WORLD SCENE : Moceanu Gets Push on Way to Stardom

It’s Sunday morning at the Moceanu residence in Houston, but Dominique isn’t there. She’s at the ranch, her sister says, which, make no mistake, is not a resort.

To be better than average in life takes effort, says Dominique’s father, Dumitru. So seven days a week and about eight hours a day, his 13-year old daughter trains in gymnastics at Bela Karolyi’s gym located on a ranch near Houston.

“A lot of people work overtime, six and seven days a week, to be somewhere, to fulfill a dream,” Dumitru says. “If you want to be an average person you work 30-40 hours, but if you want to be somebody you have to put hours in. People criticize because they do not know and a lot of people are jealous.”

Dominique, who was born in Hollywood, is no longer considered a rising star, but an Olympic medal hopeful. She won her first senior competition last month against some of the top gymnasts from Belarus, China and the United States. But her quest in life was conceived long before she was born.

Dumitru, who was born in Romania of Macedonian ancestry, says his mother denied him the chance to pursue gymnastics, so he promised that his first born would carry on the dream. It wasn’t difficult, though, to convince Dominique, whose delightful exuberance during performances as well as outside the gym is contagious.

“Maybe it was a transfer of desire from father to child,” Dumitru says. “There are all the sacrifices, you know. Over the years it has cost about $100,000 for training and everything. But we have a sponsor now, and that really helps.”

Dominique speaks English, Romanian and Macedonian, the latter the ancestry of both her parents.

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Political strife in Salt Lake City has already begun over the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and the city hasn’t even been named host yet.

The city’s Chamber of Commerce plans to hold a festival downtown during the time the announcement is scheduled by the International Olympic Committee, on June 16. To get into the mood, plans called for the county to haul 10 truckloads of snow to the civic center. But public works director Lonnie Johnson basically told the chamber to forget the idea, saying his workers have better things to do. “I’m going to come back with a recommendation not to do it,” said Johnson, who added that he is not “real pro-Olympics.”

Johnson estimated it would cost about $6,000 to haul the snow to the site. He also said that the Salt Lake Bid Committee had pledged to not spend public funds on the games. Bid committee officials, however, point out that it was the Chamber who made the request. Salt Lake City is considered the favorite among the finalists of Quebec, Sion, Switzerland and Ostersund, Sweden.

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Katrina McClain, considered one of the best power forwards in women’s basketball, initially said she would not attend this week’s U.S. national team trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., where 10 players will form the core of next summer’s Olympic team. Two players will be added to the team next May, but will probably be collegians.

But after receiving phone calls in response to her announcement, McClain changed her mind Saturday and will attend the trials.

She initially said her obligations to play professionally in Hungary conflicted with the national team schedule.

McClain, 29, said her initial decision was largely based on financial considerations. She earns $300,000 annually playing in Europe, and would make $50,000 from a standard contract for the national team. She has played in the past two Olympics and was the leading scorer and rebounder on the bronze-medal U.S. team at last year’s World Championships.

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The U.S. Bobsled Federation is holding its tryouts for the 1995-96 World Cup team at BobFest, an annual event that honors men named Bob, really.

BobFest, scheduled for May 27-28 in Avon, Colo., near Vail, includes such grueling events as the 50-Yard Refrigerator-to-the-TV-With-a-Beer Dash--and you don’t have to be named Bob to participate.

In the midst of all this will be the ever-serious bobsled tryouts. The federation has sent invitations to about 125 regional college football programs in hopes of attracting potential sled pushers.

Competitors with the three fastest times will earn a trip to Lake Placid, N.Y., with the chance to make the U.S. team.

“We’re looking for a standout college player who isn’t going to make it in the pros, or a track athlete who isn’t going to be getting the big appearance fees or make the Olympic team,” federation spokesman Terry Kent said.

World Scene Notes

USC catcher Chad Moeller and Cypress College infielder Augie Ojeda are among the 37 collegians invited to next month’s national team tryouts in Millington, Tenn. . . . The Vandeweghe family hopes to continue its legacy next summer in Atlanta. Bruk Vandeweghe, a college All-American volleyball player, took third place in the Goodwill Games in beach volleyball and is hoping for an Olympic medal in the sport. His father, Ernie, and brother, UCLA’s Kiki, played in the NBA. His sister, Taune, was a 1984 Olympic swimmer and his other sister, Heather, captain of the U.S. national water polo team. His mother, Colleen Hutchins, was Miss America in 1952. Vandeweghe says there is no jealousy in his family. “My parents taught us that our brothers and sister are our best friends,” he said.