NFL: McCullough may go to 49ers
■ Continued from Page 7
which will run through Sunday,
includes two-a-day practices to ac
climate new players and coaches
to the Ravens’ system, Mann said.
“I’m just happy to have this op
portunity,” Johnson said. “It was
rough waiting so long during the
draft, but now I’m just excited to
get out there. I’ll be happy to play
any role they want me to.”
Mann said the Ravens’ coach
ing staff plans to work with John
son on the fundamentals of the
professional game, including run
ning routes and “putting yourself
in the right frame of mind” for
competition, but he also said
Johnson already has a lot of the
tools to make an “excellent” pro
receiver.
Former Oregon tight end Blake
Spence was the second of two
Ducks taken this weekend in the
NFL draft, and as it turns out, he,
too, might have found the perfect
home with the Jets in New York.
“We’re all very excited for
him," Blake’s mother, Pat, said
from her home in California on
Monday. “This is a great situation
for him because his agent lives
there and can kind of take Blake
under his wing for the first couple
of seasons. I guess we’ll all be call
ing him ‘Broadway Blake’ from
nowon.”
This will also be a good spot for
Spence because second-year Jets’
head coach Bill Parcells has nev
er had a team with less than three
tight ends on the roster. Current
ly, the Jets have two: Fred Baxter
and Kyle Brady, who combined
for 49 receptions and more than
500 yards last season.
“[Spence] is a good special
teams player,” Parcells said in a
released statement on Monday.
"We only have two tight ends on
our roster right now, so obviously
his chances of making the team
are real good.”
Spence could not be reached
for comment.
In his first season as a starter,
Spence led Oregon tight ends
with 38 receptions and 632 yards.
But what most impressed the Jets’
coaching staff, Parcells said, was
Spence’s touchdown production
— six in a limited role last season.
Spence was one of two tight
ends the Jets selected on Sunday,
taking Southern’s Lawrence Hart
in the seventh round with the
195th overall selection. Both play
ers will attend the Jets’ mini-camp
Sunday in New York.
One Oregon player who was
not drafted this weekend was tail
back Saladin McCullough, who
led the Pacific-10 Conference in
rushing last season with 1,343
yards and a five yards-per-carry
average. However, McCullough is
rumored to be working out a deal
with the San Francisco 49ers and
could sign a free-agent deal as ear
ly as this week.
Former Oregon fullback, A.J.
Jelks, is also rumored to be in ne
gotiations with an NFL team.
Jelks, who caught 15 passes last
season in a limited role, is report
edly talking to the Philadelphia
Eagles and will attend the team’s
mini-camp Thursday.
Neither the Eagles nor the 49ers
could be reached for comment.
Pond: Blazers content with being mediocre
■ Continued from Page 7
Perhaps the greatest proof of their inconsistency
was that it wasn’t all that surprising that the Blazers
lost to Denver last Friday night. By that point in the
season it was somewhat expected that they’d strug
gle with the league’s bottom feeders.
Likewise, they had a great chance of beating Seat
tle on Sunday.
They’ve beaten the best teams in the league in the
past, so why couldn’t they do it again?
And, hell, they almost pulled it off, playing pretty
well after the first quarter until Gary Payton won it
for the Sonics down the stretch.
Another one of the most frustrating things about
this team is that they are just mediocre and they
seem to be content with that.
It’s one thing to just suck. Fine. But just be consis
tent. Suck every night.
And if you’re going to be good, play at a high level
of consistency every night out.
No more of this beating Chicago in the United
Center one night and then losing to Indiana by 65
points the next time out, as the Blazers did in Febru
ary.
I, as a long-time fan, am frustrated by that type of
inconsistency — frustrated by the most frustrating
team in the league.
Alex Pond is the sports editor for the Emerald.
Hanzlik fired as Nuggets
coach after first season
Bill Hanzlik finished
the year 11-71 in his
first and final season
with the Nuggets
By Don Mitchell
The Associated Press
DENVER — Bill Hanzlik’s
first season as head coach of
the Denver Nuggets was one of
the worst in NBA history.
There won’t be a second.
The Nuggets fired Hanzlik
on Monday, one day after
completing an 11-71 season,
leaving the team rebuilding
again and looking for its
eighth coach this decade.
For almost the entire sea
son, the Nuggets were a threat
to surpass the league’s worst
record ever — 9-73 by the
1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers.
They managed to avoid that
dubious record by two games,
and they did it with rookies
and journeymen.
Hanzlik, 40, who has two
years remaining on the con
tract he signed before the sea
son, won’t be around for the
next effort at rebuilding after
being dismissed along with
assistants T.R. Dunn and Bri
an Winters.
“The Nuggets franchise
must move forward and put
this disappointing season be
hind,” said Dan Issel, vice
president and general manag
er. “We will continue to eval
uate every level of the organi
zation and focus on returning
the Nuggets to respectability
in the NBA.”
Issel’s hiring on March 25
seemed to seal Hanzlik’s fate.
Issel replaced Allan Bristow,
who had hired Hanzlik, his
good friend, but then became
the first victim of the horrible
season when he was fired in
February.
"Bill Hanzlik is a good
man,” Issel said. “Bill Hanzlik
was basically thrown into a
no-win situation. Is it fair?
Probably not.”
Before the season, the
Nuggets had devised a master
plan in which they jettisoned
most of their veterans, made
room under the salary cap
and acquired draft picks.
In a series of questionable
personnel moves that fol
lowed the loss of center
Dikembe Mutombo in 1996,
Mark Jackson, Dale Ellis,
Ricky Pierce and Ervin John
son departed last spring.
Those who remained to
start the season included
LaPhonso Ellis, Eric Williams,
Bryant Stith and Johnny New
man.
The team became some
thing of a league laughing
stock, as well as an after
thought in the sports-crazy
city of Denver.
“Playing Denver is like play
ing a high school team,”
Chicago’s Dennis Rodman
said during the season. “This
is the worst team in the histo
ry of basketball.”
COLD
HARD CASH
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