The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 14

14 Friday, February 5,1988 The Salina Journal Greg Lemond is anxious to prove he is once again the No. 1 cyclist in the world. Lemond ready for tough 'climb' back By JIM WALSH Minneapolis Star Tribune LAKE MINNETONKA, Minn. The "climb," in bike-racing jargon, is the most arduous part of a race. After coasting over level terrain and breezing through relatively effortless miles, the valleys turn to peaks and the racers' mettle is tested at every uphill bend.

For most of his career, Greg LeMond, the only U.S. bicyclist to win the Tour de France, has known the smooth trails and the downhill slopes. Now begins the climb. In 1986, LeMond was king of the cycling world. In addition to winning the 24-day, Tour de France in July, he had won the Coors Classic, the top U.S.

cycling event, in 1981 and '85 and the world championship in '83. But in April of last year, three days before he was to return to Europe to defend his Tour de France title, LeMond, 26, went to his uncle's farm near Lincoln, just outside Reno, his home town. It was there, while hunting turkey, that the shot heard 'round the cycling world was fired. Clad in camouflage, LeMond hid in the bushes as his uncle and brother-in-law, Patrick Blades, followed. LeMond made a sudden move and Blades, mistaking the cyclist for a bird, pulled the trigger.

The blast punctured LeM- pnd's right lung, shattered two ribs and drained 75 percent of his blood. "I thought I'd never see my family again," he said recently while fixing his son Geoffrey's toy truck in the family room of the LeMonds' recently purchased home' overlooking Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota. "I came pretty close to dying; it was the most painful thing I've ever been through. Walking to the toilet was like climbing a stage in the Tour de France or even harder. "We had planned to build a house in I was on the ground; I could barely and all those dreams seemed to to be going down the tubes." The accident gave LeMond who, at the time, said he was burneta out on cycling a chance to put things in perspective: "Everybody's main concern was if I was going to race again and I just said, 'I don't care if I ever race again, leave me "It gave me a lot of time to think about what I was doing and how my career was going.

If I still wanted to be on top, I had to change something and the best thing for me to do was to get away from cycling in the winter. And there's really only one other sport that you can do that really prepares you and that's cross- country skiing." Enter Minnesota and the frozen bays of Lake Minnetonka, on which LeMond skied each day in December to strengthen his upper body and rebuild his cardiovascular system. His wife Kathy hails from La Crosse, Wis. Since they married five years ago, the couple had dreamed of adding a home in Minneapolis to their home in Belgium, from where LeMond bases his European career. The hunting accident accelerated their plans.

Now Geoffrey, 4, bounces around the house in a Minnesota Vikings jersey and has decided to be a hockey player when he grows up. Consequently, the heir to LeMond's cycling throne will have to be nine-month-old Scott. In conversation, LeMond is poised, articulate and good- natured, an eloquent spokesman for his sport. But if the eyes are indeed the window to the soul, then LeMond's provide insight into the competitive beast his opponents affectionately refer to as "LeMonster." "My only intention is to come back on top," he said of his return to racing, "and I don't see any problems, because I've had numerous medical tests that say I'm OK. I don't have any permanent damage from the accident.

If I had had any permanent damage to my lungs, heart or anything else, then forget it." LeMond's comeback began Tuesday in Spain's Ruta del Sol races, in which he was the lead rider for the Dutch cycling team PDM. It was the first race of the season, the first stop on LeMond's road to his ultimate destination: the Tour de France. "Along with the world championships, the Tour de France is why I race," he said. "But this year is going to be an experimental year. I've never come back from an injury like this, so if I finish in the top three, I'll be very satisfied.

Personally, I think I can win it this year, but I like to play it safe. Because if I predict I'm going to win it this year, then I might end up being disappointed." The record for Tour de France victories is held by France's Bernard Hinault and Belgium's Eddie Merckx, each with five. At 26, a healthy LeMond still has five or six years of competition in him. With some luck, he believes he can make a run at the record. For a man who has stared death in the face, that "climb" should be downhill all the way.

Bird enshrined in Indiana hotel (Continued from Page 11) is back at his parent's home in North Hollywood, and is considering accepting an invitation to join an Amateur Athletic Union team in Houston. "I was playing more at the beginning of the year, and it gradually decreased," said the 22-year-old Dixon, who averaged just under four points and two assists per game for LaCrosse. Grissom, 24, is in his second CBA season after leaving TCU in 1986. The 6-11 center is averaging 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds, playing less than 10 minutes a game for Albany. Mitchell, who last played at TCU in 1985, was released by the Charleston Gunners on Dec.

26. In 18 games he averaged 3.6 points as a point guard, shooting only 32.7 percent. What are these CBA player's chances of making it to the NBA? There are 120 roster spots in the 12- team CBA. Last year, 24 players were called up to the NBA for varying stints. Nine players who were called up signed NBA contracts for the season.

In all, there are 39 former CBA players in the NBA. Dixon, whose slim NBA hopes would seem to have evaporated with his release by LaCrosse, said everyone in the CBA harbors NBA aspirations. "I think everyone is thinking about the NBA," Dixon said, "because the pay's not that much. I think for most, it's just a way to hang on to your dream." By BILL FLUTY Scripps Howard News Service TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Everybody was laughing last summer but nobody was ordering the Thursday lunch special at the newest restaurant in town.

It was called "The Isiah Special," priced at $12.95. The listed ingredients: Sour grapes wrapped in white and rye bread, vinegar on the side. The tab was steep, but any taker might have had to pay a higher price that of being tried for treason, convicted and shot on the spot. The item was being offered in the restaurant of Larry Bird's Boston Connection, a hotel in the heart of the town that Bird put on the basketball map while playing for the Indiana State Sycamores. Surrounding menu readers every day in the family dining room called the Boston Garden is a wealth of memorabilia gathered by Bird in his rags-to-riches career.

On three walls are magazine covers picturing the Boston Celtics star shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding, at the free throw line; accumulated awards; at least three jerseys emblazoned with his famous No. 33; two trophy cases filled with hardware for being the "most valuable" this or the "most outstanding" that. It is a veritable shrine to this big fellow many experts think is the best basketball player of all time. And if TV sports announcer Billy Packer is interested, the honors include a 2-foot trophy from the St. John's Athletic Club, the Joe Lapchick award for being college basketball's outstanding player of 1979 the storybook year the native Hoosier from French Lick led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship game before losing to Magic Johnson and Michigan State.

From the ceiling, 16 replica championship banners of the Boston Celtics wave gently from air stirred by overhead fans. The decor, naturally, is cream and white. Table tops in deep green, comfortable chairs with cane backs and deep green seat padding. The "Thursday Special," of course, referred to Isiah Thomas and his Detroit Pistons' teammates, who offered a few unkind remarks about Bird after losing a tough seven-game set to the Celtics in the NBA semifinal playoffs. At the right as one enters the Boston Garden is a glass-enclosed free- throw shooting area.

It has a parquet floor like the one at the Celtics' home base. "As many adults as kids like to go in and shoot," said manager Glen Ankney, an ISU graduate and former head football coach at three high schools in Vigo County, Ind. "We give them a certificate that says, 'I hit three shots at Larry Bird's They get a kick out of that and it's something they can take home with them." Ankney said the hotel, formerly a Sheraton Inn, "opened quietly" the restaurant, lounge and fourth floor on May 1, the rest two weeks later. He said initial response has been "excellent." "I had a lady call me from Cleveland the other day," he said. "We haven't advertised so she must have heard about us word-of-mouth.

Her Sculptor Armand LaMontagne poses with his statue of Boston Celtic star Larry Bird. Bird sculpture unveiled BOSTON single, block of wood has been turned into a replica of Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird, although the statue is slightly larger than life. It took Rhode Island artist Armand LaMontagne more than 2,000 hours to carve the 275-pound, seven-foot sculpture that includes such details as Bird's fused right pinky, his new, shorter blond haircut and his knees bent in a shooting position. The statue was to be unveiled publicly at half time of Wednesday night's game at Boston Garden between the Celtics and Indiana Pacers. It is expected to be displayed at the Bank of Boston before being permanently housed at the New England Sports Museum.

The sculpture had an exclusive debut Tuesday night at a testimonial honoring Bird. The dinner also served as a benefit for the New England Sports Museum. Celtics president Red Auerbach, the winningest NBA coach in history with more than 1,000 victories before he retired to the front office, called Bird' 'the greatest player ever to play the husband is a dedicated Larry Bird fan. After checking with us, she bought him a gift certificate for a weekend here as a birthday present." Friday, around 12:30 p.m., the parking lot was 80 percent full of cars of hotel guests and the lunch crowd. Among other items, the menu included Boston Clam Chowder, $1.25 for a cup, $1.95 for a bowl; French Lick fries, Boston potato skins, Georgia Bird's sticky rolls, 95 cents each, a specialty, no doubt, of Bird's mother.

Using the old rule of thumb in judging restaurants, I ordered a cheeseburger and coffee, and can recommend both. "We're experimenting with our menu, trying to find what people like," Ankney said, "particularly kids. We have expect to have a lot of youngsters here and the little ones would rather have a hot dog than a 10- dollar steak. That's why a hot dog ($1.45) is on the menu." Waitresses resemble referees, dressed in black-and-white striped blouses, black slacks and white sneakers. However, they don't carry whistles.

The doorman wears the same attire. Dinner prices are reasonable and offerings run the gamut from hot dogs to Wellington beef. The lounge is called the Bird's Nest. There, waitresses are garbed in the kelly green and white colors of Celtic cheerleaders. There are cheers, too, in the lounge, which has three TV sets.

With a satellite hookup from a Boston station, the hotel carries all of the Celtics' games. When the Celtics aren't playing, there is live entertainment on weekends by bands and other performers. "We had Jim Stafford, the country- western singer-comedian booked last Saturday night, but he had food poisoning and had to cancel," Ankney said. "But he'll be here. "Larry, Max and I heard him three years ago in Nashville and we agreed he'd be the first guy we'd get," Ankney said.

Max is Max Gibson, a heavyweight backer of Indiana State who befriended Bird during his days with the Sycamores, providing the 6-foot-9 superstar with summer employment. Gibson and Ankney go back 28 years to their undergrad days at ISU. When Ankney quit coaching in 1981, he and Gibson formed a Management, mainly managing apartments and hotels in trouble, usually because of absentee ownership. Bird and Gibson are the main financial backers of the Boston Connection. Ankney has a piece of the action and so does Tom Clary, a CPA.

For customers who won't settle for less than first class, there is the MVP room for elegant dining candlelight, wine lists, rare beef, private bar. Membership is required for this plush inner sanctum and Ankney said the 500-person limit has already been reached. "Hotel guests can buy a one-night membership for $10 if they want to dine there." The pool has a free-throw lane and circle painted on its bottom at the shallow part and a basketball goal will be installed on the end, providing a target for youngsters. The gift shop sells only NBA- approved merchandise, with the emphasis on the Celtics' T-shirts, sweat-shirts, jackets, sweaters, jogging suits and related sports paraphernalia. The first floor, in green and cream, honors the Boston Celtics with the other three floors decorated, almost, in the colors of Terre Haute's three colleges.

Rooms go for $50 (double); double with king recliner double with king sofa The Larry Bird suite is $105. There are two small conference rooms, one called the Red Auerbach in honor of Boston's longtime coach and general manager. It includes a bigger-than-life, color picture of Auerbach, head-and-shoulders, holding the trademark cigar and wearing an NBA championship ring. The other is the Ivy Tech Corner, honoring another city educational institute. Room pictures on each floor relate to the schools or teams.

"Larry has a deep feeling for Terre Haute," Ankney said, "and has always wanted to do something like this for the town. He's never forgotten us and he wanted to do the first one here. This is where he picked up his b'fe again and began the career that let him display his talent and led him to where he is today." Harrison named track athlete of the month MANHATTAN Kansas State's Kenny Harrison has been named the Big Eight's Male Track Athlete-of-the-Month for January. Harrison competed at the Sunkist Invitational in Los Angeles on Jan. 23 and won the triple jump competition with a leap of 55-7 3 Harrison also traveled to Madison, on Jan.

30 to compete in the Wisconsin Quadrangular. In that meet he won the long jump with a mark of 25-6V4 and the triple jump with a leap of HIM trustees approve Mackovfc CHICAGO (AP) The University of Illinois' Board of Trustees gave overwhelming approval Thursday to the selection of new head football coach John Mackoyic, one day before school officials face the NCAA to answer charges about recruiting violations during his predecessor's reign. After brief remarks by interim Chancellor Morton Weir, the trustees voted 10-0, with one abstention, to approve granting Mackovic a five- year contract. 'I told the board there were two things personally I was looking a proven record and someone who brought unquestioned honesty and integrity to the job," said 'We found both in Mackovic. "This should not be a reflection on (Mackovic's predecessor) Mike White or anybody else, but tomorrow, for the third time in four years, the university will appear again before the NCAA committee on infractions." EARN MORE WITH THE SECURITY OF FEDERAL INSURANCE ONE-YEAR CD: THREE-YEAR CD: 8.00% EFFECTIVE ANNUAL YIELI 7.70% CURRENT OVER STRONG FIVE-YEAR CD: 8.50% 8.75% EFFECTIVE ANNUAL YIELD EFFECTIVE ANNUAL YIELD CURRENT RATE 8.16% 8.39% CURRENT RATE CURRENT HATE $500 MINIMUM Rate subject to chanae daily Substantial interest penalty (or early withdrawal ol certificates.

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