Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 13

I AROUND 'i-riom A brief look at the world of sports BAMBINO BASEBALL Banquet tickets on sale iiinimin Slammin' i good time Fernando Tatis tied a St. Louis Cardinals team record with his third grand slam of the season Monday in a win against Philadelphia. DetailsB3 '1JW0U3I 1U, i 1999 SECTION ATT 0 0 (ILL.) JOURNAL GAZETTE A challenging, rewarding ssis ting Spoo IS JVlany former assistants praise EIU football coach BY BRIAN NIELSEN Staff Writer 1st I J0000 Michiean. Purdue and Arizona football coaches' offices, they about Bob Spoo. XYta italk The admiring pupils never said that Bob Spoo has become a respected head coach with assistants advancing to some high-profile programs.

"I don't think it's by accident," said Brock Spack, who was linebackers coach in Spoo's first four seasons at Eastern, 1987-90, and now is the defensive coordinator at Purdue." So here are some ingredients for Spoo's own cradle of coaches; An eye for people Spoo does not proclaim to be a miracle worker. Losers need not apply for a job at Eastern that will magically head them toward a big-time job. "I'd like to think it means that I've selected good people," Spoo said of his list of former assistants, "and I'm very proud that they've been able to go on." Seeing good help leave is part of the business. "He has an eye for hiring people," said Eric Holm, who after one season, EIU's 1989 NCAA I-AA playoff season, as Spoo's offensive coordinator moved on to be head coach at Northeast Missouri and now is the head man at Division II Northern Michigan. "I'd like to think he hires good people.

He knows they're going to go on." When Spoo speaks. Once hired by Spoo and a satisfactory assistant, a coach has a powerful reference on a resume. "Obviously, when you do a good job for Bob, I can't tell you how highly Bob is respected in the coaching profession," said Mike DeBord, who after the 1987 and '88 EIU seasons went to Ball State, then Colorado, then Northwestern and then was offensive coordinator for Michigan's 1997 national championship team. "That's what you find, is how well he's respected by his peers." Said Holm: "His reputation, when he recommends somebody or they know you've worked for Bob Spoo, your stock automatically goes up. In the coaching ranks his coaching reputation is impeccable." Lessons learned A former Purdue quarterback, Spoo then was the quarterbacks jLX-Coach for the Boilermakers in the 1980s guiding Mark Hermann, Scott Campbell and Jim Everett to NFL careers.

"We get a lot of credit right now for throwing the ball," Spack said of Purdue's offense that the past couple of years has jolted the Big Ten, "but when coach Spoo was here we were about the only ones throwing the ball. He coached three great quarterbacks. He was a quarterback guru when he was at Purdue." But since becoming a head coach in Where They Are lsvt Former assistant football coaches in Bob Spoo's first 12 years as Eastern's making it through Spoo school at Eastern on their way to high-profile programs was all easy. A decade later, Arizona offensive coor-dinator Dino Babers can laugh. "Kit Cartwright used to be up in the box," said Babers, an assistant under Cartwright who was Spoo's offensive coordinator in 1987 and '88 at Eastern.

"I -would signal the plays in from the sideline. Bob would ask, 'What's the play' because he didn't have a headphone on. I'd tell him and Bob would give me one of those, 'I don't like that play' looks. I turned white, which is pretty hard for me to do if you've seen my picture. I said, 'K-k-k-kit, I don't think coach likes the "He'd yell at you and then later on he'd say, 'Dino, Dino, I'm really sorry about that.

It will never happen again. Dino, you know I love you Former and current employees love Spoo as well, both for what the EIU head coach is and what he helped them become. Heading into his 13th season as the Panthers' head coach, Spoo has compiled an impressive list of former assistants. Offensive coordinator at Michigan, offensive coordinator at Arizona, defensive coordinator at Purdue, defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois their road to the top has tracks from Spoo's EIU days; Wyoming, West Virginia, New Mexico J- they all have students from Spoo school The group felt a special enough bond that last January at a college football coaches conventioncurrent and former Spoo assistants gathered for their own flinner. was for one reason and one reason pnly: because of coach Spoo," EIU's cur-tent offensive coordinator Roy Wittke aid.

"Miami of Ohio has the cradle of (baches reunion and we wanted to do tomething like that. We had a great time. There wasn't Anybody there who didn't have a story fcbout coach Spoo. Dino pulled out his cell hone and everyone of us talked to coach i How does a guy in 12 years compile an pnpressive list of former assistants that not many NCAA Division I-AA programs wouldhave? MATTOON Banquet tickets for, the Bambino World Series are still on sale The banquet is Friday at the Eastern Illinois University Ballroom and will begin at 6 p.m. i Jim Bain Is the master of cere-monies and Billy Ripken will be speaking as well.

Cost of the tickets are $25' per person. People interested in buying the tickets can call Kerry Considine at 258-. 8001 or Dalena Hall at 2354529. RACING 'r Rain postpones Dragway CHARLESTON Rain stopped Saturday's action but the big Saturday ''1 is coming for Coles County Dragway. The NHRA's JEGS Mail Order Super Quick Series is to make its annual stop at the dragstrip Saturday night.

Gates are to open at 8 a.m. with qualifying rounds scheduled through the day leading up to the elimination races'' scheduled for 6 p.m. The Super Quick takes the fastest 32 qualifying cars while regular bracket races for Super Pro, Pro, Street and Motorcycle are also scheduled although' those will not figure in the Coles County Dragway points standings. BASEBALL Rockies trade McRae to Toronto DENVER (AP) Just nine days after acquiring him from the New York Colorado Rockies traded out-'1 fielder Brian McRae to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday for a player to be 1 named. -V; McRae, 31, came to the Rockies July 31 as part of a trade that sent outfielder Darryl Hamilton and relief pitcher Chuck McElroy to the Mets.

He is in the final year of a multiyear contract that pays him $3.75 million this season. -I The 31-year-old outfielder is hitting .224 this season with 14 doubles, one triple, nine homers and 37 RBIs. In seven games with Colorado, McRae hit; .261 with one homer and one RBI. ARCHERY Geena Davis in running for Olympics berth Geena Davis is used to shooting for major roles in Hollywood. Now she's aiming for the 2000 Olympics.

The Oscar-winning actress has quali tied for the United States archery Olympic trials semifinals Aug. 22-24 in Bloomfield, N.J. What is most surprising about Davis' success is that the first time the 42- year-old picked up a bow and arrow was only two years ago. She watched the 1996 Olympics and became in the sport after 21-year-old Justin Huish won two gold medals. So she asked her manager to get a qualified teacher so she could learn the sport.

i "I said to get someone good and she got the best. She got Justin," Davis said Monday in a phone interview from 1 Los Angeles. "We met a couple of times, I went over to his home, met parents and he recommended me to Don Rabska." Davis began competing in touma- ments about six months later and was' a natural. And through all the tions, somehow she has managed to keep her other career a secret. Until recently.

"My family and friends knew I was doing it all along," Davis said. "But I've been fortunate that we've managed to keep it out of the public knowledge. I'm so grateful that the archers kept it pri- vate so I was able to concentrate on improving." But Davis wasn't able to keep her hobby private any longer after finishing; 29th out of 300 women in the national; championships last month in Ohio. The top 32 competitors advanced tot the semifinals and that number will be trimmed to eight later this month. Only three women and one alternate will qual-I ify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Name Year(s) Current position i 'f Dino Babers 1987-88 Arizona, offensive coordinator Clancy Barone 1994-96 Wyoming, offensive line John Bowers 1995-96 Eastern Michigan, defensive backs I Kit Cartwright 1987-88 private business I Mike DeBord 1987-88 Michigan, offensive coordinator Mike Garrison 1989-95 New Mexico State, running backs Darrell Hazell 1988 West Virginia, running backs I Sheldon Herd 1987-88 private business Eric Holm. 4 ,1 Northern Michigan, head coach "Bill Leg 1989-93 West Virginia; offensive line ul I Mike Mallory 1991-92 Northern Illinois, defensive coordinator Randy Melvin 1988-94 Purdue, defensive line J. I Tim Nolen 1993 Mount Zion High School, head coach Ben Norton 1997-98 Sam Houston State, offensive line John Smith 1987-97 Easternassistant athletics director I Brock Spack 1987-90 Purdue, defensive coordinator' 1 ciative of the things I learned at Eastern." Spack said: "He was a longtime assistant. He let you make your mistakes. He never tied you up in knots.

I always think that's good. Some coachesdon't let you do that. He's open to new ideas. That's kind of how I handle my own staff now as defensive coordinator." Those who work for Spoo are prepared 1987, Spoo has never been his own offensive coordinator. "He believes in his assistants he hires and lets them do it, but he also makes sure you do your job," DeBord said.

"The thing I saw about Bob is he is very fair to coaches and players. He's very tough. He knows the game has to be played in a tough approach and a disciplined approach. A lot of the things he believes in we do at Michigan. I was Very appre See SPOO, B4 Hawkins challen Med mai ready to pose major ge The 81st PGA Championship fr kicked off Illinois basketball The Course at Medinah was a 1920s project of Chicago's Ancient Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and named after the home of the Islamic religion, a city in Saudi Arabia.

The No. 3 course, which will be used for the PGA, was completed in 1928 and originally designed for the women members. It since has Site: Medinah Country Club, Illinois jV. rb Dates: August 12-15 Nri" TV: 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., TNT ETvnTt 10:30 a.m.

to 1 p.m., TNT; been redesigned four times. 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., CBS (all times EOT) squad I Jit (Ill" MEDINAH (AP) It's time to get reac-quainted with Medinah Country Club. Fred Couples, who until Monday had not walked amongst the 4,161 trees since the second round of the 1990 U.S. Open, was ambling along during a practice round when he hit a 4-iron into the 17th green.

Only later did he recall hitting a 7-iron on the same par-3 hole nine years "Yeah, I did notice the difference. It's a lot farther back," he said. "There's a little yardage on everything else." The 81st PGA Championship brings the world's best players to Medinah for the first time since Hale Irwin made that mile-long birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the 1990 Open, then went 19 holes the next day to beat Mike Donald in a playoff. So much has changed. Irwin is now 54 and making a killing on the Senior PGA Tour.

Donald is now 44 and trying to make a living on any tour. Only 43 players in this weekend's field played in that U.S. Open. And Medinah is a lot longer than it used to be from 7,195 yards in 1990 to 7,401 yards for the PGA Championship, the longest course in a major tournament since Columbine Country Club measured 7,436 yards in the thin air outside Denver for the 1967 PGA. "It's a long course," said John Huston, who tied for 14th in the '90 Open.

"I don't see it as incredibly long, although only one par-5 is reachable. There's nothing real goofy about it. It's real fair, and the fairways are pretty generous for a major." David Duval played Medinah as an 18-year-old amateur and tied for 56th in the Open. "It's pure," he said Monday before heading out to the practice green. About the only complaint were the greens, which took a beating from record heat in the Chicago area over the past few weeks and could be a real sore spot when the weekend rolls around.

Some already were brown in spots, not a good sign as early as Monday. "The greens aren't what they would Past champions HOLE YARDS PAR 3881 188 j415447 1530 4491586 206 439 1 3,650 434l4546l3436 3998 Vljaf SlnjjhlS 7m 1997 Davis Love III 269 X.1 'IJ Mark Brook CHAMPAIGN (AP) Illinois basketball coach Lon Kruger has dismissed junior Fess Hawkins from the team. In a brief statement Monday, Kruger said Hawkins was "dismissed from the team for failure to take care of personal responsibilities" related to the standards of the basketball program. UI spokesman Barbara Butler would not elaborate, saying that Kruger wanted to keep the reasons "between him and the player." The 6-foot-10 Hawkins, a junior college transfer, averaged just more than six points and five rebounds per game last season, his first for Illinois. He started 15 of the 32 games in which he played, averaging just under 19 minutes a game.

Hawkins' biggest game came in the Big Ten tournament, when he scored a career-high 16 points in an upset win over 17th-ranked Indiana. Hawkins can transfer to another Division I school and sit out a year or go to a Division II school and be eligible to play right away. Butler said if he goes to a Division I school he only has one more year of eligibility 1995 Steve Elkington 267 Steve Elkington 267 YARDS 582 1 407 468 1 21 9 1 583 1 389 1 452 i 206 1 445 I 3,751 1 1 7.401 PAR 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 36 72 mi APEd Da Outre there could be another source of controversy the 17th, which has always been somewhat of a lightning rod at Medmah. The par-3 was only 168 yards in 1990, but the green sloped severely from the back to the front, right toward Lake Kadijah. Anything short could suck back into the water.

Anything long into the back bunker produced a shot just as frightening as No. 12 at Anpiista National s- Noon ESPN Men's tennis, Great American Insurance ATP early round coverage, at Cincinnati 1:20 p.m. FOXSC Major League Baseball, Arizona at Chicago Cubs 6:30 p.m. 1 FOXSN Major League Baseball, Louis at Philadelphia I 7:33 p.m. TBS Major League Baseball, Houston at Atlanta 9 1 WON Major League Chicago White Sox at Seattle Sourc0- PQA ol America like," Couples said.

Couples played his practice round early Monday, with only eight players in front of him, and noticed some bumpy rolls. Couples could only imagine what might happen late in the first and second rounds when more than 100 players have trampled across such vulnerable greens. "I think they're going to be pretty ragged," he said. "But I'm saying that loosely. It's not like we're going to be putting on dirt." Couples wasn't alone in his concern over the greens.

And by the end of the week, Also, some players complained then that' Nos. 2, 13 and 17 all looked the same, per- See PGA, B4.