Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 43

pilfflMJ Friday, January 29, 1999 Section 4 Bears name offensive, defensive coordinators. Page 8. Muresan (right) may fill tall order for Bulls. Page 9. Meaningful sacrifice for wrestling brothers.

Back Page. (s 'i i Poaching? NU recruits visiting Colorado TOfcltafl And Jen? Mathers as the Beaver By Steve Rosenbloom Coocflorcing, GREG CLACHE By Rick Morrissey Tribune Staff Writer Northwestern is in danger of losing two more high school standouts who had committed to playing football for the Wildcats: Guess which school the players are visiting these days? If you said Colorado, you get a free dinner at Gary Barnett's restaurant in Evanston. to his new school. Barnett left NU at a critical time in the recruiting period, and now he's open to taking some of NU's commitments while new Wildcats coach Randy Walker Is struggling to keep the incoming freshman class together. "Some people would do it some people wouldn't," NU Athletic Director Rick Taylor said of Barnett's decision to have the NU recruits visit Colorado.

"I wouldn't do it If he feels it's that important, then there's no rule that says you shouldn't do it." At the center of the issue are Peter Friedrich, a two-way lineman from Stevens Point and offensive lineman Gabe Oderberg of Denver. Both have said they liked NU because of Barnett and his staff. Both orally committed to NU before Barnett left and both initi Barnett left NU last week to take the head-coaching job at Colorado. "I am not a poacher," he said. "There are ethics involved here.

There has to be an agreement between the athletic director, the coach and the player." The possible defections raise questions about whether it's ethical for a coach to take recruits from his old place of employment ated contact with the Colorado coaching staff after Barnett arrived in Boulder. Friedrich was visiting the Colorado campus on Thursday, and Oderberg will visit this weekend. The national signing period begins Wednesday. Another NU commitment, running back Chris Brown of Naper-ville North, also has shown up on See Barnett, Page 2 AV SUPER BOWL XXXIII Something for the new defensive coordinator: Why don't the Bears have a Web site? They can't string together three Ws. Welcome to Chicago.

vsQB niche secure TheHitList yw If I Comeback wins his trademark A By Don Pierson Tribune Pro Football Writer MIAMI John Elway won. He's a winner. He was never a loser. That's what last year's Super Bowl victory meant to Elway's legacy. Until last year, the winningest quarterback in NFL history was in danger of being remembered as a loser.

History can be a cruel and contradictory judge. One Super Bowl triumph wiped out three losses. If his Denver Broncos lose Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons in what is likely Elway's final fling, it still won't erase the one win. Elway is the first quarterback to start five Super Bowl games. Green Bay's Bart Starr won five NFL titles, but the first three were pre-Super Bowl tournament playoff format Elway is 13-7 as a postseason starting quarterback; Starr had to win only nine postseason games to get five titles.

Elway has won more football games than any other quarterback who ever lived. Dan Marino has thrown for more yards. Marino and Fran Tarkenton have thrown for more touchdowns. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach and Bob Griese and Jim Plunkett and Starr have won more Super Bowls. Johnny Unitas and Bobby Layne and Otto Graham and Sid Luckman and Sammy Baugh and others have won more championships.

Steve Young and Montana and Brett Favre and Len Dawson and Dan Fouts and a bunch of others have higher passer ratings. See Elway, Page 6 Brian BahrAllsport On Sunday, Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway will take the field for the Super Bowl. It might be his last game. Gheorghe Muresan, the 7-7 center dogged by foot problems and no game, hit the Berto Center as Jerry Krause tinkers with the Bulls' cripple-post offense. Krause brings in the lame (Andrew Lang) and the halt (Muresan) and it's just the Northwestern guys who get indicted for trying to lose games? Just asking: If Tim Floyd becomes successful, does Krause start hating him too? E-mailer Ed Swanson (NU '59-60) said, "I will honor my commitment to Northwestern" ranks up there with "The check's in the mail." Northwestern could lose ft least two more football recruits who suddenly will be visiting a school in the Rocky Mountains that has a new coach who is the front-runner for the Garden Weasel endorsement.

Some caller wanted to know "if there's still time to get Latrell Sprewell a job working for Michael McCaskey." The Broncos are using the Dolphins' facilities to train for the Super Bowl, but they locked up the refrigerator in the weight room so the Broncos couldn't get to the Dolphins' Gatorade. Steve DeBerg, the Falcons' 45-year-old quarterback, has a 19-year-old daughter who has a crush on Atlanta rookie linebacker Keith Brooking. Super Bowl groundskeeper George Toma is angry that his favorite fertilizer from England has been banned because of Mad Cow Disease. Super Bowl prediction from gold-medal ice skater Tara Lipinski: "Denver. I don't know, 38-17, because Scott Hamilton said so." There ya go.

Grant Hill, when asked about Detroit's signing of "your buddy," ex-Duke teammate Christian Laettner: "Who says he's my buddy?" New York already has a nickname for the Knicks' new big man: Marcus Can't Be. How can a guy be as big and as young as Chad Kilger and not do anything useful? Jocelyn Thibault rocks. Vancouver coach Marc Crawford, who replaced Mike Keenan this week: "Mike's been responsible for creating a lot of good things for coaches, and that's one of them: midseason job openings." Atlanta offensive tackle Bob Whitfield, on blocking for Jamal Anderson: "You know what it's like to run naked on the beach in Rio de Janeiro with the rain hitting your butt? It's not like that." Where Elway ranks Most victories By a starting quarterback (regular season) He's no Jordan, and he won't retire I' Safe ittttkjk Ldf SkipBaytess t-T PCT. John Dway 148-82-1 .643 Dan Marino 142-87-0 .620 Warren Moon 125-87-0 .533 Most Super Bowl starts By a quarterback lohn Elway (Denver) 5 Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh) 4 IAMI Perhaps the most asked question at this Super Bowl refers to a retired basketball player. Most touchdown passes 'ttfflME! TP Mais 408 Dan Marino (Miami) 1 Fran Tartertton (Minn JNYG) 342 Joe Montana (San Fran.) 4 Jim Kelly (Buffalo) 4 Includes this appearance Most Pro Bowls Appearances by a quarterback 300 John Dway (Denver) More Super Bowl Seven hours of pregame coverage is not enough; perhaps a cable network would suffice.

Page 5. Atlanta offensive coordinator Art Shell, a two-time Super Bowl winner, awaits a call that would make him a head coach again. Page 5. Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe was bom to talk, or so he says. And says.

And says. Page 5. Falcons who have been there before try to keep the right edge tor the Super Bowl. Page 7. Perhaps Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause has finally joined some elite company: one of two people sick and tired of questions about Michael Jordan.

The other is a cinch Hall of Fame quarterback who tried and failed to be the NFL's Jordan. John Elway doesn't belong in the same sentence with Michael Jordan, even if it's followed by a question mark. But the question keeps coming at Elway like media members at free food: "John, do you want to go out the way Michael Jordan did?" One Elway response: "If ever Top NFL passing leaders there was a guy who had nothing left to accomplish, it was that guy." That answer is part of why I doubt Elway will retire. Elway will return at 39 because he has it so much easier than Jordan did in his final Bulls season at 35 and because Elway has so much left on his silver platter to accomplish. See Bayless, Page 6 John Dway 9 I Dan Marino 58,913 Dan Marino 9 John Elway 51,475 Warren Moon 9 Warren Moon 49,097 Chicago Tribune Source: Denver Broncos journeyman Chandler still is A.

HAM LU Bernie Linctcome IN THE WAKE OF THE NEWS IAMI Fashionable opinion at this Super Bowl is that Chris Chandler is a better quarterback i it. Tk Louis, Houston, Suwanee and points in between." I mean, when Chandler is asked who the greatest influences on his career have been, he should answer Rand and McNally. While Elway may be a quarterback's quarterback, Chandler is a quarterback's tour guide. "I know my way around a lot of big American cities," Chandler agreed. The Super Bowl is ecumeni-See Linctcome, Page 7 Scoreboard HCMBASJOMi NHL Illinois 61 BLACKHAWKS 6 Michigan 59 Flames 6 Butler 54 Flyers 4 UIC 47 Coyotes 2 Loyola 75 Predators 4 Wright St.

68 Sabres 2 DePaul 65 Hurricanes 3 S. Florida 58 Rangers 2 NIU 74 Penguins 6 Buffalo 46 Maple Leafc 0 1 than John Elway, though a similar does not exist for a used Pontiac being better than a used Ferrari or asparagus being a better appetizer than stone crab. Oddly, the world seems less engaged in saying goodbye to the classic Elway than it does hello to the itinerant Chandler, for whom the term journeyman is more than a descrip- tion. It is a salutation. "Starting at quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, Journeyman Chris Chandler, who has sent his laundry out in Indianapolis, Tampa, Phoenix, St Agence France-Presse photo Chris Chandler is thoroughly enjoying the pregame media attention.

Pagn 4, 11. KCAA, Ptgsi 3, 4, 11..