University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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SPORTS coupe du monde photo courtesy of The Associated Press Vy 12, soccer devotees partied all night. The stadium in Paris was the epicen- ter and waves of national eu- phoria spread all around the country. Anywhere between 800,000 and 1.5 million giddy supporters celebrated France ' s 3-0 defeat over the reigning four-time Champions Brazil in the World Cup. It was the culmination France wins the 1998 World Cup Soccer Tournament, beating Brazil in the final game. Brazil had won the tournament for the past four years. of a tournament that nearly the whole world was watching. Even in London, supporters danced in the fountains of Trafalgar Square until dawn. One Parisian daily, France-Soir, called the victory a tricolor orgasm - one that blended seamlessly into Tuesday ' s Bastille Day festivities. Waving flags, painted faces, honking car horns; more than a million people crowded around Champs Elysses late Sunday night. Few thought France could do it. But the team with the best player in the world (and 10 others not far behind him) was beaten by a less star- studded team, one with enough determination to pull an impos- sible dream. These two images were remembered by the world. President Jacques Chirac, draped in a French scarf, kissed victorious players as the Star Wars the me competed with fans singing the Marseillaise. Only a few thousand Brazilians gath- ered around the giant television screen, accepting their defeat on Copacabana Beach. The Bra- zilian coach, Mario Zagallo ad- mitted, France had the entire nation before them. That was something we couldn ' t over- come. The beauty of the World Cup was that sometimes David could still defeat Goliath. by Jessica Hermenitt locked out isions ran high as the NBA play- ers and owners failed to reach any agreement on the salary-inspired lockout, called the NBA La- bor Dispute, that halted action of the NBA for the 1998-99 season. The lockout, which took effect at midnight on June 30, banned all regular season games until an agreement could be reached. NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik explained that the collective bargaining agree- ment between the NBA and its players had been continuously unsuccessful. The controversy sur- rounded the percentage of league revenue that the players would receive and a maximum salary cap that was to be established at the desire of the league. Negotiations finally ended with an agree- ment between the two parties, announced at 6 A.M. on January 6. The season was barely salvaged after the three month loss with a short playing schedule of 50 games to begin in the first week of February. Jeff Hornacek of the Utah Jazz was quoted as saying, I wouldn ' t blame the fans if they didn ' t come back. Neither side is coming out of this thing looking good. by Virginia Hiltz clean sweep The New York Yankees defeat the San Diego Padres in all four games of the World Series, bringing home their second title in three years The 1998 New York Yankees went down in history as one of the greatest teams ever when they beat the San Diego Padres four games to none in the 24th World Series Champi- onship. It was the Yankees ' first sweep since 1950 and their sec- ond title in three years. Accord- ing to TIME magazine, the Game 4 victory gave the Yankees 125 wins, a total that ranked up there with all the other big numbers put up in Major League Baseball in 1998. Their 114 regular-sea- son wins were the most ever for a Major League Baseball team. This is the most determined team I ' ve been around, Yan- kees manager Joe Torre said. I don ' t know if we have the best team of all time, but I do know that we have the best record. Third baseman Scott Brosius was an unlikely hero in the series. Brosius went 8-for- 17 with six RBIs and, fittingly, handled the last ball of the year, a grounder by pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney. Brosius said, There ' s nothing better than coming up and seeing the play- ers ' eyes and that sense of achievement and accomplish- ment and excitement. The in- fielder was named the 1998 World Series ' Most Valuable Player. , , . ,., i by Jamie Weitzel 140 Sports

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V- embassy attacks Q On Auqi WtheCamdiit itethiubrik rativedirea lewshConjrfs iis QDOEiaai lnove; heaif erliaps ik Pope ish person inn wale the Catifr i any anti-semi stated, If j ryonewasavk- Ctech has igust 7, terror- ist bombs exploded at U.S. em- bassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, taking the world by surprise. For days following the .tragedy, rescuers tried to pull victims out of the rubble, but ;the lives of at least 180 victims .in Nairobi and ten in Dar es Salaam, including 12 Americans, were eventually lost. The in- jured list totaled more than 5,000 in the two cites combined. In January, exiled Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden told ABC News that the African embassy bombings may have resulted from his call to his followers for a holy war against the United States and Israel, but the major suspect in the bomb- ings continued to deny that he ordered the bombings or played a personal role in the organiza- tion of them. In December, he told Newsweek, I did not order them but was very glad for what happened to the Americans there, CNN reported. The U.S. followed the alleged bin Laden attacks by conducting a missile attack on his Afghanistan bases. Bin Laden was indicted by U.S. officials for planning the bomb- ings. The purported terror- ist continued his anger toward Americans, and said that this hostility was a religious duty. by Kristin Long tnMcQuade photo courtesy of The Associated Press A suspect in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, Osama bin Laden denied responsibility for the acts of terrorism. The attacks were made on the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania leaving nearly 200 dead and over 5,000 injured. photo courtesy of The Associated Press South Africa President Nelson Mandela raises his honorary Doc- tor of Laws Degree. Mandela was presented with the honor on Sep- tember 18, 1998 at Harvard Uni- versity. Nelson Mandela was born into a royal family in Africa on July 18th, 1918. He attended the Healdtown Methodist Boarding School and, later, the Fort Hare University College. Mandela later received his law degree and began a prac- tice. However, political activism was his true calling, and he soon began campaigns to help stamp out apartheid in Africa. He was arrested in 1952 under the Suppression of Communism Amendment Act; this was the first of many ar- rests during his career in political activism. Fi- nally, in May of 1994, Mandela was elected the President of the Republic of South Africa. During this past year, Mandela ' s career culminated as he received well-deserved awards for his heroic acts. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor in September. The leader also received an honorary degree from Harvard Uni- versity; having received this degree, Mandela joined the ranks of George Washington and Win- ston Churchill as the only other out-of-season recipients. by Karen McQuade mandela honored srous explosions shook Iraq for three straight nights in December, as U.S. and British forces acted on Saddam Hussein ' s defiance against U.N. weapons inspectors. Operation Desert Fox was launched on the grounds that Iraq was obstructing the work of the weapons inspectors of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM). The alleged obstructions included charges of hiding Iraq ' s weapons of mass destruction: chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles. Al- most all potential weapons sites that U.N. inspec- tors were monitoring were hit in the raids. In announcing the start of the strikes, President Clinton recognized that it would offend the United States ' Arab allies if the attacks began during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The attacks ended before the holy period began. At least 42 Iraqis were killed and 96 wounded in the strikes, which unleashed the most severe fire- power since the 1991 Gulf War. Iraqi forces offered little resistance, other than anti-aircraft fire. In halting the strikes, President Clinton said the 70 hour assault severely damaged Iraq ' s ability to build weapons of mass destruction, and declared the attacks to be successful. Operation Desert Fox involved more than 30,000 troops di- rectly, and 10,000 more who provided support from bases around the world. A spokesman from the U.S. State Depart- ment said the U.S. and British attacks against Iraq could well hasten Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ' s demise. However, Saddam remained defiant, call- ing the U.S. and Britain the enemies of God. The Iraqi leader declared he would not compromise or kneel in the showdown over arms inspections. iraqi defiance Saddam Hussein ' s lack of cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors is met by Lisa Grubka with force Retrospect 139

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SPORTS going going tovj. | c gone Forthe Cubs and the Cardinals, 1998 was an historical year in baseball, not because of record seasons or World Series wins, but because of their two shining stars, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. As America began following the Na- tional League, all eyes turned towards Sosa and McGwire who quickly leapt into a record break- ing homerun race that lasted until the very end of the season when McGwire finally took the title with a season total of 70 homeruns over Sosa ' s 66. Fans watched as McGwire, with a season average of .299 and a total of 147 RBIs, slammed ball after ball out of the park in almost every game the Cardinals played. Yet, it was Sosa who led the Cubs to win the wild-card race against the Giants with his overall team performance. Despite McGwire ' s impressive record, it was Sosa, with a batting average of .308 and a major-league lead- ing 158 RBIs and 132 runs with 414 total bases, who took the title of the National League ' s Most Valuable Player. Known by his fans as ' Big Mac ' , McGwire walked away with homerun number 70 ' at home at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in the seventh inning against the Montreal Expos on September 27. The friendly interaction between ,Sosa and McGwire in the attempt to break Roger Maris ' long standing homerun record helped to bring back the spirit of America ' s national pas- time. photo courtesy of The Associated Press Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Car- dinals finishes the season with a career high of 70 home runs. McGwire set a new record for home runs in a single season, breaking Roger Maris ' s record of 61. by Virginia Hiltz game time For thefirsttime ever, college football fans were guar- anteed a championship game for the national title. The game pitted 1 Tennessee against 2 Florida State. Using big plays from their outstanding wide re- ceiver Peerless Price, Tennes- see was able to put 23 points on the board, which was enough to beat Florida State 23-16. How- ever, the Bowl Championship Series did not go as smoothly as planned. Florida State was given the chance to play for the na- tional title over Kansas State, UCLA, and Ohio State, even though all four teams had only one loss. Ohio State ' s schedule was considered weak because it played in the Big Ten, which was considered a weak confer- ence by most football insiders. However, the Big Ten went 5-0 in bowl games, showing that it was not as weak as some thought. Many believed the only way to truly crown a na- tional champion was to play a tournament like the one held in college basketball. The Detroi t Red Wings won their second straight Stanley Cup in June. The Red Wings, using their strong de- fensive style, were able to sweep the Washington Capitals four games to none. This was also the second year in a row the Red Wings swept their Stanley Cup opponents. The Red Wings de- feated Phoenix, St. Louis, and Dallas to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Wings were led by captain Steve Yzerman, who was named the Conn Smyth Trophy winner as the most outstanding player in the playoffs. The finals victory also gave Scotty Bowman his eighth Stanley Cup as a coach, tying him with Toe Blake for the most Stanley Cups won by a coach. by Todd Bonney Stanley sweep wrestle mania fmell what The Rock is cooking? That was the question numerous people tried to figure out on Monday nights as millions tuned into the world of professional wrestling. The World Wrestling Federation ' s (WWF) War Zone and World Championship Wrestling ' s (WCW) Monday Nitro were the most watched shows on cable during the year. These increased ratings led to the in- vestment of millions of dollars into advertising during these wrestling shows. By year ' s end, former two-time WWF champion Stone Cold Steve Austin had become one of the most recog- nizable faces in sports by selling the most T-shirts of any athlete during the calendar year, includ- ing Mark McGwire and Michael Jordan. Many celebrities were jumping on the pro-wrestling band-wagon by making appearances at events. The biggest name to appear was former boxing champion Iron Mike Tyson, who was a special guest referee and the WWF ' s WrestleMania XIV. by Todd Bonney by Kevin Gembel Retrospect ' 141