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