OCR Text |
Show THE DAILY HERALD, Provo, Utah, 1995 Sunday, April 2, - Ql Page Gifford Nielsen still scrambling in TV wars By ALF PRATTE Special to The Daily Herald After spending much of his career trying to avoid deter; By BOS MIMS AP Sports Writer . SALT LAKE CITY - 4-- At 76, Joe Buzas doesn't know how many more seasons remain in his nearly career as a baseball six-deca- de player, promoter and minor league team operator. But the owner of Salt Lake's Triple-- A The winningcst pitcher back this year is Matt Stevens, who was 1 in 1994, his sixth season. Other returnees include Shawn Bryant, in his sixth year; pro Jon HenScott his fourth in Watkins, ry; Mike year; seventh-yea- r pro and Bill Wissler, in his fourth season. As for the vacant slots on his roster, Buzas makes a promise about major league teams' threatened use of replacement players. "A lot of people just want to be sure we're not going to have replacement players, too. No! We're going to have regular players," he declared. Buzas says Salt Lake is too far away from a major league city to be hurt by the outcome of baseball labor talks. But as both an owner and a former Yankee, he derides Buzz franchise knows where he wants to play out the late innings of his life in the sport. forev"Right here in Utah bellows he with characteristic er," enthusiasm. "I'm proud to be here and I want to be here forever, and then my daughter wants to take over' Last year's inaugural season in the city's new $22.4 million Frank- lin Quest Field rewrote Pacific Coast League attendance records. By, the end of last week, Buzz aficionados had purchased about 5,-2season tickets. Last year, when 713,224 fans passed through the ballpark's turnstiles to break the league's single-seaso- n mark of 670,563 set by the 1946 San Francisco Seals, the Buzz sold 4,700 season tickets. 09 With season stubs averaging $425 each this year, Buzas couldn't be happier. He plans to share his joy by giving his ball club a gala April 10 home opener with Vancouver. "(San Francisco 49ers quarterback) Steve Young may throw out the first ball Opening Night," said Buzas, who is entering his 54th year in professional baseball and 9h year as an owner. 'Sky divers will parachute down with the first ball. We'll have fireworks, and the ptah Jazz mascot. I "It's going to be fun. We want to let the people know we appreciate them," he said. "We owe it to them; they should be entertained because they're the best fans." j' The major league labor dispute has left Buzas scratching his head jabout the makeup of most of his Minnesota Twins farm club's roster. Salt Lake's first game is Thurs-ila- y in Albuquerque, t However, 10 of the 23 slots already are filled with veterans from 0 Jast year's club that finished iecond behind Vancouver, in .the 5CLs Northern Division. Leading the returnees is Bernardo Brito, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic in his 14th minor league season. Last year, the Brito batted .309, ing 29 home a cluding 74-7- team-leadin- Ifuns. ' Joining Brito in the outfield will ;be Juan De La Rosa, entering his J 10th season, and Dan Masteller, his seventh opening day. Masteller also will see time at first '.base. The other familiar faces will ? spend their time on the mound or in I the bullpen, led by veteran I Mike Trombley. He was 4-- 4 last ar ;year, recording a 5.04 earned run PCL that ; average in the is the best among returning hur- jlers. hit-hap- Mis-urac- a, fifth in the Heisman Trophy vot- He also told students that he had been approached by BYU officials concerning the vacancy for the position of BYU athletic director. "I've told them that although I am interested in the position, I have an even bigger concern that the selection committee select the candidate that will do the best for the university," hlights," Nielsen explained. "Hard core fans can pick up all said. stars as Dan Rather and Jessica we do cover the local scene like a though Savitch. He also said the Big Three blanket." A member of both the Utah Hall of Fame and Football Hall in news with such well-know- networks of ABC, NBC and Buzas-Drarnmi- " 'Xli,r ''.'' .! ' r j L 1 1 , ... J ' ; - V , WL-'':;m :i see." .... , fi :: ' $ "''w"''T,RW,ri court m Advantage." "aimuu. IlimillW II IIIMII lliWIIIIIIMUUMIUII. s, nit,? A Rock Cats. WIWWimmiu mi mi, .Jim. m . $ Mfc j out-of-sta- ests. Buzas also won't sell, professing his love for the city that lured the s'T former Portland, Ore., Beavers here with the promise of a new & I : stadium. i i - V f t ' . hat's the hp;t wav tn takp rare ; To get even more play out of your home with our S i Reader picks the Reids to head team , ; ; would pick Roger Reid as the coach and Robbie and Randy Reid along with Ken Roberts as three of the five. I think the fans that don't like the Reids arc in the same category as the Utah fans who still boo Donny Ainge. Monte E. Gustin Spanish Fork Coach: Robbie ReSd inspires others . ; ; Sports editor: This letter is in response to Dick Harmon's "Sidelines" column in the March 27 issue of The Daily Herald. After reading Harmon's plea to BYU guard Robbie Reid, I felt it necessary to issue my support of Reid, as well. There are many valuable ways in which Robbie Reid performs, not only for BYU, but also for its surrounding community. As a "native son," Robbie provides a role model for the young people who someday dream of playing college basketball. Could Reid receive such praise from other university communities? Perhaps. But where else could he go and do so much guuu? Let me illustrate mis point with an mrnplc in my own life. My 13- - . yw-ol-d daughter, Jenni, thinks one that no compares to Robbie. He has taught her, through his dedication and skill, to give 100 when competing. I enjoy watching Jenni play basketball because she always goes after the ball and moves very fast per-ce- 1 nt up and down the court. Like Robbie, she never gives up. One night after a BYU game, we waited for Robbie to come out of the locker room. When he came out, I asked if he would talk with Jenni for a few minutes. She met him previously at the Varsity Preview game, and that time, he was able to spend time with her and autograph her program. Robbie has instilled in her a strong desire to give of yourself, both on and off the basketball court. Jenni is looking forward to a ! V f Jow rate, try this. If oi$Msf$&bc& while taking complete advantage . Sports editor: What a timely article you put in ! The Daily Herald on March 27 I an open letter to Robbie Reid. If I were given the opportunity to pick : a 1995 college basketball team I 1 of yo&r V your home's loan to value ratio ? hose? America First Credit Union's Ideal is less than 507c, we'll lower your interest rate credit, use 100 .25. And if payments are automati- Home Equity loan. On approved of your home's cally transferred from an equity for anything: America First account, the remodeling projects, cars, interest rate will go down or college educations. Our low another rate, no fees, and the possibility and we can process your loan .25. Call us today of a tax deduction are all extra points to consider. over the phone at 627-092- 5 in Ogden or (You'll want to talk with your tax coach about in Salt Lake City. 723-500- 8 in Brigham City, that last one.) 223-390- in Orem and 5 245-573- bas- MltflSfcMIL Mwi 4 CREDIT UNION Membrr HCL'A Hunc biiM) haw tat tar ina TW variabk ntt suall ut onl) on one An Equal Opxirtunit) bender tunpraH kunn The nauMrjn Kr Makimaw Km ol V luaa it H) yean Tint ( tnci wm rw a m yM t) em i IV fifced tar a f tw tkxd 21 a ana apotm iin4 tmt a 965-330- in Logan. 0 great 1995-9- 6 season for BYU ketball, with Robbie Reid as their leader. It is very important, for the learn and the community, that Robbie stay with BYU As Joe Baird noted, (as quoted by Harmon is his article). Robbie Reid has two options: Stay and lead, or leave and start over. I hope he will stay and finish his legacy as the best defensive guard we have seen in a BYU uniform. Shatter Bown Bowling coach BYU IMiL iJ After just one season here, Buzas says he has had a string of buyout offers. He won't identify them, except to say they have included te interboth local and a , " Tk Heme WflJJj, M , . will tell you this much,;' If I do come back to ' BYU, I'll be working on my-master's degree. Let's wait and '"TfZ. 'a - . . Nielsen .. both sides. "It's stupid, so greedy. They're both just after money. There's enough money out there for both of them," Buzas said. "Replacement players? That's asinine, ridiculous, the worse thing they could have done. My gosh! Getting people who didn't even make it to (class) AA?" He wonders where the love for America's Pastime has gone, because it still reigns supreme in his own heart. On Opening Day, Buzas will watch his players take the field with the snowcapped Wasatch Mountains providing one of baseball's most striking backdrops and memories of his own glory days will return. "It reminds me of myself, and I want to go out there. For a lot of years I wouldn't watch the games that much, because I wanted to be on that field," he said. When an infielder makes a stop on a wild grounder, saving a run. That's when the years will roll away, Buzas says. For a sweet few seconds, the former Yankee will recall Opening Day, 1946, and loping out to shortstop to begin a brief stint in "the Bigs." That day, he hit a double and drove in a run, going on to bat .262 in 30 games. It came to an end when he aggravated an earlier football shoulder injury. Buzas never got back to the majors after that. Instead, he became an owner of the minor league clubs that fed the majors. Since 1956, Buzas has held 17 different franchises. Daughter a Chicago Hilary psychologist, is president of his only other current holding, the Double-New Britain, Conn., ' "I of that they want on cable. But n . j "It goes against everything I was taught at BYU," he said. placed a strong emphasis on covering all aspects of the sports scene in Houston. "I'm not much for game hig- that the recent success of the CBS affiliate after years in the runnerup positions was due in part to KHOU's strong tradition ing and leading the nation in passing. In remarks to students and fac and ethically questionable prac- tices such as paying newsmakers for interviewers." bought its way into the big leagues w ith its purchase of NFL game rights. "Rupert Murdoch has let the world know that he is willing to bury $40 million to become a major force in network broadcasting," Nielsen said. "Have you noticed how he is advertising all his network programs in the commercials in the football games?" As anchor for the sports segment, Nieisen said he had also recently slid into first place in the top 10 Houston market. "We owe a lot to the Oprah Winfrey and Wheel of Fortune programs which precede and follow our 5 p.m. news and sports," Nielsen said in describing the importance of network programs attracting viewers to stay on particular channel . "But we are having a tough time getting viewers to watch our 10 p.m. news because of weak programs in prime time." In his comments, Nielsen said mined linemen, linebackers and interceptions, former BYU and Houston Oiler quarterback Gifford Nielsen says he is stiil running for his life. This time the former Provo football and basketball star is doing his best to keep himself and the rest of his CBS affiliate TV station in the No. 1 position in the face of a growing onslaught of tabloid journalism and other media blitzes from his broadcast competition in Houston. "The world of network TV is a tough one and it's getting even tougher," Nielsen said Thursday in an interview at BYU where he graduated in 1977 while placing of Fame, the Nielsen ' expressed concern about the growing onslaught of tabloid TV . CBS are constantly looking over their shoulders at the aggressive tactics of the Fox Network which ulty members, Nielsen described the changes in his life and the media since joining the Berlo group's channel KHOU which kiaa aar al oaaa 5 |