Miller's fractured eye socket could take up to two months to clear.
Miller, the Indiana Pacers' leading scorer, underwent surgery Sunday night, about 24 hours after he was injured in a collision with the Detroit Pistons 'Otis Thorpe and Allan Houston.
The most optimistic projection for Miller's return is about three weeks. Even then, he would miss the start of the playoffs, which begin in less than two weeks. His complete recovery depends on how quickly his vision improves, ophthalmologist John Abrams said.
"I're really tough to tell. It can be anywhere from a week to 10 days. It might resolve, or could be up to a couple months. It's totally unpredictable," Abrams said. "The muscles have suffered some injury. There's some swelling."
Abrams said that Miller's eye muscles looked very good at the time of the surgery, but that it will be hard to predict when he will recover.
Pacers spokesman David Benner said that Miller didn't seen his doctors yesterday because both were in surgery.
Miller also sustained a mild concussion and a small neck sprain in the collision, according to the team. The 30-minute operation involved reconstructive surgery on the floor of Miller's right eye socket.
"The eyeball is surrounded by a bony socket, and the floor of the socket was blown out, so that the eyeball actually drops into a portion of the floor. It was more a reconstruction of the floor. It was a pretty significant injury," said Sanford Kunkel, team doctor.
Michael Welsh, the doctor who performed the operation, said that when an eye is hit with some degree of force, something has to give.
"Fortunately, the eye's tougher than the bones around the eye, so
it developed a fracture on the floor above the sinus," he said. "The surgery itself, we made an incision inside the eyelid, went along the floor of the eye socket, removed the tissue from the fracture and put a plastic plate about the size of a quarter over the fracture and then let the tissue back down and sewed up the incision."
Kunkel said Miller probably would rest for at least a week before he may begin working out. Assuming his vision clears, he would wear protective goggles when he returns.
"We'll never rush anybody back. No game is that important," Pacers coach Larry Brown said. "He's a tough guy. He doesn't look it, but he's a tough kid. He doesn't like to miss any task, and I know he'll want to come back at the earliest possible time. We just have to be careful about it and make sure that when he does; he's really healthy."
Brown said the injury would not distract the rest of the Pacers as they head into the playoffs.
"I mean, these things happen in the league," he said. "But sometimes adversity makes you better. We just have to have some people step up."
Forward Dale Davis said Miller's absence will be a chance to see what the team can do in the absence of a strong player.
"I think we've got the guys who are capable, so it's going to be interesting to see who steps in," he said.
The 6-foot-7 Miller, a member of the U.S. Olympic team, is averaging 21.1 points a game for the Pacers, who are 49-29, have the third-best record in the Eastern Conference and would open the playoffs at home.
"There could be situations like this in the playoffs," forward Derrick McKey said. "There could be times when Reggie is in foul trouble or whatever and the other guys have to pick it up.
Pierce came through with 14 points on 6-10 shooting. In the second half, Indiana's reserves outscored Detroit's bench 31-3.
The Pacers, who have a fourgame lead over the fourth-seeded New York Knicks, played host to Charlotte last night. One more win by Indiana or a loss by the Knicks would gave the Pacers the third seed.
Speech addresses Title IX
Ithaca president says women are not fairly represented in sports
By Dave Morantz Kansan correspondent
Doing the fair thing without having to be pushed by the law is crucial to gender equity in college athletics, James Whalen, president of Ithaca College, said in a speech Friday in Green Hall.
"Women are still not getting their fair share in college athletics." Whalen said.
The symposium also addressed the regulation of sports agents, the commercialization of college sports and university compliance with NCAA regulations.
The speech was part of a symposium titled Issues Facing College Athletics, which was presented by the Kansas Journal of Public Policy and sponsored by Student Senate.
Much of the discussion of gender equity concerned Title IX, a federal mandate prohibiting gender discrimination in federally funded educational activities. The mandate has been controversial because many men's athletic programs have been dropped by universities in an effort to maintain gender equity.
Whalen. who served on a committee that
reviewed Title IX in 1991, said that women still were unrepresented in college athletics because of a lack of enforcement by the NCAA.
But Whalen said the primary cause of gender discrimination was money. Because large amounts of money are generated by several men's sports programs, universities are reluctant to cut men's programs to achieve gender equity.
Whalen then questioned the purpose of moneymaking sports programs at academic institutions.
"Change is very difficult to come about, particularly in an institution like the NCAA," he said.
"Why are colleges and universities in this business at all? How much of an educational value is it?" he asked.
Kansas women's soccer coach Lori Walker spoke about gender equity from the perspective of an athlete and a coach. She also questioned money's role in college athletics.
"We have a tendency in this country to get caught up in extrinsic motivators," she said.
Walker said that gender equity could only be reached when extrinsic motivators, such as money, were removed from college athletics.
"We just want to play," she said.
Red Sox crawl to 2-10 start
Tom Evans, an attorney representing Syracuse University in a Title IX case, also spoke about gender equity in college athletics. Evans said he did not believe that the NCAA should be responsible for enforcing Title IX.
"A college or university should be working to achieve gender equity in whatever way is appropriate for its circumstances," Evans said.
More Boston errors lead to team's worst beginning since futile 1927 campaign
The Associated Press
The Red Sox committed two more errors in the game, giving them 21 this season. The errors led to three unearned runs and have accounted for 19 of the 77 the team's staff has allowed this season.
McDowell (1-1), who had surrendered only four earned runs in his first two starts, continually worked with runners on base. He struck out nine and walked one for his 13th career shutout.
BOSTON — Carlos Baerga drove in three runs, two on a double during Cleveland's three-run second inning, and Jack McDowell scattered nine hits as the Indians completed a four-game weekend sweep of Boston by beating the Red Sox 8-0 yesterday.
Boston's fifth straight loss dropped the Red Sox to 2-10, their worst start since opening the 1927 season 2-11 en route to a 100-loss season. Cleveland, which came into the weekend three games under 500. is now 6-5.
Cleveland capitulized on Boston's steady shabby defense for a pair of runs in the first and added three runs in he second. Kenny Lofton opened the game with a single, stole second and moved to third as Julio Franco struck out but reached base on a Bill Haselman's passed ball.
Boston starter Tim Wakefield (0-2) suffered the loss. Since starting last season 14-1, Wakefield has gone 2-10 with a 6.36 ERA. He allowed eight runs, five of them earned, and nine hits in six innings. Because of the Boston errors, Wakefield actually lowered his ERA from 9.64 to 8.44.
Red Sox second baseman Wil Cordero allowed Baerga's grounder to roll under his glove for an error — his sixth in 12 games — that scored Lofton and moved Franco to third. It marked Boston's 20th error in 12 games. Albert Belle's sacrifice fly made it 2-0.
In the second, Jim Thome and Sandy Alomar led off with singles. After Omar Vizquel flied out, Lofton singled home Thome. Franco walked before Baerga doubled in Alomar and Lofton.
The Indians took advantage of Boston's defense for another unearned run and scored three in the sixth. Vizquel collected an RBI-single and Franco had a two-run single, which increased the lead to 8-0. Mike Greenwell's throwing error allowed Vizquel to move to second before Franco delivered his two-run single.
Notes: Lofton's first-inning stolen base gave him 11 in 12 tries this season. ... The Indians had scored just three runs in McDowell's prior two starts. ... Before the game, the Red Sox placed third baseman Tim Naehring on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring and recalled infielder Jim Tatum from Pawtucket of the International League. ... Greenwell has reached by a hit or walk in 11 straight games. ... Boston is now 34-36 in its annual Patriot Day games.
NBA players defend abuse on refs, claim lack of respect
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Magic Johnson said if it had been a veteran referee, things probably would have been different.
The Associated Press
But it was Scott Foster, a 29-year-old second-year referee on the job — not a veteran. He called
no foul, and Johnson protested. Foster quickly called a technical.
Maybe Johnson wouldn't have been so quick to protest what he perceived to be an incorrect non-call by an older, more experienced official. Maybe Johnson believes someone with more experience would have called a foul on the play.
After the technical was called, there was contact between the two. Although it was no doubt accidental, the contact was initiated by Johnson, and it became another black mark on player-referee relations.
"I only said, 'He fouled me.' It was accidental contact either wav." Johnson
Magic Johnson
said after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Suns 118-114 Sunday without him. "My intention was to get his attention. As captain of the team, he must talk to me."
At the very least, some players say they're not shown enough respect. Vlade Divac, for one.
"I was next to (Johnson); I was surprised," the Lakers center said.
Lakers point guard Nick Van Exel said much the same thing last week after he was suspended for his team's final seven regular-season games and fined an NBA-record $25,000 for bumping Ron Garretson, another young official, onto a scorer's table with his left forearm.
Johnson was harsh in his criticism of Van Exel,
a fact Johnson discussed Sunday.
"I'm harping on them and staying on them, and then I come up and do something like this," Johnson said."
Lakers executive vice president Jerry West called Johnson's run-in with Foster inadvertent, a word used often in connection with the incident.
"We've had a lot of older officials leave our league," West said. "What happens is that you get a lot of young officials who are good officials, but they're like young players. They need experience along the way."
One person might see a foul when another sees a blocked shot. It all happens so fast, and what one sees clearly often depends on the angle.
"Probably because of Nick's situation, (the officials) are pulling the trigger a little faster now," Johnson said. "Maybe they're on edge, too."
Johnson said he was unanimous with roster. "I think if it had been a veteran referee, things would have been a lot different, because they would have acknowledged me and talked to me," he said.