Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 51

Chicago Tribune, Saturday, October 31, 1998 Section 3 3 FIGURE SKATING Jaded no longer, Yagudin reacquires fire for skating New coach transforms athlete into a performer By Philip Hersh Tribune Olympic Sports Writer DETROIT At 18, with a world title and a European title to his credit, Alexei Yagudin began to wonder, as the song has it, if that's all there is. "During the two weeks after the worlds last April, I was a little destroyed," Yagudin said. "When you want something all your life and you get it something changes, and you can't stop it "Finally I knew I had to forget everything and start to work again like I was nobody." That Yagudin, who had been a nobody less than a year earlier, reclaimed his motivation was evident Thursday night. He dazzled a small audience and the judges at Skate America with one of the In just a few months working with Tarasova, he has gone from an athlete who skated while music happened to be playing to a performer whose medium is skating. "He is more advanced this way than Kulik," Tarasova said.

"He is more emotional, more musical." Like Kulik, a Moscovite, Yagudin felt compelled to leave Russia to advance his career. "A year ago, I told everyone I would never leave Russia," Yagudin said. "But my country left me. It is no place for skaters anymore. There is no money and no facilities, and many of the good coaches had to move away." Until last season, when he made $250,000 in competition prize money and skating show earnings, Yagudin, his mother and grandmother were sharing a four-room Urmanov, to join Tatiana Tarasova, who coached 1998 Olympic men's champion Ilia Kulik and 1998 Olympic dance champions Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov.

All are Russians. "I am so proud I skated with Mishin," Yagudin said. "He was a real, real good coach. I was nobody, and then I became world champioa "But it is different with Tarasova. We work together.

Mishin was like leaden Do this, do With Tatiana it is simpler." The flamboyant Tarasova, whose background is in ice dance and ice theater, costumed Kulik in what became a ridiculed shirt with yellow and black splotches, for his most eye-catching combinations of technical mastery and artistic whimsy ever presented in a figure skating short program It gave him the lead going into Saturday afternoon's free skate. Perhaps it was by compounding change that the young Russian managed to reconcile past achievement with present drive. He switched coaches, left Russia for New Jersey and began to turn himself from a prodigious athletic talent into a compelling performer. Yagudin has moved from a crumbling rink in St. Petersburg to one in Freehold, N.J., that he finds similarly "vintage." He has quit Alexei Mishin, coach of 1994 men's Olympic champion Alexei PRO FOOTBALL INSIDE BASEBALL iears scouts take McGwire bests Sosa as Player of Year Wood is selected NL's Outstanding Rookie cautious approach to QB class of '99 i i 1 St.

Petersburg apartment with strangers. They, too, have moved, into an apartment of their own. After a Friday evening of uniformly abysmal skating in which none of the 10 women managed a clean performance, Maria Butyr-skaya of Russia claimed first place in the women's short program despite falling on a triple lutz jump and failing to do the required combination. Angela Nikodinov of the U.S. (double flip rather than triple) was second, Elena Sokolova of Russia (hand down on the double axel) third and Nicole Bobek of the U.S.

(fall on triple flip opener to combination) fourth. "It took a lot of courage to get up and keep going," Bobek said, "because, believe me, if that had happened in practice, I would have just laid there." Dome expires Nov. 30. Interbrew SA, the Dutch brewery that owns team, also owns 49 percent of SkyDome shares but wants a new deal with its other partners Penfund, Controlled Media Communications and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commercebefore signing a new five-year lease. "It is not an idle threat-said Allan Chapin, a director of Interbrew.

"We're assuming that SkyDome will realize the business reality of the sport world." Changing climate: Cuban Sports Minister Humberto Rodriguez raised the possibility that Cubans who live on the island might be allowed to play in the major leagues. "We are receptive to any proposal by the major leagues as long as it respects the principles of Cuban socialist sports," the Spanish-language news agency Prensa Latina quoted Rodriguez as saying. So far, only Cubans who have left their country, have played in U.S. professional baseball. Pena to manage: Five-time National League All-Star catcher Tony Pena was named manager of the Houston Astros' Class AAA club at New Orleans.

Pena, 41, replaces John Tama-rgo, who will join the Astros' staff in 1999 as the bullpen coach, taking over for Dave Engle, the only member of the Astros' 1998 staff who was not re-signed. Where's the will? Forget about stolen bases. Someone has been swiping the wills of baseball Hall of Famers in Boston. The wills of old-timers George Wright, Tommy McCarthy and Hugh Duffy are missing from a courthouse vault, along with the will of a fourth unidentified baseball figure. McCarthy's stolen will and possibly others were advertised for sale in a collectors' magazine, Suffolk County register of probate Richard Iannella said he was told by a reliable source Friday.

Iannella said the source indicated wills may have been stolen from other courthouses around the country, and Iannella said he would refer the matter to the FBI, as well as city and state police. Bears noting, "I do not wish to play professional football," owner-coach George Halas smelled something fishy. Uninterested players simply didn't return questionnaires. Taking no chances, Halas made Turner his No. 1 draft choice, and the Lions were fined $5,000 for tampering.

As a rookie, Turner found himself in the 73-0 game that would make the Bears and Halas legends. Turner said so many balls were lost to the fans on extra-point kicks that Halas ordered him to make a bad snap. They were down to practice balls, but Turner refused. "I told Halas I wasn't going to make a bad snap, not in a championship game. I never made a bad snap in my life," Turner said.

Halas then convinced the holder to drop the ball, but in the paper the next day, the botch was blamed on Turner. i Besides daughter Pat who lived with him, Turner leaves another daughter, Sandra Shaffer, a sister, Dene Hairstone, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His wife, Gladys, died in 1988. Services are Monday in Gatesville. 1998 long program interpretation of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." For Yagudin's short program, she has chosen a shirt with clown's faces on front and back and multicolored sleeves that look as if they were tailored by a paper shredder.

Yet the costume fit perfectly with his interpretation of a variety of circus performer roles to "The Revisionist's Tale," a piece written by German composer Alfred Shnitke. Yagudin mimed juggling, fire-breathing, a strong man's flexing, lion taming and hoop rolling in the program. He also did a triple axel-triple toe loop combination, two other jumps and the requisite spins and step sequences. AP photo a favorite of NFL scouts because of college scouting director Bill Rees. his most consistent season.

He has gotten better every year, and I think this has been his best year." Akili Smith, Oregon: "He has been very productive, another good balance between run and pass. He has played only two years at Oregon after Junior college so he hasn't had the same number of repetitions. He hasn't had the same sort of numbers as the other guys who have been four-year starters." The best college player the Bears have seen? Rees offered the first draft mystery of 1999: "Sorry, I can't tell you that." on crack-cocaine charges for the second time in three years. Shaw fined: San Diego Chargers cornerback Terrance Shaw has been fined $10,000 by the NFL for "verbally abusing and berating" an official in Sunday's loss to Seattle. Shaw was fined for his behavior in arguing a simultaneous-possession call after he and Seattle wide receiver Joey Galloway both came down with the ball.

PAGE 1 Turner Continued from Page 1 the line of scrimmage," said Jim Parmer, a former Bears scout who played against Turner. "Easily the best center to come along for years and years." Recognized as one of the smartest players in the game, Turner knew every assignment for every player. In 1944, when several Bears were ejected for fighting, Turner played halfback. The only time he carried the ball, he scored on a 48-yard run. "Who knows what kind of player he would have been if he ever got to rest during a game," former Bears teammate and Hall of Famer George Musso once said.

"He didn't feel he had a peer on the football field," Sprinkle said. Turner played from 1940-52, and his number, 66, was retired. He was a Bears assistant coach from 1952-56. In 1962, he was head coach of the New York Titans (Jets) in the American Football League. "People ask me if I have any Super Bowl rings," Turner once From Tribune News Services Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris' record and went on to hit 70 home runs, was chosen Player of the Year by his peers and presented the Players Choice Award on Friday night Sammy Sosa, McGwire's rival for the home run record, got a consolation prize of sorts, being named outstanding player in the National League.

Sosa hit 66 homers, also breaking Maris' record of 61 set in 1961. Eight other awards were presented at the Players Choice Award ceremony at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The awards are sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, the players union. Paul Molitor of the Minnesota Twins was voted the Man of the Year for his leadership on and off the field. McGwire won the honor last year.

Among the other winners were the Cubs' Kerry Wood, who was voted the National League's Outstanding Rookie, and Atlanta's Greg Maddux, named Outstanding Pitcher. Free-agent update: Tampa Bay prevented Wade Boggs from becoming eligible for free agency by exercising a $750,000 option for 1999. The Devil Rays also added an option for the 2000 season. Four more players filed for free agency, increasing the total to 120. Among them were Jim Poole and Mark Whiten of the Cleveland Indians, Scott Bailes of the Texas Rangers and Mike Morgan, who had his contract bought out by the Cubs a day earlier.

Also, the New York Yankees were said to be leaning toward declining catcher Joe Girardi's $3.4 million option and deciding to pay a $400,000 buyout. It also appeared the Yankees and Darryl Strawberry, who is recovering from colon cancer surgery, would agree to extend the deadline for deciding on his option. Strawberry, who hit .247 with 24 homers and 57 runs batted in, had his best season since 1991, then missed the postseason after a cancerous tumor was discovered. His option is for $2.5 million with a $100,000 buyout SkyDome threat: The owners of the Toronto Blue Jays, trying to get a better lease at the SkyDome, threatened to move back to Exhibition Stadium next season. The Blue Jays' lease at Sky said.

"I say, 'No, but I have four championship rings. It's the same In a 1987 interview, Turner said he made $2,000 a season as a rookie and got up to $14,000 for two years after the postwar All-America Conference escalated salaries. In the end, he was living on his NFL pension of about $1,100 a month. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966, Turner was almost overlooked by the NFL after playing at tiny Hardin-Simmons College in Abilene, Texas, the same school that later produced Sprinkle. Scouting in 1940 concentrated on major-college athletes and players featured in football magazines.

When Turner was a junior, a Hardin-Simmons fan tipped Bears scout Frank Korch, but Turner wasn't a secret for long. He soon became the center of some recruiting chicanery. The Detroit Lions thought they could sign Turner without drafting him. They treated him to dental work and gave him $100 to resist any other offers. When Turner returned a questionnaire to the By John Mullln Tribune Staff Writer As many as six quarterbacks could be selected in the first round of April's NFL draft.

The Bears and others are looking at a quarterback crop being likened to the 1983 group that Not so fast Daunte Culpepper. Cade McNown. Donovan McNabb. Juniors such as Tim Couch and Brock Huard, who are not supposed to be acknowledged by NFL teams because of their status as underclassmen. Do not lose perspective.

Do not liken them yet to Class of '83 members John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly. "They've been followed exten-1 sively by the media, so it's auto-matically assumed they are going to be tremendous at the next level," said Bill Rees, Bears college scouting director. "They may be. But because they have become such household names, everyone thinks it's a great year for quar- terbacks. "It's a good year, but in terms of comparing it to 1983, that's wishful thinking.

I hope it is that good. These guys are good quar-; terbacks and they'll play in the league. But it wasn't hard to look at John Elway and Dan Marino and say these guys don't come along very often." The draft may hold the Bears' franchise quarterback and succes-' sor to Erik Kramer, who turns 34 I two days before the Bears' next game. The idea that the Bears, by win- ning too many games, may ruin i INSIDE THE NFL From Tribune News Services With 19 players set to become unrestricted free agents after 1998, Green Bay Packers General Manager Ron Wolf set out to overpay one if necessary to show the rest he intends to keep a team intact. He couldn't have made a better choice than Pro Bowl tight end Mark Chmura, who wasn't going anywhere anyway.

"I had no intention of going anywhere else, although I could After leaving professional football, their chance to draft high enough for a franchise quarterback is illusory. There are plenty of quarterbacks, as there were in 1983, but few with franchise guarantees. Todd Blackledge was drafted ahead of Kelly, and Tony Eason before Marino. Who knew? "Some guys will surprise you," Rees said. "Some guys won't." Rees and Bears scouts have begun their final round of in-sea-son assessment of college talent, a process that began in August.

Bears evaluators believe tw o-a-days offer chances for revealing looks at prospects. So too do these final weeks of the college season. November games commonly involve conference titles and last chances for meaningful looks at players under pressure. "November is such a key time for a lot of these guys," Rees said. "A lot will really make a push at the end of the season.

They're in big games, they're playing for championships, and a lot of guys come out and don't do anything spectacular in September and October, then in November they really come on. "A guy like that last year was Fred Taylor Florida running back drafted ninth overall who, all of a sudden, had a big November and played well in big games." Regardless of whether they are 1983 revisited, quarterbacks will be the focus of the 1999 draft. Rees and the Bears have varying impressions of the top seniors: Culpepper, Central Florida: "He's big, strong-armed, athletic. He's a guy who has taken his never say it," Chmura said, glancing at Wolf with a mischievous grin Friday after signing a five-year extension believed to be worth between $13.5 million and $15 million. By signing Chmura, the Packers began to try to get public sentiment on their side and to get the attention of their remaining 24 players whoU be eligible for free agency after this season.

Taylor bankrupt: Former New fr, Bulldog Turner moved back to Texas UCLA quarterback Cade McNown is his "strong intangibles," says Bears team to a different level. They've stepped up to a major college program, and he has been the reason why. He'll be a very good pro prospect." McNown, UCLA: "He's a tremendous player. He wins, he can run, he can throw, he really has had a tremendous season and a tremendous career. McNown may not have all the measurables but he has such strong intangibles.

That will balance it out." McNabb, Syracuse: "A guy who does a lot of things, can run, throw, and has had a good senior season. This probably has been millii York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor has filed for personal bankruptcy, in part to avoid a possible foreclosure on his $605,000 home, attorney Michael Melani said. Taylor is one year behind in his mortgage payments to PNC Bank and Firstar Trust according to his bankruptcy filing. He owes the banks $350,000 and owes $1,658.41 in state auto insurance, according to the filing. The filing came just seven days after he was arrested in Florida FROM At- I t.

AP nie photo to farm and raise horses..