Page 12
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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
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Erypttem
Saturdays 9 pm to 1 am
on
W<s®lk©[in<dl
The Collegian
Last Saturday afternoon's
match with Mount Union was
postponed to a latci date
because of the cold weather.
The date for the make-up
game has yet to be
announced.
The contest would have
seen two of the top teams in
the region square off. Mount
Union, Ohio was ranked third
in the NCAA Central Region
Pre-Season Poll, while the
Lady Lions were ranked
sixth. This is the first time in
school history that the softball
team has been ranked in the
poll. The Central Region
spans ten states.
The Lady Lions will play
their first game of the '9O
season this afternoon,
weather permitting, against
host Washington and
Jefferson. Game time for the
doublchcadcr is 2 pm.
The home schedule starts
this Sunday at 1 pm when
local rival Gannon University
visits the Bchrcnd softball
field. The match with the
wpse
am 1450
orts
Women's softball
game postponed
■w* %
Wednesday, March 28,1990
bits
Lady Knights will also be a
doublchcadcr.
Kansas may let state
universites sue boosters
(CPS)- Angered by an
"overzealous alumnus" whose
favors for University of
Kansas basketball team
members caused the National
Collegiate Athletic
Association to put KU on
probation in 1988, stale
Senate Democratic leader
Michael Johnston proposed a
bill February 26 to let state
universities sue boosters who
get them in trouble.
The bill, apparently the
first of its kind in the nation,
"quite simply gives a
university a cause of action
against an individual who
may have induced a student
athlete into violating rules,"
Johnston said.
Damages could include
money lost because of lower
game attendance and missed
television appearances.
Roses