Main Menu|Archives Menu|Classified|Advertising|Monahans|
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Aug. 6, 1996 - Pecos Eagle tennis players became the first varsity squad to get their
preseason workouts underway Monday, at the Pecos High School tennis
courts.
It was also the first workout for new Eagles tennis coach J.R. Torres,
who took over last month after longtime coach Greg Howard resigned to
take a coaching job in the Austin area.
"I was real impressed with the effort the kids gave," said Torres, who
has his players practicing during the morning and afternoon right now.
He said between 22 and 24 players were out for the opening day of
practice on Monday. "I think we may have one or two kids still on
vacation, but by Thursday we should have everybody in practice ready to
go."
Torres gets back almost all of last year's team that placed third in the
District 4-4A standings, behind Andrews and Big Spring after a second
place finish in 1994. Big Spring again figures to be the top team in
4-4A this season, while Andrews, along with Sweetwater and Fort
Stockton, will be the main teams fighting for the other Region I-4A
playoff berth (the new three playoff team format in Class 4A doesn't
apply for team tennis or golf).
Workouts right now are from 9 to 11 a.m. and in the afternoon from 4 to
6 p.m. ""Until school starts we're just focusing on conditioning and
fundamental strokes," said Torres, whose teams will see their first
action later this month.
Along with Torres as the Eagles' new high school coach, Pecos also added
a new junior high coach in Brandon Lee, who replaced Pat Howard. "He'll
be helping out in the fall with the high school tea and will be in
charge of the junior high team in the spring," said Torres, who added
there probably won't be any matches for the seventh and eighth graders
until the spring.
"I don't think we'll be able to do anything with the junior highs this
fall because of how late Brandon and I got started, but I definitely
want to have an active junior high schedule in the spring, and I want to
increase the summer program we have here so it's more of a year-round
program," he said.
MONTERREY, Mexico - While the outcome of the American Bowl meant little
to the teams involved, the full-house crowd hung on every moment.
After all, Monday night's preseason game between the Dallas Cowboys and
Kansas City Chiefs was only the second time in two years that the NFL
had brought ``futbol americano'' south of the border.
So, Eduardo Elizondo sprung $24 for two tickets in the nosebleed seats
of Monterrey's University Stadium. In a country where the minimum wage
is about $3 a day, that's a lot of money.
``This is a luxury for us,'' acknowledged Elizondo, 42, a medical
worker, as he watched the Chiefs defeat Dallas 32-6. He sat next to his
14-year-old daughter Karla, who had stamped a Cowboys helmet in blue ink
on her cheek.
``But this is something that rarely comes here. And we've always been
fans of the Vaqueros'' - as the Cowboys are universally known here.
Most of the 45,218 fans in the sold-out stadium plainly sided with the
Super Bowl champions. But it was the Chiefs, in their preseason opener,
who provided the most pyrotechnics in a game both teams dismissed
immediately afterward.
Before wholesale substitutions began, the Chiefs gained a 13-3 lead at
halftime on a touchdown pass from No. 2 quarterback Rich Gannon to
running back Todd McNair, and two field goals.
For the game, Gannon completed an impressive 10 of 11 for 143 yards.
Starting quarterback Steve Bono looked rusty during three series,
finishing with four completions in 10 attempts and one interception, by
Cowboys safety Darren Woodson.
Two kickers had successful auditions for a job vacated when the Chiefs
released Lin Elliott, the goat of last season's 10-7 playoff loss to
Indianapolis with three missed field goals. Bjorn Nittmo banged home
kicks of 48 and 50 yards, with room to spare. And Roman Anderson was
good from 19 and 29 yards.
``I was delighted with the performances of each of them,'' Chiefs coach
Marty Schottenheimer said, then quickly added: ``The competition
continues.''
Dallas dropped to 1-1 in the exhibition season. Cowboys coach Barry
Switzer played down the defeat.
``The statistics mean nothing in this ballgame,'' he said. ``The second
half was a bunch of players who won't make our team and probably won't
make their team. Simple as that. These games really mean nothing,
statistically and scorewise.''
With star running back Emmitt Smith sidelined with a throat infection,
the Cowboys' starting offense was stifled in the first half, managing
only a field goal.
However, quarterback Troy Aikman and defender-turned-receiver Deion
Sanders connected on a 62-yard bomb, establishing a deep threat the team
hopes will develop.
Sanders, the erstwhile star cornerback, beat left cornerback Darren
Anderson on a fly pattern, catching the ball in stride at the Chiefs' 40
and running another 29 yards.
Dallas has been looking to bolster its receiving corps since the NFL
suspended Michael Irvin for five games after the star wideout pleaded no
contest to a drug charge.
Mexico's first American Bowl, in 1994 in Mexico City, drew a
league-record 112,376 in Aztec Stadium. Played in a city ringed by the
majestic eastern Sierra Madre, Monday night's American Bowl was the 27th
in an international exhibition series that began in London in 1986.
Monterrey, celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, preened before
nationwide television audiences in both countries. With a metropolitan
population of 3 million, Monterrey is a leading exporter of steel, glass
and cement and a poster city for the North American Free Trade
Agreement.
That makes Monterrey fertile ground for NFL promotion in a country where
football is known as soccer.
Monterrey boosters say their city could sustain a pro franchise, and
fans here made their case Monday night. They clapped on cue to ``Start
Me Up'' and ``We Will Rock You.'' They even roared at the Star Spangled
Banner, sung by two Dallas and Kansas City cheerleaders.
``Hopefully, this can continue to grow,'' NFL commissioner Paul
Tagliabue told Television Azteca, ``and maybe someday we'll have an
expansion team here in Mexico.''
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. Neither these AP
Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for
personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for
any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the
transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages
arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@bitstreet.com
http://www.pecos.net/news
This page prepared in askSam