Emerald
THURSDAY
Novemtxw 9, 1996
r
TOOAY IN SPORTS
Fainthearted player
sues to stay on
basketball court
I \ ANSI ON. Ill (Al>) —
Northwestern University
declared basketball recruit
Nicholas Knapp ineligible
because of his heart condition
Wednesday, a day after he
sued to force his way onto the
team.
Northwestern spokesman
ken Wildes said the team
physician determined Knapp
could lie "at significant risk"
of having another cardiac
arrest like the one he suffered
during a Sept it). ltMM. pick
up game in Peoria.
The decision was based on
Knapp's medical history and
current guidelines on athletes
with heart problems, univer
sity officials said
Knapp filed a lawsuit in
federal court in Uhii ago seek
ing to force the school to let
him play and asking for
unspecified damages He said
a regulatory device plat ed in
his abdomen enables him to
play and he contends the uni
versity should honor the com
mitment he made to them
after his junior year of high
school in Peoria.
Braves get canny
look from Coca-Cola
ATLANTA (Al>) — Fans
thirsting lor another souvenir
of the Atlanta Braves' World
Series title need go no further
than the soda aisle at the gro
(ery store
The Coca-Cola Co. on
Wednesday unveiled a com
memorative can honoring the
Braves' championship
Atlanta-based Coke said it
was shipping 240,000 cases
to stores in north and i entral
Cworgia, east Alabama and
east Tennessee
The Coca-Cola Classic cans
feature the Braves logo, a
pitc her's image and the date
of the team’s title-clinching
victory.
Wildcats’ basketball
signs top prospect
TUCSON, Ariz (AP) —
Mike Bibby, u two-time state
Player of the Your, has signed
a national letter of intent to
play basketball at Arizona,
Wildcats coach Lute Olson
announced Wednesday.
The 6-foot-2. 180-pound
Hibby is the sun of former
N’BA player Henry Hibby and
is considered one of the top
prep point guards in the
nation.
As a junior last season at
Phot-nix Shadow Mountain
High School, Bibby averaged
35 points, seven rebounds,
nine assists and six steals as
he led his team to the state
finals.
New coach leads Ducks into transition
■ TENNIS: Director of
tennis Chris Russell has
taken over the program
Transition is the Iwst word to
describe the Oregon men's ton
nis team this season
This year the program
replaced its c oach of the past
28 seasons Out is Buzz
Summers and in is Chris
Russell, who was named the
Big West Conference Women's
Coach of the Year during eac h
of his four years at the
University of Santa Barbara
Russell also led Santa Barbara
to its first NCAA tournament
two years ago,
I think it's transition time
for every one," Russell said
"As far as our vision and whore
we want the program to go in
the nest couple of vwn, tennis
at Oregon is changing "
The Oregon athletic depart
ment has bestowed Russell
with the job of being director of
tennis as well ns head coach,
giving him the responsibility of
overseeing both the men's and
women's tennis programs
Russell is only directly
involved with the day-to-day
operation of the men's team,
however, as assistant coach
Wade Judy has assumed the
role of overseeing the women's
team on a daily basis
We felt that it was necessary
for both of (the men's and
vs omen ’■ teams] to have one
person they can deal with and
count on.” Russell said
"Having Wade around has
made my job easier and has
helped ease mv transition into
a new system."
One of the main reasons
Russell ( hose to l oins to
Oregon was his belief that
Oregon is committed to fully
supporting the tennis teams
The program's scholarships ant
what caught Russell s eve when
the athlete department contact
ed him nlKiul the position This
season, the men's team, under
NCAA regulations, has -t 1 M
full scholarships, while the
women s team has eight
We now have all the schol
arships net essarv to compote
on a national level." Russell
slid With that, l feel that tint
athletic department is really
liehind us It is definitely out it
mg to step into a program that
competes in the l’ac-10 and
taps its resources to bring it to
new heights "
As !ht> Dm As administration
is 111 transition, this will also lx>
a year of development in the
tennis program Oregon's
si hedtile. designed by fornnir
coat h Sum mors, is very com
petitive. boasting several
mnti (ms against perineal colle
giate tennis power houses Hut.
Russell said, the team's win
loss record is not as important
as the improvement it will
show
"We're going to have our
hands full this year with the
schedule we've got," he said
However, if we develop like I
think we will, we will txi com
pelitive this season We are in
transition right now in terms of
the level we want to he at.
down the road The guys we
have now are an integral part of
getting to that level "
Tearing up field
An? * ft* (Al ,*» M&tC* i
Losing his flag (and a little more). Billy Slovens of the Chi Psi Sloth Dogs gets flagged by Keith Barnaba of the Magnums m a Mug football game
Sunday. The flag football championship will be Sunday, Nov 12 from 2 p m to 6 p m at Autzen Stadium
Cordova receives rookie honors in close race
■ AWARD: Minnesota
outfielder Marty Cordova
beats out Angel s Garret
Anderson for AL Rookie
of the Year
NEW YORK (AH — Marly
Cordova, the Minnesota Twins
outfielder who had 24 homers
and H-t RBIs. was voted
American League Rookie of the
Year on Wednesday, edging out
California's Carrel Anderson in
the closest race in 16 years.
Cordova and Anderson each
received 1.1 first-place votes in
balloting by the Baseball
Writers Association of America.
Cordova had 13 seconds and
one third for 105 points, while
Anderson had 10 seconds and
four thirds for 9') points
Andy Pettitte of the New
York Yankees and Troy
Percival of the Angels each
received one first-place vote
It was the closest race in the
AL since 1979, when Twins
third baseman John Castino and
Toronto shortstop Alfredo
Griffin tied with seven votes
each. The following year, the
BBWAA switched to the system
where each writer makes three
picks, with 5 points for a first
place vote. 3 for a second and 1
for a third
The last rookie race decided
by such a narrow margin was
llio National League award in
19H2, when Steve Sax of l,os
Angeles edged Pittsburgh's
lohnny Kay by t> points
Cordova, 2f>, finished the sea
son hitting ,277. He made his
major league debut on April 20
and started in a 2-for-lB slump,
but rebounded to hit tot in
May with eight homers and 21
Kills He slumped to 247 in
June, then hit .293 in July He
closed strongly, hitting 304
from Sept 1 to the end of the
season with four homers and 23
RHIx
He homered in five consecu
tive games from May lti-2<),
tying the major league record
set by Rudy York in 1937 and
matched by George Alusik in
1962 and Ron Kittle in 1983 It
also matched thu Twins record
accompli shod twice by Hannon
Kiliebrew in 1970.
Anderson hit .124 with if>
homers and 89 RRls Me started
the season with the Angels and
was just 0-for-8 when he was
sent back to the minors on May
15, when rosters were reduced
from 2H active players to 25. Me
returned to California on June 7
and in July was picked as the
At, player of the month after
hitting 410 with seven homers
and ill Kills in 25 games
Anderson would have
received a $10,000 bonus if he
had won the award