Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 3, 1995 TAG: 9502030093
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fred Perry, three-time singles tennis champion at Wimbledon, died Thursday in Melbourne, Australia. He was 85.
Perry, the last British man to win the men's singles title, ``was a superlative ambassador for our sport throughout the world,'' said John Curry, Chairman of the All England Club at Wimbledon.
Perry was hospitalized after he fell at a hotel in Melbourne on Jan.29 and broke four ribs, the Australian Associated Press reported. He was released from hospital, but was re-admitted after reportedly suffering another fall. He was in Melbourne to watch the Australian Open, which ended Sunday. A short statement issued today by the Epworth Hospital on behalf of Perry's family said he had died of heart failure.
No cause of death was announced.
Before turning professional in 1936, Perry won eight Grand Slam singles titles; three at Wimbledon in 1934-36, three U.S. titles at Forest Hills in 1933-34 and 1936, and the 1935 French and 1934 Australian championships.
He was the first player to win all four major singles crowns, although not consecutively.
Perry also led Britain to Davis Cup titles with victories over France (1933), the United States (1934-35) and Australia (1936). He won 45 of 52 Davis Cup matches for Britain and 34 of 38 singles from 1931-36.
Numbers better for black athletes
The number of black athletes competing in college sports as freshmen has increased after a decline following the enactment of controversial admissions standards, the NCAA announced.
The eligibility requirements, known as Proposition 48 when adopted in 1983 and put into effect in 1986, have been the most consistently divisive issue in the NCAA. Black educators and others have maintained the standardized tests that are a part of the guidelines are racially and culturally biased.
The rule, now referred to as Proposition 16 since being changed significantly during the NCAA convention in January, requires freshmen to have a 2.5 grade-point in 13 core subjects in high school and minimum scores on the American College Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, measured on a sliding scale with higher grade-point averages compensating for lower test scores.
The recent increase in black freshman participation is ``positive and significant, but very small,'' said John McArdle, associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and a consultant to the NCAA Research Committee.
The proportion of blacks among all freshman athletes dropped from 24.4 percent in 1984 to 23.6 percent in 1985 and 19.0 percent in 1986, according to the research committee.
The percentage increased to 20.8 percent in 1987 and 22.3 percent in 1988. Since then, it has not fallen below 24.0 percent and has been as high as 27.5 percent in 1989 and again in 1993.
The NCAA said comparisons between years were not exact because the institutions surveyed weren't the same each year.
The NHL is suing the law firm that advised it in a dispute over the funding of pensions for retired players.
The league filed suit Thursday in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto against the Chicago law firm of Baker and McKenzie. The lawsuit charges Baker and McKenzie with negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty while advising the NHL on how to handle about $25 million in pension surpluses accrued in 1982 and 1985.
The NHL used parts of the surplus to fund the pensions of current players. The Ontario Court of Justice ruled that was a misappropriation of the funds, declaring the surpluses belonged to the players who were active while the surpluses accrued.
``We're going to pursue it as hard as we can,'' said Neil Finkelstein, the lawyer heading the NHL's case. ``We want to recoup the money that was lost as a consequence of their advice.''
The NHL maintains the players are owed about $33.3 million, with $24.7 million coming from the clubs. The rest would be diverted from funds already in the pension fund, but earmarked for other uses.
The players maintain they are owed $42 million.
No dollar figure in terms of damages was mentioned by the league in the lawsuit.
Baker and McKenzie's, in a statement through a public relations spokesman, who asked not be identified, said: ``We believe we have performed our services in accordance with the highest professional standards and will defend the action vigorously.''
by CNB