The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • 33

MATC basketball previews. 2E Sports Briefs. 2E Valvano returns. 3E Sports editor: Joe Hart 252-6474 MIKE LUCAS Fanfare Badger runners hit stride JC transfers leave mark Badgers Dwight Reese knew the way to San Jose. And Mike Bryan knew the yellow brick road cut through Kansas.

But neither knew what they were getting themselves into. MadCity. When we came in together, Bryan remembered, we were both going, Oh, my God It was January. It was cold. It was a blizzard, Reese said.

I remember carrying my boxes of clothes through three and four feet of snow. Coming from San Jose, I had seen snow in Reno a couple of times, but I had never WALKED through it. Although they were drawn to the University of Wisconsin campus by the same common denominator Big Ten football the two junior college transfers had very little else in common. Reese was an outside linebacker from San Jose (Calif.) City College. Bryan was an offensive guard from Garden City (Kan.) Community College.

They bonded quickly. They put us in one of the shortcourse dorms, Bryan said. And it was not exactly one of the nicest dorms on campus. "It was not a dorm dorm, said Reese. It was a dorm by where they keep the cattle.

All I saw were country people. Concluded Bryan, I was sitting with my bags, thinking, What am I doing here? Reflecting on their first impressions of Wisconsin, they both shared some laughs after practice earlier this week. But it was kind of sad for them in a way, too, knowing that unless the Badgers get invited to a bowl, they will be playing their final game Saturday at Northwestern. The two years flew. It has gone fast, Reese said.

It just seems like yesterday when I got here and I got my first pizza from Pizza Pit. When you first come in, said Bryan, you think that youve got a lot of time. But it comes Continued on Page 3E By Howard Thomas The Capital Tunes The polls suggest the University of Wisconsin mens cross country team should challenge for the NCAA title Monday. Wisconsin coach Martin Smith suggests otherwise, saying two-time defending champion Arkansas and upstart Providence will be too tough to catch on the Indiana University course at Bloomington, Ind. In a realistic sense, we would be very fortunate to finish in the top five, said Smith, whose team is currently ranked third nationally.

I just dont think we have enough upfront power to legitimately contend for the national title." If it sounds like Smith is down on his team, he is not. Actually, quite the opposite is true. The Badgers capped a strong roll toward nationals by dominating the District IV meet Nov. 14 at Bloomington. Wisconsins 52-point total was its lowest since the Badgers set a meet record vith 25 points in 1985.

This group has really developed, Smith said. The bulk of the team has been together for a number of years and you can visibly see the athletic improvement. Theyre about reaching the crest of what is realistic for them to accomplish. The senior class includes Donovan Bergstrom, Joel Kaines, Eric Morrison and Jerry Schumacher. The group has been around for four consecutive Big Ten Conference championships and qualified for the NCAA meet as a team all four years.

Bergstrom and Morrison both attained All-American status last season, finishing 34th and 36th, respectively, to help lead the Badgers to a surprising third-place finish at nationals. Smith said another top-five finish would be the perfect ending for his senior group. In their case, theyve been able to stay at that top level every year and actually that is improving, Smith said. "Theyve been able to stay at that top level while other teams come and go. Sophomore Jason Casiano, who was 31st for the Badgers top finish at nationals last season, also has had a strong season for Wisconsin.

Bergstrom, Morrison and Casiano finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the District meet. He has really come into his own, Smith said of Casiano. He was the No. 1 freshman (finisher) in the country last year and it looks like he has definitely taken some steps to go to an even higher level. Continued on Page 3E MIKE DaVRIESTHE CAPITAL TIMES Linebacker Dwight Reese (86) has made his presence felt during his short two-year stay at Wisconsin.

Saturdays final regular-season game at Northwestern may be the last for Reese and fellow junior college transfer Mike Bryan, an offensive guard. Compiled from new serving Minnesota sanctions sports for disabled Minnesota on Thursday became the first state in the country to sanction high school sports for disabled students under the same organization that serves non-disabled athletes. The Minnesota State High School Leagues Representative Assembly unanimously passed an amendment to provide programming for disabled athletes as early as this spring. It was the right thing to do," said MSHSL executive director Dave Stead, whose organization oversees sports for 440 member senior and junior high schools. It was such a special meeting, there were tears shed.

It was that important. These kids enter their school through the same doors as the other kids. Their parents pay taxes, too. It was time to do the right thing. About 200 students, mostly in the Twin Cities, currently participate in adapted sports.

Parents, teachers and athletes hope that the leagues stamp will encourage others among the thousands of disabled students statewide to take part. Disabled students might lose the stigma but might gain legitimacy, said Jim Christy, Minnesota Association for Adapted Athletics chairman. No districts will be required to field teams because some may only have a few eligible athletes and may have to combine resources with other districts. Among the sports being considered: track and field, swimming, archery, field hockey, soccer, softball, table tennis and bowling. Womens coaches want Big Ten tournament Big Ten womens basketball coaches want a conference tournament in 1994.

We want the exposure and the NCAA tournament readiness it would provide, said Betsy Mosher, assistant athletic director at Northwestern. It has worked successfully in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference. The coaches proposed the postseason tournament to womens athletic administrators Thursday before the fourth annual Tipoff Luncheon in Indianapolis. Athletic directors, faculty and presidents of the Big Tens 1 1 schools must approve the plan. The Big Ten does not have a mens basketball tournament.

They already have the exposure and theyve had great success in reaching the Final Four. We arent where they are, Iowa coach Vivian Stringer said. Sailing, sailing Norm Charlton was on a cruise and could not be reached after he was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Seattle Mariners for Kevin Mitchell. Said Lou Piniella, the former Cincinnati manager who now manages Seattle: "It seems pretty appropriate that Norm would be at sea on the night that he became a Mariner. Spelling lesson The Atlanta Journal notes that Shaquille ONeals name was misspelled ONeil on the NBA All-Star ballot.

Shaq was miffed, but didnt prove any better as a speller. My name is spelled like Tatum ONeal, the Orlando rookie told the newspaper, not Tip ONeil. For the record, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives is Tip ONeill. The life of Riley New York Knicks coach Pat Riley was drafted as a wide receiver by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League in the 11th round in 1967. Eckersley says hes worthy MVP MVP honors in the same season.

He joins Don Newcombe (1956), Sandy Koufax (1963), Denny McLain (1968), Bob Gibson (1968), Vida Blue (1971), Rollie Fingers (1981), Willie Hernandez (1984) and Roger Clemens (1986). Eckersley joins Jim Konstanty (1950), Fingers and Hernandez as the only relief pitchers to win the MVP. In getting the career-high 51 saves, Eckersley helped the As win their fourth AL West title in five years. But hes still haunted by the game-tying, two-run homer he gave up to Alomar in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the AL playoffs. I just feel Ive got a lot of responsibility in front of me for last year, he said.

But (winning the MVP) does help, no doubt about it. Continued on Page 3E OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Oaklands Dennis Eckersley is ready to defend his selection as the American League Most Valuable Player to anyone who doesnt think a relief pitcher deserves the honor. I may not have played nine innings every day, but I sure did grind, said Eckersley, who earned the honor by converting 51 of 54 save opportunities. I was nervous for nine, so if that counts, I was ready every day.

The Athletics closer, who also won the American League Cy Young Award last week, said Thursday he values the MVP award even more. He spent the day staying near the phone, daring to hope he would win. Part of me was waiting by the phone because I thought I deserved it, Eckersley said. Its hard to say because Im not that cool to think I deserved an MVP. But if there was any time in my As reliever dominates AL whole life I thought I deserved it, this is the moment.

Eckersley, 7-1 with a 1.91 ERA, won convincingly, getting 15 of a possible 28 first-place votes and 306 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He was followed by Minnesota outfielder Kirby Puckett with 209 points, including three first-place votes, and Toronto outfielder Joe Carter with 201 points and four first first-place votes. Mark McGwire, Dave Winfield and Roberto Alomar also received first-place votes. The 38-year-old right-hander is only the ninth player to win both the Cy Young Award and ASSOCIATED PRESS As closer Dennis Eckersley added American League MVP honors Thursday to the Cy Young Award he already won. Committee puts end to spouse expenses Lakers, Forum fabulous no more UW ATHLETIC BOARD By Bernie Miklasz St Lotus Post-Dispatch LOS ANGELES One of the greatest illusions in sports is The Forum, home of the Los Angeles Lakers.

On television, this theater of basketball looks so exotic. Illuminated by celebrity, both real and imagined, the arena seems to sparkle at night. Thats when all the stars come out. There are the Laker Girls, the troupe of aerobicized cheerleaders that graduated Paula Abdul into stardom. Jack Nicholson and Dyan Cannon are still at court-side.

Limousines drop off smug Hollywood stars and fake Hollywood poseurs at curbside. What a scene. What a glow. What a myth. The Forum is not what we think it is.

It sits near a dimly lit, rundown neighborhood, hard by the Los Angeles airport in suburban Inglewood. Make a couple of wrong turns, and right away you think of the Rodney King video. The Forum like the Lakers has seen better days. It used At Wisconsin, such a practice wont happen again. The finance committee unanimously passed a motion Thursday that will end the athletic departments practice of paying for the travel expenses of board members spouses who attend the Big Ten meetings.

The full board will vote on the motion at its Dec. 1 1 meeting. If were concerned about cost containment, whether it be five cents or five dollars, we have to send a message to the Big Ten Conference," said board member Merritt Norvell, who sponsored the motion. The finance committee also discussed, but stopped short of cutting off, travel expenses for coach's and administrators spouses to games or meetings. "Its OK for the athletic director to take his wife to a function and have it paid for, said board member Robert Milbourne, but By Bob Schultz The Capital Tunes Jane Robbins had been a member of the University of Wisconsin Athletic Board, and one of its faculty representatives to the Big Ten Conference, for one month when she was told to attend the conference meeting near Cape Cod last August.

She was told that mandatory attendance was required for all faculty representatives and their spouses. Robbins and her husband, Peter Westphal, obliged. Robbins then sent the bill for her husbands travel expenses $649.89 to the UW Athletic Department. That bill baffled some members of the athletic boards finance committee, who were amazed to learn that paying travel expenses for board spouses to Big Ten meetings is a common practice at member schools. That seemed strange, since a major issue facing the schools and which was discussed at the meeting is cost containment.

QUQTEyUNQUQTMi Commentary to be called The Fabulous Forum. But Jerry Buss sold the name to a California bank, and the Lakers play in The Great Western Forum now. The Forum is well-maintained, but it has an unmistakable lived-in look. Arena personnel dress in cowboy-cowgirl outfits, apparently because of the western tie-in. What? This is LA, right? Cowboys? Uncool.

The outside of the building has been covered by blue, aluminum-siding-type material. Tacky. Arent these the Lakers, basketballs most glamorous franchise? Whats happening? Deterioration. The Lakers, like an aging movie star, are desperately trying to cling to fame and a fashionable lifestyle. But the bills are piling up, the estate is in disrepair, and the roles aren't what they used to be.

Point guard Magic Johnson, who gave the Lakers such luminous presence, has re-retired. 1 The Magic Johnson tragedy may have signaled the demise of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most successful franchises In NBA history. Golf legend Arnold Palmer, after shooting a high score: "It wasnt all bad. Im still looking down at the grass instead of up at it. IQDAYJSURIVI, Coach Mike Dunleavy fled, only two years after replacing Pat Riley.

A team that barely made the playoffs and strained to finish 43-39 last year its worst record in 16 years is off to a flat 3-3 start. Continued on Page 4E Wisconsins last bowl appearance was the 1984 Hall of Fame game in Birmingham, Ala. Who did the Badgers play, and what was the result? Answers in Sports Briefs, Page 2E. Continued on 2E.