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Sports
The World &ries
Oakland Athletic.s Vs.
&n
Francisco Giants
By ROSS NEWMAN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
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
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.''
"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.
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.
Alcala
Gazette
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.