Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 13

Sports Augusta National rebel Wyman dead at 73 BOSTON Thomas H. Wyman, the former chairman and chief executive of CBS who resigned last month from the Augusta National Golf Club because of its all-male membership, died at age 73. Wyman died Wednesday in hospital after a short illness, his family said in a statement. He had surgery Dec. 15 for an abdominal infectioa Wyman resigned his 25-year membership at Augusta National on Nov.

27, saying the club's refusal to admit women as members is unacceptable and "pigheaded." Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson said in November the club wouldn't admit a woman "anytime soon" despite pressure from the National Council of Women's Organizations. Rafter puts away racket permanently at age 30 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Pat Rafter, formerly the world's top-ranked player in men's tennis, announced his retirement Friday at age 30, ending 12 months of indecision during an extended break from the sport. Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open champion and a two-time finalist at Wimbledon, made his announcement in an open letter to the Australian media. The release coincided with the draw for the Australian Open.

"I know it's been a while coming, but I am announcing my official retirement from professional tennis," Rafter wrote in the letter. Rafter said he didn't have the motivation to compete on tour after taking several months off in late 2001 to recover from arm injuries. Safin opposed to EPO tests in tennis One ace wasn't enough for California senior RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. By his own admission, Jack Gosch's front nine at the Sunrise Country Club earlier this week was nothing special. That all changed in a hurry.

He aced the 10th hole. And then on the nth bingo! another hole in one. "I've never gotten more congratulations for anything in my life," the 74-year-old Gosch said Thursday, three days after his amazing feat "The word spreads fast in the golf community." After what he called his worst front nine at Sunrise since October, Gosch used a driver to ace the 204-yard, par-3 10th hole. He followed that up by hitting an eight-iron into the hole on the 135-yard, par-3 nth. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Marat Safin says blood testing for the banned performance-enhancing substance EPO is invasive and unnecessary, and that players weren't properly consulted about its introduction in tennis.

Blood testing for EPO short for erythropoi-eten is expected to be conducted for the first time in a Grand Slam tennis tournament starting next week at the Australian Opea Safin said there was already enough drug testing and that EPO wasn't a big issue in tennis. "We go for too much. First of all, we have to go for the urine testing, now we have to go to EPO I said to the ATP that I don't think it's correct, but they really didn't listen," Safin said. F2 CALGARY HERALD Friday, January 10, 2003 CANADA CUP OF CURLING learn returns to Law and order Moulding regroups at juniors ft -X 1- "wj- I A ALLEN CAMERON Calgary Herald KAMLOOPS, B.C. Kelley Law's juggling act is proving to be money in the bank.

Since Law's Coquitlam, B.C., quartet shifted its lineup second Georgina Wheatcroft and third Julie Skinner switched positions following a horrid showing at last November's Keg Continental Cup in Regina, it has hit the curling jackpot. Just a couple weeks after the change, Law's Olympic bronze-medallists picked up nearly $51,000 in winning the JVC-TSN Skins Game. And they've been in dominating form here at the inaugural Strauss Canada Cup, too, with a payout of $15,500 ($12,500 for a minimum third-place finish and $3,000 for four round-robin wins) already secured and a shot at the $50,000 top prize in Saturday's women's championship game (11:30 am. MST.CBC). Hard to believe that this team was responsible for just two points out of the 52 it could have won playing for Team North America at the Continental Cup.

"We've been together for four years now, and maybe Julie and I were just like an old married couple and we needed a bit of a switch," explained Law, who won a world title with the old-look lineup (including lead Diane Dezura) in 2000. "It's really brought up everybody's game, and put a little fire under our butts that we needed to pick things up." They've done that here, winning their five-team round-robin pool and earning a berth in today's Page playoff first-place crossover game against Sherry Middaugh's 4-0 Ontario outfit with a berth in the final on the line. The loser would play in tonight's semifinal against the survivor of the Page round-robin second-place playoff game. Team Law won 10-4 over Barb Spencer of Winnipeg in its early assignment before squeaking past Marilyn Bodogh's Ontario team (skipped by Penny Shantz of Kelowna, B.C.) 9-7. The lineup shift had tongues wagging across the country, wondering if it was the first step towards the breakup of one of the sport's most talked-about teams.

Instead, insisted Skinner, it's been a shot in the arm for a squad that since its disappointing Olympic experience almost a year ago had grown a bit stale. "We just needed to shake it up and give Kelley a bit more confidence, be- Murray Mitchell, Kamloops Daily News game against Marilyn Bodogh rink during Day 2 of Canada Cup of Curling. Kelley Law yells to sweepers during cause she was struggling a bit, too," said Skinner, who last tossed granite from the second position at the 1989 Scott Tournament of Hearts as a 19-year-old. "When we're committed to something and we know we have to do things, there's four people on this team and I think for the most part we're pretty inter-changeable." "When we sat down for our first meeting together, we said that we would do anything to make the team work, and anybody would play any position," added Law. "That's what you get when you put a team like this together you do what it takes." While Law's team is playoff-bound, ALLEN CAMERON Calgary Herald After an ugly opener at the Target Alberta junior curling championships, Calgary's Darren Moulding has righted the ship in Grande Prairie.

The former provincial champ and his North Hill club team (third Brock Virtue, second Matt Taylor, lead Nic Virtue) stretched their win streak to three games with a pair of wins Thursday. Moulding's 3-1 record has him in a three-way tie (with defending champ Adam Enright of Camrose and Tom Sallows of the host club) for top spot heading into two more round-robin games today. "We definitely came out flat (in the opener, a 9-3 loss Wednesday to Sallows), but you've got to remember that for Brock and Nic, it was their first-ever game in the provincials, so I think we had a bit of the butterflies, for sure," said Moulding, who topped Edmonton's Chris Schille 6-4 and another Edmontonion Chris King 4-2 in his Thursday assignments. "We've been pretty streaky, maybe a bit like a Jekyll and Hyde team. But at least we're still winning.

We can play better, I know we can play better. The main thing is, we're making the key shots when we have to." In other early Thursday games, Sallows held off Enright 7-5, Red Deer's Jon Elder shaded Donovan Dumont of Girouxville 4-3 and Medicine Hat's Jordan Bellamy knocked off King 10-6. Later, Enright doubled Elder 6-3, Schille hammered Dumont 9-2 and Sallows turned back Bellamy n-6. In women's play, Tenelle Jorgenson skipped the lone Calgary team to win a game Thursday as her team picked up a split in two games, winning 7-1 over Holly Whyte of Edmonton and bowing 7-3 to Andrea McCutcheon of Edmonton. The results left Jorgenson, third Lauren Turnquist second Cha-sity Jorgenson and lead Amanda Bushell with a 2-2 record, a win back of the leading trio of McCutcheon, De-siree Robertson of Grande Prairie and Jessica Monk of Edmonton, all at 3-1.

Audrey Tackaberry's North Hill outfit (third Heather Armstrong, second Shana Barrett and Heather Moulding) dropped to 1-3 following a pair of losses Thursday, 10-1 to Robertson and 6-3 to Monk. Michele Smith of the Calgary club, meanwhile, remains winless at 0-4. Smith, third Lindsay Hudyma, second Tara Tanchuk and lead Alanna Black-well were dropped 8-6 by McCutcheon and 8-3 by Amanda Swiche-niuk of Grimshaw. Thursday's other results had Monk getting by Swicheniuk 9-7 and Robertson edging Whyte 6-5. Last Chance Thirteen teams open play tonight in Brooks at the men's Last Chance 'spieL The triple-knockout affair will decide the final three entries into the Southerns Jan.

17 to 19 at the Glencoe Club. -x Heading the field is Calgary's Adrian Bakker a third-place finisher at lasj year's Safeway Select provincials who posted a 1-3 record at last weekend'? city playdowns. Other local entries arl being skipped by Andy Morris, Harold Breckenridge, Greg Northcott, Lloyd Hill, Brian Howes, Brian Rumberg, Rob Johnson, Brent Bawel and Ed GrotkowskL Pitcher denies pushing senior JL -J The Associated Press MIAMI San Francisco Giants pitcfier Livan Hernandez denied Thursday that he pushed an elderly warehouse owner or swung golf clubs at him, saying that he was the victim in a scuffle that resulted in his arrest Hernandez posted $10,000 bond and was released from Miami-Dade County Jail late Wednesday after he was charged with felony aggravated assault and battery on the elderly. Each charge carries up to five years in prison. He is scheduled for arraignment Jaa 29.

Police said Hernandez pushed Francisco Martinez, 65, to the ground during an argument outside a warehouse he rents from the man. CANADIAN MIXED Kleibrink faces unique challenge EXTRA ENDS: Ferbey finished round-robin play at 4-0 and will play John Morris of Kitchener, Out, in today's Page playoff first-place game, a rematch of last spring's Nokia Brier final in Calgary, won decisively by Ferbey The first edition of the Strauss Canada Cup already is a money-maker thanks to good attendance (more than 2,000 fans are expected for the finals) and $500,000 in sponsorship money Part of the money raised goes to the Sandra Schmirler Foundation The rocks they're using here were formerly at the Westwinds club. CAMERONATHEHERALD.SOUTHAM.CA Calgary Herald Archive at the Canadian mixed championship. and very accurate." Another key to the success of Team Alberta might be the relationship between the skip and third. She calls the shots he does what he's told.

"Yeah, you can only get your husband to do it right?" jokes Shannon. "That'd be about it I don't even talk to him until after the game. He doesn't even come over the hog line." "If I listen, we usually win," adds Richard with a chuckle. "It's when I don't that we get in trouble. It's working way better than when I skipped and she was in the house with me.

I'm out of the house so you don't have that husband and wife yippin' at each other, and it really helps." CAMERONAnHEHERALD.SOUTHAM.CA wMaaRH if Kevin Koe's Calgary crew needed help to get into a men's tiebreaker situation heading into the late-finishing final draw. He blew a glorious opportunity Thursday morning to topple unbeaten world champ Randy Ferbey of Edmonton, but sailed his last-shot draw to the eight-foot for the victory through the rings to lose 7-5. "It was pretty much all you could ask for," shrugged Koe, whose 1-2 team was playing Toronto's Greg Balsdon late Thursday. "It's disappointing to just miss it like that It was just a bad throw. I mean, you've got to give your sweepers a chance because they can carry it a long way in a situation like that." Shannon Kleibrink will make history this team is that my shots are so easy' because by the time I come to throw, I'm usually guarding." The biggest challenge may have been finding a man to play lead Westlund being a natural candidate because he capably handles that role for Kevin Koe's men's squad and a woman, namely Nixon, who can throw the big-weight shots from the second slot Westlund could miss Alberta's first three games if the Koe team makes the playoffs at the Canada Cup in Kamloops, B.C.

"(Westlund) makes a ton of shots and sets us up, and then Amy never lets us down," says Richard. "You couldn't do it without a good second; you'd be just screwed. Luckily, she can throw good hit weight Lil It's actually been a longtime plan of the Kleibruiks to use their unique lineup, which takes advantage of having two men sweeping on skip's rocks where the other teams at the nationals will have the traditional man-and-woman duo brushing for the skip. "I'm lucky, because I have really good sweepers on my women's team, too," says Shannon, who skipped this team to a third-place finish at the 2000 provincials. "But that extra couple of feet that the men can drag it makes a huge difference.

And usually in mixed, you've got a third that" usually a skip in women's, and not always the best sweeper, either. Like when I played third, I was terrible at sweeping." It'll be the third trip to the Canadian mixed for Richard, and would have been the third for Shannon, too, had she not bowed out of the 1995 nationals to compete in the women's play-downs. But both of those teams had a man, Mike Sail calling the shots. "We've often wondered if maybe somebody else would switch," says Richard. "We've come across teams that we thought their third could skip and maybe they'll switch, but they never do.

I hope they don't" Besides the sweeping, the Kleibrink quartet also has the advantage of having a man being able to throw big weight from the third position and clear away some of the mess. That says Shannon, changes the way she calls a game. "We're way more aggressive becauss I know that (Richard) can throw and get rid of four rocks at a time," says Shannon. "What I've found so far with Calgary woman I williBatch shots itiale skips ALLEN CAMERON Calgary Herald It won't take much to get Shannon Kleibrink's competitive juices flowing at the Canadian mixed curling championship, beginning Saturday in Wearing the blue-and-yellow Alberta jacket will rev up even the most flinty-hearted of rock-tossers, of course. Add to that the fact the 34-year-old Kleibrink is making history in the Fraser Valley by being the first woman ever to skip at the mixed na-, tionals.

''-i- But if Kleibrink still needs a little more motivation, she could get it from one of the male shot-callers in Abbots-ford who may think the Calgary skip will wilt under their masculine pressure. Those fellas could be in for a shock, predicts Kleibrink's husband and vice-skip Richard. "There's been numerous (male) skips who've kind of hinted at it" chuckles Richard, who along with lead Mike Westlund handle the sweeping chores for Shannon's shots while second Amy Nixon holds the broom. "Well, she ifcron't be able to keep up with And she usually blows 'em away, no problem. Darn right she enjoys it".