lanuary 29, 2003
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BUCCANEERS
WIN SUPER RUWL
P hoto by D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver
Good Neighbor League Opens
Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Dexter Jackson, the most valuable
player o f Super Bowl XXXVII, holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy
after the Bucs beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21. (AP photo)
Tampa Bay
defense tightens
when Oakland
makes late run
(AP) — Just defense, baby!
The Tam pa Bay Buccaneers
didn’t need much more - for most of
the game, anyway.
Coach Jon Gruden and his Bucs
won the Super Bowl on Sunday,
routingtheOaklandRaiders48-21 in
the first matchup o f the NFL’s best
offense against its best defense.
The Tampa Bay defense won by
a mile, shutting down the Raiders
for three quarters and holding on as
they made a belated comeback at
tempt.
Super Bowl MVP Dexter Jack-
son had two interceptions, as did
Dwight Smith, who returned both
o f his picks for touchdowns, in
cluding a 50-yarder to finish o ff the
scoring with 2 seconds left in the
game. Derrick Brooks also returned
an interception for a touchdown.
Simeon Rice had two o f the Bucs'
ft ve sacks as Tampa romped to a 20-
3 halftime lead then scored two
quick third-quarter touchdowns.
That rendered futilea late com e
back by the Raiders that included a
touchdown on a blocked punt and
48-yardT D pass from league MVP
Rich Gannon to Jerry Rice.
The Tampa Bay offense did its
part, too, led by Michael Pittman,
who ran for 124 yards on 29 carries.
Mike Alstott had a 2-yard TD
run and Brad Johnson added two
TD passes to Keenan McCardell,
the second an 11-yarder after an 89-
yard drive that ate up almost eight
minutes o f the third quarter.
Just 43 seconds later, Smith
grabbed the ball away from Jerry
Rice and took it to the end zone to
make it 34-3.
Oakland owner AI Davis’ slogan
“Just win, baby!” w asn’t going to
work this time.
How good was the Tampa Bay
defense?
Oakland had ju st 62 total yards
in the first half, second-lowest total
in Super Bowl history. And the five
interceptions o f Gannon were the
most he had in any game this sea
son. He finished 24-of-44 for 272
yards and two touchdowns.
Credit the win also to the 39-
year-old Gruden, who left Oakland
a year ago for Tampa Bay.
Thad Spencer
An non nces
The Third
Annual
Sports
Hall of
Fame
Induction &
Dinner
February 16,2003
Doors: 6 p.m.
Dinner: 7 p.m.
Ceremony: 8 p.m.
Performance by
k irk Green
& a Meet to Greet
to follow
Muelio Grande
Rest n rant
(ItH iiletl at the Ramaila Inn)
10 \ o r t li \V eidler,
Portland, Oregon
Portland Trail Blazer Ambassador Nick Jones hands out prizes for correct answers during halftime entertainment at a league
opening game featuring the North Portland and Blazer Boys and Girls Clubs. The State Farm Good Neighbor League is spon
sored by State Farm Insurance, the Blazers and radio station 95.5.
Little League Sign-ups Scheduled
The Riverside Little League,
serving northeast Portland, has
scheduled sign-ups for the upcom
ing spring and summer season on
Thursday, Jan. 30 from 6 p.m. to 8
p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1 from 1
p.m. to4 p.m. at Ainsworth Church
on Northeast 30'’’ and Ainsworth.
The league sponsors teams for
boys and girls, ages five to 18 years
old as o f Aug. 1,2003.
The cost involves a $65 registra
tion fee per player who doesn’t
participate in a general fundraiser
and $35 per player who does par
ticipates in the fundraiser. Scholar
I
ships may also be available under
the second option.
On-line registration is available
at
w w w .e te a m z .c o m /
riversidelittleleague.
For more information, call Gary
Bailey at 503-289-6986 or Mark
Turner at 503-280-0925.
Timbers Set
2003 Season
The Portland Timbers will
open the 2003 A-League soccer
season at PGE Park Thursday,
May 1 against the Seattle Sound
ers.
Portland travels to Seattle the
following day, Friday, May 2,
for its first road match. For the
second s tr a ig h tjte « ^ , the first
• • . »#»
*
■ • ■» » two gam es'against the Sound
ers serve as qualifiers for the
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
The Timbers, who posted a
13-12-3 record before falling to
V ancouver in the A -League
football’s Cincinnati Bengals.
playoffs last year, are again
slated to play a 28-game sched
The Blazers fared poorly in the
ule with 14 home matches and 14
Affordability, Coaching, Stadium
road matches in 2003.
A m biance, N um ber o f C ham pi
The Timbers play host to El
onships and O w nership catego
Paso on Friday, Aug. 29 at PGE
ries, and stunk up the jo in t with
Park to conclude the regular
last-place finishes in Fan R ela
season. The playoffs open the
tions (“ease o f access to players,
following week with the confer
coaches and m anagem ent” ) and
ence semi finals and wrap up with
Players (“effort on the field; lik
the A-League C ham pionship
ability o ff it” ).
Saturday, Sept. 20.
Trail Blazers Survey:
Team Ranks Low in Value to Fans
(A P) — The Portland Trail
B lazers m ay be second and gain
ing in the W est C oast confer
ence, but the team ’s alm ost dead
last in another group o f rankings.
T hree M BA students at the
U niversity o f O reg o n ’s W arsaw
Sports M arketing C enter helped
ESPN M agazine put together its
so-called “U ltim ate S tandings,”
w hich ranked professional sports
team s nationw ide in term s o f fan
value.
T he survey uses eight criteria
to m easure “w hich team s do right
by their fans, and w hich put the
hurt on their loyal follow ers.”
T he B lazers ranked 11 Oth out
o f 121 team s overall, placing
them slightly ahead o f h o ck ey ’s
A tla n ta T h ra sh e rs, b a s e b a ll’s
T am p a B ay D ev il R ays and
Peninsula Little League 2003
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
(Serving the Youth of Inner North & Northeast Portland)
Girls & Boys ages 5-18
For more information contact;
EARLY-BIRD REGISTRATION
($10 off)
Lynn Mangum @ 503-888-8754
I
Minor Softball
(District Champs 2000 & 2001 )
Challenger Program
February 1,2003
9am - Noon
I www.peninsulalittleleague.org
I____________
|
REGISTRATION ($65 per player)
Minor Baseball
|
February 8 & 15, 2003
9am - Noon
(2002 District 1 Champs)
I
Peninsula Park C om m unity C enter
(District Sportsmanship Awards 2001)
_
700 N Portland Blvd
Major Baseball
(All ages with special needs)
I
&
Tee-Ball
For questions contact:
I
I
B and B T -shirts and M ore
204 N K illingsw orth
5 & 6 years old
-
503-284-1810
Michael Mangum - 503-493-2848
■
(and 10 am - 6 pm (Mon - Friday)
Michael Mangum - 503-493-2848
Softball Program
M inor-ages 7-9 ,
Major - ages 10-12
Junior - ages 13-14
Senior - ages 15-18
For questions contact:
Mark Washington - 503-288-0033
Tryouts
10 am - 2 pm
February 15& 22, 2003
Peninsula Park
T hings to bring w hen you sign-up
• Birth Certificate
• Proof of Address
i.e.. Oregon Drivers License/lJtility Bill
• Name & Number of Doctor
• Name & Number of Insurance Carrier
• Player Fee $65
t ro r questions
• contact:
x
Baseball Program
Farm - ages 7-8
Minor - ages 7-9
Major - ages 10-12
Junior-ages 13-14
Senior - ages 15-18
For questions contact:
Michael Mangum - 503-493-2848