1997_04 The Daily Collegian April 1997

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Thursday, April 3,1997
Sports
Sports Editor: Luis Hernandez
Telephone: (209) 278-5732
By Tom Sepulveda
• Proof that Hale-Bopp
does bring strange things:
Arizona won the national
championship. Isn't that one
of the signs of the apoca¬
lypse?
• Now that Heath Shuler
is a New Orleans Saint,
there's no excuse for the,
49ers not to draft Jake
Plummer.
• Its good to see men's
soccer and men's basketball
playing schedules that come
near the tough schedule the
softball team plays. The
Bulldogs have played 13
ranked teams so far this sea-
• Jim Abbott should sign
with the As. No other team
needs him as bad. Besides,
if Oakland can keep Bill
Taylor and his 13.14 ERA,
they can sign Abbott.
• Oliver McCall was
cfjbtred to fight Lennox
llewis, but after doctors
y evaluated him, he's been
V_ytommitted to a mental insti¬
tution. Something is wrong
with those Nevada Boxing
Corntaiission doctors — I
knowALewis doesn't hit that
hard. \     '
• After two errors in a loss
opening day to the Pitts- i
burgh Pirates, it's nice to see
the Giants know 3Com bet¬
ter than any other team. I
don't think anyone on that
team can spell Homefield
Advantage.
• The Raiders have the
number two pick in that
draft, and still won't be able
to draft Orlando Pace unless
Bill Parcells gets a brain
cramp.
• Let's see a show of
hands: who thinks Shaq
should come back?
• The   Dodgers   and
.  Braves lost their openers.
That makes Dodger fans.
. feel better.
• That brawl between
Colorado and Detroit was
just another reminder that
hockey players are imma¬
ture.
Djilianova seeks challenges, more success
FILE PHOTO
Dora Djilianova smacks a winner down the court
for the Bulldogs.
By Kyoko Hoshino
The Daily Collegian
Sophomore Dora Djilianova. 21. last year
became the first woman in Fresno State his¬
tory to qualify for the NCAA Women's Ten¬
nis Championships.
This season, she is ranked No. 40 in the
nation with a 24-8 record. But she is not sat¬
isfied. She is seeking more challenges and
successes.
"I had a couple of very close losses [in
this season). I should have won these games,"
Djilianova said.
Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, she started lo
practice tennis al the age of 8. joining a ten¬
nis club. Tennis "is very popular back home."
she said.
The two-lime Bulgarian women's national
champion came to Fresno Stale in January
1996 on a scholarship program for student
athletes.
Djilianova said there are no athletic schol¬
arship programs in her country.
She said that she had always wanted to
come to the United States because it is very
different.
"Here, people have the unique opportu¬
nity to study and play." she said. "I was in¬
terested to see how I combine tennis and
study."
But living in other countries is nol easy
She said she lived in a community in which
she knew whoever walked by.
"Here, pretty much people live in their
own life," she said. "It was a big-cultural
shock."
She also tries to lake advantage of living
in different circumstances to improve her ten¬
nis skills.
She explained that the European style is
hitting the ball from the baseline and stayiny
in a long rally.
On Ihe other hand, the American style is
serving and volleying and coming up to the
net quickly. "It's a more aggressive style."
she said.
Her role model in playing tennis is Monic.i
Seles because of her competitiveness.
The straight-A student, majoring in in
ternalional business, has another dream
"I really want to go to law school.'
Djilianova said. "I want lo have an opportu
nity to make my dream come true iri the long
run."
On Friday, the No. 28 Bulldogs will meet
No. 14 UNLV in Las Vegas. Djilianova will
face No. 10 Marianne Vallinn (26-9). who
defeated Djilianova (6-3. 6-4) in the conso¬
lation final at National Clay Court Champi
onships last September.
Will the fans come back and support baseball?
Yes
A new post-season format and television
coverage will bring the fans back.
By Luis Hernandez
The Daily Collegian
After the baseball players de¬
cided to strike against the owner,
forcing the cancellation of the
World Series two years ago. the
public has been reluctant to
come back and support baseball.
However, aftcr*an exiling
World Series last year, a new
post-season format and the start
of a new season will surely have
the fans streaming down to the
stadium and, once again, support
baseball.
The New York Yankees' vic¬
tory over the Atlanta Braves last
season was a great story. It has
been almost 20 years since the
Yankees were world champions.
The format for post-season
should also bring back some
more fans to baseball. For in¬
stance, lake the National League
East and the Atlanta Braves and
the Florida Marlins.
The two teams thai have
spent a lot of money during the
offseason getting ready to battle
it out. The Marlins and the
Braves are two geographic rivals
and their rivalry should intensify
after they duke it out for 164
games.
In addition, the extra playoff
spot awarded to -ihe team with
the best second place finish
should open new and exciting
races in Baseball. Games in the
late summer, lhal three or four
years ago did not mean a lot,
should now be fought fiercely
this year.
The fans will want to see who
comes out on top of these games
and (he interest would surely have
them back supporting baseball.
The beginning of a new season
would have the fans coming back
to baseball. The hope that one's fa¬
vorite team will finally win the di¬
vision inspires an interest in the fans
that would have them running to ihe
stadium.
Also, a new television contract
with the FOX network for this year
should keep the fans in contact with
their favorite teams.   ^
In addition, cable should come
in handy for the fans wanting to
keep up with baseball.
ESPN will carry a game of the
week of its own. Then, the
supcrstations, such as TBS and
WGN in the US and TSN in
Canada, carrying close to 100
games of their home town team,
will aid the fans when their teams
arc on the road.
The fans will be back. Maybe for
no olher reason than just having a
hoi dog. under a blue sky on a hot
summer day at the baseball stadium
while watching, a game.
What can be more American
than that?
The fans will be back, just as
surely as the Dodgers infield will
commit an error to give away a lead
late in the game and just as surely
as Cal Ripken taking the field for
the Baltimore Orioles.
The fans will be back.
No
Opening day attendance shows that fans
will not come back to support baseball.
By Phil Kakligian
The Daily Collegian
Most avid baseball fans know
that the 1997 baseball season
opened this.week.
However, the new season did
not open with the ceremonial
first pitch by President Clinton,
who is still recovering from knee
surgery and is using crutches.
The President still seems
weary and is hobbled, though he
is still on the job.
Just as the President is recov¬
ering, baseball fans are recover¬
ing and will nol return to the
game in overwhelming num¬
bers.
Opening day statistics al¬
ready out for the new season
show that attendance for the first
game of the season is up four
percent.
However this figure is still
down 22 percent from ihe pre-
strike opening day statistics.
The average American goes
to his or her job every day even
hurt or on crutches, just as the
President is doing.
However, the average Ameri¬
can can't afford to go to base¬
ball games as much as he or she
would like.
Now the average American
will only go to a game once or
twice a year.
Whereas, in the pasl an avid
baseball fan would go to a game
up to five or six times a year, if
there was a major league
ballpark in the city.
Why is there a discrepancy'
Simply put. it is the cost of go¬
ing to the games.
Ten or 20 years ago ticket
costs were very low and you
could go to a game for about S>4
or $5.
Now single game tickets for
reserved seats cost about $ 10 lo
$12 or more in some ballparks
For those who say it's great
that Barry Bonds can get S11
million per year, don't jump for
joy because ultimately the fans
pay these stratospheric salaries.
After the strike, fans are even
more disillusioned over baseball
and they aren't running to the
turnstiles in large numbers.
Cost of tickets and the strike
are two of the main reasons fans
are not returning.
By the end of the season pre¬
dictions are that the overall at¬
tendance numbersnvill still be
down.
Also, with the high cost of
going to the game, why knock
yourself out?
So grab yourself a cheap six
pack of Lucky lager or Buckhorn
beer, go to the local Wal-Mart or
Super K center and get a bag of
peanuts and watcn the game on
TV in your home.
That's guaranteed to cost you
less.