Tuesday, September 16. 1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 5
Tampa Bay's success not oxymoron
By Dave Goldberg The Associated Press
The last time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started 3-0 was 1979. They went to the NFC title game that season, the first and last highlight for a franchise that for the past 15 seasons has led the NFL in futility.
Things seem to run in threes this season for Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers' 28-14 win against the previously unbeaten Vikings on Sunday was just their third in 14 years in Minneapolis.
The impetus for the team's revival is three young draft choices — Warrick Dunn, Mike Alstott and Warren Sapp. Plus, of course, Tony Dungy, the coach who drafted Dunn (supposedly too small) and Alstott (supposedly too slow).
Dunn, who weighs around 180 pounds, has gained 268 yards on 48 carries, a 5.6 average. He is beginning to look like Barry Sanders; on Sunday, he turned a 4-yard loss into a 52-yard touchdown run.
"I handed off and I thought 'Oh my gosh,'" said quarterback Trent Dilfer. "Then, he made one move that was unbelievable."
Alstott, who blocks like Daryl Johnston and probably runs better, has 132 yards and two TDs, and last year led the team with 56 reception. On Sunday, he had a TD run that is one of the few 1-yarders to make all the highlight reels — he went into the pile, was stuffed, bounced back outside and rolled left, carrying two tacklers into the end zone.
Those two have made life easy for Dilfer, who was too often asked to win games the last two seasons. He has thrown 70 passes without an interception and his quarterback rating of 100 is 35 points better than it was last season.
Sapp, allegedly too slow and too troubled off the field, leads the team with 31/2 sacks. Like Dunn, he went lqwer in the first round than his college record should have indicated. Alstott, a workhorse at Purdue, was a second-rounder last year.
How did the Buccaneers, losers of 10 or more games in 13 of the last 14 seasons, find these guys? By looking at college achievement rather than 40-yard dash times and vertical leaps, which led the old Bucs to draft the likes of Charles McRae, Keith McCants, Broderick Thomas, Ron Holmes and Eric Curry, all top 10 picks who olaved like middle or low rounds.
"Every time we looked at Warrick on tape in huge games, he was the best player on the field," Dungy says of Dunn, who also has allowed the Bucs to shop Errict Rhett, their prime running back in 1994 and 1995.
Last season, Rhett got bad advice from his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, held out, and now stands on the sideline watching Dunn and Alstott. But his low salary makes him attractive to any team looking for a heavy-duty running back — and will allow Tampa to get another high draft pick.
The way things have turned for the Bucs, they will put it to good use.
Dungy's coaching career has a familiar look. Last season, he lost eight of his first nine games, then finished 5-2, making him 8-2 in his last 10 games, if this year's start is counted.
Back in 1981, Joe Gibbs started 0-5, won eight of his last 11 and went on to coach the Redskins to three Super Bowl victories.
Dungy is not there yet. The Bucs are unlikely to finish ahead of the Packers this year. But finally, Tampa Bay is coming.
Dungy is the fourth Black coach in modern NFL history and (for now) the only one under .500 at 9-10 for his career.
The other three are Art Shell, who was 56-41 between 1989-94 with the Raiders, making three playoff appearances; Dennis Green of Minnesota, who is 49-38 and has made the playoffs in four of five seasons and Philadelphia's Ray Rhodes, 22-15 going into Monday night's game, with two playoff appearances in two seasons.
That means Black coaches have made the play.
When the coach searches start at the end of the season, those figures should be right there in black and white.
offs in nine of a possible 13 seasons and have a winning percentage of .567.
The home-field advantage has meant little this season. Even Baltimore won on the road Sunday, beating the Giants 24-23 after going 0-8 away from home in its first season as not-the-Cleveland Browns.
Not counting Monday night's game, the score is Home 22, Visitors 20. It was 10-5 for home teams in Week 1, 9-6 for the visitors in Week 2 and 6-6 on Sunday, including two overtime wins by home teams — in Washington and New England.
Look at it more closely, and the visitors have the edge. Green Bay, which was won 20 straight games at Lambeau Field, is 2-0 at home. So is Denver, which was 8-0 at Mile High in the regular season last year. They're also probably the NFL's two most talented teams, meaning that when you drop below the top, everyone's equal — at home or on the road.
The foot may be more important now than the arm or the leg. The two New York teams found that out Sunday.
The Giants lost by a point to the Ravens when Brad Daluiso sent two kicks wide right from 41 yards and had an extra point blocked. This is someone who entered the season with 23 straight field goals, including preseason, and was dubbed "Mr. Automatic" by teammates.
The Jets lost in overtime in Bill Parcells' return to New England when John Hall, their impressive rookie kicker, hit the ball low from 29 yards with 20 seconds left in regulation and Mike Jones blocked it.
A week earlier, Green Bay fell by a point in Philadelphia when another rookie, Ryan Longwell, missed from 29 yards with 11 seconds left, and Tennessee was beaten in overtime after the usually reliable Al Del Greco missed from 43 in Miami at the end of regulation.
Market-protecting teams doom realignment
NEW YORK — Prospects dimmed for major league realignment at this week's meetings in Atlanta, with some baseball executives predicting that there would not be enough support for any plan.
Acting commissioner Bud Selig had hoped to call for a vote on Thursday, the final day of the owners' three-day quarterly meeting. Selig is in favor of radical realignment, in which 15 teams would switch leagues.
The Associated Press
Less radical plans have been formulated, with most including the shift of the American League West Coast teams to the National League. But the San Francisco Giants have threatened to sue, arguing that they shouldn't be forced to accept the Oakland Athletics in their league and their market.
"When you buy a team,you buy assets,which include exclusive monopoly rights to promoting games within your own league in your area on an exclusive basis."
Ranking officials on two other NL teams, speaking on the condition that they not be identified, said they intended to support San Francisco.
Giants owner Peter Magowan said Monday. "We would be asked to give that up. That's exactly why the Mets and Cubs resisted."
The radical plan that Selig and realignment committee chairman John Harrington have advocated would put all Western teams in the NL and all Eastern teams in the AL. It would put the Mets and Yankees in the same division, pair the Cubs and White Sox, the Dodgers and Angels, and the Giants and A's.
Since no team can be forced to switch leagues or divisions without their approval, the Mets threatened to veto the plan, as did the Pirates,
Reds and Braves. Harrington's group then formulated a less radical plan, but it still would have the six Pacific Coast teams in the NL along with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
"Bud Selig mollified the Mets and Cubs by allowing them to stay in their separate divisions. What is the logic behind not allowing us the same thing?" Magowan said from Atlanta, where the Giants were playing the Braves.
Baseball's lawyers have said the Giants did not have veto power because they were not being asked to change divisions. Some teams
have argued that the resolution which created the realignment committee overrides the provision in the NL Constitution that protects a team from having its territory encroached.
If the A's move to the NL, the Giants said it probably would sue.
"The last thing baseball needs is another legal mess" Mageman said.
Baseball's realignment debate began in January, when the 1998 expansion teams were assigned to leagues — Tampa Bay to the AL and Arizona to the NL.
While Arizona was a natural fit in the NL West, putting Tampa Bay in the AL East required shifting. The original plan was to move Detroit from the East to the Central and Kansas City from the Central to the West, but the Royals balked, claiming they didn't want additional West Coast games that would result in late television times for fans back home. With no realignment, Tampa Bay would be forced to play in the AL West.
Also, January's meeting left each league with 15 teams, necessitating an interleague game nearly every day. Plans to have 16 teams in one league and 14 in the other appear to have gained support since January.
MIAMI — When last seen, Roberto Hernandez' s 99 mph fastball was bouncing around section 412 in the upper deck at Pro Player Stadium.
The Associated Press
That is where Gary Shefield hit it.
"Astonishing," said Kurt Abbott, one of Sheffield's teammates. "The way Hernandez was throwing when he hit it I said. 'No way.'"
That's the truly astonishing thing about Sheffield — the homer left his average at just .246. The biggest hit of the weekend for the Marlins, in their biggest series of the year, made everyone wonder anew how such a gifted player could have just 19 home runs and 63 RBIs.
Sheffield found a way. He dug in against one of the hardest-throwing relievers and launched a 3-2, two-run pitch 447 feet for a three-run homer. The blow helped the Florida Marlins rally past the San Francisco Giants 5-4 Sunday.
"I made one mistake, and he caught it," Hernandez said. "I don't understand how he's a 240 hitter."
"I focus the most when there's more pressure and a lot at stake and people are depending on me," Sheffield said. "This year, for some reason, I've struggled with my focus. Being in a playoff atmosphere is making me turn it up a notch."
Cynics may wonder why Sheffield couldn't turn it up a notch sooner — say perhaps in April, when he signed a six-year, $61 million contract extension. But there's still time for Sheffield to earn his keep
because he's on the verge of the playoffs for the first time in his 10-year career.
"This is what I live for — getting into the postseason after nine years of watching it on TV," he said.
Despite such claims, Sheffield's desire has been questioned this season. He's reluctant to run out grounders or sprint after balls in right field because of a chronic hamstring strain. He admits falling into a rut at the plate when he began trying to pull every pitch over the fence.
Still, he remains one of the game's most menacing hitters. Just ask Roberto Hernandez. Or Marlins manager Jim Leyland.
Sunday's homer was only Sheffield's third season with more than one runner on base. After he circled the bases and disappeared into the dugout, the same fans who have booed Sheffield much of the year cheered until he emerged for a curtain call.
"I don't know how a guy throws the ball 99 mph, and I don't know how a guy hits one at 99," Leyland said. "That's unbelievable."
Does he feel the need to salvage a subpar season?
"I don't have to make up for nothing. I just have to help the team win," Sheffield said. "The focus isn't about me. It's about winning games. We've done that, and that is more important than me hitting 40 home runs and going home after the regular season."
A sizzling Sheffield in October? Marlins fans would love to get carried away.
Ryder player may sue team
The Associated Press
Miguel Angel Martin, who has threatened to sue if removed from the Ryder Cup, was offered expenses, a uniform and the right to call himself a European team member if he willingly leaves the squad.
The 35-year-old Spaniard hasn't competed since missing the cut at the British Open on July 18, and he had wrist surgery Aug. 5. He was removed from the team two weeks ago when he refused to play to prove he was healthy.
Martin asked European team officials to wait until the British Masters, which starts Thursday, to decide if his wrist had healed enough to allow him to play against the United States in the Ryder Cup, which begins in Spain on Sept. 26.
When that request was denied, Martin appealed to the European Ryder Cup committee and lost. He then threatened a lawsuit. Apparently, the extent of the legal action so far has been talks between lawyers.
Speaking from his home in
Madrid, Martin said Monday he was hitting shots under the supervision of a therapist but was still unsure if he would play in the British Masters.
Martin also was apparently getting nowhere in his demand to be compensated for bonuses and endorsement deals he said he would lose because of his removal from the team.
PGA European Tour director Ken Schofield acknowledged that lawyers from the two sides met in Madrid last Thursday. Martin was told he could receive the nearly $6,000 given to team members, the uniform and the right to call himself a Ryder Cup player.
Depending on the wording of his bonus deals, that could be enough to collect. However, not playing would still hurt his endorsement possibilities.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Many of the European and U.S. players believe that the European Cup committee acted too quickly in dropping Martin. Still, most said it was unlikely Martin would be ready to play at full strength by the Ryder Cup.
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