Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 23

Call Sports: 1-313-222-6660 Friday, October 2, 1998 Section Detroit Jfxcc Stress Mitch albom www.freep.comsports INSIDE Knuble traded Wings lose to Flyers, 4-2, after sending forward Mike Knuble to Rangers for third-round pick, Page 3C. 1 I This is how Carrier will plead his case My 4Atmmt i. SrJ At. 1 Archery deer season opens to mixed reviews Practice not perfect: Fair, Moore hurt THE LIVE ALBOM: So today Mark Carrier pleads innocence before the NFL commissioner for hitting Tampa Bay's Brice Hunter. That should be fun.

The commissioner says, "Why'd you hit him?" Carrier says, "Officer, that's my job." Then the commissioner says, "Did you have to hit him so hard?" and Carrier says, "Honest, officer, I didn't mean it" Then the commissioner says, "Can I see your license and registration, please?" A lot of people think the heat is on Michigan State's Nick Saban after three losses in four games. But Nick is used to heat He felt plenty of it in his previous job as actor Don Johnson on "Miami Vice." ft' Srjr-i- jfV But instead of the mature doe Comerinsky thought he had shot, the deer was a small one, born last spring, but it had the long legs and head of an adult animal instead of the Bambi-like features of a fawn. "It's hard to judge sometimes when they come in alone like that," Comerinsky said. "I thought it was an older doe. But it's all venison." That's what the Department of Natural Resources hopes many hunters will decide this season, and that the opportunity to fill freezers will persuade more to come to Deer Management Unit 452 to fill antlerless tags.

The DNR is allowing hunters to buy an antlerless tag per day in DMU 452 as part of an effort to eradicate the Please see DEER, Page 8C By Eric Sharp Free Press Outdoors Writer HAWKS You could tell Sue Co-merinsky was just loving this. The Plymouth resident sported a wicked grin as she sweetly asked husband Vic if he needed help carrying his field-dressed deer to the back of the pickup truck. Vic Comerinsky opened the state's bow season a couple of hours earlier Thursday by filling an antlerless license, killing a doe with a clean shot at 28 yards. The animal disappeared into a swamp known locally as the Hellhole. But Comerinsky and Mark Schuler, owner of Nettie Bay Lodge, followed the clear blood trail only 50 yards into the thick tangle of reeds, brush and water before finding the carcass.

I CRAIG PORTERDetrolt Free Press Mark Schuler, owner of Nettie Bay Lodge near Hawks, tags a doe shot by Vic Comerinsky of Plymouth. Nick as Don Nick as Nick TO 0 nrouer eeMii by Curt Sylvester Free Press Sports Writer The Lions' run of bad luck showed no signs of letting up Thursday. Two starters wide receiver Herman Moore and kick returner Terry Fair left practice early with injuries. The latest mishaps combined with the one-game suspension of free safety Mark Carrier and a rash of injuries suffered in Monday night's victory over Tampa Bay had coach Bobby Ross in a state of distress. "There's just a lot of ifs for us, personnel-wise," Ross said.

"As many as I've ever had. I don't like it like this." Moore was injured when Kevin Abrams fell on his right leg after they became entangled during a one-on-one drill. Moore was driven from the field, and rays indicated he had not suffered a broken leg, but he was limping as he dressed. "It hurts," Moore said as he prepared to leave the locker room. "I'm going now to talk to the doctor." Moore was a questionable starter for the season opener because of a pulled groin muscle, but he played and leads the NFL with 32 catches after four games.

Fair recently suffered a hyperex-tended knee and also has a deep bruise on the kneecap, which became too painful for him to practice. "He wasn't able to finish practice, so I don't know where we are with that," Ross said. Fair said his outlook for Sunday's game at Chicago will be determined on a day-to-day basis. Please see LIONS, Page 5C Did punishment fit crime for U-M player? BY NICHOUS J. COTSONIKA Free Press Sports Writer After a night of drinking in February, Michigan offensive lineman Jason Brooks made a mistake that continues to cost him.

He approached a fellow U-M student, fondled her, forced her to fondle him, and forced her to kiss him outside the front door of a residence hall. After the 5 oq Tm Speaking of college football, did you read that announcer Keith Jackson sounded off in USA Today? Of games, he said, "I don't give a damn who wins." Of ESPN's "SportsCenter," he said, "At times, I don't understand what the hell they're talking about" Of viewers, he said, "If they had to walk their lazy (butts) across the room anymore, they'd never do it" Geez. Next thing you know, hell be calling Bob Griese "Mr. Smarty Pants." If Charlie Batch turns out to be better than Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning, I am never watching the NFL draft again. Can someone explain to me how, if our country has $70 billion and a $5.4 trillion debt we're in the black? That" the accountant I want doing my taxes.

Let's see. First umpire Joe Brinkman throws a manager out of a playoff game after three pitches. Then, later in the inning, he tosses out the pitcher. Did someone forget to drink decaf this morning? By the way, it was nice to see the "Monday Night Football" boys in town this week. I'm also glad that Boomer Esiason has found honest work.

I couldn't bear watching him play psycho criminals anymore, under his movie alias, Gary Busey. At 0. I if I vA-. "3, Hey, Boomer Hey, Psycho (J JOHN BAZEMOREAssociated Press Ryan Klesko, left, and Javier Lopez escort Chipper Jones off the field after his lOth-inning single. Lopez's homer tied it in the ninth.

incident, he called her three times, but she refused to talk to him. Brooks, a redshirt freshman from Cleveland, has been put on probation by a Washtenaw County judge 6J Braves tie Cubs in 9th; Jones wins it in 10th the playoffs Thursday's results Jason Brooks Houston 5, San Diego 4: Bill Spiers' single in ninth ties series, 1-1. Page 8C. Atlanta 2, Chicago Cubs 1 (10 innings) Today's games Cleveland at Boston, Game 3: 4:07 p.m. ESPN.

New York Yankees at Texas, Game 3: 8:07 p.m., NBC. Strawberry has cancer Speaking of baseball, now that Jim Leyland is available, the Tigers have to be crazy not to take a shot at him. And anyone who says he's too expensive ought to look across the street at Mike Hitch's other sports franchise, the Red Wings. They paid for the best coach. They paid for the best players.

They won two championships. Lef face it In most sports today especially baseball you pay bargain prices, you get a basement team. Is it just me, or did we so overdose on Michael Jordan stories this year that we honestly don't care if basketball stays away a few more months? Juwan Howard is suing the woman who wrongfully accused him of sexual assault at a party. He's seeking $60 million. Good for him.

Then again, wouldn't everything be cheaper if they just had fewer parties? You know it's just not Kevin Abrams' year when the best hit he puts on a receiver is injuring Herman Moore in practice. Can someone please tell me how the Yankees already have one of the greatest teams in baseball history, and they call up a minor leaguer named Shane Spencer, who hits three grand slams in September? How is that fair? The Ironman Triathlon is Saturday. I had better start training. I am very fond of Lloyd Carr. But I worry about the pressure of coaching Michigan.

A couple more stressful months like this one, and Carr will look like his dad, who went under the stage name Jimmy Stewart Yankees ru itfiotHor that clubhouse that are agonizing right now that we didn't win this ballgame." In the top of the 10th, Glenallen Hill led off with a walk, was bunted to second by Gary Gaetti, and stole third after an intentional walk to Mickey Morandini. But Jeff Blauser struck out against Odalis Perez and catcher Lopez threw out Morandani, who was trying to steal second on the 3-2 pitch. In the bottom of the inning, Walt Weiss drew a one-out walk from Terry Mulholland, and Tony Graffanino bunted down the first-base line. Mark Grace was late making the throw to Mulholland, and he missed the bag for an error. Mulholland said it was his fault; he nearly collided with second baseman Morandini, who also moved to cover the bag.

Jones, who struck out in his first three at-bats, followed with a line drive just inside the leftfield line, and Weiss trotted home. "I don't know how it stayed fair," Jones said. "With the night I had, I guess that's a little bit of justice." "They didn't beat us," Mulholland said. beat us." Free Press News Services ATLANTA It was a magical regular season for the Chicago Cubs. The postseason is the same old thing.

Two outs from evening their playoff series Thursday night, the Cubs lost a ninth-inning lead on Javier Lopez's homer, squandered a great scoring chance in the 10th, then had a defensive mix-up in the bottom half and lost to the Braves, 2-1, on Chipper Jones' single. Atlanta assumed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five first-round series, which moves to Wrig-ley Field on Saturday night "We couldn't let them get out of here with a split," Jones said. They would have had all the momentum going back to that crazy place in Chicago. This was huge." The Cubs, seeking their first World Series title since 1908, turned sloppy after Kevin Tapani's brilliant pitching. He took a four-hit shutout into the ninth before giving up Lopez's homer into the leftfield stands.

"He just got a pitch up to Javy, and Javy did what he's been doing all year," Cubs manager Jim Riggleman said. "There's a lot of guys in rf Darryl Strawberry has a tumor in his colon and will undergo surgery this weekend to haup it and by U-M. He also has been ordered to seek several types of counseling and was not allowed to play in the Wolverines' first four games this season. But the victim said he has not been punished enough and is seeking further action against him. "If I had my way, Jason would no longer be a member of the football team," the victim said.

(It is Free Press policy not to identify victims of sexual assault.) "At this point, I'm backed into a corner, and I don't know what else to do to have justice served here. I feel that I've been treated as a less-important individual than a student-athlete." U-M officials are prohibited from commenting because code-of-con-duct cases are part of a student's academic record, resolution coordinator Sean McCabe said. Athletic department spokesman Bruce Madej said of Brooks: The athletic department has gone through the university system. We have done what they requested. At this point, he's going to be ready to play this weekend against Iowa." Coach Lloyd Carr declined to comment; Brooks was unavailable.

When reached on campus, the victim also declined to comment on the specifics of the case. But she said she had not been notified of Brooks' benching and thought U-M officials "failed to do what they set out to do with the code." i 'i ii removed. 'A''' Story, i nPaEe2C. Leyland leaves Marlins; Tigers want to talk to him The rebuilding Tigers will be competing with teams that have big payrolls and likely will offer Leyland instant contenders. The Colorado Rockies are interested in hiring Leyland, 53, to replace Don Baylor, who was fired.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' job is open, and the Cleveland Indians might have a managerial Please see TIGERS, Page 8C championship and finished 54-108 this season, the worst record in baseball. Even though the team has a new owner who supposedly offered to sweeten Ley-land's deal, it wasn't enough. "I had to determine if I was willing to go at a pace that new ownership was going to set, and I decided I didn't want to do that," Leyland said of the team's rebuilding. son and interim manager Larry Parrish are the others. Leyland, who managed the Florida Marlins to the 1997 World Series title, exercised his option Thursday and took a $500,000 buyout from a contract that still had three years and $4.5 million remaining on it, It wasn't an unexpected move.

The Marlins traded many high-priced players after their By Gene Guidi Free Press Sports Writer Jim Leyland is available, and the Tigers are interested. "We'll probably contact him in the next 24 hours and see what he has on his mind," general manager Randy Smith said Thursday. For now, Leyland appears to be one of only three candidates for the Tigers' job; Davey John Lloyd later? Lloyd now To leave a message for Mitch Albom, call 1-313-223-4581. Please see WOLVERINES, Page 8C ir i Fm 1 in i WW..