THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290230
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
In 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. saved the world. Well, maybe not the world. Part of the sports world, anyway. The dwindling part that still honors substance over style, constancy over the novel diversion with no nutritional value.
Cal-o-rific, that's what '95 was. Or calorific, which means producing heat. Out of the frigid heart of major league baseball, the Baltimore Orioles shortstop generated warmth that radiated from Camden Yards and threatened to redeem an entire profession.
At its root, it was like rubbing two sticks together. Ripken showed up for work every day. He played the game. Then he stuck around to thank customers for paying to watch. He did it over and over again, and somewhere Lou Gehrig probably had to smile.
It was simple. It was good business. It was C-A-L, three letters written all over the '95 sports year.
A top locale? Cleveland, a most happening place. The Indians filled their sparkling ballpark and reached the World Series for the first time since the calendar read 1954.
Too bad their profile was burdened by the truly recalcitrant Albert Belle, whose anti-social episodes have reached incalculable numbers. Is there a calamine for the soul?
Or, Clevelanders would ask, for Art Modell, whose attempt to move the Browns has wreaked civic calamity? You get the feeling Browns Backers would like to introduce Modell, if he weren't in hiding, to the caltrop, a thing with spikes that punctures tires.
California stayed busy. It still didn't sink into the Pacific, and in terms of activity it was a veritable calathus, a symbol of abundance. San Francisco beat San Diego in the Super Bowl and Los Angeles lost the Rams and Raiders, though Oakland welcomed back the latter.
UCLA recaptured the NCAA men's basketball title. A native Californian, Jeff Gordon, now a Hoosier, won NASCAR's Winston Cup championship and a record $4 million. California-raised Pete Sampras, a caldron of emotion all year, won Wimbledon for the third consecutive time and also captured the U.S. Open title.
Nomo-mania practically lifted up Dodger Stadium. The comical notion of Northwestern earning a call to the Rose Bowl came true. And O.J. Simpson, sprung from the calaboose, went off to find the real killer and make infomercials.
Speaking of jail, Mike Tyson emerged with tattoos of Arthur Ashe and Mao Tse-tung, then calmly bludgeoned two tin cans on his climb back toward the heavyweight title.
In the hunt for calices, Cups that is, you didn't need calculus to know America finished at a deficit. Thanks to Sampras, the Davis Cup was claimed. But America's Cup sailed off to New Zealand. And though its golf team was considered largely callow, Europe carted the Ryder Cup right out of Rochester.
Extreme medical procedures weren't enough to keep Mickey Mantle with us. The Yankee legend died at 63.
Some women enjoyed a particularly economical year: The University of Connecticut women's basketball team played 35 times. It won 35 times. And Monica Seles, defeating the emotional demons that kept her from the tennis tour for two years, won her first tournament, the Canadian Open, and reached the U.S. Open final.
It was only logical that Michael Jordan ditched his radical minor league baseball experiment and returned to the Chicago Bulls. Magical though he is, Jordan couldn't keep Houston from winning it all again. For that, the Rockets can thank Hakeem Olajuwon, a Cal-like package of professionalism and class.
But as the top-caliber performer of '95, here's a vote for the Atlanta Braves' Greg Maddux, 4 for 4 in Cy Young Awards since 1992. There's not much more to say about that than this: Holy cal! ILLUSTRATION: Color Photos
On Sept. 6, Cal Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive game.
Browns owner Art Modell set his sights on Baltimore.
Mike Tyson returned to the ring with two sweatfree wins.
Michael Jordan tried baseball but returned to the Bulls, tried No.45
but returned to No.23.
by CNB