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Show Sports The Salt Lake Tribune MONDAY/March 24, 1997 OBITUARIES Page C-7 Tragedy Tugs BY JOHN HARPER THE NEWYORKDAILY NEWS ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tom O”Malleyis the rare American who made a career of playing baseball in Japan. He learned the language, ate the food, showed respect for the culture andlasted six years there as a star, winning a batting title in 1993. Japan was never home for O’Malley, but he was comfortable playing on the WEATHER Page C-8 ake-Up WhackIgnites a Jazz Victory HOME FROM JAPAN At American Athlete’s Roots Section C BY STEVE LUHM THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE DENVER — Theseare hardtimes for the Nuggets, and the Jazz added to their mounting misery Sundaynight. Karl Malone scored 35 points and Utah shot a season-high 64.9 percent en route to an easy 120-103 victory — the Jazz's sixth straight and 30th in the last 35 as McNichols Arena. Lottery-bound Denveris dreadful, and Utah Coach Jerry Sloan, who played on an expansion team in Chicago for Denver Coach Dick Motta in the mid-1960s. was almost apologetic after the Nuggets lost their fourth straight and fell to— ouch — 19-49 overall. “It's difficult for them right now. Sloansaid. “It’s hard to keep players motivated and focused this time of year. The Nuggets are having a hard time with that. I knowbecause we put Dick through the same thing a few years ago in Chica- ‘Big His Dog’ Catches Hi id Wind C5 those Bulls were the most history, and it’s quite unlikely these Nug gets would have had a chance against Sloan & Co Against the 1991 97 Jazz, Denver was clearly outclassed While the Nuggets were unable to han- Clearly fourth in Denver's sports pecking order behind hockey’s Avalanche, hearts of the few hearty fans whohalffilled the echo-chamberofficially known Actually. successful expansion franchise in NBA hot Jazz made the Nuggets look even worse. games. baseball's Rockies and football's Broncos. the Nuggets did little to win the go. another professional effort by the white- B Lakers Get dle Malone. John Stockton contributed 22 points and 15 assists and Antoine Carr added 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting If there was a turning point in Utah's victory. it came with 2:26 left in the half At that point, the Nuggets head.” C5 said Sloan 49-45. and owned theball whenDale Ellis See JAZZ. Page C-5 Taylorsville Has Business To Complete cn International to catch up on the news from the States It was nighttime here, a day earlier. TWAFlight 800 had gone downinto the Atlantic Ocean only hoursearlier. They were talking about a tragedyin O’Malley recalled. do Dalepushesoff alot.” said Horn wereactual ly making a fight of it. They trailed only other side of the world. The distance didn’t bother him that is, until that afternoon last July when he turned on the air,” Smacked in smackedJeff Hornacek in the back of the head Hornacek had madeEllis look silly on consecutive Jazz pc ons with two s ap: jumpers. andt Denver uggets parently still upset when cameupthe floor He gave hima shot in the back of the “And then Editor's Note Uta! . Wolf Blitzer comes on and he’s talking about all these people from Montoursville, Pa, who were ontheflight, and I just about fell off my chair. I just sat there stunned, with this hcrrible feeling in the pit of my stomach BY LYA WODRASKA NE The more heheard, thesickerhefelt. Twenty-one people from his hometown e bottom of the yaded. all were killed, 16 French Club students and five chaperones from Montoursville the Taylorsville High, where O"Malleystarred as an ath- was one goodIh lete in the late "70s and later coached ju- Warri nior high basketball, which one yearin- cluded Grioles pitcher Mike Mussina. It's a small town where everybody knows everybody.” O'Malleysaid. “If I didn’t knowevery one of those people {who died] personally. I know someone in raslorsile their families. It was so hard on the the ue yea We 1 And I felt helpless, being so far town. away and it's hard for anyexcuses have = the b The Hitting Home: Phone calls that day brought the news even closer to home. One of the victims was a high school se- for not winning returnall nior named RanceHettler, a kid who had lived next door and idolized O'Malley, making trips to New York with his family to see O’ Malley play for the Mets in 1990. the last year he played in this country. I baby-sat for him, I watched him growup.” O"Malleyrecalled. “He was a great kid. I gave him a Mets jersey when he came to see me play. He wanted to be an FBI agent. There were so manybright kids on that trip. The best of the best. Some of them weregoing to Harvard. schools like that. It just tears at you. I wanted to come home and pay my respects but I couldn't because I was so far away Instead, O'Malley watched a videotape in Japan of the funeral for Rance Hettler O™Malley also watched on CNN ashis best friend, Craig Kurtz. the assistant principal at Montoursville High, arrived in New York with dental records to help identify the bodies pulled out of the ocean It was a difficult time to be on another continent, but O'Malley continued to produce for the Yakult Swallows, hitting 315 with 18 home runs and 97 RBIs. In fact. O'Malley, a minor-league star for BYU’s Ryan Millar snarls his wayto a blockin volleyball action Saturday. The Cougarsare ranked No. 1 in the nation eeMen’s Volleyball Has Provo Rockin’ the Giants and Mets who neverblossomed at the major-leaguelevel, had quite a run BYJOE BAIRD in Japan, hitting over .300 for six straight ns and helping Yakult win the Japanese championship in 1995 Moving On:It was a stay more unusual for its length than its success. Most American players cash in for a year or two and get out, not always by their choice. I was willing to adapt to their culture and their style of play,” O'Malley said Pacific and Long Beach State in four games each. Themusic blared. ieeplace rocked. A goodti PROVO — Whoever says this town doesn’t hop on Friday d Saturday nights has not attended a BYU men’s vol- leyball matchlately. Ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Cougars have been packing them into Smith Fieldhouse. Over the weekend, crowds of more than 2,000 came to the old basket- ball gym to watch BYU trip Top-10 foes the BYL says It’s fun to come watch us play Cougar Coach Carl McGown, whose tea has drawnTeka 4,000-plus fans for s matches. ‘iends tell meit’st ve had loudest place they've ever been. And it’s the students who make it ‘that way. It's a kids’ environment. It's like the T ott Center seaso Boy howdy. After a basketball See BYU. Page C-5 - Arizona Puts Out Friars’ Fire in OT for what happened at homelast summer. BY JOE JULIANO But thebottom lineis, you're hired to b ed I would havestayed but the team changed ownership, they wanted to go Maybeit would bother him moreif not At age 36, O'Malleyis trying to stick with the Texas Rangers as a backup infielder and a left-handed pinch-hitter. If he doesn't make it, he'll take a shot some- whereel: Or h in go home to Montoursville, where he is setting up a scholarship at the high school in his name in memoryofthe le on Flight 800. y're still having a rough time he said. “It was always a closet town and it's even closer now. They still want to know whyit happened. That d help them deal with it, but I don't hat wound will ever heal. THE FINAL FOUR At The RCA Dome, eens (All games telev National Semifinals — Saturday North Carolina (28-6) vs March 29 Minnesota (31-3) vs. Kentucky 6.20 p.m See SOFTBALL. Page C-7 That’s Odd: Smith’s Heels Hang On, Gain Final Four > with younger guys, save some money. It was time to moveon men's an as had You can't go over there and complain You haveto do it their way. You have to be disciplined. They teach youdiscipline | (34-4), BY LUKE CYPHERS National Championship — Monday, March 34 N.C./Ariz. winnervs. Minn. /Kent. w a =a HE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER gional final, the ProvidenceFriars rode a wave of emotion that got them to within one possession of the Final Four. But that same emotion mortally woundedthe Friars against Arizona. Their loss of poiseled to . . : = 4 for 4 fromthefield — 96-92, to earn their second four years frenzied comeback Sunday in the Southea C-3 5 Preview ite font @ Women's ; It BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Through their unlike. _ly run in the NCAAtournament, and seesa : : wa . 7e ? ecor ; ¥ The exhausting game. lied froma 10-point def seconds to play, and from sé Temaining in regulation three second-half technical fouls that spelled the and the difference in a game that would goto overtime. The Wildcats held their breath as the Friars Birmingham-Jeffersor crowdof 13,721 limp missed two shots in the final seven seconds of n See ARIZONA, Page C-3 regulation, then controlled theovertime bygoing The trig i xt See CAROLINA. Ps S PEA M a Hingis lost the first three games and then Arizona 96, Providence New Jersey 100, Boston 91 NHL Sn Warcaia Atlanta 90, Torontc Miami 113, Minnesota 108 Portland 94, New York 88 coer ‘ L.A. Clippers 106. San Antonio 91 Seattle 106, Vancouv weeks Williams, who beat Jennifer Capriati on Saturday night, will climbto about 100th in the new rankings pro tourC2 The California native has played in just 11 Details, Utah 120, Denver 103 Orlando 110, L.A. Lakers 84 » win a battle of 16-year-olds Sunday, beating r Venus Williams 6-4, 6-2 in the third round atthe Lip ton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla The match — thefirst between the two talented teen-agers — may have beenthestart of a rivalry Hingis will become the youngest No. 1 player ever hen the new rankings are released March 31. She'll supplant Steffi Graf, who has been No. 1 a record 374 naments NCAA Southeast Regional | NBA Hingis Tops Williamsin Battles of Teens 2 ional Venus Williams a East Reg NCAA North Carolina 97, Louisville 74 ESPN 7 ‘ : ‘ In Action Tonight : oP Coat ee Center ‘a at gas. p ms ’ axketha ESP 3, ESPN — Wor oral it ae ESPN anaheim Bd as Chicago 5, Detroit Dallas 4. St F : se Philadelphia 2. Colorad : TV Highlights 92 0 pam \ Time Out Follow Up’ ’ 1A > aon . : |
