CAPITAL TIMES, August 26, 1991
Summer pro sports delight die-hard fans
Mike Givler
Capital Times Staff
The summer of '9l has been one
sports fans dream about, and I would
personally like to thank the "sports
gods” for sprinkling their magic dust
over the playing fields. It seems every
day I turned to the sports page, a
different unsung team or individual had
won a championship, as well as a place
in our hearts.
Our journey through the hot summer
begins with the ice arenas of the NHL
playoffs where the Minnesota North
Stars were blazing through the top teams
of the regular season. They started their
quest for the Cup by handling the
Chicago Black Hawks, who had the best
record in hockey, and then conquered
another Norris Division foe, the St.
Louis Blues who had finished just one
point behind Chicago, just as easily.
The next test for the pesky North
Stars was the rejuvenated Edmonton
Oilers and many people believed this
was the end of the line for the Minnesota
club. But great goal tending by John
Casey and clutch scoring by Greg Gagne
and Brian Bellows put the Stars in the
Cup Finals. At this point, many people
believed the Stars were "for real" and
most everyone expected them to win the
Cup. However, this fairy tale would not
be complete until another surprising
team would make its way to the finals.
The Pittsburgh Penguins struggled
with their first round opponent from
New Jersey in a seven game series and
blew past the other Patrick Division
finalist, the Washington Capitals, to set
up a black and gold showdown with the
Bruins. Boston had the best record in
the Wales Conference and was supposed
to handle any team from the "weak"
Patrick Division, but in a fairy tale
season what SHOULD happen usually
doesn't, and it didn't. Pittsburgh defeated
Boston and was headed for an all
amcrican Cup final between two upstart
teams.'
As I said earlier, many people
believed no one could cool off
Minnesota so they were the crowd
favorites, but the "sports gods" knew
this and threw a wrench in the North
Stars plans and gave Pittsburgh Sir Lord
Stanley’s Cup in six games, the first in
franchise history.
The NHL draft shortly followed the
finals and as expected Eric Lindros was
named the first pick by Quebec. The 6-
foot 5-inch Lindros scored 71 goals, had
78 assists in 57 games for Oshawa and
is already being compared to Lemieux
and Gretzky. Could it be a Cinderella
year for the Nordiques in 1992?
We now turn from the hard ice to the
hard wood where the Chicago Bulls
looked to give Michael Jordan the
sweetest prize of all, an NBA
Championship ring. The Bulls proved
that they were the superior team during
the regular season by compiling the best
record in the NBA, but they knew from
Knicks by over 40 points in game one
and swept the Knicks in three games.
The Bulls next victim was Philadelphia,
who beat Chicago three out of four
times during the regular season, but
could only escape with one victory in a
five game series and that was on a last
second three-pointer by Hersey Hawkins.
The Bulls last obstacle before the finals
was two-time defending champ Detroit,
but Chicago quickly put an end to their
dreams of "three-peating" in a four game
sweep.
Meanwhile, out west the Trail
Blazers put an end to the Lakers nine
year reign in the Pacific Division by
having the best record in the Western
Conference, and were hands-on favorites
to repeat as Conference champions
(mainly due to the off-season acquisition
of Danny Ainge). The Blazers and
Lakers both breezed to the Conference
finals as if story book written, but once
again the underdog prevailed. The
Lakers grabbed the series in five games
and were helped by some of their own
off-season purchases, namely Sam
Perkins and Terry Teagle, setting up the
greatly awaited Magic versus Michael
showdown.
Game one of the finals didn’t go as
planned (what new?), because the key
match-up was between Perkins and John
Paxon, with Perkins hitting a three
pointer in the closing moments. L.A.
V
August 28
SPORTS
had taken game one, but supurb defense
by Chicago and their 60 percent
shooting from the floor propelled them
to an easy game two victory. An
overtime victory in game three at the
Forum and a blowout of game four made
the Bulls even stronger. If the Lakers
were to send the series back to Chicago
for game six, they would have to do it
without starters James Worthy and
Byron Scott, who both hobbled with
injuries. Spirited play by Laker rookie
Elden Campbell almost booked the
flight, but even the "sports gods"
couldn't stop the raging Bulls named
Paxon, Jordan and Scottie Pippen (who
made the clutch shots and gave them the
championship).
Finally something went as planned.
The best team in basketball proved
themselves but they did it with a team
effort and not with a one-man show, as
is often thought of when the Chicago
Bulls are mentioned.
The main character of this summer’s
narrative is without a doubt PGA
Championship winner John Daly who
won the tournament at the Crooked
Stick Country Club in Indiana. Daly
was called to play in the tournament the
day before it started as the last alternate
for a golfer who could not participate
because his wife went into labor. Daly,
known for his monsterous drives, came
out of no where to lead the pack with a
September 7
September 14
September 21
September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
November 9
November 16
November 28
12 under par weekend.
Baseball fans are asking themselves
"What now?" as the 162-game schedule
draws to a close. The Twins and the
Braves are trying to go from worst to
first in their respective divisions, but
anything can happen in this season
which has already been dubbed "the year
of the streak." It's been named so
because over 35 times a team has either
won or lost seven consecutive games.
The American League West has been
the most competitive division in
baseball mainly because every team has
been playing well and has a chance to
finish over .500. Hats off to Cal
Ripken and Dennis Martinez for what
they've done this year. Ripken recently
played in his 1500th consecutive game
and was named MVP of the All-Star
Game in Toronto for his 2 for 3
performance which included a three-run
homer, propelling his American
Leaguers to a 4-2 win. Martinez also
deserves recognition for throwing a
perfect game against the Dodgers, the
15th perfect game in baseball history.
The story book summer is almost
over but the fall promises to bring more
excitement with the conclusion of the
baseball season and the start of college
and pro football. My only advice to fall
sports fans is for them NOT to believe
the predictions.
Georgia Tech (Kickoff Classic) 9 p.m.
Giants Stadium
CINCINNATI Ip.m.
at USC 9 p.m.
BYU 8 p.m.
BOSTON COLLEGE Ip.m.
Temple 9 p.m. (*)
at Miami tba
RUTGERS Ip.m.
WEST VIRGINIA Ip.m.
Maryland 1:30 p.m. (+)
NOTRE DAME IP.M.
at Pittsburgh 11:15 a.m.