University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, November 28, 1989
Sports
11
Randall is Number 1 in Big 8
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mark Randall, who averaged 22.3 points in three Kansas victories against nationally ranked teams in the Dodge National Invitational Tournament, was named the Big Eight Conference player of the week yesterday.
Randall, a 6-foot-9 junior, was unanimously selected by a panel of media observers. He shot 71.1 percent from the field in the victorious game. University, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and St. John's.
Mark Randall
"It's always nice to get the
accolades. But really, that doesn't compare to the team winning. That's what's important to me. Winning is what it's all about," Randal said.
Randall, who also was named the NIT's most valuable player, averaged 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in four games this fall.
K-State defeat spoils Big 8 tourney sweep
The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Steve Smith's 17 points and precision passing pushed Michigan State to a 73-68 victory last night against Kansas State in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout.
A K-State victory would have given the Big Eight a weekend sweep of three major preseason tournaments. Missouri won the Maui Classic, and Kansas took the Dodge NIT this the weekend.
A five-minute scoring drought by K-State at the end of the first half and the start of the second spelled the difference. The Wildcats, who mounted dramatic comebacks to win their first two Shootout games, fell too far back and missed too many free throws to overcome the Soarants.
K-State's trapping defense frustrated the Spartans in the early going, and the teams were never more than five points apart for the team. In an effort to keep it off, ran off 10 straight points in the final 3:27 for a 38-32 half lead.
Michigan State's lead grew to 16 with a little more than five minutes left before the Wildcats mounted yet another stirring rally.
The Wildcats scored 11 straight points to close to 65-60 with 1:21 left. But Michigan State's Kirk Manns, who snank six free throws,
Smith, named the tournament's
most outstanding player, finished with 11 assists, six rebounds and several blocked or tipped shots.
Steve Henson, hampered by a bruised thigh and a case of the flu, scored 14 points but was largely ineffective for the Wildcats, 2-1.
Tourney ends in Tiger luau Towels, fans and tans dominate Maui Classic basketball
AMES, Iowa — Terry Woods scored 12 of his 18 points during a 34-5 first-half run that gave Iowa State control of the game and sent the Cyclones to a 93-68 victory against Florida A&M.
Iowa State, 2-0, struggled early and fell behind 9-6, turning the ball over five straight times. They finally got rolling behind Woods, who shot 73-3 percent, and built a 53-27 halftime lead.
The Associated Press
Victor Alexander led Iowa state with 25 points, 15 coming in the second half. Kirk Bakier scored 18, and reserve Phil Kunz had 11. Reserve Raham Dixon won Florida A&M, 1-1, with 15 points.
Iowa State 93,
Florida A&M 68
LAHAINA, Hawaii — it's just too early to get euphoric about victories or crushed about losses in college basketball.
The Maui Classic had three ranked teams, and two left with losses. But No. 7 North Carolina and No. 12 Louisville are still going to be there when "March Madness" rolls around.
No. 11 Missouri did leave with the trophy, but even a member of the Antlers, the raucous student group in Columbia, Mo., would probably say that the Tigers could be on the short of the score a few times this season.
So look at the Maui Classic for all the things that happened besides the wins and losses, important as they really are. Eight teams spent Thanksgiving weekend in a climate suited more for surfing and snorkeling than shooting and scoring.
OXFORD, Ohio — Miami hit 14 of 24 three-point goals behind Tim Stewart's hot shooting and dominated the boards, defeating Nebraska 91-71.
Miami (Ohio) 91
Nebraska 71
Big men convention
College basketball is a sport in which coaches draw most of the attention, and the Maui Classic had four of the winningest ones of all time, North Carolina's Dean Smith, Missouri's Norm Stewart, James Madison's Lefty Driesell and Louisville's Denny Crum.
It was the first-round matchup of Smith and Driesell which drew most of the media attention. The two had a fierce rivalry in the 1970s and 80s when Driesell was at Maryland.
At the pre-tournament banquet Thanksgiving night, Driesell took his opportunity at the speaker's podium
"Dean's talking about how tough it's going to be with all his great players," Driesell said. "Dean's won the game." And maybe, he said, "dog in every damn one of them."
to poke fun at Smith's penchant for downarning his own team's talent.
Driesell left to a room full of laughter, but he forgot to introduce his team as the previous coaches had all done.
Smith was next to speak.
"Letty, that was very funny stuff,
but I have something important to do
to him. He said to me the James
Madison football team please
stand and be recognized?"
When Stewart spoke, he mentioned his absence from coaching since undergoing cancer surgery in February.
"I didn't think I was away that long, but some things have really changed," he said with a straight face to a quiet room. "First, Dean got funny. Second, Dean got funny."
Most of the free time given the teams was spent either at the beach or poolside, and there were some strange sights near the water.
Walking on water
Villanova had its pregame walkthrough at the poolside of its hotel. People watched as the Wildcats, without a ball, walked through their own plays as well as those of their opponent.
Indiana, Syracuse, North Carolina State, Iowa State and Northeastern will join Chaminade on Maui next Thanksgiving.
The field for next year's tournament is almost set.
Schedule set
Tournament officials indicated Arizona and Kentucky are among the schools that are possibilities to complete the brackets.
Indiana's appearance means Damon Bailey, the player the country has followed since the eighth grade, will make his collegiate debut with the Hoosiers at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Hot competition
Chaminade, a Division II school from Honolulu, which is not on Maui, serves as the host for the tournament.
The Silverswords have been almost too nice to visitors, even for an area that thrives on tourism. They have won just one of 17 games in the tournament. Their only victory was in the first game ever played in the Maul Classic, 77-62 over Davidson in 1984.
The hardest working people at the Mauli Classic were the boys who wiped the floor whenever it got wet. They sat on the court as much as the players.
The Lahaina Civic Center holds about 3,000 people, and it isn't airconditioned. The windows can't be opened because the glare would affect the television cameras, which are responsible for the huge lights suspended from the ceiling.
Almost every fan sits incessantly waving a small fan given free with the program.
AP TOP 25
BASKETBALL POLL
Rec. Previous
1. Syracuse (23) 0-0 3
2. Arizona (10) 1-0 6
3. Georgetown (9) 2-0 5
4. Kansas (15) 4-0
5. Missouri 3-0 11
6. UNLV 3-1 1
7. Duke (1) 1-0 10
8. Illinois 0-0 8
9. LSU (1) 1-1 2
10. Michigan 0-1 4
11. Arkansas (2) 2-0 9
12. North Carolina (1) 2-1 7
13. Louisville 2-1 12
14. Indiana 1-0 14
15. UCLA 1-0 13
16. Temple 0-0 15
17. Oklahoma 0-0 16
18. Pittsburgh 0-0 18
19. Notre Dame 0-1 17
20. St. John's 3-1 25
21. Georgia Tech 1-0 22
22. Memphis State 2-0 24
23. Oklahoma State 0-0 21
24. Florida 0-0 23
25. N. Carolina State 1-1 19
Others receiving votes: Texas-EI Pas98, Texas 78, Clemson 81, Nicholas St. 71, DePaul 60
Minnesota 60, Alabama 56, Houston 48, La Salle 57, Loyola Marymont 36, Oregon St. 35, Ark-Little Rock 25, Kansas St. 24, Rutgers 22, Bail St. 21, New Mexico 19, Seaton Hall 81. *First place votes in parentheses
49ers topple Giants with 34-24 victory
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Cofer, given a reprieve by a penalty, kicked a 45-yard field goal with 4:12 remaining last night, putting the San Francisco 49ers ahead in a 34-24 victory against the New York Giants.
Joe Montana threw three touchdown passes, Pierce Holt had four of seven sacks and the San Francisco defense forced five turnovers as the 49ers took the inside track to the homefield advantage in the NFC playoffs by winning the matchup of teams with 9-2 records.
The Giants, boasting the stingiest defense in the conference, allowed Montana to improve his league-leading 70 percent completion rate, completing 27 of 33 passes for 392 yards.
Top baseball negotiator resigns 1 day before player talks begin
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Barry Rona, the top labor negotiator for baseball's owners, told associates yesterday that he was resigning, one day before talks begin on a new agreement with the players' union.
Rona, head of the Player Relations Committee since 1985, could not be reached. A management source said that Charles O'Connor, a lawyer with the law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockus, would replace Rona on at least an interim basis.
the negotiations, which are expected to be long and difficult, will still begin today, another management source said.
One management source said that he did not understand the reasons for Rona's sudden departure. There were rumors that several of baseball's influential owners did not want Rona as the lead negotiator in the talks. One source said that there was no indication of the move before yesterday.
Tom Reich, a leading player agent,
said he was surprised by the move
but did not think it would change
anything.
"I obviously disagree with most everything Barry Rona espoused during the collusion period, particularly his unrelenting denials that anything untoward was going on." Reich said. "But then again, he
wasn't the Lone Ranger."
During Rona's time as head of the PRC, owners twice were found by arbitrators to have conspired against signing free agents. The damages in the cases will total millions of dollars.
Roma has spent the last year devising a new system of player salaries in which players with less than six years in the majors are paid by a scale according to statistics, and salary arbitration is eliminated. Although it has not formally been proposed, it already is creating controversy.
"I still think it will be a long, hard road to a labor agreement," Reich said.
Boston ends free agent freeze with all-star catcher
Pena signs contract for $6.4 million
The Associated Press
BOSTON — Tony Pena signed a $6.4 million, three-year contract with the Red Sox yesterday as Boston ended its long reluctance to sign high-paid free agents in an attempt to end its catching problems.
Pena, a five-time All-Star who spent the last three seasons with St. Louis, will receive a $600,000 signing bonus and salaries of $1.5 million in 1990, $2.1 million in 1981 and $1.1 million in 1983. He earned $1.1 million last season.
Joe Morgan, Jim Palmer top list of 1990 Hall candidates
The Cardinals have high hopes for rookie catcher Todd Zelie and had no interest in re-signing Pena, a baseball's top fielding catchers.
The signing could mean the end of Rich Gedman's nine-year career with the Red Sox. Gedman's performances have declined since he made the American League All-Star team in 1985 and 1986. Last season, Gedman, a left-handed hitter, batted 212, his second-lowest average with the Red Sox. He had four home runs and 16 RBIs in 260 at bats.
The Associated Press
NEW YORK—Joe Morgan, a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, and Jim Palmer, who won the Cy Young Award three times, head 20 first-time candidates on the 1990 Hall of Fame ballot distributed to veteran members of the Baseball Writers Association of America yesterday.
Morgan batted .271 with 268 home runs and 689 stolen bases in 22 seasons, winning consecutive MVP awards in 1975 and 1976. He holds the National League record for most games
Morgan, a key member of the 1975-76 champion Cincinnati Reds, also played for the Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Oakland Athletics.
played at second base as well as a number of fielding records.
The other players eligible for the first time are Jim Bibby, Mike Caldwell, Bucky Dent, Roy Howell, Glex Zukinis, Tug Mecraw, Rick Monday.
Palmer pitched 19 sessions for Baltimore, posting a record of 268-152. He was a 30-game winner eight times and won the Cy Young Award in 1973, 1975 and 1976.
Jose Morales, Amos Otis, Lou Pinielia, Jerry Remy, Mickey Rivers, Ken Singleton, John Stearns, Champ Summers, Dick Tidow, Mike Torrez and Bob Watson.
Rick Cerone, Boston's other catcher last season, hit .243 with four home runs and 49 RBIs in 296 at bats. John Marzano joined the team at the end of the season and batted. 444 in 18 at bats.
To win election, a candidate must receive 75 percent of the votes cast by 10-year members of the BBWAA. Players become eligible five years after retirement.
Pena, a right-handed batter, hit 259 last season with four home runs and 37 RBIs and made the National League All-Star team for the fifth time. He has a .274 average for his nine-year major league career with a high of .301 in 1983.
"If the Red Sox sign Tony Pena, 'I'm sure Rich will be out of here.' Jack Sands, Gedman's agent, said last week.
The Oakland Athletics are expected today to sign free agent outfield Rickey Henderson to a new contract for $3 million a year, according to a published report.
Richie Bry, Henderson's agent, as saying the outfielder wanted to give the A's the opportunity to sign him because he is a native of the Bay area.
Rickey Henderson
Henderson, who will be 31 on Christmas Day, starred in the American League playoffs and the World Series for the A's, who reacquired him from the New York Yankees on June 21 for pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk and outfielder Luis Polonia.
The New York Times quoted
Toronto's star Jay to stay with team
The Associated Press
TORONTO — Mookie Wilson, who sparked Toronto's drive to the AL East title after being acquired in August, is staying with the Blue Jays for at least two mary years.
Wilson, who had spent his entire career with the New York Mets before being sent to Toronto, yesterday signed a two-year contract with an option for a third year for a guaranteed $2.95 million.
"I think Toronto has been very fair," said Richie Bry, Wilson's agent, who met with Toronto general manager Pat Gillick and assistant general manager Gord Ash at the end of the season. "There were no hitches. We just kept going forward."
Wilson, 33, filed for free agency after the Jays were beaten by the World Series-champion Oakland Athletics in the American League playoffs.
"I'm happy to be back," he said. "There were other clubs interested, but my first choice was Toronto."
Hawaiian wrestler grapples way to Japanese sumo crown
The Associated Press
TOKYO — There was so much to overcome:
no sleep, threats of demotion and a bum knee.
And when it was all over, when the prized
Emperor's Cup was finally his, a 25-year-old,
480-pound Hawaiian sumo wrestler named
Konishikui didn't even try to hide his tears.
"I tried not to cry but I could not control my emotion when I walked off the ring," he said at a news conference.
Konishiki, known as Salevae Fuunil Atisane in Hawaii, pushed and showed his way to the national sumo championship on Sunday, winning Japan's most coveted sports prize and becoming only the second foreigner to do so.
Long a favorite of Japanese audiences, Konishiki's victory attracted special attention because he had been threatened with demotion from his hard-earned rank of ozeki, or champion. He is the only foreigner to have ever held that rank, which follows that of yokozuna, or grand champion.
Recovering from a knee injury that severely weakened his performance, the Hawaiian achieved only a 5-10 record in the previous tournament. He needed to win a majority of 15 bouts in this tournament to avoid demotion because, according to sumo rules, ozeki wrestlers are demoted if they lose two tournaments in a row.
But Konishiki, whose massive weight folds
like a pleated skirt over his frame, did even better: he went 14-1.
"But I didn't think of it . . . and I tried to work hard, continuing training every day. This is like a dream, and I was surprised," he said.
restore the tournament began, he said he did not think his knee would heal enough from an injury he suffered in May 1986 that was reinjured early this year.
Asked when he thought he could win the tournament, he said, "I didn't think about it at all. I couldn't sleep well for the past week."
Konishki flew to Hawaii on emergency leave three days before the tournament because his parents were injured in a traffic accident, his older brother, Ano, said.
He returned to Japan less than 24 hours later after finding out that his parents were not as badly injured as he initially feared, the brother said.
"When I was taking him back to the airport he told me 'I'm gonna do it for them. I'm gonna do it this time,'" Ano said.
Konishiki is said to have a very good shot at the grand championship.
During the final bout Sunday, wearing only a thin strap around his gird that resembled a colored diaper, Konishiki charged the 382 pound sewakii (junior champion) Kotogaume with devastating hand thrusts, grabbed his toe's belt and forced him out of the ring.
Kansas women lose in Hawaiian contest
By a Kansan reporter
The Kansas women's basketball team lost 70-64 to No. 23 Vanderbilt Sunday night in the third-place game of the Wahine Classic in Honolulu.
Forward Shannon Bloomxel led Kansas with 19 points, followed by center Lynn Page with 16 and guard Lisa Braddy with 13.
Kansas beat Toledo 49-45 in the first round of the tournament Friday but lost to Hawaii 72-62 in the semifinals Saturday night.
AP TOP 25
FOOTBALL POLL
1. Colorado (53) 11-0-0
2. Alabama (2) 10-0-0
3. Michigan (1) 10-1-0
4. Miami, Fla. (3) 10-1-0
5. Notre Dame 11-1-0
6. Florida State 8-2-0
7. Nebraska 10-1-0
8. Tennessee 9-1-0
9. Arkansas 9-1-0
10. Illinois 9-2-0
11. Auburn 8-2-0
12. Southern Cal 8-2-1
13. Houston 8-2-0
14. Clemson 9-2-0
15. Virginia 10-2-0
16. Texas A&M 7-3-0
17. West Virginia 8-2-1
18. Penn State 7-3-1
19. Brigham Young 10-2-0
20. Duke 8-3-0
21. Ohio State 8-3-0
22. Michigan State 7-4-0
23. Hawaii 9-2-0
24. Pittsburgh 6-3-1
25. Texas Tech 8-3-0
Others receiving votes: Florida 53, Washington 21, Arizona 20, Air Force 14, Fresno St. 14, Oregon 8, Mississippi 5, Oldhamase 4, North Illinois 2, Georgia 1, Syracuse 1
First-place votes in parentheses