The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 55

1 lnl 1 i i 1 r. ijriu" in g'f' y'y pi FOOTBALL i NFC today: Vikings at Cowboys AFC today: Jaguars at Bills SjSl Dallas and Troy Aikman will have Forget 'happy to be lirff an experience edge over Brad Jacksonville wants to keep its run Fi i 13 Johnson and Minnesota. going in Buffalo. PAGE 7C PAGE 7C POLO PANTHERS Aiming high Palm Beach Polo's 19th high-goal season could be one of the most competitive ever. PAGE 3C Experienced rookie Defenseman Per Gustafsson is 26, but that doesn't mean he isn't learning a lot in the NHL PAGE 6C THE PALM BEACH POST SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1996 SECTION SPORTS 1 1 Bo ivjiacK attacK.

Streak hits 13 on road for Heat i v- .1 JOT- i V.7 5 i I I i 3 J. 1 By TOM D'ANGELO Palm Beach Post Staff Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. Tim Hardaway watched two of his teammates hobble off the court lifith injuries and decided the Mi-ajru' Meat's road-winning streak would not die Friday night. With Kurt Thomas (ankle) and Alonzo Mourning (back) in the locker room for most of the second lialf, Hardaway, who also had no backup, did what he has done so Jnany time? this season. Takeover.

The result was a 101-86 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Sunday's game: Heat at Bucks, 7 p.m. TV: WBFS-33. 1 "With Zo out, Kurt out, everybody looked around and said, TLet's do said Hardaway, who Jiad 26 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. "I just went out and did 1 I Said Heat coach Pat Riley: Tim has just been Superman." The victory was Miami's 13th straight on the road, which ties the 1964-65 Celtics for the third-longest road streak in NBA history.

is three road wins from Equaling the all-time record of 16 straight, set by the 1971-72 Lak-eVs; a team for which Riley played. The, Heat (22-7) are a league-best 1 54 on theroad. 4 more concern were the injuries to Thomas and Mourning, although neither appears to be serious: Thomas left the game with 3:21 to play in the first half alter spraining his right ankle and ifrourning winced while walking off 1:30 into the second half be-xause of back spasms. Neither pjayer returned and both are hoping to play Sunday at Milwaukee. ''Playing under-manned, a little! bit hurt, guys reached way cjpwn," said Riley.

I Mourning, wearing a back hjrace and moving gingerly, sat jbking with Hardaway after the game. He said the spasms were pausing but considered returning after the injury. tried to stand up (in the locker room) and went to the ground," said Mourning, who said he felt the spasms kick in when he fouled Vlade Divac under the basket. "When they helped me up I 6aid I can't go." i Mourning has had spasms during his career, but none that forced him out of the game. "It's just a freak thing," he said.

Mourning's exit, though, was $hly lamented by the Heat. The former Hornet was booed loudly ify.the Charlotte Coliseum crowd jwhen he was introduced and as he RICHARD GRAULICHStaff Photographer Tremain Mack (3) and Booker Pickett celebrate Mack's interception return in Friday's Carquest Bowl victory over Virginia. Mack also scored on a fumble return. Hurricanes' return to glory? No, just a less gory reminder Safety's two touchdowns lift UM to 31 -21 victory 1 11 1 11 film The game hardly evoked memories of one played on New Year's Night of 1992, but Miami's Hurricanes take their building blocks wherever they find them these days. It somehow remains a startling notion (despite constant reminders from one season to the next) that until UM's victory Friday night over Virginia in a made-for-corporate-America college football contest called the Carquest Bowl the 'Canes had gone almost Inside On The Bowls Quick animosity: Tempers flare in a pre-game fight that coaches manage to break up.

PAGE 10C Tremain Mack: The Carquest MVP won't say whether he'll opt for early entry into the NFL draft. Orange Bowl: When Nebraska meets Virginia Tech, Dave George examines the question: How Hokie is this? PAGE 9C five calendar years between post-season successes. How the mighty have fallen. Greg Stoda game unranked, finishes 7-5. The hero for UM on Friday night, as he has been much of the season, was safety Tremain Mack, who returned a fumble and an interception for touchdowns during the first half.

Mack, who may have saved UM's season earlier this year with a blocked punt against West Virginia, also blocked a field goal and made some big hits in what could be his last game as a Hurricane. "I don't know what else I have to prove at the University of Miami," said Mack, a junior who could opt for the NFL draft. "I'll debate it over the next couple of days." Please see CARQUEST IOC By JORGE MILIAN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Late in the second quarter Friday night, the classic R-E-S-P-E-C-T began blaring from the Pro Player Stadium speakers. As if on cue, the University of Miami players lining up for a kick-off began dancing in unison to Aretha Franklin's words. The Hurricanes, left for dead earlier this season, regained a measure of the respect they had lost by defeating the University of Virginia 31-21 in the Carquest Bowl before 46,418 fans.

The win was UM's third straight and the first in a bowl game since the 1992 Orange Bowl. The No. 19 Hurricanes end the season with a 9-3 record. Virginia, which entered the "People said how we wouldn't be prepared and that it was a Joke Bowl," said Miami junior safety Tremain Mack, who earned a unanimous MVP vote after blocking a field goal and scoring touchdowns with a fumble return and an interception. "We wanted to prove how much it mattered to us." But exactly how much a 31-21 defeat of the Cavaliers in Pro Player Stadium matters is Please see STODA10C Please see HEAT4C PERFECTLY INSECURE ('p FSU's Thad Busby doesn't lose, but he could lose his starting job Florida State vs.

Florida 8 Georgia admits rules broken by Calloway School denies several violations in 300-page report to NCAA. By ETHAN J. SKOLNICK Palm Beach Post Staff Writer The University of Georgia admitted Friday that its football program violated NCAA rules, partly through cash and trips a Palm Beach County sheriffs deputy provided for recruits. The NCAA charged Georgia with 10 major rules violations five of which were tied to Dan Calloway's actions and gave the school until Dec. 30 to respond.

Friday, after an internal investigation by school attorney Ed Tolley, the school admitted to parts of four of the multi-layered allegations and disputed six others. Georgia submitted its findings to the NCAA in three volumes totaling more than 300 pages. The third volume was devoted entirely to Calloway and included a videotape detailing his positive work in the community. The school denies many of the allegations on the basis that Calloway was not a representative of the university during the 1993-94 school year, when many of the infractions allegedly occurred. The school conceded that Calloway was acting as a representative of the university when he paid for transportation, spending m6ney and fees fbr five Please see GEORGIA6C When: Jan.

2, 8 p.m. Where: Superdome, New Orleans TV: WPBF-25, WPLG-10 done that. When you can play good defense like we do just don't go out there and throw this thing away. Our defense might block a punt or they might intercept a pass or something like that. He's done enough for us to win every game." But that hasn't stopped Bowden from going out of his way to praise backup Dan Kendra throughout the year.

And Bowden has fond memories of Chris Weinke, a one-time hot prospect who will return to FSU this month after six seasons of minor-league baseball. "We'll have a good battle in spring," Bowden said. "There's no reason he (Weinke) doesn't do well. I think (Busby is) going to have his hands full with these two guys behind him. In the spring we'll just let them all compete." By ED PRICE Paim Beach Post Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS The cynics ask: Has a quarterback ever led a team to a national championship and come back as a third-stringer the next season? The supporters ask: Thad Busby has Florida State 11-0 and ranked No.

1, and what more should he have to do? Busby has not reminded anyone of Charlie Ward, the 1993 Heisman Trophy winner. But with a victory over No. 3 Florida in Thursday's Sugar Bowl, Busby can match Ward in national championships earned one and top him with a perfect season. "Most young quarterbacks will get you beat somewhere along the line," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "Hevhas not ALLEN EYESTONE1996 STAFF FILE PHOTO FSU quarterback Thad Busby missed some receivers in the Florida game, and some Gators rushers didn't miss him.

Aside from not losing, Bus- wrist fracture) he has had as by's hallmark has been inconsis- many or more interceptions than tency. He has not put together touchdowns, consecutive 200-yard games. In Busby his coaches say half his 10 starts (he missed the Wake Forest game with a Please see BUSBYC.