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A faithful journey CL's Huszti's pledge of faith lands trip to Far East By Phil English PtaladMterHersklNewa Service CRYSTAL LAKE - Jackie Huszti has always known since her early years at Crystal Lake Central High School exactly what she wants. As a Central cage star she was a record setter, leading the 1982 Tiger team to the "Sweet 16," with regional and sectional wins. She worked from her freshman year (Hi, to get a scholarship to a big school to play basketball. And she can currently be seen tearing up the courts for the Loyola women's basketball team, where she is entering her senior year on a full-ride scholarship. Another achievement handled in true Huszti fashion. But one achievement fell in Huszti's lap as a surprise through her new-found religious faith. Ad­ ded to her list of summer pl&ns, Huszti will play forwardwith the Athletes In Action Women's Basketball Team, which includes a tour to Australia and Korea. AIA is a National Christian Fellowship organization designed to promote the talents of Christian Athletes while spreading their faith to other parts of the country or in this case, the world. The women's team is made up of athletes from all over the country, including four from Illinois. The team will play the likes of world class, Division I athletes, as well as National Junior League teams. Huszti has found and con­ quered yet another challenge. "I'm so excited about this, things are starting to go crazv right now," Huszti said Tuesday in anticipation. "This will be such a great cultural experience, and I will get a chance to share my faith with other people. "During my junior year, my relationship with God had really grown," she explained. "I wanted the chance to give God all the glory that I had gotten from basketball." Huszti's glory days in basket­ ball started early in her 21-year- old life. She was always interested in basketball, but her high school career culminated in a senior season, where she scored an average of 19.5 points per game to lead the Tigers to the Illinois "Sweet 16;" In the supersectional, she scored 30 of the team's 38 points in a loss to Hoffman Estates. And even during the off-season, Huszti's dedication to the game helped pave the way from high school stardom to a successful col­ lege career; "I had been running summer basketball camps since I was a sophomore in high school, and I got a lot of experience and recognition from coaches," she said. "Actually, Cheri (Bacon), Anne (Parrish) and myself paid to go to a day camp that was run by Doug Bruno. He was impressed with us and asked us to help out as coaches." Bruno, at that time was coach of the now defunct Chicago Hustle, a professional women's basketball team. Bruno went on to serve as the assistant men's basketball coach for the Ramblers, but still kept Huszti in his mind. "He was very influential in help­ ing me get the scholarship, V she said. "I wanted the scholarship since I was a freshman. It seemed like all I had to do was practice, and this was my goal. Well, at that stage, it was just a dream. I'd go out and shoot baskets in my driveway, and I thought there was so much for me to do just to get to be a better player." After her four years at Central were up, Huszti's hard work and dedication paid off. She was a star at Central, but would have to prepare for a whole new ex­ perience. And what better way to prepare than end up being one of the best on the team?. "Freshman year went really well," she said. "I ended up the leading scorer on the team as a freshman on the varsity team. I think I even surprised myself. "I knew they had a lot of expec­ tations about me and the kind of player I was," she added. "And even though I missed the last seven games, because I had mono, ^was still the leading scorer (15.5 points per game)." There was no sophomore jinx for Huszti. Her second year, she scored with equal consistency, but assumed a more team player role, with several other newcomers helping the team grab a 23-4 record and a North Star Con­ ference championship. Junior year followed the same suit, as she was the team's second leading scorer behind the team's 19-9 record. That's when she was given the chance to play overseas. "The first part of the trip brings the team to L.A. for a one-week Crystal Lake Central graduate Jackie Huszti; shown here in re­ cent action with the Lady Ramblers of Loyola, has worked her way towards excellence in sports. Her recent religous faith has landed her an opportunity to travel overseas to play in Korea and Australia for Athletes in Action training camp," Huszti said ex­ citedly. "After that, it's off to Fiji, Australia and Korea, to play against international competition, and help share our feelings about God. Not to mention all the fun." But the hard work is not over yet. To get to make the world-wide trek, Huszti had to raise the allot­ ted money for the trip in a rather unusual manner. "The fund raising part scared me at first," she said. "We had to raise $3,500, at which point I had to put my trust in the Lord to help raise the money. "We had to write letters to friends, relatives and anyone we had known through our careers, and ask them for donations. I still have a little to go, but I'm almost there." Bulls9 Jordan not the typical UNC student By United Press International CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A few things separate Michael Jordan from the typical University of North Carolina summer school student -- the new Mercedes he drives to class and his seven- figure income for starters. < But Jordan shares one goal with virtually every senior -- gradua­ tion -- and the geography major figures it will take him two sum­ mers to earn the 22 hours he lacks for a diploma. "My goal this summer is to get 15 of those hours," said Jordan, who dressed casually in a pair of hi6 own designer sweats for a Thursday press conference in his old college locker room. The 6-foot-6 guard is making a triumphant return to the beloved old campus where he already turned heads before his soaring slams earned him the marketable nickname "Air Jordan" as a pro­ fessional. Jordan wowed the NBA in his rookie season, averaging 28.2 points a contest without missing a single game, leading his Chicago Bulls to a playoff appearance and running away with the league's rookie of the year award. All that while getting nary a smudge on a squeaky clean image that apparently sells products. Jordan has already picked up en­ dorsement contracts from seven corporations. He smiles and says, "It's close," when asked if those con­ tracts have indeed nutted him more than a million dollars in his rookie year on top of his reported 1510,000 a year salary. "That's a part of the NBA I didn't know anything about," said Jordan, looking dapper in the black, muscleman sweatsuit bear­ ing the "Air Jordan" logo that graces 165 basketball shoes and a clothing line. "I didn't know how important endorsements would be," Jordan said. "This gives me an outlook to what I want to do when I put the basketball down." With his new-found wealth, Jor­ dan says he's indulging his taste for clothes and necklaces and buy­ ing a few gifts for relatives. He said his parents turned down his offer of a new house, so he's offer­ ing them a McDonald's franchise instead, "I wanted to buy them a new house but they're too stubborn," he said. "They want to earn one themselves." Jordan said the decision to forego his senior season under coach Dean Smith was a tough one that he tries not to dwell on. "When I decided to go pro I always said I'd never look back and say I wish 1 could have done something different," Jordan said. "Although I miss the univer­ sity a great deal, I feel I made the right decision. "Every time i saw Carolina play (last season), I was envious. I wish I could have played, but if I had to change my decision, I didn't want to do that." Jordan made a startlingly quick adjustment from nervous rookie to poised professional, and describes the grueling schedule as "one of the easiest jobs you can have. I just go out and play." He's even learning to like Chicago, except for the weather. "I think I'm getting an incentive in my contract next year that if it gets below zero, I get extra money," he said. NISRA athletes grab gold medals at state track meet NORMAL - Fifty-four athletes from the McHenry County area competed last weekend in the 17th Annual Illinois State Special Olympics. Hie participants were spon­ sored by Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association (NISRA) and were part of a 3,000- participant field in gymnastics, track and field and swimming. Gold medal winners for the 17th Olympiad were: Cindy Clark, Richard Baker, Steve Berman, Bruce Biggs, Jan Garlick, Mary Skufka, Rita Wildkatch, Bob Glen and Jim Chapman. Athletes placing second and tak­ ing home a silver medal include: Ray Lustig, Bob Washnok, Mike Schoelkoff, Greg Dercole, Linda EiS8ing, Deb Wynn, James Laskey, Gregg Howell, Shawn Russell and Carolyn Knox. Bronze medal winners from NISRA include: Maureen Dukes, Sharon Healey, Mark Doerr, Greg Maisonet, Ernie Williams, John Young, Jim Chapman, Mike , Schoelkoff and Bob Seeber. ' NISRA's adult male relay team of Schoelkoff, Doerr, Seeber and Glen also won a gold in the 400 meter relay, setting a record- setting pace. Unghh! Plaindealer-Herald photo by Chris Juzwik The softhall throw was but one of 10 events at the Kids' Track Meet at McCraclen Field Wednesday niht. Boys and girls of all ages com­ pete in the event, sponsored by the McHenry Department of Parks & Recreation, each Wednesday night. More photos inside. Comiskey a jewel, ut for ow long ? By Randy Minkoff UPI sportswriter CHICAGO - The major leagues' oldest ballpark celebrates a birthday next week with a major question facing it: Just how many more anniver­ saries remain in its future? Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox since 1910, will officially observe its 75th anniver­ sary July 1. Like its brother ballpark on the North Side, Wrigley Field, Chicago's baUpark is a facility from a bygone era. It has "God's green grass," as former owner Bill Veeck liked to call it, pillars that can actually block a specator's view in the stands, an exploding scoreboard and enough charm to make loyal Sox fans forget the fact it has been since the park was a child-like 6- years-old that a World Series has been won. But admist the reflection Of 75 years of American League baseball come modern reality and modern problems. White Sox president Eddie Einhorn knows the Sox will not always be able to compete finan­ cially in a park that still shows its age. "The question is not so much the 75th birthday," Einhorn says, "but whether it's going to be around for a 100th birthday." Chances are good that it won't. And it may be problematical whether Comiskey Park sees its 80th anniversary. Already, Sox board chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has reportedly bought parcels of land in the western surburbs. Reinsdorf, who made his fortune in real estate, won't confirm he is even thinking about using the land -- top speculation is in the suburb of Itasca -- for the new home of the Sox. "That's all part of the media speculation," Reinsdorf says. "I used to buy and sale land and no one ever sent a camera crew in and asked me about it." While Comiskey Park, does have its points for longevity and charm, it does have its problems. "Just to maintain it, and I mean maintain it, it costs about $6 million. It's with things you don't see, like construction under the stands," Einhorn says. "And then there is the parking problem." Many of the lots around Com­ iskey Park are not owned by th$ Sox. As a result, the team missed; revenues it could be obtaining if it- built its own facility and its own* parking garages. Like Wrigley Field, it is servic­ ed by the "el" train. But demographics have changed significantly in Chicago since Charles Comiskey first had the idea for a park on the South Side of town. Fans have moved to the north, south and and most notably the west of the ballpark. Interstate highways traverse areas once thought to be "no man's land" in the area. Then there is the seating capaci­ ty issue. The ballpark seats about 44,000, small by comparison to the newer, concrete structures that sprang up in both leagues in the past 20 years. "There is also the issue of use of the park. It's pretty well restricted to baseball," Reinsdorf says. "We've had concerts and other things but not on the level of some of the other parks." Neither of the Sox braintrust pair is actively campaigning for a new ballpark. President Reagan's tax plan will make building a new structure "difficult if not impossi­ ble," according to Einhorn. But it is clear the owners believe there are inherent problems in staying at the oldest ballpark in the majors, and a new facility isn't out of the question. The park, originally named White Sox Park, opened July 1 and the Sox promptly lost 2-0 to the St. Louis Browns. The Sox will face the Seattle Mariners in the an­ niversary game next Monday. A crowd of 28,000 saw the opener, a turnout that could be matched next week if present at­ tendance figures for the Sox are any judge. The park hosted three World Series in a row between 1917 and 1919, including the one involving the infamous "Black Sox." Because of the popularity of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees, the original wooden bleachers were torn down and replaced with a permanent concrete structure. The park hosted the first all-star game in 1933 staged as part of the Century of Progress Exposition held on the nearby lake front. Fif­ ty years later, the golden anniver­ sary game was held and both were won by the American League.