The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 17

CALL US MORE Scoreboard 2C i Sports 3C Baseball 4C Markets 5C Business 6C Former Expos lead Rockies over Montreal To contact The Sun's sports department call 1-800-269-0488 or. Executive Sports Editor Terry McCormick, 425-9635. Sports Editor Dan Morris, 425-9636. John Denton, high schools, 425-9751. Taylor Wilson, Outdoors.

Larry Walker and Andres Galarraga powered the Rockies 225231? ROCKIES Tuesday, April 15, 1997 PAGE1C M-IH SJ1 mm Robinson would have gotten ON TV Senior plays with grit, determination By now, you've probably already heard the one about the athlete who bounced back from a knee injury, rehabilitating in the offseason for a triumphant return the next year. It's truly a heart-warming story dozens of area athletes have had to endure. But Ashlee Winningham's story is markedly different Like so many others, the three-sport Adamsville standout tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee during a basketball game. Selig and Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow, will join Clinton at the ceremonies. Earlier this month, Rachel Robinson was at Long Island University's three-day symposium in tribute to her husband and expressed some concerns.

"As people discuss Jack, it's often as a martyr," she said. "They overlook the joys he had, the exhilaration of winning, the joys of his children and his home. Think of the total man, not just in terms of integrating sports." Smithsonian unveils Robin-son exhibit, Page 4C run king, who suffered much of the racial abuse as he pursued Babe Ruth's record that Robinson faced before him, put it more simply: "Without Jackie Robinson," he said, "there wouldn't have been any Hank Aaron." The first pitch tonight will be thrown out by Jesse Simms, Robinson's grandson, who will play football at UCLA this fall, the way his grandfather did be-fore revolutionizing baseball. On Monday, the Mets presented Simms with a No. 42 jersey.

He said he planned to wear his old high school No. 31 at UCLA. "My grandfather wore 28 President Clinton will join Jackie Robinson's widow and grandson in a tribute during the Mets game against the Dodgers. The Associated Press NEW YORK The symmetry almost seemed planned. The 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's major league debut will be celebrated today, two days after Tiger Woods became the first black to win the Masters golf championship.

It I 'A wmmm mmmm, Jf Tiger, woods' performance at the Masters has inspired you to take lip'golf, be prepared to pay the price. a kick out of Woods' trailblaz-ing triumph because he loved golf and cherished equality. And 50 years 1 oaseoau into ra- Robinson cial reality, a season of trib utes reaches its apex at Shea Stadium when tonight's game between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers is halted in the fifth inning for ceremonies led by President Clinton. Hank Aaron, baseball's home I I kf Cr tf ft 1 it GETTING STARTED Lessons: Golf lessons at Highland Green, Hidden Valley and most area courses run about $30 a session. The lessons need to be arranged with the club pro in advance.

Clubs: To give you an idea of golf's expense, Wal-Mart sells a Dunlop 1 6-piece starter set of clubs for $1 89.96 and a Wilson Pro-Staff set for $269.96. Hidden Valley and Highland Green sell new and used sets of clubs ranging from $140 to $1 ,000. Balls: A box of Wilson Pro-Staff balls is $13.96 at Wal-Mart. A box of Ultras is $17.96. Gloves: They cost from $8 to $15.

Shoes: Prices range from $30 to more than $100. Tiger won't be easy. And it won't happen overnight Golf takes time. It takes money. And, most importantly, it takes patience.

But for those wanting to learn the game Woods has popularized, the opportunities are endless. Just be prepared to shell out the money it takes to become a success at the sport that can be as frustrating at times as it can be challenging. The first instinct A beginning golfer's first 777 I ,,.,4, fj 1 :4 ft hi 3 if But for Winningham, a senior, there would be no next year for the knee to heal. No chance to return. No opportunity to get back the year she had been waiting John DENTON for.

Her career looked to be over. "You work your whole life as a freshman, sophomore and junior for your senior year. And then, in one second, it's all ruined," Winningham said while fighting back tears. Refusing to give up Winningham wouldn't accept seeing all that hard work go down the drain. She refused to be a bystander during Softball season, the sport she has dominated for four years.

Instead of taking the easy route and calling it a career, Winningham is playing softball this season on a torn knee ligament She lost more than 20 pounds from the anxiety of possibly missing the season and the eight weeks of rehabilitation she went through, and there's a bulky knee brace. But still she's happy to be pitching agaia. Winningham tore up her knee playing basketball, and immediately her thoughts turned to softball season. One doctor recommended immediate surgery. Few tears followed that news.

The family already had cried all the previous night A Nashville orthopedic surgeon, who is a family member, later saw Winningham and provided the family with a ray of hope, sort of. "He said he had good news and bad news," said Winningham's father, Rickey. "He said the bad news is the ACL is torn. I was wondering what in the heck the good news could be. He said give him eight weeks of rehabilitation and then he'd put a brace on it and she could possibly play." Back on the mound Those were just the words Winningham wanted to hear.

The knee is nowhere near 100 percent But an injured Winningham is still better than most healthy players. Her career is one of the most successful in Adamsville history: District titles in three different sports and a career 71-20 pitching mark. She's thrown four no-hitters, two perfect games and has struck out 358 batters. Surgery looms in June. That pain, however bad it is, would never have matched the pain of missing a senior season.

John Denton writes for The Jackson Sun. He can be reached at 425-9751 or 1-800-269-0488. DREW TARTERThe Jackson Sun Union University students Brad Irby, left, and Clay Nolen shop for golf clubs at Nevada Bob's Discount Golf on Monday in Jackson. ESPN will televise the Dodgers-Mets game hi New York at 6:30 p.m. today.

The game will be hatted in the fifth inning to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game in the majors. Chris Berman will have an interview with President Clinton. ESPN also will have live reports from Shea Stadium at 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. CDTon "SportsCenter." there," he said.

"What I strive for is to carry on his legacy and his leadership values." Acting commissioner Bud Tjv 1 A4 a club and flailing away at it "Most people don't go out and spend a couple of hundred dollars on ski equipment without taking skiing lessons first. Golf is the same way." Jaco, like most pros, advises beginners to take lessons before trying to learn the Please see LEARNING, 2C SMASH HIT Tiger Woods' 12-stroke victory in the Masters will go down as the most-watched Grand Slam golf finale in TV history. Overnight ratings for the final round were 15.8 with a 32 share, better than any other show did all weekend except for CBS' "60 Minutes," which followed the golf Sunday night with a 17.5. By comparison, the best previous rating for any single day of a major tournament was April 11, 1966, when CBS got a 12.0 rating for Jack Nicklaus" 18-hole playoff victory over Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. Three Chicks pitchers throw no-hit victory Memphis pitchers Ryan Franklin, Scott Simmons and David Holdridge combined to no-hit the Chattanooga Lookouts Monday night as the Chicks posted a 4-0 Southern League victory.

Franklin (1-0) was making his first start of the year. He retired the first 17 batters before walking Chattanooga's Pat Watkins with two outs in the sixth. Franklin was removed after six innings and Simmons and Holdridge closed out the game. i -a i item I i Ml Uf JACKSON-MADISON COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME McKnight carries on tradition Joe Nip McKnight will share induction into the Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame with his father, Marvin. By MELISSA GESCHWIND The Jackson Sun "Little Nip" always dreamed of getting a college education, which is why he left Memphis State.

The basketball team's road trips were too long for the sophomore from Bemis, who already was a team captain. The time commitment was prohibitive. The J.B. Young High School graduate and his team mates found it McKnight nearly impossible to play and make good grades. So "Little Nip" left the big-time program behind and transferred to Tennessee Martin, where "Big Nip" had earned, his degree.

Joe Nip McKnight, like his father, Marvin "Nip" McKnight, attended UTM on an athletic scholarship. And like his father, he set a UTM record for most points in a season (nearly 600) the record Joe Nip broke was Marvin's own (401), which had stood for 27 years. But the biggest similarity between father and son is that they both attended Tennessee Please see MCKNIGHT, 3C IF YOU GO The 12th annual Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame banquet will be at 6:30 p.m., Thursday at the Civic Center. Guest speaker is former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown. For tickets, call 901 -422-431 8.

This year's inductees are Jackie Beard, Eddie Coyne, Joe "Nip" McKnight, Marvin "Nip" McKnight and Burruss Nichols. Jackson Mayor Charles Farmer is receiving the Distinguished Service Award for his role in bringing professional -baseball to Jackson. SCORES AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston 10, Oakland 1 Milwaukee 7, Detroit 0 Seattle 6, Cleveland 1 Kansas City 3, Toronto 2 Baltimore 4, Minnesota 2 Anaheim 5, N.Y. Yankees 1 Texas 3, Chicago White Sox 1 NATIONAL LEAGUE Houston 4, St. Louis 2 (10) Colorado 10, Montreal 8 San Francisco 3, N.Y.

Mets 2 Atlanta 15, Cincinnati 5 Baseball, Page 4C Woods relishes celebrity role By JOHN DENTON and DAN MORRIS The Jackson Sun I am Tiger Woods. No, I am TigerWoods.No,... Whether at the office water cooler or on the playground, prospective golfers all across West Tennessee are still likely uttering those words in the wake of Tiger Woods' stunning 12-stroke romp to the Masters title Sunday. In the aftermath of Woods' record-setting victory, golf pros everywhere are hoping to capitalize on the spotlight the 21-year-old superstar has brought to golf. They are hoping it will lead more people especially blacks and women to a sport the world is buzzing about 1 "With Tiger winning, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of interest in golf," said Hidden Valley Golf pro Tom Talkington Jr.

"People are going to come out and try it Now, our job is to keep them interested and having fun. "A National Golf Foundation study shows that 50 percent of the people that pick up golf quit within the first year. We can do better than that We've got to teach the beginners to enjoy the game and not get so frustrated." One thing is for sure for all those wanna-be Xiger Woods out there: Becoming the next The Associated Press Tiger Woods tosses golf balls to fans at the opening of the All Star Cafe in Charleston, S.C., Monday. the Kansas City Chiefs informed Smith last week they could not afford to re-sign him. Denver offered Smith a deal reportedly worth between $1 million and $1.5 million in base salary, with incentives that could swell it to $3 million.

"When some people said Neil Smith was not playing up to his level, they did not have to design game plans against him," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said Monday. "For the last decade, I've been on the other side of the football, designing game plans that were directed toward Neil." instinct usually is to grab a club, a bucket of balls and see what happens out on the driving range. That's just what you don't want to do, Highland Green pro Les Jaco said. "I always recommend learning at the beginning before trying to play," Jaco said. "The basic swing motion isn't obvious just by grabbing (green) jacket? I slept with it last night" Woods, 21, is the youngest Masters champion.

His 270 total broke the tournament record by a stroke. His 12-stroke margin over second place Tom Kite also was a record. In Atlantic City, people began lining up on the Boardwalk early in the afternoon in hopes of catching a glimpse of Woods, who was to join actress Whoopi Goldberg, tennis great Monica Seles, former tennis bad boy John McEnroe and former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe for the evening ceremonies. Player sues paper for scandal reports Attorneys for Fresno State point guard Dominick Young filed a libel suit Monday against The Fresno Bee over reports that the player is the focus of a point-shaving investigation. The Fresno Superior Court suit charges that Bee articles falsely accuse Young of criminal activity.

The lawsuit, which seeks $11.2 million in general and punitive damages, said Young has never shaved points nor conspired with anyone else to do so. The Associated Press MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -Fresh from his record-breaking Masters victory, Tiger Woods hit the promotional circuit Monday. He cut the ribbon at a new All Star Cafe in Myrtle Beach, S.C, then headed up the coast to open one in Atlantic City. Woods threw golf balls, T-shirts and hats into the crowd of about 500 people who met him in Myrtle Beach, about 200 miles from where he made history Sunday at Augusta National.

"I'm still on cloud nine from yesterday," he said. "My Fourth NBA referee faces tax charges Jess Kersey on Monday became the fourth NBA referee to be indicted on tax evasion charges for allegedly failing to pay taxes on money saved by downgrading plane tickets. A federal grand jury indicted Kersey, 56, on five charges of tax evasion, the U.S. attorney's office said. The maximum penalty for each violation Is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

NBA referees Mike Mathis, George Toliver and Hank Armstrong were indicted on similar charges in February. Smith signs one-year deal with Broncos Having freed up money under the salary cap by restructuring John Elway's contract, the Denver Broncos on Monday signed five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Neil Smith to a one-year contract Smith Smith, 31, ranks as one of the top sack artists in the NFL with 86 in his career. After getting 12 sacks in 1995, however, he fell off to just six last year, and Biinnm iff'tiW.