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Show IHfc SIGNPOST hnday, May 3, 1991 8 Football player dies Brave athlete passes from paralysis (USA ACS') OXFORD, Miss. Paralyzed University of Mississippi football player Chucky Mullins, whose fight for survival drew President Bush to his bedside, remained in critical condition Wednesday night a ft era blood clot shut down his lungs. Mullins was being dressed for class Wednesday when he passed out. "I le suddenly stopped breathing," said Dr. Milton Hobbs, Mullins' primary physician. "At that pjint, his nurse began to resuscitate him." Mullins, 21 a defensive back paralyzed from the neck down after making a tackle in an Oct. 28, 1989, football game with Vander-bilt was carried to Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi at 9:45 a.m. He was breathing on a respirator late Wednesday in the intensive care unit. Physicians did not know whether Mullins suffered brain damage. "When Chucky first got to the emergency room this morning he was deeply comatose and had no response at all' said Dr. Tom L. Windham, a neurosurgeon. After examining Mullins at 4:45 p.m., Windham said he had improved slightly. "He's still critically ill, but it'll be a good 48 hours before we know what his brain function is going to be like." His plight united students, friends and fans. More than $1 million was raised for him. Oxford donated land, and a specially designed $70,000 home was built for him only a few blocks from the campus. Mullins spent 114 days in intensive care. He went three months without being able to speak because of a tracheostomy. He vowed to rebuild his life Step up your health with aerobics (USAACN) One of the hottest new trends in aerobic workouts is step aerobics stepping up and down on a raised bench or platform while performing aerobic movements. Fitness buffs across the country are "stepping up" their aerobics routines to improve cardiovascular fitness, condition legs, hips and thighs and add variety to their traditional aerobics workout. But as the popularity of step aerobics climbs, so does the potential for injuries, particularly among novices just beginning a fitness program. Step aerobics is a strenu 3-POINT (continued from page 7) mittee will shop the experiment to lower-division, junior-college and summer leagues. The women's rules committee also voted to leave the 19-9 line in place. In the next year, secretary-editor Marcy Weston said, it will survey coaches and other officials on a proposal to lower the 1 0-foot basket to 9-3. "The excitement generated by the possibility of dunking would be great," Weston said. But "there's a significant number, I suspect, who will want to leave the basket exactly where it is because they don't want to alter the game." By STEVE WIEBERG Copyright 1991, USA TO- and started back to school on Jan. 16. During his long recovery, President Bush visited his hospital room in Memphis, Tenn. Former teammate Chris Mitchell had considered dropping in on his friend Tuesday afternoon to share a new Run-DMC compact disc. But Mitchell never made it, and Mullins went out to the movie, "New Jack City," with another group of friends. "I didn't have time. I had to go to the library," Mitchell said. "When my roommate came in this morning and told me what had happened, I was shocked. I keep thinking I should have gone by and seen him. I should have gone over." Mitchell, who wore Mullins' No. 38 jersey in his honor last season, was among the dozens of teammates, coaches, friends and family who maintained a vigil at the hospital Wednesday. "There were about 50 people here when I got here early this morning," Mitchell said. "You could hardly get into the hospital." Former teammate Louis Gordon, 22, watched while doctors and nurses worked to revive Mullins Wednesday morning. "1 saw them shock him and get the pulse back," Gordon said. "He didn't have a pulse ... then he had a good one." Hobbs said it's not unusual for paraplegics to suffer blood clots. "With inactivity, that's one thing that can occur," he said. Mullins' guardian, Carver Phillips, said Mullins previously suffered from blood clots, including in his bladder. Phillips said the Wednesday morning incident took place without warning. "There was no kind of sign," ous workout that puts great demands on the knees, ankles and lower back, as well as the lungs and cardiovascular system. If you've begun a step aerobics program, or would like to, be sure to follow the guidelines outlined below to help prevent possible injury. First, make sure the platform is set at the proper height for your body height and skill level. Using a bench that's too high could cause knee injuries, or aggravatepre-existing ones. The average beginner should start with a bench that is no more than eight inches high. Varsity PurpleWhite Intra-squad Football game May Men's Tennis May Women's Tennis May Golf May Sports Clubs Soccer Rugby i May 4 May 4 Intramurals 2 on 2 Volleyball Run-Swim-Ride May 1 May 1 he said. "He asked to raise his head to see TV." One of Mullins' favorite programs, "Geraldo," was on, Phillips said. As the nurse began to dress Mullins, "he blacked out," Phillips said. "Some mornings, his blood pressure will be low. This time, he went out and didn't come back." Mullins looked forward to earing Mexican corn bread and red beans and rice Thursday with Mississippi coach Billy Brewer, Phillips said. Appearing drained, Brewer said he fully understood the seriousness of the situation. "The Monday after the injury, the doctor told me, 'By all rights this kid should be dead " Brewer said. "I said, 'But here is a special individual with as much fight and willpower to be somebody as anyone that I've ever been around in my life.' He will not give his soul up. He refuses. I believe Chucky is going to make it somehow." While Brewer displayed the optimism, assistant athletic director Langston Rogers voiced the desperation shared by many at the hospital. "You just want to do something to make him better," Rogers said, shaking his head sadly. "But you just can't do anything. You just sit, wait and pray for something good to happen." Mullins won't leave this world without a battle, Phillips said. "Going all the way back to that time in the hospital in Memphis, Chucky has maintained a fighting spirit," he said. "If he had given tip this morning, he would have been gone. He's a fighter and that's important." By JERRY MITCHELL and LEE ERIC SMITH As your level of performance improves, you can raise the platform higher; however, this is not a competition to see who can perform on the highest bench. Ideally, your knee should be bent at a 90-degree angle when you step up onto the platform. If your knee is flexed beyond a 90-degree angle, lower the bench. As with many sports, poor posture is a leading cause of injury in step aerobics. When stepping on to the bench, keep your chest and shoulders upright, with your buttocks tucked in. By DR. RALPH GAMBARDELLA 4 3 - 5 -.. 8- 16 6 Weber State Big Sky Tourney NCAA Champion. Wildcat Invitational Vikings Old Blacks Registration Registration Sports Briefs RYAN THROWS NO-HITTER: Forty-four-year-old Nolan Ryan rang up a lucky seventh no-hitter Wednesday night. The ageless Texas wonder pitched his major-league record seventh no-hit game at Arlington, Texas, as the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jay s 3-0. Roberto Alomar struck out to end the game in the ninth and send the crowd into a frenzy. Ryan struck out 16 in the game. Ryan only allowed two runners. HENDERSON BREAKS STEAL MARK: Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics was l-for-3 in stolen bases Wednesday, but it was enough to make him the No. 1 base stealer of all time. Henderson stole third base in the fourth inning against pitcher Tim Leary and catcher Matt Nokes of the New York Yankees. It was steal No. 939 of Henderson's career. Lou Brock, who held the record since Aug. 29, 1977, had 938. BREWERS OUTLAST WHITE SOX: Willie Randolph singled home the winning run with two outs in the 19th inning, and the Mil waukee Brewers outlasted the Chicago White Sox 10-9 in the longest American League game since 1984. In other AL games: Baltimore 2, Seattle 1; Detroit 6, Kansas City 4; Minnesota 1, Boston 0; Oakland 7, New York 4; Cleveland at California. PADRES BEAT METS: Bruce Hurst improved to 3-0 and singled in a run as the San Diego Padres beat Frank Viola and the New York Mets 8-7 to end a four-game losing streak. In other NL games: Atlanta 5, St. Louis 4, 10 innings; Chicago 11, Houston 8; Pittsburgh 6, Cincinnati 4; Montreal 9, Los Angeles 3; Philadelphia 4, San Francisco 1. BRUINS TOP PENGUINS: Boston goaltender Andy Moog fought through the flu and then 34 shots from the Pittsburgh Penguins to guide the Bruins to a 6-3 win Wednesday in the opener of the National Hockey League's Wales Conference final. Dave Christian and Ray Bourque scored goals in the third period for The Bruins to secure the win. The Campbell Conference final opens Thursday with Edmonton vs. Minnesota. CELTICS DOWN PACERS: The Boston Celtics, needing a NBA playoff win on the road, tightened their defense Wednesday night and topped the Indiana Pacers 112-105. The Celtics have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. San Antonio at Golden State. MCENROE UPSET BY PESCARIU: John McEnroe was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Dino Pescariu, 1 7, Wednesday in a first-round match at the BMW Open in Munich, Germany. Also, Aaron Krickstein rebounded from three match points for a 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 win against No. 3 seed Brad Gilbert in the AT&T Challenge at : Roswell, Ga., and top seed Monica Seles beat the USA's Andrea Leand 6-1, 6-1 in the Hamburg (Germany) Open. TWENTY-SEVEN WANT TO HOST CUP: Twenty-seven communities, most ever to enterbids, submitted formal applications to host matches for the 1 994 World Cup soccer tournament by Wednesday's deadline. "This is the most dramatic evi dence of the strength and popularity of soccer in America," said U.S. Soccer Federation President Alan Rothenberg. The New York area : and Florida had three communities each submit bids. DERBY GATE ASSIGNMENTS THURSDAY: The absence of a showdown between prominent rivals in this year's Kentucky Derby has not dulled the script for Saturday's race. A field of 16 is expected to enter the starting gate for the 1 1 4-mile spectacle : at Churchill Downs (ABC, 4:30 p.m. EDT). As many as half a dozen are believed capable of winning. Starting gate assignments will be drawn Thursday morning. BYRON NELSON TOURNEY BEGINS: : After his devastating last-hole double bogey at The Masters, Tom Watson vowed, "I'll be back." He is, with more determination than ever, for one of his favorite tournaments, the $1.1 million GTE Byron Nelson Classic, which starts Thursday at Irving, Texas. During practice on the putting green, Watson insisted The Masters is behind him and he is focused on winning his fifth Nelson title. MACLEOD MAY GO TO N.D.: New York coach John MacLeod is not saying which team he will be ; coaching next year, but all signs point to Notre Dame rather than the s Knicks. "I don't know whether I will return to the NBA. There have been some opportunities that have popped up, and I've got to assess ; the situation," MacLeod said Wednesday. Reports Wednesday night said he could resign as Knicks coach as early as Thursday. Copyright 1991, USA TODAY Apple College Information Network 5K Twilight Run is set The 5K Twilight Run around Weber State's campus is set for May 3. The race will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the South parking lot of the Dee Events Center. The fee for the 5K (3.1 miles) is $3 for late registration(no shirt )and will start at 5:00 p.m. on the day of the race. |