St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 39

SPORTS ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1993 7D Area Media Tackled Football Stories Like Pros was five years, from the community to support him. He has not performed to their expectations down there. The fact is that Jerry Clinton's lawyer Jim Shoemake is Tom Guilfoil's partner. Tom Guilfoil Schoemehl trailed off before completing the sentence that Guilfoil is BidwiU's lawyer.

Bid-will owns the Cardinals. Clinton has been actively pursuing an NFL team for St. Louis. Buck then began speaking. "You and Mr.

Bidwill didn't get along when he was here, according to him," Buck told Schoemehl. "He said you failed to recognize his 25th anniversary here in the city of St. Louis. That's one of the reasons he got angry and picked up and left. The week from hell" for the area's sports media has played itself out.

The city may have a hard time playing down the "St. Loser, 'Misery" title that has popped up on national 'yadio. But the local electronic media, with one notable exception, won't have to worry about Jhat tag. Here's a look at some of the more notable jmoments in a week in which Missouri football coach Bob Stull was reassigned to an administrative position and the National Football bypassed St. Louis in awarding an expansion franchise: The most interesting nugget gained in a dose of dial-diving was a brief conversation on reporters there.

Television was all over the stories, sparing no expense. The blanket coverage on KTVI (Channel 2) stood out. It was nice to see a local station think enough of a major sports story to pre-empt the highly rated "NYPD Blue" for a one-hour expansion special. KFNS radio may be the biggest winner of all. It had the best week in its eight months in an all-sports format.

The station had live coverage of the Stull and NFL news conferences. It even beat powerhouse KMOX to the punch by a few minutes on the fact that the NFL was Jacksonville-bound. KFNS (590 AM) also had extensive pre-announcement coverage throughout the day. There were a few rough spots, though. The technical quality didn't match that of KMOX.

Also, David Oliver broke the news of Stull being moved upstairs before the news conference began, a nice touch, but he was much too wordy in presenting the information. He seemed as if he was too busy trying to impress listeners about whom he had talked to instead of just relaying the information. The biggest loser was anyone who listened to "Tiger Talk" on Monday night. On the biggest day in Mizzou football in the last five years, the show kicked off with host Mike Kelly reading a short prepared statement from school officials about Stull's situation. Then Kelly quickly brushed that aside and schmoozed up to MU basketball coach Norm Stewart.

They were quickly off and running, talking about the Tigers' all-important game two nights earlier against Central Missouri State. After a bunch of fluff about free throw shooting and other minutiae, and after Bob from Des Moines called in wanting to discuss the game, the channel change button couldn't be reached fast enough. Where was athletic director Dan Devine? Where was Stull? Where was the chancellor? This was the time, with a statewide radio audience free to call and probe the powers, for "Tiger Talk" to face the public. Instead, it excelled in totally deflecting the issue. Billiken Beat: St.

Louis University's basketball team makes its 1993-94 television debut Saturday, when the Billikens meet Cornell at 1 p.m. at The Arena. It's the first of six locally produced telecasts on KSDK. Channel 5's Mike Bush handles the play-by-play, and Malcolm Briggs does the commentary. DAN CAESAR MEDIA VIEWS 'KMOX between station sports director Jack Buck and former Mayor Vincent C.

Schoemehl Jr. shortly after the NFL announcement. "I think one of the candidates to come to St. Louis is "He told me the other day in confidence I shouldn't say this he said now that you're not mayor, he might come back. He told me that." The segment ended with many laughs.

In Phoenix, Bidwill also got a laugh. "It will snow in Bill Bidwill," Schoemehl said matter of factly. "He went 1down to Phoenix with a guarantee, and that guarantee Bora-Bora before I move back to St. Louis," he told BOB BROEG CONTRIBUTING SPORTS EDITOR SEC Title-Game Rematch Lacks The Glitter Of '92 Missouri Coaches VS. BIG EIGHT Faurot Devine Since WLTWLT'WLT Oklahoma 3 15 1 4 8'1 2 21 0 Nebraska 10 908504 19 0 Kansas .13 4 2 8 3 2 10 13 0 lowaState 12 5 2 11 1 1 9 12 2 Colorado" 14 2 2 8 5 0 10 13 0 Okla.St." 3 1 0 10 1 0 7 16 0 Kansas St.

14 3 2 12 1 0 17 5 1 Overall 69 39 9 61 24 4 59 99 3 Not in conference full period.) (Stull was 8-27 vs. Big Eight teams.) Devine Needs A Coach As Good As He Was When Dan Devine was eating high on the headcheese "as athletic director his first time around at the University Missouri, a friend suggested he faced two challenges the road to quit as coach one year too soon, rather than too late, and to pick a coaching successor as Capably as his AD predecessor, Don Faurot. As a coach, Devine did quit at least a year too soon, at 54 in 1980 that the season would be his last at Notre Dame. Devine's Irish then almost won a second championship. a.

about to step down a second time as athletic director at 01' Mizzou, faces the difficult second chal Cards To Be On KPLR And Cable There will be 22 more Cardinals games on local television next season than in 1993, but 18 fewer on free TV. The club announced Thursday that it had reached a one-year agreement with KPLR (Channel 11) to remain its flagship station. KPLR is to televise 60 games in 1994. The club also announced it will place 40 games on the Prime Sports Network, a cable service not widely available in the St. Louis market.

However, it is expected that Prime will be available on most systems by spring. Some Blues games also may be shown on Prime. Dan Caesar lenge to pick a coach hopefully nearly as successful as Devine or faurot, tne si-year-om patriarch of the pigskin. One of the reasons the sod at Mizzou is "Faurot Field" is because Faurot's selection of Frank Broyles and then Devine as head football coaches. Both followed the Old Master of 01' Mizzou into the college Hall of Fame.

Broyles earned it at Arkansas after a one-season head start at Missouri. Devine in the '60s achieved the nation's winningest record with Already Own BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) The Southeastern Conference had a dream matchup for its inaugural championship football game last year undefeated Alabama beating Florida on a dramatic play to advance to a national championship showdown. The same teams are back for Saturday's title game. But all the glitter is gone, and maybe one of the key players is, too.

No. 16 Alabama (8-2-1 overall, 5-2-1 in the SEC) will be trying to avoid its third loss in four games. Defensive back Antonio Langham who had a game-winning touchdown on an interception last year was declared ineligible recently after the revelation he had signed with a sports agent. Alabama is awaiting word on an appeal with the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Ninth-ranked Florida (9-2, 7-1), meanwhile, is coming off a 33-21 loss to Florida State.

One of the Gators' tandem of "starting quarterbacks, Danny Wuerffel, is out because of a knee injury. All this adds up to a game that has yet to sell out, despite being played at Alabama's second home, Legion Field. More than 6,000 tickets remained Thursday in the stadium. A Sugar Bowl berth is up for grabs in the game, but there's none of the high-charged atmosphere that surrounded last year's game. After all, the SEC's only unbeaten team, No.

4 Auburn, is at home because of NCAA probation. Alabama coach Gene Stallings, who has spent much of this week answering questions about Langham and deflecting rumors that he plans to retire soon, acknowledged his players were "hurt emotionally" after losing to archrival Auburn in their regular-season finale. "But we are in the championship game," he said. "Remember we were in it last year and we were 11-0. So it was a lot more fun last year than it was this year.

But I'm not too sure in that certain areas we haven't performed a little bit better under tough conditions this year." Revenge would be sweet for the Gators, who saw their 1992 dreams dashed when Langham stepped in front of a Shane Matthews pass and raced 27 yards to the end zone to seal a 28-21 Crimson Tide victory with just 3 minutes 16 seconds remaining. Maybe that's why Florida players didn't try to conceal their feelings when news broke about Langham's predicament. "That's great for us," said tight end Charlie Dean. "I'm sure they're not too happy about it." Coach Steve Spurrier will rely on Terry Dean to direct Florida's air-dominated attack in Wuerffel's absence. Errict Rhett, No.

1 on the Gators' career rushing list with 4,075 yards, likes to think he will get to run the ball more than usual against Alabama. But he probably won't, especially with the hole left by Langham's possible absence. "We would like to be able to mix it up, run and pass and so forth," Spurrier said. "But still, we've got to go play and try to do what we do best." Alabama's offense is missing a big cog since starting quarterback Jay Barker suffered a season-ending knee injury against Auburn. Stallings said Brian Burgdorf probably would get the start, but freshman Freddie Kitchens and receiver David Palmer could also get some snaps.

Regardless who winds up under center, Stallings isn't saying anything about his game plan. "You'll just have to buy a ticket or come see it," he said. A Cellular Phone? Missouri played a tougher schedule this year, one of the toughest, and academic requirements forced a kid to pay for his own summer-school attendance to become eligible. But non-conference softies didn't help Stull's own alma mater, Kansas State, gain a 4-2-1 record in the Big Eight. You see, coach and please see the records in an accompanying table I go back to 1937.

That was Faurot's third season as head coach. Faurot was looking to retire debts so he scheduled an extra game, at UCLA, creating three games in eight days. Faurot was hailed for signing on for a nine-year money series as Ohio State's opener in Columbus. Faurot gained only one tie against the Buckeyes, yet so impressed them that the Buckeyes offered him the job in 1950. Those early season defeats for box-office purposes hurt the record, but they seemed to set up Missouri in conference play.

Faurot's record against league opponents for 19 seasons was 69-39-9. Devine's was even better, 61-24-4. Missouri football has sagged to a sorry 59-99-3 in conference competition. To talk about the Big Ten when the Tigers are pussyfooting in their own league must make the Big Ten laugh even though Devine had a 9-1-1 record against it. Al Onofrio was the master of the upset.

Most of his major surprises fit the warming cliche "on any given Saturday on any given field" and most were achieved on the road. Devine's 93-37-7 record included a noble 52-15-2 away from home. Somehow, some way, usually in a softly delivered, yet nasty emotional way by which he got under his kids' skin, Dan'l convinced his 55 athletes that they were gathered as one against 55,000 "enemy" observers. Devine was described by Faurot as "a great game-day coach." Now it's Devine's job to come up with a head coach who will win enough anywhere, home and away. you already own a cellular phone, where no season of more than three defeats.

Devine, like Faurot before him, achieved a conference stature that has gone downhill in the subsequent 23 seasons, climaxed by an ugly 8-27 Big Eight record under Bob Stull. Stull became the first Missouri football coach ever with five successive losing seasons. So there will be regrets, but no tears that the coach was asked to step down after an embarrassing shutout loss at Kansas at a time a team that loved him played its poorest. That made 16 consecutive defeats away from Faurot Field. That atrocious road record and lackadaisical loss at Lawrence apparently were decisive to an otherwise sympathetic judge, Devine.

Stull parachuted into an assistant athletic director's job. The man's noble spirit and personal standards should be welcome wherever he speaks, just as anticipated relaxed academic requirements should make recruiting easier for his successor. It's tough to be critical of Stull, but it's tough also to one seeking to be objective in a subjective situation. Sure do you get the best deal? At CyberTel. CyberTel's everyday rates are lower than its competitor's rates.

And on top of these savings, CyberTel will give you a 15 discount on your monthly access charge when you activate a new line of service. So come to CyberTel and save each month. Call today for details IIIIICyberTel FISHING REPORT An ffneritech Company LAKES Thomas Hill Reservoir RIVERS AND STREAMS around the riprap on causeways and at the harbors. Stockton: Report unavailable. Table Rock: Near power pool, falling slowly, 51-53 degrees.

Bass: Large-mouths and Kentuckies bass are fair to good on jigging spoons on steep main- 444.4444 M-F 8a.m.-7p.m. Sat. 9a.m.-5p.m. 'Comparison based on SWBMs published rates as of 11193. Available on selected service plans.

"Not valid with any other discount. Two year commitment and other restrictions apply. North Fork (below Norfork Dam): Water flow light. Brown trout: Fair on sculpins and shiner minnows. Rainbow trout: Good to excellent on worms, salmon eggs and corn.

White River (below Bull Shoals Dam): Water flow moderate. Rainbow trout: Excellent after heavy stocking on salmon eggs and worm-spinner rigs. fpp -slppaa Wilfj OjJ vcy College Mound i- fy Boat Ramp s- 3 fLBrusri Creek TTjKfl fZ-Cemetary jCV "lltrfV BatlamP a jSf Warm Water (4 And Outlet 1 Area Of T. Detail rtfc'- Louis MISSOURI yellow jigs and minnows in any slack water. Catfish: Fair on shad guts.

White bass: Fair on minnows or jigs. Mark Twain: At elevation 612.3 (about 6 feet above normal level), rising slowly, 44 degrees. The main lake is slightly stained, the upper arms muddy. Crappie: Fair to good at 2-15 feet on jig and minnow and jig and wax worms. Anglers are fishing bridge piers and along creek channels.

Bass: Fair for the few anglers out. Anglers are fishing steep, rocky banks and riprap at 4-6 feet with spinner baits, jig pig and crank baits. Newton: High and muddy. There has been almost no fishing. Norfork: At elevation 564.5 (about 12 feet above winter pool), stable, 52-54 degrees.

Murky to stained, but most of the lake is fishable. Bass: Fair, with most being caught on jigging spoons off steep, rocky banks at 30 feet. Some are being caught in shallow water on live shad. Crappie: Very scattered at 6-20 feet. Stripers: Good to excellent in the main lake and major creek channels over shad schools at 15-45 feet.

Pomme De Terre: Normal level and stable. Crappie: Fair to good on the lake, good below the dam. Most fish on the lake are being caught from the brush at 12 feet. Bass: Fair on spinner baits off points. White bass: Good off windy points.

Muskie: No report. Reelfoot: About IV2 feet above pool level, rising, murky, 54 degrees. Crappie: Fair to slow on minnows and jigs around stumps and logs at 8-10 feet. Bluegill: Fair to slow around trees at 4 feet. Anglers are using wax worms, crickets and jigs.

Bass: Fair to slow around trees and moss on spinner baits. Catfish: Good on various baits. Yellow bass: Excellent on pin minnows. Rend: Four feet above normal level, muddy and full of debris, 49 degrees. Crappie: Fair for the few people fishing i'v lake and creek-channel points at 30-55 feet.

Some Kentuckies and smallmouth bass are being caught on Carolina-rigged Hula Grubs on pea-gravel points at 30 feet. In a bass tournament last weekend the winning string was six fish that weighed 17 pounds. Anglers caught many fish of 13-15 inches just below the legal limit. Crappie: Good fishermen are catching a few big ones over brush at 15 feet over 20-30 feet of water. Catfish, bluegill: No report.

Taneycomo: Water flow moderate. Clear. Rainbow, brown trout: Excellent after a stocking. Anglers are drifting Power Bait and nightcrawlers and trolling and casting Flatfish. Most of the fish are 13- 16 inches.

The best fishing is from Mile 8 to Table Rock Dam. Thomas Hill: About 3 feet below normal, rising, murky to muddy with the plant not running. Crappie: Fair for the few anglers out from the stumps along the west channel at 5-1 2 feet. Bass: A few are being caught on crank baits and the jig pig-Truman: At elevation 711 (about 5 feet above normal), falling, mostly clear, 53 degrees. Crappie: Good.

Anglers are fishing bridge piers and channel trees with minnows and jigs at 20 feet and catching fish of 7-10 inches. Below the dam, anglers are using minnows under corks along the riprap and in the brush of the dead-water channel. Bass: Slow, with few people fishing for them. Catfish: Good on trotlines on blood bait. Wappapello: About 18 feet above normal, falling 6 inches a day, mostly clear.

Fishing has been zilch. irk. 1 Wrf Baldwin: Normal level, clear, 62 degrees with two plants running. Bass: Fair both from the lake itself and from the north levee. Anglers are using a variety of lures to catch mostly sublegal fish.

Catfish: Fair from the hot-water outlet on various baits. Bluegill: Fair from the north levee on meal worms. Barkley: At elevation 354.03 (winter pool), stable, clear, 52 degrees. Bluegill: Slow. Crappie: Fair on jigs and minnows from the gravel or clay banks with brush at 8-12 feet.

Bass: Fair on deep-running crank baits and live minnows on ledges or in any kind of cover. Below the dam: Stripers: Slow on live shad. Catfish: Fair on various baits. Sauger: Good in the canal when water is running from Kentucky to Barkley for anglers drifting and bumping minnows along the bottom. Bull Shoals: About 15 feet above power pool, rising slowly, clear to murky, 54-58 degrees.

Black bass: Fair. Large-mouth and Kentuckies are being caught on slab spoons on the flats at 30-50 feet. Some are being caught on crank baits and spinner baits on secondary points in the creeks and around banks with cover. Some anglers have been trolling flats with deep-diving crank baits and catching white bass, largemouth and Kentuckies. Crappie, catfish, bluegill: No report.

Carlyle: At elevation 453.33 (10 feet above normal pool). Only two launch ramps are open, at South Shore and Keyesport. The Allen Branch area and most parking lots are flooded. Virtually no one has been on the lake. Below the dam: Water flow very heavy.

Walleye: Fair to good on jigs, crank baits and minnows at the spillway and near the cable. White bass: Fair to good on minnows and jigs. Channel catfish: Good on shad guts and nightcrawlers. Crappie: Fair on minnows and jigs by the cable. Bluegill: Fair on wax worms off the riprap.

Clearwater: At elevation 547.3 (about 53 feet above normal) and falling. There has been no fishing. Coffeen: A little above normal level, mostly clear, 55-72 degrees with the plant running. Bass: For the few anglers out, fair on buzz baits, stick baits and small spinner baits on secondary and main points and over submerged weeds in coves. Channel catfish: Slow on liver, stink baits and cut shad.

Kentucky Lake: Near winter pool, stable, clear, 52 degrees. Crappie: Fair from the beds at 8-12 feet on minnows and jigs. Bass: Fair. The best fishing is with large crank baits and live minnows over ledges and any kind of cover. Sauger: Good when water is flowing in the canal between the lakes.

Anglers drift minnows along the bottom. Below the dam: Catfish: Good on various baits. Sauger: Fair on live minnows and jigs. Kinkaid: Up slightly and murky. Few people have been fishing.

Lake of the Ozarks: At elevation 659.3 (slightly below full), rising, clear to murky, 52 degrees. Bass: Slow. Crappie: Excellent, with anglers fishing jigs over cover at 4-20 feet Chartreuse is the favorite color. Fishing also has been good at the heated docks. White bass: Excellent on windy points or in the backs of coves wherever shad are surfacing.

Most anglers are trolling Rooster Tails and Roadrunners. Below the dam: Water flow heavy. Crappie: Excellent on red or posl-Oispatch Map When you're out after Jj 11 yaiiic, uui lie jun 1 uo. The Twelve DreamGirls of 1 MTV Appearing In SHOWCLUBS WELCOME Dec. Diamond; Cabaret Free Buffet Day Night Play Billiards with your favorite dancer or just play Sunday Free Admission all ens ALL day night Bachelor Parties made us famous SPORTS Sunday night is Kaav, Amateur Night.

Qhnuiunur 23 FANS FREE Close-up Location: About 20 miles northwest of Moberly, about 180 miles northwest of St. Louis. Accommodations: Primitive camping. Launch ramps. No marina.

Nearest motels in Macon and Moberly. Areas available for bank anglers, including some near the hot-water outlet. For information write: Missouri Department of Conservation, Box 1 80, Jefferson City, Mo. 65102. Type Of Lake: A reservoir built to provide cooling water for a coal-fired power plant.

Contains a good population of catfish of all sizes, some largemouth bass and a good population of white crappie. Best fishing is usually in the winter, especially around the hot-water outlet in Brush Creek Cove. Conditions: About 3 feet below normal, rising, murky to muddy with the plant not running. Report: Crappie: For the few anglers out, fair from the stumps along the west channel at 5-12 feet. Bass: A few are being caught on crank baits and the jig pig.

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