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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Thursday, April 1, 1999
Eagles face late races at Sandhills
PECOS, Apr. 1 -- The Pecos Eagles and other area track teams
figure to be running late into the night tonight at the
Sandhills Relays in Monahans.
Field events and running preliminaries are scheduled to
begin at 2:30 p.m., but the running finals aren't scheduled
to start until 8 p.m. at Lobo Stadium. And with most of the
area's Class 3A and 4A teams scheduled to participate, the
finals should run at least until 10:30 p.m.
The unusual times for the meet are due to the Good
Friday-Easter holiday this weekend, which pushed up the
normal time for the meet by two days, and with school still
going on, kept the field events and running prelims from
being held in the morning and early afternoon hours.
At the same time, the Thursday date, combined with the
Eagles' move from District 4-4A into 2-4A, will help Pecos
in terms of manpower. All of the District 2-4A softball and
baseball teams have today off, which will give both the boys
and girls squads more people to work with in running and
field events. Teams from the Eagles' old district entered at
Monahans -- Fort Stockton, Andrews, Big Spring, San Angelo
Lake View and Snyder -- all have possible conflicts with
softball and baseball today.
"We'll have a few more people out this time," said Eagles'
coach Vance Washington. That group includes senior John
Gutierrez in the shot put and hurdler Lucio Florez, who has
been ineligible for the Eagles' early season meets.
Pecos failed to score a point last weekend in the
rain-shortened San Angelo Relays, in which only half the
field events and Friday's preliminaries were held. Len
Carson in the 800 meter run and Daniel Terrazas in the 400
meter dash did qualify for the finals before the rains
arrived.
Pecos' girls left early from the Crane Relays due to rain,
but did get a second and fourth place finish from Julie
Lujan in the shot put and discus, and a fourth from Liz
Parent in the 800 meters. Coach Lily Talamantez said she'll
have several sprinters available today who have missed the
last few meets due to district softball games, though she
may be without two of her relay team members in Christina
Arenivas and Yvette Barreno.
Along with their former district rivals and the host Loboes,
other teams entered are Alpine, Crane, Brownfield, Denver
City, Seminole, Greenwood, Kermit, Presidio and Midland
Christian. Today's meet is the final one for Pecos before
their District 2-4A meet, on April 16-17 in Clint.
Patton 8th at state powerlifting meet
PECOS, Apr. 1 -- Pecos Eagles' sophomore Tim Patton place
eighth this past Saturday at the state powerlifting
competition, held at Fort Hood in Killeen.
Head football coach Dan Swaim said Patton competed in the
242-pound weight class and did 560 pounds on the squat
thrust, 330 on the bench press and 480 pounds on the dead
lift.
There were 13 kids entered, and he went from 10th at first
up to eighth," said Swaim. The competitors in Division I
were from Class 4A and 5A schools around the state.
Patton was one of several Eagles who competed in the
powerlifting competition this year. Swaim said other
competitors at the state finals were from former district
rivals Fort Stockton, Monahans, Andrews and Sweetwater,
though none were entered in Patton's 242-pound weight class.
Agent swats Hornet Jordan rumor
By CHRIS SHERIDAN
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK, Apr. 1 -- Michael Jordan will not -- and cannot --
play for the Charlotte Hornets if he gets his wish and buys
a 50 percent share of the team.
``There's absolutely no truth to it,'' Jordan's agent, David
Falk, said of a report that Jordan was considering coming
out of retirement and becoming a player-owner for the
Hornets.
If Falk's denial isn't enough to convince everyone that such
a scenario is bunk, the wording of the NBA bylaws should put
all remaining doubts to rest. The league's constitution
forbids players from owning teams, as Magic Johnson learned
three years ago, and thus would prevent Jordan from being a
player-owner even if he desired to do so.
In the opinion of one of Jordan's best friends, he shouldn't
even consider coming out of retirement.
``First of all, (Jordan) is not good enough to make that
team win anyway,'' Charles Barkley said. ``They need the old
Michael Jordan, the guy from five or six years ago, to make
that team a contender.
``He's the greatest player to ever play the game, and he
would only do himself a disservice. I just hope he doesn't
play because he'd damage his legendary status.''
While the prospect of Jordan returning to the court was
being widely shot down, the possibility of him becoming an
owner remained open. Earlier this month, Jordan held
face-to-face discussions with Hornets owner George Shinn
month about buying a 50 percent share of the team, and the
two have agreed to meet again in the near future.
Fox Sports, citing unidentified sources close to Jordan,
reported Tuesday night that Jordan's best-case scenario
would involve him playing one full season for the Hornets
while his ownership shares were held in a trust or otherwise
deferred.
``The Michael Jordan and George Shinn negotiations have
never involved a playing role for Jordan,'' Hornets
spokesman Harold Kaufman said.
Jordan, vacationing in the Bahamas, did not return a message
seeking comment. NBA commissioner David Stern was out of his
office Wednesday and could not be reached.
When Johnson ended his retirement and returned to the Los
Angeles Lakers in 1996, the league made him sell his
ownership shares back to principal owner Jerry Buss. Johnson
later repurchased some of those shares after he finally
retired for good.
Jordan, in announcing his retirement earlier this year, left
the door open for a possible return by pronouncing himself
anywhere from ``95'' to ``99.9 percent retired.''
Those who have seen Jordan recently estimate he is about 20
pounds heavier than his playing weight, and he recently said
he hasn't picked up a basketball since hitting the final
shot of his career -- the game-winner in Utah at the end of
Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
Jordan also recently underwent surgery on his right index
finger, which he damaged with a cigar cutter.
Jordan previously gave up basketball in October 1993 to
pursue a career in professional baseball, then unretired in
the spring of 1995. He won championships with the Chicago
Bulls in his final three seasons, giving him six for his
career.
The scenario of him playing again next season, according to
Fox, also would include Phil Jackson being brought in to
coach the Hornets for one year and Dean Smith, Jordan's
college coach at North Carolina, being brought aboard as
team president.
Jackson's agent dismissed the report, while Smith did not
return a phone call seeking comment.
The Hornets have been a team in turmoil all season. Shinn
has been going through a divorce and battling numerous
sexual harassment allegations, coach Dave Cowens publicly
ripped the organization before quitting, Anthony Mason has
missed the entire season with a shoulder injury and the
team's best player, Glen Rice, was traded to the Lakers for
Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones.
The team has been playing better recently under interim
coach Paul Silas, but it seems certain the Hornets will miss
the postseason for the first time since 1995-96.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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Copyright 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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