Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 27

JoAnne Carner blasts out of a bunker Thursday in the first round of the Hawaiian Open. Sports World, 3C High school basketball playoffs 4C Dial Sports (after 4 p.m.) 435-8521 Xvl Newsjournal Pensacola, Florida Friday, February 26, 1988 A kfr- Vv 1 wrwrnrntm I Flashy rivalry on ice heatin up Thomas slips in front; Tomba is Alpine king Results, schedule 2C Related stories 6C CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Katarina Witt of East Germany used a showgirl routine to show up Debi Thomas Thursday night, cutting away at her lead in their duel on ice at the Winter Olympics. In a duel on snow on Mount Allan, Alberto Tomba of Italy triumphed not only over the mountain but also over Swiss ace Pirmin Zurbriggen and Swedish veteran Ingemar Stenmark, capturing the giant slalom. Witt won the short program portion of the figure skating, tapping and twirling in her rhinestones and sequins to show music that included "Hello, Dolly." Thomas, unhappy with her marks for artistic impression, was second, skating in dark, sequined tights to SCOREBOARD NBA Houston 108, Dallas 106 Phoenix 109, Cleveland 1 03 New York 1 06, Los Angeles Clippers 96 Washington 129, Sacramento 110 CBA Savannah 132, Mississippi 121 Topeka 1 09, Wyoming 1 07 Quad City 134, Rapid City 102 Rockford 1 08, Rochester 1 03 College Basketball No. 1.

Temple 94, Duquesne 55 No. 2. Purdue 93, Illinois 79 No. 8. Nevada-Las Vegas 77, Pacific 61 No.

1 0. Syracuse 91 Providence 73 No. 1 1 Brigham Young 76, Air Force 62 No. 1 4. Bradley 67, Tulsa 62 No.

1 6. Wyoming 79, Utah 56 No. 1 9. Loyola, Calif. 96, St.

Mary's 94 No. 20. Georgia Tech 76, Virginia 71 South Florida 76, Cincinnati 73 Jacksonville 79, Va. Commonwealth 75 N.C.-Charlotte 80, 78 Prep Boys Basketball Escambia 73, Gulf Breeze 54 Pensacola High 80, Crestview 47 Milton 69, Panama City Bay 65 Niceville 101 Rutherford 71 Paxton 85, Ernest Ward 51 Century 70, Pensacola Christian 40 Central 79, Jay 71 Baker 69, Laurel Hill 53 Bethlehem 43, Ponce de Leon 42 Malone 73, Freeport 65 Cottondale 77, Poplar Springs 59 If iTm si y0 Ay trr--- upbeat music, with a stylized rock 'n roll beat. Thomas, however, still held the lead going into Saturday's freestyle because of her better scores in the school figures.

The world champion Witt was second, and Elizabeth Manley of Canada third. "I think it's going to be a real battle Saturday night to see who can stand up the most," said Thomas, the 1986 world champion and the only woman to inter TODAY'S EVENTS Ice hockey (medal round); Alpine skiing (women's slalom); Speed skating (women's 1000-meter) and Biathlon (4x7. 5-kilometer relay) TODAY ON TV Coverage begins at 7 p.m. on Channel 3, WEAR Pensacola, and Channel 13, WMBB Panama City. Today's schedule: 7 p.m.tolOp.m.

gPORTS SI SORTS Associated Press Italy's Alberto Tomba leans a shoulder into a gate pole in the men's giant slalom event Thursday. Gault bows out of soap opera rupt Witt's reign since the last Olympics. Thomas may have won the lead, but lost the judges. When she finished her routine, Witt, who had finished earlier, lowered her eyebrows and frowned in disapproval, then applauded Thomas' performance. While Witt received mostly 5.8s and 5.9s for artistic impression, Thomas got 5.7s and 5.8s and one 5.6 from the Czechoslovakian judge.

Thomas, who did a slightly more difficult routine than Witt, received higher or equal marks from all the judges for technical merit. The crowd booed, and Thomas' coach, Alex McGowan, was even more vehement. When the marks for artistic impression went on the board, McGowan rose off the bench next to Thomas, and said, "No way, no way. It stinks." He held his nose and waved his hand in disgust. After their first day at the Games without a medal, the Soviets swept the women's 20-kilometer cross-country race.

Raisa Smetanina won the bronze, and has now won nine medals spanning four Olympics more than any other woman ever. The Soviets' cross-country sweep gave them a leading 25 medals, including nine golds, to 17 for East Germany, which has seven golds. The Soviets have won 13 of the 21 cross-country medals offered at the Games, including five gold and five silver. On Mount Allan, Tomba was the man; Stenmark just another old man; and Zurbriggen an also-ran. Zurbriggen was third, behind silver medalist Hubert Strolz of Austria, the Alpine combined champion.

Now, Tomba, 21, goes for another gold in the slalom Saturday. The United States, with only four medals overall, beat Switzerland 8-4 for seventh place in hockey. With their victory, the Americans finished the same place they did in 1984. Thursday night, the Soviets beat Canada 5-0, eliminating the host nation from any chance to win a gold or silver medal. The script had no twists at first, as Roy finished in front after two heats at 1:53.27, with Rushlaw a close second at 1:53.29 and Will third at 1:53.53.

Roy then innocently carried his sled to the scales for an unofficial weigh-in. He didn't have to do that, and probably shouldn't have. The plot thickened. His USA2 was seven pounds overweight. Seven extra pounds can push a gravity-powered sled down a hill more quickly and would have disqualified Roy in an actual race.

"The only way anybody knows we were overweight was because I said we were overweight," Roy said. "Nobody asked us to put it on the scales. There wasn't anything conscious on my part to make us overweight." Cut to Gault, who fanned these flames by pushing his way onto the team over many sledders' objections last month. "We won't have the best teams in the competition Saturday and Sunday," he said, noting that USA3 had the best starting times in the races Thursday. "The best pushers are not going to be in the race." And so ended another episode.

But will Gault, despite his assertions to the contrary, pop up on Rushlaw's sled Saturday? Can Will find a legal loophole putting him back in the race? CALGARY, Alberta AP) The longest-running soap opera of the 1988 Winter Games came to a climax Thursday with the U.S. bobsled team featuring Brent Rushlaw and Matt Roy as the slippery winners, Randy Will as the desperate loser, and special guest star Willie Gault as himself. In Thursday's episode of "As The Bobsled Turns," Rushlaw and Roy won the featured roles for this weekend's four-man Olympic competition while Will cried foul and Gault bowed out graciously. The cameras were still rolling afterward when Gault, a Chicago Bears receiver, suggested one possible solution to the bobsled team's unrest: Hire Mike Ditka. "Mike Ditka is the Chicago Bears' leader," Gault said.

"He makes the decisions. He cuts players. the driver, who's like a quarterback, makes. those decisions. I think the bobsled federation should give coaches more control and drivers less control over the crews." Act 1 Thursday opened with Will, 23, driving a sled ridden by Gault and two others.

Their nearly impossible task: Beat Rushlaw or Roy by half a second in a sport measured in hundredths. Otherwise, Rushlaw, a four-time Olympian, and Roy, would hold onto their rankings as USA1 and USA2, spots they'd won in previous raceoffs. Surging Tornados whirl into Gunners' hideout Pensacola's Tornados, winners of three of their last four games on the road, travel to Charleston, W.Va., tonight to play the last-place Gunners. The Tornados (20-25) are still just 5-17 away from Pensacola, but their recent road surge has helped them into the thick of the race for the Continental Basketball Association playoffs. The fifth-place Tornados are only 3'a points from third-place Topeka.

The top four teams in each division make the playoffs. Tonight's game begins at 9:05 and can be heard on WCOA-AM radio (1370). Cubs host All-Star Game if Wrigley has lights NEW YORK (AP) The 1990 Major League All-Star Game was awarded to the Chicago Cubs Thursday hours before the City Council voted to lift a ban on night games at Wrigley Field. The baseball club owners, meeting in West Palm Beach, voted to give the game to another city if Chicago council members failed to approve the ordinance that would allow night baseball. The City Council, signaling an end to a 72-year tradition of daytime-only baseball at Wrigley Field, voted later in the day to lift the ban on night games.

Dog track changes bet, guarantees fat payoff The Pensacola Greyhound Track guarantees to disperse all funds in the Tri-Super Jackpot Carryover Pool Saturday night. The jackpot normally builds up with each performance until one or more patrons correctly pick both halves of the wager. Such is not the case Saturday night, for if there are no winners in the second half, all funds in the pot will be shared by those with winning first-half exchange tickets. The track is eliminating the Tri-Super wager in favor of bringing back the popular Twin Trifecta. In order to do so, the track must clear the Tri-Super carryover pool of money.

The Tri-Super wager is a two-part challenge. Patrons selecting the Trifecta combination (exact finishing order of the first three greyhounds) in the 1 1th race receive a payoff and a free exchange ticket for the second half of the bet on the 13th race. The Carryover jackpot normally builds up with each performance until one or more patrons correctly pick both halves of the wager. Friday's beginning jackpot will build from $15,916.00. Steele's softball team collides with local clubs The nationally reknowned Steele's Sports Company slow-pitch softball team will play two games at the Airport Babe Ruth Baseball Field this evening.

Steele's will take on Bere' Jewelers at 6:30 p.m. and play a Pensacola All-Star squad in the second game. Car, name put Griffey on hot road Baseball roundup3C By John Erardi Gannett News Service Ken Griffey 18, drives a BMW M-3 with a sound system that could rock a big-league ballpark (10 speakers, four amps). He is not your run-of-the-mill minor leaguer. If the car didn't set him apart, his name would.

Even before the cops see the name on the driver's license, they see the car coming a sleek, black-on-black job with gold rings and tinted windows. It is the one indulgence which Griffey's dad, Ken the Cincinnati Reds' 29th-round choice in 1969 who signed for $25 worth of equipment, allowed his son. Of the $200,000 which Ken Jr. signed for last June as the first player picked in the major league draft, $60,000 went to taxes, $80,000 went to investments, $40,000 went into an interest-bearing account and $20,000 was set aside for college. Ken Jr.

doesn't say how much the car cost, but your house payments are probably less. "Eleven hundred and fifty a month," said Griffey. "My dad told me that those payments will come out of the $40,000 we've set aside. But I can't use a cent of the $40,000 for living expenses. He put $180 into a checking account and said 'There, that's Griffey is a blue chip, bona fide, can't-miss prospect who will probably be in the bigs by the time he is 20.

Ken Sr. plays for the Atlanta Braves. They'd be the first father-son team to achieve the feat. Ken Sr. spent 5 years in the minors.

Ken Jr. figures to make it in three. Ken Jr. traces his dad's decision to crack down on him to the end of last season, Griffey's first in the minors. He presented Ken Sr.

with a phone bill for $900, covering the last month of the season. "By the end of the season, I was really missing my friends," Ken Jr. explained. "I gave the bill to him and said, 'Here, dad, write this He didn't like that too much." "I'd read that he had an 'attitude' problem, but that isn't what we found (in Class A Bellincham)," says Jeff Malinoff, Mariners uirector of player development. "Sure, he partied a little too much early in the season.

But most of our kids out of high school were like that. We didn't have that problem with our older kids." Griffey may be as close to can't-miss as they come. He excels in the five categories scouts look for hit, hit with power, run, field and throw. The areas in which the Mariners are concentrating on Griffey are mainly fielding. "The mental demands are what surprised me," Griffey said.

"The competition I can handle. And I didn't find playing in the minors to be the grind I heard it was going to be." Allen gives Argos lift in sweep Box scores2C PJC scores 7-1 win3C By Bill Vilona News Journal They occurred in opposite fashion, but together it was a doubleheadet sweep over William Carey College Thursday afternoon which exemplified the change with the University of West Florida's baseball team. The Argonauts equalled their run-hit total with a 14-0 victory in the first game and used strong pitching by Tracy Allen for a 2-1 victory in the second game. Here's the difference a year makes. Last year, UWF gave up 12 runs twice in a doubleheader loss to William Carey at Hattiesburg, Miss.

The losses were among 12 UWF suffered in the first 13 games. After Thursday's triumphs at UWF, the Argos are off and running with a 5-1 record. Head coach Jim Spooner can't remember a better start. "Not since I've been here," said Spooner, who is in his sixth season. "This ballclub is showing a little special character.

It's a good group that has been easy to coach." Allen has tried to forget last year altogether. Academic problems forced him to face batters from the dugout, charting games with a pencil. "What a lift this is," said Allen, after tossing a five-hitter for his second straight mound victory. "I really wanted to beat these guys. "When the team was struggling, I wanted to make a contribution and couldn't.

Now I really feel I'm gettting in the groove and I think this team is starting to jell." Another player who was a sideline spectator last year was Allen's catcher, Randy Renfroe, who came up with two key throws to nail basestealers in the second game. Both players were victims of the NAIA's eligiblity rule that declares a player ineligible if he fails to meet his school standards in any semester. An honor graduate of Pace High School, Allen spent two years at Pensacola Junior College and left with a 2.9 grade average. When arriving at. UWF, his academic advisor advised taking honor courses.

His first semester last fall was below UWF's 2.0 level. Allen wound up losing his entire junior year of eligibility, so this season is his final one. UWF set a season-standard with its first-game victory. Included in a 14-hit attack was a two-run homer by Jimmy Rogers in the second inning and a solo homer by Pat Rehwinkel in the third. Cleary drove in three more runs on two hits.

All but left fielder Mark Wilson had a hit in the first game, but Wilson had the biggest hit in game two. His booming homer in the sixth inning cleared the trees behind the left-center-field fence, providing the winning margin..