Alcalá 1990

Sports

The World &ries Oakland Athletic.s Vs. &n Francisco Giants

By ROSS NEWMAN TIMES STAFF WRITER

"When in doub~ do the right thin!!'', Vincent said, quoting the former secretary of state and obviously believing that he has done just that. Game 3 of the Series, originally scheduled for last Tuesday night at Candlestick Park and postponed because of the earth– quake that rocked Northern California just before game time, remains tentatively rescheduled for next Tuesday. Vincent reached that decision Wednesday after a series of meetings with stadium, team and city officials. On Thursday1 he received assurance from Candlestick authori· ties that the minor repairs and cleanup will be done on Monday. The game will be on for certain if word comes by then that the city can supply the necessary power, water and police force.

SAN FRANCISCO - There was a no-win aspect to Fay Vin– cent's decision. It was there regardless of what the commissioner of baseball elected to do with the 1989 World Series. Move it out of the earthqualce-devasted Bay Area? Cancel it out of respect for the victims and the community? Resume it at what seems to be an appropriate time? Vincent was vulnerable to public and media criticism and knew il "Dean Acheson's great aphorism always comes to mind in a situation like this," Vincent said Thunday as he relaxed In his suite at a Union Square hotel. Kareem Abdu1-Jabbar

Tragedy Hits Hard In LMU Community

by Murphy Canter Loyola's star basketball player, Hank Gathers, collapsed at midcourt Sunday night. He never got hack up and was de– clared dead an hour and a half later. At 5:15pm, after making a crowd pleas– ing slam dunk, Gathers ran down court to set up on defense. When he reached mid– court he clutched his upper body in pain just before falling as his heart was racing. This was not the first time Gathers col– lapsed during a game. On December 9 he suffered a fainting spell brought on by ar– rhythmia, an erratic heartbeat. He was treated with a blood thinning medication called Inderol and after two games was cleared to play. The lnderol made Gathers sluggish and after much prodding dosages, were reduced to near abstinence. Gathers was still cleared to play. He was cleared to play against Portland on Sunday night in the WCC tournament. In front of a packed home audience, Hank Gathers, a 23 year old star athlete, suffered a heart attack. Just over an later he was dead. No one in the Gesten Pavillion said any– thing. No one on the USD men's basketball team said anything. Until the WCC an– nounced Sunday night that the tourna– ment would be cancelled and Loyola-Mar– ymount would get the coveted bid to the NCAA tournament, no one knew what to say.

Tyson Era Goes Buster

Mike Downey

uster! The way Cassius shocked Sonny B the way Leon amazed Muhammad, that was the way Buster Douglas beat the belt right off of Iron Mike Tyson on a crazy February night in Tokyo, and if you were lucky enough to see it, in person or on TV, it must have made your hair stand straight up in the air, exactly like Don King's. Buster! What a night, what a fight! This Mr. X of the boxing world, this mystery guest, this no– body from nowhere, just stepped right up and knocked the sass out of the undefeated, undisput– ed heavyweight champion of the world, turning him horizontal I minute 23 seconds into the 10th round of a fight he controlled from start to finish. Buster! He did it. Believe it or not, he did it. How? "Because I wanted it," Douglas said.

It seemed that the 7-foot-2 center would be on the court forever. But at 42, the oldest player in NBA history retired. We watched him change his name from Lou Alcindor and his religion to Muslim. His Afro-style hair gave way to a clean-shaven head. He began wearing goggles as he aged. Through most of the changes, his gracefulness en– dured. The skyhook was unstoppable. On June 13, 1989, Kareem gave us his last perfor– mance. At the end of the night fans cheered him, his teammates hugged him and his opponent, Isiah Thomas, shook the hand that launched thousands of skyhooks. He has played on six championship teams, won six MVP's and set eight pro records. When asked about retirement he said, "It really hasn't set in, as far as deeper meanings. I'm just thankful I've been able to last this long and walk out the door.''

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