Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.sports From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: sports Thu, Jun 25 1992 Date: Thu, 25 Jun 92 05:35:29 EDT Message-ID: 06-25 0000 DECISIONLINE: Sports USA TODAY Update June 25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CENTERS ARE TOP NBA PICKS: Centers went first, second and third Wednesday in the NBA draft. As expected, LSU's Shaquille O'Neal was picked first by the Orlando Magic. The Charlotte Hornets then took Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning with the second selection. Christian Laettner of Duke went third to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ohio State guard Jimmy Jackson went to the Dallas Mavericks in the fourth spot. TRADES PRECEDE DRAFT: There were two major trades before the start of the NBA draft Wednesday. The New York Knicks acquired shooting guard Rolando Blackman from the Mavericks in exchange for a 1995 first-round pick, and the Utah Jazz obtained Jay Humphries and Larry Krystkowiak from Milwaukee for Eric Murdock, Blue Edwards and Utah's first round pick (No. 23 overall) in this year's draft. SANCHEZ VICARIO UPSET: No. 5 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was Wednesday's upset victim in women's play at Wimbledon. She was upset by Julie Halard 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Top seed Monica Seles defeated Sabine Appelmans 6-3, 6-2. No. 4 Martina Navratilova beat Kimberly Po 6-2 in the first set but lost the second 6-3 before play was halted because of darkness. No. 7 Mary Joe Fernandez also advanced. STICH, EDBERG ADVANCE: Defending champion Michael Stich and No. 2 Stefan Edberg were among those advancing Wednesday in men's play at Wimbledon. Stich advanced to the third round, beating Amos Mansdorf 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-4. Edberg beat Gary Muller 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Also, in the conclusion of a suspended first-round match, Andre Agassi beat Andrei Chesnokov 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, 7-5. GRAY SETS RECORD IN 800: Johnny Gray ran the fastest 800 meters ever in the USA and Butch Reynolds, who can compete only in the USA because of an international ban, continued to advance in the 400 Wednesday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Gray ran the fastest time of the year (1:42.80). Reynolds advanced to Friday's final by finishing second in his semifinal heat to Quincy Watts. SMOLTZ THROWS TWO HITTER: John Smoltz (8-5) threw a two-hitter as the Atlanta Braves shut out the San Francisco Giants 5-0 Wednesday. The Braves extended their shutout streak to 28 innings in winning their 11th game of a 12-game homestand. In other NL games: Montreal 8, Philadelphia 1; Cincinnati 9, Houston 6; St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1; New York 3, Chicago 2. FIELDER HITS TWO HRS: Cecil Fielder hit two home runs as the Detroit Tigers downed the Boston Red Sox 5-1 Wednesday. Fielder, who has hit three HRs in two days, leads the American League with 60 RBI. The loss was Boston's seventh straight. In other AL games: Minnesota 11, California 0; Oakland 7, Seattle 2; Baltimore 8, Milwaukee 4; Chicago 4, Cleveland 3; Toronto 3, Texas 2; New York 6, Kansas City 3. HOWE GETS LIFETIME BAN: Commissioner Fay Vincent Wednesday suspended pitcher Steve Howe of the New York Yankees permanently for violating baseball's drug policy. In handing down the lifetime ban, Vincent said, "Mr. Howe has the longest disciplinary record of drug abuse offenses in baseball history." Howe pleaded guilty June 8 to a misdemeanor drug charge in Montana. TICKETS TO BE SOLD IN MACHINES: The Minnesota Twins in July will begin selling tickets in three Minneapolis:St. Paul supermarkets using ticketing machines similar to bank automatic tellers. The credit-card service, which will allow fans to choose their seat and see the view of the playing field from their section, will include a 10% service charge. MARLIN HAS FASTEST LAP: Sterling Marlin had the fastest test speed Wednesday during preparation for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Marlin has won the last two pole positions for NASCAR Winston Cup races at Daytona. He turned a lap in 187.617 mph in Junior Johnson's Ford while testing NASCAR's newly mandated 45-degree rear spoiler. PLAYER STRIKES UMPIRE: Timothy Daurity, a 17-year-old American Legion baseball player, faces felony assault charges in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., after hitting an umpire in the chest with a bat when he mistakenly called the player out on a second strike. The umpire, Glenn Barham, was treated and released at a Raleigh hospital. FURLAN LEADS TOUR: Italy's Giorgio Furlan held on to his overall lead in the Tour of Switzerland Wednesday. France's Eric Boyer won the eighth stage, a 148-mile run, the longest of the tour's 10 stages. Furlan will take a comfortable 31-second lead into the last Alpine stage today. The USA's Greg LeMond is fifth overall, 1:31 minutes off the pace. 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Sports Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Sports Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM