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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