Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 4-1

123456 SECTION 4 FRIDAY MW I ran intoa former neighbor the other day. Her people are NHL fans. Mine think a hockey highlight ruins a perfectly good 10 Plays of the on She knows this. must be happy about the she said, smiling sweetly kidding her seething rage. about the I said.

know, the she said. a lockout in the I said. I could have finished her off with a hip check, but what would have been the point? She was done. The fight was out of her. She skated off into a world not only devoid of NHL action but also devoid of people who care the world is devoid of NHL action.

The league is facing what it want to believe but knew deep down: There is as much interest in the NHL as there is in competitive sock darning. Hardly anyone seems upset the owners have locked out the players the last12 weeks. the core of fans who always have and always will follow the Vinny, Frank and Big Tina with the picket-fence smile, to name three of the 10. And then the rest of us, going about our lives without bothering to figure out which of the 25 Sutter brothers is coaching the Blackhawks. League and players association officials met at the bargaining table Thursday to try to save the season.

The public I want to make sure quoting the public accurately hurry We at the Tribune try to strike a balance between what we deem to be important in the sports world and what we believe fans will find most interesting. If labor unrest in baseball, run a daily update. Something like, Strike, Day 85: 10,000 Cubs fans meet to share feelings of loss; Steve Stone says Dusty Baker should consider breath When labor unrest in hockey, the update is something like, Lockout, Day 85: A library this not your fault or my fault but the fault of the NHL. What a wonderful opportunity the league has had to market itself as the sport without the problem players, without the selfish players, without the unlikable players. Instead, it has stomped along like a Triceratops, oblivious to the fact that it is facing the hockey equivalent of disinterest.

Hockey is a great sport to watch live. full of speed, energy and that American staple, violence. But the NHL has been unable to translate the energy to television, and the result is an inconsequential league. If you see the puck well on TV, not really seeing hockey. And if not enjoying hockey on TV, not likely to start buying tickets.

In that way, hockey and soccer are very much alike. Both are big participation sports for kids in this country, but when it comes to spectators, the numbers shrink. Soccer is viewed here as an international sport, hockey as a Canadian sport. So a lockout in the NHL is greeted with a yawn, in the same way an MLS strike would be greeted with the question, will we able to sell our home if the Multiple Listing Service is on If we say that NHL players should accept what the owners salary we would be acting as if we care. The issues involve money, as they always do.

The owners want more, the players want to give it to them. The owners say franchises are struggling to stay afloat, the players say the damage was done by owners. The issues are the same as in every other sport, the difference being that the other sports matter more. Maybe the hidden beauty of the NHL. a lockout, and we have to expend any anger over it.

We just go along as if nothing is wrong. not bitter. not trying to decide worse, the greedy athletes or the greedy owners. blissfully unaware. NHL players have scattered to distant points, from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, to Helsinki, Finland.

Chris Chelios is practicing with a bobsled team, hoping to make the 2006 Greek Olympic team. Most Americans are asking themselves, he with the Charlotte Bobsleds Nobody has heard from Blackhawks coach One of the Sutter Brothers in weeks. Nobody seems to care. Their attention is where it should be, on the world indoor shirt-ironing championships. NHL realizes its worst fear: Few folks care Rick Morrissey In the wake of the news INSIDE CUBS Trading Sosa be easy GM Hendry points to big contract, good years in Chicago.

PAGE 3 BEARS Hurting up front Injuries may put offensive line in a bind for game in Jacksonville. PAGE 7 BULLS Off to slow start Rookie Ben up-and-down play not what team had hoped for. PAGE 14 PHIL 2 DON 2 ED 2 SCOREBOARD 15 By Teddy Greenstein Tribune college football reporter Edwards digs into a slice of microbiot- ic apricot almond cake and lays down the law. does not eat Stan says of his son. go to dinner and he picks over his food.

Sometimes even go a day without With the NFL draft approaching, Braylon wants to train with Stan, a self-described specialist who tutors Olympic-caliber sprinters. But Stan will not work with Braylon unless he changes his diet. is not up for discus- the father says. he wants me to train him, this is the program. If he wants to do it differently, he needs to find somebody else.

too much at Uh-oh. If you know better, you would swear it was 1997 all over again. when Braylon, age 14, decided he had had enough of Stan, his demanding ways and his exhausting workouts. For 50 minutes Stan would have Braylon run a Tribune Silver Football Edwards eats up Wolverine marks Tribune photo by Charles Osgood Braylon Edwards celebrates receiving the Tribune Silver Football Stadium. MORE INSIDE An analysis of recent Silver Football and Heisman Trophy winners.

BACK PAGE Record-breaking Michigan wide receiver grabs the award as the Big best player PLEASE SEE SILVER, PAGE4 By Marlen Garcia Tribune staff reporter soared for Deron Williams during the off-season. Illinois coach Bruce Weber said he was by far the most dominant Illini basketball player. Teammate Luther Head called him a among Reporters voted him preseason player of the year in the Big Ten Conference. Williams may prove those statements true, but through eight games he is pressing too hard and coming up short of displaying the extraordinary skills he picked up last summer. To his credit, he is compensating with exceptional passing, and making no excuses for his shortcomings.

It helps that Roger Powell, Luther Head and Dee Brown have dazzled with their scoring lately for Illinois (8-0). Powell scored 19 points and Head 13 to go with five assists Thursday in top-ranked 74-59 victory over Georgetown (3-2) at the MCI Center. Williams said. am doing everything else, though. Defending and passing the In the preseason, Williams said he was more concerned with his assists than scoring, and he pointed to Head, Powell and Brown as potential leading scorers.

Nevertheless, disappointed. you shoot badly, you start thinking about it and you start shooting Williams said. just have to get back to what I was doing before. thinking too There are no complaints regarding his passing. He had five assists against George- ILLINOIS 74, GEORGETOWN 59 Illini roll on, but Williams stays in funk Hyped guard still struggling with shooting PLEASE SEE ILLINOIS, PAGE9 John Washington Post Deron Williams drives between Ashanti Cook (left) and Darrel Owens.

great fans. sold out every day. They have great pitching and they have a good chance to win it all. All I want to do is win. Winning is my No.

Ordonez, who turns 31in January, said looking to resume his career with a playoff-caliber team and show the By Paul Sullivan Tribune staff reporter Ordonez insisted Thursday he never wanted to leave the White Sox and feels as though the organization wanted him out. Now the former Sox star is hoping for a call from the Cubs, who are searching for a replacement for left fielder Moises Alou. not the Ordonez said from his Miami home. think it would be a good place for me. They have Sox they have made a huge mistake in letting him get away.

The New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles are reportedly the teams most interested in Ordonez, while Detroit may enter the picture as a dark- horse candidate. Though Ordonez give a preference, his ties with Chicago and the Cubs success under Dusty Baker the last two years makes it an attractive destination for him. While he said he wanted to remain on Tribune photo by Charles Cherney Magglio Ordonez says he never wanted to leave the Sox and would like to play for the Cubs. not the Ex-South Sider would welcome call from across town wanted to come back, but they never made me feel comfortable. They never said, want you here.

We want you to be our franchise Ordonez on the White Sox PLEASE SEE ORDONEZ, PAGE4 MORE INSIDE Sox sign Jermaine Dye for 2 years, $10.15 million. PAGE 3 he has been on the coaching staffs of three Super Bowl 1990 Giants and the 2001and 2003 is credited with developing Tom Brady, a sixth- round pick out of Michigan who is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League. But according to an NFL source, the Irish will have a hard time prying Weis away from the Patriots before the end of the season, which could extend through Super Bowl Sunday. There also are concerns about health and stamina. Weis suffered serious undergoing gas- By Avani Patel Tribune staff reporter Notre Dame may have moved one step closer to securing a new head coach late Thursday night, when athletic director Kevin White, incoming school President Rev.

John I. Jenkinsand a prominent former Irish football player met with Bills offensive coordinator Tom Clements in Buffalo. Although Clements is considered the frontrunner for the job, the Irish hierarchy still seem ready to settle on him. It has an interview scheduled Friday with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, a Notre Dame graduate who play football at the school. credentials are solid: PLEASE SEE IRISH, PAGE5 Irish coaching hunt goes pro ND to interview Pats assistant Weis.