The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 31

IP 0) ltu I FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1991 BUSINESS MARKETS SECTION i PSM 00T LJ mtm mm mm Vm? -fl-y Dan Foster Next 10 days big for Braves will not compete until Aug. 7, which is about when he will come down from his euphoria. "This is a big honor," Sotomayor said Thursday, "as big as the world record. No, bigger. "To be able to celebrate these games is a victory for the Cuban people." The Cuban people will be allowed into all events for free.

That includes opening ceremonies at the new, Pan American Stadium. The ceremonies will feature music from throughout Latin America, presentations by 12,000 school and day-care children and senior citizens, dancers, and the "pizarra humanas," a flashcard display depicting famous incidents in Cuban history that organizers HAVANA (AP) Once, he jumped eight feet, the only man to leap so high in competition. Javier Sotomayor says he will soar much higher on Friday. Sotomayor, who reached the 8-foot barrier in 1989 nobody has come close to it since has been chosen to light the torch in the opening ceremonies for the Pan American Games on Friday. He gymnastics and Softball.

The U.S. men's basketball team, led by Christian Laettner, Thomas Hill and Grant Hill of NCAA champion Duke, play Cuba. PASO, the organizing body for the games, met Thursday and the United States had its concerns about the drug-testing proce- See Pan Am, Page 4D say will be "a very prominent part of the festivities." Also, a team of "sports par-achuters" will perform for the crowds in a demonstration of athleticism, organizers said. Competition at Havana and Santiago de Cuba at the other end of the island begins Saturday in track and field, basketball, canoe-kayak, diving, field hockey, NO LOVE LOST In 4 i By Abe Hardesty News staff writer BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Tennessee and Florida are loaded.

Auburn and Alabama are stocked with enough talent to win most football conferences. LSU and Ole Miss seem able to move up if someone stumbles. Three days of preseason football discussions in this football-crazy town made it clear that the Southeastern Conference should once again provide the nation with several ranked teams, and as many as a half-dozen bowl entries. The question, as it was a year ago, is whether something very bad happens to the most talented team on the way. Like Florida a year ago, defense-strong Tennessee must now divide its attention between its opponents on the field and a possible letter from the NCAA.

The Vols are awaiting the results of an NCAA investigation, and could receive word prior to or during the season. With 28 seniors on hand, many of them key figures in two straight "SEC championship runs, the stage seems set for perhaps the finest of 15 seasons since Johnny Majors became head coach at his alma mater. But the stage could also be set for a major disappointment. Tennessee has 16 starters back, 10 of them defensive seniors, and even the customary pre-season caution doesn't prevent Majors from expecting big things. "Defensively, we can be bet- FILE PHOTO UT's Johnny Majors enters 15th season SEC poll Team No.

1 votes Total pts. Florida 60 764 Tennessee 8 655 Auburn 636 Alabama 5 583 Louisiana St. 0 422 Georgia 1 397 Mississippi 0 354 Kentucky 0 252 Mississippi St. 0 192 Vanderbilt 0 88 When you consider how many baseball races are decided in the last week, the first 11 days of August don't seem terribly important. Math students, however, will tell you a game in August counts just as much as one the last day of the season.

For the Atlanta Braves, the next 10 days could have a tremendous bearing on whether the last games of the season will prove to have importance for them. They have the next 10 games at home against the three lowest teams in their division San Diego, San Francisco and Houston. Meanwhile, the Dodgers play 10 games on the road, going to Houston, Cincinnati and San Diego. If the Braves can hold on to the torch with which they burned Pittsburgh four games in a row, and the Dodgers don't have any better road luck than they've been having, the Braves could end the current home stand atop their division once again. Getting to the top once might have been considered novelty.

Getting there in mid-August, and realizing they had battered Pittsburgh in 9-of-12 games, might make it a race right down through Oct. 6. There are two good reasons the Braves have their best winning percentage since 1984: They lead the entire National League in hitting and are fourth in earned run average. Stewart's criticisms Meanwhile other things are going on in the universe. U.S.

Open champion Payne Stewart passed up a good opportunity to keep his mouth shut when he gave us the benefit of his opinion that Jack Nicklaus shouldn't be added to the Ryder Cup team. "The man is 51 years old," said Stewart. The 51 is not important, Payne. The 65 Sunday in his fifth straight day of pressure play is what's important. And how much more attractive would the Ryder Cup be with him playing in it? If Stewart hasn't noticed, America's regular tour golfers could stand a little more crowd appeal.

Onthesubjectoftourgolf.it was aggravating last weekend when CBS repeatedly flashed only the leaders' scores on the screen during the Canon Greater Hartford Open. The tournament had had rain Interrupted rounds by some players and even the next day the wait to see many of the previous round's scores was in vain. As much dead time as there is during a golf round, they could have done a better job On scores below the top 8 or 10. Two observations from USC basketball coach Steve Newton: "I believe in playing against strong competition early and seeing where you are. I think you improve by playing against good people.

"I feel this way about basketball: We're not playing the opponent, we're playing against our own potential. We're going to challenge our young men with playing to their full potential." The academic requirement at some colleges is expected to be that athletes have a higher graduation rate than the student body as a whole. That's the one South Carolina is planning for its athletic teams. Considering that some students drop out for lack of funds, scholarship athletes have an edge on the economic front. Howard, Drysdale Do not count 82-year-old Frank Howard among the nation's unemployed.

He's still selling The Kick-off, a weekly football publication businesses buy and give to customers. With the sometimes aid of a stick he gets around pretty well and plans to attend the News-Piedmont Coaches Banquet Thursday. He, Slick Moore, Phil Clark, Whitey Kendall, and Chico Bolin, all coaching emerituses, visit at the banquet each August and Howard Insults them just as he did 40 years ago. Don Drysdale must have thought there are other things that never change when he saw the Dodgers go nine innings without a hit two times in three games last week. He's a broadcaster for the team now.

The Dodgers batting habits weren't confused with a missile attack when Drysdale and Sandy Koufax pitched for them in the Sixties. In fact in the '63 World Series the Dodgers went the last 33 innings without scoring a run. Sometime in one of the mid-seasons, Drysdale once took a day off from the ball park, and was told late that day, "Hey, Sandy Koufax pitched a no-hitter today." Drysdale responded, "Good. Did he win?" ter. We have better talent on de-fense.

We did not have a dominant defense last year," Majors said Thursday, at the con See SEC, Page 4D Canseco often bears the brunt of fan abuse GBA to fill rosters with Saturday draft Canseco gets last laugh in feud with Yankee fans Greenville, Greensboro, N.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Nashville, Tallinn, Estonia, U.S.S.R; and San Marino, Italy. Since then franchises have been awarded to Huntsville, and Evry, France, while two more teams one owned by a Los Angeles-based businessman who has not decided where to locate his team and the other in Velvoorde, Belgium are set to join the league next season. After the league finalizes its number of franchises for the 1991-92 season, a draft lottery will determine the order of picks for Saturday's draft, which is slated for 10 a.m. in Atlanta. See GBA, Page 4D By Tim Peeler News staff writer The Global Basketball Association will fill out its roster of teams on Friday and league teams will beging filling out their rosters on Saturday, as the newest professional basketball league has its three-part draft this weekend.

At least two franchises are expected to be added to the eight-team league, one in New York and one in Louisville. Greenville Spinners coach Joe Williams said several others are finishing up their bids to join the league. The league, which begins its initial 64-game season in late November, was formed in March with six original members: Their taunts alone were enough to make the skin crawl. "I'd like to choke them," a weary Canseco said before Tuesday night's game. "Not all the fans some of them are nice.

But the ones who chant dirty stuff about my wife. I'd like to meet up with them somewhere else. "But, you know, it's scary out there. I looked up one time (Monday night) and saw fans jumping the security guards. What's to keep people like that from running on the field to get me? And if one fan comes out, 20 will follow." That didn't happen.

But an inflatable doll did sail from the seats, landing near Canseco's spot in See Canseco, Page 4D Knight-Rldder NEW YORK Jeff from Paramus that's all the name he would give came early to Yankee Stadium Tuesday, the better to greet Oakland A's slugger Jose Canseco during batting practice: "I hope you've got your bullet-proof vest on," he yelled. It's hell night in the Bronx, Mr. Canseco. Jeff from Paramus might be amusing if he were not so frightening and there were not so many like him at Yankee Stadium. During the two-game homestand against the A's, a thousand fans, maybe more, seated in the right-field bleachers also greeted Canseco with a hailstorm of rubber balls, coins, batteries, cups, vegetables and radios, all tossed from the stands.

Rivera, G-Braves shut down Barons Steelers' Long could make return 3anuisdafligBiigMs NATIONAL San Francisco 8, Cincinnati 1 Giants win 11th straight Philadelphia 4, Montreal 1 Chamberlain hits 3-run HR St Louis 6, Pitta burgh 3 Oquendo goes 3-for-3 AMERICAN Toronto 7, Cleveland 5 Olerud: 3 RBI New York 8, Minnesota 3 Nokes homers twice Detroit 5, California 3 Fielder hits No. 30 Kaneaa City 6, Milwaukee 5 Brett: 4 hits, HR Oakland 4, Boston 2 Henderson has 2-run single In 9th Chicago 13, Texas 2 Thomas keys Chicago's 6th straight win MINOR LEAGUES Greenville 4, Birmingham 2 Rivera: 8 shutout innings Spartanburg 2, Augusta 1 Thomas scores on error in 1Qth By Rudy Jones News staff writer Ben Rivera took a shutout into the ninth inning as the Greenville Braves beat the Birmingham Barons, 4-2, Thursday night at Greenville Municipal Stadium. Rivera (8-6) held the Barons (20-21) hitless until the fourth and to just two hits through the first eight innings. Birmingham drove Rivera from the game and avoided the shutout in the ninth with two hits and a walk. Bill Taylor pitched the final two-thirds of an inning getting Kinnis Pledger and Alln Liebert to fly out to the LATROBE, Pa.

(AP) Pittsburgh Steelers guard Terry Long could return to training camp if he passes a second steroids test, under National Football League rules. "Terry Long has not been suspended," said Greg Aiello, NFL director of communications. "Until a player has been suspended, he is eligible to practice with his team." Long checked out Wednesday from the psychiatric ward of Allegheny General Hospital, where he signed in after an See Long, Pf ge 4D right-field warning track for his 15th save. "Tonight, I felt good except the ninth inning," Rivera said. "I started getting tired." Birmingham's Scott Tedder had a leadoff single in the fourth inning for the game's first hit.

Tedder stole second base, but was stranded there when Rivera struck out the next three batters. The Barons' only other hit until the ninth was a one-out single in the seventh by Ron Coomer. Coomer got to third later in the inning, but was stranded when Liebert flied to center field. Rivera walked three and struck out seven. I a little on the first hitter (of the ninth inning).

There was a real See G-Braves, Page 4D "He pitched great," Braves manager Chris Chambliss said. "I wish he had finished that game. "Che umpire was squeezing.