Page 8
orting View
Erie going big time
with pro franchises
by John Musser
Collegian Sports Editor
Just like that, Erie has
become a professional town.
Don't get me wrong. I'm
not saying that Erie is some
two-bit pop stand town with a
name like Sandy Beach that has
one traffic light No, what I'm
saying is what people who
have lived here for many years
already know: Erie is a great
city. To people who live
outside the city, Erie is just a
summer resort town that
becomes comatose in the
winter. Lately, this attitude has
started to change. To people
who don't realize it, Erie is
turning pro.
A good example of this step
up into a major league
atmosphere is the recent
acquisition of a World
Basketball League franchise.
The WBL is a summer pro
league for players under the
height of six-feet five inches.
Rosters of WBL squads are
filled with quick, high-flying . Most of only
athletes who play an up-tempo b ig g U y S Uiat y OU hear anyone
brand of basketball that makes talking about or the ones that
the NBA look slow by get of pri nt in college
• » i hoops are people like
The little mans league Q J town .£ \ loazo
includes teams from big league Mourning, Loyola
cities such as Chicago Las Marymount ? s Hank Gathers,
Vegas, and Calgary, plus a and Syracuse’s Derrick
franchise in nearby Coleman and Billy Owens.
Youngstown, Ohio (How long Well, f or those of you who
do you think it will take for don't follow the game too
Erie and Youngstown to c i oS ely, here's two more names
become big nvals ?) . Also, the to add t 0 the , ist: LSU . s
schedule includes touring teams Stan i ey Robe rts shaquille
from foreign countries, O'Neal
including the national teams Jus ; as an examplCf take
from the Soviet Union, Spain, Saturday's game between LSU
and Itaiy. These will not be and x # xorekeepcr < s
exhibition games; these games nightn J e if you will . o ’Neal
will count in the league had a triple . d ouble in
standings. ... points(22), rebounds (24), and
Basketball won t be the blocked shots (12). Nah, its
only sport in town this not jj ke k j d , s good or
summer. Minor league baseball anything
will be back with Erie fielding . rm not reany sure which
an independent team in the was more exciting: The Super
familiar New York- Bowl or the Pro Bowl. The one
Pennsylvania League. After the advantage of p* Bowl is
disheartening announcement that there was no n ßud *<,
made by the Balumore Orioles Bowl/ . j s Bud Bowl „
that they were moving their must have a lot Qut
single A club to a full-season Bud players .
minor leage (the New York- . ] os j n g his arbitration
Penn League only plays a 70- bearing and having to settle for
game scheme) last September, g one miUion dollar contract
die outlook for pro baseball in instead of the 19 milUon
Erie was bleak smackers he was wanting from
flanks to the persistence of the baseba „ Kansas City
club owner Bill McKee, Ro y a i St Bo Jackson has
baseball in foie is still alive, apparently found someone who
Alhough they have no doesn't think that Bo knows
affiliation with a major league basebalL Well> somebody who
team and must survive on thinks Bo only knows about a
signing free agent players, million bucks worth of
McKee expects to place a solid baseball
product rni the field. . „ seen
And h “ y ' * e l ls E ™l commercials for these
pro hock y team. T e p ro f ess | ona l indoor lacrosse
Panther s, are playing their v , For of
tove, could you please tell me
t * l ' s: Are there any niles?
of fan support. Part of their
fast rise to popularity was last
season's first place regular
season finish after spending
part of the season the
basement. Also, the ECHL’s
penchant for a freewheeling
style of play is popular with
local fans.
The Panthers success on and
off the ice has continued this
year. After their recent victory
at Hampton Roads, Virginia,
on Sunday night, the Cats had
compiled a 23-15-6 record for a
total of 52 points, good for
third place in the ECHL. They
trail the first place Virginia
Lancers by seven points and
runner-up Winston-Salem by
three.
I hear that the new pro
football league, the one with
teams in Europe and America,
is looking for cities to place
expansion teams in. While it
may be a while till the World
League of American Football
expands, ya gotta wonder if
Erie is on their list.
Shoot or pass?: Dave Gurska, a senior starting
guard, tries to find an open Lion in Saturday
night’s tilt with Elmira. Gurska, who has been in a
slump recently, has scored 38 points in the last
two contests. Story begins on page 7.
If you see news happening, call The Collegian.
Cadi us at 898-6488.
the Explosion.
Weekend Eruption,
this Saturday at midnight on AM 1450, WPSE
The Collegian Wednesday, February 7,1990
Listen
for
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photo by Rick Brooks
Lions end
losing ways
(continued from page 7)
from the foul line and had 25
points for the Lions, making
three Ureys.
Also in double figures scoring
was junior point guard Randy
Baughman, the Lions all-time
assist leader with 379 dishes,
shot 57 percent from the field to
add 18 points for Behrend. Six
foot-four Cowan made three of
six shots from behind the arc and
totaled 11 points.
The Houghton game marked
the end of Gurska's shooting
woes. In the three games prior,
the senior gunslinger had
managed to make only one shot
According to Coach
Zimmerman the offense has
finally gotten back on track.
"Gurska finally got out of his
shooting slump, and we did a
good job on the boards to
promote the fast break."
Behrend has five games
remaining in the season. The
only home game left on the
schedule for the Lions is against
Keuka College on February 17.
Behrend travels to St. John
Fisher tomorrow night and
Geneva on Saturday.