D. Ryan Monceaux
Sports Editor
Cougar head coach Kim Helton turned 50 last week. He celebrated by hosting his annual golf tournament on Monday ...
Tennessee's Neyland Stadium, where UH will play its fourth game of the season Sept. 26, has been chosen as the fifth-toughest stadium for opposing teams to play in, according to a poll of 11 prominent head coaches in Sport magazine. Louisiana State's Tiger Stadium, where UH will play Nov. 13, 1999, was chosen as the toughest collegiate stadium in the nation. The poll will be published in the August 4 edition of Sport magazine ... The Humanitarian Bowl announced an agreement between the Big West Conference and Conference USA to provide teams for the post-season game in 1998 and 1999. The Big West regular season champion will face a "Conference USA runner-up mutually agreed upon by the Humanitarian Bowl and both conferences." The language of the decision does not indicate the second-place team from C-USA, but rather one of the runner-ups. The C-USA champion is committed to play in the Liberty Bowl until 2005 ... The fX Network has informed the Athletics Department that the UH-UCLA game, which was planned to be aired on the network, may not air due to a scheduling conflict. Athletics Director Chet Gladchuk is in negotiations to keep the game, set for Sept. 19, on the network for the national audience ... Sellout '98, the Alumni Association's plan to sell 25,000 single-game tickets for football, is lagging behind the anticipated sum. Only 7,500 tickets have been sold. The first home game is Sept. 12 against Minnesota ...
Cedric Taylor, the 4A basketball player of the year who had signed with UH, has now signed with San Jacinto Junior College. Taylor would have been academically ineligible for the 1998 school year, and had planned on going to UH-Downtown to gain the hours and GPA to be able to transfer to UH. Instead, Taylor will not be able to play for Clyde Drexler's team until the 2000-01 season ... UH's ticket office has been moved from Hofheinz to the Athletic/ Alumni Facility. The office will be part of the gift shop on the first floor ...
The Lady Cougar tennis schedule is out, and the squad will play six tournaments in the fall, including the Houston Fall Classic, Oct. 9-11.