Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 29

ii. iiijilu.L flmiAju jy iy ji 1U im. im i.ijh mi i .111 Arlington vauller flying Eiisli 3C Lincoln Journal Star Friday, May 9, 1997 sets course back to Indiana as coach I Ken Hctmbleton NBA go-round 1996-97 coaching changes Team, old coach, new coach Boston Celtics M.L Carr, Rick Pitino Denver Nuggets Bernie Bickerstaff Dick Motta, TBA Golden State Warriors Rick Adelman, TBA Indiana Pacers Larry Brown, Larry Bird Orlando Magic Brian Hill, Richie Adubato Philadelphia 76ers Johnny Davis, Larry Brown Phoenix Suns Cotton Fitzsimmons, Danny Ainge Portland Trail Blazers P.J. Carlesimo, TBA Sacramento Kings Garry St. Jean, Eddie Jordan San Antonio Spurs Bob Hill, Gregg Popovich Vancouver Grizzlies Brian Winters, Stu Jackson Washington Bullets Jim Lynam, Bob Staak, Bemie Bickerstaff INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Larry Bird, who did just about everything a player can do on a basketball court, will try his hand at something new in his own back yard: coaching.

Bird, who led the Boston Celtics to three NBA championships and had been an adviser for the team since retiring in 1992, has agreed to coach the Indiana Pacers. "I'm very excited about this opportunity to go back home and coach the Indiana Pacers," Bird said Thursday in a statement. "Indiana is the only team I wanted to coach, and I am excited about this new challenge and new career." Terms of the deal were not released, although earlier reports said it was worth at least $4 million a year for the native of French Lick, the southern Indiana town about two hours from Indianapolis. It will be the first coaching job on any level for the 40-year-old Bird, who led Indiana State to the NCAA championship game in 1979. The Pacers will formally introduce him as the coach at a news conference Monday at Market Square Arena.

again in Indiana, Walsh said. Pacers co-owner Herb Simon also wasn't concerned about Bird's lack of coaching experience. "I'm not a basketball man and I depended very heavily on club president Donnie Walsh on the hiring of Larry," Simon said. "Walsh is very impressed with Larry's potential Bird was motivational as a player, his basketball intelligence is unquestioned. "It's always a risk when you hire a new coach, but I'm very comfortable with the decision to hire Larry." Bird's major responsibility for the Celtics had been scouting, but he was the one who first talked to Rick Pitino about leaving Kentucky to become Boston's new coach.

At a news conference in Boston Thursday, Pitino said he wanted Bird to stay with the Celtics and act as a general manager who would also scout and help out in practice. "We'd love Larry Bird to be a More on BIRD, Page 5C ASSOCIATED PRESS A Former Boston Celtic great Larry Bird is headed back home to Indiana to coach the Pacers. mind," Walsh said. "He's a very bright guy and a very honest guy, as well as a very tough guy. All those qualities add up.

He'd be very successful anywhere he went. "In the case of a Larry Bird, simplicity may be the best form of an announcement: He's back home Pacers president Donnie Walsh, who contacted Bird about the position even before Larry Brown resigned as coach of the Pacers, isn't worried about Bird's lack of experience. "He looks at the game from more of a coach's mind than a player's Celtics were dream job for Pitino. 5C Mot Hawk "wwbpwi ii. nyii 'mfWPWWiiMrMWT8Mirws -cry- k-Vi exploit i.

u. m. 4 Ii if ex CHICAGO (AP) Suddenly, the Chicago Bulls are in trouble. Once seemingly invincible, they have been exposed as vulnerable by Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock and the Atlanta Hawks. Smith scored 27 points and Blaylock added 26, including eight back-breaking three-pointers, as Atlanta won 103-95 Thursday night to become the first visiting team in two years to win a playoff game at the United Center.

Having evened the Eastern Conference semifinals and stolen home-court advantage from the defending NBA champions, the Hawks will play host to Games 3 and 4 Saturday and Sunday before the best-of-seven series returns to Chicago Tuesday. Michael Jordan scored 27 points and Scottie Pippen 24 but neither could rescue Chicago in the second half as they had in the team's four previous playoff games. Atlanta could have won Game 1 but lost 100-97 on Pippen's late three-pointer and Jordan's 20 third-quarter points. The Bulls, who won 69 regular-season games but finished in a 1-3 slump, haven't looked at all like the team that went 72-10 last season and rolled through the playoffs to their fourth title in six years. Chicago went 39-2 at home each of the last two seasons and was 13-0 at the United Center in the playoffs over that span a combined 814 before losing to the young, aggressive Hawks.

Atlanta trailed 68-67 with three minutes left in the third quarter before it used a 19-3 run to take the lead for good at 86-71. Christian Laettner opened the spurt with four of his 18 points and Mutombo followed with five of his 19. Blaylock then made his eighth three-pointer as the shot clock expired, Smith and Mutombo scored, and Smith capped the run with a three-pointer. The Bulls again tried to rally behind Jordan and Pippen. But after they made it 93-86, Laettner scored on a drive and Smith hit two free throws to put the Hawks comfort-ablyin front with 1 26 left.

Jordan had 16 rebounds but was only, 12-of-29 from the field as the Bulls shot 41 percent. Atlanta hit 52 percent of its shots, led by Blay-lock's 9-for-13 and Mutombo's 8-of-ll. The Hawks also got a late boost from seldom-used backup guard Eldridge Recasner, who made two jumpers as the Bulls were trying to rally in the fourth quarter and even blocked a shot by Jordan. Atlanta built a 51-43 lead late in the second quarter thanks largely to four three-pointers in the quarter by Blaylock, who had 20 first-half points. But Jud Buechler made a three-pointer for Chicago, which ended the half with an 8-2 run to pull to 53-51 at the break.

Bulls center Luc Longley got his fourth foul early the third quarter. And with backup Brian Williams out due to a knee injury sustained just before halftime, the Bulls turned to 43-year-old Robert Parish for the first time this postseason. Parish blocked three shots, and his tip-in gave Chicago its 68-67 lead before Atlanta went on its big run. Nebraskans should back Texas rebels Dear Mr. Sportsknowitall: What do you think about those guys in Texas who wanted to secede from the United States? We have yet to prove, but we still believe, that Nebraska may have supported the action of the crazies.

Just think, Texas backs out of the U.S. and that means the four Texas schools are out of the Big 12. No more fake rules about taking junior college guys from Texas junior colleges. No more Big 12 layoff. No more Big 12 offices in (alias.

No more Big 12 kow-towing to the Texas schools on a bunch of goofy rules. No more embarrassment from the Texas schools in the Big 12 being investigated for violating rules. Of course, Texas would have to send an ambassador to the U.S. It seems like Longhorn quarterback James "We'll-beat-Nebraska-by-three-touchdowns" Brown is an unlikely candidate to run the consulate office in Lincoln. Dear Mr.

Sportsknowitall: What's going on with the hiring of a basketball coach for the Nebraska women's team Well, you can count out Rick Pitino. If those boosters weren't so stingy with their money, Nebraska might be able to match the 10-year, $70 million contract the Boston Celtics offered him. Let's see, Pitino has one national college title and gets $7 million a year. Tom Osborne has two titles and gets just over $150,000 a year. Heck, Republic of Texas Coach John Mackovic picked up more than that just for beating Nebraska.

Dear Mr. Sportsknowitall: Hey, what about that Nebraska football team? Apparently, spring went well. The Huskers are ranked preseason No. 3 (behind Florida State and Florida) in the College Sports News, and No. 9 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution rankings of Tony Barnhart.

Just a note about upcoming NU opponents Washington is No. 17 in the College Sports News poll, and No. 1 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Central Florida and Akron did not crack the Top 25. Colorado is preseason No.

7 and No. 9. Republic of Texas is No. 16 and 12 and Kansas State is No. 22 and 24.

Dear Mr. Sportsknowitall: Seriously, can anybody beat the Chicago Bulls? Pat Riley, who earns less than $7 million a year coaching the Miami Heat, said of the Bulls, "They are a little bit more vulnerable." He didn't explain. Maybe he was thinking if Dennis Rodman would get ejected from more than one half of the Bulls' playoff games, Chicago might lose. Remember, the Bulls lost a whole three playoff games last year. Dear Mr.

Sportsknowitall: What about the Nebraska baseball team? The Huskers had a miserable year in baseball and the excuse was poor facilities. This weekend, the Huskers play at Iowa State to determine last place in the Big 12. It's not going to get any easier. Kansas just announced a $1.5 million upgrade for Hoglund-Maupin Stadium, and Kansas State is planning a similar upgrade for its baseball stadium. Nebraska has plans to move its baseball facility into the Ed Weir Track area in the' shadow of Memorial Stadium.

We haven't figured out if the idea is to 'K keep the baseball team out pf the sight of children that might be passing by on Avery Avenue ot to '( make sure that by playing in the shadows there would be absolutely no chance of the sun ever shining on the baseball team. Dear Mr. Sportsknowitall: Is the booster bonus-Bill Byrne thing all over? Let's hope it's cooled down. But just a note! Florida State boosters donate zero to bonuses. At Perm State, no boosters' money goes to bonuses and there's no bonus structure for non-coaches.

At Notre Dame, there's no bonuses 'v outside of coaches' contracts, and none from booster money. At Florida, donations for bonuses banned and there is no bonus, structure for non-coaches. Nebraska's bonuses come from f-' booster clubs and are approved for coaches on bonus policy. All other bonuses are approved by the athletic director. Athletic director bonuses are approved by chancellor.

I ''V' ASSOCIATED PRESS Atlanta's Uikembe Mutombo (left) tries to drive past Chicago's Dennis Rodman during Thursday's NBA playoff game at Chicago. The Hawks won 103-95. KMEM lineup. Lincoln courses get tougher about spiked shoes going soft KMEM targeting sports fans BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star BY STEVE SIPPLE Lincoln Journal Star Monday-Friday 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.

"Imus In The Morning" 9 a m. to noon The Fabulous Sports Babe" Noon to 3 p.m. "The Jim Rome Show" 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Peter Brown 5 p.m.

to 9 p.m. Papa Joe Chevalier 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Arnie Spanier 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Bob Kemp Saturday-Sunday 1 2 a.m. to 1 2 a.m. Cne-on-One Sports Network Other program scheduled Colorado Rockies baseball, Denver Broncos football, high school sports. "The entire lineup has attitude," Robbins said. "The whole idea is to inspire people to be proactive.

If your two cents is worth anything, go ahead and throw it in. (The hosts explore the egos and eccentricities of sports figures. They don't just want to know what, they want to know why?" Robbins said he and Coby Mach were "instigators" behind the switch to sports radio. Mach is operations manager of KFOR, which is also owned by Three Eagles Communications. "Sports in this town is a lifestyle, and we're just taking it a step further," Mach said.

KMEM's high school sports programming begins this fall with broadcasts of 14 regular-season football games followed by the playoffs. Three Eagles is currently putting together a broadcast team to cover games. "If the deal works out, (the play-by-play person) would be a name and a voice that is well-recognized in the area," Mach said. "We believe the (high school) broadcasts will augment what KFOR already does. We'll be cutting down on the so-called 'lost' KMEM had previously featured traditiqpal adult standards music.

You're playing in the last round of the day. Your 3-foot putt rolls toward the cup and just as it approaches the lip, it bounces to the side. It happens all the time, you Little wonder. At the end of an average day of 200 golfers on the course, there are 124,800 little spike marks left on each green and a new total of 2.3 million more spike marks on the 18 greens combined. That's not counting the occasional scuffs, tracks and gouges left by the golf spikes of the happy, extremely upset and just plain clumsy golfer.

4 1 Some golf courses took the first step to eliminating spike marks by banning spiked golf shoes. Two years ago, some 400 courses required spikeless shoes, or non-metal spikes on shoes. The Knolls Country Gub was Lincoln's first to make the move. Now, there are more than 2,000 courses nationwide that ban metal spikes, and at least 19 others in Nebraska have jumped into the spikeless rage. Lincoln's five city-owned courses banned metal spikes from Nov.

1 to May 1, and other courses in town have banned the metal spikes year-round. The Country Club of Lincoln, Hillcrest Randy Robbins says Lincoln "is a town filled with sports maniacs." That is why he believes switching KMEM-AM (1480) to a nearly all-sports format, effective Monday, will become a popular alternative for area sports nuts. "A lot of people in this town are sports, fanatics it's wonderful," said Robbins, manager of corporate operations for Three Eagles Communications, which owns KMEM. "Frankly, I think this is overdue." With the iformat changes, Don Imus' "Imus In The Morning" 5 am. to 9 a.m..

weekdays will be only KMEM program that is not devoted entirely to sports. But, as Robbins points out, Imus' show often features sports issues and personalities-- 'WK The remainder of KMEMs programming will be sports, sports and more sports, ranging from the "The Jim Rome Show," to broadcasts of Colorado Rockies baseball games and Denver Broncos football games, to broadcasts of high school football and basketball games. Robbins describes the sports talk shows as "sports with an attitude." Rome who actually was added to KMEM's menu Monday headlines the station's list of six syndicated radio personalities. Each accepts listeners' phone calls. i.

IAN DOREMUSUnoom Journal Star A Golf pros and course superintendents support banning golf shoes with metal spikes (left). Instead, they recommend golfers use spike-less shoes or those with rubber spikes (right). i -t More on SPIKE, Page 3C i i.