North Korea wants bigger Olympic share; Jordan is bullish on golf
In an effort to cut themselves as big a slice of the 1988 Seoul Olympics pie as possible, the North Koreans have adopted a strategy popular in American lawsuits, which is to ask for the moon and presumably accept something less. Practically every time International Olympic Committee officials turn around, the North Koreans demand more. Some of latest items on their checklist were reported this week by Japan's Kyodo News Service. North Korea wants separate opening and closing ceremonies held in the capital city of Pyongyang, a one-third share of TV revenues if events are telecast from the north, a nominal distinction made between the 24th Olympics Pyongyang and the 24th Olympics Seoul, and eight events, or almost twice as many as the IOC offered in a mid-July meeting. The proposal currently on the table would allow the communist North to stage women's volleyball, some preliminary soccer games, a cycling race, and archery and table tennis.
The IOC has tried to be accommodating, realizing that the Olympic body could play a role in easing tensions that divide the two Koreas. But it's getting late in game and becoming more and more doubtful that the IOC will listen to escalating demands to overhaul the games, which require tremendous advance planning. Jordan-watching
Like many professional athletes who play golf for pleasure, basketball scoring king Michael Jordan can hit the ball a ton. During the pro-am event at this year's Greater Hartford Open, the Chicago Bulls star got off some 300-yard drives and averaged more than 265 yards off the tee. Not bad for a guy who didn't take up the game until his senior year at the University of North Carolina, where he received pointers from Davis Love III, one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour. The rest of Jordan's game is shaping up nicely, too, and the 12-handicapper indicates he might consider a pro golf career after retiring from the National Basketball Association.
Whenever that occurs, Michael will have the freedom to shop around for what he wants to do next, since his financial future looks secure. ProServ, a respected Washington, D.C., management firm, is busy plotting every step of the way, from lucrative, blue-chip endorsements to the timing of a book, movie, etc. Progressing at the right pace is important, ProServ's David Falk told the Boston Globe. ``By 31, Michael could represent a brokerage firm,'' Falk said. ``He couldn't at 21. Who's going to take investment advice from a 21-year-old basketball player? But he's a different guy at 31.'' Bonds the `next Mays' once, too
People keep wanting to compare Cincinnati outfielder Eric Davis to Willie Mays. The last player burdened by those sorts of expectations was Bobby Bonds, for whom the comparisons were even more inevitable, since he succeeded Mays as San Francisco's centerfielder.
Bonds did have several outstanding years for the Giants, and in fact was the National League Player of the Year in 1973, when he had 39 home runs and 43 stolen bases. (He is still the only player who ever had 30 or more homers and steals in five different seasons.) But despite some periods of brilliance, it became clear that he'd never approach Mays's long-term greatness. Eventually he played for eight teams before retiring in 1982, leaving his son, Barry, to carry on as a budding outfielding star of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bobby, however, remains in baseball as a coach and hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians.
As for Davis, well, he keeps playing like a young Mays or Bonds, with a .322 batting average, 30 home runs, and 39 stolen bases as of Tuesday. Local flavor at golf's major events
If form holds, a Florida golfer should capture the PGA Championship when this year's final major men's tournament concludes in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Sunday. Local heroes have already won the three other majors. Georgia native Larry Mize won the Masters in Augusta, Californian Scott Simpson took the US Open in San Francisco, and Great Britain's Nick Faldo captured the British Open. Many players reside in the Sunshine State, but the tour's highest-ranking native Floridian is Mark McCumber, who would be as much of a dark horse as Mize and Simpson were.
