St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 24

5 DEC 179 At the top Wrestler Sam Sherertz has had quite a run of success for Mary Institute-Country Day School. D4 Sticking around? After shuttling between the American Hockey League and the Blues, Marty Reasoner hopes to stay with the St. Louis club. JO' for the long haul. D3 December 17, 1998 ST.

LOUIS POST-DISPATCH SKCIION ''J fi cvj Bono Is out shwif Is sllli How it should be For true fans, Ambush games are the real thing 3 I was reading about pitcher Kevin Brown, who accepted a $105 million deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brown was saying his decision wasn't about money. He said it about winning. Brown must have been confused, because the Dodgers haven't won a postseason game since 1988. i This is the same guy who said he'd choose a wm r.

rr- jr i Golden Oldies Nine of the NFL's top 10 rated quarterbacks are 32 or older. i i Pass Player, Team Age rating Randall Cunningham, Vikings 35 107.2 Vinny Testaverde, Jets 35 99-7 Steve Young, 49ers 37 99.6 Chris Chandler, Falcons 33. .96.2 John Elway, Broncos 1 38 95.6 Doug Flutie, Bills i 36 91-4 Troy Aikman, Cowboys 32 91.2 Neil O'Donnell, Bengals 32 90.2 Mark Brunell, Jaguars 28 89.9 Steve Beuertein, Panthers 33 Rams starter Steve Bono, 36, has a 66.3 rating, but has too few pass attemps to qualify for the league rankings. film's always rolling." But 85 percent of the time this season, the film has been rolling on Tony Banks at quarterback for the Rams. Now, Banks is out for the season with a knee injury suffered against New England, giving Bono a golden opportunity to show the rest of the league he can still get it done.

"I know I can still play the game," Bono said. Surprisingly, his quarterback rating is lower than Banks' 66.3 to 68.6. But Bono has moved the chains and produced points 45 points in about eight quarters of play this season. The Rams offensive unit seems more confident when he's over center. And now he gets two more chances, his first starts since 1996, when he played for Kansas City.

Bono is an unrestricted free agent after this season and plans to shop the market. The Rams See BONO, Page D8 With quarterbacks getting better with age, he could be an NFL star at 36. By Jim Thomas Of the Post-Dispatch Above all else, Steve Bono will be trying to win a couple of football games this Sunday and next. That goes without saying. But Bono is playing for more than that a lot more than that as the Rams starting quarterback in their final two games of the season.

He is auditioning for the rest of the NFL for 1999, 2000, and maybe beyond. "You're always doing that," Bono said. "In the game today, everybody's looking at you, everybody's got film on you. That's always the way it is. The Beraie A "IK iVJasz team, in large part, to be closer to his family in Macon, Ga.

I don't recall Macon being near LA; perhaps Dodgers owner Rupert Murdoch plans to buy Macon and relocate it to Southern California. James Finley ASSOCIATED PRESS For the first time this season, Steve Bono has been able to work with the Rams' first-team offense all week in practice. Kmger became If the $15 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ million a year wasn't enough, the Dodgers gave Brown free use of a private jet to fly his family to LA during the season. As if a guy making $15 million can't afford to pay for it himself. Then there's pitcher Roger Clemens, who demanded a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays be a top coach by Si i-r 1 cause he said he wants to play for a contender.

Another athlete who wants to win. Right. Then the Houston Astros, who were interested in Clemens, called a nasty news conference and general manager Gerry Hunsicker revealed the truth: Clemens wanted a year and $27 million added to his existing contract, so he could be equal with Kevin Brown. It's about winning, all right. It's about winning the jackpot.

wanting to play Ml TJ Illinois coach gained his current stature with a low-key, but competitive attitude as a young star. bynickwishart Of the Post-Dispatch brothers at their white, two-story farmhouse outside Silver Lake, Kan. Could there have been a better place to run with ball and bat than 200 acres of family-owned farmland? So it will be a sweet homecoming for Kruger on Saturday when his Illinois basketball team faces Kansas at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, about 60 miles east of Silver Lake. ILVER LAKE, Kan. On a square block of country road, some flattened by blacktop and most covered -Tough tests for lllini Saturday: vs.

Kansas, at Kansas -City, 3 p.m. Tuesday: vs. Missouri, at Kiel Center, 8 p.m. i On the air: Saturday on KMOV (Channel 4); Tuesday on ESPN cable. r- in gravel, young Lon Kruger always found himself running for perfection.

He didn't have to be out there, stomping past farmland while others slept or played. Yet, out he went alone sometimes methodically bouncing a basketball down the street and other times sprinting between telephone poles. For at least a summer or two, Kruger (the oldest of five children) and his parents also took care of the local baseball diamond. There, young Lon would mow and trim and insist on watering the basepa-ths himself because he didn't want his mother ruffling the dirt. He also would cut the grass at home by turning that into a race against the clock.

Two acres with a push mower. He loved it. He savored all those battles with his friends and three younger How many games did the Kruger family play on the miniature baseball diamond next to the house? How many windows did they smash out of that rented house beyond left field? How many games did they concoct? Too many to recount. How many times did Lon return home from practice (football, basketball or baseball) only to wonder why the other boys were riding bikes or playing on the swings. "He just couldn't imagine why they weren't playing catch during ball time," said his mother, Betty.

See KRUGER, Page D7 Topeka Capital-Journal In 1970, Lon Kruger signs to attend K-State as his father, Don, and coach Jack Hartman (right) look on. This is a long way of saying that 1 am looking forward to Friday's Ambush game at Kiel Center. As pro sports become more insulting and degrading, the more I enjoy taking my daughter to watch the Ambush play indoor soccer. Some of you will laugh at that. Goahead.

The Ambush aren't hip, compared to the other teams. For instance, the Ambush don't have those Rams PSLs, nine vice presidents or players skipping out on the hapless coach like a football version of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." The Ambush have only 12 people working in the entire front office, and no VPs. The Ambush don't have Mark McGwire who has such tremendous box-office appeal that the Cardinals can raise ticket prices and dump payroll and still be confident of drawing over 3 million fans. The Ambush aren't boring like the Blues, who are forced to try to tnarket fake stars like the underachieving Jim Campbell, who preens like a fashion model in those feally irritating TV commercials. Here's what the Ambush have: A first-place record in the NPSL's Midwest division.

Cheap ticket prices ($10 to $16, and look for those $2 off coupons). Players who make modest salaries rang- ing' from $12,000 to $80,000 per season. They have 16 St. Louisans on the 20-man roster, and just drafted three more local players. The Ambush have increased firepower with old reliables Joe Reiniger and Mark Moser joined by explosive newcomer Ken Snow, who leads the NPSL in goals (29).

They still have classy player- coach Daryl Doran, the No. 1 statesman for St. Louis soccer. They have friendly players who go out of their way to be nice to the customers. After every home game Ambush players head to the Kiel Club and sign free autographs for fans, and they do so cheerfully.

The Ambush games are fun. The atmosphere is light and lively. There's always something going on. The kids who attend never seem to get bored the way they do at other sporting events. spend a lot of time fretting about the condition of professional sports, griping about the greed and the grouches.

I hear the same complaints from fans. If you want to escape, try an Ambush game. It's a refreshing change from the Kevin Browns of the sports world. The Ambush players don't make much money. They care about what they do.

They live in the community. And you don't have to beg or pay them for an autograph. When they say they aren't in it for the money, it happens to be true. No, this isn't very hip or cutting edge. It's just the way pro sports used -j-tobe.

Mizzou pair formed a formidable line Vffensive linemen I t.rPA beginning, they were like oil and water: They just didn't mix well. Said Heimburger: "Rob thought I was a little snooty." Said Riti: "Craig seemed like a really confident guy back then, like the world was his oyster." Their relationship became embittered partly because Heimburger, captain of their seven-man squad that played after-hours touch football games at the camp, relegated Riti to the sideline most of the time. "He wouldn't let me play," Riti said, in mock anger. "He never even bothered to learn my name." Laughing, Heimburger said: "Just this year, he told me he didn't like me during that camp for that reason. I was really surprised; I didn't even remember he was on my team." From that awkward beginning, Heimburger and Riti have carved out a tight friendship and arrived at the same location: Both are All-Big 12 Conference offensive linemen for Missouri (7-4), which is preparing for a Dec.

26 clash with West Virginia (8-3) at the Bowl in Ariz. See MIZZOU, Page D6 Heimburger and Rid have become All-Big 12 Conference picks. By Bill Coats Of the Post-Dispatch COLUMBIA, Mo. Craig Heimburger, then a star at Belleville East High, and Rob Riti of Hazel-wood West hadn't met until fate tossed them together several years ago at a football camp at the University of Illinois. From the L.G.

Patterson POST-DISPATCH Craig Heimburger (57) helped open holes for Devin West. Rice, Moss selected to NFL Pro Bowl squad Rams shut out of Pro Bowl again For the third time in four years since the team moved to St. Louis, no Rams were chosen for the Pro Bowl. Coach Dick Vermeil expressed disappointment that defensive end Kevin Carter, the team's sack leader and its most deserving candidate, wasn't selected for the team. D8 Three schools dominate South district team Lindbergh High placed five players and Vianney and Eureka four each on the Post-Dispatch's South All-District team.

Three players -Muhammad Abdulqaadir of Eureka, Gary Anthony of Summit and Greg Westermayer of Windsor were selected on both offense and defense. D5 Coming Friday: The 1998 Ail-Metro football team. Jerry Rice, who missed almost all of 1 997 with knee injuries, made it back to the Pro Bowl along with the man who might someday break his receiving records, Minnesota rookie Randy Moss. Not surprisingly, the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings, who lead their conferences with 13-1 records, placed the most players on the team, nine each. Lutheran North's Steve At-water (right) was one of the selections for the Broncos.

He was picked as a starter at safety. Granite City native Kevin Greene of Carolina is one of the linebackers chosen, and Oilers punter Craig Hentrich (Alton Marquette) also was picked. Joe Johnson (Jennings) of New Orleans is a backup at defensive end for the NFC. D8 ASSOCIATED PRESS liM.falU-&iMMl!iMi&4feM.