Out o
The highs and lows
of golf’s Masters
cMastbhs
Every sport today seems to have
its time to shine. Whether it be
football’s Super Bowl, racing’s
Daytona 500 or golf’s Masters,
there is a sense of uniqueness and
excitement whenever the event
draws near. But for the athletes,
there is opportunity: an
opportunity to stand at the top of
the sport’s world, receive your
applause, take your bow and take
pride in the fact that all eyes are
on you.
Jose Maria Olazabal realized
this dream for the second time in
his career this past weekend by
winning the Masters. Olazabal
battled Davis Love 111 and Greg
Norman in a three-man show to
take golf’s platform.
All this after a very trying time
in Olazabal’s life. After winning
the Masters in 1994, he hadn’t
finished any higher than 12th
since. After a 14th place finish in
1995, he was diagnosed with a
very painful foot injury,
rheumatoid arthritis. This took
Down to the Wire...
Running for the top spot; Ricky Williams makes dash for draft
By Randy Lange
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
Ricky Williams is almost too
good to be true.
Despite admitting last week
that his six-cities-in-three-days,
pre-draft “bridge-building” tour
was taking its toll, the charismatic
Texas running back began signing
autographs from the moment he
and his dreadlocks tumbled out of
a white stretch limo at Veterans
Stadium in Philadelphia.
Then, after meeting with new
Eagles coach Andy Reid,
Williams entered the Birds’
locker room to talk to a crush of
reporters. A makeshift podium
was set up in the middle of the
room to make it easier to
videotape and hear him.
“Aw, I don’t want to stand up
there,” Williams said softly,
backing up. “I don’t feel
comfortable. It’s like being on a
pedestal.”
Ricky knows pedestals. He
won the Heisman Trophy and a
showcase full of other awards, set
or equaled 21 NCAA records -
heck, he was even deified by the
The Behrend
PLAY STATION DUAL SHOCK
Includes:
-one dual shock controler
-ones PSX system
-original box and cabels
-interactive CDw/playable samples
-only used for one month
Mint condition and performance, perfect
For use in the dorms to relieve all that
stress from classes. All for a flat fee of
$lOO (originally purchased for sl4o+
including tax)
Call 825-9296 anytime with any questions
Students and employees of Penn State Behrend are invited to submit a free classified ad in
The Beacon. Types of ads may include personal messages and items for sale. Maximum classified
length is 25 words. Persons who submit ads must state their affiliation with Behrend. Classifieds ari
meant for individual use. Official notices and group events should be submitted to the Calendar
editor. Businesses must pay regular advertising rates. The Beacon can not guarantee the publication
of all classified submitted for space purposes. Classifieds should be sent to the Classified editor at
The Beacon, Reed Building or dropped off at The Beacon offices, or sent to behrcoll4@aol.com. Dead
line for submission for publication in that week's paper is M or >day a * S:OOPM.
Bounds
Olazabal out of action with the fear of
never walking again. Sunday,
however, the Spaniard proved to the
world he could do more than just walk,
as he leaped to the top of golf’s elite.
With another Masters complete, the
question leaping into the minds of golf
fans is, “when will Greg Norman win
a Masters title?” With a third place
finish that entailed much fan support.
Norman once again leaves Augusta
National without a green jacket in his
wardrobe.
state of Texas for deciding. Peyton
Manning-like, to return to the
Longhorns for his senior season instead
of entering last year’s NFL draft.
And in the past few weeks, Williams
has tried to position himself on the
league’s most prominent off-season
pedestal as its top pick in Saturday's
draft.
“I want to play in Cleveland because
they've got the first pick and I want to
be the first pick," he said. "If I didn't
feel that way. I wouldn’t be a football
player.”
“It might sound braggadocious."
said Leland Hardy, Williams’ agent,
“but we think Ricky can achieve record
numbers on a per-carry, per-game, and
per-season basis his first year. Not just
rookie numbers - all-time numbers.
We’re very confident anyone of sound
mind will pick the player who will help
his organization the most and the
fastest."
So why is it that in the days before
the draft, some NFL personnel officials
and outside analysts have spun
scenarios that have the 5-foot-10 3/4,
230-pounder falling to, say, Baltimore
at No. 10?
Well, that’s complicated. One league
personnel man said he thinks Williams
Classifieds
For Sale!
f —'
The story of Norman repeatedly
falling short of a Master’s title is
beginning to seem like a cruel joke.
His six shot lead entering the final
round in 1996 appeared to have
Norman on his way to ending his
Masterful disappointments. But
instead, a rally by Nick Faldo and a
monumental choke by Norman just
added to the cruelty of the story.
1999 didn’t bring such a
heartbreaking loss to Norman. In fact,
the third place finish rebuilt “The
Campus wide Semi-Formal,
May Ist formal 9 p.m.-la.m.
Sponsored by the Athletic
Advisory Committee. Please
watch for further postings
about this upcoming event.
Furniture For Sale
Dark turquoise couch and two
chairs, plus walnut coffee table
and two end tables, matching
lamp. Very retro! Very cool!
$325 for everything
864-8164
will slip "because he may get caught
up in a situation where teams more
than ever before are taking needs out
of the draft."
By that thinking, and helped by a
field that's top-heavy with
quarterbacks, let’s say Cleveland,
Philadelphia, and
Cincinnati take QBs one-two-three.
Then Indianapolis, resisting "Trader"
Mike Ditka's offer of draft choices into
the new millennium, plucks
cornerbaek Champ Bailey, regarded
with Williams as the draft's two best
athletes.
Washington could force up either
wide receiver Torry Holt or cornerbaek
Chris McAlister. St. Louis seems set
on running back Edgerrin James even
if Williams is there at No. 6, and
Chicago, Arizona, and Detroit have
more pressing needs than running
back.
Voi 1a! Crabcake City.
Williams isn’t likely to fall past the
Redskins, hut he could fall to them (or
the Saints in a trade) due to the
quarterback factor. Jets coach Bill
Parcells was asked whether, needs
being equal, he would take a QB or a
runner if he had the first pick.
“Quarterback." he said immediately,
Attention
Sports
JASON SNYDER
Shark’s” confidence. He is once again
a contender...but for how long?
Time is running out for Norman, 44,
who has to realize by now, that in order
to win the Masters, you need a little bit
of luck. Lady luck hasn’t fallen on the
shoulders of the Shark yet, but when
that day comes, the moment will be
indescribable.
Just like the Super Bowl eluded John
Elway and the Daytona 500 eluded
Dale Earnhardt, so still does the
Masters elude Greg Norman.
And just as football fans will
remember, “this one’s for John,” and
racing fans reminisce of Earnhardt’s
donuts on the Daytona lawn, golf’s
faithful await their moment when the
Shark will successfully stalk his prey
and the green jacket will be a perfect
fit.
Snyder is the sports editor for the
Beacon. Out of Bounds appears
weekly on this page.
“because I’d want to keep my job.”
Williams has some perceived
shortcomings, but there are two sides
to every story.
At the NFL combine workouts, for
example, it was determined he had the
smallest hands of the players in
attendance and short arms, which may
have led to his nine fumbles last year
and 26 in his career. Texas sports
information director John Bianco
countered that in the final 10 minutes
of games last year, Williams fumbled
only once, and the ‘Horns won that
game.
Then there was a weightier combine
matter. There was a report that he was
20 pounds overweight, but that
overstated the case. At 244, he was nine
to 14 pounds above his late-season
playing weight. Whatever the amount,
he didn’t feel comfortable, declined to
work out (irritating some NFL people
who view the combines as a job
interview), and left early. He didn’t
work for scouts until a week ago in his
hometown of San Diego, after
shedding 20 pounds.
The biggest hurdle for Williams,
however, could be a gangsta image
fashioned through his dreadlocks, body
piercings, and tattoos, and crowned by
Hous
’s*' Vi.',',,'- * >
*»*' hy' > ,s
NAME:
SPORT:
CLASS:
DATE:
".'if'"'*' 4 ' ■ '
Ryan “Hoover” Frederick, a junior from Franklin, PA, has guided the Behrend Lions to a 16-
9 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play.
. Frederick has pitched exceptionally well as indicated by his 3-3 record and 0.88 ERA. In his
last four starts, he has limited the opposition to a measly 12 hits. Although he lost at Frostburg
.I*o. he limited the Bobcats to a pair of hits. This past Tuesday, he shutout Laßoche on a five
hitter.
; “In each of his three seasons with us, ‘Hoover’ has traditionally drawn the start against our
toughest opponents,” said head coach Paul Benim. “He is a talented young man that is constantly
working to improve his skills, He has been a bulldog for our pitching staff.”
Frederick has tied A 1 Maki’s (75-78) school record for strikeouts with 129. He is also number
two all-time with 12 victories. His name is scattered throughout the record books.
Hart is a graduate of Franklin High School.
Next up for the baseball nine are home games against Grove City on Thursday, April 15th,
and Pitt-Bradford on Sunday, April 18th. Game times are 1:00 p.m.
his hiring of rap entrepreneur Master
P’s No Limit Sports group to represent
him.
“That throws up a major roadblock
for a lot of people,” said the NFL
personnel source. “Three general
managers have told me they won’t
draft certain players because of their
agents, because it’s a pain in the butt
to get deals done.”
Maybe Williams is getting a bad rap
here. Friends say he saw in the self
made Master P a kindred focus and
determination. And Hardy, a certified
NFL agent, said Williams became P’s
biggest-name sports client because
“Ricky feels it's incumbent on him to
try to reach a broad cross section of
youth, transcending race, creed, and
age, and the best way to do that is with
No Limit."
Hardy isn’t kidding about kids.
Bianco said Williams frequently
visited struggling high school students
in the Austin, Texas, area just on the
phone call of a teacher.
One day he was getting antsy
because a tuxedo fitting for an awards
banquet was going slowly.
“I’m supposed to go to a birthday
party for a kid I met in school today,”
Williams told Bianco. “I’ve got to
Ryan Frederick
Baseball
Junior
April 5 - April 12
Thursday, April 15,1999 - The Behrend College Beacon - page 11
hurry. They'll probably cut the cake
at 6:30, and you can't miss that."
Some fans find such stories
heartwarming; some NFL people
feel Williams is too image
conscious, too risky - in short, too
good to be true. Perhaps to smooth
the feathers he ruffled at the
combines, or perhaps because he felt
it was right, in his agent's words, to
“build bridges" with potential
employers, he undertook last week's
whistlestops in St. Louis, New
Orleans, Washington, Philadelphia,
Cleveland, and Indianapolis.
"I don’t know if I’m the best
player in the draft. I haven’t seen the
others,” he said. “But I think I
showed all through college that I
worked hard. It was a productive
four years, so I’m just going to go
out there and work my butt off.”
All NFL teams have seen
Williams’ hard work and his
awesome talent. One will see an
attitude it can live with and draft him
high. And if that team isn’t the
Browns, Hardy said. “Ricky won’t
be hurt. . . . He’ll just exact terrible
vengeance against those who didn’t
pick him.”
d Service
Week