Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 17

Reno Gazette-Journal Sunday, August 6, 1989 3B Thompson looking for recognition By Dave AlbeeGannett News Service SAN RAFAEL, Calif. Pardon Inga Thompson if she feels a little bit like cycling's equivalent of chopped liver. Here Greg LeMond wins the prestigious Tour de France, makes the cover of Sports Illustrated and reportedly is wooed by a $1.1 million offer (courtesy of her corporate sponsor, no less) and she is left wondering what she did to deserve so little recognition. After all, she placed third in the women's Tour de France the highest finish by an American in the event since 1984 which helped her team win the I V-. vV- V- It T-rx ifcrf it if" overall championship and soon after she was selected along with '88 Olympic bronze medalist Connie Young to represent the United States in the World Cycling Championships in Cham-bery, France on Aug.

14-26. But Thompson's Thompson achievements, it seems, have gotten lost in the shuffle. "In the media, it seems insignificant," she said. Thompson's significance isn't lost on the organizers and starting field in today's San Rafael Criterium. She'll be wearing No.

1 at the front of the women's race, which starts at 11:30 a.m. (PDT). It'll be an excellent chance for cycling fans to watch her race, just in case they missed her at the Tour de France. ABC-TV overlooked her. So did cable television.

Inga was practically invisible. "You go there and are expected to be among the top three (female cyclists) in the world and you go through all the same pressures and it's insignificant and it's frustrating," Thompson said. "Getting publicity wasn't the reason I got into cycling, but I felt like I didn't exist." But Thompson has become increasingly aware that women's cycling and coverage of the Tour de France feminine has taken a deeper posture in the proverbial back seat. Last month evidently was the last straw. "In the past I always tried to take a low-key approach in this sport and just raced my bike and tried to keep my life simple," she said.

"Now I'd like to become a spokesperson for women's cycling." The way Thompson sees it, though men racers are stronger and their racing fields are considerably larger, their stage events sometimes resemble "a death march." A women's race, on the other hand, is generally shorter and quicker and could fill valuable air time between the start and finish of the men's race. To pop into the limelight, she'd like to see women be included in a female segment of a major event like the Tour de Trump. She said women cyclists can make greater inroads in America because people are more receptive and appreciative of female athletes in this country. "I was hearing French people saying to women that we should wear more makeup to the (starting) line. That we were not going to get any publicity because we weren't wearing makeup.

"It's not as if the racing isn't good, but they sort of feel sorry for us. That it's too hard on us. They say we should be softer. I guess I'd probably get more publicity if I raced with my hair down." Craig Sailor Gazette-Journal molded Silver Sox into winners. Sox around Three pitchers Sullivan, Ayrault and Tim Fortugno had their contracts purchased by major league organizations.

Grba, who pitched for the New York Yankees and was the Reno Padres' pitching coach for three seasons, takes part of the credit for the team's improved pitching staff. Most, though, he gives to the pitchers. "The key is that every one of them wants to learn," Grba said. "If a kid doesn't listen to what you're telling them, it doesn't matter what kind of teacher you are. "Everything gets back to the fact that these guys want to win.

They want to improve. And they work at it." Strong up the middle Next to pitching, finding solid defensive players at the up-the-middle positions catcher, shortstop, second base and center field was the top priority for Grba and Patton. Carr has provided good defense in center field. Barton and Bosco have been solid and improving at second and short. Joe Kmak and Frank Dominguez have teamed to give Reno strong catching.

"We went about building this team like you would go about building any other team," Patton said. "You always want to start with strong play up the middle. We were fortunate enough to get some good people. "You do the best you can to evaluate talent, but in the end a lot of it depends on luck. You don't know about a player until he's out there playing for real." Neither Grba nor Patton expected a great amount of luck the way their year started.

The day Grba came to Reno to sign his contract, Grba and Patton were involved in a car accident. Both are seeing a chiropractor. The two have had a far better time steering the Silver Sox this year, even if Grba would rather talk about his lineup card mishaps. Patton, left, and manager Eli Grba have turned Silver We've got a lot of guys who are more concerned with winning than with their individual stats. That's rare on a co-op team." At this point, the Silver Sox have become more of an independent team than a co-op.

Only two current players on the roster are on loan from a major-league organization. Centerfielder Terence Carr and catcher Frank Dominguez both came to Reno from the California Angels. Not many loaners Patton believes that the shortage of loan players available this season played in Reno's favor on the field. "Last year, the (Washoe Youth) Foundation relied on a lot of loaners," Patton said. "We probably would have gone the same way had they been out there.

It's a lot cheaper because the big-league club will pay the salary and travel money for the players it has under contract. So instead of building a team around Class A players who were cast off by their organization, the Silver Sox signed several players with experience at higher levels. Nor did Patton and Grba have to scour the country for talent. "Most of the players contacted us," Patton said. "We still get two to three calls a day from people who were recently cut or who weren't drafted and who still want to play." Grba keeps the names of potential players in a file.

Jeff Whitney and Brian Sullivan both were in the file before joining the roster. When Reno lost several pitchers early, Whitney and Sullivan who had tried out for the team before the season were called. The two pitchers quickly became two of the team's top starting pitchers. Sullivan, who pitched his final game for Reno on Friday, had a 6-7 record with a 2.35 ERA before his contract was purchased by the Montreal Expos. Whitney leads the Silver Sox with a 1.92 ERA.

For much of the season, they have led a pitching staff that has been the strength of the team. 2 Barkley From page 1B me. I scare myself because I'm so unpredictable." Should anyone else be scared? "Most definitely," Barkley says, smiling just a little. "They know the mental stage I'm in right now. They know there's a different side to me, a side they don't want to see.

"I like that side of myself." It's a side that enabled him to stun the boxing world last summer when he knocked out Thomas Hearns in the third Before that, Barkley wasn't all that wen Known. Now he's about to fight his third consecutive fight against a big-name opponent. He won the World Boxing Council's share of the middleweight title when he shocked Hearns, and he lost it in February on a controversial split decision against Roberto Duran. Now he's fighting Nunn, whose 33-0 record has him regarded by some as the best fighter pound for pound in the world. Sports Illustrated calls Nunn a young Muhammad Ali.

The oddsmakers apparently agree. Their 10-1 odds against Barkley give him a little better chance than 15-1 underdog Carl Williams had against Mike Tyson, but The Truth didn't even survive the first two minutes. "Nunn is the charisma guy," Barkley says. "He's the one everyone likes, the new Sugar Ray Leonard of boxing. Who's Iran Barkley? Just a walking robot.

They say I'm a brawler, and much of what they say about me is true. Sure, I'm a brawler, but I can box, too." To some, he proved that against Duran. He lost, though. "Iran gained an unprecedented amount of respect in his fight with Duran," says John Reetz, Barkley's manager. The boxing skill he showed against Duran is one reason people in Barkley's camp are optimistic.

The punching skills he showed against Hearns are another. Barkley is regarded as the hardest hitter in the middleweight division, and the hard hitters always have the opportunity to end a fight on their terms. "Michael Nunn had better be scared of me," Barkley says. "He'd better be. He's got a big heart, a lot of courage, but come Aug.

14, the belt will be leaving with me." No one has beaten the man who bills himself as Michael "Second To" Nunn. In fact, only two of his last 13 opponents have even managed to go the distance. Put Nunn's 33-0 record up against Barkley's 25-5 and the reason for the odds becomes apparent. Their performance against a common opponent also has something to do with it. Barkley lost a decision to Sumbu Kalam-bay in a fight for the World Boxing Association middleweight title.

Nunn knocked Kalambay out in the first round. All that adds up to 10-1, at least for now. "It's out of line," Reetz says. "But I see how they get to it." Nunn's style he's a left-hander would seem to be a problem for Barkley, but Barkley says little about it. "Styles make fights," he says, shrugging.

"I can do what I have to do. Michael Nunn had better be ready for me." The message is implicit. Hearns wasn't ready for Barkley, and Hearns paid for it with the most stunning loss of his career. That fight made Barkley a champion. The Duran fight un-made him.

Now he's got another shot at being the best. No matter what happens on the 14th, whether Barkley ever holds another championship belt or gets another shot at a title after this one, he's got one accomplishment in boxing that he'll always remember. "I have something they can never take away from me," Barkley says. "I knocked out Tommy Hearns." area contains batting cages for customers who want to take a few cuts. There is also a "Len's Corner," for UNR men's basketball coach Len Stevens, a sometimes customer.

Micky's Bar Restaurant Location Kings Row, Reno TV screens 2. Rating -Qg) Comments It's a neighborhood place with regular patrons. The owner, Dante Frasca, grew up in the Bronx borough of New York, two miles from Yankee Stadium. His hero is Mickey Mantle, and it shows, in pictures and posters, everywhere in the bar. Why does Frasca spell his place without the "I just like it that way," he said.

Pizza Dugout and Sports Club Location South Virginia Reno TV screens 11. Rating Comments Younger Drotner of the Sparks branch, with most of the same features, except batting cages. Porky's Location South McCarran Reno TV screens 4. Rating Comments Attached to a restaurant, but the bar is focused on sports. The place has some style.

Its satellite pulls in the New England Sports Network and shows games from the Canadian Football League on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Stagger Inn Location West Second Reno TV screens 2. Rating 0 Com menu This is a small place for regulars. It sponsors a golf tournament and knows where to find Harry's Cubs on the satellite. DYNAMIC DUO: General manager Jack Grba, Patton From page 1B supposed to be successful.

The worst team in California League history, the 1987 San Jose Bees, was a co-op team, which receives players on loan from major league organizations and signs its own players. The Bees won 33 of 142 games and set most of the league's records for futility. "That had to be the worst team in the history of pro baseball," said Barton, who played for San Jose from 1984 to '87. "We had no talent. It was a circus every single Worst year for franchise Last year, the big top came to Reno.

The Silver Sox suffered through its worst season in the franchise's 33-year history. In the first season after the San Diego Padres ended its player-development agreement with Reno, the Silver Sox went 39-103 and allowed 235 more runs than any other professional team. With one month remaining in this season, however, Reno already had won 52 games going into Saturday night's game at San Jose. "There's no comparison to this team and last year's," said San Jose manager Duane Espy, one of two Cal League managers back from last year. "This team has been in about every game it has played this year.

You can't look past Reno anymore." It's not too difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the Silver Sox improved play. In 1988, the Silver Sox had the highest earned-run average in professional baseball, nearly six runs a game. Reno has trimmed nearly two runs a game off of last year's team ERA. In 1988, the Silver Sox averaged more than two unearned runs a game. This season, errors have cost Reno slightly more than one run a game.

"We're better this year because the players are better," Grba said. Barton said: "Really you have to start at the top. The players are better because Jack (Patton) and Eli have done a good job of finding players. you need complete coverage, which means a satellite receiver. Rule No.

1. Without a dish, you aren't a sports bar. A sports bar worthy of the name shows games you can't get in the average cable-TV living room. That's why Caray's Cubs are an important standard for judging sports bars. If you get the Cubs on Chicago superstation WGN, which can't be seen in most of Reno and Sparks without a satellite, you've passed the first test.

During any baseball season, Cubs games from Wrigley Field are standard weekday afternoon viewing. Caray's voice should be a familiar sound in any establishment that dares to call itself a sports bar. The satellite rule eliminates a lot of local places, including one landmark, from consideration as sports bars. This might shock athletic teams at the University of Nevada-Reno and generations of the school's students and fans, but, their favorite hangout, the Little Waldorf Saloon, doesn't qualify. The Waldorf, on North Virginia Street across from the campus, is pre- and post-game headquarters for UNR football and basketball.

It's walls are covered with photographs of Wolf Pack teams and athletes, past and present. Sorry, it's not a sports bar. No satellite. You don't go to the Waldorf to watch games. Rule No.

2. For the purpose of this survey, no casinos allowed. Remember, we're discussing sports bars, not sports books. Watching, not betting, is supposed to be the focus. And you can scratch Baldini's Sports Casino in Sparks.

Sure, Baldini's has a satellite and more TV screens than you can count, all showing sports. Nobody watches. Baldini's isn't a sports book, but TV screens are outnumbered by slot machines. There's a live band playing country and western music. Among customers, the hat of choice is cowboy, not baseball.

The Baldini's call was easy. It's harder to eliminate Hobey's, a small casino in Sun Valley. Hobey's has the required satellite. Sports is on TV. One of the guys who runs Few area watering holes quali genuine sports bars -I From page 1B Not a single one was overwhelming.

In Reno and Sparks, you're not going to find the kind of fan-filled, fever-pitched spots made famous in Playboy magazine. For those, you've got to hit New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major league cities. This area, however, isn't a complete void when it comes to sports-bar culture. There are places where you can find fans watching games. Only a handful met the rigid standards set by the one-man evaluation team, which visited 16 establishments in three days.

Those being judged didn't know it. The selection committee revealed its identity in only two places. By then, it didn't matter. Final decisions already had been made. Why go to all this time and trouble for sports bars? They've become institutions of our 1980s athletics-on-TV age.

Even more important, I like the places. They provide four of life's essentials food, drink, good company and wall-to-wall televised sports. If you want to blame somebody for sports bars, point a finger at Monday Night Football on ABC-TV. That's probably where it started. Restaurants decided they could attract great bar business on those Monday evenings by switching on a big-screen color TV, dressing their cocktail waitresses in team jerseys and cutting beer prices.

They were right. We started showing up in droves. We've been coming ever since. That's the reason for a sports bar. It's more fun than watching the game at home.

It's your own little stadium. It's filled with banners, pictures and posters. It has a crowd. It has noise. Watching a game in a good sports bar is almost like seeing it in person.

Sometimes, it's better. In a good sports bar, almost every seat is on the 50-yard-line, or, behind home plate. A good sports bar is always room temperature. It never too hot, or cold. It never rains, or snows.

It's comfortable. You don't make a sports bar simply by flipping on the TV to football every Mon- day night. In era of total television, Craig Sailor Gazette-Journal FOOD, FUN AND CABLE TV: Linda Ellenwood, Patty Chandler and Bob Curtis (from left) laugh it up at The Pizza Dugout Sports Club in Sparks. tn 1M ing to each other. Music is loud.

Ryan's isn't a sports bar. Where do you watch sports in Reno and Sparks? Here is the list of five local sports bars. Each has a satellite, TV screens, various numbers of fans and different degrees of atmosphere. They meet the basic requirements. After that, it's a matter of judgement, your's, or mine.

In this case, it's mine. The five appear in the order ranked. Each is rated, starting with four baseballs, for a grand slam home run, down to one ball, for a clean single. Pizza Dugout and Sports Club Location Baring Sparks TV screens 11. Rating Comments This is your modern, high-tech sports bar.

Most evenings, it's packed with Softball players fresh from their games at two nearby parks. One A ''4 i 5M the place has put together a great collection of sports pennants and pictures for the walls. But, Hobey's is packed with slot machines. It's a casino first, a bar for watching sports second. Hobey's is close, but not quite.

Rule No. 3. Satellites and TV screens aren't enough to make a sports bar. You need fans. Atmosphere is important.

It's no fun to watch a game in a crowded bar, if you're the only one watching. This brings us to Ryan's Saloon in Reno. It's a popular spot, with satellite and TV, sometimes tuned to sports. Ryan's has run bus excursions for customers to baseball and football games in San Francisco. Its 49er trips are the stuff of legends.

During one of those outings, a character from Ryan's fell off a hotel balcony in San Francisco, hit the street below, then got up and walked away. Sorry to say, Ryan's itself isn't a place to watch sports. Patrons are busy talk.