Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, July 14, 1999, Page 9, Image 9

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July 14, 1999
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Armstrong
Ahead in Tour
de France
B n IAN PHILLIPS
© T he A ssociated P ress
SESTRIERES, Italy (AP) - Lance
A rm strong took a huge step tow ard
victory in the Tour de France today
by surging ahead o f his rivals on the
tough first mountain stage and keep­
ing a firm hold on first place.
The A m erican’s victory in the
race’s ninth stage, a 133.4-mileclimb
in the Alps, w as his third stage vic­
tory, after the prologue and Sunday’s
tim e trial. He now leads the field by
a com m anding 6 m inutes, 3 seconds.
W ith about six m iles left, the
A m erican left the leading pack o f
seven riders w ith a decisive sprint.
N o one was able to catch him.
Crossing the finish line, he held
his arm s aloft and looked to the sky.
In second place was Switzerland ’ s
A lex Zulle, 31 seconds behind, fol­
low ed by Spain’s Fernando Escartin,
one m inute, 26 seconds behind.
Then cam e the tortuous clim b to
the jagged, snow -capped peaks o f
the Col du Gabbier, where Armstrong
edged ahead o f the pack and arrived
fifth at the summit.
T he rain then stopped, and after a
rapid, dry descent, the T exan got
stronger and stronger, and nobody
could m atch his efforts.
The m ountain stages were seen as
a big test for Armstrong, not known as
a top climber. But he has shown ex­
em plary form since the Tour began.
The A m erican is enjoying an in­
credible com eback from testicular
cancer that spread to his lungs and
brain before it w as diagnosed in
O ctober 1996.
T he 27-year-old Texan has been
training hard forthe mountain stages.
“The phony w ar is over,” he said
after S unday’s victory in the tim e
trial. “N ow the real one begins.”
Local Athlete
Competes in
First United
States Scholar-
Athlete Game
GTECH’S Contribution Provides
Opportunity for Local Students
World Cup Soccer Created
Answers! ...Questions?
O v er 1600 s c h o la r-a th le te s and
scholar-fine artists rep resen tin g all
50 states p a rtic ip a te d in th e in a u ­
gural U n ites S tate s S c h o la r-A th ­
lete G am e from Ju n e 26 thro u g h
Ju ly 2 at the U n iv e rsity o f R hode
Island and in N e w p o rt, R hode Is­
land, H annah M acK ay o f P o rtlan d
rep rese n ted O reg o n in the G am es.
M a c K a y 's p a rtic ip a tio n in the
gam e w as m a d e p o s s ib ly by the
c o n trib u tio n o fG T E C H C o rp o ra ­
tion. G T E C H m ade a c o rp o ra te
d o n a tio n o f $ 2 6 ,0 0 0 - ea ch o f
th e ir 26 site s s p o n so rin g a s tu ­
d e n t in t h e i r c o m m u n ity fo r
$1000. T he d o n atio n co v ers tra n s­
p o rta tio n , ro o m an d b o a rd , and
e n try fees.
“ W e a re p ro u d to s u p p o rt the
c o m m u n itie s in w h ic h w e w o rk ."
said B ill O ’C o n n o r, c h a irm a n and
c h ie f e x e c u tiv e o f f ic e r o f
G T E C H . “ T he in a u g u ra tio n o f
th e U S S c h o la r A th le te G am es
p ro v id e d us th e o p p o rtu n ity to
rea ch o u t to c h ild re n o f o u r c o m ­
m u n ities and o ffe r th em a ch a n c e
to ex p a n d th e ir e d u c a tio n and life
e x p e rie n c e s .”
“ O u r sp o n so rsh ip o f the US
S c h o la r-A th le te G am e s d e m o n ­
strates G T E C H ’s co m m itm en t to
inv o lv e its e lf in ev ery co m m u n ity
th a t it s e r v e s , ” s a id R o b e r t
K ilin g m an , a c co u n t gen eral m an ­
ag er fo r O reg o n . “ W e ’re p a rtic u ­
larly p leased that H annah M acK ay
w as ab le to rep resen t O regon d u r­
ing this w eek lo n g ce le b ra tio n o f
ac ad e m ic , ath letics and the a rts .”
S ch o lar-ath lete p articip ated in one
o f 14 sp o rts p ro g ram in clu d in g
b aseball, bask etb all, b rid g e, chess,
field h ockey , g o lf, so ccer and te n ­
nis. S cholar-fine artists chose from
six p ro g ra m s in clu d in g art, ch o ir,
d an ce and th eater. M acK ay , 17,
co m p eted in the ch o ir co m p o n en t
o f the G am es. A ju n io r h onors
stu d e n t at F ran k lin H igh S chool,
M a c K A y is a m e m b e r o f the
F ra n k lin co n c ert ch o ir and the re ­
flec tio n s so lo en sem b le. In her
spare tim e, she w orks on v ario u s
c o m m u n ity s e r v ic e p r o j e c t s
thro u g h her ch u rch y o u th group.
D uring the w eek, G T E C H in ­
v ite d the 26 stu d en ts to v isit th eir
c o rp o ra te h e a d q u arte rs in W est
G r e e n w ic h , R h o d e I s la n d so
G T E C H e m p lo y e e s c o u ld w e l­
co m e the stu d en ts and w ish them
luck. E ach stu d en t rec eiv ed in
rec o g n itio n o f th eir p articip a tio n
a G T E C H hat.
G T E C H is the w o rld ’s lead in g
su p p lie r o f co m p u terized o n lin e
lottery p rod u cts and services. C u r­
ren tly , G T E C H has co n tra cts to
sup p ly an d /o r o p erate lo ttery sy s­
tem for 29 U .S. cu sto m ers and 52
cu sto m e rs o u tsid e o f the U nited
States. F or m ore inform ation about
the C om pan y , p lease v isit G T EC H
w eb site at h ttp ://w w w .y te ch .co n i.
PGA and LPGA events. Television
and print ads are upcom ing. A dula­
tion is everywhere.
Nobody expects normal. On Satur­
day, the final was the most-watched
soccer game ever on U.S. network tele­
vision, with ABC estimating an audi­
ence o f 40 million. The game posted a
w ho w atched it.
“The goal is to take w hat w e’ve
learned about w om en’s equity, w hat
w e’ve learned about w om en as equal
partners and not subordinates, and
e x p o rt it a r o u n d th e w o r ld ,”
Steinbrecher said. "I think w e ’re on
the cutting edge o f a revolution.”
© T he A ssociated P ress
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The three-
week joy nde to the W orld Cup title
isn’t over for the U.S. w om en’s team.
The celebrations have only just begun.
The critical question, though, is
what lasting effect the m ost celebrated
team and m ost successful event in
w om en’s sports history w ill have.
W ill the legacy o f the w om en’s
team be “establishing this W om en’s
W orld Cup as the event responsible
for the developm ent o f w om en’s
sp o rts,” as tournam ent org an izer
M arla M essing predicted?
M ight soccer no longer be rel­
egated to the backpages o f A m erica’s
sports section, or not included at all?
C ould w hat all o f those im pres­
sive grass-roots num bers - as m any
under-12s playing the gam e as any
other sport - finally translate into
m ore popularity on a general level
for soccer in the U nited States?
“The legacy I w ant to leave is that
no longer can anyone take w om en
athletes lightly,” U.S. forwardTiffeny
M ilbrett said. “There are no m ore
excuses for not em bracing the game.
Y ou ca n ’t say it will not draw; we
proved that wrong from the first game
o f this tournam ent. Y ou ca n ’t say it is
not m arketable and you ca n ’t say it is
not popular.”
N o U.S. w om en’s team ever has
been em braced by the public the w ay
this squad was on its w ay to the final,
w hich it w on Saturday 5 -4 on penalty
kicks after a 0-0 tie through 120
Team jubilant over winning
U.S. Women's
championship.
m in u te s . E v e r s in c e B ra n d i
C hastain’s kick w on it, the women
have been on a w hirlw ind tour that
took them to Disneyland, to dow n­
town Los Angeles and, today, across
Franco Plays His Way
to GMO Win
B n GREG BEACHAM
© T he A ssociated P ress
M IL W A U K E E (A P ) - C arlos
Rafael DeLA Cruz, GTECH's vice president of Latin American operations,
welcomes Hanna MacKay to Rhode Island.
the continent for television appear­
ances in N ew York.
M ore personal appearances are
scheduled, w ith several players ap­
pearing in g o lf pro-am s preceding
13.3 overnight rating and a 32 share for
the network. 4 percent more than the
previous record, a 12.8 for the 1994
men’s World Cup final, also played at
the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
O n S u n d a y , th e y w e re th e
g u ests o f h o n o r at D isn e y lan d ,
the ce n te rp ie c e s o f a p ara d e a t­
ten d ed . n a tu ra lly , by h u n d red s o f
yo u n g g irls an d b o y s. T h en th ey
w ere h o n o red at a rally in d o w n ­
tow n LA, w h ere th ey w ere to ld
th e ir b o n u se s, o rig in a lly set at
$ 1 2 ,5 0 0 , w ere ra ise d to b etw e en
$ 4 0 ,0 0 0 and $50,000.
After some deserved tim e off,
m ost o f the champions likely will
gather for a victory tour, follow ed by
the U.S. W om en’s Cup in early O c­
tober. Several veterans, including 33-
year-old M ichelle Akers, w ho left
the final after regulation tim e due to
exhaustion and a slight concussion,
might skip that event.
M ost o f the U.S. w om en team
mem bers w ant a professional league
o f their own. And despite startup
costs as high as $50 m illion, they
sound determ ined to get it.
“It’s tim e,” Millbrett said. “A nd it
will happen.”
“We never expected anything like
what thisWorldCup turned into,"FIFA
spokesman Keith Cooper said. “It has
been wonderful for soccer and it has
been vv underfill for the women athletes.
“ But to think anyone can recreate
this is unfair. This was ju st a very
special, very memorable event.”
Perhaps. B ut not in the m inds o f
the women who won it and the people
B n BARRY W IL N E R
Franco would rather play than practice.
Thanks to that philosophy, he's now the
richest rookie in PGA Tour history.
Franco shot a 5-under-par66 Sunday
in the Greater Milwaukee Open and beat
Tom Lehman by two strokes for his
second tour victory in nine weeks. The
son o f a Paraguayan greenskeeper en­
tered the GM O a Her two weeks o f vaca­
tion because he wan ted tournament pres­
sure in the week be fore the British Open.
“ I played very sim ple this week,
no nervousness,” Franco said in halt­
ing English. “ I cam e here for prac­
tice, so to w in is ju st unbelievable."
Thanks to his $414.000 winner’s
check, he became the first tour rookie to
exceed$ 1 million in earnings and moved
into the top lOon this year’sm oney list.
Franco, just one o f four multiple win­
ners on tour this year, pushed his yearly
winnings to $ 1.38 million.
His G M O victory also put him in
som e elite com pany. T he last player
to w in tw o titles as a rookie w as
T iger W oods in 1996.
But that doesn’t intimidate the lik­
able Franco, who disdains practice on
tournament days, saying, “Practice is
practice, tournament is tournam ent.”
He also doesn’t like to slave over his
clubs when h e’s at home in A suncion
(“Vacation is vacation”).
Franco played a fourth straight day
ofsolid, unspectacular golf. He finished
with a four-day score o f 20-under 264,
the best 72-hole mark in GMO history.
He trailed Jerry Kelly by one
stroke entering the final round. But
Kelly, a W isconsin native cheered
by scores o f fans, fell o ff the pace
early and never caught up.
“I don’t have to worry about the other
(golfers) when I’m playing the way I’m
playing,” Franco said. “I didn’t think I
would win this easy, but it’s very nice.
Lehm an birdied the last tw o holes
to slide in front o f K elly and take
second at 266.
“ 1 did a lot o f things right this
w eek ... but (Franco) kept making
birdies, and that’s w hat he needed to
do. ., ’ Lehm an said.
When Franco won the Compaq Clas­
sic in New Orleans in May, he skipped
the previous two tour events, just as he
did before the GMO. He became the
first golfer since Greg Norman in 1989
to win in Milwaukee on his first try.
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