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Oregon vs. Washington
Faculty/Staff Night
Friday, January 1 5
7:00 pm Mac Court
Admission is $2 for faculty/staff
and guests when you show
your ID at the door.
STUDENTS!! Wear your hardhats
to the game and collect your Webfoot
decal to be eligible for great prizes
at the end of the season!!
Oregon vs. Washington State
Pom Pom Day
Sunday, January 1 7
1:00 pm Mac Court
First 2,000 fans receive a pom pom
Fox Sports will be broadcasting the game, so bring
your smile, bring a sign and say "Hi" to Mom on TV!
For more information call 346-4461.
www.goducks.com
Attention
UO Students!
U-Lane-O Credit Union is sponsoring
twenty-five undergraduate scholarships,
each worth $4,000 per year, for the
1999-2000 school year.
To be considered for a U-Lane-O scholarship,
the following documents must be postmarked
by February 1, 1999:
1999-2000 UO Scholarship Application
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
U-Lane-O Scholarship Application
Pick up your applications today in Oregon Hall.
p8C900
Falcons face Vikings’ offense
we NtC championship
game on Sunday will
prove challenging for
Atlanta
By Paul Newberry
The Associated Press
SUWANEE, Ga. — Ray
Buchanan is sleeping just fine this
week. No, he hasn’t suffered any
nightmares about the prospect of
lining up across from Randy Moss
in the NFC championship game.
“I’m going to take a butter knife
out on the field," Buchanan, the
Atlanta Falcons’ Pro Bowl comer
back, said Wednesday. “If I cut
him and he bleeds, that lets you
know this man is human."
Of course, Buchanan was being
facetious. No knives will be al
lowed Sunday at the Metrodome,
though it might be the only effec
tive way to halt the seemingly un
stoppable Minnesota offense.
The Vikings set an NFL record
with 556 points during the regu
lar season, then blew out Arizona
41-21 in a divisional playoff game
last week. They have an endless
supply of weapons that only be
gin with Moss, the NFC’s rookie
of the year with 69 receptions for
1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns.
There’s NFC offensive player of
the year Randall Cunningham,
who threw for 3,704 yards and 34
TDs in a remarkable comeback
season. There’s Cris Carter, who
had a team-high 78 receptions for
1,011 yards and 12 scores. There’s
Robert Smith, who rushed for
1,187 yards. There’s an offensive
line that features Pro Bowlers
Todd Steussie, Randall McDaniel
and Jeff Christy. There’s return
specialist David Palmer, who
lines up all over the field.
“There’s no way we’re going to
stop them,” Falcons’ coach Dan
Reeves said. “What we’re hoping
to do is contain them, come up
with a key play here and there to
slow them down.”
Still, if there was ever a team
capable of beating the Vikings, it’s
the Falcons. They have a punish
ing runner in Jamal Anderson and
a close-to-the-vest offense that led
the league in time of possession.
They don’t make many mistakes,
either, also leading the NFL in
turnover margin with a plus-20.
“I think the biggest factor is go
ing out there and letting them
know they’re not going to be
throwing the ball all over the
place,” said Michael Booker, the
other cornerback. “They’re not
going to have that much time.”
While the Vikings averaged
nearly 35 points per game, no
team scored that many in even
one game against the Falcons.
They allowed just 18 points per
game — fourth-lowest in the NFL
— and ranked second in run de
fense and eighth in fewest yards
allowed.
“In the history of Atlanta, the
defense has always been kind of
the stepchild,” end Lester Ar
chambeau said. “This is a differ
ent year. Our defense is respected
now.”
Buchanan, safety Eugene
Robinson and linebacker Jessie
Tuggle were voted to the Pro
Bowl, and someone from the de
fensive line probably should have
been.
“Great players and great de
fenses love great challenges,” said
Archambeau, who led the team
with a career-high 10 sacks.
"Everybody is excited about going
up there and showing Minnesota
and the rest of the country what
kind of defense we really are.”
Buchanan, who had a team
high seven interceptions, spent
most of the season lining up
against the other teams’ top re
ceivers. But the Falcons aren’t
saying how they plan to stop
Moss, Carter, Cunningham and
Co.
Maybe Buchanan lines up one
on-one against Moss. Or, more
likely, the Falcons assign Booker
and safety Eugene Robinson to
double Moss and let Buchanan
work solo against Carter.
Brister finds success in Denver
Following a difficult
season with the Jets and
then a year off Brister is
glad to be a Bronco
ByJohnMossmann
The Associated Press
DENVER — It was one of those
disastrous seasons that can kill a
career, and nearly did.
But after enduring a purgatorial
year with the New York Jets in
1995, and then being out of foot
ball the following year, Bubby
Brister has found peace and suc
cess in Denver.
After playing sparingly for the
Broncos in 1997, Brister emerged
as a competent backup to John El
way when the latter suffered ham
string, back and rib injuries this
season.
Brister, 36, started four games
this season — all victories. In an
other, he engineered a 34-17
comeback victory over Oakland
in relief of Elway.
“Since I’ve been here, it's like
I’ve died and gone to football
heaven,” Brister said Wednesday
as he and the Broncos prepared
for Sunday’s AFC championship
game against his former team.
Brister, who played seven years
in Pittsburgh and two in Philadel
phia, signed a free-agent contract
with the Jets prior to the 1995 sea
son — a season he finds unforget
table, but for all the wrong rea
sons,
“As bad as it gets,” he said in
describing the 3-13 campaign.
He started four games in the
middle of the season with modest
results, sharing quarterback du
ties with Boomer Esiason and
Glenn Foley.
“It was pretty frustrating at the
time, thinking free agency was
coming into play and (coach
Rich) Kotite was moving to New
York and I knew the system and
we had the money to get players,
and then we didn’t,” Brister said.
“It’s fnistrating when you’re back
there holding the ball and you
know you really don’t have the
players to compete.
“I felt sorry for Esiason that
year, he got killed. And Foley got
killed. I was just happy I could
run a little bit or I probably would
have gotten killed, too.
“There wasn’t a lot of disci
pline on the team. Things got out
of hand there for a while.”
The Jets went 1-3 in the four
games Brister started, and in his
last start, chaos erupted.
With the Jets trailing 3-0, Bris
ter was benched in favor of F’oley,
who then injured a shoulder.
Kotite told Brister to re-enter the
game, but he declined. Brister
said Esiason also declined.
“I told Kotite, ‘You benched
me, I’m in the back of the line,”’
Brister said. "If he's stupid
enough to bench me when it's 3
0, I’m stupid enough to say I’m
not going in.”
The incident, and the season,
could have been a career-killer,
and, indeed, Brister found no de
mand for his services in 1996.
Brister spent the year at home,
even as the Jets limped to a 1-15
record and surely could have
used him.
Enter Bill Parcells in 1997, and
the Jets’ revival began.
“I’ve got some friends on that
team, like Mo Lewis and Marvin
Jones,” Brister said, “and I’m hap
py to see that they’ve rebuilt their
program.”
Brister rebuilt his own career,
thanks to a recommendation to
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan
from linebacker Bill Romanows
ki, who had played with the quar
terback in Philadelphia.
“I thought my career might be
over,” he said. “When you're out
of the game like I was, 1 think you
appreciate it more. I felt like I
could still run and throw and
could help somebody win. I want
ed to play again.”
New coach brings respect and victories to ASU
Beating the Wildcats
Thursday would be a
milestone for coach Rob
Evan’s program.
By Bob Baum
The Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. — Sixteen
games into his first season at Ari
zona State, with his team getting
better and better, coach Rob
Evans would love a breakthrough
victory for his promising pro
gram.
Thursday night’s matchup
with seventh-ranked Arizona
provides the perfect opportunity.
‘It's like the UCLA game,”
Evans said. "Had we won the
UCLA game, that would have
been a milestone for this pro
gram. Beating Arizona would be
a milestone for this program.”
Evans came to Arizona State
from Mississippi, taking over a
Sun Devil program still recover
ing from the shame of a point
shaving scandal, a program try
ing to escape the long shadow of
Lute Olson and his highly suc
cessful teams down InterstatelO
at Arizona.
Of the players on the Sun Dev
ils’ roster, only Bobby Lazor has
beaten Arizona, and that was
when he was a freshman and
sophomore at Syracuse, before he
transferred to Arizona State. The
Sun Devils hav.en’t beaten the
Wildcats since 1995, a span of six
games.
“You hear Arizona this and
Arizona that,” ASU guard Eddie
House said. “Well, if you beat Ari
zona, it’s going to turn around.
People are going to start talking
about Arizona State.”
After a miserable start that in
cluded homecourt losses to
Northern Arizona and New Or
leans, Arizona State has won
eight of its last 10 to improve to
10-6 overall, 2-2 in the Pac-10.
The two losses were heartbreak
ers, 72-70 at USC and 88-85 in
overtime at UCLA.
Last week, the Sun Devils blew
out Washington by 24 points and
Washington State by 28, the first
time in 11 years that Arizona
State has had back-to-back 20
point Pac-10 victories.