A pril . 5, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age B2
A BASEBALL LEGEND RECOUNTS
Racial Threats Forced Hank Aaron To Hire Security
When He Challenged Babe Ruth’s Home Run Record
BRIEFS
"1 had to have security for the
last two or three years o f my career,’
commented Hank Aaron, who was
the object of racial taunts and threats
when he challenged Babe Ruth's
home run record o f 714.
Aaron told Parade Contributing
Editor James Brady, who interviewed
him for this Sunday's issue o f the
magazine, that even a w’hite star,
such as Mickey Mantle, would have
been resented had he topped Ruth's
record.
"They would have question his
ability ," he said. “There was with me
the question o f ability and also of
race.”
Aaron, who retired in 1976 with
755 home runs, was asked if he thinks
any one will ever break his record. “ I
think any one can break any record,”
he replied. “ But I played 23 years in
the majors. 1 don't know if any o f
them (today's stars) want to play 23
years."
BASKETBALL
U-Conn Caps
Perfect Season:
C a p p in g a p e r f e c t y e a r
U n iv ersity o fC o n n e c tic u t won
its first NCAA ch a m p io n sh ip
and c o m p leted an u n d e fe a te d
seaso n . In ju s t its se c o n d v isit
T he W o m en ’s fin al four U.
C onn cam e w ith ch am p io n sh ip
N o ts in c e 1986 had a team gone
u n d e fe a te d , w hen T ex as w ent
34-0. T he H uskies did them
one b e tte r by p o stin g a 3 5-0
reco rd .
FOOTBALL
Cornerback
Convicted
Continued from front
▲
“Our whole plan o f attack was to
receive the ball and attack the pres
sure, because they don’t want you to
run from set plays and that's fine with
us. W e’re the kind o f team, if you
open the court, w e'll make you pay,”
Harrick said.
The Bruins (31 -2) cashed in all
night. Dollar had eight assists. Charles
O 'Bannon had 6 and freshman Toby
Bailey collected 26 points.
UCLA shot 53.1 percent in the
second half. And the Bruin defense
played a pivotal role in the their
success Monday night.
A rkansas (3 2 -7 ) rode into S e
attle w ith an in sid e -o u t attack .
T hat being 6 foot 7 inch, 245
pound C o rliss W illiam so n sc o r
ing from the in sid e and S cotty
T hurm an b o m b in g aw ay from
three p o int range.
H ow ever, a g a in st U C L A ,
Williamson want up against 7 foot
G eorge Zidek who w eights 250
pounds.
Z idek was able to n e u tra liz e
W illiam son w ith his h eig h t and
bulk and by m oving his feet so
W illiam son c o u ld n 't sh o o t over
or around him.
A lso w hen ev er W illiam son
touched the ball the B ruins w ould
co lla p se on him and they w ere
still quick enough to re c o v e r to
th e p e r im e te r a n d h a m p e r
T hurm an.
“ I got caught in the physical
play, try ing to go inside,” Williamson
Walker Signs
Free ag en t ru n n in g b ack
J T e rs h e l W a lk e r w h o w a s
w a iv e d by th e P h ila d e lp h ia
E ag les, has re ach ed a te n ta tiv e
a g reem en t to sign w ith the New
Y ork G ian ts. T erm s w ere not
d isc lo se d .
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by
Hank Aaron, a
23 year
veteran of
baseball, now
retired.
UCLA WEARS NCAA CROWN
K an sas
C ity
C h ie f
C o rn e rb a c k D ale C a rte r was
found g u ilty on a m u n icip al
ch arg e o f a ssa u lt in a Fight at
hotel n e a r A rro w h ead stadium .
He w as c o n v ic te d o f th e M ay
21 in c id e n t and given 180 days
su sp e n d e d , tw o y ears p ro b a
tio n , and 40 h o u rs o f co m m u
nity se rv ic e .
*• V
Strike settled
YACHTING
The lone man on the Mighty
Mary erred and consequently cost
the team a victory it sorely needed
to advance to the next round o f
competition.
It was a welcome break for
Dennis Conner, a three time Amer
ica's Cup winner who had lost
three straight races and whose vic
tory over the Mighty Mary was
annulled, because o f a mid-round
keel change.
Sunday was the vessel o f the
annulled race and after the botched
start it allowed the Stars and Strips
to pull into a 3-3 tie.
The M ighty Mary needed only
one victory to eliminate the Conner
team.
said. “ He was bumping and I wanted
to go in . I guess bump back and shoot
over him.”
W illiamson who had been aver-
aging22 points w as held to 12 points.
He was 3 for 16 and had 6 points from
the foul line. Thurman was limited to
2 for 9 and five points.
The Razorbacks shot 35.1 per
cent in the second half and 43.1 per
cent for the game.
“ 1 was getting good looks the
whole gam e,” Thurman said. “ I just
w asn’t making the shots.”
Early on the Bruins looked like
they were in for a long night.
Harrick thought that the level of
competition and adrenalin might see
Edney through, so he started him.
But it quickly becam e e v i
den t th a t E dney co u ld not d rib
ble or sh o o t w ith his right hand.
This n ec e ssita te d callin g D o lla r’s
num ber to play.
Arkansas shot out in front 12-5
after Clint McDaniel, who paced the
Razorbacks with 16 points, picked
D ollar’s pocket and roared in for a
lay-up at the 17:16 mark to cap a 10-
0 run.
UCLA couldn’t regain the lead
until Ed O 'B annon took a pass from
his brother Charles and slammed it to
put the Bruins ahead, 17-16.
UCLA led by as m any as eight
d u rin g the first half. But A rk an
sas w o u ld n ’t q u it u n der the p re s
sure and k ep t it close. T he score
at in te rm issio n w as 4 0 -3 9 . Bru-
ins.
In the seco n d half, UCLA
BLAZERS CONTINUE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
by
E ric N oon
like him now. I', just going to play
these last 14 games, and that's it.”
This is a huge statement by
Strickland who usually keeps his frus
trations to himself. For him to come
out publicly with statements like these
and one last week in which The Blaz
ers point guard jum ped back at fans
in say ing they can “just go home, if
they don't like it”, that’s how low
The Blazers have fallen.
Sure it's easy to second guess
but the hiring o f a college coach like
Carlisimo. might have been the move
that sent the tail spinning out o f con
trol. Carlisimo. who never played in
The N B A, m ight not have toned dow n
h is act enough as The Blazers haven't
responded to his coaching techniques.
Always off the record before,
The Blazers are not happy with the
inconsistent and sometime overbear
ing sty le o f the first year coach With
your floor general and most valuable
player in Strickland standing up to
the coach, some big questions are
now on the management docket
I he players o f the 90 's in the
NBA are a different strain than the
players o f old. and Carlisim o's con
It seems to be time to hold on,
grab your seat cushion, put away
those peanuts, and hope the down
ward spiral o f The Portland Trail
blazers pulls up just short o f impact.
Not on Iv have The B lazers seem
to hit decade low for the franchise
on the court, now o ff the court The
Blazers problems to be on the same
flight headed for new and ever-
changing rock bottoms.
The Blazers have been play ing
with no heart at times. And for fans
who remember the overachiever o f
not many years ago. this one hard
plane to follow. Not only is The
Blazers record spinning towards the
lottery, the losing has infected the
team moral and focus between the
play ers and coaches. Last week Rod
Strickland voiced his frustration
over the status o f The Blazers and
his attitude toward head coach P.J
Carlisimo.
“ I d o n 't like him-and you can
w rite that." Strickland told Jeff Bak
er. Blazer beat writer I didn't like
him in the beginninn. and I don't
r,
*
trolling style doesn’t go far with
players like Strickland who in the
past has proved flourished with loose
reigns by his coach.
Carlisimo, who eat and breaths
basketball, might have good inten
tions, but his intensity for the game
might turn out to be his downfall
Strickland is not the only unhappy
Blazer, he's just the one who spoke
up and y elled out the window as The
Blazers rebuilding efforts keep fall
ing.
We have to give The Blazers
the benefit they w ill pull out ofthere
rut and rally together around there
veterans, but to be realistic this team
is going nowhere quick and the lot
tery might be the best for the future
at this point.
For The Blazers to move for
ward, they need to do it on the court,
its amazing what winning can do for
a team with no identity.
"Each and every oneofus needs
to look into the mirror and figure out
what we can do make this team
better." Said new comer and mem
ber o f last years NBA Champion
ship team, Otis Thorpe.
turned up the heat and led by 10
on a b a se b a ll pass to B ailey from
Ed O ’B annon. B ailey finished the
play by re v e rse d u n k in g the ball.
Try as they might, the Razor
backs couldn’t make up the differ
ence.
“N o rm ally w hen w e ’re b e
hind in the gam e, we feel c o n fi
d ent, re g a rd le ss o f how m uch
tim e is on the clo ck or how far
dow n we a re ,” W illiam so n said.
“ N o rm ally we get a run. T o n ig h t,
for som e reaso n we c o u ld n ’t get
a chance to get th at ru n .”
Indicative o f that was how the
Razorbacks were out-rebounded, 50-
31.
W illiamson’s free throws with
4:31 left, closed Arkansas to within
69-65, but that was as close as the
Razorbacks could get.
B a ile y 's fly in g tip o f Ed
O ’B annon m issed shot sta rte d a
8-0 run. B ailey clo sed the run
w hen he to o k a pass from C h arles
O ’ B a n n o n an d m ad e a s h o rt
ju m p e r, w ith 3:15 re m a in in g in
the gam e. From th ere it was all
acad em ic and UCLA w as on its
w ay to its 1 1th n atio n al title .
D anny B ell
Well, the baseball strike is over
as o f Sunday. It was the longest and
costliest work stoppage in the histo
ry o f professional sports. It ended
when the owners voted not to lock
out the players, after the players
agreed to return to the ball field
without a renewed contract, and
play under the old contract guide
lines.
The season which was sched
ule to start Sunday April 2nd with
replacement players was canceled
and moved to April 26. In the short
ened season each team will play
144 games, 18 fewer than a regular
season.
A cting com m issioner Bud
Selig was quoted “anyone who has
gone through this eight month ex
perience will let it serve as a poi
gnant reminder that we have a re
sponsibility to make sure it will
never happen again certainly not in
our life time.”
Those were his sentiments how
ever the players did not pledge that
they would not strike again in the
future.
Players may voluntarily start
reporting to training camps in Flor
ida and Arizona on Wednesday.
Although some are expected to start
trickling in on Monday . The man
datory reporting date is Friday.
The strike took a toll o f 52 days
off the 1994 season canceling 669
games. The World series and play
offs were canceled for the first time
since 1904. It also knocked out the
first 252 games o f this season mak
ing a total 921 games lost.
“It was not a surrender. The
players were on strike” Selig said
“They made an unconditional offer
to come back, and we accepted it.
Albeit, without a pledge not to
strike any talk o f a salary cap the
precursor to this whole episode may
well provoke the players to strike
again.
“ I think its clearly a step in the
right direction" union head Donald
Fehr, said. “ If they had voted for a
lock-out, it would have been an
indication they didn't want peace
at any price”.
Ask why didn't the players give
a pledge not to strike. Fehr respond
ed that to do so would raise legal
complications for both sides.
President Clinton who put to a
failed effort two months ago to re
solve the strike, commented, "T o‘
day’s decision is good news for the
game o f baseball, its fans and local
economies o f the cities where base
ball is played.
While I am heartened to know
this season will start with major
league players, there are a number
ofunderlining issues which still need
to get resolved."
To that extent the two sides
must work toward a new agreement
to replace the old one which expire
Dec 31-1993. The players walked
out Aug 12, and ended the strike
Friday, after U.S. District Judge
Sonia Sotomayor found in the play
ers favor, issuing an injunction forc
ing the owners to continue the work
rules o f the expired agreement.
Baseball's eight month work
stoppage since 1972 was cause by
the owners demand for salary' cap.
They tried impose it on Dec 22 but
rescinded it Feb 6 when National
Labor Relations Board threaten le
gal action.
When the teams refused to re
store the old rules, the NLRB filed
a complaint March 15, and then
obtained the injunction.
SAFETY TIPS FOR LITTLE LEAGUE
bn
D anny B ell
Last Saturday play started for
60,000 Oregon children and 4,000
Little League teams.
What most fail to realize is that
there is a real potential for injury in
the course o f participating in this
popular past-time.
Kids o f course, always have
scraped knees, twisted ankles, and
even a lost tooth or two while playing
baseball.
But recent studies that have ex
amine everything from pitchers' over
use injuries to incidents in which
children have died have prompted
such groups as the American Acade
my o f Pediatrics and the Institute for
Preventive Sports Medicine to push
for new safety standards and better
equipment for youth baseball and
softball programs.
In discussions with pediatricians,
sport medicine specialist and physical
therapist one gets a clear message, that
is children are not little adults.
They have bones that are still
growing, cartilage not fully devel
oped and baseball skills that have yet
to be refined.
But somewhere amid the enjoy
ment. the excitement o f play, and
thrill o f competition a simple mes
sage gets lost: play it safe.
I he result o f inattentiveness is
that 107.000 visit to the emergency
room occur as a result game related
injuries.
I Incounted numbers more never
make it to the doctor's oltice, instead
being treated with simple remedies
like ice bags on the ball field and a
healing kiss at home.
Tendinitis, stress fractures, torn
ligaments are some of the maladies
AEROBICS
CHILD CARE
that young pitchers may encounter
when they don't know when to quit.
Injuries such as these can hamper per
formance and make for a painful sea
son.
At Lloyd Athletic Club
all you have to sweat
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Expires April 30, 1995
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