The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 43

The Indianapolis Star Rough night Starting pitcher Kane Davis and the Indianapolis Indians fall flat against Durham in Game 2 of the International League playoffs. Page 11 Friday, September 8, 2000 GOLF 4 BASKETBALL 5 FOOTBALL 9 BASEBALL 10-11 SCOREBOARD 12 InfoLine: 624-INFO (4636) Online: www.starnews.com Sports few it m. mm WW fas. res? Despite course improvements, some PGA Senior golfers are skipping the Comfort Classic at the Brickyard. New and Imroved: PGA Senior Tour member tanny Wadkins tees off from the hole, yvhich has been lengthened since last year, during the pro-am portion of the Comfort Classic at the Brickyard.

5l i 1 3 under has been the highest winning score. That's what Simon Hobday shot in 1995. Don't look for a setup that will produce a 3-under-par champion this week. "I'm not going to set up the golf course to embarrass anybody," said Gene Smith, the assistant tournament director. "If 3 under par is going to win, we'd have guys shooting in the 80s all three days.

"I don't think the fans out there want to see these guys shooting in the 80s. This is not the U.S. Senior Open." Low scores and golf course setup are not a new issue at the Brickyard. After Hugh Baiocchi shot 20 under to win in 1998, Hale Irwin called the tournament "a wedge and putting game." Trevino went even further: "If the LPGA would have played here this week, they would have See EASY Page 4 Nelson was trying to be polite. He didn't want to come out and say that the Brickyard at least as it has been set up for the Comfort Classic is too easy, but that's what he meant.

The Brickyard has ranked among the 10 easiest courses on the senior tour each of the six years since the tournament moved from Broadmoor Country Club across town. That golf pourse could be a hell of a test," said another player who's not here, Lee Trevlno. "I think 3 or 4 under should win, but you hit a drive on those par-4s and you're saying, 'Get You're chipping backwards." Trevino exaggerates, but the scores at the Brickyard have been well off 3 or 4 under. In the four years that 54 holes have been completed, 12 By Phil Richards STAFF WRITER Larry Nelson Isn't playing the Comfort Classic at the Brickyard, which begins this morning at Brickyard Crossing Golf Course. Nelson is the kind of player you want in the field.

He's the hottest pistol on the Senior PGA Tour. He's No. 2 on the money list. He has won the last two weeks and finished among the top seven in 11 of his last 13 tournaments. But he took a pass.

"It's Just not a real good golf course for me," Nelson said last week. "It would be a waste of my time, go out there and hit a bunch of greens, hit it close to the hole and not make enough putts." Schedule When: Today through Sunday TV: Today, 1-3 p.m., ESPN; Saturday, 2-4 p.m., ESPN; Sunday, 2-5 p.m., WRTV-6 Inside: Senior tour players love the competition and the money. Page 4 Staff Photo Steve Healey "You laugh about it now, but Fm supposed to be dead. To certain doctors, Ym the ghost. Jon Acton, Avon High School football coach He hasn't got time for the pain Martin, Safin eye semifinal i showdown i i Unseeded American advances with win over jThomas Johansson, also unseeded.

Bloomberg News 'lit mi NEW YORK Sixth-seeded Marat Safin and unseeded Todd Martin will meet in Saturday's men's semifinals at the U.S. Open after posting victories in quarterfinal play on Thursday. Safin advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal by beating No. 14 Nicolas Kiefer 7-5. 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, while Martin moved on with a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over unseeded Thomas Johansson.

Martin returned to the semis for the second succes SUA i i 'was sive year by making 70 percent of his first serves to 61 percent for Johansson. Martin, who lost to Andre Agassi in last year's final, had only one double fault to three by Johansson. "Once I got back on serve, I felt my energy level come back and I was much more aggressive," said Martin, who beat U.S. Open I Inside: Sore loser? i Serena Wil-j liams withdraws from the doubles touma-i ment. Page 6 Ganging up: Hingis and Davenport are unlikely part- ners.

Page 6 Staff Photo Joe Vitti Can't stop: Avon football coach Jon Acton takes his battle with Crohn's disease in stride and focuses on guiding the 2-1 Orioles. Avon coach Jon Acton has been coping with Crohn disease for 8 years walked. Needles felt like they constantly were poking him in the stomach. Acton underwent outpatient surgery and missed just one day of practice. "He probably shouldn't have been on the field," Avon athletics director Jeff Johnson said.

"But when you're young and competitive and you've Just landed the job you've wanted for the last 10 years you just don't say, 'I'm too sick to Crohn's is an Inflammatory disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract. Doctors know it usually strikes its victims during young adulthood, which it did with Acton, but they know little about what causes it. There is no cure. By Michael Pointer STAFF WRITER AVON, Ind. Eight years ago this week, Jon Acton entered St.

Vincent Hospital to battle for his life. "You laugh about it now, but I'm supposed to be dead," said Acton, In his first year as Avon High School's football coach. "To certain doctors, I'm the ghost." Last summer, his on-going battle with Crohn's disease flared up again. He spent most of the first two weeks of preseason practice giving instructions from a golf cart. He needed a cane for assistance when he Class 3A state-championship team in 1984.

He had been hired as a social studies teacher at Avon. He already was a member of the football staff, having worked as an assistant while a student at IU. His mother, Judy, was an elementary school teacher and his father, Jim, had served as Brownsburg's athletics director and assistant principal. They never complained about reporting to work when sick. He wasn't ready and couldn't comprehend the enormity of what he was about to face.

"I had no idea what Crohn's was," Acton See PAIN Page 8 If treated, victims can live fairly normal lives except for the fact they have to use the bathroom more frequently. But their intestines are much more prone to infections, which can spread rapidly. Those infections are deadly if left untreated. Acton was finishing work on a bachelor's degree at Indiana University in the summer of 1992 when he began losing weight. He also had a fever.

At first, he dismissed it as a bad case of the flu. But when symptoms persisted, he finally visited a doctor and eventually was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. He was 25. He had been a high achiever all his life and played for Brownsburg's Carlos Moya in a fourth-round match that ended after 1 a.m. Wednesday by rallying from two sets down.

"The energy of the crowd really helped." In the first quarterfinal, Safin had 16 aces and one double fault, while Kiefer had 13 aces and seven double faults. Both had 42 unforced errors. The other men's semifinal will feature No. 9 Lleyton Hewitt against four-time champion Pete Sampras, the No. 4 seed.

The first U.S. Open championship was decided in mixed doubles as second-seeded Jared Palmer and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario beat No. 4 Max Mirnyi and Anna Kour-nikova 6-4, 6-3. In men's doubles semifinals, No. 4 Ellis Ferreira and Rick Leach defeated No.

8 Wayne Ferreira and Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, and the unseeded pair of Hewitt and Mirnyi beat No. 3 Palmer and Alex O'Brien 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7). Although the two Ferreiras are natives of South Africa, they aren't related. The No. 2 duo of Julie Halard pecugis and Ai Sugiyama defeated No.

12 Els Callens and Dominique Van Roost 7-5, 6-1, to advance to the women's doubles final. I They'll meet No. 10 Cara Black and Elena Likhovtseva, who advanced with a walkover against defending champions Venus and Serena Williams. Serena Williams withdrew because of an injury to her left foot. i Women's action resumes today frith the semifinals as No.

1 Martina Hingis faces No. 3 Venus Williams, and No. 2 Lindsay Davenport meets unseeded Elena Pementieva. The women's final will vbe played Saturday, while the men's championship is Sunday. Nebraska's Polk confident he'll walk away with a win Purdue's Winston healthy, wants to prove he can play By Phillip B.

Wilson STAFF WRITER Nebraska linebacker Carlos Polk, everybody's preseason Ail-American, grew up In Rockford, 111., where he heard about and saw enough of Notre Dame. It was always Notre Dame this and Notre Dame that. He remembers watching the Fighting Irish on television with his father. When it came time to make a college choice, with all due respect, he didn't care much for the Irish. Now thctf he's visiting Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday (1:30 p.m., WTHR-13) with his top- ranked Cornhuskers teammates, he's got another message for the 23rd-ranked Irish.

Again, it's extended with all due respect. "We know they're looking for a big win," Polk said of the Irish, who opened with a 24-10 home win over Texas "but I don't think they're going to get it this year." Polk may sound cocky, but he represents a proud program that has earned the right to be confident. And facts are facts. Nebraska is a two-touchdown favorite and the 6-2, 250-pound senior usually backsup his talk onde- See NEBRASKA Page 9 finished business. "I came back for one thing: to prove that I could play," he said.

The 5-7, 164-pound Winston started and had six catches for 55 yards in No. 14 Purdue's 48-0 victory over Central Michigan. He also returned three punts for 30 yards. "I always knew I could play and contribute," he said. "I just wasn't able to stay healthy because of my foot.

I just knock on wood every day and hope I can stay healthy." the Sceclna High School graduate has something else on his side. "I pray every practice that he doesn't See WINSTON Page 9 By Mark Ambrogl STAFF WRITER WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue's Donald Winston caught six passes in the season opener last Saturday. That's one more pass than he caught In the previous two seasons. It's also much more a reflection on the fifth-year senior's health rather than his ability.

Winston missed the entire 1998 season with a broken left foot. He broke that foot again during the 1999 preseason training camp and saw limited action in the final six games. Winston has already graduated andhe was married in July. But he had some un Purdue's Donald Winston missed the entire 1998 season with a broken left foot. He broke that foot again during the 1999 preseason training camp and saw limited action in the final six games..