Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 15

O-IWNSSKrOTEr SPORTS GOLF Former coach McGuire dead at 72 Calcavecchia fires 60 Woods while over par iAr CP a heart operation, said he last saw McGuire on Wednesday night, when he brought him a big ham, burger and a hot fudge sundae. "That will be the last great memory," Majerus said. "He said he hadn't eaten meat in 12 days." McGuire had removed the intravenous lines supplying drugs and blood transfusions and was facing death with dignity, Majerus said. "He was just so happy to be free and.he was not hindered by those things," Majerus said. "It was as if he was unfettered spiritually as well as physically." McGuire played at St.

John's before a brief NBA career that ended in the 1954-55 season. He then made his mark on the sport as a coach and broadcaster, earning him election to the Hall of Fame in 1992. "He was fun to be with, not fun to play against," said former St. John'svcoach Lou Carnesecca, a schoolmate of McGuire's. His head coaching career started at Belmont Abbey, a small school in North Carolina, in 1957, and he moved to Marquette in 1964.

He stayed for 13 seasons. He joined NBC-in 1977, and his constant banter with fellow analyst Billy Packer became a staple for college basketball fans. "McGuireisms" such as "tap city," "white-knuckler" and "aircraft carrier" became part of the sport's vocabulary, i In McGuire's argot, a "thoroughbred" who was "dynamite" in practice and mediocre at "curtain time" was a "3 o'clocker." One of his famous lines came when Packer said North Carolina center Geoff Crompton, who weighed more than 300 pounds, had lost 15 pounds. Without hesitation McGuire responded: "That's like the Queen Mary losing a deck chair." He moved to CBS for the 1992 NCAA tournament and worked for them until his retirement. He entered, a suburban Milwaukee Al McGuire, shown in this 1974 file photo while coaching Marquette, died Friday of a blood disorder.

to by the NCAA tournament com MILWAUKEE (AP) Al McGuire, the charismatic New Yorker who coached Marquette to a national championship and later -brought his streetwise lingo to the broadcast booth, died Friday at 72. The Hall of Fame coach died of a blood disorder, his brother, Dick, said in a telephone interview from Dix Hills, N.Y. McGuire was regarded as a transcendent communicator in his careers as coach and broadcaster, "We lost a giant and a genius," said CBS announcer Dick Enbefg, a longtime friend and colleague. "Al waS the most unique and incredible person. I ever met.

He saw life at a different angle than the rest of us. He could cut through all of the fat and get to the bone of the matter quicker than anyone I've ever known." Former North Carolina coach Dean Smith said McGuire never, got the credit for his coaching acumen "because he didn't use the same Xs and Os as many other coaches was a maverick. He did it his way." McGuire was one of college basketball's most successful coaches for 20 years, leading Marquette to 11 postseason appearances, capped with an NCAA title in 1977. When the Warriors beat North Carolina to win the championship in Atlanta, McGuire did not join He sat on the bench by himself, his face buried in his ha'nds, crying. He retired shortly thereafter.

"On a campus with great scholars, I had great, great teachers here butYione better than him," said Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus, a Marquette alumnus who served as McGuire's assistant in the 1970s and was head coach in the 1980s. When McGuire retired last March after 23 years as a broadcaster, he said he had a form of anemia but was not more specific. Majerus, who is taking a sab-, batical in Milwaukee to care for his ill mother and recuperate from Cities no TAMPA, (AP) This Super Bowl is a tale of two cities: crab cakes vs. hot dogs, Inner Harbor vs. Statue of Liberty, Camden Yards vs.

Yankee Stadium. Baltimore vs. New York or New Jersey for geography purists is a sports rivalry with its roots in the Greatest Game Ever Played, the 1958 NFL championship between the Colts and the Giants. That game thrust the NFL onto center stage. It was the first one to go into overtime, a compelling sudden-death affair tied on a late field goal by Baltimore's Steve Myhra and then decided when the Colts' Alan Ameche barreled into the end zone for the winning touchdown.

"We played a good game, but it wasn't the best game we played," Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas said. "What made it the greatest game in football history was that it was the first time there was an overtime in a championship game and the way we drove down the field to tie the game and then win the game." When Myhra's 20-yard kick the game, the NFL moved ever-so tentatively into new terri-- tory overtime. "Nobody knew what was going to happen," Unitas said. "The officials didn't know what to do, and both teams were standing on the sidelines wondering, 'What do we do What the Colts did was drive down the field, finally positioning ball at the Giants' 1-yard line. Ameche plunged in from there for the winning score.

"That was a pretty basic play," SUPER BOWL XXXV, SUNDAY, 5:25 P.M. (CBS) By Tht Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz By the time he put two'balls in the water on the' 15th Woods knew his streak was about to end. A few. holes over, Mark Calcavecchia was doing some streaking of his own straight toward one of golfs magical numbers. Calcavecchia didn't get his 59, but did manage an 11-under 60 Friday to tie the PGA Tour record for lowest 36-hole score and take a commanding lead midway through the Phoenix Open.

"I thought I was going to birdie the last three' for a 59," Calcavecchia said. "You don't get that chance, often, so I was aiming at the flags." Calcavecchia birdied two of the final three holes, barely missing a 20-fopter for a third birdie on his 17th hole that would have given him a final shot'at the 59 that has only been shot three, times in PGA Tour history. It was the lowest score ever for the two-time Phoenix winner, who birdied five of his last six holes in the first round and added 11 more birdies against no bogeys in the second. "I do get on stretches when I'm pretty scary good," Calcavecchia said. "I get a little streaky, that's for sure." Woods, meanwhile, saw his remarkable streak of 52 straight rounds of par or better come to a watery end with a 2-over 73 that left him 13 shots back.

"You cant always have a streak and not have it end," a philosophical Woods said. "Unfortunately it ended today because I just didn't make the putts I wanted to make." Woods hadn't shot worse than par since the first round of the. Byron Nelson Classic on May 11, a streak that included 14 PGA Tour events. If you count all competitive rounds during that stretch which Woods does the streak would be 62 rounds of par or better. But the putter that had pulled out other rounds when Woods wasn't striking the ball well didn't cooperate at the par-71 TPCf Scottsdale course where Woods had shot a seemingly effortless 65 only the day before.

Woods put two balls in the Water on the par-5 15th to effectively end his chances, although he still could have matched par he holed-an 87-yard wedge shot on the final hole. "It's not the fact I'm hitting it terrible," Woods said. "If I just make a couple more putts, I could have been right there." Putting was not a problem for Calcavecchia, who holed almost everything he looked at in a nearly flawless round that missed being in the 50s only by two putts he left just short in the middle of the cup. Calcavecchia's 125 total matched a record set by Woods in the NEC Invitational last year, and put him five shots ahead of Scott Verplank and six ahead of Rocco Mediate. A frot delay pushed back play Friday, and darkness forced part of the field to come back Saturday to finish their second rounds.

The course played tougher overall than on the first day when three players shared the lead with 64s, mainly due to tougher pin locations. But it didn't seem to matter to Calcavecchia, who won here in 1989 and 1992 and shot his previous best round here a 62 in 1996. "This course isn't that easy," Calcavecchia said. "You can't measure it by what I shot today." Woods agreed, after making four bogeys against two birdies. "Calc was playing a different golf course today," Woods said.

"The pins were a lot tougher than ers strangers to sports rivalry rr 4V JJ4 Al' I'm no Tiger Woods had his streak of 52 straight rounds in PGA play at par or better end Friday. they were yesterday, except for Calc." Playing the back nine first, Calcavecchia birdied his first hole, paired the next two and then made three birdies in a row. He shot 31 on the back, then finished with'birdies on four of the last five holes for a 29 on the front side. Calcavecchia had gotten-up Friday morning to watch The Golf Channel before coming to the course. He saw on there that Paul Gow had shot a 60 in the Canon Challenge in Australia.

"I'm thinking, like, man, how can he shoot a 60?" Calcavecchia said. He found out himself a few hours later. "He hit every shot at the hole for his. Today I did the same thing," Calcavecchia said. Mucha leads in LPGA MIAMI Barb Mucha, seeking her first LPGA Tour victory since 1998, shot a 3-under-par 67 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of The Office Depot.

Mucha had a bogey-free rotBld on the Golf Resort and Spa Red Course for a 4-undert38 total. -She opened with a 71 on the par-72 Blue Course, the site of the final two rounds. IITI I. 1 A. "it cn 1 1 a innu wmv tii Sunday," said Mucha, who missed the cuts in the season-opening tournaments in Orlando and Naples, "If a few more putts had dropped it would have been a lot better.

"I'm playing well. If you can shoot 2- or 3-under par every day here, you should have a chance to win." Kellee Booth and South Korea's Grace Park, both former Dor al Junior champions, were tied for second. Booth had six birdies and three bogeys in a 69 on the Blue Course, and Park had three birdies and two bogeys in a 69 on-the Red Course. First round co-leaders Jackie Gallagher-Smith and Wendy Ward were among four players at 140 after 74s on the Blue Monster. Karrie Webb, the Office Depot winner the last two years at Ibis Country Club in West Palm Beach, was in a group at 141 after a 72 on the Blue "I'm frustrated with my put-.

ting," the Australian star. "Fin. having trouble reading the greens." Mucha, first off the 10th tee Friday, made a birdie putt on the par-3 14th, a 12-footer on the second hole, and two-putted from 20 feet for birdie on the par-5 fifth! Mucha first played the LPGA Tour in 1984, and has been a regular since 1989. She has five career wins with a streak of single victories in the even numbered years from 1990 through 1998. hospital in July and was later transferred to a managed care facility.

"Our family has marveled over the past months at his inner strength and enthusiasm to live each day to its fullest," McGuire's son, Al, said. "Even as his illness wreaked havoc on his body, he remained resolute in mind, He will be deeply missed." McGuire had a career coaching record of 404-144, including a 295-80 mark at Marquette, for an overall winning percentage of .737. The Warriors won the NIT in 1970, the last time a school turned down an NCAA bid. That year, McGuire was unhappy with what regional bracket Marquette would be sent '-Wt. i 1 I'HKSS I'l IOTO- win, you get angry and frustrated.

The anger festers. Anger is a good thing to have." Namath's supply of it spilled over the week of the game when he was heckled during an appearance at the Miami Touchdown Club. "We're going to win the game," he told the crowd. "I guarantee it." Already annoyed at Namath's swaggering style, the Colts went ballistic when they heard about the boast. It seemed they were more obsessed with him than win I A OHM fx 1 1 a i if vn 111 If I' mittee.

So he took his team, which had a 22-3 record and vtfas ranked eighth in the country, to play in the The Warriors beat LSU and Pete Maravich in the semifi nals and then knocked off local favorite St. John's in the championship game. Minutes after the title game, McGuire was asked if his decision made some people in Milwaukee unhappy. "Frankly, I don't care," he said. "I felt we could win the NCAA, but I'm happy with any championship.

I've never won one anywhere." The Warriors lost in the 1974 NCAA title game to North Carolina State. ning the game. Matt Snell ran for 121 yards and Namath passed for 206. Final score: Jets 16, Colts 7. That same year in baseball, the Miracle Mets, perennial tailen-ders, quite unexpectedly found themselves in the World Series against the Baltimore Oriolas These were the Mets of Gaspar and J.C.

Martin against the Orioles of Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer, obscure against awesome: On the eve of the series, Frank Robinson provided the exclamation point for Baltimore. "Who," he wondered out loud, "is Rod Gaspar?" True, he wasn't nearly as important as some other Mets like Jerry Koosman, who beat the Orioles twice, or Tommie Agee and Ron Swoboda, who made game-saving catches, or Al Weis, who batted .455 and was the MVP of the Mets' five-game victory. Nobody ever heard of Jeffrey Maier, either, but in the 1996 American League playoffs, he thrust himself into the Baltimore-New York rivalry. Seated in the right field stands at Yankee Stadium, the 12-year-old reached over the fence to catch a fly ball hit by Derek Jeter as Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco waited in vain for the ball to come down. Umpire Rich Garcia called it a home run, allowing the Yankees to tie a game they would go on to win in extra innings.

The episode turned the Little Leaguer from Old Tappan, N.J., into an instant celebrity and was an important early step toward the World Series for the Yankees, who've won four of the last five. MW SP'' ami Among the memorable sports battles between Baltimore and New York was Super Bowl III where the Jets' Joe Namath, left, upset Bubba Smith (78) and the Baltimore Unitas said. "We knew that with Ameche and our offensive line, they weren't going to stop us." Eleven years later, the Colts were back in a championship game against another team from New York, this time the Jets in the 1969 Super Bowl. Baltimore was a 17 12-poirit favorite, a point-spread that astounded Jets quarterback Joe Namath. "For two weeks, we were told how we were going to lose," Namath said.

"When you keep hearing your team isn't going to 7 I conduct Tadiabue not concerned aoout oiav defensive coordinator, after the Suptr Bowl will start a trend for minority candidates. Edwards was the first black coach selected in the last 42 coaching changes. "All, of the networking we've beji trying to do among coaches and owners' beginning to have a positive steps." tie said. "There's no guarantee it will continue, but we want to ensure that the scales aren't tipped against minorities during the hiring process. He noted that he has reinstated Edward DeBartolo former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, who was suspended for a year after pleading guilty to a felony in a case involving a Louisiana gambling license.

But he also said rumors that DeBartolo was trying to by th? Tampa Bay Buccaneers were false. "I know for a fact that the Bucs are not for sale," Tagliabue said. thought Lewis was forthcoming enough in his responses this week to questions about the case. "He's here to play a game," Tagliabue said. "He might not have been as articulate as he might have been in answering the questions, but that's done with Afterward, Tagliabue was asked about Baltimore coach Brian Billick chastising the press about its coverage of Lewis just hours after landing on Monday.

"He was in a difficult position," Tagliabue said. "He had to get his team ready for the game, but he knew this question would come up. I think Ray Lewis knows the seriousness ofwhat happened." On other matters: Tagliabue said he hopes the hiring of Herman Edwards to coach the New York Jets and the likely hiring by Buffalo or Cleveland of Marvin Lewis, Baltimore's misdemeanor. But the Lewis case is just one of several involving high-profile NFL players. Former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth vas convicted last week of conspiracy to commit murder and two related charges in the shooting death of his pregnant' girlfriend.

He was sentenced to at least 18 years and 11 months in prison. And former Green Bay Packer tight end Mark Chmura is currently on trial for sexual assault. Tagliabue was asked several times i about Lewis, who' received probation and was fined $250,000 by the league. He said the fine, which would double if Lewis violates his probation, was meant to Warn other players to stay out of trouble. He said it didn't go as far as a suspension because ofwhat Lewis already had been through.

The commissioner also was asked if he- ceding 18 months. We track 3,000 to 4,000 players every year in terms of criminal misconduct. "And this year, tracking almost 4,000 players, we have had 26 investigations not offenses, investigations and we've had 11 convictions. And most of those convictions, putting aside the Rae Carruth case, were minor offenses. "If the rest of society can do as well as we do in the NFL, America's crime problem would be well addressed." Questions about character, followed a week in which the Baltimore Ravens' Lewis was the center of attention.

Lewis, the NFL defensive player of the year, was charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of two men outside a nightclub after last year's Super Bowl in Atlanta. The charges eventually were dropped and Lewis pleaded guilty to a TAMPA, Fla. (AP) After a week of questions about Ray Lewis' legal problems, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue defended the character of NFL players-, saying most were law-abiding and that he had the numbers to prove it. Asked about a radio report that 21 percent of the league's players have criminal records, Tagliabue took the offensive as he was wrapping up.histate of the NFL news conference Friday at the Super vv: "I do know that most statements that have been made about criminal records in the NFL have been nonsensical. and.

stupid," Tagliabue said. "Including the so-called statistical statements. "What I do know for a fact is that we' track 2,500 players that go to training camp every year, plus every other player who has been with the league in the pre-.