The Prince George Citizen - Thursday, September 13,1990 - 13 Sports Don Schaffer Sports Editor 562-2441 Local 517 SPORTS TRIVIA Previous Answer: Los Angeles Raiders A Q. Who won the 1982 Super Bowl? |[h2£bukokriJ 6 Great Items for 99‘ ea. ALLAN BAYNE Boxer back in school by LEE ANDERSON Citizen Staff Amateur welterweight boxer Allan Bayne of Prince George continues to train in Houston, Texas and is hoping to fight on the weekend. Two weeks ago, Bayne scored a second-round knockout of Charles Trikes of Houston. Bayne told the Citizen during a phone interview Wednesday morning his training is coming along well. “I’m learning to box down here,” he said. ‘‘And I’m a lot quicker now.” Bayne, while boxing out of the Spruce Capitol Boxing Club, was more of a come-at-you, wade in and go toe-to-toe style fighter. It was successful for him. But in Houston, he’s under the tutelage of Kenny Weldon, trainer of heavyweight contender Evander Holyfield among others. Bayne said Weldon has taken a good fighter and is making him better. “I’m smarter now,” Bayne said. “I’m learning to slip punches better, to feint a lot. “You won’t see me in that bulldog style again.” Bayne said that his boxing regime is much tougher now. “That’s not to take anything away from my dad and the Spruce Capitol club,” he said. “In fact, they (his Houston trainers) were amazed at how well trained I was when I came in here. They talk about the guy from Prince George, Canada.” Bayne spoke about his hometown, family and friends. “That’s the only bad part about being down here,” he said. “I miss my dad. He’s worked with me so hard. He’s my friend. “Also, if it wasn’t for Jim Gibson (owner of Bcdnesti Lake Resort who sponsored Bayne), who believed in me and wanted me to succeed so bad, I never would have been able to come down here.” While Bayne has left friends here, he’s making them in Houston. Holyfield, the top-ranked heavyweight contender who is scheduled to fight champion Buster Douglas for the title on Oct. 25, is one of them. “I didn’t even try talking to him the first week I was here,” said Bayne. “Finally, we got to talking and we sort of hit it off. I can’t believe how nice he is.” “Holyfield has a van with Georgia licence plates; that’s where he’s from. He lives in Texas now. He had customized license plates with his name on them. I made a comment about the plates to him one day; I told him I’d like to have something like them some day and Holyfield, not needing them any longer, gave one to me. “He comes in to the gym sometimes with Lee Haney — of Mr. Universe body building fame — and he’s really nice too.” While Bayne is finding the company out of the ring pleasant, inside is another story. He’s training with Olympic calibre boxers. “These guys are all highly ranked,” said Bayne. This is by far the best training I can get. The Abercrombie gym is the best gym in the world.” Bayne isn’t staying in Houston forever. He’ll be in Vancouver on Ocl 6 to fight Tony Duffy in the B.C. Golden Gloves. Duffy defeated Bayne twice before, both times in close bouts, one resulting in a split decision which the Bayne camp protested to little avail. As a result, Duffy is the BC welterweight champion and has a berth in the national championships later this year. In order for Bayne to go he will have to beat Duffy twice. “Duffy is a good fighter,” Bayne said. “I’m not going to say what I’m going to do to him, but Lf he thinks I’m going to be slugging with him he better think twice. I believe I’ll be the one going to the nationals.” Sometime this fall or early winter, Bayne will be back in Prince George. He has to go through Vancouver first and then through Duffy. ■ Boxing promoter Doug Martin is already working on bookings for the second annual Champions for Children. Last year’s event, at which Bayne won the featured bout of the night, raised about $4,000 for the Prince George Child Development Centre. Martin hopes to bring in boxers from England, Japan, Korea, and the Soviet Union. He also hopes to feature Bayne, i mr** mt-'** New York Mets Dave Magadan slides Into a tag by Pirate’s Mike Lavalliere In New York. BRETT CREEPS UP IN BATTING RACE Royals snap Jays’ streak KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The man with the greatest single-season batting average in the second half of the century could be on the verge of doing something no man has ever done. With two singles and two triples in Kansas City’s 6-5 victory over Toronto Wednesday night, George Brett crept to within six one-thousandths of Oakland’s Rickey Henderson in the American League batting race. Brett won AL batting titles in 1976 and in 1980 — when he hit .390, the best since Ted Williams’s .406 in 1941. Nobody ever won batting championship in three different decades. Not Babe Ruth. Not Ty Cobb. Not anybody. "I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want to win,” said Brett. "I want to win and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to win it. A lot of people want me to win and a lot of people, maybe more, want (Henderson) to win. "But the only way I’m going to win it is if I try not to win it If I had told myself driving to the ballpark today that I needed four hits to tie Henderson, there’s no way in the world I could have gotten four hits.” The victory, halting a nine-game losing streak, came just hours after the Royals announced they had rehired manager John Wathan through 1991. In addi- tion to Brett’s heroics, Bo Jackson drove in four runs with a double and a three-run homer and Mark Davis, the free-agent bust, got his first save since May 7. The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Blue Jays and left them four games behind Boston in the American League East. “It was nice to shake hands again after a game,” Wathan said. “It has been a long time.” Brett, who tied a team record with two triples in a game, stands at .3266129. Henderson, who did not play Wednesday, is at .3272311. Rafael Palmeiro of Texas is at .3238095. Elsewhere, it was: Oakland Athletics 9, Seattle Mariners 3; Cleveland Indians 12, Chicago White Sox 2; Boston Red Sox 6, Milwaukee Brewers 1; Texas Rangers 5, New York Yankees 4; Baltimore Orioles 2, Detroit Tigers 1; Cleveland Indians 12, Chicago White Sox 2; and California Angels 8, Minnesota Twins 6. Toronto manager Cito Gaston, who was ejected by home plate umpire Terry Cooney, will enjoy the batting title battle much more from a distance. “I guess we held Brett down about as long as we could,” Gaston said. “He’s been that kind of player all his career. Now that we don’t have to face him anymore, I hope he wins this thing.” The Blue Jays returned home Wednesday night after winning two of three games from the Royals. They open a weekend scries against the Baltimore Orioles tonight at the SkyDome. “Il will be good to get this road trip behind us and get back home,” said Gaston, who was ejected after arguing the Royals’ Terry Shumpcrt had not been hit by a pitch in the second inning. It was the 46th four-hit game of Brett’s career. He also has five five-hit games. Ironically, he began the season in a frightful slump. “I’ve made up a lot of ground in a short time. Hopefully, I can stay in the groove,” he said “It’s going to be extremely tough, but I’m going to give it my best shot. In April and May I wasn’t even thinking about working out. Now I’m going to start working out the day after the season ends. “I’m really excited about play ing baseball again.” Not so excited was Todd Stot-tlemyrc (13-15), who gave up six runs and 10 hits in five innings. More baseball, page 15. The Orioles visit Toronto at 4:30 this afternoon on TSN (cable 16). Gretzky says more Oilers sent to rehab Expos’ purchasers want help MONTREAL (CP) — The Quebec government has been asked to provide up to $30 million in loans toward the purchase of the Montreal Expos, a city official said Wednesday. Expos president Claude Brochu, who club owner Charles Bronfman placed in charge of finding local investors to buy the team for $100 million, submitted the request to Premier Robert Bourassa’s office on Tuesday. Brochu and the Bums-Fry brokerage firm have reportedly raised $70 million — 14 investors with $5 million each — and turned to government for the remainder. Marielle Seguin, a communications official for Mayor Jean Dore, confirmed that Brochu had requested the government help, but denied a report that he had submitted a similar request to the city. Montreal will only consider providing funds once the Quebec government has decided what to do, she said. “If the cabinet is interested, then we will discuss our own participation.” Seguin added that Quebec would likely want the city to share in the guaranteed loan. Brochu was in Pittsburgh for a meeting of major league baseball owners to discuss National League expansion. He is expected to brief owners on the progress of the Expos sale. Buyers of the team would need to be approved by the other owners. Brochu reportedly wants low-in-tcrcst loans for a two-to-thrce-year period. He would then seek private investors to buy out the government’s share. The Desjardins group of credit unions for the Montreal and western Quebec region has already declared it is ready to invest $5 million in the Expos. FIRED GM HOLDS CONFERENCE Kapp threatens Pezim VANCOUVER (CP) — Deposed general manager Joe Kapp has threatened legal action against the B.C. Lions if his three-year contract is not fully honored by the CFL team. Kapp, a popular B.C. quarterback in the early 1960s, was fired Monday by owner Murray Pezim after less than 10 months on the job. Pezim apparently offered Kapp a $100,000 settlement when he was suddenly dismissed three days after the firing of head coach Lary Kuharich. The team’s record was 2-7-1, including four straight defeats. Kapp held a news conference Wednesday to clarify his contractual situation, but refused to answer questions about his firing. “I viewed it (his hiring) as an opportunity to help and give back to British Columbia what I had taken in the past as a player,” said Kapp. “But I wanted enough time to get it done. "I thought I needed long-term security in return for discontinuing my business and moving my family from California.” Kapp said he asked for a five-year deal, but settled on a three-year contract as president and chief excucutive officer. He also was offered the opportunity to invest in the CFL team, but did not. "After 10 games my removal . . . has been accompanied by refusal to honor the firm, three-year financial commitment,” he said. “I just hope that Murray Pezim, and other principals of Prime Sport, reflect upon their actions and live up to . . . financial commitments made to me. “If not I will have to take all necessary steps to deal with this. ” The Lions are owned by Prime Sports, a division of Prime Resources Group Inc., of which Pc-zim is president. Kapp, 52, ran a restaurant in San Jose, Calif., when hired and also had a scouting combine (TD Inc.) that was under contract to the Calgary Stampeders. More football, page 14. AIR THE TOUGHEST, LIGHTWEIGHT PROTECTION IS FULL OF IT. FLJI Bauer CUSHIONS THE BLOW Sm Koopa for a full Ilna of Flak product*: pant a, glovaa, shoulder pads. 1733 Nicholson St.-563-4828 TORONTO (CP) — A pair of Edmonton Oilers were sent to the Betty Ford Clinic by general manager Glen Sathcr to be treated for substance abuse problems, Wayne Gretzky says. “I know for a fact (Sathcr) put a couple of players into rehab,” Gretzky told a Toronto Star reporter Wednesday while in Ottawa to promote his new book: Gretzky, An Autobiography. The Los Angeles Kings’ superstar revealed that fact when asked about Grant Fuhr’s admiucd use of drugs. Edmonton’s star goaltcnder has admitted using cocaine during the Oilers’ great seasons when Gretzky led them to four Stanley Cups in five years. In the interview, Gretzky defended Sathcr regarding the general manager’s knowledge of Fuhr’s drug problem. He said Sathcr can’t be blamed for the team’s failure to take steps to help the goalie in the past and the GM had tried to help two unnamed players. Was it drug or alcohol rehabilitation? “Substance rehab, whatever, you know, whatever you want to call it,” Gretzky said. “I don’t know, to say what it was. I just know he sent two players to the Betty Ford Clinic. So, whatever you take that as. He called them in personally and he had them helped. “One was a long time ago and one was just recently,” he added. “So, to say he didn’t care, that's unfair.” Sathcr, reached by telephone in Austria on Wednesday night, said the two players sent to the clinic had alcohol problems. He said both players arc retired. In his book, Gretzky says Sathcr’s constant verbal abuse of players was the reason Fuhr temporarily retired last year and for Paul Coffey’s decision to leave the Oilers for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But the Great One refused to blame Sathcr or Oilers management for not trying to help Fuhr earlier. “If Grant wasn’t admitting he had a problem, then there’s nothing anybody can do. Nobody’s going to clean their acl up until they stand in front of the mirror and say ‘Hey, I need help.’ “I basically believe that was what Glen was wailing for. He kept asking him, ‘Do you need help?’ Grant kept saying, ‘No.’ What can you do? He’s 23, 24 years old (Fuhr is now 28). You can’t take him by the hand.” Gretzky said Fuhr’s recent public admission of cocaine abuse wasn’t all that surprising. “What surprises me most is that he basically carried us. To be able to play at the level he played at for all those years (while on drugs) is a surprise.” More hockey, page 15. ’Cudas hook Tewksbury by DON SCHAFFER Sports Editor Mark Tewksbury, the world’s fastest swimmer in the short-coursc 100-mctrc backstroke, confirmed Wednesday he’ll be in Prince George for two days of clinics in late September, Prince George Barracudas head coach Dave Parker said Wednesday. Parker, who’s starting his third season as Barracuda coach, said Tewksbury will be in Prince George Sept. 25 and 26. “We’re pretty excited about having him here,” Parker said. “He’s a pretty inspirational speaker and we’re hoping he’ll really help our program.” Parker said he began talking to Tewksbury about 18 months ago, when he took the Barracudas to Grande Cache for a clinic the swimmer was staging. “He was terrific,” Parker said. “It’s gonna be really good for the kids. “We’re hoping having him here will lend a much higher profile to our club, and swimming in general.” Parker said he hopes to get other city swimming groups — the Prince George Pisces summer swimmers, Special Olympics, cerebral palsy and masters clubs — involved in some of the clinics as well. The Olympian’s time doesn’t come cheaply, but Parker said the visit is something lhat the club budgeted for this season. Tewksbury set the world best time (records arc set in 50-mctrc pools, best times in 25-mctrc pools) in March in Saskatoon, when he went 53.69 seconds in 100 backstrokc. ■ Meanwhile, the club still has room for more swimmers to register for winter programs. Sharon Lindsay, the Barracuda registrar, said the club had just 120 swimmers register for the winter. “I don’t know why things arc down,” Lindsay said this morning. “I’ve talked to several clubs around the province, and it seems to be a trend.” Lindsay said there won’t be any more formal registration periods, but people interested in the club can call her at 964-4452. OPEN Tues to Sal 9am 5 30 pm I ARCTIC CJT LEADER OF THE PACK BUY A 1991 CAT* by September 30th, and we’ll give you $400 in CAT CASH You can spend the Cat Cash™ as you please on Arctic Cat* accessories, parts, trailers and Arcticwear* clothing at our dealership. It’s our $400 note of thanks to you for buying early. 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