|
|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, August 5, 1998
Cool weather greets Eagles at practice
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Aug. 5 -- After a summer of 100 degree-plus days, the
Pecos Eagles football team caught a break today, in their
first morning of preseason workouts at the Pecos High School
practice field.
Cloudy skies and a light drizzle dropped the temperature
into the mid 60s when the 32 varsity players at today's
first practice session took the field at 8 a.m.
The workout was the first for Pecos under new head coach
Dan Swaim, and in a change from recent years, the varsity
was by themselves on the practice field, while 36 other
freshman and junior varsity players held their first
workouts over at the PHS baseball field.
Pecos is coming off consecutive 4-6 seasons, but with their
transfer from District 4-4A to District 2-4A this season,
the Eagles are favored to earn their first district title
and their first playoff berth in 23 years.
"We have some conditioning to do, but it's not as bad as I
thought it would be," Swaim said of the players' stamina
after the first hour of practice. "We've got an enthusiastic
group of kids who are excited about it, and that's all I can
ask."
Along with the 32 varsity players, Swaim said, "There are
six others that are accounted for. Either they're on
vacation or they haven't gotten their physicals yet. I'm
thinking there will be about 41 out when we start the school
year."
Two-a-days are running from 8 to 10 a.m. and then from 11
a.m. to 1 p.m. this week, while full pad workouts will start
next week.
"We'll start with pads on Monday, and then Tuesday we'll
have a night workout (at Eagle Stadium) it order to let them
get a little more time to get over their soreness after the
first day of workouts."
Pecos will have two weeks of pad drills before their Aug.
21 scrimmage opener, at home against Monahans. The Eagles
will scrimmage at Greenwood the following week, then open
their 1998 season on Thursday, Sept. 3 against Denver City
at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa.
Stottlemyre boosted by Rangers' offense
By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas, Aug. 5 -- Todd Stottlemyre didn't pay much
attention to the American League when he was with St. Louis,
so he had no idea he would be backed by baseball's most
productive lineup when he was traded to Texas.
It hasn't taken him longer to figure it out.
The Rangers gave Stottlemyre a 10-3 cushion before
eventually holding off Carlos Delgado and the Toronto Blue
Jays 11-9 on Tuesday night. In three games with Texas,
Stottlemyre has seen his teammates score 31 runs.
``The way we're scoring runs and swinging the bats is a lot
of fun to watch,'' said Stottlemyre (1-0), who ended a
personal four-game losing streak by allowing two earned runs
in 5 2-3 innings.
Every Rangers starter scored once and reserve Luis Alicea
got in on the act. Only Todd Zeile scored twice.
Lee Stevens continued his recent hot streak by going 3-for-3
with three RBIs. Ivan Rodriguez and Tom Goodwin each drove
in two runs, as did Royce Clayton, who was acquired Friday
along with Stottlemyre.
``Right now, we've got a good offensive lineup,'' manager
Johnny Oates said. ``We can produce a big inning, even with
two outs as we did tonight.''
That was the fifth, when the Rangers scored seven runs off
Chris Carpenter (6-6), although all were unearned because of
an error by second baseman Craig Grebeck while covering
first base on a sacrifice bunt early in the rally.
Delgado drove in four runs with three home runs, tying the
team record. After striking out his first two at-bats, he
homered to right field in the fifth, left field in the
seventh and center field in the eighth.
``I was just trying to hit the ball and I got some good
hitting counts,'' said Delgado, the seventh Blue Jay to hit
three homers in a game and just the third to homer in
back-to-back-to-back at-bats.
Toronto's comeback bid fell short, however, when John
Wetteland got the last four outs for his 29th save. He has
retired the last 13 batters he's faced, striking out eight
of them.
Stottlemyre hadn't pitched in 10 days because of the trade
and nagging injuries in his back and side. He was pleased,
but not over impressed by his work, which included eight
strikeouts, six hits and four walks.
The fans, however, saw things differently. A sellout crowd
gave him a standing ovation when he left and a stunned
Stottlemyre responded by tipping his cap.
``I don't know if I deserved that,'' Stottlemyre said. ``To
walk off and have them cheering like that was real nice.''
Stottlemyre struck out the side in the first inning and
fanned the last batter in each of his first four innings --
all with runners in scoring position.
``I know I ran a lot of counts deep and threw a lot of
pitches,'' Stottlemyre said. ``It seemed like I was in
trouble in every inning.''
El Paso fans passing on Cowboys' scrimmage
EL PASO, Aug. 4 (AP) -- As in most relationships, the sparks
flew when El Paso began its courtship of the Dallas Cowboys.
The city was aflutter at the prospect of hosting a favored
NFL team -- even if it was only for a scrimmage -- and the
Cowboys were declaring they wanted this to become a
long-term affair.
The ardor has cooled somewhat since 1996.
Ticket sales have been lagging for the Cowboys' third annual
scrimmage in the Sun Bowl on Thursday and fans are beginning
to show signs that they're tiring of the glorified practices
with the big-game hype.
Around 30,000 tickets had been sold by Tuesday for the
practice session with the Oakland Raiders. Officials noted
it was a substantial number, but it was a far cry from the
first game, which drew a sellout crowd of 51,118.
``The novelty of having the NFL come to town has worn off
and the Cowboys certainly didn't have the best record last
year (6-10). A lot of football fans seem to be fair weather
fans,'' said Larry Peterson, chairman of the Cowboys Task
Force, which has coordinated all three scrimmages.
But even some of those who profess to have an undying
allegiance to the Cowboys would like a change.
Football fans citywide say they are eager for an exhibition
game or the training camp that was discussed when the
Cowboys first came to town.
``I think we want a preseason game, I really do, instead of
a scrimmage,'' said fan Mark Schneider. ``I think we as fans
would find that a lot more enjoyable, even though with a
scrimmage you get to spend a lot more time with the
players.''
Schneider said he would continue to support the scrimmages
if that remains the only option. Other fans maintain they
will keep turning out no matter what the Cowboys come in to
do.
``I'll never get enough of the Cowboys,'' said Pete Espino,
another fan.
Peterson said the task force will likely concentrate future
efforts on landing an exhibition next year and convincing
the Cowboys to move their training camp here. The camp is in
Wichita Falls this year.
Accomplishing either objective will require considerably
more work and money than the scrimmages ever have.
An exhibition game would cost around $2 million to produce,
compared to less than $700,000 for a scrimmage, Peterson
said.
The training camp would likely require the community to
invest several million dollars in a sports complex that
could serve as a practice facility, a project that is
already being discussed.
Peterson said that if the camp came to El Paso, it wouldn't
be any earlier than 2000. He said that would be the case for
any of the other cities competing with El Paso for the camp,
including Austin and San Antonio.
``I think to field the type of facilities the Cowboys are
most interested in, any community in Texas would have to
build something,'' Peterson said. ``I don't think anyone is
seriously thinking about hosting training camp before 2000
other than Wichita Falls.''
Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple would not comment on
training sites, beyond saying the team was having a
``wonderful camp'' in Wichita Falls.
Dalrymple did say the Cowboys were interested in a ongoing
relationship with El Paso and would like to continue the
scrimmages.
Noting that some NFL teams barely drew 30,000 spectators for
regular season games last year, Dalrymple said having a
smaller crowd at the Sun Bowl on Thursday than in previous
years would not concern the team.
``I think it's going to be a good event,'' he said.
Morris gets 1-year deal from Bears
PLATTEVILLE, Wis., Aug. 5 (AP) -- The Chicago Bears needed
some backfield help and Bam Morris needed another chance.
Both needs were met Tuesday when the Bears signed Morris to
a one-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Morris, 26, was suspended twice by the NFL for violating the
league's substance abuse policy and spent 89 days in jail
this year in Rockwall, Texas, for violating his probation
for marijuana possession.
He rushed for 744 yards in 11 games last season for the
Baltimore Ravens and was the Ravens' leading rusher in 1996.
But the team released him in January.
``He's made some mistakes,'' Bears vice president of player
personnel Mark Hatley said Tuesday after Morris worked out
for the team. ``There's some past history we're concerned
about.''
With contract talks with first-round draft pick Curtis Enis
at an apparent impasse, the Bears decided to roll the dice
on Morris.
``It's going to be hard. It's going to be a journey,''
Morris said. ``But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to
get back.''
Morris was a high school star in his hometown of Cooper,
Texas, about 80 miles northeast of Dallas, then became a
college star at Texas Tech. After winning the Doak Walker
Award as the nation's top collegiate running back in 1993,
he entered the NFL and starred with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He helped lead the Steelers to the Super Bowl in 1996 and
was the game's leading rusher. He was released months later
after his legal troubles began.
He originally was arrested near Rockwall, 25 miles east of
Dallas, on March 22, 1996, when a state trooper found six
pounds of marijuana in the trunk of his Mercedes-Benz. He
pleaded guilty three months later to possession of marijuana
and prosecutors dropped a more serious charge of cocaine
possession.
He was placed on six years' probation, fined $7,000 and
ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
He ended up having to serve jail time after missing seven
meetings with his probation officer from July 1996 to August
1997. The NFL suspension also was used against him.
Morris is the brother of former Bears wide receiver Ron
Morris.
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 1998 by Pecos Enterprise
|
Pecos Enterprise