Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 13

Cincinnati reaches for sixth victory in a rowPage 2C it I Sports Wednesday July 8 1992 Bristol Herald Courier Bristol Virginia Tennessean I lrXU''Ma nrs is A '46 '7 zKoX'U' XX i AAA a tA J11 'ag ya v' it faV xSxA sXAxAih1 j''i ff a aa4 Miis 1 1 r'Ar 'X tV feh CourierToby Toblet: The color of the new surface and the speeds drivers are expected to attain on it may tempt some to call' BIR from now on BIR now LORI WORLEY Sports When the Winston Cup circuit stops at Brist oi International Raceway in August for the Bud 500 tlie half mile oval will sport an entirely new look still be BIR the fastest half rniler And the turns will be as steeply banked as ever The i (Terence however is readily apparent upon first glance The deep black of asphalt for the most part is no longer in evidence at BIR The surface so long maligned by drivers has been completely restored and in the place of the problematic dark pavement that sim ply" refused to stay down is the gleeming white of concrete When completed which is expected to be in the next few days BIR wili be the only track on the Winston Cup tour that is entirely concrete a move BIR owner Larry Carrier hopes will finally put an end to his troubles the with the tf ack surfaced Igggy 5g5g ggjyy ilia WTfeel like this is he said Tuesday know one thing for sure: This concrete will not come up at all like the asphalt always ghaSglSfaz(g agin the last few years (farrier lias at tempt ed to all or pai ls of BIR three times The last time was last fall when it was completely repaved When the ood City 500 was eld tit BIR in April the track appeared to hold up well How ever during a tire testing session done by Ernie Irwin and the Morgan McClure team in May parts of the track began tearing away And once again Carrier had to make a major decision one that cost him upwards of three quarters of a million dollars i ffAA 5 should have seen the stuff that came up off the track when Irvan said Carriere even during the race you know wc had to blow it off one time to get it cleaned up some was time to have something else done To go in a new direction It get in hairy at times out there at times I just (wanted to make it better and safer for the Considering all the other tracks that i have been havi ng problems with asphalt surfaces like Charlotte Motor Speedway Carrier opted for concrete A Using a post tension system designed by a Swedish engineer work began at BIR last month Tightly strung cables and metal matting the cost of which was $127000 were laid out all around the track from top to bottom before the con crete was poured This was done so there would be no contraction or expansionin the surface which is concrete all around except for the apron of the track which has been repaved with asphalt A A bit of work remains to be done Three foot sections in each turn will have to be taken out in order to place battery boxes inthe surface And of course there are a few bumps still to be ironed out Please see BIR Page 3C A Agassi returns to Las Vegas Associated Press LAS VEGAS Andre Agassi took Wimbledon by storm then came home to do the same to the glitz capital of the world In his hometown marquees and billboards scream accomplishment on televi sion and radio and in newspaper headlines A crowd gathered at the air port when he arrived home Mon day At the Mirage Hotel Ca sino where he met the press Tuesday at least 50 kids and adults burst into applause when he arrived for a news conference The 22 year old Agassi who had lost in three previous Grand Slam finals won most coveted title when he beat Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia 6 7 (8 10) 6 4 6 4 1 6 6 4 on Sun day guarantee if I can do it at Wimbledon I can to it again anywhere anywhere in the Agassi said think more people spent time doubting me than I did my self but I went through stages where I did myself and I think ever see that Agassi said really believe ac complishing that the way I did not necessarily getting lucky but being the best never look at myself with a question again No matter what I go through always know that there just a question of finding it So a different person According to Agassi is a question of which side of the line the ball bounces When you get as close as he was to the top have to commit your self to taking chances It paid off for Agassi with his long hair and traditional earring has not al ways been the darling of tennis and certainly been no media darling although he does feel helped build his character His high visibility as a camera spokesman with the slogan is has fur ther dented the view of him he said am somebody who never wanted to change anything just to add to The Cubs cry Associated Press CHICAGO The Chicago Cubs filed suit in federal court Tuesday to stop commissioner ay Vincent from forcing the team to move to the National League West next season The Cubs ignoring a clause in the Major League Agreement that prohibits lawsuits against the commissioner asked for a preliminary injunction to block Vincent from imposing National League realignment On Mon day Vincent ordered the Cubs and the St Louis Cardinals to the NL West next season and the Atlanta Braves and Cincin nati Reds to the NL East US District Judge Suzanne Conlon scheduled a hearing for Wednesday morning on the injunction request A clerk in chambers said the hearing was expected to be or ganizational action pa tently exceeds his authority under the Major League Agree ment and the action is also ar bitrary and the Cubs said in the 26 page com plaint filed in US District Court in Chicago commis sioner can no more order the Chicago Cubs to play in the Western Division of the National League than he could order them to play in the American I On Monday Vincent ordered the Cubs and the St Louis Cardinals to the NL West next season and the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds to the NL East Under the National League constitution realignment must be approved by nine of the 12 clubs including all teams in volved in divisional switches On March 4 10 clubs voted in favor but the Cubs used their veto and the New York Mets also voted no Vincent decided to order re alignment at the request of sev eral NL clubs under his power to act the best interests of Cubs had threatened suit even before I made the Vincent said Tuesday not surprised there is a The National League voted 10 2 against joining the suit with Chicago and the Los Ange Please see CUBS Page 3C ormer assistant claims Sanderson struck her in face Associated Press BIRMINGHAM Ala A former assistant to ex Alabama basketball coach Wimp Sanderson filed suit Tuesday accusing him of strik ing her in the face during an argument The suit by Nancy Watts against Sanderson athletic di rector Hootie Ingram and the trustees claims that she was required to work a hostile environment which was tainted by impermissible sex and gender discrimina Sanderson resigned May 18 after 13 seasons when reports of his alleged attack on Watts became public rom the first disclosure of the alleged assault Sanderson has refused to comment except to say he would fight the charges suit filed in federal court said that as an adminis trative assistant to Sanderson she had received perquisites including travel and lodging at tournaments But it said that on March 17 she complained to him that she had not been provided these benefits for the South eastern Conference tourna ment of complaint was that Sanderson had ar ranged for another female em ployee of the athletic depart ment but not of the basketball office and with whom Sander son was widely rumored to be having an affair to receive such the suit said counselled Sander son that he should be more careful given the public talk about the alleged relationship when she invoked the female name Sanderson went into a rage and struck Watts just below her right eye cutting the lower eyelid and causing her eye to become bruised and the suit said It also said that about 22 years earlier the coach had gone to home and struck her She reported both instances to the personnel di rector she said Watts is seeking compensa tory and punitive damages lost employment benefits and job perquisites and costs la JL IRiUiTvif WH'' tty ti MfcL ftmii gL Tim Thomas good with the stick in two sports NOT LONG after his college days were over Tim baseball career was almost put on ice for good It was not the first time A solid player for three seasons at the University of Arkansas Thomas still found himself among the unwanted when the major league amateur draft was completed in early June ifty rounds of picks over 1000 players chosen and name was not among them He was daunted but not destroyed Arkansas coach Norm DeBriyn called Thomas in his native St Paul Minn and told his former second baseman to sit tight for a few days Thomas was already thinking about other options was able to graduate this spring in business and I was really glad I was able to get my degree while I was playing Thomas said was going to wait a few days after the draft then get out into the real It turned out that Thomas could keep on playing A Detroit Tigers scout up and called one morning and later in the day Thomas signed Now almost 20 games into his first season with the Bristol Tigers baseball career has suddenly heated up As of Sunday Thomas was leading the Appalachian League in hitting with a 425 batting average after pounding out 17 hits in his first 40 at bats He has dipped to 389 the last three games but that average is still 100 points higher than the numbers he posted his senior year with the Razorbacks OR AT least Thomas thinks so not really sure what he hit his senior year at Arkansas but he thinks it was And as for sitting atop the Appy batting leaders? Well that was news to him too Thomas asked with genuine surprise when a reporter informed him of his perch atop the league didn't realize that really It pleases me to know that The Twin Cities in Minnesota have long been known for their humble BRAD LIORD SPORTS WRITER 1 good natured natives and Thomas is a strong reinforcement of that image He's just the type of guy who could belt three homers in a game drive in six runs and say that was when the night was over And Thomas said that good nature not the kind he has generated but encountered has made his first season of professional baseball well pleasing And hitting around 390 is nice too teammates have really been great and the one thing I sure about when I came down Thomas said had some friends that had played and they told me that a business that out for themselves the first day I got here I went up to the hotel lugging my suitcases along and eight or nine of the guys were standing outside They all came inside and introduced themselves welcomed me to Bristol Each day when you come to the vardit makes it OR THOMAS however it was almost the rink not the yard Growing up on the frozen tundra of Minnesota he was more of a Wayne Gretzky fan than a Rod Carew fan When the Minnesota North Stars made the Stanley Cup finals two years ago he was in heaven And when Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers Thomas was well just say he wasn't pleased grew up with the Edmonton Oilers and Wayne Thomas said when he got traded like half of Canada I was upset I grew up a hockey He was good at it too He was an all conference defenseman in his last two years of high school and at that point Thomas was not envisioning a baseball career I really hoped to do was play college hockey for Thomas said contacted me once but that was all I heard from Since then Thomas has sort of lost touch with hockey Playing baseball for four years in the Deep South isn't conducive to watching a lot of NHL games or even getting daily scores So for now Thomas has switched allegiances definitely a baseball man Thomas said Detroit Tigers were good enough to take a chance on me and all I can do is try my best and see what happens I just want to be consistent and And in what areas? a.