Page B2
NOV. 25, 1998
Ute Ilo rt U «b tfMwrtter
g ir o
Dennis Erickson Press Conference
Sampras Wins,
Rios Loses a t ATP
Pete Sampras got a per
fect start Tuesday at the
ATP World Championship
and, u n fo rtu n a te ly for
Marcelo Rios, so did Tim
Henman.
Sampras and Rios, the
top players in the world,
are battling for the No. 1
ranking at the end of the
year.
DiMaggio Marks
Birthday in Hospital
Joe DiMaggio marks his
84th birthday Wednesday
in a Florida hospital where
he reportedly is battling
lung cancer and had a heart
attack last week.
DiM aggio’s lawyer de
nied reports by two televi
sion stations that the Hall
of Famer had a heart attack
or is gravely ill.
Astros Drop Effort
To Sign Johnson
The H ouston A stros
gave up their effort to re
sign Randy Johnson, say
ing today they w ill not
match the Texas Rangers’
offer of a four-year guar
anteed contract.
Astros general manager
Gerry Hunsicker said Barry
M eister, one of the left
hander’s agents, told the
team tod ay they w ould
need a four-year offer for
any chance at retaining
Johnson. Texas is said to
have offered nearly $50
million during Johnson’s
visit to The Ballpark on
Monday.
Cowboys Expect To
See a Lot of Moss
Get ready for a double
dose o f rookie sensation
Randy M oss.
The D a lla s C ow boys
secondary got the news
Tuesday that M innesota
wide receiv er Jake Reed
w on’t play against them
T hanksgiving Day. That
means more work for the
gam e-breaking M oss.
K.C. and Tampa in
the Super Bowl?
Before the season, K an
sas City was one of the
favorites to go to the Su
per Bowl, and at least one
national publication picked
Tampa Bay. There was also
a feeling the Giants and
Redskins would battle for
the NFC East title.
D etroit, a playoff team
last year, was thought to
be a playoff team again.
T h re e m o n th s la te r,
those five teams are a com
bined 18-37 and all but
m athem atically out o f the
race.
’ll go ahead and talk a little bit
ibout San D iego and w here
th ey ’re at. O bviously, th ey ’ve had a
coaching change. W e all know about
that. But as a football team th ey ’re
num ber one in the N FL on defense.
T h ey ’re an outstanding defensive
football team led by Junior Seau, who
is as good as anybody in football
right now. H e’s kind o f the heart and
soul o f that defense. They play like
him, they play w ith his enthusiasm all
the tim e and th ey ’re ju st an outstand
ing defensive football team. They run
to the football. They do everything
you can ask, and th at’s why th ey ’re
num ber one in the NFL. H e’s a huge
team leader for them and does a lot o f
things. T h ey ’re very difficult to ran
the football against. They play a lot o f
m an coverage; hopefully we can try
to do som e things to take advantage
o f that. But th ey ’re an outstanding
defensive football team.
O n the other side o f the ball -
N atrone M eans is the key to w hat
they do offensively. He, to me, looks
better than h e’s ever looked. H e ’s
alw ays been a very physical runner,
Dennis Erickson at press conference
but it’s looked to me that h e’s making
people m iss a lot more than he ever
only practice two tim es or three times,
sive football team and th ey ’re play
has. H e ’ll hit it up in there and then
y o u ’re going to b e a little rusty. I
ing to that defensive football team.
h e ’ll cut back and do som e different
thought M onday we cam e back pretty
T h a t’s exactly w hat they should be
things - ju k e a guy, run over a guy -
good and had a good practice, so
doing and th at’s w hy they w on that
h e ’s the real key. T hat’s w hat they
hopefully w e ’ll practice w ell today.
football game, and th a t’s w hy (hey
w ere able to do against Philadelphia.
DO ES W A R REN M O O N N EED
beat Tennessee earlier in the year and
They w ere able to run the football and
TOPRACTICETODAYTOBEABLE
B uffalo, so they w ent back to that.
not put R yan L ea f into a lot o f situa
TO PLAY?
I t’s a gam e w here th ey ’re real physi
tions w here he had to throw it. They
“N o, but he needs to practice to
cal and it’s going to be a gam e, that
got him in good situations to throw it.
m
orrow
. H e’s got to practice tom or
obviously is a key gam e for b oth o f
They simplified things a little bit which
row
and
we ’ 11 see where he ’ s at. That ’ s
us. It’s going to be fun. W e ju st cam e
really m ade adifference for him, as far
part
o
f
it,
the other part o f it is how he
o ff the bye-w eek, as you know and
as his reads are concerned. H e can
feels
physically.
I’m not going to put
practiced on M onday and seem ed to
throw the football. H e m ade some
him
out
on
the
field
w hen h e’s not
be fresh. T he only bad thing about a
throw s in that gam e that a lot o f
close
to
100%,
it’s
not
fair to him.
bye is getting back into w hat you
people ca n ’t make. H e’s got a strong
O
bviously,
w
e
’
re
going
to
get a quar
need
to
do
as
far
as
practice
and
arm. H e ’s a guy th at’s going to be a
terback
ready
this
week,
w
hich
would
getting
back
into
that
type
o
f
thing.
great player. It’s ju st experience with
be
John
Friesz.
He
gets
all
the
practice
So
th
a
t’s
w
hat
w
e
’re
trying
to
get
to,
him, and w hat June Jones is doing
turns and th at’s the direction that we
today in practice. I h a t’s w hat we
w ith him right now is sim plifying it
w ould go.”
tried to do on M onday. G et back to
and putting it on N atrone M eans and
WILL WARREN PRACTICE TO
the every day w ork thing that we
that offensive front, w ho are very
DAY?
need to do in preparation for games.
good run blockers. They ’ re doing the
“H e’s going to go out and try to
Som etim es w hen y o u ’ re o f f and you
right thing. They have a great defen-
I
Beavers Say....’’Not So Fast”
The Civil War
fo r s ta d iu m o f f ic ia ls to c le a r th e
h e B e a v e rs o f O S U h a d a
field.
w h o le d if fe r e n t p ro g ra m ,
fo r t h e ir re c o rd c ro w d o f 3 7 ,7 7 7 , W ith fa n s c ro w d e d a ro u n d th e
s id e lin e s a n d e n d z o n e , S m ith h it
as th e y se t fire to th e # 1 5 D u c k s
Je d W e a v e r fo r a 1 2 -y a rd g a in .
a t P a r k e r S ta d iu m S a tu r d a y , in
J e rr y B ro w n w a s th e n s to p p e d
w h a t p ro v e d to b e o n e o f th e
c o ld on tw o tr ie s fro m th e 1 -y a rd
m o st e x c itin g C iv il W a r g a m e s in
lin e . O n th ird d o w n , S m ith fa k e d
th e h isto ry o f th e tw o (2 ) te a m s ....
a h a n d o f f a n d fo u n d W e a v e r all
it to o k tw o (2 ) o v e r - tim e s , b u t it
a lo n e fo r th e to u c h d o w n . T h e
w a s o h so s w e e t, b y th e tim e th e
e x tra p o in t m a d e it 3 8 -3 8 .
“ o le la d y in b la c k , g o t u p to
F o r th e D u c k s , th e lo ss w ill
s in g .”
h u rt m e n ta lly a n d fin a n c ia lly .
T h e v ic to ry r e p re s e n te d
W ith a w in , th e D u c k s w e re p r o b
s w e e t j u s t i c e fo r th e B e a v e rs (5 -
a b ly on th e ir w a y to th e H o lid a y
6, 2 -6 ) fo r th e y e a r.
B o w l a n d a $ 1.8 m illio n p a y d a y .
T h e B e a v e rs n e a r ly w o n th e
N o w , it c o u ld b e th e S u n B o w l or
g a m e in th e f ir s t o v e rtim e w h e n
th e A lo h a B o w l a n d c o n s id e r
th e y le d 3 8 -3 1 . T h e y sto p p e d th e
a b ly le ss p a y o u t.
D u c k s o n a f o u rth - a n d -1 3 p la y
“ I d o n ’t k n o w - w e ’re lo o k in g
fro m th e O re g o n S ta te 28 a f te r
a
t
e v e r y th in g ,” O re g o n c o a c h
s a fe ty T e r r a n c e C a rro ll k n o c k e d
M
ik
e B e llo tti sa id . “ I ’m su re
do w n A k ili S m ith ’s pass. T h e fans
w
e
’re
lo o k in g a t a n y b o w l; I
s to rm e d th e f ie ld , th in k in g th e
d
o
n
’t
k
n o w w h a t th e r a m if ic a
g a m e w a s o v e r.
tio n s a re fo r th is d o w n th e ro a d ."
N o t to f a s t. T h e c ro w d d id n ’t
T h e m o s t c o s tly p a r t o f th is
n o tic e an o ffic ia l th ro w in g a flag ,
lo ss fo r O re g o n m ig h t h a v e b e e n
p e n a liz in g O S U c o rn e rb a c k
in th e p o c k e tb o o k . T h is d e fe a t
A n d ra e H o lla n d fo r p a s s in te r
to o k th e D u c k s o u t o f a b ig -
fe re n c e . It to o k a b o u t 10 m in u te s
T
m o n e y b o w l, w h ic h e v e n tu a lly
c o u ld c o s t th e m as m u c h as $1
m illion.
B u t th e y d id n ’t lo o k m u c h lik e
a te a m th a t d e s e r v e d to b e in th e
to p 2 0 in th e c o u n try d o w n th e
s tr e tc h o f th e g am e. T h e B e a v e rs
w e re c le a rly th e d o m in a n t te a m
in o v e rtim e . O S U n e e d e d j u s t
f o u r p la y s to s c o re in th e f ir s t
o v e r tim e an d tw o in th e se c o n d .
It w a s a p h y s ic a l m is m a tc h b y
th a t p o in t, w ith th e D u c k s s im
p ly o u t-m a n n e d .
“ O u r o f fe n s iv e lin e w o n th e
g a m e ,” S m ith sa id . “ W e th re w
th a t o n e p a s s in th e s e c o n d o v e r
tim e a n d I ’m n o t e v e n s u re w h y
w e d id it. I fe lt r e a lly g o o d a b o u t
th e w ay w e w ere ru n n in g th e b a ll.”
B e av e rs fans fille d th e field
w h en it w as o v e r, h a n g in g from
g o al p o sts , d a n c in g w ith jo y an d ,
in g e n e ra l, c e le b ra tin g th e w ay
p e o p le c e le b ra te so m e th in g th a t
d o e s n ’t h ap p e n v e ry o fte n . T h ese
p e o p le a c tu a lly to re se c tio n s o f
th e a rtific ia l tu r f o f f th e sta d iu m
floor.
throw . H ow m uch h e’ll be able to do,
I d o n ’t know .”
W H A T TYPE OF A FFECT DOES
IT H A V E ON A TEA M W ITH A
C O A C H IN G C H A N G E ? DOES IT
BENEFIT m E TEAM AS MUCH AS
IT CREATES A CHANGE FOR THE
OPPOSITION IN PREPARATION?
“I d o n ’t know , I h av en ’t been
around one in the m iddle o f the sea
son. N orm ally, they w ait until the end
o f the year. T hey played pretty well
last w eek. I do know that.”
ARETHESEAHAW KSGETTING
ANTSY TO PLAY?
“W e ’re anxious to get back and
play. A gain, the w eek o f f was good
for us, but now w e have ten gam es left
and it’s a ten gam e season for us. W e
can still accom plish a lot o f things
that w e ’ve set out to accom plish, but
w e d o n ’t have a w hole lot o f room for
error, as m ost team s don ’ t at this time.
I f you look at the league, as I m en
tioned before, there are a lot o f team s
w ith two, three and four losses. A lot
o f things can happen. N obody has a
lot o f room for error at this point other
than D enver, they have a little room
for error.”
ON HOW M OON FEE L S...
“H e’s sore. A gain, ifh e feels good,
ifh e could throw it then h e’ll practice.
I f h e c a n ’t, h e’s the guy y o u ’d have
to ask.”
O N M O O N H A V IN G T W O
C R A C K E D RIBS IN ST E A D OF
O N E... “ I d o n 't know that anybody
know s that answ er, it m ay have been
there before, it may not have been
there before. They really don’t know.”
HEL.OOKSOKAYANDHESAYS
HE’SOKAY.M IGHTHESTILLNOT
PLAY BA SED ON AN INTU ITIV E
DECISION ON YOUR PART?
“C ould be, w e ’ll ju st see how he
operates at practice, ifh e practices.”
IS THE PROTOTYPE RUNNING
BACKNOW AGUYTHATW EIGHS
ABOUT220-225 ANDCAN CATCH
AND HAS POW ER?
“ I f you can find him , yes, th at’s
w hat y o u ’d like to have, th ey ’re hard
to find. Natrone M eans is 240 pounds,
he creates a lot o f problems forpeople.
U sually, it depends on the situation.
A lot o f people play w ith third-dow n
backs, they have a bigger guy on first
and second dow n to run it then on
third dow n and eight. H e ’s a guy that
can com e out o f the backfield.
T he reason Ricky W atters is in
volved w ith us is because w e felt he
could do it all. That ’ s w hy w e decided
on him w hen w e m ade our decision on
w ho w e w ere going to get to play
running back for us.”
H O W W E L L IS JO H N FR IESZ
PLAYING?
“ Fine. H e cam e in an d p lay ed in
the one gam e and I th o u g h t he
p lay ed p retty w ell. K ansas C ity, it’s
p retty h ard to ev a lu a te anybody in
that gam e. A s I said ea rlie r o r last
w eek after the gam e, he cam e in and
d id a g o o d jo b for us ag ain st D en
v er.”
H A V E Y O U SEE N A N Y IM
PRO V EM EN T ON RY A N LEAF IN
TH E L A ST FEW W E E K S?
“Y es, h e ’s g etting b etter an d b e t
ter. Physically, h e ’s got all the tools,
i t ’s ju s t a m atter o f learning in this
league. L ooking back , how m any
ro o k ies h av e com e in an d d o m i
n ated in this league? I c a n ’t nam e
any. Y o u ju s t d o n ’t do it.”
O N T H E SE A T T L E D E FE N SE
A G A IN ST A RO O K IE QB W H O ’S
STRUGGLING...
“ W ith th e ir p h ilo so p h y , reg ard
less o f w h o the q u arte rb a ck is,
y o u ’ve g ot to stop N atro n e M eans.
T h a t’s th e w hole key, reg ard less if
i t ’s R yan L e a f o r an y b o d y else.
T h a t’s w hat the key is in th is foot
ball g am e, sto p p in g th eir running
gam e. So th a t’s w hat w e ’re em p h a
sizing.”
P ortraits in
J n zx
S u n days9
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66
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