The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 37

Zhe Charlotte Observer 1: 11-: Saturday June 8 1991 SECTION French gets double dose of America tl 1 9 416 lip A'' T'' -iT Ron Green not his game "On grass it's a different story" Becker admitted "but on other surfaces I like to hit four five six shots from the back and when I have a chance come in" "I told Boris that he could have won it this year" Agassi said "I caught him on a good day He said his head was not right and I deserved it" A first Grand Slam semifinal didn't faze Courier Neither did losing the second-set tiebreaker "I came out firing in the third set" Courier said I got back in the groove" By JIM SARNI Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel PARIS American men have developed a passion for red clay Two years ago Michael Chang became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955 Andre Agassi reached the final last year Sunday Roland Garros Stadium will have an all-American final Agassi against Jim Courier Agassi the fourth seed beat second-seed Boris Becker 7-5 6-3 3-6 6-1 and Courier the ninth seed topped 12th-seed Michael Stich 6-2 6-7 (8-10) 6-2 6-4 in Friday's American-German semifinals That sets up the first all-Yankee final since Trabert Courier who is 2-4 against Agassi but won the last match at Indian Wells Calif in March Agassi and Courier are not pals but the animosity is gone "The problems are in the past" Courier said "We've all grown through that Everything is smooth We're a long way from Bradenton" Agassi and Becker walked off the court arm and arm "I was not convinced I had it under control at any time" Agassi said "I was comfortable after I won the second set but that didn't last too long" Agassi said he was surprised Becker did not come to the net more Becker said that's defeated Art Larsen "It's neat" said Agassi who lost to Pete Sampras in an all-American US Open final last September "It will be a fantastic final" said Courier who topped David Wheaton in an all-American Lipton International final in March "I'd like to slap around all those people who said where is 'American tennis about five years ago Well here we are where are you?" Agassi and Courier who grew up together at Nick Bollettieri's Academy in Bradenton Fla will meet for the third consecutive year in Paris Courier won a grudge match in 1989 Agassi answered back last year "I'm happy this one is in the final" said Hall of fame springs to life in Raleigh More coverage Page 3C II uills slip past IJakers Win in OT gives Chicago 2-1 lead Li iiii: 0 4 ir 1' kiit Orir ii v-T: 3 'Z''' 4 44 4)0144 r'7 1 ''''''s ItF '01- 40110 I "'-'-'4 "4 lattl-1 'k -4" i A lk S4411t itali'o A Ilt --alL Ini i 1 0'''' 4- ''''''''''ILq'''''''-''' 1 i'''" :44 '73' "'iki4e It- 1 i Ps'1: iiiot- 4111i '1 -t'r I t''- i 4441- lit 1 'v 4 4 4- t- 11iF'' '7''i ii '1- '41: '44k6 totA 'V 4i 4 7 'IY4 -i: i1 41 ''7" ''''''''''''3 At gt10' i 'A l'''' i14 'i' 1' 7 't' 4 ii 1 f0 izr c''' 'If I '11-z 4 iitc 't ce tAi -i lioll tg i -rf'N'''' laitA96 t'' ''41 '''4: ''''1 '1: ii'4i 'IC 'tf 4 'it't'iiT''''4'''' i- '4i' i104''' I'''' s''''' AI 44'' -0! 4 's 4Pt' ''i'':" "4 -4 t'-! -iii5 'r-- 4' i'' 4 4 -q-C- 70 cs A -1''' 'i k---(-: 4 4 4 -gt''' 4T" 4 01::4 -'-L' --t' 14 '1 4'-: 5 AL -i Associated Press INGLEWOOD Calif Michael Jordan shook off a poor second half and the Chicago Bulls shook off the Los Angeles Lakers' homecourt advantage Friday night Jordan who missed nine of his first 11 shots in the second half tied the game with a jumper with 34 seconds left in regulation then scored six points in overtime as the Bulls took a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals with a 104-96 victory Jordan who finished with 29 points gave the Bulls the lead for good 98-96 with a baseline drive with one minute 54 seconds left in overtime starting AMP an 8-0 run that finished the game Chicago which lost the home-court advantage in the best-of- seven Finals when it lost Game 1 regained it with Friday night's win The Bulls now could only lose the series at home The next two games are at the Forum on Sunday (7 pm NBC WCNC-TV channel 36 in Char- Divac lotte) and Wednesday night Games 6 and 7 would be at Chicago Stadium Jordan averaging 345 points in the series scored only eight points on three-for-12 shooting in the second half But his jumper with 34 seconds left forced the overtime at 92-92 after Vlade Divac converted a three-point play with 109 seconds left giving the Lakers a 92-90 edge Scottie Pippen had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls who led 90-87 on Horace Grant's rebound basket with 1:07 left Grant finished with 22 points four in overtime and 11 rebounds Sam Perkins who led Los Angeles with 25 points made it a one-point game with 49 seconds left Then after Divac rebounded a miss by Jordan with 28 seconds to go Divac took a low pass from Magic Johnson fumbled it in the lane but regained control and scored as Pippen was called for his sixth foul Divac finished with 24 points and Johnson had 22 points and 10 assists for the Lakers seeking their sixth championship since 1980 The Bulls who trailed by 13 points twice in the third quarter rallied to lead 84-80 on reserve forward Cliff Levingston's rebound dunk with five minutes left James Worthy scoreless in the second half to that point then hit jumpers from inside and outside to tie the score for the 15th time Bones McKinney looked over the plans for the NC Sports Hall of Fame where vestiges of his and others' past glories will soon be housed and said "We're gonna be famous again" The old basketball player and coach was joking but there's a lot to what he said We have a hall of fame for the state's heroes and heroines but once they are inducted they fade back into the mist of time That's because there's been no place to gather up the memories and the bats and balls and jerseys and trophies and such to be put on display for us to browse through and reminisce Bob Wills of Raleigh executive director of the hall recently spoke at a luncheon and told his listeners he would give a dozen golf balls to the first person who could name five members of the NC Sports Hall of Fame Nobody could do it That's how unaware the public is of the hall and possibly of the state's heritage in sports The directors have decided that's going to change They will build a permanent home for the homeless hall It will be part of the new Museum of History being built in Raleigh It will have 4000 square feet of space and it's going to be a delight for kids as well as the older folk who want to go there and relive some of the grand moments in our sports There will be electronic equipment that allows visitors to participate eg "drive" around Charlotte Motor Speedway as well as listen to the former stars and see them in action on tape There will be photos biographies news clippings and all of the memorabilia given by the members when they were inducted There will even be one of Richard Petty's old race cars there North Carolina has a rich history in sports and some of it that iS on film will be available for viewing in the Hall of Fame Things like some of Charlie (Choo Choo) Justice's rambling runs when he was an All-American at North Carolina Gaylord Perry's 300th victory Jim Beatty running the first indoor four-minute mile Michael Jordan's shot that won the NCAA championship for the Tar Heels and footage of David Thompson soaring for NC State And Petty racing in his prime Somebody has to pay for the new facility of course The NC Legislature has appropriated $250000 but $2 million is needed The directors have put a couple of good men in charge of raising that Arnold Palmer and Johnny Harris Palmer you know Harris you should know but if not he's the president of The Bissell Co in Charlotte and is a spectacularly successful go-to guy Among his many credits are chairmanship of the campaign to build Charlotte Coliseum and the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill and heading the successful effort to bring the NCAA Final Four to Charlotte in 1994 Hall of Fame board member Hugh Morton of Linville knows something about getting things done He built the mile-high swinging bridge on Grandfather Mountain and saved the battleship North Carolina from being scrapped among other things He says "If Johnny Harris says he will raise this money it will be done" Palmer and Harris (they're business partners and good buddies) have contacted 800 people and asked each for $5000 Harris estimates that 250-300 of those will contribute $5000 The corporate community will also be asked to contribute So will everyone else The roll of the NC Sports Hall of Fame 123 strong sparkles Palmer himself is in it He's a native Pennsylvanian and lives in Florida but he played at Wake Forest has business ties and even a residence here and has done a lot for tournament golf in Charlotte So we're claiming him as one of our own This is a good thing the Hall of Fame directors are doing If you want to contribute send a check or money order to NC Sports flail of Fame 3:316 Julian Drive Raleigh NC 27601 or call Johnny Harris (704) 366-9841 during business hours Associated Press Sneaky move: Chicago's Michael Jordan (left) tries to during Friday night's NBA playoff game in Inglewood reach around Los Angeles' Magic Johnson for a steal Calif Chicago won 104-96 to take a 2-1 series lead Page 6C Summary udd saving some for Sunday's race UNLV's Tarkanian: 1991-92 final season Top 5 qualifiers The top qualifiers for Sunday's Banquet 300- kilometer NASCAR Winston Cup race in Sonoma Calif: No Driver Car 1 Ricky Rudd Chevy 2 Terry labonte Olds 3 Dale Earnhardt Chevy 4 Rusty Wallace Pontiac 5 Tom Kendall Pontiac Qualifying In Update Page 5C little conservative in Turn 2 up at the top of the hill I lost a lot of momentum there" Rudd a pole winner for the 19th time in his career and third time on a road course smiled and shrugged "Oh well there are very few drivers that hit all the corners perfect on a track with as many turns as this one has" he said "But you still want to do it "Right after I ran I wasn't happy at all with the time Then people in the garage area kept telling me that the track was getting greasy and slick and that our speed would stand up When Terry cranked out that lap of his I thought 'Uh oh it's still pretty fast and Rusty probably will beat us' Both Rusty and Dale did have good laps but our was just a bit quicker" Last Sunday prior to the Budweiser 500 at Dover (Del) Downs Rudd noted that Please see Polepage 3C By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer SONOMA Calif Ricky Rudd said he "left a lot on the table" Friday in Banquet Foods 300 qualifying at Sears Point International Raceway but what he took was enough for the pole Rudd one of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series' master road racers drove his Chevrolet to a lap of 90634 mph on the hilly I 1-turn course in qualifying for the race Sunday at 3 pm (ESPN) That enabled Rudd to put his Lumina in the No I starting spot at Sears Point a second straight year Qualifying closely for the other front row position was Olds-driving Terry Labonte timed at 90609 mph in trials for the 300-kilometer (187-mile) event on the 252-mile track Third through 10th as the top 25 in a 44-car field were decided: Dale Earnhardt Chevy Rusty Wallace Pontiac Tommy Kendall Pontiac Ken Schrader Associated Press LAS VEGAS Nevada-Las Vegas coach Jerry Tarkanian who built a basketball dynasty in the desert and fought a long battle with the NCAA said Friday he was resigning effective the end of the 1991-92 season Tarkanian choked with emotion as he told a crowd of media and supporters that he would quit at the end of his 19th season as coach The resignation announcement came 13 days after publication of photos showing three former players with convicted sports fixer Richard Perry Tarkanian is the nation's winningest college coach and could retain that position if his 1991-92 team void of any starters from last season wins 20 games The Rebels are banned from television and postseason play next season as the final resolution of a battle Tarkanian has had with the NCAA dating back to 1977 Tarkanian is 811-146 in 30 years of coaching and 483-103 in 18 years at UNLV where his teams made four trips to the Final Four Chevy Alan Kulwicki Ford Michael Waltrip Pontiac Lake Speed Pontiac and Darrell Waltrip Chevy "It wasn't a great lap I didn't get hold of the track like I wanted" said Rudd who won NASCAR's 1989 inaugural at Sears Point in a classic duel with Wallace who triumphed last year "I was a SCOREBOARD Carolinas 2C Baseball 4C American League New York 5 Texas 4 Baltimore 6 Toronto 4 Minnesota 2 Cleveland 0 Chicago 2 Kansas City 0 Detroit at California late Boston at Oakland late Milwaukee at Seattle late National League Los Angeles 3 Chicago 2 Philadelphia 5 Cincinnati 4 Pittsburgh 1 San Diego 0 Montreal 11 Atlanta 2 New York 6 Houston 3 San Francisco 5 St Louis 2 Standings Page 4C Di Maggio's streak 23: On this date in 1941 Joe Di Maggio went two for four with a three-run homer a solo homer a walk and three runs scored in a 9-3 victory at St Louis In the second game he went two for four with a two-run double and a solo homer in an 8-3 win Gamecocks: Vanderbilt basketball coach Eddie Fog ler says he is not interested in the vacant coaching position at South CarolinaPage 3C Southern League Charlotte 5 Wilson 2 South Atlantic League Gastonia 4 Greensboro 2 Golf 5C NBA 6C Horse racing 2C Standings Page 5C.