6B
Friday, October 18, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Oilers, Steelers to determine division race
The Associated Press
Pittsburgh (5-1) at Houston (4)
When Pittsburgh and Houston met at Three Rivers Stadium last month, the relevant numbers were 30-16 and $145,500.
The first was the score of the game won by the Steelers. The second was the amount found 35 players for brawling, an NFL record. So what happens when the Oilers and Steelers meet Sunday in the Astrodome?
A Pittsburgh win effectively puts the Steelers ahead by three games — two plus a tie breaker. An Oliers victory probably means the division race will last until the final few weeks.
Contributing to Pittsburgh's streak are the running of Jerome Bettis, who has had 100 yards or more in all five wins, and the dominance of the defense, which had 10 sacks last week in the 20-10 victory against Cincinnati.
Houston lost quarterback Chris Chandler late in the first half of last week's 23-13 win in Atlanta when he pulled a hamstring. Chandler is expected to play this week, but if he doesn't, Steve McNair seems ready to step in without much drop-off in skill.
Chad Brown had 4 1/2 of those sacks, another illustration of the depth of Pittsburgh's defensive talent. With Greg Lloyd out for the season, Brown and Levon Kirkland improved to All-Pro levels as line-backers.
But Houston's main weapon has been rookie Eddie George, who has three 100-yard games already for the Oilers. He was held to 50 yards in the
first meeting.
And while both teams will try to keep fistfights to a minimum, that doesn't mean they'll be playing touch football.
Atlanta (0-6) at Dallas (3-3)
As the big matchup with Jimmy Johnson and Miami looms next week, the party line for Dallas, favored by
two touchdowns, is that it can't look ahead against a wireless team that's giving up an NFL-high 29.2 points a game.
"Everyone is a professional in this league," Dallas running back Emmitt Smith says. "It would make their season if they beat us. When teams play the Cowboys, they play their best football."
Miami (4-2) at Philadelphia (4-
2)
The Dolphins can't afford to look ahead here, although they will have Dan Marino suited up, probably as the third
quarterback. That means Marino's broken ankle will probably be well enough for him to play against the Cowboys, replacing Craig Erickson, who won last week in Buffalo.
Veterans Stadium is where the Dolphins beat the Eagles three years ago to give Don Shula, whom Johnson replaced last January, the most wins of any NFL coach. Marino was out then with an Achilles injury, Scott Mitchell got hurt in the first half and Dour Pederson took his place.
Ty Denmer won his first game as a starter last week, although Philadelphia's defense did most of the work, holding New York's offense to three
points and scoring a touchdown on William Thomas' 23-yard fumble return.
Oakland (3-4) at San Diego (4-
2) (Monday night)
The Raiders have won two straight
games, including last week's 37-21 victory against Detroit, in which Jeff Hosteler was nearly perfect, and coach Mike
White finally got James Jett's speed into the offense.
San Diego's two losses were on the road at Green Bay and Denver. Strangely, the Chargers are ranked last in the league on defense, an odd spot for a winning team led by a defensive star like Junior Seau.
Baltimore (2-4) at Denver (5-1)
The Broncos, who beat Cleveland
twice in National Football Confer-
encile title games,
may be confused
about the team
they're playing,
particularly since
the Ravens will
unveil Eric Green
this week to so
this week to go with Bam Morris,
another ex-Steeler.
"You think of a different city, a different name, different colors, a different head coach, and at the same time, it is the same players they had before," says coach Mike Shanahan. "I don't think of them as the Cleveland Browns. Maybe it's the color scheme or maybe it's the change at head coach."
ananolis (5-1)
Denver's biggest headache this season has been just that — the migraines that plague Terrell Davis, whose running has complemented John Elway so well.
New England (3-3) at Indi-
The Patriots are the antifascists of a Bill Parcells team, eighth-rated on
on defense. If they can get the defense together, they have a shot there against a team that has so
many inquiries it may wear down at some point.
Among the Colts' casualties this week: Marshall Faulk, who reinjured his toe, and Quentin Coryatt, who has a chest injury. Faulk is likely to play, but Coryatt is not.
New York Giants (2-4) at Washington (5-1)
Nobody's paying attention, but the Redskins are a game ahead of Phila-
games ahead of Dallas in the NFC East. This is a team that beat the Cowboys twice last season, and
has one of the league's unsung receivers in the ageless Henry Earl.
The Redskins were the last team to score an offensive touchdown against the Giants, four games ago in a 31-10 victory in the Meadowlands. But the Giants also have the NFL's worst offense, and coach Dan Reeves may have set the stage for a change when he moved rookie Danny Kanell up to No.2 quarterback, behind Dave Brown.
New Orleans (2-5) at Carolina (4-2)
Like last season, the Saints have turned dangerous after starting 0-5. Their newest weapon is Ray Zellars, who came back from a week's suspension and ran for 174 yards against the Bears last week.
new facility, is
turning into one
of the NFL's
toughest places
for a visitor to
play. The Panthers'
3-0 record
But Ericsson Stadium, Carolina's
there includes a victory against San Francisco, and they've outscored the opposition 97-26 at home.
Buffalo (4-2) at New York Jets
(0-7)
The way Jim Kelly is playing three interceptions last week in the loss to Miami - the Bills might not
mind having Frank Reich back. But Reich will start for the Jets this week, and they may have keyshawn John
son back sooner than expected from a knee injury.
Still, New York's offensive line, which has been shifted and re-shifted, isn't built to withstand Bruce Smith, Bryce Paup and the rest of the Buffalo defense. So Reich will see more of his ex-teammates than he wants.
One note: Thurman Thomas needs 66 yards to surpass O.J. Simpson as Buffalo's career rush leader.
Cincinnati (1-5) at San Francisco (4-2)
Jeff Blake was sacked 10 times in Pittsburgh last week and may see more of the same this week. Bret
Fareve looked like he had barely survived a car wreck after the Packers' 23-20 overtime victory against the 49ers on Monday night, largely because of Dana Stubblefield, Lee Woodall, Bryant Young and a host of others.
Steve Young or Elvis Grbac? This figures to be another week of rest for Young, who needs time to heal and can afford to take it against teams like the Bengals.
Tampa Bay (1-5) at Arizona (2-
4)
finally got his first win as head coach, 24-13 against Minnesota last week. What they really meant is they
Some of the young Buccaneers sounded like they were heading for the Super Bowl after Tony Dungy
were heading for the site of last season's Super Bowl, Sun Devil Stadium.
Vince Tobin seems to have the Cardinals playing better. They won two straight, then played reasonably tough in Dallas in Michael Irvin's return game. But Kent Graham probably isn't the long-term answer at quarterback.
Jacksonville (3-4) at St. Louis 11
Apologies to the Jets and Falcons but the Rams may be the worst team in the NFL right now. They had the
obligatory players-only meeting this week. The bigger question is whether it's wise to let rookie Tony
Banks continue to take a beating at quarterback.
That's all a plus for the Jaguars who are taking advantage of one of the NFL's softest schedules. Last week it was the Jets, and next week it's Cincinnati, meaning Jacksonville gets three games in three weeks against teams that currently have a total of two wins.
Manager's sister winds up Yankees fever in students
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — This was Sister Marguerite's problem.
As the older sister of New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre, she brought baseball fever to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin School in Queens, N.Y., where she is principal. However, she worried that her students were concentrating more on the coming World Series than on their standardized tests this week.
So yesterday, Sister Mary Marguerite Torre turned on the public address system and told her students to take the test the way the Yankees took the American League pennant — with the focus and discipline of pitchers Andy Pettitte and Jimmy Key.
"Boys and girls, this is a tough week for you," Sister Marguerite said at 8 a.m., wearing a blue Yankees T-shirt. "If we do poorly on our standardized tests, we're going to retest in the spring, and I'm going to send George the bill.
"George in Grade 5 thinks I am talking about him. I'm talking about Mr. Steinbremer."
"Remember what I told you," she said. "Andy Pettite and Jimmy Key did so beautifully against Baltimore because they focused. You must focus today and discipline your minds and concentrate on your standard testing."
Later, in her office, she said, "I hope they don't do poorly, because I am going to feel guilty if they do."
Nativity was a sea of blue Yankees caps and T-shirts as the students — preschool through eighth grade — surged into the halls to their classrooms. Sister Marguerite had declared it a "dress-down day" in honor of the Yankees, and there were no blue plaid uniforms in sight.
A resounding "Go Yankees" came from a classroom in which third-grade students were posing with their principal for a news photographer. "It's joyful! It's fun!" said 8-year-old Kathleen Hurley.
On the main bulletin board, a picture of Joe Torre was pinned next to a flier about a school Halloween party. A Yankees banner hung on the secretary's office door. The faculty room was the home of a huge poster announcing "Nativity Loves
Joe Torre and the New York Yankees."
A huge smile lighted Sister Marguerite's face as she posed for photographers, talked to reporters and looked in on the classrooms near her office. She was brimming with Yankees spirit.
Above all, she is a proud sister.
Above all, she is a proud sister. Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., a block from Marine Park, baseball determined the rhythm of each day in the Torre family. When Marguerite entered a convent, she gave an 11-year-old Joe Torre a glove instead of rosary beads.
All three brothers — Rocco, Frank and Joe — played with a passion. And she and her sister, Rae, joined the game whenever they could. "I was a good fielder, a good runner," Sister Marguerite said. "I used to beat both Frank and Joe in running."
"My mom was the greatest fan," she said. "She would build the meals around the baseball schedules."
Sister Marguerite said her mother was the reason there was so much baseball talent in one family.
Stampede Panic in stadium leaves 127 injured
Stampede at soccer game kills 78
The Associated Press
GUATEMALA CITY — Soccer fans stamped before a World Cup qualifying match, crushing and smothering one another in panic in one of the worst sports tragedies in years. Officials said today at least 78 people — some of them children — were killed and 127 were hurt.
President Alvaro Arzu, who witnessed Wednesday night's mayhem from a box seat at the Mateo Flores National Stadium, called off Guatemala's match with Costa Rica and declared three days of national mourning.
"It's terrible! It's terrible!" said Marlon Ivan Lean, a defender for the Guatemalan national team, who sobbed as he stood by a long row of bodies lined up inside the stadium.
"What does soccer matter now?" said Guatemala's head coach, Horacio Cordero.
The fire department said today that 78 people died and 127 were injured, revising earlier reports of 83 dead and 180 injured. Most of the injured were released from hospitals after being treated, many having fractures repaired.
Most of the bodies laid out, under the glare of stadium lights were
Fans had filled the 45,000-seat stadium far past capacity for the qualifying match for the 1998 World Cup tournament.
An hour before the game, fans dressed in Guatemala's national colors of blue and white were even perched on the press box and stadium walls, all but blocking the gates.
There were conflicting accounts on what set off the stampede. Initially, firefighters attributed it to desperate fans trying to claw their way through a concrete passageway into the sold-out stadium.
FIFA, soccer's world governing body, said in Zurich, Switzerland, that forged tickets were apparently sold for the game.
"It seems that some fans kicked down an entrance door to the south stands, causing other spectators to tumble down to the lower levels of the stands," FIFA said in a statement. "Even though the security forces released the emergency gates to the pitch, several people died in the crush."
Government spokesman Oscar
Wendy Patricia Bonilla, bruised and dazed in a hospital hallway later, said the crush started with some kind of disturbance in the stands.
"People crowded each other, trying to pull away from the fight. Many lost their balance and fell on top of each other," Mias said.
Most of those killed apparently had died by suffocation, said Victor Hugo Perez, the nation's top prosecutor. Perez refused to comment on the cause of the disaster, saying the investigation was just beginning.
Firefighters and police cut through a chain-link fence to lower the dead and injured from the grandstands.
Mias, however, said the rush began when fans tried to flee from a drunken brawl that broke out in the general seating bleachers.
Bonilla, 24, said she arrived hours early at the stadium to beat the crowds, and found a seat near the field.
Fans still in the stands clung to the fence, describing to firefighters the clothing and hair color of friends and relatives who had vanished.
The Costa Rican soccer players hugged one another in a tight circle on the field.
"Suddenly, people started falling on top of me and I fainted." Bonilla said. "I woke up here in the hospital."
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