The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 36

SILVER SPUftS RODEO BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME NFL TODAYCOVERAGE, C-16, C-17 1 Former Boston Celtics great Sla Larry Bird takes his place in I I A the Hall of Fame with typical I fclSL I humility and grace: 'It's not WTjBcJ jTm about me and playing. It's w-jy i about me and my Dolphins-Jets Bucs-Giants 'iv I -'v 1 StorY.C-3. 1p.m., CBS 4 p.m., Fox MM 1 The Silver Spurs Rodeo kicks up some dirt and has a good old time in Osceola County. Story, C-18. L.JSV..:.' The Orlando Sentinel SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1998 Auto racing, C-20 Dale Jarrett, starting 17th, tries to break out of his slump today in the UAW-GM Quality 500.

Golf, C-7 'pouts METRO Cubs strike out against Braves Chicago failed to win a game as Atlanta posted another first-round sweep, thanks to Greg Maddux, with a 6-2 victory. ASSOCIATED PRESS sending Atlanta to its seventh straight NL Championship Series. "Time really flies. I haven't had time to reflect on all these years. Some day, it'll sink in," Braves Manager Bobby Cox said, once again soaked with champagne after a victory celebration.

"This team's been great for a long time. I think it will be something that will be hard for any club to do with the format that is out there now. It all starts with pitching." There is none better than Maddux, the four-time Cy Young Award winner who left Chicago six years ago, a move that haunts the Cubs to this day, especially when they see him on the mound at Wrigley Field. "For me, it's probably the hardest Please see BRAVES, C-4 SATURDAY'S SATURDAY'S RESULTS RESULTS Atlanta 6, Chicago 2 I Cleveland 2, Boston 1 (Atlanta wins best-of-5 se- (Cleveland wins best-of-5 ries, 3-0) series, 3-1) Houston at San Diego, rmiumnmtmp lal9Seriestied'1-1' TONIGHT'S GAME rr Cleveland at New York, Houston (Johnson Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. 10-2) at San Diego (Hitch- cock 9-7), 7:30 60 insipe INSIDE Indians reach champion- ship series for 3rd time in Leyland update, C-5.

4 years. Story, C-4. ft Mr CHICAGO The Atlanta Braves and Greg Maddux are moving on in the National League playoffs. Nothing new there. The Chicago Cubs' wild wild-card ride is over, and their shot at the World Series has vanished again.

Nothing new there, either. Maddux tormented his former team again Saturday night, pitching the Braves past the Cubs, 6-2, and ASSOCIATED PRESS Safe and sound. Pitcher Greg Maddux, who scored Atlanta's 1st run, is safe at 2nd base as he did in his former team in the opening round. mill iiaililJ jrwtMfmi I I 1 o) TO LrQLrQ Florida hung on for a 16-10 win at Alabama, but Coach Steve Spurrier said the Gators played like 'a bunch of Florida State was penalized 111 yards, but Sebastian Janikowski kicked five field goals in a 24-10 victory at Maryland. li By Chris Harry OF THE SENTINEL STAFF i 1, I By Alan Schmadtke OF THE SENTINEL STAFF COLLEGE PARK, Md.

-More and more, Florida State goes through the motions of FSU teams past right up until kickoff. Then it starts showing the blemishes of youth. The ninth-ranked Seminoles, it seems, still are learning how to spell "bury." The Seminoles stretched their new Atlantic Coast Conference winning streak to two Saturday, beating Maryland, 24-10, on the strength of an increasingly familiar formula of timely defense and Sebastian Janikowski. Poised to throw the unheralded Terrapins out of Byrd Stadium, FSU all but squandered an early 13-point lead before sealing matters with a late interception. "We don't have that killer instinct," said FSU quarterback Chris Weinke, who threw for a career-high 261 yards and one touchdown against no interceptions but was as frustrated as anyone by his offense's lack of scoreboard production.

"It's just not there yet. We need guys to step up and make a big play, make a big block. Take someone and just drive their face in the dirt. That's what we need." What the Seminoles (4-1, 2-1 ACC) got on a crisp and cloudy day before a patchwork 33,124 was more field goals than touchdowns, more penalties than third-down conversions, more Please see FSU, C-11 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. The last time Steve Spurrier visited these hallowed football grounds, he and his upstart Florida team barely could contain themselves after a closely fought, landmark victory over a bigger-than-life Alabama program.

That win eight years ago, Spurrier claims, helped pave the way for a decade full of Southeastern Conference championships. Saturday, the Gators returned to Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time since 1990 and again held on for a down-to-the-wire victory against the tradition-rich Crimson Tide. And that was where all similarities ended. "We don't play like champions anymore the Gators play like a bunch of losers," a sour Spurrier said after a turnover-plagued 16-10 win over the Tide before a sold-out house of 83,818. "We're not smart enough or tough enough.

I don't know what it is, but we're just an average bunch, right now." The eighth-ranked and average Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC) tried as best they could to self-destruct against the severely outmanned Tide (2-2, 1-2), turning over the ball three times inside the 10-yard line. UF, in five first-and-goal opportunities, and another first down at the 'Bama 12, and -I 1 ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED PRESS Disbelief. Florida Coach Steve Spurrier finds it difficult to watch his team as the Gators have 3 turnovers inside the 10-yard line. Foot soldier. Sebastian Janikowski follows through on the 1st of a school-record-tying 5 field goals to lead scoring for FSU.

Please see UF, C-10 Central Florida knocks off another MAC opponent Despite playing to lose, Knights on track for bowl second straight week, which can be frustrating and frightening. None of that was important, though. This game was about the total package and the bottom line. Fourth-quarter heroics and a 12-yard touchdown run by Mike Grant tipped the scales against Toledo, 31-24. By Jerry Greene OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Knights should take a 7-1 record and lots of postseason interest into their November date at Auburn.

There are five minor bowls with at-large berths and it's a good bet one of them would be happy to take a 10-1, 9-2 or maybe Miami 53, Rutgers 17 Howard 32, Bethune-Cookman 25 Florida 56, Delaware State 21 No. 1 Ohio State 28, No. 7 Penn State 9 No. 2 Nebraska 24, Oklahoma State 17 No. 3 Tennessee 17, Auburn 9 No.

4 UCLA 49, Washington State 17 No. 10 Virginia 52, San Jose State 14 No. 12 Georgia 28, No. 6 LSU 27 No. 13 Wisconsin 24, Indiana 20 No.

15 Colorado 27, Oklahoma 25 No. 23 Notre Dame 35, Stanford 17 Coverage starts on C-8 The Knights used all their tools and rallied on defense and a running game to top the Toledo Rockets, 31-24, Saturday night before 20,008 in a damp, cool Glass TOLEDO, Ohio The University of Central Florida Golden Knights probably played their way into their first postseason bowl on a Saturday night when it more often seemed any bowl they gripped would need a large tube of glue. Three periods into their season-crucial match with stubborn Toledo, the Knights appeared bent on sending holiday dreams down another type of bowl. But Daunte Culpepper and his mistake-prone Knights rallied from behind for the second week in a row to overcome themselves and another of the MidAmerican Conference's premier teams. Final score: Toledo 24, UCF 31 and a sigh of.

relief. Now with a 4-1 record and an assortment of cupcakes ahead, the Bowl and a Sunshine Network TV audi' ence. TOE SPORTS COLUMN "This was Kruczek said, huge," UCF Coach Mike "This was a massive win for UCF." In a sense, the victory placed the inde TOLEDO, Ohio Oh sure, University of Central Florida quarterback Daunte Culpepper passed and passed some more. Even set another school record. And, yes, the Golden Knights found themselves trailing a Mid-American Conference team in the second half for the even 8-3 UCF team with the likely first quarterback plucked in next spring's NFL draft.

One of those is the Motor City Please see GUEST, C-12 pendent Knights (4-1) among the leaders Please see UCF, C-12 -V.