Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 11

July 'Birmingham Post-Herald Grandstand B2 Inside auto racing B3 Baseball B4 Business B8 Thursday Hobbl 1 perception double-team David Hobbs for having such talent much happen to him lately to give and not being able to do more with his tenure a lift of any a v' to the growing list of players any kind anyway reality The perception is Hobbs lost another one Never mind that Alabama should be better at at least four starting positions this season than a year ago than a ear perception is reality The is that the mlfille of lummer and while the rest of the nation's sports Whs ponder inch items Inteneague play the WNBA and Grander missing ear for idme people in the Heart of Dixie the subject of the Alabama basketballpfogram bubbles continuously just beneath the surface of every sports conversation 1 a funny thing about college blsketball in these parts It seems to' garner more attention when things asqgoing bad than when times are tyjoa The recent NBA draft is a perfect example Aa has become almost ntitine in this decade a Crimson was drafted adding Ijde player in this case Eric Wellington ii i to be bis chief recruiter and judging by results wasn't the Job done Never mind that an embattled Hobbs afford take a chance on a completely untested Daria a recruiter so he had to let the former Alabama standout get away i A Bobby Knight can afford to give a young coach such Davis only two years into the business a chance Shoot you or I could recruit for Knight It wu a great opportunity far Davis one that will pay better than Alabama and look better on hia resume tf-'w! Davis want to leave Alabama -i-C! Please tan to MEUCK page Bl John Andretti placed fourth the best finish of his Winston Cup career in May in the Winston 500 at Talladega Jew When Tide assistant coach Mike Davis wu offered a Job on the staff legendary basketball coach Bob Knight at Indiana it seen as a local boy making good but rather as another blow to an already embattled Tide basketball program Perception is everything Reality well reality awaits at a finish line that Hobbs wont muss until the end of next season Whether he takes a checkered flag or runs into a brick wall wont be known until March the trouble with reality Sometimes it Just takes too long So we are left with perception and quite frankly Hoobs has not had wfq 1 He stayed home from a passible NIT postseason tournament bid in order to concentrate on recruiting and got shut out of the one big prise a 7-foot center that would have Sven fans something to if end their coach with What makes it worse is that the 7-footer in question wu a player Hobbs arranged to come to tua nation from The Netherlands whom Hobbs put into that junior college in Texas for safe-keeping And still when it came time to sign on the dotted line Hobbs lost Never mind that the player might be ineligible to play far anybody 4-1 iT A '-t -1 1-4 i ''V whom Alabama has put into the beat basketball lut while that causes moat people across the nation to look at the Tide program with new respect to the vultures gathering on the overhang at Coleman Coliseum such news limply is more ammunition used to fire against Alabama Coach In the other quarters Todd Wood-bridgp "was 19-year-old German Nicolas Kiefer with top-seeded Pete Sampru facing fellow three-time champ Boris Becker In a match delayed by rain Sampru led 3-1 in the first set This wu the fourth time and Kournikova have met and fourth time the Swiss star hu wan easily in straight sets Hingis won twice in Junior competition and last month at the French Open she beat Kournikova 8-1 6-2 not such a big Hingis uid now I ve always been better always beaten her She still hu some to improve but getting Kwho wan the Australian January is the youngest finalist at Wimbledon since Charlotte Dodd won the title in 1887 at the age of 15 years 285 days It wu the first time in the era that two 16-year-olds met in I semifinals Plea to WIMBLEDON page B9 a right it of kournikova loses semifinal battle of 1 6-year-olds any ofthe players that were an perceived list so the whole recruiting battle wu a Ion Then Hobba fired assistant Thad Fitzpatrick Administrative EMhtsnt Mike Murphy jumped far a full-time position on the program Davis left for IpHiinS- The perception is that staff is falling apart around him Never mind that Fitzpatrick wu aupposed -I -1 Vw ''Sto SVs- Doug Bell AGE: 38 HOMETOWN: Paducah Ky EDUCATION: University of Florida (1982) TITLE: Lead sports anchor sports director at WBMG-42 since May 1988 ROAD TO WBMQ-42: WCJB 0891001110710 1980-1983 WHOI Peoria 1983-1988 WBMG Bbminghain 1988-present -mstaphen The Associated Press 'WIMBLEDON England Marina and Anna Kournikova night develop a rivalry on the lines qMiutina -Navratilova and Chris Bvert For now though a one-ided affair 'Hingis maintained her perfect re-inst Kournikova winning of the ltyearolds today Or become the youngest Wimbledon finalist in 110 years iln an error-filled match that Oiled to live up to expectations (Ournikova held serve only once and fingii labored to a 6-2 victory in Ig minutes before a muted Centre kwrt crowd rFor sure it one of my best mances at thia tournament ir -i said Tm going to have im-irove something for Saturday -The top seed will face the winner I the second women's semifinal be-ween Jana Novotna and Arantxa iancbez Vicario 4 In the first quarterfinal Celtic Pioline of France dented Brit-sh hopes by beating Greg Rusedski 14 4-6 6-4 64 defeat ruled out the ibssibility of the first all-British lemiftaal since 1921 Later Tim Running with the: big dog! success Andretti about Pepsi 400 3: By Cary Estes Birmingham Foat-HeraM When John Andretti found himaelf running near the front in the Winston -1 500 in May at Talladega Super-apeedway he felt almost aa welcome 11 Mike Tyson at a Star Trek convention filled with Mr Spock impersonators Because of hia" reputation as a human crash-trot dummy cemented last year when he wu involved In more than a dozen wrecks nobody dared hook up with Andretti in Tsl- ladega'a 195-mph drafts Still working alone Andretti -managed a fourth-place finish in the race the beat outing of his Winston -Cup career And even though he hu done little since then that showing wu enough to elevate Andretti to contender sta-i -tus for Pepsi 400 at Tal- sister track Daytona Intei national Speedway Andretti's hope thia time is that hia restrictor-plate car will be so strong other driven will have no choice but to hook up with him 1 told (crew chief) Tony Furrto make (the car) so I need a Andretti said idea is that yeah still going to need some partners but just make it obvious that you don't give them a choice to -go with somebody else the approach taking Let's just keep our mind an what Wng uid become the car to beat And if the car to beat then somebody will follow But Andretti knows that no mat- ter how well hia car is running if a driver hu a choice between follow- fag Jeff Gordon or John Andretti: Gordon win every time do you think Gordon and (Dale) Earnhardt and all those guys run 10 good? Became they always get to the front" Andretti aahL If you establish yourself in that group then pretty soon got a whole bunch of cars going with you every time your car rolls out of the gsrage expect the ume group will be up front at Daytona They always are But there are one or two wild cards a race And for sure we are a wild card at this race" Andretti feels that strongly about the team's restrictor-plate progrgpi even though he will be driving a new car at Daytona He laid the one he used at Talladega would be too loose at Daytona since Daytona is morfiof a handling track got a huge amount of confl- dence going into this Andretti aid now we legitimately) have a shot at winning one of four races a year a real contender1' at Daytona and Talladega can talk about the others aiuf running good at them But at Day-! tana and Talladega we have the car to beat We Just done it yet Maybe our number will come up Uiis! time" kid growing up I was always tagging along with my dad sat there beside him I was brought up in a sports atmosphere I i sports fan all my life played sports went with my dad so it natural Doug Bell Bell aims at national exposure Fourth of six jmrta By Tim Stephens Blnnlii(ham Pori-Herald There are times when Doug Bell finds the tables turned on him when the television reporter becomes the interviewee This role reversal takes place at the site one often can find Bell when not behind the desk at WBMG- 42 The scene the golf course The question: are you really making all thou shots or is it Just some TV get asked that all the admits Bell who is perhaps but known far his Tbughest Holes in series a nine-year summer fixture on WBMG ile ask that I just tell It Golf is an Important part of Bell's life of course Even his office answering machine acknowledges tus love far the game with a reminder that you are calling about a round of golf remember that early tee turns are the Golf helps utisfy the competitive fire that bums In Bell a farmer athlete wbo played junior college basketball before enrolling at the University of Florida to pursue a broadcasting degree Bell i related! all his Uiwivi -vr who worked several years In Birmingham had a lot to do with Doug Bell said a kid growing up I was always tagging slong with my dad sat right there beside him 1 was brought up In a sports atmosphere been a sports fan all my life played sports went with my dad so it was a natural ten to BELL page B2 Big event at Huntsvflle Inskte utoracimpagnBG 44.