JAN. 13, 1999
Page B4
(The ^Jortlanb (0bôeruer
Boxing-Maybe only
The Shadow
knows Tyson
LAS VEGAS- “O nly the |
I Shadowknows.’’MikeTysonplay-
fully referred to that old-time radio
sleuth’s signature phrase on Mon­
day. Just joking, o f course, but
I maybe, after all the real and ama­
Erickson takes Oregon State job
TACOM A, W ash. — Dennis
Erickson, fired last m onth as head
coach o f the Seattle Seahaw ks,
will apparently rem ain in coaching,
albeit at a m uch different level.
The addition o f Erickson, who
teur psychologists, sociologists
won two national titles at the U ni­
and just plain fight fens who for
I years have tried to understand the
versity o f M iam i, would represent
troubled life and times o f the former
a change o f fortune for Oregon
heavyw eight champion, Tyson
State, which last w eek lost the
was on to something about him­
coach the Beavers thought was the
self: The Shadow, and only the
future o f the program second-year
Shadow, knows him. Tyson, get-
man Mike Riley.
| ting ready to fight South African
E rickson, w ho w as 31-33 in
Frans Botha on Saturday in the ex­
five seasons with the Seahawks
champ’s first bout since his ban­
and com ing o ff back-to-back 8-8
ishment for biting off a piece o f |
years, has said he was anxious to
j Evander Holyfield’s ear in June
rem ain in coaching. He was ru­
1997, was at his best meandering,
m ored to be in contention for the
| o f course, but still entertaining.
jo b as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ of­
fensive coordinator, but that posi­
Salt Lake Games
tion w ent to Kevin Gilbride.
H e’s reportedly due to be paid
could be in
$
1
m illion for the last year o f his
jeopardy
LONDON-The IOC official who j contract with the Seahawks, who
replaced him last w eek with form er
blew&ewhritteonOlyrnpiccorrup-
don said Monday fee 2002 Winter j Packers coach M ike Holmgren. A
tour o f duty in Corvallis, though
Gamescouldbeinjeopardybecause
w ould be rem iniscent o f his days at
offeeSaltLakeCitybribeiy scandal.
W a s h in g to n S ta te , w h e re he
Hodler.feelOC’ssemormember,
I said it was possible the games could
coached in 1987 and 1988, before
j be moved elsewhere or canceled it
M iami cam e a-calling. Before that,
Salt Lake can’t raise enough money j he w as a big hit at Idaho and
because o f eroding public and cor-
W yoming.
[ porate support
IN A SM ALL TOW N SUCH
AS Corvallis, Erickson w ould be
getting back to stints sim ilar to
those in M oscow, Idaho, Laram ie,
W yo., and Pullm an, W ash.aw ay
from the intense pressure o f a
M iami or an N FL organization.
O regon S tate’s last w inning sea­
son was in 1970, with an N CA A
record o f 28 consecutive losing
seasons. The Erickson returns to
the college ranks.
Beavers cam e close last season,
finishing 5-6 and suffering close
losses to W ashington, Cal and
U CLA . Seen, finally, as a program
on the rise, OSU seem ed to suffer
typical disappointm ent when Riley
was hired last w eek as the San
D iego Chargers head coach.
H iring Erickson, though, would
give the Beavers a chance to sus­
tain their m om entum . U nable to
attract a high-profile coach, the
B eavers’ recent roster o f coaches
has included C raig Fertig, Joe
A vezzano, Dave K ragthorpe and
Jerry Pettibone.
THE
A R R IV A L
OF
E R IC K S O N is also enhances the
Pac-10’s roster o f coaches, which
w elcom ed Rick Neuheisel to the
fold as W ashington’s coach, offi­
cially on M onday. W ith letter-of-
intent signing day just over three
w eeks aw ay on Feb. 3, the rest o f
the Pac-10 will have to battle two
m ore big-nam e coaches down the
stretch for the best recruits in the
W e st. N e u h e is e l is c e rta in ly
equipped to grab his share o f pros­
pects despite the late start, while
Erickson figures to be able to at
least get his foot in the door.
E rickson, 51, last played the
recruiting gam e w hile at Miami,
where he won national titles in
1989 (his first year with the Hurri­
canes) and 1991. Before joining
M iami, he spent tw o years in Pull­
m an with
W ashington State, finishing the
1988 season rated No. 16, which
was the school’s best-ever rank­
ing at the time.
Michael Jordan Expected to Retire
Hoyas adjust to
life after
Thom pson
NEW Y O R K -R eality hasn’t ]
sunk in yet. It won’t for a while.
The Georgetown Hoyas are still
I clinging to John Thompson’s
legacy much like the former I
coach him self used to cling to a
towel draped over his shoulder.
The towel was Thompson’s side­
line security blanket; Thompson
was the Hoyas’ security blan-
| ket.
C H IC A G O - For six months,
Michael Jordan teased, taunted and
tantalized a nation awaiting his an­
swer.
At last, he appears to have one.
The greatest player in NBA his­
tory and the most popular athlete
since Muhammad Ali is expected to
announce his retirement Wednes­
day, a source with close ties to the
NBA told The Associated Press on
Sooner or later, Thompson
Monday night. The Bulls scheduled
will learn to live without the towel.
a news conference for noon EST
Just as the Hoyas will find there
W ednesday.
is life after John Thompson.
If so, it would be the second time
Right now, they’re too busy de­
in five years that Jordan has walked
n y in g th a t a n y th in g has
away from the game.
I changed.
“I knew Michael w asn’t coming
It's only a natural part o f the I
back,” B ulls free agent D ickey
I mourning process. And w e’re j Simpkins said today at the team ’s
not talking about Georgetown
training site in D eerfield. “He
alum Alonzo Mourning. Every­
dropped hints last season and last
one and probably every team | summer that this would probably be
grieves differently. The team
his last go-around.
Thompson abruptly abandoned
“Ending on top was how he wants
last Friday after 26 years is griev­
to do it and that’s about the best way
ing by playing its collective heart
you can do it.”
| out on the basketball court.
Just as with Jordan’s first retire­
ment, a number o f factors— his age,
Penn State’s Jones
a picture-perfect ending to last sea­
son, a fractured beginning for this
shot point-blank
one — appear to have influenced his
with .357 magnum
decision. And just like last time, Jor­
MONESSEN J ’a.-BradJones.
dan could change his mind and re­
a freshman linebacker at Penn
turn at some point.
State, was in serious condition
“We look forward to seeing him
Monday after being shot in the
sometime in late March when he
neck from point-blank range.
makes his return again in M arket
Police said Jones, 21, was shot
Square Arena,” Pacers coach Larry
Sunday around 2:30 a.m., follow­
Bird said.
ing an argument Saturday night
But for now, he is expected to
withLanyereRockamore, 25,and
once again leave the game that bears
Albert Reid, 25, both o f Pitts­
his indelible mark, leave it when he’s
at the top, the way he said he would.
“This is a man who truly, as far as
I’m concerned, is the m odem day
Babe Ruth,” former NBA great and
current Lakers vice president Jerry
W est said recently.
Jordan did not return a message
left on his phone, and Bulls owner
Jerry Reinsdorf, reached at his Ari­
zona home, said: “I don’t have any
reaction. I don’t have any com­
ments.”
Buzz Peterson, the Appalachian
State basketball coach who was
Jordan’s teammate andcollege room­
mate at North Carolina, said he be­
lieves Jordan made up his mind a
long time ago.
“I called him this morning and
asked him, ‘W hat’s going on? I ’ve
got 25 pink slip phone messages
here in front o f me,” Peterson said.
“ H e ju s t la u g h e d an d sa id
everything’s coming out now, and
every thing’sbeing said. Ic a n ’tcon-
firm what he’s going to say tomor­
row but he feels like he’s making the
right decision for him self and his
family.”
Asked about Jordan’s retirement.
Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam said,
“At this particular time, I can’t com­
ment.”
Jordan’s retirement also was re­
ported by The New York Times, USA
Today and The Denver Post.
His agent, David Falk, said that
until Jordan “announces whether he
is retiring or returning, anything else
is speculation."
And there’s been a considerable
amount o f that ever since Jordan hit
the final, thrilling shot in Game 6 of
burgh.
Redskins Sold for
Record Price
Called to Arms
WASfflNGTON-Sineefeefran-1
I chise was bom in 1933, there h av e!
b eat just three names at the top of I
fee Washington Redskins. Now,
some new faces are poised to take I
the NBA Finals in Utah to lock up the
Bulls’ sixth championship o f the de­
cade. That speculation intensified
last week, when the NBA players
and owners reached a settlement to
end the six-month lockout.
Jordan turns 36 next month. The
five-time league MVP led the NBA in
scoring 10 times and averaged 31.5
points per game, best in league his­
tory.
With NBA players preparing for
an abbreviated season to begin Feb.
5, Jordan was expected to announce
his plans before training camps
opened Monday. He had been in the
Bahamas on vacation, but returned
to Chicago earlier this week. An­
other source, who also requested
anonymity, told the AP that Jordan
su m m o n ed te a m m a te s S c o ttie
Pippen and Ron Harper to his home
to discuss the team ’s future.
Jordan retired from the Bulls the
first time in October 1993, saying he
accomplished everything he wanted
to in basketball and planned to de­
vote more time to his family. Instead,
he spent 1994 playing m inor league
baseball for the Double-A Birming­
ham Barons, a farm team o f the Chi­
cago White Sox. The budding out­
field prospect left baseball in the
spring o f 1995, rather than get caught
up in another labor squabble be­
tween owners and players, and re­
turned to the game he loved.
wavss
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