Eighth-seeded Katerina Maleeva has been forced to withdraw from this week`s Virginia Slims of Chicago tennis tournament because she was refused permission to leave her native Bulgaria. ”We`ve been notified that Katerina cannot leave her home because government officials fear she will not return,” said William Von Dahm, a spokesman for the tournament. He added that Maleeva`s older sister, Manuela, is marrying a Swede and plans to move to that country. Michigan State (7-2-1, 7-2-1) spotted Illinois-Chicago (3-5, 3-5) a 1-0 lead, then scored five straight goals en route to a 5-2 Central Collegiate Hockey Association victory at the Pavilion. Todd Beyer and Kevin Alexander tallied for UIC.
According to sources cited by the Baltimore Sun and Evening Sun, Baltimore Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams would like his next general manager to be former White Sox GM Roland Hemond, who currently works for the major-league scouting bureau. Hemond reportedly isn`t interested in being the next general manager of the Cubs. Orioles coach Frank Robinson says he`s no longer being considered as a candidate for general manager of the team, but has spoken to Williams about another front-office job, which he probably will accept. Robinson said Williams told him an announcement could be made this coming week.
Concerned about the lack of action on the part of major-league baseball to create opportunities for minorities, a group of primarily former black players met in Irving, Tex., to begin a grass-roots movement to force Commissioner Peter Ueberroth to make good his public statements about minority hiring. More than 50 former players, plus current players Don Baylor, Dave Winfield and Bill Madlock, met for nearly 12 hours in the opening day of an organizational session for a group that is calling itself the Baseball Network. Another day of organizing is scheduled for Sunday, with a meeting between Baseball Network`s executive committee and representatives of Ueberroth scheduled for Monday.
The World Boxing Council has named heavyweight Mike Tyson as its boxer of the year. Honorable mention went to middleweight champ Thomas Hearns. Sugar Ray Leonard was awarded special honors, and the April 6 middleweight bout, in which he took the title from Marvelous Marvin Hagler in a 12-round decision, was chosen as the fight of the year. The most dramatic fight of the year, the council said, was Hearns` Oct. 29 middleweight duel against Juan Roldan. Hearns knocked out the Argentine in the fourth round to capture the title vacated by Leonard.
There was a marching band and a homecoming queen at scandal-scarred Southern Methodist`s Homecoming Day. All that was missing was the football game. Instead, almost 5,000 alumni and students gathered to watch a soccer match, the only game in town after the NCAA banned SMU`s football program for 1987 for paying its players from a booster slush fund. SMU`s 2-1 victory over Texas Christian gave the fifth-ranked Mustangs a 13-3-1 regular-season record and helped secure an automatic invitation to the NCAA playoffs.
Ken Schrader inherited the lead one lap from the end, then held off Duke Hoenshell by 2 seconds to win the Motorcraft-Trak Auto 300 Grand American in Riverside, Calif. Troy Beebe led for much of the 72-lap, 300-kilometer event, but lost the lead when a broken suspension and deflated tire forced him to pit at the end of Lap 71. Schrader averaged a record 98.850 miles an hour. The previous race mark was 92.060 m.p.h., set last year by Hoenshell.
