The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 19

SATURDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 23, 1989 THE GALVESTON DAILY NEWS 3-B Sports Etc. The Galvaslon Dally News welcomes your reports of sports-related events and meetings. Typewritten news releases are preferred. Mail your news to Sports Desk, Galvejton Daily News, P.O. Box 628, Galveslon, Texas, 77553; or deliver it lo 8522 Tokhman Road between 8 a.m.

and 5 p.m. on weekdays and noon until 6 p.m on weekends. Triathlon GALVESTON Janet Bonieclci and Jim Walters were awarded special world champion trophies for their participation in the World Championship Triathlon in Avignon, France, by the Bay Area Triathleles organization. Sally Taggart earned a national champion trophy for her 3rd place in her age group a the National Championship Triathlon in Chicago. The Best Swimmer trophy was awarded to Susan Matherne, while Roger WacVer won the Best Biker award.

The Best Runner award went to Rick Scharchburg. Other awards included Ron Masters' Most Persistent award and John Ellis' Most Valuable Bay Area Triathlete honor. A swim Jan. 13 at Williams Pool in Sterling Knoll is the first event of the 1990 Bay Area Triathlete Championship Series. Golf GALVESTON The Galveston County Golf Association will hold the Third Annual Gal- veslon Seagull Special Olympics Golf Tournament Saturday, Dec.

30. The Formal will be a Florida Scramble with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Entry fee is $50, which includes cart and green fee. The tournament is open to the public and limited to the first 108 paid players.

Sign up at The Galveston Island Municipal Golf Course or call 744-2366. Youth basketball GALVESTON The Boys Club of Galveston will start registration for its 1989-90 basketball season. Any boy wishing to sign up tor the program can come by the Boys Club, 4420 Ave. P. Boys who played last year must check team assignments.

The Boys Club also is looking for coaches. For more information, call 763-2227. The Boys Club is an agency of The United Way. Bowling TEXAS CITY Students up to high school age can bowl free on select dates at Lone Star Lanes by contributing non-perishable foods to charity. From Dec.

20-22 and Dec. 26-29 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., school age children can donate goods at the bowling center to benefit the Texas City Women's center' alcohol and drug abuse program. Baseball camp CLEAR LAKE Texas assistant baseball coach Jim Lawler will be conducting a youth baseball camp over the Christmas break at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. The camp is designed for players aged 8 through non-varsity aged athletes in high school.

High school varsity players are not eligible for the camp, which is set for Dec. 28-30. The Holiday Baseball Camp will teach the fundamentals of baseball and offer an opportunity for practice and drills. Hitting and pitching skills will be emphasized. The camp will provide players the chance to work on their skills before the season starts, rather than afterward, like many summer camps.

An indoor facility will be available in the event of bad weather. For more information, call Jim Lawler at 713-665-5175. Assistant leaves Oilers Saban takes job at Toledo Associated Press TOLEDO, Ohio Nick Saban, an assistant coach with the Houston Oilers, is taking over as head football coach at Toledo, the university announced Friday. Saban, 38, said he was excited about getting back into college football. He previously was an assistant with six college teams.

"A lot of people want to know why I want to come back to college football. 1 think college football is a lot more fun," Saban said at a news conference. "The involvement you have with the players, the influence you have on their lives at a time in their lives which is critical to their development, is a lot more fun and a lot more rewarding than the pro- 'fessional athlete," he said. Saban replaces Dan Simrell, who was fired last month after eight seasons with the Mid-American Conference school. Athletic director Al Bohl hailed Saban's recruiting skills.

"In his 15 years of recruiting, he's established credibility with high school coaches in Ohio and Michigan. He brings prestige to our program," Bohl said. Saban was an assistant defensive coach at Ohio State for the 1980-81 season and at Michigan State from 1983 through 1987. He was defensive coordinator when Michigan State defeated Southern Cal in the 1987 Rose Bowl. He also was an assistant at Navy, West Virginia, Syracuse and Kent State, where he was a defen- Former Oiler assistant Nick Saban sive back from 1970 to 72.

The university interviewed seven people for the post and narrowed the list to Saban; Pete Cordelli, 36, a Notre Dame assis- tant, and Tom Beck, 48, head coach at Grand Valley State College, Allendale, Mich. Saban will make about a year, Bohl said. SWC gets early start on season Associated Press A regular season Southwest Conference basketball game before Christmas? It's no misprint. The Texas Longhorns and Southern Methodist Mustangs will open the season on Saturday night at Moody Coliseum. It's the earliest SWC opener in recorded history.

Record books date back to the 1955-56 season but it appears to be the first "official" SWC game on the books. Why? Kindhearted SMU officials, with the SWC's bid to become a national basketball power in mind, agreed to move the game from its original schedule of Jan. 13,1990. Texas is now free to play the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman on the Jan. 13 date.

Now SMU officials are worried they will be killed at the gate. School will be out and I Christmas shopping will be or. i the minds of other basketball fans. A small crowd would help the visiting Longhorns, who beat 25th ranked Florida 105-94 last Saturday night. The SMU-Texas game will mark the Longhorns debut of junior forward Hank Dudek, who transferred to Texas from the University of Richmond last January.

His eligibility begins with the SMU game. Only 4A finalists not worried about today's weather Associated Press Below-zero wind chill factors loom for four of the five high school state championship games set for Saturday, which makes the 70-degree climes for the Class 4A battle look fantastic. The noon kickoff between Consolidated (15-0) and Chapel Hill (14-1) will be indoors at the Astrodome. Fans will be much less comfortable at the other games, which will be played in what forecasters are calling the coldest temperatures to hit Texas in at least 10 years. Also at noon Saturday, but in breezy Texas Stadium, 10 miles northwest of downtown Dallas in suburban Irving, is the Class 5A title game between unbeaten Odessa Permian (15-0) andAldine (14-1).

A little later, at 2:30 p.m. about 25 miles to the west, Vernon and Mexia, with their identical 12-2-1 records, will settle the Class 3A championship at Pennington Field in Bedford, a Fort Worth suburb. The Class 2A championship is the only night battle. No. l-ranked Groveton (15-0) takes on Lorena (15-0) at Kyle Field on the campus of Texas in College Station at 7p.m.

In Class two other unbeaten teams, Sudan (15-0) and Thorndale (14-0) originally were to have met for the title at 7 p.m. Friday. But with temperatures in Abilene near zero, officials of both schools agreed to push the game back to 3 p.m. Saturday in hope of better weather conditions. "They determined that the conditions would be too difficult because of the cold weather," said University Interscholastic League athletic director Bill Farney.

"To my knowledge, we haven't had that (a postponement of a championship game) happen before." Saturday afternoon temperatures in Abilene on this particular weekend will be bitter enough. The conditions would seem to favor the West Texas and North Texas schools Sudan, Vernon and Odessa Permian since they're more accustomed to such chilly weather. Vernon, near the Red River in far North Texas, has seen a lot colder days than Mexia, for example. But Mexia's Blackcats are used to overcoming adversity. They won their first nine games last season before their head coach, Norman Cobb, was felled by a cerebral hemorrhage on Oct.

30, 1988, that almost killed him. Doctors told Cobb's wife, Linda, that he had only a l-in-10 chance of living through the night. But he came out of intensive care five days later, and while he was in the hospital his team gave him the ultimate get-well gift, a 19-0 victory over arch-rival Fairfield for the District 18-3A title. A week later, Cobb left the hospital and called the plays from the press box as Mexia eliminated Marlin from the playoffs. Mexia lost to Mexia, 7-6, the next week on a missed extra point.

After that loss, Cobb's son, Ki- ley, now a sophomore, decided to learn how to kick. Beginning last December, he began kicking 200 balls a day, and this season is a quarterback and kicker for the Blackcats. The 50-year-old Cobb is 49-16-3 in six seasons at Mexia, and after a listless 2-2-1 start in 1989, the Blackcats have won 10 straight games. This is Mexia's first state championship appearance in 40 years, and a little cold weather is nothing compared to the adversities Cobb has already overcome. Time to panic? Thomas: Injuries are main concern Associated Press HOUSTON The Houston Rockets may be stumbling along with the also-rans of the National Basketball Association, but team owner Charlie Thomas says he's not about to push the panic button.

"I think I see where our problem is," Thomas told The Houston Post on Friday. "The problem is injuries. Nobody want to hear and read about excuses. But when you have three or four guys hurt and you're counting on those guys to make important contributions, it makes a tremendous difference for aballclub." Going into Friday's contest against Sacramento, Houston had lost four of its last games and was struggling with an 11-14 won-loss mark, good for only fifth spot in the Midwest Division, six games behind division-leading San Antonio. "I don't think we can look at the program until we get people well," Thomas said.

"After we get people healthy and see them play together over a sustained period, we can evaluate whether we made the right decisions." Akeem Olajuwon missed summer workouts and the preseason because of a blood clot disorder in a leg. Mitchell Wiggins and Tim McCormick are on the injured list and Otis Thorpe has a bad knee. Larry Smith has a sore back. "You look at Akeem's situation," Thomas said. "He didn't really start the year at 100 percent.

I don't think Otis has been 100 percent even though he's in the lineup. "In Wiggins, you're talking about a guy who would be making a tremendous difference. We saw how well he was playing before the injury, and we beat some pretty good ballclubs with Wiggins in the lineup. Smith's injury hurt our rebounding and McCormick played extremely well in preseason before he got hurt. "We hired these players to do a job, and we need to get them all back." Thomas is looking for the team to try to stay close to the .500 mark through December, although the Rockets started a four-game road trip after Friday's home game with stops at Milwaukee, Minnesota, Indiana and Charlotte.

And their road mark is a miserable 3-11. "If you took away the injuries, I think we'd have four or five more wins and the standings would look a lot different," Thomas said. "Therefore, I'm not panicking by any means." Ohio player breaks three-point record AP Driving through Houston Rockets center State's Uwe Blab recently. Akeem Olajuwon drives past Golden Associated Press ATHENS, Ohio Dave Jamerson's basketball career might have ended his sophomore year at Ohio University when he missed the entire season because of knee surgery. Jamerson refused to quit, however, and in a spectacular performance Thursday night in a 110-81 victory over Charleston, the 6-foot- 5 senior guard set an NCAA Division I record for 3-point field goats, hitting 14 of 17 shots.

"A lot of work went into it," Jamerson said. "After I injured my knee, it took a lot of work and it paid off. Now I am starting to get the real benefits." Against Charleston (2-5), Jamerson sank 21 of 28 shots from the field for Ohio U. (6-3) while scoring 60 points, setting school, arena and Mid-American Conference records. "Was there a record he didn't set?" Charleston coach Todd Landrum said.

"He's a great player, and that's a huge understatement. "That was just phenomenal." Jamerson played defense, too, Bobcats coach Larry Hunter noted. "Jamerson's offensive performance overshadowed his great defensive job he did on Trimill Haywood, who was averaging 25 points a game and Dave held him to 10," Hunter said. "Dave put on a great show, and he deserved a night like that. Dave is a team player, and all of his teammates were with him all the way." Jamerson's performance was even more impressive considering he didn't play the entire game.

With the Bobcats leading 95-60 with 8:33 to play, Hunter took him out. Jamerson said all signs pointed toward a good game. "My legs felt good warming up," he said. "I felt good early in the game. I was hitting my shots early and getting a lot of opportunities.

Others were scoring and making contributions too." Jamerson started his barrage of 3-pointers midway through the first half. By halftime, he had 13 field goals, including nine straight 3-pointers, and 37 points. "I didn't know how many points I had, but I knew it was a lot," Jamerson said. "I didn't know what the records were." His fourth field goal in the second half broke the NCAA record set by Gary Bossert of Niagara, who hit 12 of 14 against Siena on Jan. 7, 1987.

It also broke Fred Moore's 32-year-old single-game Bobcats' record of 45 points. Jamerson's 60 points bettered the MAC single-game record of 53 set by Central Michigan's Tommie Johnson, and the Convocation Center record of 50 held by Scott Tedder of Ohio Wesleyan. Final game arrives for Largent Associated Press SEATTLE Mike Tice is hoping that when he takes the field Saturday with the Washington Redskins, a little of the good will being shown Steve Largent will spill over onto a former Seahawk now in enemy ranks. "Hopefully, I won't get a hostile reception," said Tice, a Redskins tight end who defected from the Seattle club after the Seahawks failed to protect him under the NFL's roster-limiting Plan B. Twenty minutes before the game, a special ceremony will be held to honor Largent, who is retiring after setting numerous receiving records during his 14 years with the Seahawks.

While the Seahawks (7-8) statistically could still make the playoffs, and are slight favorites over Washington (9-6), the odds are high. The Redskins are out of the playoffs. Although the playoffs are a longshot, the game is expected to be one of high emotions for the Sea- hawks, who will be trying to give Largent a winning send-off. "The game is paramount," Largent said. "We want to win and I want to play well." After the game, Seahawks' fans will honor Largent in a three-hour retirement party at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in downtown Seattle.

Tice has looked forward to playing in the King- dome just before Christmas, since his home is near Seattle. But despite his popularity while with the Seahawks, he said he didn't know what kind of a reception he would get. "I hope they remember all the things I did," Tice said. "I spent a lot of time in the But Tice probably doesn't have to worry about being booed. While he defected when left unprotected, his name has remained popular throughout the season.

Bailey named to Little All-America team Steve Largent Associated Press Johnny Bailey of Texas college football's all-time leading rusher, was named to The Associated Press Little All-America team for the fourth consecutive year Friday. Bailey finished his career with 6,320 yards, breaking Tony Dorsett's mark by 238. He rushed for 1,269 yards and 15 touchdowns this season despite missing two games with a knee injury, and helped lead Texas to a 10-1 record. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Houston native capped his career with a third straight Harlon Hill Trophy, given to the best player in NCAA Division II. The Little All-America team is composed of players from Divisions II and III of the NCAA and all NAIA schools.

Joining Bailey in the backfield were quarterback Kirk Baumgartner of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and running back Ricky Gales of Simpson College in Iowa. Baumgartner, who passed for 3,692 yards and 39 touchdowns this season, ended his career with 13,028 passing yards and 110 TD passes both second on the ail- time list. His 1,696 career passes were the most by any college player..