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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1996)
Lewis isn’t leaving Centennial Games without a fight ■ TRACK: Nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis wants one more chance to break Olympic record By Rob Gloster The Associated Press ATLANTA — Befitting an athlete whose career has been highlighted by breathtaking finishes, Carl Lewis’ Olympic farewell is turning into a riveting drama. On Wednesday, Lewis’ bid to become a last-minute substitute on the U.S. 400-me ter relay team — and earn a chance for a record 10th gold medal — spawned a plea to President Clinton by a Texas lawmaker and drew scorn from a relay member. Men’s track coach Erv Hunt stood his ground, saying Lewis remains off the squad. But he reiterated that Lewis could be added if one of the current members gets in jured. Lewis’ quest drew support from a sur prising source — Michael Johnson, who has long had a cool relationship with Lewis and called for him to step down from his position atop the track world after Lewis long-jumped to a record-tying ninth gold medal Monday. “I’ve'always believed that you put the best four people out there. Carl has more experience than the other four people out there put together. If I was the coach, I’d put Carl Lewis on that relay team,” Johnson said after winning his second-round heat in the 200. It’s possible that the soap opera won’t be resolved until an hour before Saturday’s relay fi nal. Lewis, who re jected an offer last month to become part of the relay pool at a U.S. train ing camp in North Carolina, won his Atlanta 1996 ninth gold medal in the long jump Monday. He immediately began campaigning for the anchor leg on the relay team. The current relay team — an overwhelm ing gold-medal favorite — is Jon Drum mond to Leroy Burrell to Mike Marsh to Dennis Mitchell. Alternate Tim Mont gomery will run the first round Friday in place of Marsh, who will be recovering from the 200 the day before. The other al ternates are Jeff Williams and Tim Harden. Lewis cramped up in the 100 finals at the U.S. Olympic trials and finished, in Drum mond’s words, “butt-naked last.” Hunt was asked Wednesday if he would add Lewis under any circumstances. “If there was a way to do it without actu ally disrespecting the other athletes and coaches,” he answered. But Hunt added: “For me to put a person on the team that doesn’t come to practice, that openly says I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do that, when these other ath letes are out there busting their behinds, I don’t think that’s fair.” Drummond said Lewis is putting the en tire relay squad in a bad position. “It has been my dream since I was a little boy to run on a relay with Carl Lewis. But my dream is also to be a gold medalist in the Olympics,” Drummond said. “It’s time for other people to get an opportunity to have their moment in the sun. “I’d like to see Carl get what he wants. But what is it about — to give Carl a 10th medal, or deny someone else a chance of fulfilling their dream? I think that’s the question that needs to be answered.” A lawmaker in Lewis’ home town, state Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston, wrote to Hunt and President Clinton campaigning for Lewis. He also called on the Houston City Council to consider passing a resolu tion on Lewis’ behalf. “There’s only one Carl Lewis. If it was Nolan Ryan or Mary Lou Retton, there wouldn’t even be a question about it,” Wil son said. “He’s given 20 years of his life in pursuit of Olympic excellence for this country.” One of the few people not talking about the flap was alternate Williams. “I’ve got a gag order placed on me by my manager, by my coach, by my people,” he said after run ning in a 200 qualifying heat. The decision on whether Lewis is added to the team could be made as late as 6:20 p.m. Saturday. Each nation must declare its intention to enter a team in the relay by noon Thursday, roughly 24 hours before the first round. At that time, a nation must enter a list of six runners, any four of whom can run in the first round. For subsequent rounds, a nation must submit a list of four runners an hour before the start. The 35-year-old Lewis, the only Ameri can male track and field athlete on five Olympic teams, has said this will be his last Olympics. “The Olympics come every four years and we’re not young,” Drummond said. “I don’t think we want to be 35 living out our Olympic dreams.” Tennessee’s Manning creating his own football image ■ FOOTBALL: Quarterback Peyton Manning trying to distance himself from his father’s achievements By Tom Sharp The Associated Press KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Peyton Manning happily accepts all the support his famous father can give. It’s the shadow he’s leaving behind. Ever since he turned away from Archie Manning’s path 2 1/2 years ago by choosing Tennessee instead of Mississippi, Manning has systematically created his own image. He has worked to bring one ot his father s predic tions to life, that he might some day be known as Peyton’s father, rather than Peyton being known as his son. Manning is not blessed with an abundance of physical ability. He is a big, smart, reasonably talent ed quarterback whose great asset is an unfaltering drive to excel. “People always assume I’m try ing to outdo someone, but that’s really not the case,” he said. “I’m just trying to be my own person. I want to be the best I can. I’ve got so much room for improvement.” Manning looks for incremental improvement everywhere, whether it’s his footing on a cer tain play or his percentage of body fat. “I think it’s fun to see what more you can learn in the film room, or how much better you can get in the weight room or throwing the football,” he said. “I had that work ethic instilled in me at a young age, and I keep try ing to take that to the next level.” And, although he is the one do ing the work, as with many things Manning credits his father with planting the idea. “He told me to be good at what ever you do, whether it’s school or football or whatever, you’ve got to have a work ethic. That’s one thing that’s kind of stayed with Yankees’ Boggs sued by flight attendant ■ LAWSUIT: New York third baseman Wade Boggs accused of harassment without provocation The Associated Press HOUSTON — A flight atten dant claims New York Yankees third baseman Wade Boggs terror ized her during an April 15 char ter flight in a lawsuit filed this week. Karen Plympton says Boggs, 38, became enraged at her without provocation, spewing vile lan guage and threatening to “kick her fat lips in.” The incident occurred aboard a Continental Airlines charter flight carrying the Yankee team from Newark to Milwaukee, according to the suit which was filed Mon day in Houston against Boggs. “For inexplicable reasons, Bog gs became angry and irritated with Plympton during the flight,” according to the lawsuit. “That anger turned to rage when, as the plane was beginning its final de scent, (she) declined to respond to Boggs’ demand that he be served another beer.” Boggs is accused in the suit of escalating his verbal attacks on the attendant, unleashing profani ties and sexist slurs. When the plane was still on the tarmac in Milwaukee, the lawsuit says Boggs cornered her in the rear galley and made more threats while poking his finger in her face. The suit seeks unspecified damages for assault, infliction of emotional distress and loss of wages, as well as punitive dam ages for gross negligence. Plympton received permission from Continental to avoid flying on future charters. Yankees spokesman Rick Cer rone said Wednesday that he knew nothing about the lawsuit. Boggs, who is in Arlington for a game Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers, could not be immediately reached for com ment. In 1989, while playing for the Boston Red Sox, Boggs reached an out-of-oourt settlement with for mer mistress Margo Adams. She had filed a palimony suit follow ing the breakup of their four-year relationship. Baseball: Two Eugene pitchers out for the effort ■ Continued from Page 5 That’s my job.” Hacker got the Ems offense go ing in the first inning with a RBI single that scored Adam Cross. In the fourth, with runners at sec ond and third, Hacker hit a hard ground ball off the glove of Aqua Sox third baseman Jason Regan and trickled into leftfield, scoring both runners and capping a five run inning which saw the Ems lead off with five consecutive hits. But it was his team-leading 12th home run in the sixth in ning that brought everyone to their feet. With Dax Norris and Adam Johnson on base, Hacker crushed a 3-2 fastball deep into the night that cleared the fence in one of the stadium’s deepest al leys. “I wasn’t sure it was going to go,” claimed Hacker. “But I knew it would at least be a double and we’d get some runs in, which is the most important thing.” Hacker wasn’t alone in his ef fort, the Ems offense combined for 14 hits on the night and chased Everett starter Roger Blan co out of the game in the fourth inning. Four Eugene batters had a least two hits each. Ems starting pitcher Bruce Chen, being weaned back slowly from an arm injury, was limited to 30 pitches. He made good use of every one of them, striking out five in just over two innings of work. He was relieved by Odalis Perez who was also limited to 30 pitches and struggled a bit, giving up two runs in just over an in ning of work. Reliever Mike Jones, who got the victory, took over midway through the fourth inning a pitched a great game, including getting out of a bases loaded no out jam in the eighth. David Cortes closed it out for the Ems in the ninth, striking out two of the four batters he faced. me,” he said. “I had a natural throwing motion, but I wasn’t this natural thing other athletes are. I’ve worked for what I have right now. I enjoy working because I enjoy seeing results.” The results so far have put Manning among the top con tenders for the Heisman Trophy as a junior. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards last year, completed 64 percent of his passes and aver aged just one interception every 95 throws to lead Tennessee to an 11-1 record and No. 3 final na tional ranking. When the Volunteers report for practice next week, Manning’s learning curve may not be as steep as it has been the last two seasons, but it won’t be because he has quit trying. “If you don’t work hard in the weight room, some linebacker out there is working harder than you, and he’s going to be ready for you on game day,” he said. “The same with watching film. It’s a need to be prepared. “What drives me on that is a quote my dad showed me in high school by Chuck Noll, who said, ‘Pressure is something you feel only when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.’ “It made perfect sense. I’m go ing to know what I’m doing.” Ducks name Gamez head softball coach Rick Gamez, head coach at New Mexico State the past two years, was named to the same post at Oregon Tuesday. Gamez guided the Aggies to a 40-26 mark this past season and a berth in the NCAA Tour nament. New Mexico State was ranked 23rd in the Nation al Softball Coaches Associa tion poll and the Aggies placed second in the Big West Confer ence with a 19-13 record. “We’re delighted to have a coach of Rick’s caliber join our staff,” said Barbara Walker, as sociate athletic director. “He has proved to be a successful coach at the Division I level and he is well respected in the softball community.” Prior to his assignment at New Mexico State, Gamez guided Glendale Community College in Glendale, Ariz., to a 200-46 mark in four years, in cluding a national junior col lege title in 1994, with a 62-9 record. "I’m really excited to have the opportunity to coach at the University of Oregon and join a great institution in a great conference,” Gamez said. “It’s a big challenge that lies ahead but I’m really looking forward to it. All the resources are there, its just a matter of chang ing a few things. Oregon is not that far away from getting to the next level and competing in the NCAA Tournament.” USC picked to Win Conference Title LOS ANGELES — USC, which shared the Pacific-10 ti tle with Washington last sea son and beat Northwestern in the Rose Bowl, was picked to win the conference crown again this year in a preseason poll of writers and broadcast ers. The Trojans received 23-of 30 first-place votes and 287 points to far outdistance Ari zona State, second with four first-place votes and 234 points. Oregon was third with two first-place votes and 22 points. The only other first-place bal lot went to Stanford, although the Cardinal finished sixth in the voting. In 35 previous polls, the conference winner was pre dicted just 16 times, although the voters have been on the money five of the last seven years. The results were announced at Wednesday’s gathering of Pac-10 coaches for the annual media day. The points were figured on a descending scale that gave 10 points for a first place vote, and one point if the team was picked to finish last.
