Page 12 or ting View Commissioner Fay Vincent talks about baseball's future by John Musser Collegian Sports Editor Don’t expect Major League Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent to make any radical changes to the national pastime soon. He will make changes, but not for a couple of years. On the Sunday news show Meet the Press , Vincent talked about issues facing the game and how he was going to handle them with a panel of reporters. Some of the topics they covered were baseball expansion, inter league play, and the designated hitter rule in the American League. Here is a quick overview of what the commissioner had to say: •Vincent on baseball expansion: It will happen, but he wouldn't reveal when or where. Most likely, when will be within the next three years. Where could be any place from Washington, D. C. to Seattle, where Mariners fans have been begging for baseball for years. •Vincent on inter-league play: No. Never. Vincent likes the fact that the only time teams from the National and American Leagues meet is in the World Series. It is the commish's belief that allowing inter-league play during the regular season would take that special something away from the fall classic. Apparently Fay doesn't mind that National and American League teams meet in spring training games, but nobody bothered to ask him. •Vincent on the designated hitter: He hates it. Well, Vincent doesn't exactly hate it, but he certainly made it clear Sunday that he wants both leagues using the same set of rules. Vincent eventually will see to it that the American League phases out the DH. What became clear from the Press interview was that, like his predecessor, the late Bart Giamalli, Vincent is a fan of the game. And like most fans, he loves the game of baseball. Now, if the owners and players only had the same altitude as their commissioner, perhaps messes like this year’s owner's lockout or the player's strike of 1981 (which saw the cancellation of 713 games) wouldn't happen. Vincent faces questions other than those pertaining to the rules governing baseball or expansion. He must also now answer inquiries about New York Yankee's Owner George Stcinbrenncr and his relationship with gambler Howie Spira. Stcinbrenncr reportedly has given $40,000 to Spira "out of the goodness of his heart," according to the Yankee boss. This quandary was uncovered Friday when Spira was indicted on charges of extortion that involved Stcinbrenncr and the Yankees organization. Spira was accused of threatening to release information that would have done damage to the reputations of Stcinbrenncr and the Yankees. Spira was also accused of recording a conversation that he had with Stcinbrenncr in an attempt to enhance his extortion plan. What makes this story even more interesting is the fact that Spira claims that Stcinbrenncr hired him to spy on Yankees right fielder Dave Winfield. According to Spira, his job was to get some dirt on Winfield. Spira supposedly did his spying while he was employed in public relations with the David M. Winfield Foundation. Now, I realize that Steinbrcnncr and Winfield have been feuding for some lime, mostly over Winfield's charitable foundation. But I still find it hard to believe that Big George would undertake this kind of operation. He just has too much to lose. Hopefully, the investigation into the Steinbrenner situation won't balloon into what happened with the Pete Rose story of last year. Penn State has been known as a football school since before most students now attending the school were born. Men's basketball coach Bruce Parkhili has been trying to change that, and has finally gotten the Nittany Lions into part of the basketball spotlight The Lions have had back to back 20-win seasons and have appeared in two consecutive NIT tournaments. Acquiring tickets for games at UP's Rec Hall have become difficult, resulting in packed houses for home games. In other words, the basketball program isn't only alive and well, it is prospering. Don't expect this trend to continue. State is moving to the Big 10 conference, which should only hinder this growth. The Atlantic 10 is a good conference, which has been getting stronger each year. But it still has a long way to go, producing only one NCAA tourney team this year. The Big 10 is a different kind of animal, with the quality of play several tiers higher than that of the A-10. I'm not saying that State couldn't play with one of the Big 10 teams and beat them on any given night. I'm just saying that they will be lucky to win IS games playing this competition every night. There’s a big difference between Duqucsne and Purdue. Tennis season opens (continued from page 11) faces that will be seen on the Behrcnd courts include the number three player, Ken Gicrl. Ken is a graduate of North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, and is also a sophomore. The number four seed is newcomer Mitch Janowski. Coach Grignol believes that both he and Gicrl will live up to his expectations. The season was scheduled to open against Mount Union last Saturday afternoon. The match was cancelled due to snowy weather. It will be made-up sometime in the latter part of April. Today, the Lions challenge Grove City College. Barring any bad weather, the match will begin at 3 pm on Behrcnd's home courts. Last season, Behrcnd suffered an agonizing defeat of 8- 1 from Grove City. Coach Grignol is confident that this year will show no more losses of that degree due to the talent and intensity of the young team. N CI^ C h v* h. Erypttem Saturdays 9 pm to 1 am on W