The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 19

1 The Orlando Sentinel UCF oveiroatched against South Alabama, C-3 WEDNESDAY, January 29, 1992 71 rw 1 B-CC names Collins coach Citrus Bowl, SEC closing in on deal By Selena Roberts By Mike Dame OF THE SENTINEL STAFF OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Larry Guest THE SPORTS COLUMN i ill1 I -mVr-rw -A. jJLr -S I dotting and Ts that need crossing," said Chuck Rohe, executive director of Flor- ida Citrus Sports. "At this point we have not come to an agreement" The SEC, which has split into two sue- team divisions with the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina, is set to hold its first SEC Championship Game Dec. 5, in Birmingham, pitting the division winners. The SEC champion advances to the Sugar Bowl.

The league's entrant into the Citrus Bowl, however, would not necessarily be the loser of the title game. If a school not involved in the championship game is within five places in The Associated Press poll of one of the teams playing in Birmingham, the Citrus would have the option of inviting that team That deci-, sion would have to be made before the, Please see SEC, C-4 DAYTONA BEACH Maintenance crews ripped out the worn carpet in Bethune-Cookman College's football office this week, lifting the footprints of coaches past. Then they rolled out the new, just in time for Sylvester Collins, who intends to build B-CC's football program from his own prints. "I have a lot of respect for former coach Larry Little," said Collins, 42, who was the quarterbacks and receivers coach at Jackson State. "I'm not trying to fill his shoes.

I'm just trying to do my job." Collins, whose salary is less than Little's $52,000, will move into his office Friday. His appointment Tuesday marked the end to the school's monthlong search, a process that was questioned at length. Athletic Director Lynn Thompson said more than 100 candidates applied. Yet Collins, with no name GAINESVILLE A bit of contractual fine-tuning appears to be the lone hurdle for a deal that would give the Florida Citrus Bowl its choice of the No. 2 or No.

3 team in the Southeastern Conference for the next three years. SEC officials and athletic directors will discuss details of the agreement today during a teleconference, said league sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal is not final. The Florida Citrus Sports Association has called a news conference for 1 p.m. The Big Ten Conference already has agreed to a 3-year deal that will send its runner-up to Orlando beginning Jan. 1, 1993.

"There are still a lot of I's that need PHOTOROBERT BAKER introduced as football coach. Sylvester Collins is Bethune-Cookman's Please see COLLINS, C-4 nics snatch vici Johnson's 39 lead Seattle over Orlando All-Stars to take on new look By Barry Cooper OF THE SENTINEL STAFF By Tim Povtak OF THE SENTINEL STAFF 1 V. A- i 'Yf VA0' vm- The annual NBA All-Star Game will have a considerably different look this season with five players making their first appearance in the league's showcase event next month in Orlando. The five were among 14 reserve players seven in each conference selected by the coaches and announced by the league Tuesday. Newcomers include four from the West with Dan Majerle and Jeff Hornacek of Phoenix, Otis Thorpe of Houston and rookie Dikembe Mutombo of Denver.

Reggie Lewis of the Boston Celtics will make his debut for the East. Joining Lewis from the Eastern Conference are Scottie Pippen (Chi- Please see ALL-STAR, C-5 Dear Magic: Please say no to the All-Star Game Dear Magic Johnson: Come to my town, if you will, and participate in the NBA's All-Star bash next week. Come put on display at the O-rena the considerable courage and candor you've shown since being infected by the dreaded AIDS virus. Come and help educate us to the horrible and murky nuances of AIDS. Come and help raise funds to advance the research and cure of this baffling killer.

Come and let us appreciate all that you have been and all that you have meant to the NBA But don't come and play in the All-Star Game. Tell the league, "No, thanks." Tell the fans who sympathetically voted you into the starting lineup you appreciate their gesture, but, "No, thanks." You are aware, no doubt, of the sampling by the Orange County (Calif.) Register that turned up 11 NBA players publicly willing to make the tough call that your playing in the game would be inappropriate. I suspect many of the 19 percent who hid behind a "no comment" did so more out of respect for you than agreement with your intention to play. Last week, of the nearly 5,000 Orlando Sentinel readers who responded to the same question, a solid 62 percent said you shouldn't be allowed to play. Some who refuse to allow the calendar to erode traditional values regarding promiscuity are saying you are no longer a credible role model.

Some are eager to classify you as a health hazard to other All-Stars. I don't know that I buy into either of those. My reason for urging you not to play Feb. 9 lies principally with preserving the integrity of the event. As did your former teammate AC.

Green, even a 14-year-old lad who participated in the Sentinel poll saw the overriding and simple truth of the situation. "I don't think he should be allowed to play because he hasn't played at all during the regular season. The game should be for those who are active and playing," young Joe Landon reasoned. To a lesser degree, I am driven by increasing evidence that your presence in uniform will transform the game into a sociological sideshow. The game, the other players, their play that day, the celebration of their status as the cream of the sport would all be squashed by the enormous shadow that the unfortunate baggage you carry has become.

Doubling your tragedy would be to see you sadly demeaned and used as a pawn, a lance for those zealous soldiers of ideology and Nielsen-driven league officials. Tragic enough that one of the NBA's brightest and blessed stars should contract this terrible virus; doubly tragic would be an NBA All-Star Game sullied by a circus of demonstrators and barkers representing every faction on the AIDS spectrum from gay rights activists to religious fundamentalists. By playing, you run the risk of turning the sport's upbeat showcase into a shouting match for extremists. Play, instead, in the Legends game on Saturday with other retired players. If the risk of transmitting the AIDS virus during basketball competition is infinitesimal, that risk would be further diminished by the more casual pace of the Legends game.

Your presence there, under the circumstances, would provide that game a needed boost and raise the value of the complete Saturday package that, as you know, includes the slam-dunk and 3-point shooting competitions. It would be a way that you could give something back to the NBA in a significant manner while using that day, if you must, to help raise our AIDS consciousness. Then step aside on Sunday, leaving the All-Star Game to active players, allowing them the stage they've truly earned. Commissioner David Stern created a 13th spot on the roster so you wouldn't displace an active player. But he can't recreate the exposure and the joy that would be usurped for those other players if you and the stifling aura you now bear are there in uniform.

I recall with awed clarity the lunch you shared with a Detroit reporter and me in a Marriott coffee shop during the 1980 Finals between your Lakers and a Philadelphia team that included Orlando's precocious Darryl Dawkins. Interesting was your solution to the damage that some boorish and drug-abusing players had wrought upon the league's image. "That's just a matter of getting more of the fellows to do the right things," you said. Here, Magic, is the chance for you to do the right thing. Had they been able to stop one player veteran Seattle forward Eddie Johnson the Orlando Mag- ic probably would have claimed a victory Tuesday night at Orlando Arena But Johnson, an 11-year vet- eran, would have none of that Slicing through the Magic's often porous defense like a halfback in the open field, Johnson scored 39 points, including 13 of the Sonic's fi- nal 17, to lift Seattle to a thrilling, 102-97 victory.

Dominique out for season: C-5 Johnson thwarted what would have been a remarkable comeback for Orlando, which trailed by 18 in i the second period. The Magic were in contention to win in the final minutes, thoroughly satisfying the announced sellout crowd of 15,151. But Johnson, still angry about an earlier loss to Orlando, sent the fans home disappointed with one of the most dominant scoring perfor- mances this season at the arena He made 17 of 31 shots, grabbed 11 rebounds and made 5 steals. In the fourth quarter, he played as if the game were his to win. Three i weeks ago the Magic snapped a 17- game losing streak by beating the Sonics on their court.

Johnson de- scribed the loss as "a complete em-. barrassment" This time, he made sure there would be no repeat "In the back of our head was the loss the last time," Johnson said. "Not only them breaking the streak, but we thought we should have won that game." 't This time, it was the Magic who left the court figuring they could have won. Nick Anderson played brilliantly with a team-high 27 points, but the Magic didn't have anybody who could guard Johnson. Jeff Turner, Sean Higgins and An-1 I --'l f' Mutombo Lewis Majerle Hornacek GARY BOGDONSENTINEL Please see MAGIC, C-6 Seattle guard Gary Payton and Orlando center Greg Kite fight over a loose ball.

UCF's Falkenberg enjoys juggling 3 teams at once By Russ White OF THE SENTINEL STAFF hen she was 13, Gail Falkenberg idolized Mickey Mantle. She lived in New Jersey and dreamed about men's and women's tennis teams at the University of Central Florida and is the interim women's basketball coach. A slender woman with a gentle smile and quiet elegance, Falkenberg has a fire inside that simply won't go out. "I doubt there is anyone else coaching three Division I teams they couldn't possibly handle it I don't know how I'm doing it" Falkenberg said. UCF hired Falkenberg last summer to coach its two tennis teams.

She acquired the basketball job when women's coach Bev Knight resigned unexpectedly. UCF Athletic Director Gene McDowell said he didn't have sufficient time to playing center field for the New York Yankees. Why, she asked, couldn't girls be major-league baseball players? While a student at UCLA, Falkenberg played every sport she could tennis, basketball, golf, volleyball and badminton. At 35, Falkenberg became a rookie on the women's professional tennis tour, competing against the top players in the world. At 45, Falkenberg coaches both the JOHN RAOIWSENT1NEL Please see coach, C-4 UCF's Gail Falkenberg watches the action during a basketball game..