The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 266

C-10 Tha Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, August 8, 1993 Gruber's holdout a nightmare for DeBerg Dues vs. Broncos i ht HUH Suddenly, Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Steve DeBerg looks a lot older than 39. DeBerg's worst fears may be realized: Left tackle Paul Gruber is threatening to sit out the season. And that could mean an open season on DeBerg, who needs Gruber to protect his ancient backside. DeBerg can use all the protection he can get from an offensive line that is already suspect.

His scrambling days were over long ago, and you have to wonder how much pounding he can take. Gruber even says he wants out of Bucville via a trade, or he'll sit out It sounds like a last-ditch negotiating ploy, of course. As the club's franchise player, he believes the Bucs have degraded him by offering a $400,000 raise to $1,167 million a year less than half of what he is asking ($2.5 million). He says he questions how serious the Bucs are about winning. That always has been a fair question to throw at owner Hugh Culverhouse, but the Bucs did shower free agents with a lot of money this year.

They tried to woo Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O'Donnell with a whopping deal, but failed. The Bucs only had to pay Gruber the minimum ($1,167 mil) to retain exclusive rights, and figure they'll with bleach. The latest misstep involves the manager, Dallas Green. Green tried to make a joke about beating his wife, Sylvia, and has been the subject of protest by the National Organization for Womea Asked how he deals with the turmoil of managing baseball's worst team, Green said: "I just beat the hell out of Sylvia and kick the dog arid whatever else I've got to do to get it out" Dumb, dumb, dumb. Green's wife is a member of NOW.

His foot-in-mouth comment is inexcusable. This issue is too sensitive to be made light of even if Sylvia says her hubby was joking. Besides, considering the public-relations nightmare the Mets' season has become, you'd think Green would be extra cautious. Green has to take full responsibility something the Mets refuse to do with the Coleman issue. They are trying to wipe their hands of it, saying that Coleman was off duty when he hurled the M-100.

Hmmm. You mean to tell me there are no morals clauses in any of the Mets' contracts? How paranoid are the Al Davis Raiders? They tried to ban a Los Angeles reporter from covering the team. Eric Noland, who covers the club for the Daily News of Los Angeles, was allowed back into Raiders' practices only after the NFL interceded. The team said Noland had been unfair to the organization in his reporting, even "a source of divi-siveness for several years," said Steve Ortmayer, director of football operations for the Raiders. Come oa If one reporter is bringing down the Raiders, this club is in trouble.

Boy, just when baseball cleans up one mess, another pops up. Seems a young lady performed a strip-tease show in a luxury box at Arlington Stadium, interrupting a game between the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox. Fans and players stopped to watch the woman, clad in a pink, polka-dot bikini, remove the garment while standing in the window of the luxury box between third base and home. After several minutes of this sideshow, security ejected the woman from the park. When Lennox Lewis failed to show up at a press conference to promote his Oct.

1 bout against Frank Bruno, Bruno took matters into his own hands. Lewis was in Los Angeles, working on a boxing video game. When Bruno called, it was 4 and Lennox was barely awake. "Go back to sleep," Bruno said. "And get used to sleeping." Bucs quarterback Craig Erlckson received his first start since the 1991 Cotton Bowl, when he was with the Miami Hurricanes.

Erickson sat out the next year because of a knee injury and contract dispute with the Philadelphia Eagles. Erickson was picked up by the Bucs in the fourth round of the 1992 draft, but did not start a game last year, playing third string to Vinny Testaverde and Steve DeBerg. The Bucs owner was with his players at all times on the field. "Mr. was written on the sleeves of all the players, a tribute to Hugh Cul-verhouse, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in February.

Culver-house's daughter and team president, Gay Culverhouse, came up with the idea. The Bucs are still without rookie defensive end Eric Curry, who is holding out, but Denver defensive end Dan Williams Is signed and starting. Williams, also a client of Curry's agent, Eugene Parker, is actually hanging up the Bucs' negotiations. That's because Parker landed Williams, the 11th overall pick, a contract with Denver that included voidable years, something he wants for Curry as well. The Bucs so far have refused.

The 25-yard touchdown pass from Mark Vlasic to Robert Claiborne was an AFC connection. Vlasic last played with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Claiborne's last stop was with the San Diego Chargers. Minutiae: Steve DeBerg's years of service have finally caught up to his jersey number, 17. The Bucs have played close to .500 ball in preseason in August but are .279 in the regular season. Denver quarterback John Elway once backed up DeBerg.

It was 1983, Elway's rookie year. SELENA ROBERTS Brian Schmitz SENTINEL COLUMNIST simply outlast him. They hold his rights next year, too, and say they haven't received any calls from other teams about Gruber. That's hard to believe. Gruber says there isn't any negotiating going on at all.

And if that's true if the Bucs aren't willing to even meet Gruber halfway well, you have to wonder how committed to winning they are. The Bucs seem to forget they are in the big-time sports business. The old Mets were bad, but at least they didn't injure or offend people at breakneck speed. This collection of Mets is an embarrassment to baseball. Outfielder Vince Coleman threw an explosive that injured a toddler, and Mets players have admitted to spraying reporters Erickson, defense look good for Bucs in loss in the first quarter.

They kept John Elway's passes out of the end zone when Milton Mack grabbed an interception in the first quarter, which was the best measure of the Bucs' new-name defense. Nickerson and Martin Mayhew, both acquired as free agents, were in on nice stops, but nothing truly stopped Denver until the interception. Elway methodically guided the Broncos from the 50 to the Bucs' 15 when the interception occurred, Mack stepping in front of tight end Shannon Sharpe to make the play. game on local TV. They saw a third quarter that turned the Bucs' fourth-string quarterback into a possible runner-up.

Vlasic took control, albeit against a second-team Denver defense. But at least he pulled off a score, a 25-yard touchdown pass to Robert Claiborne, a free agent signed in the off-season, just one of many wide receivers trying to make the team. Claiborne made his case. And so did the Bucs' defense. It showed what most expected, that the first-team could stand up against a good offense at least, BUCS from C-1 tercepted.

His big nightmare was Pawlaws-ki's reality. The Bucs fell apart in his hands. He had a hard time making decisions in the second quarter, looking unsettled, and came unglued when pressured in the pocket That caused his first mistake, one that gave Denver its first score. It came on a 21-yard interception return by Jeff Mills, who watched Pawlawski scramble, then try to pass across the field. It was a poor throw that Mills picked off easily.

That made it 7-0 with 3:55 left in the first half and suddenly 14-0 just two minutes later, following a fumbled kickoff return by Bucs rookie Tyree Davis. Yet, rookie mistakes didn't make the biggest impression at that point; it was the impact of linebacker Hardy Nickerson's temper. Nickerson was ejected after Denver's extra point when he violently popped Denver lineman Dave Widdell, who also was ejected. Both watched the rest of the THERE'S A LOT OF INTEREST IN TODAYS LOW HOME MORTGAGE RATES. It's a great time to buy a home.

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