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■ The ‘folksy’ ones hit Athens — 6
■ The Far Side and beyond — 7
SPORTS / ENTERTAINMENT
Parker jumps back into competitive tennis in tourney
By RANDY WALKER
Sports Editor
For the first time in A1 Parker’s
life, he spent a summer playing
more golf than tennis.
“For about two months, I didn’t
hit a ball,” Parker said. “I just took
some time off and played golf every
day.”
After taking a summer sabbat
ical from competitive tennis to rest
nagging ir\juries, Parker will re
turn to action today in his first
tournament in almost two months
in the 23rd Southern Collegiate
Tennis Championships. Parker,
the top-seeded player and two-time
champion, faces Paul Goebel of
Middle Tennessee St. at 11 a.m. at
Henry Field Stadium.
“All the players in the tourna
ment are tough,” said Parker,
Georgia’s No. 1 tennis player for
the last three years. “If I play my
best, I have a good shot of winning
it. I’m just not sure if I'll play my
best or not.”
Since losing to Jason Netter of
UCLA in the second round of the
Al Parker: Tennis on track,
but golf suffers.
Rard digs into season
By LYA WODRASKA
Sports Writer
Nothing is more satisfying to
Georgia volleyball player Franci
Rard than making a great dig.
“I love a good dig,” she said. “It’s
a great feeling when someone hits
the ball as hard as they can and I
dig it up.”
Rard’s digging abilities will be
needed if the Bulldogs hope to dig
themselves out of their current
three-game losing streak this
weekend in the Georgia Invita
tional. Georgia faces 18th-ranked
Pittsburgh at 7:30 on Friday at the
Women’s P.E. Building.
Rard, who leads the team in digs
averaging 3.08 per game, is the
only freshman to play in every
game this year. Any other
freshman might back away from
the pressure of starting every
game, but Rard welcomes it.
"I like the pressure,” she said. “I
think it helps me play better.”
Rard’s talent isn’t limited to just
digging.
“She’s a very intense hard
worker,” Georgia coach Jim lams
said. “She plays defense really
well, is a good passer, and hits the
ball really hard. Her jump serve
can be very effective when she hits
it well. I’m just real pleased with
her all the way around."
As a seven-year-old, Rard
started playing volleyball with her
parents.
“I went to the gym with my mom
and dad when they played,” she
said. "I started bugging everyone
Franci Rard: Has blessed
the volleyball team with her
talents.
to pass the ball to me."
The early start helped the
Naples, Florida native become an
outstanding player in high school.
Before attending Georgia, Rard
was an All-State player for three
years and was selected to play in
the East-West Florida All-Star
game.
Duke and Florida will play in
the opening match of the tourna
ment at 5 p.m. Friday. The winner
of that match will play the
Georgia-Pittsburgh winner in the
finals on Saturday at 7:30. The two
losing teams will play for third-
place at 5 p.m.
Eye on the tiger
Georgia football coach Ray Goff and his Bulldogs take
on the Clemson Tigers in Death Valley.
SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE TENNIS
Friday - Monday, Henry Feild Stadium
8:00 a.m.
Ivan Barorpf&M v$. Hassjjki ElArdiissv (S. Ala.)
9:30 a.m.
Bobby P
farlebcheck (Ga.) vsNiKirk Bonniott (Citadel)
11:00 a.m.
Al Park!
*r (Ok,3 vs, Paul Coebj-1 (Mid Tenn. St.)
2:00 p.m.
Patricio
Wnold (Ga.) vs. Scop Evans (Term. Chatt.) or
. TJfomas Tanner (U.N.C.)
Jack FriereofftSiliiBii^oug Hawthorne (Murray St.)
3:30 p.m.
David Wolf (Ga.) vs. Chad Jordan (Citadel)
Stephan Moroekl/The Reel and Blao
NCAA Championships last May,
Parker stayed off the courts and hit
the links to rest his ailing back,
shoulder and legs.
After traveling to Indianapolis
to the National Institute for Fit
ness and Sport, where he received
a complete physical analysis,
Parker began to play again. The
Claxton native limited his tennis to
simply practicing until he received
a phone call one evening from the
Volvo International.
‘They called me the night before
the (aualifying) tournament, and
said I could get a wildcard if I
wanted to,” Parker said. “I just
said 'What the heck. I might as
well play.’”
Parker took a late-night flight
and arrived in New Haven, Ct. for
his first round aualifying match
against Sweden’s Magnus Zeile.
Parker played close to form in
the first three games, but his lack
of conditioning and match play
caught up to him as Zeile won 12 of
the last 13 games in a 6-3, 6-1 vic
tory.
Since that loss, Parker has
stayed in Athens and continued to
build up his game and regain his
form.
“In the long run I think the
layoff was a good thing for him,”
Georgia coach Manuel Diaz said.
“It won’t detract from his devel
opment as a player. He’s back on
top of his game, and is more than
ready for this tournament.”
But while Parker is getting his
tennis game bnck on track, his golf
game may suffer.
‘My golf gome improved over the
summer, ” Parker said.
It’s a war between roses
Kappa Alpha Theta freshman Traci Moore carries the ball during the Pi Kappa Phi War
of the Roses'. The semi-finals begin today at 3:30 and the finals will be at 4:30.
You Pick 'Em
Favorite
Pts
Underdog
CI.KMKON
9 IK
Ororfli
MAKY1.ANT)
2
Georgia Tech
BOSTON COIJ.
7
Rutger*
ARMY
2 1/2
Duke
PRINCETON
H 1*2
Drown
Houston
12
IIAYMIR
VIRGINIA TKC1I
1
Weel Virginia
NOTRE DAME
18
Stanford
Kl/ORIDA
13
LSI’
HARVARD
r.
Cornell
EAST CAROLINA
I'K
S Mississippi
MIAMI. KI*A
ft
Florida St
MISSISSIIVI
10
Kentucky
Michigan
27
WISCONSIN
Nebraska
29
KANSAS ST
Oklahoma
23
OKLAHOMA ST
Colorado
15
MISSOURI
TEXAS A 4 M
18
Tea a* Toth
OHIO ST
I’K
lllmioe
Alabama
16
SW MH ISIANA
WAKE FOREST
6
North Carolina
ARKANSAS a
16
Tejia* Christian
Syracuse
13 IK
VANDERBILT
1 .A FAYETTE
3
Columbia
COM’.ATE
4 1/2
Yale
ALBURN'
28
U Tech
I'EN.N STATE
13
Temple
UHJISVII.IE
13
Tulaa
ARIZONA STATE
1
Washington
MEMPHIS ST
3 1 *2
Tulane
WM 4 MARY
9 IK
Delaware
Pl'RIll'E
y
Minnesota
Stophen MofoeM/fhe Red and Black
Cross Country goes to Atlanta to defend title
Clemson game on TV In Coliseum
The Georgia Coliseum will be
open this Saturday for a closed cir
cuit presentation of the Georgia-
Clemson game. Student tickets are
$5 while the general admission
charge is $10.
The Coliseum will provide four
TVs for viewing, two more than the
setup for the closed circuit presen
tation during the LSU game. Even
before the majority of students ar
rived for fall quarter, the opening
game feature drew just under 4,-
000 people. Seating for the game is
first-come, first-serve, as the
tickets designate no specific
seating instructions.
Tickets will be on sale until 4:30
today at the Butts-Mehre building
and until game time on Saturday
at the Coliseum.
Cross-country to defend titles
The cross country teams head
into this weekend’s Georgia Inter-
collegiate Championships in At
lanta with their heads held high.
As defending champions, the
men and women are out to prove
that last year was no fluke.
‘The women have a great chance
to win,” head coach John Mitchell
said. “The men need Terry Reid to
run well ”
Reid has become the main
weapon in the men’s arsenal due to
the groin injury sustained by
normal top-finisher Eric Tyson in
late September.
The women are in jeopardy of
losing Kathryn Krieger to a
swollen foot, but Keli Butler, the
top women’s runner, will enter the
meet injury-free.
Will the Dogs continue to be ‘Untouchable’ ?
Today, I plan on taking a page from entertain
ment editor Coleen Brooks’ book and discuss
the movies — with a twist. Somehow, some of
these movie titles are very applicable to sea
sons that some of the Georgia players are cur
rently having.
For example, The Untouchables would be ap
propriate for describing Ray GofTs attitude to
ward wide receiver Kevin Maxwell. Last
season, Maxwell caught 12 passes for 241 yards
and two touchdowns — which averaged out to
21.9 yards per game. He even caught a 93-yard
TD pass from Greg Talley against Vandy. This
season, Maxwell has played in three games nnd
has only caught one pass — the only one thrown
his way.
Outside linebacker Mo Lewis is suffering
somewhat from the Mo' Better Blues. The tal
ented Lewis harrassed quarterbacks all season
long in 1989 and walked away with 10 sacks
and 116 tackles. This season, opposing teams
have decided to get even and are throwing two
or three blockers in front of Lewis, which has
left him sackless on the season. But, Lewis is
still leads the the Bulldogs with 39 tackles.
Freshman tailback Garrison Hearst is defi
nitely The Freshman. Although he is still young
and will have some formidable defenses to run
against such as Auburn and Clemson, Hearst
has all of the tools to be another great Georgia
back. Hearst has lightning-quick moves,
blazing speed, he’s and tough. He has shown a
knack for picking up the big yards on third
down and ne has gained more yards rushing
(268) than any other true freshman in the SEC.
He is the conference’s premier back of the fu
ture.
Sine Men Out would definitely be the story of
the Junkyard Dog defense. Georgia lost George
Brewer, Casey Barnum, Clay Ware, and Curt
Douglas to academic difficulties, Tommy Ing-
alsbe, Robert Bell, and David Hnrgett to inju
ries, Randy Wolford quit, and Norman Cowins
to improprieties.
Narrow Marginbeat explains the way
Georgia has won each of its games this season.
One-point victories over Southern Mississippi
and Alabama and last week’s four point “blow
out” win over East Carolina has sent hearts
pounding and kept Ray Goff up late at night
searching for hair that has steadily receeded
over the course of the year.
Wide receiver Andre Hastings is The Nat
ural. Although he hasn’t received the ball as
much as he should, Hastings is a quality per
former with superior athletic skills. Think
about it: Hastings barely plays, but opposing
teams have constantly kicked the ball away
from him on the kickoffs.
Do they know something that the Georgia
coaches don’t know?
Imagine, if he can instill that much fear just
returning kicks, think how opposing coaches
would react if the Bulldog braintrust sent him
into a pass pattern deeper rather than two
yards past the line of scrimmage.
The Forbidden Zone would have to be the
endzone. Georgia has lx»en allergic to the end-
zone this season, scoring only six touchdowns
— the fewest in the conference. The Bulldog of
fense is the second worst scoring ofTense in the
SEC, but John Kasay’s nine field goals ties him
for the SEC lead.
The Bulldogs will have a rough test in
Clemson. Right now they are decided under
dogs to the Tigers, but in this series it really
doesn’t matter. If the Bulldogs don’t turn the
ball over, they will have a chance to keep it
close and make it interesting, but if they insist
on giving the ball to the Tigers, they’ll get
ripped.
Have faith, Bulldog fans. It seems that
Georgia, through this year of adversity, have
stuck together and have found a way to win. I
have a feeling that this trend will continue this
Saturday.
Georgia 21, Clemson 20.
Bet the house on it.
The South's Top I)awg is the Bulldog football
beat writer and resident fool for picking Georgia
of The Bed and Black.