Peyton's Place
Peyton Manning takes the ball in his right arm and executes a perfect seven-stop drop, scanning the horizon for an easy mark. A few steps behind him on this sweaty June morning, Chicago Bears quarterback Steve Walsh waits his turn, trying not to look intimidated by the kid with the famous genes.
Before them on the infield of Tulane's track stadium, where the aroma of freshly cut grass permeates the air, a dozen New Orleans area pros in shorts and sneakers battle for control of the passing lanes. With training camps opening in less than a month, the local veterans gladly run all the plays they can get. After all, who knows when some young punk's going to snare your million-dollar job?
But the kid? Sometimes, Archie Manning's 18-year-old son feels out of place, especially when his new friends start trading war stories. "They're talking about how to pick off Montana and I'm talking about my senior year of high school," Peyton says with a teenager's wonder. Yet, when Manning takes a football in his arm, he knows he's where he belongs. Like his father, he has the power...
-Sport Magazine, 1994
Ex-Ranger Comer tries to turn Cleveland staff around
ARLINGTON - A young Cleveland Indians reliever winds up in the bullpen of near-empty Arlington Stadium, fires, and shakes his head in disgust as his fastball misses, low and away.
Steve Comer, watching nearby, approaches the pitcher for a pep talk.
"You know what the difference between hitting your spot and not hitting it is?" asks Comer, the Indians' pitching coach. "Six inches. That's all. Six inches is the difference between a good pitch and a bad pitch, between a strikeout and a home run."
It's hard to believe the problems facing Comer, a former Rangers pitcher, are so small. But it's no more than a succession of six-inch intervals that separates the Toronto Blue Jays' pitching staff, the best in the American League, from Cleveland, the worst...
-Dallas Times Herald, 1987
Gillen happy with his new dream job
CINCINNATI - Deep down inside, where an ambitious young English teacher lurks, Pete Gillen knew it was time to let go.
Twenty years ago, when he was that guy sprouting Robert Frost, quoting the passage "And miles before I sleep" as if he were talking about himself, Gillen decided upon his dream. He wanted to be the head basketball coach at Notre Dame.
So what if that seemed about as likely as his becoming pope? It was his dream. So what if he was an English teacher without a team? It was the kind of dream he could chase, running harder every time he remembered how some wiseguy told him he would never get into college, never make the basketball team, never do anything great.
The Notre Dame job equaled ultimate success to Pete Gillen. It meant he would never have to prove anything to anyone ever again.
So when Notre Dame Athletic Director Dick Rosenthal called Xavier AD Jeff Fogelson last week, asking for permission to talk to Gillen about Gillen's dream job, Gillen told Fogelson to say, "No thanks."
After all those years of working toward that dream, Gillen passed it by because he no longer needed it. It was there, and that was enough. He chose to let it go. He said he wanted to be happy...
-The National, 1991
Georgia Bulldogs playing for Goff's job
A man can never be sure how he will be remembered. Whether he will be defined by his successes or his failures. Like the rest of us, Vince Dooley can only wonder.
When Dooley retired as Georgia's head coach after the 1988 season, his legacy seemed secure. In 25 years between the hedges, he led the Bulldogs to a 201-77-10 record, earned 20 bowl invitations, and captured six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship. Few SEC coaches achieved Dooley's level of longevity or success.
But as he inches toward retirement as Georgia's athletic director, Dooley's legacy is under assault. Will he be remembered by Georgia people as the man who gave them Herschel Walker? Or as the man who let Ray Goff destroy their program?
After six seasons a mediocre 40-28-1 record (including 21-23-1 in the SEC), Goff's head coaching career at his alma mater is comatose and on life support. All that remains is for someone to pull the plug...
-Dunnavant's Paydirt Illustrated, 1995
Alabama coach accused of previous abuse
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - University of Alabama basketball coach Wimp Sanderson, who was forced to resign last week amid charges that he struck a female employee in March, was accused of a similar attack by the same woman two years ago, the woman's lawyer said.
Nancy Watts, Sanderson's long-time secretary, reported the alleged incident to the university's personnel director, according to her attorney, John Falkenberry.
No official charges were filed at that time, but Falkenberry said Watts included the earlier incident in a complaint filed last week with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The university's handling of the earlier complaint is important because under federal law, employers are required to investigate all sex harassment charges and take appropriate steps to prevent further incidents...
-The New York Times, 1992
Plummeting Atlanta sent to deep-six
ATLANTA - The Falcons' swan dive to a new depth of mediocrity took many forms in a 24-13 loss to Phoenix Sunday. Penalties. Turnovers. Poor quarterbacking.
But mostly, the freefall of the once-cocky, now 3-10 Falcons could be seen and heard in the way usually combative Coach Jerry Glanville framed every remark with the pensive manner of a man at odds with his own bravado.
"For the first time," Glanville said softly, "I cannot come in here and say, 'At least we're improving,' because we're not. We're regressing, and I'm not sure why. We're not playing like the Falcons should be playing..."
-The National, 1990
Bennett leads the sack attack
EL PASO, Texas - For the better part of three quarters, he clawed and pawed, awing the crowd with his agile pursuit of Washington quarterback Chris Chandler.
Alabama outside linebacker Cornelius Bennett gave the impression that he was toying with his helpless prey.
And then, as television's Fred Sanford used to say, came "the big one."
With 3:15 remaining in the third quarter, Bennett finally charged through the Washington frontline and slammed Chandler to the turf in a thunderous hit that stalled yet another Huskies' drive. The Lombardi Trophy winner then stooped forward and placed his hand over his heart in a maneuver that resembled the television junkman suffering a phony heart attack.
"I don't know why I did it," said the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Bennett. "It was just a reaction."
Call it a chain reaction.
Thanks to that kind of pressure from Bennett and teammates such as Greg Gilbert, Wayne Davis and Curt Jarvis, Alabama held the most potent offense in Washington history without a touchdown and scored a 28-6 Sun Bowl victory...
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1986
A battle for survival
When the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the NCAA's monopoly of college football television three years ago, some people considered it an emancipation proclamation sure to help the rich become richer.
But freedom exacted a high price.
TV appearances are up but revenues are down at most major schools. The giddy get-rich-quick mentality of 1984 has faded, and schools are merely trying to survive.
"We're just trying to hold our own in what is a declining market," Southeastern Conference Commissioner Harvey Schiller said...
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1987
It's back to back-up for Carlson
CINCINNATI - The seven-day old legend of Cody Carlson evaporated into the mist at Riverfront Stadium on Sunday. Surely no NFL quarterback has ever fallen from Player of the Week to just plain weak so hard, so fast.
Someday, with grandchildren on his knee, Commander Cody will talk about Sunday, Dec. 30, 1990, and smile. He will linger on the highs of completing 22 of 29 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns, of coming from nowhere to replace the injured Warren Moon and lead the Oilers past Pittsburgh and into the playoffs.
But he will try hard to forget Cincinnati's 41-14 AFC wild-card victory over the Oilers on Sunday...
-The National, 1991
Yanks' success on field keeping Steinbrenner silent and happy
ARLINGTON - New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, whose public criticisms of stars such as Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield have often overshadowed his team's play, has been relatively quiet this year.
Steinbrenner even praised Winfield last month when he experienced a hitting spree with Don Mattingly and Ricky Henderson injured and out of the lineup. And the outspoken owner has remained silent during Winfield's recent slump.
"Something must be up," Winfield said, smiling sheepishly inside the visitors' clubhouse at Arlington Stadium...
-Dallas Times Herald, 1987
Man on a Mission
Alabama offensive guard Bill Condon lay motionless, his battered left knee throbbing with pain. Moments after he was jolted by a blitzing linebacker on April 2, Condon looked up into coach Bill Curry's eyes and promised, "I'll be back."
But Condon's determination was taken lightly in the face of severe ligament damage. It was the most devastating blow of a freakish day during which three Alabama starting linemen went down with injuries.
"It's bad, very bad," Curry confided a few hours later. "Very few people come back from injuries like this. But if anyone can, Condon can."
Four months later, the comeback story of Condon, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound senior from Mobile, has given hope to an Alabama frontline in dire need of his experience and leadership. When he met the press yesterday at the Southeastern Conference's Kickoff '87 media function at the Birmingham Hilton, Condon predicted he would return for the Crimson Tide's second game of the season against Penn State on Sept. 12.
"I'm convinced I'm going to make it," he said...
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1987
McKey case might cost Tide
TUSCALOOSA - The University of Alabama's $633,616 share of receipts from last season's NCAA postseason basketball tournament is being withheld pending review by the college governing body, Alabama and NCAA officials said yesterday.
The funds were put on hold after junior center Derrick McKey and senior point guard Terry Coner admitted last April to accepting money from agent Norby Waters. McKey, who was declared ineligible to play his senior season, now is considering an appeal that could restore his eligibility.
"The issue is whether the funds should be forfeited because ineligible players participated," NCAA enforcement director David Berst said...
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1987
Larry King and profiles will reign
SEATTLE - In one of the tense days leading up to the Goodwill Games, Tony Verna watched his vision come to life through Cynthia Cooper's eyes.
On the television screen inside the International Broadcast Center, Cooper recounted the gang-related death of her brother and the other obstacles she overcame to become one of the stars of the U.S. women's basketball team. Near the end of the two-minute segment she narrated and produced, Cooper sat with her mother, flipping through a photo album. When she came upon an unflattering teen-age picture, she covered the photo with her hand and began laughing uncontrollably.
"That's natural, that's real," said Verna, the Games' executive producer. "You can't produce those kind of real feelings. You can only stand back and let it happen. That's what we intend to do."
The success of the Goodwill Games' television production will hinge on the unorthodox and in some cases, the raw...
-The National, 1990
Stanley letter perfect
ARLINGTON - Picture Rangers catcher Mike Stanley at the plate: Gripping his bat. Planting his feet. Checking his notes.
Checking his notes?
"I guess it's kind of unusual," Stanley said. "I write these abbreviations on the ends of my bats. They are little reminders of things I want to do when I'm at the plate."
Like H.T.T.B. - Hit Through The Ball.
Or K.Y.H.D. - Keep Your Head Down.
Or O.O.T.P. - Out Over The Plate.
"Everybody has an angle - this is mine," Stanley said.
Call him strange.
Call him forgetful.
But don't call him back to Oklahoma City, because the note-worthy experiment has helped Stanley win the starting catcher's job with the Rangers...
-Dallas Times Herald, 1987
Miami, not Bowden, takes a bow
MIAMI - Bobby Bowden, college football's original Mr. Gadget, pulled another fast one against No. 6 Miami Saturday.
He ran traps, not reverses; dumped it off short instead of running flea-flickers; and lost a shot at his 200th career win at least partially because he coached (you'd better take a seat for this) conservatively.
Don't misunderstand. Miami's 31-22 victory over No. 2 Florida State before 80,396 at the Orange Bowl wasn't close. The Hurricanes pronounced their return to the national championship race with a masterful defensive gameplan and the surprisingly potent one-two running punch of Leonard Conley and Stephen McGuire.
But even after FSU fell behind 24-6 at the half, the Seminoles played as if the late Woody Hayes was whispering in Bowden's ear...
-The National, 1990
As dangerous as a broken fruit jar
On a bright spring morning when many of his University of Kentucky teammates are playing golf or lounging around a pool, Tim Couch sits inside a darkened film room searching for chinks in his armor. Interceptions. Poor reads. Sacks. Forced passes. Amid the flickering light of a video projector, the record-setting quarterback uses his free time to look for flaws in his own performance.
Several months before he will face another blitz, Couch holds a remote control in his hand and fast-forwards past dozens of perfectly executed reads and throws worthy of a college football highlight film. He even zooms past the touchdown that beat Alabama and cemented his status as a Kentucky sports icon.
"I don't spend much time looking at the plays that worked," explains the 6-foot-5, 223-pound junior. "You can learn so much more by looking back at what you did wrong and figuring out what you should have done in that situation. The idea is to learn from your mistakes so you won't make them again."
After critiquing several failed plays, Couch lingers on an interception he threw against Georgia last season. He watches it over and over again, breaking it down frame-by-frame. The miscue still bothers him because a victory over the Bulldogs could have given the Wildcats a winning season and a bowl bid, and the competitive young man is determined to learn something from the experience to make himself a better quarterback.
"Got too cocky," he says. "We're not supposed to throw over a defensive end but I got away with it several times last year, so I got to thinking I could do that all the time. Then that guy taught me a lesson..."
-Dunnavant's Paydirt Illustrated, 1998
Lawyer says baseball will reinstate ex-Dodgers pitcher Howe
Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Steve Howe, whose drug problems prompted his second suspension from American baseball last year, has been reinstated to play in the minor leagues, his lawyer told the Dallas Times Herald Tuesday night.
Attorney John Lence said the reinstatement goes into effect Sunday. This clears the way for Howe to sign with any major league team, including the Rangers, who have reportedly expressed a strong interest in the former National League Rookie of the Year.
"This is the go-ahead we've been waiting for," Lence said...
-Dallas Times Herald, 1987
Great Expectations
Terry Bowden is having trouble sitting still. Like some gum-snapping teenager on a sugar rush, he walks around his sun-baked Auburn University office as he talks, the boyish excitement seeping through his words. Even when he sits in front of the window overlooking the practice field on this late spring morning, he fidgets. Sitting still has never held much appeal for Bobby and Ann Bowden's most impatient son.
Ever since he realized, at the ripe old age of 13, exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, Bowden has pursued his goals with single-minded devotion. Even before he became the youngest college head coach in the country, he was obsessed, like some cock-watching chess player, with his next move. He was headed for the big time, and quick. Sometimes, he couldn't sleep at night because the future never seemed to arrive fast enough. He often worried how one bad career choice might derail his master plan and rob him of his destiny.
Now the 38-year-old boy wonder sits inside his own Technicolor dream.
Every time Bowden departs the large corner office that Pat Dye built but couldn't keep, he is greeted with a mix of appreciation and awe. School children timidly ask him for his autograph. Adults just want to shake his hand, as if what he has could rub off. After becoming the first rookie major college head coach to lead his team to an undefeated season, Bowden can no longer satisfy his aspirations by chasing names and numbers in a record book. The eternal striver must compete with himself.
"I always want to maintain a certain level of anxiety," Bowden says between sips of a canned soft drink. "Every moment of my life, I want to have a healthy fear of failure. I want to be anxious about losing my job if I don't do it well. I never want to lose that anxiety, because if I do, I've stopped pushing myself."
The 5-foot-6 bundle of ambition has always known where he was going. But where does such a man go from the top of the world?
-Dunnavant's Paydirt Illustrated, 1994
Players hurt, shocked
TUSCALOOSA - Willie Shephard is trying to understand the complexities, but he can't. He's trying to understand the motivation, but he can't.
Try as he must to shrug off the feeling, Shephard, an inside linebacker for the University of Alabama, is hurt by the departure of Alabama head football coach and athletic director Ray Perkins, who yesterday announced his resignation to take a lucrative job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"I'm a little hurt, a little low, right now," Shephard said by telephone from his home in Mobile. "I'm just real surprised and disappointed, because Coach Perkins told us he'd be here, that he was going to be at Alabama for a long time. We took him at his word. And now he's leaving. I can't help but be hurt by that..."
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1987
How long will Elliott stay on top?
TALLADEGA - Bill Elliott, the current crown prince of the superspeedways, is bound to run out of gas - eventually.
"It has been a long time since anybody has come out and dominated like Bill has," admitted the King himself, Richard Petty, trying to fight off the rain and get in some preparation for Sunday's Talladega 500. "It's his time and it's just not our time. But one of these days, they'll get into a situation where they can't even buy a finish, no matter how hard they run. That's just the way the system works..."
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1985
Will the Past be Prologue?
A clay bust of Adolph Rupp, the man who built the University of Kentucky's basketball dynasty, casts an ominous shadow in the office of Joe Burch, the man who's trying to save it.
The work of art offers a weighty reminder of Rupp's legacy of four national championships, 27 Southeastern Conference titles and one overriding fear.
These days, Kentucky fans have nothing to fear but tradition itself...
-Sports inc. magazine, 1989
A Rocket blast aborted
MIAMI - Everyone kept waiting for something historic, for a new page of Orange Bowl lore, for Ken Calhoun stepping in front of Turner Gill's two-point pass or Tommy Nobis denying Joe Namath at the goal line.
And then it happened. The Rocket exploded. But it wouldn't count.
With 35 seconds left and Notre Dame trailing No. 1 Colorado 10-9 in an Orange Bowl yawner, Raghib (Rocket) Ismail fielded a Buffaloes punt at his own nine, spun around one defender and raced 91 yards for a would-be Notre Dame touchdown and apparent Irish victory.
But then the most important game in the wackiest of college football seasons turned, appropriately, on a flag...
-The National, 1991
Build, build, billed
TUSCALOOSA - Taze Fulford searched his desk, a telephone receiver tucked to one ear, looking for an answer to his boss's question.
The man on the other end of the line, then-Alabama athletic director and head football coach Ray Perkins, wanted to know the Crimson Tide's bank balance, and within a few minutes, business manager Fulford found the figure, read it to Perkins and went back to work.
Then, a few days later, Perkins, perhaps by accident, perhaps by design, mentioned that his empire had $16 million in the bank. It was a statement that made all the papers three years ago - and one that continues to make Alabama officials crazy today.
"The figure was correct, on that particular day," Fulford said. "It was early in the fiscal year, when we had collected most of our revenues but still had eight or 10 months of salaries, scholarships and other bills to pay. Yet people took that to mean we had $16 million in savings, which simply wasn't true, then or now."
Now, as Alabama officials fight to sell the controversial "Tide Pride" priority ticket program, Perkins' statement continues to cause problems, 18 months after his return to pro football. Some alumni and friends of the university cannot understand why, amid such apparent prosperity, Alabama would need to initiate a fund-raising program. But the numbers don't lie. Though the department continues to prosper financially in the post-Paul "Bear" Bryant era, the absence of a priority ticket plan left it teetering in or near the red for the past three years, according to figures obtained by the Birmingham Post-Herald...
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1988
The Big Dance Card is Filled
This country is dynasty starved. Great teams keep disappointing us by daring to be human, so we anointed UNLV.
We stuck immortality in Jerry Tarkanian's face and waited for him to blink. We dared use UCLA and UNLV in the same sentence. We called them unbeatable and now we hover like vultures, waiting for them to fall.
Enough already.
Let us all make a vow for the 1991 Final Four. For three days in Indianapolis, Indiana, just say no. Don't use the word dynasty. Don't say UNLV is unbeatable. I know: Going cold turkey is rough. Carry a Cincinnati Reds pennant if you must. A broom will do...
-NCAA Final Four Magazine, 1991
A Busy Day on the Road
Jim Fuller steps into the eight-seat jet, removes his blue blazer and fumbles for his sunglasses.
As the jet creases the runway of the Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport, the early-morning sun pierces the rear windows and falls sharply on Fuller.
The spotlight is on the Alabama assistant football coach.
"I've done this more times than I can count," Fuller says. "But it's like being an actor on stage. If you don't have some butterflies, something's wrong with you."
Nothing is wrong with Fuller on this morning, Signing Day 1987.
It is February 11, the first day high school seniors may sign college football scholarships, and Fuller, a stocky man with a round face and closely cropped hair, is nervous.
To chase the butterflies from his stomach and the sleep from his eyes he walks to the front of the cabin and pours himself a cup of coffee.
"Didn't get much sleep last night," he says, lighting the first of many cigarettes...
-Bama Magazine, 1987
Fiesta's bold move changed bowl structure forever
It was either a tragic slap at tradition or a triumphant blow for the future.
The Big Four zigged.
The Defiant One zagged.
The college bowl structure, a world of unchallenged order and unquestioned tradition, will never be quite the same.
Closet rebels smiled smugly when the defiant Fiesta Bowl stepped out of line, did not wait once more for the big boys' crumbs, and cut its own deal. The nerve. The gall. The future.
The Fiesta lured Miami and Penn State to Tempe, Ariz. to decide the national championship, but many people probably did not realize something larger also was being decided last New Year's.
The Big Four steamed.
The Big Five emerged...
-Birmingham Post-Herald, 1987
The horse race goes to the Merry Mex
PARAMUS, N.J. - At the moment Sunday the U.S. Senior Open became a horse race instead of a golf tournament, a balding, middle-aged man stood behind the 18th green at Ridgewood Country Club and watched the leaderboard with anticipation.
When the attendant replaced Lee Trevino's 12 with an 11 - indicating the Merry Mex had bogeyed to leave him just one stroke ahead of Jack Nicklaus - the man leapt up and started shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Go, Jack, Go! Go, Jack, Go!" he repeated, inciting a chorus of cheers not so much against the popular Trevino, but in favor of the legendary Nicklaus...
-The National, 1990
Welsh taking Virginia to the big dance
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Don't think of Virginia Coach George Welsh as bland, despite overwhelming evidence. Just consider him a dinosaur.
Somehow, in a game dominated by blow-dried coaching monsters who occasionally do a little coaching between endorsement deals, Welsh survived with his spit-and-polish Navy understatement and his preference for long drives in the country over long squints into the spotlight.
Fun? Sure, the guy knows how to have a good time. He loves a good polka.
"Now, there's a dance," said Welsh, a man caught at once in a time warp and a media blitz...
-The National, 1990
UT sanctions not serious, NCAA says
Violations cited against the University of Texas football program are not considered major and do not place the school in jeopardy of receiving the so-called death penalty, NCAA officials said Thursday.
"This is not considered a major violation because it does not carry sanctions in regard to television or bowl games," said Wisconsin law professor Frank Remington, chairman of the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
The NCAA on Wednesday placed Texas on two years' probation - although the period could be reduced to one year - for 51 rules violations that occurred during the past seven years. Sanctions included a reduction of scholarships from 25 to 20 next season and a reduction in the number of on-campus recruiting visits from 95 to 75 next year.
"It's a serious penalty, but the committee did not make it a major penalty," said Dave Didion, the NCAA's assistant director of enforcement...
-Dallas Times Herald, 1987
Georgia Tech enjoys a perfect ending
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Even before LSU tipped off against Georgia Tech Saturday night in the second round of the Southeast Regional, Coach Dale Brown had been contemplating life without sophomore sensation Chris Jackson.
Then, with 2:42 left, next year's reality slapped him in the face.
When Jackson fouled out for only the third time in his college career, which ended with his post-game announcement that he will enter the NBA draft, the desperation could be seen in the faces of LSU players. A few moments later, it could be seen in the off-balance shot of Vernel Singleton, which bounded off the rim with seven seconds left and LSU down by one.
Jackson, the Tigers' offensive and spiritual leader, the man who would have taken that final shot, was forced to sit on the bench as Georgia Tech locked up a 94-91 victory and headed for Friday's Southeast semifinals against Michigan State...
-The National, 1990
Gonzales Hopes to Put Bad Breaks Behind Him Tonight
Paul Gonzales, the East Los Angeles flyweight who has spent more time fighting frustration than rivals, doesn't use the word.
But he hears it whispered by others.
Jinxed?
His stick shift Corvette takes off with him half-in, half-out, runs over his ankle and heal, breaking both and trapping him underneath for 20 minutes.
Jinxed?
His bicycle hits a rock while he peddles down the Los Angeles River, breaking his hip.
"These days, I'm not even talking while I skip rope because I might trip," Gonzales said of his recent misfortunes...
-Los Angeles Times, 1988
White's Tigers set their sights on another SEC title
AUBURN, Ala. - As early as March, Auburn Coach Pat Dye sensed it. But for months, with doubletalk and indecision, he hid his feeling about the kid who did not act like one.
Letting a redshirt freshman quarterback a national championship contender can produce many results, most of them disastrous. Dye is not a gambler by nature, but he saw something in Stan White, something more than a nice passing touch. Dye spotted a calm, assured player and believed White's teammates would, too.
So Dye, who admits that by vacillating among three quarterbacks in 1985 he squandered one of his most gifted teams, took a chance on the kid. He started unproven White over senior Frank McIntosh and stayed with him.
Auburn (6-0-1) enters the final month of its campaign for a fourth straight Southeastern Conference championship by facing Florida (6-1) on Saturday. And White is neither the liability some expected at the start of the season nor the Mr. Handoff some advocated. He is the glue holding the Tigers together, and despite inconsistency, he is the only bright spot in an otherwise lethargic and unproductive Auburn offense.
"At some point, I stopped being a freshman quarterback and just became a quarterback," White said. "There was a point in the Ole Miss game when we had to win the game in the fourth quarter, and I had to look in the players' eyes and let them know just how we were going to win the game. You can't use the freshman thing as a crutch after that..."
-The National, 1990
Can Anybody Tame Notre Dame?
If self-deprecation were a sport, Lou Holtz would own more gold medals than Mark Spitz. He's the only man capable of making you feel sorry for the Notre Dame football program. Listening to him disparage his team during the preseason propaganda period can leave you wondering if the Fighting Irish could handle Vassar or Bryn Mawr. You feel compelled to give blood and ship it to South Bend. And to hurry.
Take last year, for instance. After losing the all-star backfield of Rick Mirer, Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks to the NFL, Holtz sounded as if the Irish were thinking about canceling the season. Told about the decisions by most major magazines and polling organizations to rank his team in the top 10, he bristled. "Top 10? Anybody who rates us in the top 20 ought to have a saliva test."
But Notre Dame shrugged off all of those key losses and made another strong run for the national championship. After finishing a controversial second to Florida State (whom the Irish had beaten), Holtz blasted the polling system and insisted his team deserved the big prize. The poor-mouther actually campaigned for a trophy.
Yet, when the grand master of modesty learned of our decision to anoint Notre Dame as the team to beat in 1994, he reverted to familiar form.
"That's crazy," he said. "I should call your psychiatrist. You obviously need some professional help..."
-College Sports Magazine, 1994
Trying to follow the Bear's tracks
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The mirror, not Paul (Bear) Bryant's shadow, is Gene Stallings' biggest enemy.
The wrinkles and flecks of gray that stare back at him are constant reminders that college football's youngest head coach in 1965 is still trying to prove himself in 1990. Fifty-five is an odd age and Alabama a curious place to shed training wheels.
But the head coaching failures that the years cannot mask are now being hidden by Bryant's shadow. Despite a career .381 winning percentage, the third man to try to fill the shoes of major college football's winningest coach is strangely in sync with a legacy that fans criticized Ray Perkins for eschewing and Bill Curry for embracing. But at some point in the rough period of transition likely to follow Saturday's era-opening game against Southern Mississippi, Alabama supporters may be forced to link Stallings' future with a difficult but inevitable question:
Was Bryant right?
And if he was wrong, what then?
"I know that my ties to Coach Bryant helped me get this job," Stallings said. "But I know I've got to win to keep it."
Forget credentials. Alabama hired Stallings on faith...
-The National, 1990
Surprise: The cocktail party lives
The whole episode still feels like a dream to Bobby Etter. He remembers the details through a thick fog of time and disbelief.
On the first Saturday in November of 1964, Georgia was locked in a 7-7 tie with favored Florida in the fourth quarter of their annual grudge match at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. The Bulldogs were driving toward a go-ahead touchdown but stalled at the Florida five-yard line, so Vince Dooley, in his first season as the Georgia head coach, sent Etter in to attempt a field goal.
But the holder fumbled the snap and the ball tumbled to a stop right in front of Etter's feet.
"We'd practiced that situation lots of times," says Etter, now a professor of mathematics at Sacramento State University. "We were taught to yell, 'Fire! Fire!' whenever that happened, which was a signal for the ends and backs to go out for a pass. But I don't remember whether I yelled that, because the whole thing was like a dream. I had no control over what I was doing. It was all pure reaction. I just picked up the ball and ran for my life..."
-Dunnavant's Paydirt Illustrated, 1998
Monthly stipend wanted for athletes
It was a few days before Christmas a couple of years ago and Baylor tight end Kobe Fornes thought everyone was going home. He still remembers his introduction to one of the great contradictions of college sports.
"I was walking out of the athletic dorm, on my way home, and several of my teammates were standing around outside," he said. "I asked them when they were going home. But they said they weren't going home. They couldn't afford to. I didn't know what to say. I felt really bad."
The financial crunch for some student-athletes is hardly seasonal. Often the stars on the field, those who might go on to fame and fortune in the NFL, cannot afford an occasional pizza with the guys, dates with the girls or holiday rituals with the family.
They are the victims, some coaches and athletes say, of a college scholarship unfulfilled.
"It's like we're being punished for being athletes," Fornes said...
-Dallas Times Herald, 1987
Contents copyright 1985-2009 by Keith Dunnavant
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