Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 39

Pensacola News Journal 3D SPORTS Wednesday, June 23, 1999 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STATISTICS Child almost affected Open J.4 I her husband's pager number and punched in the secret code that signaled she was going into labor. Not everyone was convinced Mickelson would have hurried off Pinehurst No, 2, even though he had a private plane and a co-pilot on standby all week. But even Mickelson doubted the baby would arrive nine days early. Amy has been with him for most of his 13 victories on the PGA Tour, the most of any active player who has yet to win a major championship. She knows what a major would mean to Mickelson.

She shared the disappointment of Shinnecock Hills in the '95 Open and Valhalla in the '96 PGA Championship. Would she really have paged him? "I will answer that for her in simple terms," Mickelson said. "She had better have told me, no matter when or what time. This is where we are, and that's what would have happened. We had a deal before the U.S.

Open as to what would happen, and I was going to be there with her no matter what," None of that came to pass. Stewart won the U.S. Open with indubitable determination, making clutch putts on the last three holes to bury the memory of his failure the previous year at Olympic Club. Mickelson was the runner-up by one stroke after missing two 8-foot putts on the 16th and 17th holes and a 25-foot putt on the last. Mickelson had been presented with every hypothetical situation during the week.

What if he were leading on Sunday? What if he were on the back nine? Mickelson a dad one day after finishing second By Doug Ferguson Associated Press PINEHURST, N.C. Just think if Payne Stewart had missed. His 15-foot par putt on the 72nd hole provided the most thrilling finish in the history of the U.S. Open. But think of the drama that awaited had Stewart missed that putt and gone to an 18-hole playoff the next day with Phil Mickelson.

There's a good chance Stewart would have been playing alone. Mickelson had promised his pregnant wife that he would leave the tournament if she went into labor, which could have happened any day during the Open. Amy Mickelson gave birth Monday night to a 7-pound, 4-ounce girl. Mother and daughter were doing fine, Mickelson spokesman Mike Biggs said. "I would not have been playing," Mickelson said Tuesday.

"I would definitely have come home, no question." Mickelson, who already has won 13 times on the PGA Tour but has never won a major championship, wasn't even sure he was going to play in the U.S. Open until last Tuesday, when doctors estimated that his wife would carry their first child for at least another week. Still, he had a beeper in his bag and vowed he would leave if his wife went into labor even in the final round or a playoff with a chance to win. No one will ever know if Amy Mickelson really would have dialed U.S. Team By Nancy Armour Associated Press LOCKPORT, 111.

As goalie Saskia Webber walked toward a house at the SOS Children's Village, deep in discussion with 8-year-old Tevin about her new red-white-and-blue sneakers, she spotted Jon racing around, trying to get autographs. "Hey, I hear you're a pretty good artist," she said as the boy nodded. A half-hour later, Webber and a few others from the U.S. women's World Cup team huddled around a table as Jon brought out a folder of drawings. As the women oohed and aahed at the pictures there were Power Rangers, Mario from the Nintendo game and a Tasmanian Devil that looked like it came straight from the cartoon Jon hung back, smiling.

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For The Budge, Minded rjr Hiyiwmin -r ntiniTuiite WEr lpw 3 VUdlo Ulctlldllo wlntegrated Clear Coat 48 MONTH WARRANTY 7 aw 1 XlJijCii) I 7" A Phil Mickelson leans to kiss his wife, had their first child Monday after Phil "I'm out of here," he always said.

The record books would have shown Mickelson with a WD. Stewart would have had to play the round by himself so he could post a score. The bigger story would have been Mickelson's devotion to his wife and daughter over a moment that could have defined his career. Even after Stewart had won, Mickelson heard one last scenario. FA, soccer's world governing body.

Children from the Lockport village will lead players onto the field Thursday. "It puts things in perspective," Webber said. "I don't think our team gets caught up in things, but you see how fortunate we are. We realize how much playing for the team is a gift." The SOS Children's Village, one of two in the United States, is home to 40 children. Their stories aren't pretty, with most becoming wards of the state because of abuse or neglect.

They've bounced around from foster home to foster home, averaging six placements before they get to the village. When the players arrived, a group of 10 children decked out in soccer jerseys was waiting. The players handed out team photos and pins and then trooped around AROUND THE AREA Sherman Williams gets RFL football honors Mobile running back Sherman Williams was chosen the Regional Football League's Most Valuable Player on Tuesday. Williams, the former Alabama standout who once backed up Pen-sacola's Emmitt Smith, was one of 1 1 Admirals placed on the first team. Joining Williams on the offense were guard Kyle Murphy, center Emerson Martin, tight end Andy Fuller and receiver Jack Jackson.

The defensive selections included end Dameian Jeffries, tackle Bryan Proby, cornerback Dennison Robinson, strong safety Willie Gaston, free safety Halakilangi Muagutu-tia and punter Sean Liss. Four more, including Pace native Thad Busby, was placed on the league's second team. Mobile coach Tom Walsh, who re HIDDEN Weil Voted befit cuurse in NW Florida by Golf Digest TIGER Moat of I9KH i. Associated Press Amy, at a tournament last year. They finished 2nd at the U.S.

Open. It's one thing to walk off Pinehurst in the middle of the final round, when the Open was still up for grabs among Stewart, Mickelson, Woods and Vijay Singh. It's quite another to leave during a playoff and let the other player win by default. "Yeah," Mickelson replied, "but come middle of June next year, we're going to have another Open." WORLD CUP Today's Games At Landover, Norway vs. Canada, 5 p.m.; Australia vs.

Sweden, 7:30 p.m. At Portland, Japan vs. Russia, 8 p.m.; China vs. Ghana, p.m. Thursday's Games At Chicago: Brazil vs.

Italy, 5 p.m.; Nigeria vs. United States, 7:30 p.m. At Portland, North Korea vs. Denmark, 8 p.m.; Germany vs. Mexico, 10:30 p.m.

the grounds, wandering through the houses, signing autographs and playing with the children. "I love seeing kids have smiles on their faces," Roberts said. "To know we can bring them out is awesome. Any impact we can make on young children is important. I think we can inspire kids in many ways, and it's not just younger girls.

It's younger boys, as weli." cently guided the Admirals to a 14-12 win over Houston in RFL Bowl was Coach of the Year. Gulf Breeze cancels Friday's football camp The football camp scheduled for this Friday at Gulf Breeze High School has been canceled but might be rescheduled for July, Coach Don Cobb said. For information on the possibility of attending the camp the first week of July, call Cobb at 916-4104. Fishing tourney set for this weekend The Bud Light King Mackerel-Co-bia fishing tournament will be Saturday and Sunday at Pitt Slip Marina. The captains meeting will be at 6:30 p.m.

Friday at the Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds. Information: 932-6789. From staff reports but POINT I'cnsaciiU Open Former host of the USGA'i Women's Open Cart Fee Only I Price 1 1 Buffalo fans rally for team after controversial goal TTT MR CO .1 come over and look at things," he said. "I didn't know they were going to play with us." The American women are on a quest to regain the World Cup, soccer's most prestigious title and one they lost four years ago to Norway. With one victory already behind them, they're gearing up for their game against Nigeria on Thursday at Soldier Field.

It's a hectic time, with training and travel taking up most of their days. Yet nine team members and two assistant coaches took the morning off Tuesday to visit the SOS Children's Village, a home for abused and neglected children southwest of Chicago. SOS Children's Villages International is the official charity of FI broke out in chants and deafening cheers throughout the hour-long rally. "Even though they were defeated, we still have to show them support," said Jennifer Feher of Ken-more. "They represented Buffalo throughout the world." While she remained disappointed over how the series ended, she said the fans would eventually put it behind them.

"In Buffalo, we're tough people. We'll come back next year," she said. For the first time in five years, the Stanley Cup finals went more than four games, but television ratings didn't jump much. ESPN and Fox each aired three games in the Stars- Sabres series, and both had a minimal ratings increase from last season. ESPN's three-game average was a 3.09 rating, up 17 percent from last year's 2.65.

The cable network had a controversial triple-overtime thriller in Game 6, which received a 3.51 mark, the highest-rated game in two seasons. "Ratings were up and everything was coming to a great ending for the first time in five years," ESPN analyst Bill Clement said. "But I don't think it will hurt our viewer-ship in the long term." MOSt CD'S $7.95 Buy Sell All Types of Music 5039 Bayou Pensacola 494-0309 6707 Plantation Rd Pensacola 969-0302 Open 1-9 M-Sat 1-6 Sunday Ctflj GDDOwi r-4 Vi 4 Coats lic 36 MONTH iMTDnnnrikin A ULTRATHANE iU 5 YEAR "I By Carolyn Thompson Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff had two words for the 20,000 fans crammed in front of City Hall Tuesday and the dozens of others watching from rooftops and hanging from windows of downtown office buildings: "No goal." That sent fans into a pom-pom waving frenzy and set off a chant of "No Goal! No Goal!" The fans were there to thank the Sabres for an exciting season, but they were clearly not happy with the way it ended: A controversial goal in triple overtime of Game 6 that sent the Stanley Cup to Dallas. Some carried signs saying "We were cheated, not defeated," and "Thou shalt not steal." "One more game! One more game!" they shouted at the rally's start.

Ruff said he was amazed "to have this many people show up for a party that should have been three days later." Had the Sabres won Game 6, the seventh and deciding game of the finals would have been played Tuesday. Instead, goalie Dominik Hasek and the rest of the team pulled their jerseys over shorts and T-shirts and looked ahead to next season, "Let's get cup crazy 2000," Hasek told the crowd, Neither Sabres owner John Rigas nor general manager Darcy Regier specifically mentioned Brett Hull's Stanley Cup-winning goal, scored with his skate in the crease. NHL officials said they let the goal stand because Hull maintained possession of the puck. "I know the disappointment we all had in the last game," Rigas said. "My honest belief is next year, they're going to take one step further." The Sabres smiled as the crowd, assembled in 80-degree sunshine, 939-4604 932-1333 476-0611 Play 3 Rounds of Golf and Save up to $67.00 The More You Play the More You Save First Round I Second Round 1 1 Third Round I Off I1 Rt'8u 'Rate I I Am mmm I Play for 12 SPRflY ON BED LINERS STARTING (TT $275 uimnm Wwhip i mi i i 'in mmimimiiiijmmi in.

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