Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 25

ffiljg Arizona Bftilg to Tucson, Sunday, August 6, 1995 Golf7C NFL notes 8C Sunday Notebook IOC Troiao: race mo sore bet in Pac-10 Irtoirs ANALYSIS UA coaches become aware of bear facts during retreat By Greg Hansen The Arizona Daily Star The way it goes in college football coaching, some years you're loaded for bear, other years the bears come after you. Dick Tomey now understands both sides. At the UA coaching staffs annual preseason retreat last week on Mount Lemmon, Tomey awakened early Thursday morning and left the cabin By Anthony Gimino The Arizona Daily Star USC coach John Robinson joked that he had a private meeting with the pope this summer in order to help the Trojans end their 12-year winless streak against Notre That would give the Trojans a shot at the national title. First, they have to win the Pac-10. Which isn't going to happen.

Sure, they are the most talented team and the logical choice for the conference championship. But that's too easy. The league has six legitimate contenders for a bowl game, any of which could finish first with a dash of good fortune and one season-turning big play. The league, it is said, is that close in talent. are no bad teams," Arizona's Dick Tomey said.

"Each one of us in the conference has eight tough games." To find the champion, look no further than the team that has a four-game to get some exercise. Careful not to slam the door or lock himself out, Tomey left the door ajar while his assistant coaches slept. Upon his return 30 minutes later, as he prepared to re-enter the cabin, Tomey saw a mature black bear a few feet from secondary coach Jeff Ham-merschmidt, who was asleep on a couch. The bear was munching on See BEAR, Page 8C "We were not a good defensive team last year," Donahue said. "We gave up a lot of yards and a lot of points and didn't create a lot of turnovers.

This year, I think we're a little quicker and a little deeper. I still think we're a year or two away from recruiting the kind of defense we had in our championship seasons." Then again, Donahue is prone to understatement. Maybe that championship team is already here. 2. USC.

If the Trojans are to trip up somewhere, chances are it will be because of defense. USC allowed nearly 400 yards per game last year, and has a new defensive coordinator in Keith Burns, the Trojans' secondary coach for two seasons. Robinson doesn't want a high-risk, gambling defense, but he does want a more physical one. He plans on using a five-man front to control the line of scrimmage and pressure the quarterback See PAC-10, Page 8C winning streak against the Trojans. 1.

UCLA. The Bruins have the best offensive lineman in the league (Jonathan Ogden), the best linebacker (Don-rue Edwards), the best running back (Karim Abdul-Jabbar, formerly Shannon Shah) and one of the best receivers (Kevin Jordan) in a conference filled with good receivers. Ryan Fien takes over at quarterback, backed by a ground game that will run and run and run behind five returning starters on the offensive line. "We'll have the quarterback be more of a role player rather than the star performer of our offense," said coach Terry Donahue. To win the title, UCLA's biggest improvement must come on defense, which was regularly pushed around last year and was particularly soft against the run.

Donahue has experimented with a 4-3 head coach Larry Marmie could improve the secondary. Marmie coaches a group that returns nearly intact and stars Abdul McCul-lough, the latest in a line of fine UCLA safeties. front, trying to put better athletes on the field and hide a lack of experience at inside linebacker. The development of tackles Travis Kirschke and Phillip Ward should improve the Bruins' run defense; the addition of former Arizona State Earnhardt ends slump at Indy's Brickyard 400 jtK 'V caution period. Earnhardt drove his Chevrolet Monte Carlo onto pit road at the end of Lap 128 and got through his stop cleanly.

Wallace, in a Ford Thunderbird, made a fast stop on the next lap. But, as Wallace pulled away from his pit and headed for the track, Rich Bickle ran into the rear of Joe Nemechek's car just ahead of him on pit road and Wallace had to hit the brakes and take evasive action. Wallace avoided the trouble "We've never won the Daytona 500, but the Brickyard is a special race, and we'll take it." Dale Earnhardt 7-time Winston Cup champion and came back onto the track just ahead of Earnhardt, but the defending series champion zoomed past on the back straightaway and never was headed. "I really honestly think we had just as good a car as Earnhardt," said Wallace, who drives for Roger Penske, the winningest Indy-car owner at the speedway with 10 Indianapolis 500 victories. "It really hurt us when we got behind Bickle and he and Nemechek got together.

Track position is so important here. "But I'm glad for Dale that he came out of his slump, and we got out of our slump here, too," Wallace added. Earnhardt held off Wallace by 0.426-seconds, about four car-lengths. The winner averaged an event-record 155.218 mph, easily breaking the record of 131.977 See BRICKYARD, Page 11C By Mike Harris The Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS Dale Earnhardt is still king of the hill. The seven-time Winston Cup champion, mired in a slump that has seen him fall from first to third in the season points in recent weeks, charged from the middle of the pack to a hard-earned victory yesterday in the second Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On a day when it appeared rain would mean no race at all, close to 300,000 spectators hung around through a near 4'2-hour delay and got a full 160 laps and a terrific show on the historic 2 '2-mile oval. In the end, it was the 44-year-old Earnhardt fighting to hold off longtime rival Rusty Wallace, who in turn barely held onto second place in a late duel with Dale Jarrett in the $4.5 million race, the richest in NASCAR history. The three drivers raced through the last 10 laps separated by about 1 xh seconds. "We've never won the Dayto-na 500, but the Brickyard is a special race, and we'll take it," said Earnhardt, who has failed to win NASCAR's other big prize in 14 tries. It took him only two tries to win Indy, joining 24-year-old Jeff Gordon, who finished sixth, as winners of stock car racing's newest big event.

"I'm glad I'm the second man to win it," said Earnhardt, who now has two wins this season and 66 in his career. "Only two of us have done it, and that is real special." The race came down to the final round of green-flag pit stops in an event slowed by only one Bruce McClelland, The Arizona Daily Star Olav Zipser and Apollo play in front of Zipser's trailer near the Eloy airport, where divers can make up to 20 jumps a day Skydiving not enough for Extreme Games doer Alternative flying: Parachuting disciplines such as skysurfing, freestyle and chute assis that emphasize flying postures other than traditional horizontal, belly-to-earth flying. Also called freeflight, and three-dimensional flying! Camera flyer: Freefall photographer who applies three dimensions to the camera perspective to creatively enhance a performance. Chute assis: French term to describe "sit flying," participants freefall as though they are sitting in straight backed chairs. The position greatly increases speed.

Formation flying: Traditional form of competitive parachuting. Parachutists work in teams of four or more, and create formations on a horizontal plane during freefall. Olav: While in freefall, to fly vertically, head first. Named for freestylistcamera flyer Olav Zipser, who perfected the technique. Skyboard: Lightweight, custom built boards that the skysurfer straps on with a releasable binding system.

Unlike snowboards, they have very little flex. Terminal velocity: The rate of descent at which a given body position will descend no faster. A belly-to-earth position has a terminal velocity of about 120 mph. A feet-first or head-first posture has a fall rate of 160-180 mph. Cardinals' Case upstages McNair By Tara Wood The Arizona Daily Star ELOY Plain ol' skydiving was a little too boring for Olav Zipser when he first got into the sport.

But now, after nine years of experimentation, Zipser can often be found plummeting to- Zipser's accomplishments include some fascinating figures. Page 9C. ward the earth in a vertical, headfirst dive at speeds approaching 200 mph. It's not so boring anymore. What started as a simple quest for Zipser to jazz up an already thrilling sport, soon became a study of acrobatics, aerodynamics and the human body, and sent freestyle skydiving, off into a new dimension.

By experimenting with body positions that resulted in faster speeds during free-fall, Zipser helped pioneer "alternative flying" which includes skysurfing and flying with props, and focuses on performance during free-fall. "It always amazes me that no one else has done this before because it's already been going for 20 years or so," Zipser said. Zipser, 29, grew up in Germany and now lives just a few steps from the Eloy Municipal Airport. He competed in chess and swimming while growing up, but took up skydiving when he couldn't find anywhere to learn to hang glide. He left a career as a dental technician and sold all his belongings to pursue skydiving as a job and a lifestyle.

Zipser moved to the United States about three years ago, first liv- See SKYDIVE, Page 9C Dave Castelan, The Arizona Daily Star Toros fail to rally, drop second straight game TODAY'S GAME By Michael A. Lutz The Associated Press HOUSTON Rookie quarterback Stoney Case stole Steve McNair's first 15 minutes of fame in the Astrodome last night. Case, a third-round pick from New Mexico, completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Knox with 4:18 to play, grabbing the spotlight from McNair, Houston's millionaire rookie quarterback, and leading the Arizona Cardinals to a 16-13 exhibition victory over the Houston Oilers. "I thought I played pretty well except for a couple of mistakes," Case said. "The first mistake was just stupid; the second mistake I was just in the wrong place.

But the thought never crossed my mind we'd lose the game because of those mistakes." McNair, the Oilers' quarterback of the future after signing a seven-year, $28.5 million contract, bobbled his first pro snap to start the third quarter. He had the presence to recover and throw a 20-yard completion to Malcolm Seabron to the Oilers 45. But the charging Cardinals defense exposed McNair's inexperience with frequent blitzes that left him gasping for breathing room. His four sacks went for 20 yards in losses. He completed two of five passes for 37 yards.

Case threw an interception and lost a fumble in the fourth quarter. But he completed five of eight passes for 95 yards, the biggest going to Knox, who broke free from cornerback Torey Hunter for the go-ahead touchdown. "When I came back out, I just wanted to do something solid and move the team to a touchdown," Case said. "I threw the pass; he eluded the tackle and got into the end zone. "To come out and do fairly well with just a few mistakes helps my confidence.

I feel I belong up here. A game like this definitely doesn't hurt you." McNair fumbled in the end zone and recovered the ball for a safety with 9:33 elapsed in the third quarter, giving the Cardinals a 9-7 lead. On his second possession, McNair completed a 17-yard pass to Chris Sanders to the Cardinals 47 that helped set up Al Del Greco's kick, which hit the crossbar and bounced over the bar with 36 seconds left in the third quarter. Dave Krieg, hoping to guide the Cardinals to the playoffs this season as he did Detroit last year, worked an efficient first quarter in his Arizona debut He threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to second-round draft pick Frank Sanders with 8:08 elapsed in the first quarter. Krieg completed eight of 11 pasws for 106 yards.

By javier Morales The Arizona Daily Star Tucson knows that even Tony Gwynn doesn't get a hit every game. The Toros, after winning seven consecutive games, were humbled for the second consecutive time by Edmonton last night, losing 7-4 in front of 4,249 fans at Hi Corbett Field. The only good news for Tucson was Albuquerque losing to Salt Lake, allowing the Toros to maintain a 4V6 game lead in the PCL Southern Division. "I'm not even trying to think about that (the division standings) right now," Tucson manager Rick Sweet said. "I'm more concerned about what we have to do to get us back on the right track toward playing good baseball." In the last two games, Tucson has failed to make the timely hit.

Edmonton retired eight of the last nine batters last night and only allowed one ball to be hit out of the If that's the case, Tucson should feel comfortable with veteran Craig McMurtry (5-1 with an 0.92 ERA) on the mound. Bronswell Patrick, who played for Oakland's Class AAA team at Tacoma last year, has been rushed into being a starter after a strained quadriceps injury to Billy Wagner forced him to miss a start Rich Loiselle is also out with a strained back. Patrick (3-1) pitched five strong innings, striking out six and walking only one, but he started to tire in the sixth. With the game tied at 3, Fausto Cruz singled, Jim Bowie hit an RBI double, and Scott Bryant had a two-run single to force Patrick's exit AMn Morman entered in relief and gave up a home run to Mike Maksudian, and the Trappers led 6-3. "Bronswell did all he could, given the circumstances," Sweet said.

See TOROS, Page 3C Edmonton Trappers (LHP Scott Baker, 2-4, 5.79 ERA or RHP Willie Adams, 1-1, 4.94) vs. Tucson Toros (RHP Craig McMurtry, 5-1, 0.92), Hi Corbett Field, 7:30 p.m. KTKT (990-AM) and Spanish-language KXEW (1600-AM) will broadcast live. Promotion: Free tickets available at local ABCO stores. It was in stark contrast to the Trappers' series in Tucson in June, when the Toros won three games by scores of 5-4, 2-1 and 5-3 by rallying late.

"Our lineup has struggled the last couple of games, and that's something we're not accustomed to," Sweet said. "To go along with that, our pitching and defense have not been able to make up for our lack of production. "But it's only two games. We expect to rebound (today), and it ail depends on our starting pitching.".