News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 9

Scorecard 2B 2B Pro Hockey 2B Golf 7B The Preps 9B Outdoors 11B O) NEWS-PRESS' SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 1989 PROS HE'S BACK Bill Elliott says he's strong GOING UP Charlotte's Kelly Tripucka's scoring average is up drastically from a year ago6B The Miller Lite Fort Myers Open pro beach volleyball tournament ends today (10 a.m.). enough to drive all of today's Motorcraft 50010B ON SPORTS SCOTT KORZENOWSKI Boeheim's guys can't have fun CD ITS Bo says Deion's foolish ALLAS To most of its invited guests, the NCAA firammplle Tournament is the ultimate treat. The slap on the back at the end of the season. The By GLENN MILLER News-Press Staff Writer HAINES CITY Saturday afternoon was Bo Jackson's turn in what appears to be a growing Deion Sanders-Bo Jackson feud. Jackson called Sanders a "fool." Sanders, a graduate of North ByBILLVILONA Gannett News Service final confirmation of a job well done.

But to Syracuse and its unappreciated coach Jim Boeheim, the NCAA Tournament is more like a party at the home of your wife's former and very successful flame. In other words, a psychological spotlight that illuminates your most painful Insecurities. A rude reminder that your level of success could be just a little bit higher. Among the most successful basketball teams this decade, the Orangemen have been anything but successful once the NCAA Tournament rolls around. UNC-CHARLOTTE.

PENN. Navy. Rhode Island. Each has sent the Orangemen home, much to the delight of anyone who roots for the little guy, which is NASHVILLE, Tenn. Oklahoma made a statement Saturday with an exclamation point In fact, the Sooners took a hammer and chisel and carved one into NCAA Tournament archives.

Powered by senior guard Mookie Blaylock's 34 Fort Myers High School, recently said of Jackson, "The only thing Bo has on me is age." "Deion should take some advice," Jackson said dur- inp the Kansas f.itv yi i ijZlQ I Royals' exhibition rVJTU toss to the Cincin tosay just about everybody who doesn't kick his dog. Boeheim's 11 national championship tournament teams has SANDERS nati Reds Saturday I managed to win more man f7 I one tournament game. iy ti I And even then, when the lf I Orangemen lost the 1987 THE NCAAs: DAY 3 East Minnesota 80 Siena 67 Duke 70 W.Virginia ....63 Southeast Oklahoma 124 Louisiana Tech 81 Virginia Mid. Tenn. St 88 Midwest Illinois 72 Bali State 60 Louisville 93 Arkansas ...84 West UNLV 85 DePaul 70 Arizona 94 Clemson 68 points, the fourth-ranked Sooners crushed Louisiana Tech 121-84 in the second round of the Southeast Regionals at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym.

The victory established a new NCAA Tournament scoring record and sent Oklahoma rolling into Thursday's Southeast Regional semifinal at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. The Sooners (30-5), top-seeded in the Southeast, will face Virginia, a 104-88 winner over Middle Tennessee State in Saturday's other second-round game. "I think we got back to playing Sooner basketball today," said Coach Billy Tubbs, who has placed his team among the "Sweet 16" for the third straight year. "Our team was ready to play and there were excited about 0 afternoon. "Deion should take some advice from someone who knows what's out in the world.

Like somebody said, it's better to sit, look and listen and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. I got nothing else to say." That was the closing comment from Jackson in a brief interview in the Royals' clubhouse. When Sanders' name was first mentioned, Jackson responded with an obscene verb. "I don't want to talk about him," Jackson said. "Deion Sanders is too big for me." When a visiting reporter mentioned he was from Sanders' hometown, Jackson said, "I'm sorry." Jackson was also asked if he ev er met Sanders.

"I ran over him," Jackson said. "Ask Deion has he ever met me." Jackson was a senior at Auburn University during Sanders' freshman season at Florida State. Both athletes are pursuing two-sport careers and have often been compared. Jackson, the 1985 Heis-man Trophy winner, plays left field for the Royals and is a running back for the Los Angeles Raiders. Sanders, who is in the New York Yankees' minor-league camp in Tampa and expected to be sent to Double-A Albany, could not be reached for comment.

4,. A change in attitude brought a different result. The Sooners looked uninspired in their first-round game two days ago against East Tennessee State, trailing most of the game before avoiding a momu-mental upset by winning 72-71. Associated Press Oklahoma's Stacey King (33) rips a rebound away from Louisiana Tech's P.J. Brown, during the first half of the Sooners' 124-81 victory.

See SOONERS, page 5B 1 One constant about Morris is consistency boeheim championship game to Indiana by one point, Boeheim received justifiable criticism when his team failed to signal for a timeout immediately after Indiana guard Keith Smart swished his now famous corner jumper. Afterward the players said they thought Syracuse was out of timeouts. It wasn't. Accordingly, Boeheim like Guy Lewis and Bill Frieder before him has been stuck with the label of Sideline Bumbler. And like the kid who is unaware he has a sign saying, "kick me, I'm stupid" stuck to his back, Boeheim can't easily get rid of it Perceived as a guy capable of landing the big recruit, but incapable of positioning that recruit in the proper defense once he arrives on campus, Boeheim won't redefine himself as a capable game-coach until he either wins the national championship or stops recruiting 6-foot-9 skywalkers who can stick the 20-foot J.

Neither appears imminent. A remarkable recruiter, Boeheim gets players so talented it's assumed they can get to the Final Four by themselves. When they don't, Boeheim is blamed. Of course the charge isn't without merit. In a profession being taken over by innovators, Boeheim remains a follower.

A workmanlike manager capable of building and maintaining a workable machine. A machine that over the long haul can function efficiently. IN THE SHORT TERM, however, when the pressure gets great, the Boeheim machine often breaks down. His players, unprepared for the tricks many a coach pull come NCAA time, often appear undisciplined and panic-striken. As for Boeheim, he usually appears just lost.

Whether or not that's true, the 44-year-old Boeheim refuses to acknowledge that his team's NCAA failures are anything more than coincidence. "People remember the losses," he said. He also fails to acknowledge the facts only one second-round win since the tournament went to 64 teams in 1 983 in any way increase the pressure on his bald head at this time of year. "I don't feel any more pressure today than I did the first game I coached," Boeheim said. Well, he should.

Later today in Reunion Arena, Boeheim's Orangemen will take on Colorado State, a team perfectly equipped to again send the Orangemen home from this party two weeks early. ANNO YINGLY PESKY on defense and patient on offense, the unheralded Rams coached by the sage Boyd Grant appear the suitable recipient of what surely could be Syracuse's most recent bout of second-rounditis that strange affliction that so regularly fells such teams as Syracuse and Michigan in the NCAA Tournament. Friday, the Rams slow-down game frustrated the Florida Gators, and the Gators, with only seven capable bodies, like to play slow. Syracuse, on the other hand, likes to play slow about as much as it likes to go bowling with the team from Georgetown. "Sometimes we get impatient both offensively and defensively," admitted Sherman Douglas, the Ail-American point guard who keeps the power-packed Orangemen in high gear.

"It could be a tough game for us." And like his coach who was sitting alongside him, Douglas wasn't smiling as he spoke. It's obvious in his four years under Boeheim, Douglas has learned the NCAA Tournament is no time to enjoy himself. At least not as long as he's wearing a Syracuse jersey. 5 GLIKIG This Is one in a series ot stories on visits to spring training camps in Florida. Monday: Pete Rose and the Cincinnati Reds.

By GLENN MILLER News-Press Staff Writer LAKELAND Jack Morris wins. It's that simple. Year in, year out, since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, Morris has won. He's done it more often in the 1980s than any other major-league pitcher. Plug Morris' name into a baseball meter, however, and he'll certainly JOHN SEVERSONNews-Press measure lower than Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, Ron Guidry, Bert Blyleven and Nolan Ryan.

Morris has won more games than any See MORRIS, page 3B Since joining the Tigers in 1979, Jack Morris decked out in green on St. Patrick's Day has not had a losing season. Beck inherits lead in TPC TV: Channels 8, 20, 2 p.m. 2B Scores By BOB GREEN Associated Press Hess wins ARCA 500K The 12 Hours of Sebring was not completed at press time. News-Press Wire Services HAMPTON, Ga.

Ben Hess started from the pole and overpowered the field Saturday to win the ARCA 500-kilometer late model stock car race at Atlanta International Raceway. Hess, 24, a native of Wadsworth, Ohio, who now lives in Mooresville, N.C., dominated the race, leading five times for 176 of the 204 laps as he won for the second straight time this season. Only 16 of the 42 starters were running at the end due to accidents and mechanical problems in the 312-mile event on AIR's 1.5-mile oval. Only Canadian driver Trevor Boys was on the lead lap with Hess. PONTE VEDRA A strange thing happened to Bruce Lietzke and Mark McCumber in their fight for the lead of the Players Championship Saturday.

Lietzke blew a five-stroke lead and McCumber missed a half-inch putt Taking advantage of the misfortunes of his opponents, Chip Beck fired a 4-under-par 68 to move into a one-stroke lead in the $1.35 million tournament. Beck's three-round total of 207 was one stroke better than Tom Kite, who shot a 69. Lietzke, the second-round leader, and McCumber, the defending champion, were Associated Press Geoff Brabham (83) maneuvers his Nissan GTP-ZXT through turn one Saturday, moments after the start of the race. See TPC, page7B i i li liiiflfif-.