The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 22

THE COURIER-JOURNAL LOUISVILLE, KY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1990. SPORTS FOLLOWING THE CARDS of changes channels, signs with WBRB-41 By JIM TERHUNE Staff Writer The University of Louisville is moving its television sports package from WHAS-11 to WDRB-41, citing the station's full-bore commitments to football, non-revenue sports and flexibility. The school signed a two-year contract with the independent station yesterday. It will include televising on a live or delayed basis all of football and basketball games not connected with regional or national telecasts, although the number of live telecasts is not known.

The contract, with an option to renew for another year, will begin Sept. 1. of sports were on WDRB from 1985-87 before switching to WHAS. The TV agreement has no bearing on of L's pact with WHAS radio, a seven-year deal that runs through 1991-92. WHAS TV and radio are separately owned.

No one could say how much WDRB will pay for the rights. "We don't know how many games will be live or delayed, and there's a lot of difference in cost," said Kevin Miller, of L's assistant athletics director for business. The number of live football games will depend on of L's scheduling and guidelines of the College Football Association, to which of belongs. CFA rules prohibit local live telecast of a game when it conflicts with regional and national telecasts. "It hurts the local team," said John Dorkin, WDRB's president and general manager.

"We're hoping they'll relax the rules." If of is chosen for a CFA telecast, there would be nothing in WDRB's contract to keep it from being shown, Dorkin added. Increased football coverage was the main factor in of L's change of stations, school officials said. It was also important, they said, to reposition coaches' shows and other productions into "prime time" or before the start of games. Because WDRB has only three nights of regular programming with the Fox Network, it has more flexibility in its scheduling in the 8-11 p.m. period.

SeeUOFL PAGE 6, col. 1, this section asr 3 STA(-F PHOTO BY STEWART BOWMAN UK's Reggie Hanson, tying up Morgan Wheat, had this line: 20 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, three blocks, three assists. Miller a thriller with 40 points as UK smashes Vandy 100-73 Cards football makes inroads without map ever played here," said Miller, who became the 36th player in school history to eclipse 1,000 points in his career (he moved all the way to 33rd on the school's list with "I'll always treasure it. It's the game I will tell my wife about if I ever get married." Kentucky, which won't play again until Monday at Florida, improved to 11-10 overall and 7-5 in the Southeastern Conference. Vanderbilt dropped to 12-8 and 5-6.

Miller, stereotyped as a three-point shooter who can't generate shots on his own, did hit 6 of 15 from beyond the stripe, but he also was 9 of 13 from two-point range and made all four of his free throws. Discounting the free throws, he had 18 points from inside three-point range and 18 from By SCOTT FOWLER Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ky. To score points. It is Derrick Miller's primary goal in life. Two score points also was his total last night, as Miller blasted away for a career-high 40 in the University of Kentucky's 100-73 rout of Vanderbilt before 23,896 basketball fans at Rupp Arena.

Miller scored 16 points in a critical 25-5 UK run at the start of the second half that finished the listless Commodores. And although that stretch showcased his long-range missiles, the unusual thing about his overall binge was that it didn't come only from outside. "This is the most complete game I've The emotional senior guard, who threatened to transfer in each of his first three seasons, became the first UK player to score 40 in Rupp Arena's 214-game history. Melvin Turpin was the last Wildcat to hit for 40 or better, scoring 42 in a 92-79 victory over Georgia in the 1984 Southeastern Conference Tournament at Nashville, Tenn. "Some of his shots were bad shots, some were good shots," said UK coach Rick Pi-tino, whose team is now 7-0 at home in the SEC.

"But I just said, 'What the let him take whatever he These kinds of games, the 40-point nights, happen once in a lifetime." See MILLER PAGE 3, col. 4, this section Center of necessity Bellarmine's Fichter faces doubly tough task Fifty cents worth of gasoline will get you from the University of Louisville football complex to Fairdale High School. But when Craig Walker ran the ball for the Bulldogs two years ago, the of coaching staff could not make the trip without a map, marked roadways and a tour guide. Out-of-town coaches found Fairdale easily. But of An assistant once called for directions.

Paducah Tilghman packs as much football tradition as any Kentucky high school. Victories, state titles, sparkling sprinters, scholarships to the University of Kentucky. The complete package. Some people called the place UK West. From Lexington, it was pick up the phone and Pick-A-Player.

Names such as Richard Abraham, Jay Dortch, Kurt Johnson and Billy Swanson confirmed the Tilghman Comes the jarring news this month that nearly one-fourth of the next of football recruiting class will be products of either Fairdale (two players) or Tilghman (four). Remember, please, that only six of of L's 22 starters last season were Kentucky kids, and two of those fullback Carwell Gardner and halfback Dee Smith were transfers from UK. of not only found Fairdale, it settled in. And the four current Tilghman players on the UK roster will not be joined by any of their former high school chums. Speedy quarterbackreceiver Randy Wyatt leads a four-player sweep into Cardinal Stadium.

Would it be safe to say there's some churning on the local and statewide re- By GEORGE RORRER Staff Writer As it annually seems to do, Bellarmine College's basketball season comes down to its home game against Kentucky Wesleyan, the nation's top-ranked NCAA Division II team and leader of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. At 12-7 and 6-4 in the GLVC, Bellarmine must upset Wesleyan (19-1, 9-1) tonight at 8 in Knights Hall if the Knights are to have a chance to return to the NCAA Tournament. Eefore the season Bellarmine coach Joe Reibel had planned to send 6-foot-lU2 cen Fichter, who might have been the Knights' seventh or eighth man had things gone as planned. Fichter, who somehow gets the job done anyway. Fichter is the Knights' center out of necessity.

At 6 feet 7 and 220 pounds, he is as tall as anyone still on the team and can take a pounding. Tonight he'll go against two seniors, 6-7, 225-pound Bobby Newton and 6-8, 235-pound LeRoy Ellis Jr. "It's tough going against Newton for five See BELLARMINE PAGE 3, col. 1, this section RICK BOZICH SPORTS COLUMNIST cruiting scene? Has the curiosity about what Howard Schnellenberger plans to do with the of program been elevated to a fascination? "I don't think there's any doubt about that," said Tilghman coach Allan Cox. "Anybody paying attention to what's going on at Louisville would have to be impressed.

They've won some games, they've upgraded the schedule, and they've signed better players. Kids are taking them seriously." What about Fairdale? Two years ago Bulldogs coach Mike Fletcher and some of his friends in the Jefferson County coaching fraternity wondered whether of was more concerned with Florida fourth-stringers than Kentucky all-staters. Next week Fairdale tight end Terry Jenkins and halfback Tony Edelen are expected to sign with of L. "The situation has changed," Fletcher said. of has definitely shown more interest in Jefferson County kids.

They're working the area a lot harder. I've been impressed with their sincerity." The change came not long after See OF FOOTBALL PAGE 2, col. 1, this section has been particularly burdened in his past three. Spencer was saddled with his third foul late in the first half against Virginia Tech last Thursday, got his fourth against Ohio State Sunday with just 5:25 gone in the second period and was tagged with his fourth personal only four minutes into the second half of Tuesday's 69-50 win over Florida State. Crum maintains that many of the calls have been questionable and that Spencer is being punished for being tall and weighing 265 pounds.

"He's gotten some horrible calls," Crum said. "Just because he's big, they're picking on him. They've got a little man complex. They think big guys ought to get fouls and little guys shouldn't. "Everybody gets some bad calls, but he gets twice as many as he should, and See CRUM PAGE 3, col.

1, this section New tourney's first day is 'A'-OK to its founder Crum says refs picking on Chief because of size ter Tom Schurfranz and acrobatic forward Reggie Burcy against the Panthers, along with the rest of the starting lineup that lost to Wesleyan in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional final in 1989. But juniors Schurfranz and Burcy are out, the former with a broken right forearm and the latter opting to transfer to Chicago State. That leaves Brian Fichter to face Wes-leyan's bulky pivot tag team. That's Brian Fichter, Homecoming King. Fichter, who recruited Bellarmine instead of the other way around because he felt he was perceived as too slow and unable to jump.

ALL CLASSIC AT A GLANCE At Memorial Coliseum YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Metcalfe County 83, Evangel 73 University Heights 82, Pikeville 64 Caverna 64, Greenville 62, 2 overtimes Harrodsburg 84, Kentucky Country Day 62 TODAY'S GAMES Williamstown (16-3) vs. Walton-Verona (19-3), 1 p.m. Mayfield (9-11) vs. Maysville (16-5), 2:30 p.m. Fairview (11-6) vs.

Harlan (16-3), 7:30 p.m. Owsley County (18-4) vs. Lexington Catholic (15-5), 9 p.m. nament since 1931. "We had nothing to gauge it with, although our regional tournaments were well-attended," he said.

"We had sellout crowds across the state. It was like a revival of basketball in the state." Operating on its own, Steidel's tournament committee comprising one representative from each of the 16 regions has no corporate sponsors this year. "We're living on gate receipts," he said. See FIRST DAY PAGE 6, col. 1, this section kit or i i By RUSS BROWN Staff Writer Are college basketball referees ambushing the Chief, otherwise known as Felton Spencer, the University of Louisville's burly 7-foot center? of coach Denny Crum thinks so.

So do Spencer and his teammates. Dale Kelly, supervisor of Metro Conference officials, says he'll check it out. In the meantime, the 15th-ranked Cardinals (17-4) will try to extend their Metro winning streak to eight games tonight in Freedom Hall against South Carolina (10-8). UofL leads the league with a 7-1 record, and the Gamecocks are 4-3. Spencer hopes to spend less time on the bench than he has in recent games.

Although he was foul-prone as a reserve his first three seasons, Spencer stayed relatively foul-free in the first third of this season. However, he has been charged with four or more fouls in 12 of the Cardinals' past 14 games and "rat By BOB WHITE Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ky. As Stan Steidel looked over the crowd at the first session of the first Kentucky All Classic state basketball tournament yesterday in Memorial Coliseum, he seemed pleased with what he saw. "We're OK," said the coach and athletics director at Dayton High School and president of the All Classic. "Pike-ville will bring some people in here, and we may have a shot at having four or five thousand.

If we do, I'll be very happy." He later reported that 3,500 fans "were in the house" at the University of Kentucky's old gym. Not all of them paid their way in to see Metcalfe County beat Evangel 83-73 and University Heights sideline Pikeville 82-64, but Steidel wasn't disappointed. "We've got to average 2,000 paid per session to break even," said the 48-year-old Steidel, who has been at Dayton 23 years and has long advocated a class system for basketball. He said he didn't know how many people to expect when the first ball was tossed up in Kentucky's first class tour- INSIDE Sports People College basketball Scorecard 2 .3 .4 .4 .7 Harness racing Thoroughbred racing raw STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL HAYMAN Evangel's Marvin Smith tried to shoot over Metcalfe County's Chris Huffman in the All Classic. It wasn't a good day for Evangel its Jefferson County counterpart, Kentucky Country Day, as both lost Stories, Page 6.

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