The Lexington Herald from Lexington, Kentucky • 13

Lexington Herald Sports Section Thursday July 29 1002 Racing Zimmer who "didn't do anything wrong" is fired 11 till fcitfiifcti-4 WhtMiH Jt Wl UK "iU ittf ritwvw iM1l 'm IK iV-nHi Ml I Mi4 Hf 4Kli4K rmiul mtt i Mi fuMj -4 Ik Mk Hjirt 14 A ff)iiNc ttt MiV fMMiniK IK 4 "I Ktil fk vmt-4 tJf 4 cm I infc rftpUMK VMit4 fd 4 ttK (Ml fcMMtJ to k4xa rfu-! Mk P-'r-V pif rf1K ft '4f ll Mil I'M feci tgi Ik imi3m-J Mr aMa UK ft' 414 a i MjU Wk)c IMK a tai Ik iwtiarf t4 ik tHMwl- 41 ftirfi foil I' hw Ml AirtiKMt nKf ik Me Twr 4 II M4Mi jfiiKf I t-m t4 UK 4rT jK fjej ill ok ta 6-ikk JIJtKf I t4 i M' ri tKii-t Wt uMwtn alrtuMM 4 PK IMf fA i 4 i3K rt f' I l-r l-V 14 IW BK tVi't TIiK VlK) I I iftfftiU! tr ta IM r- fSMrt a Xf'-m yc Jt Sj4 tim IV ft tMfeM-ri mSt ttlM 44 teal ft! "I Miftil bx 4 UK ftttirf "A 4 UK 41 ft UK ticfa BK4 Wiry 1 Ik ti4 jrfiSfc Don Zirttmcf 4urr4 (Ik oto ass ft nn to Astro: MM Houston rallies twice wins 4-2 to halt Cincinnati's win streak fttwn hop iwwnrr aftt Ktt aU)Tij au inrptfj Hdm to iv tnsmg for IImk! tAfe ju bi uin a bem Cm-rawau ounajr Ru uki u4 Me had I btW a itvxt t4 1 onj faith If he (tfr-tM) fv iVf ihe ti ev1 gi hm at a3 It vrm hie eirnj tun make one of Iftme bile mntain a cou Joe NKkro 197 eM the lance for ihe eub lime this rnn araiirnit rvr litis si rAg out and tilting ItWi The Red antred a run the fv on Johrniy hVnca's RBI amgie Ikhe Mtlner heal out a bunt single and fid lo trcond on Crur edrnos ia fle before Korrg on Bench's lo nghKrMer lUmmi lird Ihe score Ihe fourth on corurcuiite doubles by Jose Crui and Danny Keep Cmcmnatl repined ihe lead at the fifth when Ale Trevtno tripled and scored on catcher Luis Pujols' passed ball The Reds threatened again ihe sixth as Dan Dnessen talked and ft em to third on Bench's single Paul Householder hit a fly lo right and right fielder Keep threw Dnessen out at the plate NOttTOV Hrt'f AH Hm Urn togI4 HQ It nrff enj HttAf tiuft Afirf unitflf em utrtr frv tiotMiy Hum tixri a ime mm inr Wt fwij cpmrr Mp ib Aanm pt a 42 ticiery etrr IN? The hm vupfl tmrmrun'i ihirrpnw mup Hmk Solo IV NaiwAil lr4-itk urikewi ami cmM have piicM ammd lloe lo ri le hiiiwtje Um hijoli ho alio nad bmtrd lKC ajcatral Skol "But he oWi nam le pui ihe tnminjt ma Kanri pawnaa" llane rtpUind ''tie bad lo come ahrr rne" Hone said "After aA he'd punched me out iire a row hy wMn1 he come after me?" Ray Kaighi drew a nalk from Soto 1-7 lo kad off ihe aixth and Joxe Cruz imffrf him lo aecond One out bier Phil Gamer lined out to center field and Knight was far off second base hen center fieUer Cesar Crdrno's throw got to the bag Shortstop Ron (Jester couldn't handle Ihe Two coaches share a laugh Winning and losing weren't concerns yesterday at least not for 00 the court were Just spectators during one of the Joe HaU of the University of Kentucky and Bobby Knight of Indi- fan games at the National Sports Festival ki Indianapolis Sports ana The two coaches whose teams have faced one another 12 fwvai report Page BS No matter how you rate him Rice shoots for the unusual 1 By John Clay 01 The HwM SUM is just after lunch hour at I WTVQ-TV and "All My Children" oc-cupies the television atop the desk of Kenny Rice A visitor is here to inter-t view Mr Rice but ihe television of-" fers a distraction "An My Children" I is an unqualified hit The verdict may Second in a series much different off camera as on He is friendly and clowns a lot and says he never takes himself too seriously Rice volunteers that at one time in his young life he wished to be an actor He admits that the desire has still be out on Kenny Rice This of course is not really fair Sure the visitor has seen Rice on tele- Jk VBawaf wiriTic use aw-jrcai-ime ittara tin sports on Channel 36 the least watched newscast in town according to ratings But the visitor has never actually met Kenny Rice the broad-caster I Now here the visitor sits in Rice's office the one Rice shares with his partner Richard Green and with Frank Faulconer the weatl 4" man the office with the Bruce Springsteen Fleetwood Mac and Ea- ill I 1 never really been squelched As a child Rice would attempt to appease the wish by making Super 8 movies Most kids ride bikes cruise streets or watch television Rice made flicks "I used to get friends and stuff together and make films" he says "I'd write little skits and stuff It was a lot of fun I still like to go to a lot of movies" Kenny Rice did these Steven Spielberg imitations in his hometown of Eastern Ky Not figuratively East-em Kentucky but literally a community called Eastern that is near His father is a federal mining inspector there His mother is the postmaster for Eastern Ky Don't forget the comma Rice received his first radio Job at the age of 15 For two months his father was required to drive his aspiring young son the 20 miles to Pres-tonsburg so Rice could learn to be a disc jockey and a sportscaster at station WDOC He worked there for eight years gles posters checkering the paneled wall and "All My Children" on the television Louisville) "I Just grabbed the opportunity" Alas Channel 36 is still last in the week night ratings "Oh no" he says falling to the floor on his stomach "Say it's not so" For as long as anyone can remember WTVQ has brought up the rear in Lexington's rating race All the while the station has used one scheme after another from Mike Wolfe to the octogenarian anchorman who once said "Kentucky there is blood on your highways" in an effort lo catch up "But that stuff's in the past" says Rice "I think too many people around here apologize for working at Channel 36 1 think we do a good Job" Rice has a tough job and he knows it No Job is ever safe at the bottom and Rice is desperatly trying to build a following by using such inventions as live interviews in the studio He also shoots an inordinately high number of Little League games among other things "I like sports on that level" says Rice "Some of the kids are better than a lot of the news conferences I've been too I think one of my biggest assets is that I show a variety of sports My philosophy is just that I try to put together a show that I would like to see if I were watching televk ston" Meanwhile' back at the station the show on Rice's desk is no longer "All My Children" And it is time for the sportscaster to lead the visitor to the door "You know" says Rice while walking down the hall "I had this really great idea for a promo but they wouldn't let me use it My mom and dad were going to be in it along with me and I was going to be standing right in between And on the picture it'd say 'Kenny's Dad and 'Kenny's Mom' And they would say 'We think Kenny Rice is the best sportscaster in town' I thought that would have been great But the station said no" I Rice is a willing subject If there is one thing Rice likes to do it is talk If He makes his living that way And on this day with each question he lights up as if suddenly seeing the red light as if he were on camera again "If there is one thing about all three of us sportscasters in town" Lexington HtnMDavid Parry Kenny Rice's broadcasting experience began at age 15 at a Prestonsburg radio station says Kice is inai we are ine same off camera as we are on" To be sure Kenny Rice is not Prestonsburg says Rice "was the best thing that ever happened to me I took nothing for granted there I had to do everything and I really worked hard" Why radio? Rice jokes about trying to impress girls In fact Rice admits he is still trying "You know the other night I was at Breeding's he says "And they got me up on stage with the band to sing I can't sing at all But the girls loved it You'd be surprised how many women are attracted to guys that can sing" For some reason Rice must believe the same attraction holds true to guys who like sports "I always felt comfortable with sports" he says "I could remember statistics and stuff admit it One semester I took 15 hours of geography Really I Just wanted to get an education because I figured I had enough broadcasting experience eight years in radio a year and a half in television to get a Job" Upon graudation however Rice had nothing of the kind So he started something called Kenny Rice Publications The idea was to print high school yearbooks of all the teams in Floyd County On the side Rice looked for a "real" job He sent out tapes and tried to avoid discouragment "My family really encouraged me" he says "They were in my corner all alongSo I wanted to get a first job and not have to memorize it or anything" 1 This is not to say that Rice abandoned a priceless education for the fragile glamour of radio He attended Prestonsburg Community College and then Morehead State University for a semester Meanwhile he worked for a cable television station in Garrett Ky and at Morehead 1 From there he moved to the University of Kentucky The' reason he says was to abide in Lexington -though on weekends he drove-back to Prestonsburg to broadcast high school football and basketball games His major? "Well" says Rice bringing hands to face "I was a BGS (Bachelor of General Studies) I where they could see me" It was at this time that Rice heard about an opening at WTVQ He mailed a tape then waited for two weeks Then word came: come for an interview Seven days later he was hired "The rest" says Rice "is history" The significance of such history is not certain Rice did the one-man band weekend job first where he says Channel 36 moved from third to first in the ratings Then when Mike Hartnett was dismissed for unexplained reasons Rice was given the title as sports director "I didn't ask questions" Rice says about the departure of Hartnett (who now does weekend sports in A Don Reese is charged with violating probation PageB2 Toby Harrah says he's tired of playing for losing teams Page B4 Sports digest B2 B4-5 Friday WLEXS Alan Cutler.