Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505110091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There hasn't been this much excitement in yacht racing since the day not so long ago when it was announced in San Diego that the challengers were going to drop their skirts. Yes, even Mighty Mary. That was the day ESPN ratings soared. Not that the sight of bottom of the boats made anyone keel over.
However, who knows what U.S. skipper Dennis Conner and the Cup organizers in his pocket have planned? Perhaps the best-of-nine series can be changed to a 14-of-27 format. Perhaps Conner somehow can arrange for the Kiwis to pilot the S.S. Minnow, with Gilligan navigating, instead of Black Magic.
Perhaps Conner can get Bud Selig and Donald Fehr to resume negotiations on the New Zealand boat. Talk about going nowhere.
Or, maybe the Cup organizers will let Conner race today on a jet ski.
``Hey, Kiwis, try tacking with this,'' you can almost hear him screaming.
Not only has the Cup constantly runneth over into the early evening ``SportsCenter,'' it also has become another example of American disingenuousness. If we can't win, maybe we should just take our yacht and sail home.
As best as this non-sailor can tell in trying to catch the waves, Conner has been given - or has taken - every opportunity to keep the Cup. He's the only American who has lost it in 144 years, in 1983 to Australia II. He has won it four times, three as skipper.
So, organizers had to change the challenger-round format to keep Conner in the competition, or at least rewrite the script. When it was apparent his Stars and Stripes wasn't the best U.S. boat, a 12-race, three-yacht round-robin was devised so Conner had a second chance.
If it weren't for the fact they're competing in the Pacific Ocean, you might say Cup organizers changed rules in midstream. What is this, NASCAR?
Then, Conner overcame a four-minute deficit on the final leg of the last challenger race to beat Mighty Mary and become the U.S. defender. So, Conner then decides to commandeer another launch, Young America, to sail the final.
That is permitted in the Cup rules, but it's sort of like Dale Earnhardt leaving his Monte Carlo to pilot Rick Mast's Thunderbird for one race. Now, of course, when Conner is left in the Kiwis' undertow, he will blame the boat.
If New Zealand does win, of course, Conner can sue someone somewhere about something, get an injunction against the choppiness of the sea off Point Loma, complain he was given bad naval intelligence or protest that he didn't get to race a cruise ship captained by Kathie Lee Gifford.
New Zealand deserves the America's Cup. Conner and his cronies have earned America's comeuppance.
by CNB