The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 21

tjfj Wetfiesday, January IZUUU iMt ltNNCooeH www.ienossstMiii.ujiii SPORTS -r SPORTS A.M. nrJjoeBiddk Compiled from Tennesson Sto and Sews Reports I 'A Random ruminations while wondering whatever happened to Ennis Whadey- Out-of-camp Yvorfc pays off for top rookie Jamas Centennial fires football coach Centennial High School has fired Jean Rollins as head football coach after two seasons, school principal Dan Covington said. In 1998, Centennial went 3-7 and the Cougars were 2-8 in "99. Rollins was suspended for 10 days and missed two games because of an inappropriate comment he made to the team about a parent. "That happened to be one of the pieces, but it wasn't just one incident," Covington said.

"Each year we assess the program and Jean and I met and I just thought it was in the best interest of Centennial High School to go ahead and make a change now." Covington said he also met with athletes and did not feel Rollins had the needed support of the players. Attempts to reach Rollins were unsuccessful yesterday. AP High-profile QBs, 2 others to start classes at Tennessee Tennessee will have four new additions to the football team when classes begin today. Quarterback Casey Clausen of Mission Hills, quarterback John Rattay of Phoenix and linebacker Robert Peace of Rus-ton, La, have enrolled in school and will begin semester classes with the rest of the student body. All three are freshmen who graduated early from high school.

Also, defensive back Charles Small of Cof-feyville (Kan.) Community College is on campus and enrolled in school. Small graduated from junior college in December. The four newcomers will count against last year's scholarship total, as the Vols still plan to sign in the neighborhood of 25 players this February. This weekend's official visit list will exceed 30 prospects. Cole a finafst at Alabama Sate: Tennessee State Coach LC.

Cole and Florida Billy Joe are going to be interviewed in California this week for the vacant coaching job at Alabama State, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. Cole, who is in Anaheim, Calif, attending the national coaches convention, would not comment last night on the Alabama State job. Tm the coach at Tennessee State and that's all I've got to say," said Cole. Davis movng to VanderHfa Strength and conditioning coach Mark Davis, credited with having helped to turn around Tennessee State's weightlifting program, is leaving for a similar job with Vanderbilt's men's basketball team. Davis becomes the third full-time member of TSU's athletic department to move to Vanderbilt in the last four years.

Early NFL entries Virginia Tech reached another milestone: The Hokies will lose two underclassmen to the NFL draft for the first time a week after playing in their first national title game. Tailback Shyrone Stith and cor-nerback Dee Charlton were among 26 players passing up a final year of college eligibility. Others on the list released by the NFL include linebacker LaVar Arlington (Penn State); kicker Sebastian Janikowski (Florida State); guard Cosey Coleman (Tennessee); and wide receivers Plaxico Burress (Michigan State), Kwame Cavil (Texas); and Dez White (Georgia Tech). Tennessee has the most players on the NFL's special eligibility list with five tailback Jamal Lewis, defensive back Deon Grant, defensive end Shaun Thompson, linebacker Raynoch Thompson and joined Japanese driver Kenjiro Shinozuka and French co-driver Thierry Serieys steer their car in the fifth stage of the Paris-Dakar-Cairo rally. The team leads overall rankings.

Race faces terrorism threat The next four stages of the Dakar Rally, scheduled in Niger, were canceled because of a threat of terrorism and rescheduled for Libya. In a statement, race organizers said the French government believes there is "a serious risk of an external terrorist attack" on the event while it is in Niger. Jean-Claude Killy, head of the organizers, told France 2 television that the competitors and their vehicles would be airlifted to Libya, meaning the resumption of the race will be delayed until Monday or Tuesday. Trachsel eyes Orioles, Rockies Aaron Sele's sudden break with the Orioles could result in an opportunity for Steve TrachseL Alan Meersand, Trachsel's agent, has begun talks with the Orioles after Sele signed a two-year, $15 million contract with the Mariners. Meersand is also talking to the Rockies and Devil Rays about Trachsel, who has a career record of 6069 with a 4.35 ERA.

Construdion wfl cost Reds seats Construction of a new ballpark for the Cincinnati Reds will cost the team seats at Cinergy Field, where the Reds have played since 1970. Nearly 14,000 outfield seats will be removed after the 2000 season, reducing Cinergy Field's seating capacity from 53,000 to 39,000. The Reds will continue playing baseball in the partially demolished stadium for two years, until the new park is ready in 2003. PhSes re-sign Jordan, AMred: Agreeing to deals with a third of their arbitration-eligible players, the Phillies re-signed Kevin Jordan for $1 million and Scott Aldred for $600,000. TWins, Wels agree: Right-hander Bob Wells, the only player on the Twins eligible for salary arbitration, agreed to a $1.8 million, two-year contract Nicklaus' son in Tour debut Not every PGA Tour rookie who had to go through qualifying school to get his card has spent the past two months inundated with interview requests.

Then again, not every rookie has a last name like Nicklaus. Gary Nicklaus, the 30-year-old son of Jack Nicklaus, makes his debut as a PGA Tour member this week at the Sony Open in Honolulu, where he received a sponsor's exemp-tioa Nicklaus also will play the next week on another exemption in the Bob Hope Classic. Young Nicklaus got a rude welcome to the PGA Tour as a card-carrying member. His clubs didn't arrive on his flight to Honolulu Monday. LPGA Tour rocked: The LPGA Tour was hit hard by two deaths in the past couple of weeks.

Don Carner, husband of Hall of Famer JoAnne Carner, died Dec. 31 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease and dementia. Jacques Depardon, the husband of Patti Riz-zo, died Jaa 1 from a self-inflicted gun wound. Media watch News from TYracto, print and the Internet Miracle play forces ABC to change plans ABC's Solomon Wilcots was all set With 16 seconds remaining in last Saturday's wild-card game and Buffalo leading Tennessee by two points, Wilcots had arranged a postgame interview with Bills quarterback Rob Johnsoa As Wilcots stood on the Bills sideline, he watched the kickoff and saw what he described as a "huge convoy" of Titans blockers across the field. Then came the celebrated lateral from Frank Wycheck to Kevin Dyson, who ran for the touchdown that stunned the Bills and prompted a replay review.

Wilcots gave a Bills official one of those "Oh well" looks and hustled over to a monitor. "It was an optical illusion," Wilcots said. "None of the cameras were directly on line with the 25-yard line. I couldn't tell conclusively either way. The refs made a good call on the field." In the first weekend of NFL playoff games, three plays were reviewed.

Two were overturned. The one left standing was the kick-off return. Dyson's return was not the reason Buffalo lost, Wilcots said. "It was the Bills' inability to execute when it counted most," he said. Wilcots interviewed Bills Coach Wade Phillips after the first half and had to clean up the coach's profane language for on-air con-sumptioa Wilcots didn't take it personally, explaining that the Bills had nine penalties in the first half, the last one setting up a field goal for the Titans.

The Bills also were hampered by injuries to two starting tackles. The question that prompted Phillips to go off was about benched quarterback Doug Flutie. "Given all the controversy about starting Johnsoa and given the Bills' sputtering offense in the first half, I thought it was a fair question to ask whether Flutie might make an appearance in the second half," Wilcots said. Playoff paiiigs: CBS will have its top announcing team of Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms working Sunday's Tennessee-Indianapolis AFC playoff game at 3:05 p.ra For the other AFC game (Miami at Jacksonville, 1135 am Saturday), Verne Lundquist and Dan Dier-dorf call the action for CBS. The second game Saturday (Washington at Tampa Bay, 3:15 p.m.) has Dick Stockton and Matt Millen as the announcers on Fox.

The first game Sunday (Minnesota at St. Louis, 1135 am), also on Fox, has the network's top announcing team of Pat Summerall and John Maddea On the air Television and radio listings. Today College basketball Georgia "fecti at Duke (men) 6p.m ESPN vanderbiH at Tennessee (men) 7 p.m WSMV-4, 650-AM, 1501-AM Texas at Oklahoma (women) 7 p.m Sports Net N. Carolina at Wake Forest (men) 8p.m ESPN NHL Pittsburgh at Phoenix 8p.m ESPN2 Tomorrow College basketball Penn State at Northwestern (men) 6p.m ESPN2 Belmont at MTSU (men) 7p.m 560-AM, 89.5-FM Alabama at Auburn (women) 7 p.m Fox Sports Net Fisk at Irevecca (men) 7 p.m 89.1-FM Ohio State at Wisconsin (men) 8 p.m ESPN Lipscomb at Lyon (men) 8 p.m 98.7-FM Kevin Stallings Show 8 p.m 650-AM Stanford at Oregon State (men) 9:30 Fox Sports Net Golf PGA Sony Open 6 p.m ESPN NHL Nashville at Vancouver 7 p.m 99.7-FM Pittsburgh at Colorado 8 p.m ESPN2 Colleges VTV Sports 10 Intermea Ch. 19 Stevenson.

Corretja post upsets Alexandra Stevenson, a surprising semifi-nalist at Wimbledon last summer, pulled off the biggest victory of her career in a second-round match at the Adidas International in Sydney, Australia. Stevenson upset fourth-seeded Barbara Schett of Austria 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, her first victory over a top 10 player. Martina Hingis needed only 34 minutes to beat Olga Barabanschikova 6-0, 6-2. Resurgent Jennifer Capriati set up a second-round match against Anna Kournikova with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Sandrine Testud of France. In the men's singles, Alex Corretja of Spain upset No.

4 Cedric Pioline of France 6-4, 64 and Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador beat Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Ivanisevic loses: Defending champion Sjeng Schalken beat Goran Ivanisevic 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Auckland Open, and Michael Sell rallied to beat fourth-seeded Nicolas Escude 0-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1. Budge moved to nursing home: Tennis great Don Budge, 84, injured in a car accident in the Pocono Mountains last month, has been permanently transferred from a New York hospital to a Scranton, nursing home. Indianapolis Colts TB Edgerrin James got all but one of the 50 votes cast for AFC Rookie of the Year. Cleveland WR Kevin Johnson had one vote.

The rookie from Miami missed the first three weeks of training camp while the Colts and his agent came to an agreement He spent most of that time either working out at Miami or playing pick-up hoops in his hometown of Immokalee, Fla "It was basically one-on-one," James told an Indianapolis writer. "I'd go there and just take the fastest kid one of the best kids that had the best game and was the most active and I'd defend him. "I play until I'm just dead drained." Jones an All-Star Dontae Jones, the Stratford product who went to the NBA after one year at Mississippi State and a Final Four appearance, has been selected to play in the CBA All-Star game. Web poll snubs Titans Music City Miracle, but still no respect NFLtalk.com asked its Internet visitors who will win the AFC championship. The Indianapolis Colts drew 33.03 of the votes, followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars (25.48) and Miami (25.08).

The Titans trailed far behind at 16.41. SEC Wooden nominees Auburn's Chris Porter and Doc Robinson join Florida's Mike Miller as SEC nominees for the annual John Wooden Award. I would think Vanderbilt's Dan Langhi, if he continues playing the way he has to date, will be added to the list before long. Langhi ranks sixth in the nation in scoring with a 22.8 points per game average. There's no question that the senior has benefited from a coaching change.

Vandy Coach Kevin Stallings' offense is designed to free Langhi for more shots. It's as Stallings said at SEC Media Days when asked what he liked about Langhi "I tell you what I like about him," Stallings said after a short pause. "He can flat out shoot it" Hostile homecoming There may be some tense moments next Tuesday when Iowa Coach and former Hoosier hero Steve Alford returns to Indiana to meet the Hoosiers and Coach Bob-1 by Knight Press row has spaces for 60 me-1 dia members and the IU sports information department had more' than 75 requests as of last week. No secret Knight and Alford aren't best of friends. But Alford is one former player Hoosier fans still adore, and is; more popular in most circles than Knight RP1 ratings Going into tonight's Vanderbilt game, Tennessee's basketball team ranks ninth on the RPI ratings with an 89.64.

Kentucky, which won sue straight games after a 4-4 start, moved up to No. 12 (8834) while Vanderbilt is No. 32 (84.88). Old Timers doings You don't want to miss the annual Old Timers Baseball Assoc ia-: tion's banquet Friday night at the' Maxwell House HoteL Social hour begins at 530, with dinner an hour later. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the Nashville Sounds office, Nashville Sporting Goods or Hit After Hit Negro League star Buck CNeil will join former National League President Bill While as featured speakers.

Nashville's Butch McCord, who also played in the Negro League, was able to get OTMeil and White to come in for the meeting. McCord is on the Old Timers Board of Directors. For ticket info call Mickey Hiter at 226-7005. Joe Brides a fermwsean sports writer and columnist He can be readied at 259-8255 a epddteetann- essean.com He can be heard weekdays m. on 997 FM's Sports Kidd, Bryant lead star voting Jason Kiddof the Suns and Kobe Bryant of the Lakers held the top two guard spots in NBA All-Star voting for the Western Conference team.

The NBA All-Star game will be played Feb. 13 at The Arena in Oakland, Calif Kidd has 803,554 votes with Bryant at 762,857 in fan balloting through Jaa 16. Gary Payton of Seattle is third and Jason Williams of Sacramento was fourth among guards. Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers leads all centers with 1365,095 votes, and the top two forwards were Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves (1,177,812) and Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs Britain might bar Tyson Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was told he might be refused entry to Britain for his Jaa 29 fight against Julius Francis because of his 1992 rape conviction. The fight in Manchester is less than three weeks away and all 21,000 tickets sold.

Immigration rules state that anyone convicted of a crime that carries a jail term of at least a year would not be allowed in the country. Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington. Drivers praise Busch Series Fattier of Wafcipsdfes A memorial service will be held today in Mooresville, N.C, for Leroy Waltrip, father of NASCAR drivers Darrell and Michael Waltrip, who died Monday after a long illness. The elder Waltrip, 76, had battled cancer for three years. Family members were at his side at his death.A second memorial service will be held tomorrow at 4 p.m.

in the Waltrips' hometown of Owensboro, Ky. In lieu of flowers the family has asked that memorials be made to Motor Racing Outreach, 555 Concord Parkway South, Smith Tower, Suite 405, Harrisburg, N.C (28075), or Hospice of Catawba County, 263 3rd Ave. N.W., Hickory, N.C (28601). Darrell Waltrip has resided in Franklin since the late Purse doubled: NASCAR Winston Cup Series sponsor J. Reynolds yesterday announced that this season's points fund -the year-end money awarded to the top 25 drivers in the standings will be increased to $10 million.

Busch's 32-race schedule drew 2.2 million fans in 1998, an average of 68,750. Series spokesman Rick Oleshak yesterday said the final figures are not tallied for 1999, but said attendance increased at every race. Denis McGlynn, president of Dover Downs Entertainment, which is building the $125 million Nashville Superspeedway, has predicted Busch eventually may equal the top-tier Winston Cup division in terms of fan appeal and prestige. "I could see that happening," lajoie said. Lajoie admitted that his brief Winston Cup experience "left a bitter taste in my mouth.

It's a matter of attitude. When you walk out of the Busch garage into the Cup garage, attitudes change. You've entered Fantasyland." While it takes about $10 million to field a Cup car, $1 million will get a Busch car onto the track. Lajoie said Busch racing is racing the way NASCAR used to be more about man than machine. They say money can buy speed, and that's true," Lajoie said.

"In Cup, the best drivers don't always win; it's who has the most money behind him." "I'd rather be winning in Busch than struggling in Cup," Green said. "I'm completely happy here. We've got a great division with super-talented drivers and the fans are eating it up. The Busch Series Ls fun because we've got such a great mix of drivers," said 18-year-old Adam Petty, fourth-generation heir to stock car racing's most famous name. "We've got drivers like me and Casey (Atwood, 19-year-old Nashvillian) who are just getting started, and we've got veteran drivers who've won on the Winston Cup leveL "That makes it interesting for the fans and exciting for the drivers.

In Busch you don't see the same old faces week after week." Two-time Busch champion Dale Earnhardt is moving up to Winston Cup this season, along with Matt Keaseth, another top Busch driver. The $700,000 championship is up for grabs. Several Busch races last season were flooded by Cup drivers who dipped in to run a few of the bigger-paying races. Some Busch drivers complained the Cup drivers, with better equipment and more experienced crews, had an unfair advantage. They suggested NASCAR limit the number of Cup drivers in a Busch race, but NASCAR has not changed the rules.

"Let 'em come," Lajoie said. "In equal equipment IT) put our guys up against their guys. Even in unequal equipment we manage to win our share. Tm interested in racing. The Cup guys can have their Fantasyland." By LARRY WOODY Spnrls Writer CHARLOTTE, N.G There's nothing bush league about NASCAR's Busch Series.

"In terms of wide-open, competitive racing, it's right up there with Winston Cup," says Randy Lajoie, a veteran of both series who will be back in Busch this season. "We put on a good show every time we roll onto the track, and we never know who's going to wia Some other series can't say that." Several Busch drivers discussed and defended their division during yesterday's opening day of the 17th annual Motorsports Media Tour. When Nashville Su-perspeedway opens next season its premier event will be a Busch race. While Busch races that are run as Winston Cup companion events frequently draw crowds of more than 100,000, Nashville's will be a stand-alone race. "They'll it sell out," predicted Jeff Green, a former Nashville Speedway champion who, like Lajoie, has bounced between Busch and Winston Cup.

"With 50,000 seats they'll be turning fans away." This season's Nashville Busch race is on April 8 at Nashville Speedway, pnbably the last major NASCAR event at the aging facility. With less than 20,000 seats, the Fairgrounds track can no longer meet Busch race ticket demands. The champion's share will irt- crease from $2 million to $3 mil- Kon and Ihe rurmerup wifl get I $1,050,000. Winston again wi i offer five $1 million drivers' bonuses in its No Bull program. TW purchase: The Nashville Network has bought I part ownership of the American Speed Association, TNN presi- dent David Ha9 said yesterday.

Hafl said TNN wil carry 17 ASA 1 races this season. -LARRY WOODY TIT XT L. I Upcoming sports rughkjMs. 1 8 fffLPlffS TYCh 5 Radio: 104 5 FM 0 Jffceskefcal 'jrrfcrtj at fentfisee Tpoft 7 m. Radio: varrjy 6rAM NBA LA Lakers at Ware, 7 p.m.

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