The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 37

Rough waters Sebastian Inlet can be dangerous C-20 7 i a .1 on a tosr Do you have a gripe? Try our new call-in line. Details, C-1 6 Florida 47, Georgia 7 FSU 49, Georgia Tech 3 UCF42, Illinois St. 15 FAMU 83, Morgan St. 12 N.C. 73, B-CC 7 Ohio St.

45, Minnesota 0 Arizona St. 29, Oregon 15 Nebraska 73, Oklahoma 21 1 Miami routs 1 Temple 57-26 C-11 (mi) 072-72G0 The Orlando Sentinel SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1996 Hockey, CM 8 Solar Bears triumph in IHL while Florida Panthers get 1st loss of season in NHL. Golf, C-6 Dorts METRO 1L 0 Let VS. iAiU DeVos has classy plan for Shaquille's return 1 I hen easily the most anticipated if 1 momentof this Orlando Magic If season arrives, owner Rich DeVos has a heartfelt suggestion for how we should react We refer, of course, to that emotional instant in March when former hero Shaquille O'Neal is introduced at the Orlando Ltegic in Jcpsn vs. New Jersey Nets at Tokyo Dome GAME 1: Thursday, GAME 2: Friday, 10:30 p.m.

ESTlLlKl 5 a.m. EST O-rena in the uniform of the Los Angeles Lakers. Here is what DeVos thinks we should do. Applaud. He thinks we should stand and cheer their Shaquiiiiiiiiiille O'Necccccccal! It's a noble thought, and I'm JaPAn THE SPORTS COLUMN SENTINEL GRAPHIC Jj- Magic take their act to worldwide stage Orlando traded Donald Royal, Jon Koncak and Felton Spencer for a better center.

By LC. Johnson OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Rony Seikaly got his wish. John Gabriel got his man. The Orlando Magic got a center they hope can replace Shaquille O'Neal at both ends of the floor. The Magic completed a six-player deal with Golden State on Saturday to acquire Seikaly, backup forward Clifford Rozier and a future second-round draft pick.

In exchange, the Magic sent center Felton Spencer, forward Donald Royal and backup center Jon Koncak to the Warriors. Gabriel, the Magic's general manager, worked since the early summer to obtain the 6-foot-ll, 253-pound Seikaly. The deal finally was consummated at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday. "I'm absolutely ecstatic for the team right now," Gabriel said.

"I don't think that there are eight centers in the league better than Rony Seikaly when you look at his career numbers. "We thought that in order to shoot for greatness we needed to go to the next level. And for us, that next level was Rony Seika- PL fid By LC. Johnson 1 OF THE SENTINEL STAFF TOM SPITZTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Hi there. Point guard Penny Hardaway greets his new center, Rony Seikaly, as Magic get on the plane to start their Tokyo trip.

David Stern's effort to make the NBA a more global game, And while the Magic may have lost some of their worldwide appeal with the loss of Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway should be more than enough to accommodate the adorning Japanese fans. "It's going to be wild over there," said Hardaway, perhaps the most well-traveled member of the team. "I travel all over the world as part of Nike tours during the summers. In fact, this past summer was the first time that I didn't have a chance to go Please see JAPAN, C-5 The Orlando Magic embarked on their most demanding road trip of the NBA season Saturday, By the time it ends, they will have traveled more than 15,000 miles, crossed 14 time zones and played in front of more than 120,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome. The Magic were invited to participate in the Japan Games, which will feature a pair of games with the New Jersey Nets, their Atlantic Division rival.

This continues Commissioner ly. But, unfortunately, it was always going to cost us Felton Spencer in that deal." Seikaly has averaged 14.8 points and 9.8 rebounds during his eight-year career, which included six years with the Miami Heat, However, his average numbers dropped during the past two seasons with the Warriors to 12.1 points and 7.6 rebounds. "We're a whole different team now," Magic coach Brian Hill said. "It gives us a center who we can go back to offensively in the low post in Rony, who has proven that he can score in this league." Seikaly very badly wanted out of Golden State and held out of training camp while demanding a trade. After he failed to report to the team, the Warriors placed Please see TRADE, C-3 "NX convinced the kindly, 70-year-old billionaire is sincere in typically embracing the high road.

His suggested upbeat reception for Shaq's return highlighted a rambling discussion Friday as he looked back on his 4-year run as Magic chairman, looked ahead with optimism to Year 5 and attempted to close the disturbing process of Shaq's defection. Though noble, a hearty welcome for Shaq is not likely. When O'Neal steps on that floor in person, it's safe to expect some ugly and all-world venting. Nevertheless, DeVos, who has more reason than anyone to jeer Shaq, wishes it didn't have to be that way. "When he comes, I hope our people will applaud and not boo him," DeVos said, "He's an outstanding athlete and performer.

I'd like to see us stand up to a high level of dignity and salute him for being a great ballplayer. We can come off so classy by cheering and recognizing him for his years here. We don't gain anything by hissing or booing a guy like that You gain by standing up and being proud. I think that would kind of throw him and show what a classy outfit and classy town that he turned his back on." DeVos may be holding us to too high a standard. Besides, I'm not sure the intended message would be delivered.

In Shaq's habit of reconfiguring facts to fit his self-serving needs, he'd probably gloat that everyone here still obviously loves him and endorses his me-first persona. DeVos, more than anyone, was wounded by the circumstances of O'Neal's defection. DeVos dealt honorably with Shaq and bent over backward to appease the Big Fella while trying to maintain at least a modicum of economic sanity. For that the Magic were widely ridiculed for naively "blowing" the deal. Adding to the hurt was that the player he had so greatly supported financially and emotionally never so much as said goodbye.

Shaq's duplicitous agent, Leonard Armato, did jot a short note in the aftermath, a "one or two-sentence thing. 'Sorry the way things or something like that. I didn't keep it," said DeVos, a man who wastes few words on people he doesnt admire. Hindsight now suggests no stack of DeVos" money could have dissuaded Shaq's jump to Hollywood glitter. "I think we got used as a bargaining chip in developing a number for LA," he said.

"I agree. It wasn't the money. And that's OK. That's his right to do what he likes to do. We may not like how he did it, but that's the way he did it and we wish him well." More pertinent to DeVos is just where all the $100 million contracts will lead the NBA.

DeVos: "Our critics never looked at the economics of the situation. We wanted to keep him, and we were willing to stretch. I dont know how far they Lakers would UF short on players, not points The depleted Gators, who lost two more players to injury, still had enough available to hand Georgia a 47-7 pasting. By Chris Harry 'Moles pick off Jackets A 56-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Lamont Green got Florida State rolling. By Alan Schmadtke iu- OF THE SENTINEL STAFF OF THE SENTINEL STAFF i A- Vi if JACKSONVILLE Injuries and suspensions continued to trim the University of Florida roster Saturday.

Unfortunately for rival Georgia, the No. 1-ranked Gators had: enough to suit up the minimum required 11 players for the revival of "The World's Larg-. est Cocktail Party." And, by the looks of things, any 11 Gators would have been more than enough. Especially if one was Danny Wuerffel. In his final appearance in this storied series, Wuerffel passed for 279 yards and four touchdowns in little more than two quarters as the Gators trampled the Bulldogs, 47-7, at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium for the seventh consecutive victory against their longtime Southeastern Conference foe.

The victory, however, was costly for the Gators (8-0, 6-0), who in all likelihood lost senior center Jeff Mitchell for the rest of the season. Mitchell, 6 feet 5, 291 pounds, broke ATLANTA Georgia Tech tried to coax Thad Busby into losing a football game. The Yellow Jackets tried to bottle up Warrick Dunn. They tried to win the subtle, but significant, battle of field position. Georgia Tech found its moments, then third-ranked Florida State found its defense.

The Seminoles spotted Georgia Tech an early field goal before an interception return by Lamont Green and a blocked punt sparked a 28-point second quarter and a 49-3 victory Saturday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium. "I'm a big believer in momentum," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "When you play on the road, you have to find a way to take the crowd out of the game from the beginning and get things going your JOHN HAOUXTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Listen up. Florida coach Steve Spurrier McGriff during the 2nd quarter of the Ga-talks strategy with wide receiver Travis tors' 47-7 victory over Georgia on Saturday. Please see GATORS, C-1 2 Please see FSU, C-1 3 UCF bears bad news for Illinois St.

lu.iii.-Jil-i JIHHilPIM II A Sfc iU have gone. Some people say we should have just given him an open checkbook, We just don't operate that way. I went a lot higher $115 million than I wanted and said to my kids, You know, this is kind of "I told our players they've probably run into a lot of owners who want to win at any cost. We're not going to win at any cost We're going to win in an ethical, sensible, clean kind of way. In the meantime, we're going to exhibit ourselves as honorable citizens and good examples to others." DeVos said he thinks the current Magic edition qualifies.

"I like my team, and I like their spirit in this Shaq-less situation. I'm proud to count them as friends," said Devos, a rare owner who insists on character in player selection. "If we find a guy who wants to make trouble, we ought to put him on a team where he'd like to be. My goal is to help these guys get where they want to get If Shaq wants to do it the LA way, well, that's fine. That's good for him." Just the same, Shaq should expect his applause at the Forum.

Even with two key starters suspended, the Golden Knights routed the Redbirds on homecoming, 42-15. By Jerry Greene OF THE SENTINEL STAFF A young bunch of Golden Knights put on an entertaining homecoming show Saturday for the University of Central Florida by beating up the Illinois State Redbirds, 42-15, at the Florida Citrus BowL Not all the news was good, however. Although UCF receiver Todd Cleveland and running back Mike Grant were conspicuous by their absences, neither the other players nor the crowd of 17,639 knew both had been suspended for the season that morning by coach Gene McDowell. The suspensions were for unannounced violations of team policies, apparently stemming from an incident Friday night. McDowell said he knew of no extenuating circumstances that could change his decision on the suspension through the final two games.

By law, he could not publicly discuss the nature of the violations. "I'll explain it to all the players Sunday," he said. "It will be good for them to understand that everybody must play by the rules." Cleveland was a nationally ranked receiver and kick returner, and Grant was the Knights' leading rusher. More immediate problems had to be handled on Please see UCF, C-1 0 Way to go, Chuck. After kicker Charlie Pierce (15) converts a 23-yard field goal to put UCF ahead, 22-8, holder Eric Leister congratulates him for breaking the school's all-time scoring record.

TOM SPITZTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL.