Tampa Bay Times du lieu suivant : St. Petersburg, Florida • 18

6C ST. PETERSBURG TIMES THURSDAY, JULY 25 1985 war Young Bucs from 1-C Buc pick's big break was anything but a lucky one By DAVE SCHEIBER St. Plfbucg Tim Stff Wrltf from Steinberg about Young's participation in a workout or physical. "It's possible somebody in my office said. That's apparently the case.

Steinberg, contacted at lis Los Angeles office, said he has been talking by phone wth a USFL lawyer. Furthermore, Steinberg contends that the Usher letter does open the door for Young to try out with the Bucs. "I think it is inherent in the language of the letter," said. "It is unreasonable to expect Tampa to negotiate unless they are able to talk with him and check htm out physically. I think it is' all a technicality." Steinberg reiterated his belief that Young is riot legally bound to the USFL since the financially strapped Express was taken over by the league last year.

"Our position is the contract was breached and Steve should be allowed to do what he wants," he said. "The contract cannot be assigned to any other team or league. It's in black and white." Usher, not surprisingly, does not agree. "Leigh's entitled to his opinion," he said. "But I don't agree with it.

Leigh is representing his client and he's going to try to take whatever positions he can on behalf! of his client." ie, I USHER INDICATED that the USFL will not free agent There were so many unanswered questions." ELKA WATCHED bits of the draft on ESPN, the pay cable channel. The Kansas City Chiefs called him at 6 p.m. to say they weren't going to draft him, so Melka went out and took a long walk. He went to bed at 11 in a bad mood. But 90 minutes later, the phone rang.

Bennett was calling from draft central inside One Buc Place. Melka would be drafted after all. While he welcomed the news, Melka was still anxious; "I didn't know what to feel, because I was still unsure of my wrist," he said. A pin was in his wrist now. And he wore a cast.

The uncertainty lasted until Saturday, when Melka passed his Tampa Bay physical. But, after three months of inactivity, he feels far behind in preparation. 1 "With the heat and everything, and being so far behind in my upper body strength, it's going to be really hard to get going again," he said. "But I like the system, and we'll just see what happens." Melka, who stands 6-foot-l, says he has dropped from 235 to 228 pounds. An ankle bruise sustained late in practice Tuesday afternoon has slowed him a bit.

But he hopes to bulk up quickly, and practice shedding blockers. "I've got to stay low," he said. "If you get too high, you get overpowered. When my arm strength comes back, I should be ready to go." Melka has been ready to go for most of his football career. He was an All-America running back at Central High School in West Allis, rushing for over 1,600 yards in 1979.

At Wisconsin, he switched to inside linebacker. In 1982, he returned a blocked punt against Purdue 32 yards for a touchdown and made 19 tackles. In 1983, he missed two games with a broken arm but still was honored as first team All-Big 10. LAST YEAR, Melka was named Badger defensive captain. He surpassed his single-game tackle mark, getting 20 against Michigan, and finished his career as fourth on Wisconsin's all-time tackle list with 395.

During his free time, Melka would link up with North and caddy for him. The two met when North coached wide receivers at Wisconsin. That led to Melka's job as a caddy. The two became close friends, and Melka might well have caddied for North during his U.S. Open victory in June had his wrist not been in a cast.

"I've watched him struggle, and we've had many a long talk about his game and mine," Melka, a weekend golfer, said. "I knew he was going to win the Open again. I watched it on TV, and I was shaking for him during that final round." Now the pressure's on Melka. The Bucs are top heavy at linebacker, and the competition is intense. Other 12th-round picks have made the team nose tackle David Logan, kick returner Michael Morton and former backup nose tackle Brad White.

But Melka says he isn't TAMPA Jim Melka, the final 1985 draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has followed the footsteps of two vastly different sports figures. The first is two-time U.S. Open golf champion Andy North. Melka, a linebacker from the University of Wisconsin, spent five years as North's caddy on the pro golf tour. But North, a former assistant football coach at Wisconsin, didn't blaze Melka's path to the Buccaneers.

Booker Reese did. MELKA, 23, has never met Reese, an earnest but ineffective defensive end who spent two years with the Bucs. But unfamiliar as he is with old No. 66, Melka still is part of the Reese legacy. In fact, even though he was the 330th National Football League player picked this year and the second of two 12th-round Buc selections, Melka has a connection to the first round, thanks to Reese.

Here's why: The Bucs gave up a 1983 first-round choice to obtain Reese in the second round of 1982. After failing to meet expectations, he was dealt last September to the Los Angeles Rams for a conditional 1985 pick. But because Reese saw little playing time in Los Angeles, the Bucs' conditional pick dropped from mid-round to 12th-round value. And it was that pick which new head coach Leeman Bennett cast on Melka at half-past midnight with the college draft of April 30 just minutes from completion. "I don't care how I got here, or who got traded for what," Melka said after a recent workout "I'm just happy to be here." INDEED, AFTER what he went through just one week before the draft, Melka wasn't sure he'd wind up in any NFL camp this year.

Everything he had accomplished at Wisconsin the three straight seasons as leading tackier, the two consecutive seasons as the teamjs Defensive Player of the Year was jeopardized by a little pickup basketball game. He was playing with some college friends, when he twisted off-balance in mid-air and landed on his left arm. The navicular bone, a small bone in his wrist, snapped. "Playing basketball that close to the draft was probably the stupidest thing to do," he said. "The next day, the wrist was all swollen.

Naviculars can really take a long time to heal, so I went with surgery." The two-hour operation went well, but the word was out among NFL scouts: Melka was damaged goods. Dallas player personnel director Gil Brandt confirmed that when he called Melka's coach two days before the draft. "Brandt said the whole world knew," Melka recalled. "I thought it was all over. I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know whether to take a year off and come back as a St. Pctartbuf Tlmu BILL SERNE Linebacker Jim Melka, shown here after Tuesday's practice, faces an uphill battle as a 1 2th-round pick. Young go unless it is compensated. "Steve Young has received in cash ovej- a 16-month period, which is an extraordinary amount tof money," Usher said. "He has two years remaining on tis contract with the Express with a substantially lesser si)m that he '8 entitled to." That sum is reportedly in the range of over the next two years.

And it is believed that USFL owners will demand that amount from Young before releasing him. i "I have no desire to see Steve leave the USFL, but ifin fact he's going to, we're going to have to negotiate tjie circumstances under which he leaves," Usher said. i Usher questioned Tampa Bay's need to give a physical to the former Brigham Young star, who suffered knee ahd back injuries last season with the Express. "I believe that Steve has continually been given physicals by the Express doctors, and that there's" a complete medical record for Steve that would be available," he said. Usher said he needs to get a better idea of what kind of physical Tampa Bay proposes for Young.

He hopes to receive that information from Steinberg soon. But, he added, "as far as playing or tryout out, I 8 fin't think it's in the best interests of anyone. It could jeopardize Steve's health." Tampa Bay administrator Phil Krueger said he talked to Steinberg Wednesday about the tryout issue. "He thought that they may be overly cautious about a physical tryout, because they thought in might involve contact," he said. "In reality, the tryout would probably involve 10 thrown forward passes, a couple of outs', a couple of posts and into the locker room.

"Leigh was planning on talking to Mr. Usher about that. My intermediary was planning on talking to Mr. Usher about that, but in no way am I trying to pressure him. I'm just looking for clarification." "I hope that it will be solved in the next few days," Krueger added.

worried. "I don't even think of myself as a 12th-round pick," he said. "If it hadn't been for my wrist injury, I feel I could have gone in the 'fifth or sixth round. But that's not what matters now. All I want to do is work as hard as I can.

I don't plan on quitting." NOTES: The Bucs still have four unsigned free agents: Michael Morton, Cedric Brown, Adger Armstrong and Leon Bright. Tampa Bay administrator Phil Krueger said there's some hope with Bright, but added that "we have come pretty close to the bottom line" with the other three. Former Buc defensive line coach Abe Gibron has been hired by the Seattle Sea-hawks as a scout Defensive back Jerome Caver left the squad, dropping the roster to 101. The Bucs' will practice at 9:30 and 3 on Saturday, but not at all Sunday. Veterans report Sunday at noon.

i sports digest would like the event to be held annually. Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Bob Weiss said he'll meet Monday with New Jersey Nets vice president Lewis Schaffel about the Nets' head coaching vacancy. Marino may get new contract, and Anthony Carter to boot Mugabi to face Bradley in Aug. 6 Hagler tuneup 2 Frenchmen cross ocean in winasurier Compild from AP. UPI wif John "The Beast" Mugabi, who lives and trains in Tampa, will tune up for his Nov.

14 fight against middleweight champion Marvin Hagler by fighting Billy "Fireball" Bradley on Aug. 6 in Atlantic City, N.J., a spokesman for promoter Bob Arum announced Wednesday. Mugabi, 25, is 25-0 with 25 knockouts. He is the top-ranked junior middleweight contender, but will jump up in class to meet Hagler. Bradley, of Middletown, Ohio, is 22-7 with 1 2 knockouts.

Boxer Chris Schwenke, who lapsed into a coma after losing to Prince Mohammed Monday night, remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, Calif. Schwenke underwent brain surgery Tuesday to remove a blood clot. Two Frenchmen who laid claim to making the first Atlantic crossing in a tandem windsurfer said Wednesday that they had to fight for survival when their 22-foot craft was capsized twice by huge waves. Frederick Beauchene, 3 1 from La Baule in northwest France, and Thierri Caroni, 29, from the west coast port of La Rochelle, arrived in Falmouth, England Tuesday night after the 41 -day, crossing from New York. They made the trip without a motor or an accompanying boat, but had a radio.

The London-based Guinness Book of Records said there was no reason to doubt the crossing took place, even though there were no witnesses. -v Iowa college buys ad to lure football players English plan would ban visiting soccer fans Members of a government-appointed inquiry into violence at English soccer grounds called Wednesday for a ban on fans attending games from the visiting team's city and condemned obscene and racist slogans that, it said, led to violence verging on "tribal warfare." The government hopes to act on the inquiry board's 24 recommendations before the next English League soccer season, which opens Aug. 1 7. A college football team called the Peacocks hasn't won the Iowa Conference championship since 1 947, but the squad's new coaches are hoping a 1 ,500 newspaper advertisement will change that. "Wanted: College Football Players.

Make your dreams come true. Play football for a university that is dedicated to excellence in education and has made a strong commitment to its athletic program," read the ad that ran Sunday and Wednesday in the Chicago Sun-Times. It's the brainchild of Upper Iowa coach Steve Fickert and assistant Bob Canny. "We were sitting in a staff meeting talking about a way for us to top off our recruiting to skip a couple of steps in the recruiting process because the new coaching staff came in so late this spring," Canny said Wednesday. Fickert said more than 30 potential recruits who saw the ad already have scheduled visits to the campus in Fayette, Iowa.

1M i jf 1 I AP For want of $3,456 bet, was lost MIAMI Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino is close to being rewarded with a new contract and a new playmate. Dolphins owner Joe Robbie and Marino's agent, Marvin Demoff, met Tuesday and Wednesday and plan to meet again today to hammer out a new contract for the record-breaking quarterback. Meanwhile, Robbie said he was "cautiously optimistic" about signing Anthony Carter, the all-USFL wide receiver of the Oakland Invaders. Carter's NFL rights belong to fhe Dolphins. He will become a free agent Aug.

1 if the Invaders don't pick up his $500,000 option for next season. "We know that Anthony Carter wants to come here; we just can't talk to him until he's free of his legal obligations," Robbie said. The possibility of adding the 5-foot-11 Carter's blazing speed to the talents of wide receivers Mark Duper and Mark Clayton, and the arm of Marino, may make defensive coordinators throughout the NFL forget about game plans and start building fallout shelters. Marino signed a four-year contract worth about $2-million as a rookie. He reportedly is seeking a pact on a par with that of Joe Montana, who earns per year.

But Marino denied Wednesday a New York Times report saying he considered staying out of training camp because he wants a new contract. "I don't recall talking to anybody from New York," Marino said. "I hadn't thought of that (holding out) at all." Meanwhile, the Dolphins placed four veterans on the physically-unable-to-perform list, and coach Don Shula made his first cuts of the season Wednesday. Fullback Andra Franklin, offensive tackle Eric Laak-so, nose tackle Bob Baumhower and linebacker A.J. Duhe were placed on the list with knee injuries, while free agents Pete Lavin, a safety from Whittier College; James Thaxton, a defensive back from Louisiana Tech; and kicker Sam Flores from C.W.

Post were cut. Former University of Miami offensive lineman Mike Moore left camp on his own, Shula said. The club also announced that veteran tight end Joe Rose and defensive end Bill Barnett had agreed to terms for new contracts. Both are expected to sign shortly. Springs hints Dorsett may hold out for new pact DALLAS Reports that the Internal Revenue Service has seized two houses owned by Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett for non-payment of more than $400,000 in taxes fueled speculation the star player might try to renegotiate his contract.

Dorsett, 31, is in the fourth year of a six-year contract with the Cowboys. He is to earn $400,000 this year and has borrowed $200,000 from the club to help pay the debts, the Dallas Times Herald reported Wednesday. Dorsett is required by contract to be in camp tonight, team spokesman Greg Aiello said. But running back Ron Springs, who often blocks for Dorsett, said Dorsett was unhappy with his contract and probably would not report on time. Aiello said Dorsett telephoned coach Tom Landry earlier this week to tell him he and his agent were "working to take care of some business" in Los Angeles and that he would report to camp "in a couple of days." Around the camps SAINTS: Several veteran players were among 13 no-shows at the opening of training camp Wednesday.

The apparent holdouts included quarterback Richard Todd, offensive lineman Stan Brock, defensive backs Johnnie Poe and Frank Wattelet, linebacker Jim Kovach, and tight end Junior Miller. A mutuel clerk at Sportsman's Park in Cicero, said he punched up a Super Bet ticket that would have brought in more than $1 -million, but canceled it after the man whp tried to buy it found out how much it cost. To win the Super Bet pool, a bettor must pick the first- and second-place horses in the fifth and sixth races and the first three finishers in the seventh. The pool stood at 1 Monday night when the man approached mutuel clerk William Hampicti and said he wanted to "box" four horses in each of the Super Bet races. That meant he would cover all possible place combinations for the horses.

But Hampich said the man canceled his bet when he was told it would cost him $3,456. am Brooks says coaching and politics are out 3 I i 5 1 in Also worth mentioning Herb Brooks says he's through with a hockey coaching career that ran the gamut from a gold medal in the 1 980 Winter Olympics to being fired last winter by the New York Rangers, the New York Post reported Wednesday. He says politics is out, too. Brooks starts next week as a national account representative with Josten's, a Minnesota-based company that makes class rings. Super Bowl rings and Olympic medals.

Last week, the Minnesota Independent Republican Committee asked Brooks to run for governor, but he told the Post: "I'm as interested in the political movement as anyone else. But to be able to discuss and have the grasp required for a job like that is something that 1 5 years in a locker room doesn't give me." Dolphins receivers Mark Duper (left) and Mark Clayton finish Wednesday's practice with a sprint COLTS: Tight end Dave Young, a four-year veteran from Purdue University, was waved Wednesday after the Colts obtained tight end Eddie McGilf from the St. Louis Cardinals for a future, undisclosed Hiaft choice. Young had 14 receptions to lead the team's tight ends a year ago, but fell into disfavor with coach Rod Dowhower after missing several off season practices and reporting to training camp out of shape. BENGALS: Mike Obrovac, a backup offetive lineman for four years, said he is retiring to launch a career running bingo tours for Seminole Indians West.

Obrovac, 29, missed part of last leason with a Tehee injury and while being treated at a Cincinnati hospital for alcoholism. He said his alcohol problem wasn't the reason he is quitting football. BROWNS: Greg Allen, the former star running back for Florida State University, hal signed a series of one-year contracts, the Browns announced Wednesday. Terms were not revealed. A second-round pick Of the NFL draft and Cleveland's first choice overall, Allen is expected to report to training camp today.

CHARGERS: Linebacker Mike Green pleaded innocent Wednesday to a cocaine possession charge and asked to be placed in a drug diversion program. Heas arrested last Wednesday by San Diego police. Chargers owner Alex Spanos said Green is still a member of the team, but he warned the 24-year-old he won't be given another chance. SEAHAWKS: The agent representing U.S, Football League free-agent quarterback Bobby Hebert says Seattle has made his client an offer. But Mike McCor-mack, president and general manager of tie Seahaks, denies it.

"We just talked philosophy," McCormack said of a Tuesday meeting with Greg Campbell. NBA sets benefit all-star game for Aug. 3 A ninth defendant has been charged in connection with Tulane University's point-shaving scandal that led to abolition of men's basketball at the New Orleans school. Ronald Turkel, a former Tulane roommate of Gary Kranz, said to be the mastermind of the point-shaving scandal, was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit sports bribery. Dave Rooney, basketball coach at Slippery Rock (Pa.) University for six seasons, has resigned for personal reasons effective Aug.

23, athletic director Bill Lennox announced. The Rockets had a 65-86 record under Rooney and his 1984-85 team was 8-17. The International Olympic Committee announced Thursday that North and South Korea have agreed to meet at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland later this year to discuss the 1 988 Games in Seoul and other Olympic questions. Boycotting horsemen at Finger Lakes Race Track in Canandaigua, N.Y., backed off partially on their demand for bigger purses Wednesday and signed a three-year contract, clearing the way for racing to resume Friday. A special National Basketball Association "Summer All-Star Game" will be played Aug.

3 to aid a program for the handicapped and another that encourages young people to stay in school, officials announced Wednesday. Earvin "Magic" Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks will head the two teams in the game to be played at the Capital Centre in Landover, Md. Chuck Hatcher, president of player relations for Concerned Pro Athletes in Action, said organizers.