The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 1067

The Orlando Sentinel Tampa Bay's Tyji Armstrong lobbies the NFL for more physical play, C-1 5 SUNDAY, November 13, 1994 FLORIDA Reserves shine for Magic Bradley doesn't play badly, but 76ers still lose, 1 1 6-1 03 f. By Susan Slusser OF THE SENTINEL STAFF I Brian Schmitz SENTINEL COLUMNIST one rebound in Orlando on Nov. 5. For Orlando, the reserves gave the Magic a huge lift. The bench scored the Magic's first 16 points of the second quarter, five points more than they had totalled in the first two games of the road trip.

Guard Brian Shaw led the reserves with 17 points. The bench finished with 33 points. Shaquille O'Neal had a team-high 28 points as Orlando improved to 3-2 overall and finished the road trip with a 2-1 mark. the Magic would handle the 76ere even more easily than they did i(i a 15-point victory in Orlando. The Magic leaped out to a 8-0 helped along by three Philadelphia turnovers.

But the 76ers had an 8-2 run olf their own to make it close the rest of the half, and Orlando went into the break with just a 64-60 lead. Jeff Malone had 19 points at th break for Philadelphia. i But the Magic opened the second half just as they did the first A 6-0 burst put them up, 70-60. PHILADELPHIA The Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers both made improvements Saturday night at the Spectrum. But it was the Magic with the 116-103 victory.

Philadelphia center Shawn Bradley looked greatly improved from his poor showing earlier this season. He had 12 points and nine rebounds on Saturday. In the first matchup between the teams, Bradley only had two points and 43L The magic of Laimbeer: It was all in really Former Detroit Pistons center and tag-team villain Bill Laimbeer was not only out of his element here recently. He was even a tad bit which should tickle every Orlando Magic fan. ASSOCIATED PRESS Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal, driving to the basket against Philadelphia's Clarence Weatherspoon, finished with 28 points.

In the early going, it looked as if You 11 have to bear with me, Laimbeer said, beginning his address to the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando. "This is my first excursion into hostile territory." Rout of S. Carolina What goes around comes around, huh, Bill? The baddest of the old Detroit Bad Boys was looking strangely civil as he prepared to deliver his first speech as a retired NBA star. Earlier, over coffee with Bill and Chris, Laim- Vuwar'c uoru iinHprQtsmH- if) earns return trip By Mike Dame OF THE SENTINEL STAFF GAINESVILLE Meanwhile, too hours to th north For those numbed by Saturday's Florida Statef Notre Dame game in Orlando, we interrupt with a news item from Florida Field: No. 4 Florida clinched its third consecutive trip to the SEC Championship Game with a 48-17 victory over South Carolina.

But another SEC Eastern Division title didn't seem to mean that much to a lot of the Gators. "It's expected, you know what I mean?" said cor. nerback Larry Kennedy, one of 19 Florida seniors who played their last home game before 85,028 fans at The Swamp. "It's not that exciting. It's just lik any other win.

"But now let's take it farther. We've still got Flor ida State down the road and the game in Atlanta the SEC championship to win." Considering all the distractions the Gators (8-1, 6-1 in the SEC) have dealt with in recent weeks, their po' sition is remarkable. Florida has been gripped by a quarterback controversy and player dissension, disgruntled fans and media criticism, yet Florida is right where most exj pected it to be: booking a chartered flight to Atlanta. The Gators will face No. 6 Alabama (10-0, 7-0) which won the West title Saturday with a 29-25 victa-ry at Mississippi State, in the SEC final.

"Everybody was on our side until we lost to Atif burn last month," senior defensive tackle Elli Johnson said. "Then all kinds of controversy cama up. But as long as we're playing well, there's no con troversy. 1 Mf All I I vf 1 ED SACKETTTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Laimbeer mg ne askej me what he should tell the lunchtime audience. "You mean after the booing stops," I said.

Laimbeer grinned. But he still feigned that, same disgustingly obnoxious innocence that fans across America came to expect whenever he was called for a foul. You could see it all over his face again: "Who What did I do?" Laimbeer, 37, will be remembered as a rather undersized center (6 feet 11, 260 pounds) on the Pistons' back-to-back championship teams in 1989 and 1990. He will be remembered for that awkward-but- true, tippy-toe jump shot and a rugged I nose for the ball, a combination that al-i lowed him to collect more than 10,000 points and 10,000 rebounds over a 13-year career. But most of all, Laimbeer will be remem-i bered as the consummate prouocateur.

His agitating antics, an often undetected bump here or push there, infuriated opponents and fans alike. He was the guy everybody loved to hate, from Portland to Boston. And Bad Boy Bill knew it, even reveled in it. "When the Pistons came into a town, all the media would write about were the 'Bad Boys' and how rough we played. They'd be asking players if they were going to stand up to us.

And once we got teams thinking like that, we had them," Laimbeer said. "We already got them out of their game." Laimbeer is amazed to this day how people reacted or overreacted to the Pistons' Bad Boy schtick. He says his team's World Wrestling Federation tactics became an act the NBA fully supported and pro- moted. "The league actually started the whole Bad Boys thing in a preseason video," he said. "It was just entertainment.

Everything is for the show. You can play the greatest basketball ever, but if you Please see GATORS, C-13 UF wide receiver Jack Jackson beats South Carolina's Lee Wiggins on TD play in 2nd quarter. UCF unable to pirate victory from l-A ECU Hurricanes survive scare by Pittsburgh By Jerry Greene ASSOCIATED PRESS Wilma Rudolph, who overcame the crippling effects of polio, scarlet fever and double pneumonia as a child to win three goid medals in sprints at the 1960 Olympic Games at Rome, died Saturday of OF THE SENTINEL STAFF JT Pittsburgh (2-8, 1-5 Big East Conference) took over at its 20-yard line with 7:43 left and drove through downpour to Miami's 30, where John Ryan's fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 59 seconds remaining. "We executed our game plan to almost perfection," Ryan said. "We just needed to come up with a big play at the end of the game, and we would have won." Miami (8-1, 5-0) overcame four turnovers and rainy weather, but may drop in the rankings as a result of its lackluster showing.

A slip could cost the Hurricanes a Please see UM, C-1 2 The chance died, however, when a missed block forced UCF quarterback Darin Hinshaw tof hurry and underthrow a deep pass that was intercepted with 50 seconds left. "When we look at the Hinshaw said, "we will be saying 'What for a long time." The immediate question is "What will?" as in what will the X-, AA playoff committee do in two, weeks. The Knights (64) finish their season at home Saturday against Buffalo and still cling to the hope that they may get a play-, off invitation with a 7-4 mark. Please see UCF, C-1 1 MIAMI Against the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes, Pittsburgh did everything but win. Pitt scored the first touchdown on Miami's defense in 18 quarters, blanked Miami in the second half and nearly pulled out a victory in the final minute Saturday before the fifth-ranked Hurricanes escaped, 17-12.

"I don't know if I've ever had a team give a better effort in my entire career," said coach John Majors, whose Panthers were 33-point underdogs. "This was the most encouraging performance in my two years here." GREENVILLE, N.C. The Division I-AA University of Central Florida Knights played like a I-A team Saturday. However, they did not beat the I-A team they played, losing to East Carolina, 23-20, despite a courageous comeback in the final period. The Knights scored with 2 minutes, 27 seconds left to close to three points of the heavily favored Pirates.

The crowd of 25,783 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium then became silent when UCF followed the score by recovering an onside kick. brain cancer at her home in Brentwood, Tenn. She was 54. Rudolph, told she would not walk without the use of braces much less run because of her childhood afflictions, persevered to set world records in the 100- and 200-meter races. She was named Associated Press female athlete of the year in 1960 and '61, then, In an era of limited support for amateur athletes, retired at age 21.

In recent years, Rudolph was a motivational speaker to children. Story, A-1 HZ 1S Mainland's Carter facing full-court press don't have personality, it just bland. "We embraced the image. To us, it didn't matter who got in the way. It wasn't about showing respect.

"It was shocking to hear so many people screaming and chanting obscenities in unison. It's pretty remarkable." And much of the disdain was directed at Laimbeer and his theatrics. "I have a competitive nature," he said. "I did anything I could to win, and I came off as a mean, nasty guy." Joe Dumars remains as the last link to those Pistons' glory years. Gone are Isiah Thomas, Vinnie Johnson and Dennis Rodman.

Laimbeer misses the camaraderie, but not the game. Basketball never was his first love as the son of a Detroit executive. He just happened to grow up tall. He always liked golf more because "you get to play outside." "I miss the daily association with the people," Laimbeer said. "But I was allergic to practice.

I had enough of the game it drains you and your family. "Winning those championships wasn't fun. It was hard work. It was a relief when we won it. The business will chew you up." Laimbeer sees it chewing up the troubled Rodman, who has been suspended by San Antonio for having too many bad hair days.

"He's kind of lost," Laimbeer said. "He's just a big kid. When he was with all of us, we could protect him. But when you're called upon to be a leader and a star, some guys just can't handle that. More is asked of Dennis now, and some players can't handle that.

"I don't know if he can pull himself out of it, to be honest." Laimbeer's life is in transition as the president of his father's two corrugated box companies in Detroit. Unlike his career in basketball, he is putting in long hours. "You know, I never knew business could take a whole day," said Bill Laimbeer, evoking laughter from his audience instead of those familiar catcalls. The nation's No. 1 small-forward prospect, contacted by 80 schools, has passed on signing with one until spring.

By Charean Williams OF THE SENTINEL STAFF to find him. By the end of his junior season, during which he averaged 25.4 points and 11 rebounds per game, everyone from Armstrong to Xavier had written to tell Carter just how special he is, just how much he is wanted no, needed at Basketball U. Carter, a 6-foot-7, 196-pound senior, is generally considered one of the top five players in the country and the No. 1 small forward. Unlike most top high school seniors, though, Carter will not sign a grant-in-aid during the early signing period, which began Wednesday.

Carter, soft-spoken and unassuming off the court, doesn't come close to a stereotypical basketball star. Basketball Please see CARTER, C-1 6 would like to take this opportunity to introduce Armstrong State College to Sincerely, GriffMills head basketball coach Carter's mother, Michelle Robinson, had to consult a Webster's Dictionary to find out that Armstrong State College is located in Savannah, though the mail that was to follow was from better-known basketball addresses. "I was happy to get them, I know that," Carter said of the initial letters. "I basically took them with me everywhere, showing them to everybody." It didn't take basketball powerhouses such as Indiana, Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Villanova long AYTONA BEACH The first i letter was dated Aug. 30, 1992, just after forward Vince Carter MARK LOSEYfTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL had averaged almost 10 points as a freshman basketball player at Mainland.

Dear Vincent: You have been recognized as an outstanding prospect for our program. I Vince Carter's mailbox is packed daily with letters, brochures from college recruiters..