Page B2 __ ____ __________ H k Portland tfMwruer------- S p o r ts prizeof$468,000. “ I feel like I’m calm er n o w co m ing dow n the stretch ,” S lum an said. “I ’m h an d lin g it b etter. B u t also things ju s t seem to b e g o in g m y w a y m o re th an th ey u se d to .” Jets mistakes doom Super Bowl bid DENVER- R em em b er how the N e w Y o rk G ian ts w o n tw o S u p er B o w ls u n d e r B ill P arcells? T h ey w o u ld p o u n d you o n th e g ro u n d , tu rn th e b all o v e r ab o u t o n ce a m o n th and m ix in an efficien t p ass in g gam e. T h e p assin g g am e w as OK. on S u n d ay , b u t m ista k e s an d a 1- y a rd -a n d -a-clo u d -o f-d u st gro u n d attack doom ed P arcells ’ N ew Y ork Jets to a trip h o m e a n d a lo n g er w ait for th eir first S u p e r B ow l ap p earan ce sin ce 1969. “ W e m o v ed the b all w ell ex cep t fo r so m e c o stly tu rn o v e rs,” w id e re c e iv e r K e y sh aw n Jo h n so n said o f th e Jets ’ 2 3 -1 0 lo ss to D e n v e r in the A F C cham pionship gam e. “ W e knew if w e m ade as m any m ¡stakes as w e d id ag ain st Ja c k so n v ille (in th e J e ts ’ first p la y o f f g am e), w e w o u ld lose, an d th a t’s w h at h ap p e n e d .” KO Punch Turned Around Tyson Bout L A S V E G A S - M ik e T y so n w in ced in p a in as h is cu t m an tried to stop the b le e d in g aro u n d his rig h t eye. T h e lo o k o n th e face o f tra in e r T o m m y B ro o k s w as o n e o f g ro w in g co n c e rn as h e im p lo red T y so n b e tw e e n ro u n d s to try an d g et so m eth in g tog eth er. T y s o n ’s w ild p u n c h e s w ere h it tin g n o th in g b u t a ir an d F ran co is B o th a w as m ak in g h im p ay fo r it w ith w ell p la c e d co u n ters. W o rse y et, B o th a w as talk in g trash, ta u n t ing the fig h te r w h o se m ere p re s en ce in th e rin g o n c e te rro rized h is o p p o n e n ts . T h is w as n o w a y fo r th e b a d d est m a n o n th e p la n e t to start a co m e back. Corretja, Venus Williams Win; Rios Drops Out M ELBOURNE, Australia- M a r c e lo R io s , g o n e . G o ra n Ivanisevic, gone .Alex Corretja, al m ost gone. W ith Pete Sam pras staying home, the Australian O pen faced som e gap ing holes in the men \ oinks on its first day, and cam e aw fully close to losing V enus W illiam s, too. A stress fracture in his back knocked out the top-seeded Rios, the 1998 runner-up. D octors advised him to rest until March. For No. 11 seed Ivanisevic, a three tim e W im bledon finalist, it w as a pinched nerve in die back. DIMagglo Released From Hospital HOLLYWOOD,Fla.-Nextstopfor Joe DiMaggio, Yankee Stadium. Yes, that’s correct. A fter 99 days in intensive care, after lung cancer sur gery, pneumonia, and an infection that nearlykilledhtm andlefthtm inacom a, Joe D iM aggio w ent hom e Monday. N ow h e 's getting ready for a return to the Bronx, w here he hopes to throw out the ceremonial fust pitch o n opening day April 9. The 84-year-old Y ankee Chpperrecerved last ntes afterhe lapsed into a com a last m o n th But each time doctors said he probably w ouldn’t survive,DiMaggioprovedthem wrong. Check Out Next Week @ he fóartlattò (ßhseruer Doing the Bird: Atlanta revels in Falcons’ first Super Bowl Sluman pulls out fourth career win at Sony Open HON O L U L l-JeffS lu m an seem in g ly cam e o u t o f n o w h ere S u n d a y a n d h e ld o f f so m e o f »he w o rld ’s b e st p lay ers, p o stin g his seco n d straig h t 4 -u n d e r-p a r 6 6 to w in th e in au g u ral $ 2 .6 m illio n S o n y O p en at the W aia lae C o u n try C lub. T h re e sh o ts b e h in d T o m m y T o lies to start the ro u n d , S lu m an c lo se d w ith co n se c u tiv e b ird ie s to fin ish at 9 -u n d er 271. T he d im in u tive F lo rid a S tate g ra d u a te w o n b y tw o shots an d to o k h o m e th e first JAN. 20, 1999 A T L A N T A -S tart flapping those arm s and ju m p on the b andw agon — the A tlanta Falcons are going to the Super Bowl. Ih e city aw oke M onday w ith a giant "D irty B ird" hangover, celebrating a gritty team that pulled o f f a stunning upset in the din o f the M etrodom e, conveniently forgetting all those years w hen the Falcons w ere treated like the crazy unc le that everyone in the fam ily tries to ignore. “G o B rav es— and take the Falcons with you." was a popular bum per sticker in the 1980s w hen both team s w ere at the bottom o f their respective sports. W ell, the B raves have tom ahaw k- chopped their w ay to seven straight postseason appearances in the 1990s, but it to o k the N F L ’ s w inningest coach and a strutting group o f has-beens and never- w eres to take the Falcons to their first cham pionship gam e after 3 3 years A tlanta, w hich defeated M innesota 30-27 in overtim e Sunday for the N FC title, w ill m eet the D enver B roncos in the Jan. 31 Super B ow l in M iam i. T he team w ill b egin its preparations o n W ednesday, w hich left a couple o f days to savor the m om ent. A ctually, the party began S unday night w hen the team arrived at H artsfield A tlanta International A iip o rt and w as greeted by m ore than 5,000 people. N ary a m ention w as m ade o f those three years w hen the team failed to sell out a hom e game. “Y ou felt like you w ere in a dream w orld,” said linebacker Jessie Tuggle, w h o has been w ith the Falcons for a dozen, m ostly losing seasons. “Y ou alw ays talk about being in a Super Bowl and now w e ’ve d one it. W e earned the rig h tto g o to M iam i. It m eans a lot when it all sinks in, the w ay everything fell to g eth er.” A nother4,000orsorevelersjam m ed the team ’s suburban training com plex, creating a rush hour-like traffic jam in the m iddle o f the night. T he scene w as surreal w hen the players appeared on a second-floor balcony, saluting the crow d that had spilled onto thepractice fieldbelow . “ It w as absolutely nuts,” T uggle said. “It w as like a rock concert in Suwanee, G eorgia.” C oach D an R eeves, w ho underw ent heart bypass surgery ju st five w eeks ago. endured a w hirlw ind schedule M onday. A fter gettingonly4{ h o u rs o f sleep, he appeared o n A B C ’s “G ood M orning A m erica,” stopped by P ied m ont H ospital for a routine check-up, and held his usual post-gam e new s conference in Suw anee. O f course, there w as nothing rou tine o r usual about this day. T he Fal cons have never played at this tim e o f year, suffering through 25 losing sea sons in their first 32 years. A fter R eeves w as hired as coach, the Falcons lost seven o f their first eight gam es in 1997. Since then, they have w on 22 o f 26 d o u b lin g the franchise’s p la y o ff victories from tw o to four in the span o f eight days. “I t’s incredible w hen you think about it,” R eeves said, “com ing from 1- 7 halfw ay through you first year to be in the Super B ow l in the second year. I can ’t say enough about our players.” B ut m uch o f the focus w ill b e on R eeves at this S uper B ow l. H e ’ll be fa c in g th e te a m he coached for 12 years and took to three title games. H e ’ll also be facing the coach he fired for alleged subordination and the quarterback w ho said playing for R eeves w as “hell.” R e e v e s, w h o w as fired by the B roncos af ter the 1992 season, in sisted M onday that he has buried any hard feel ings for M ike Shanahan and Jo h n Elw ay. “ I d o n ’t live in the p a s t ,” th e F a lc o n s co ach said. “ I f y o u ’re going to b e a football coach and you preach and teach to the players that they should look to the nex t p lay an d not think about the last o n e , I think y o u have to go through life the sam e w ay. Falcons defeated the Minnesota Vikings. Settlement Again Delayed; Pippen, Sprewell Trades Set N E W Y O R K - All sorts o f deals are being m ade, from Scottie Pippen head ing to the H ouston Rockets to la tre ll Sprewell going to theN ew Y ork Knicks. B ut those transactions will have to wait som e more, as the N BA informed its team s T uesday that training cam ps will not open on W ednesday, delaying any trades or signings until Thursday at the earliest B ut the waiting gam e hasn’t stopped teams from having deals ready to go w henever the lockout does end. T he C hicago Bulls agreed to a sign- and-trade deal sending Pippen to the Rockets for forward Roy Rogers and a second-round draft pick, and the Knicks were set to acquire Latrell Sprewell from G olden State for John Starks and Chris Mills. A ls o , to p fre e a g e n t A n to n io M cD yess w as expected to choose be tween D enverand Phoenix by the end o f the day. A lso:M innesota,Toronto and D en ver agreed on a three-way trade sending guard Chauncey Billups to the N u g gets, center Dean G arrett and guard B obby Jackson to the Tim berwolves and guard M icheál W illiam s and tw o No. 1 picks to the Raptors. T he Bulls signed and traded guard Steve Kerr and center Luc Longley, with Kerr going to San Antonio, and Longley N ew Jersey reportedly acquired cen ter Jim M cllvaine from Seattle for for w ards M ichael C age and D on Mac Lean. T he Los A ngeles Lakers sent for w ard T ony Battie to Boston for center Travis Knight. V lade D ivac is w aiting for M cD yess to decide before he goes to Phoenix, D enver o r Sacram ento. All o f those deals cannot be com pleted until league and union lawyers put the settlem ent into writing. In addi tion, both sides are trying to resolve several differences that have arisen. T he biggest disagreem ent concerns the new average salary exception, w hich allows team s already over the salary cap to sign an extra free agent. T he union w ants the exception to be used for six- year contracts; the league w ants it lim ited to three-year deals. T he Bulls w ill sign Pippen to a deal w orth $67.2 million for five years before trading him. A lthough the salaries for Pippen and R ogers d o not m atch, the deal is allow able under N B A rules because Houston will have enough salary cap room to fit in P ippen’s contract. His salary for this headed to Phoenix for forw ard M artin M uursepp, forward-center Mark Bryant season will be $ 10.6 million. Pippen, a six-tim e cham pion with the Bulls, had talked to the R ockets about signing w ith them as a free agent. He apparently agreed to the sign-and-trade deal because it aliows him to make more m oney than H ouston could have of and guard-forward B ubba Wells. fered. The acquisition o f Pippen should clear the w ay for C harles Barkley to re sign w ith H ouston for the $ 1 million m inim um , giving the Rockets a form i dable front line o f Barkley, Pippen and HakeemGlajuwon. and allowing Barkley to keep his Larry Bird-exception rights for another year. “ I am excited about my new career in H ouston, and even though everything seem s to be changing, I hope Bulls fans everyw here will understand that it is tim e for a new era to begin in C hicago,” Pippen said. “Chicago has beenm yhom efom early halfm y life, and w ith family and friends here 1 will alw ays treat thecity as home. I only hope the city o f C hicago will continue to treat m e as one oftheir own. Thanks for all the great m em ories.” Sprewell, a three-time All-Star, drew the longest nondrug-related suspen sion in league history last season for choking his coach, P.J. Carlesimo. The Knicks will send Starks and Mills to the W arriors, tw o league sources said today. New Y ork originally offered Mills and guard C hris Childs. The Knicks, H eat and Pacers had been know n to be the leading bidders, and the AP learned that a com plicated four-team trade involving Golden State, M iam i, C leveland and Boston also w as discussed. In that scenario, Sprewell would have gonetothelleatalongw ithB im boC oles and C larence W eatherspoon, w ith Peninsula Little League Boys Girls - 5 to 16 years of age. Peninsula Park Community Center-f700NPoi-tland Blvd.) Challenger Programs Saturday - January 3 0 ,1 9 9 9 aO am - 2 pm T uesday-F ebruary 2 ,1 9 9 9 6 : 3 0 - 8 3 0 pm T hursday-February4 , 1 9 9 9 6 ;3 0 -8 :3 0 p m Saturday - February 6 ,1 9 9 9 10 am - 2 pm T uesday-F ebruary 9 ,1 9 9 9 6 : 3 0 - 8:30 pm M a tt D ish m an C o m m u n ity C en ter - (77 N E K n o tt S t ) M in o r - ag es 7 -9 y ears old M ajo r - ages 10-12 y ears old S e n io r - ages 13-16 years old Saturday - January 3 0 ,1 9 9 9 10 am - 2 pm T uesday-F ebruary 2 , 1 9 9 9 6 :3 0 -8 :3 0 p m T hursday-February <, 1 9 9 9 6 :3 0 -8 :3 0 pm Saturday - February 6 ,1 9 9 9 10 am - 2 pm T uesday-F ebruary 9 ,1 9 9 9 6 : 3 0 - 8:30 pm SetfEnhanconent Incorporated (SEI)-(3920N Kerby St) T uesday-February 2 , 1 9 9 9 6 :3 0 -8 :3 0 p m T hursday-February 4 ,1 9 9 9 6 :3 0 -8 :3 0 p m Saturday-February 6 ,1 9 9 9 1 0 a m - 2 p m Blazer’s Boys & Girls Club - (5250 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.) T uesday - February 2 ,1 9 9 9 6 pm - 8 pm Thursday February 4 ,1 9 9 9 6 pm - 8 pm Portland Police Precinct - (449NE Emerson St.) Saturday - January 3 0 ,1 9 9 9 10am - 2 pm Saturday- February 6 ,1 9 9 9 2 pm - 5 pm T ee-B a ll5 <ft 6 years o ld F o r an y q u estio n s p lea se co n ta ct Michael Smith 529*8441 G olden State getting Brent Barry, D an M ajerle and Bobby Sura. B oston would have received Jam al M ashburn and V italy Potapenko, and Cleveland would have received Paul Pierce and A ndrew Declercq. M cD yess is expected to decide to day betw een re-signing w ith Phoenix or going to Denver. The R ockets and Bulls w ere am ong his earlier choices. “H ouston and C hicago are out o f the picture,” agent Jam es B ryant said. “T ony has analyzed the situation care fully, and h e ’s m ost at hom e w ith those tw o options: Phoenix is going to stay a w inner and D enver is going to be a winner.” If M cD yess stays in Phoenix, the N uggets are expected to m ake a final push for D ivac or Tim berw olves free a g e n t fo rw a rd T o m G u g lio tta . I f M cD yess returns to D enver, w here he played in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 sea sons, the Suns' fallback plan w ould be to sign D ivac to play alongside Longley. R eports out o f B elgrade said Divac w ould sign with Sacram ento, but to do so the K ings w ould have to renounce the rights toC orliss W illiam son to have enough cap space to pay Divac. The three-w ay trade revolving the Tim berw olves, R aptors and Nuggets had been rum ored since Sunday. The A P learned o fth e Battie-K night trade from tw o league sources It will reunite K night with the Lakers, the team he played for before signing with Bos Scottie Pippen will not be returning as a Bull. O ther previously undisclosed deals in the works: Clippers free agent forward Loy V aught w as close to accepting a fi ve-year offer from Detroit for about $23 million. Rockets guard M att M aloney w as expected to re-sign w ith Houston. H aw ks free ag en t g u ard E ld rid g e R ecasner w as c lose to agreeing to a deal w ith Chai lotte for four years and $5 million. Celtics center Popeye Jones w as expected to re-sign w ith B oston for $8 m illion over three years. W izards for w ard H arvev G ran t was headed to Phila- delphia for tw o years. T he league and u n io n a lso w e re sq u a b b lin g o v e r changes to “circum vention” rules. The league w ants to prohibit w rek-and-nod deals in w hich a team w ould sign a free cided on exactly w ho it w ould send back to the Bulls, although M onty W illiams agent for one y ear w ith the unw ritten understanding that a long-term deal w ould follow using the B irdexception. T he union contends changes to that rule w ere n ever discussed. “ I think w e have a realistic chance o f getting it done by the end o f (T ues day),” union law yer Jeffrey K essler w as a possibility. said. ton as a free a g e n t Ih e Lakers acquired Battie from the D enver Nuggets in last June’sN ick V an Exel trade. K err w ill sign w ith the Bulls for $ 11 m illion over five years, then be shipped to the Spurs. San A ntonio was unde For any questions please contact Derrick & Lynn Butcher 281-7328 Baseball Program Farm - ages 7 & 8 years old, M inor - ages 7-9 years old M ajo r - ag es 10-12 y ears old Ju n io r / S en io r - ag es 1 3 - 1 6 y ears old For any questions pleasecontact Brian Butcher 735-9158 Things to bring when you sign-up B irth certificate P ro o f o f address ie. O reg o n D riv er L icen ses U tility Bill N am e & N u m b er o f D o cto r N am e & N u m b er o f In su ran ce c a rrier Family Rates $ 3 0 fo r 1 p lay er $ 5 0 fo r 2 p lay ers $75 fo r 3 o r m o re p lay ers $5 late fee for sign-ups after February 9th v