Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 41

Parimutuels, 2C Pro hockey, 6C Outdoors, 13C Letters, 15C section SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1989 ST PETERSBURG TIMES Does Ray Perkins motivate or suffocate? TV Coach's intimidating style gets mixed reviews PUCSV.XIKGS Where: Tampa Stadium. ft When: 1 p.m, Tickets: still available. Coverage: Page 3C. NFL OH TV SPORTS COLUMNIST TOM ZUCCO 1 p.m.. Dolphins-Jets.

Ch. 8. 4 p.m.. Giants-Rams. Ch.

13. 8 p.m.. Raiders-Chargers. ESPN. He says it bothers him when the fans cheer after the Bucs play well but lose.

He'll tell some players they don't belong in the NFL, and he lets some know if they make a mistake, they'll be benched so fast it'll make their heads spin. He criticized his placekicker for missing a 47-yard field goal after his quarterback threw four interceptions and his defense gave up 42 points. And then there's that stare of his. It's apparently supposed to intimidate people. "He (Perkins) took all the fun out of me," former tight end Calvin Magee said this week.

"I started hating football. I hated getting dressed on Sundays. I never felt that way before." There is another side to Ray Perkins, a very private and very real side that has nothing to do with any of this. Although few people know it, Perkins can be a warm human being. But that's not the point right they've lost 17.

That's not to say there hasn't been improvement, but since the Bucs defeated the Bears on Oct. 8, they've lost four straight and have been outscored 147-98. So if it's not the players, there's only one other group left. Every coach has a style all his own. For Vince Lombardi, it was the appearance of toughness.

For Tom Landry, it was high-tech stoicism. For George Allen, it was hands-on emotion. What kind of style does Ray Perkins have? Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse has referred to Perkins as "my Lombardi," and that's probably accurate. Especially if Lombardi was confrontational, abrasive, arrogant and self-righteous. "I'm not saying I use the fear element on purpose," Perkins said after practice Friday.

"I do not. I am saying that a little fear isn't bad. It's already been proven that fear is the number one moti- i r. i. i' Ill i 1 JMjUJWlAiiJa-.

now. The point is this: Can Ray Perkins get his players to win? Do his players take chances and feel confident that their coach is behind them? Or are they desperately trying not to make a mistake and thus incur the legendary Wrath of Ray? That's important because contrary to what you might think, there really isn't that much difference between the best and the worst teams in the NFL. The overall talent, with a few exceptions, is pretty much the same. Certainly Tampa Bay has enough talent now to make an impact. Yet the Bucs have played 25 games in the last two years and vator." What's wrong with that, you ask? This is a cutthroat business, right? Well, listen to what some of Perkins' former players think of his style: "It's funny," Ron Heller said Friday, "we just got finished watching the films of Vinny against Washington, and one of the things we noticed was that after every throw, the first thing he does is look to the sidelines.

Every time. It's like he can't be out there on his own." Heller played offensive tackle Please see PERKINS 3C Timet art DON MORRIS torn thm dteiy i Georgia prevails 17-10; no Fame bid for Florida By RICK STROUD Times Staff Writer 7) JACKSONVILLE The University of Florida may be a football team of the future, but the past keeps rising up to clobber the Gators whenever they play Georgia. Only five times in the last two decades have the Gators emerged from this rivalry victorious. Again on Saturday, the powder-keg nature of this series worked in Georgia's favor when tailback Rodney Hampton exploded for two second-half touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs over Florida 17-10. It was the second straight loss for the Gators (6-3 overall, 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference), who witnessed a stunning turnaround in the third quarter.

One minute Florida was leading 7-3 and going for a knockout punch by gambling on fourth-and-1 4 1 Nft within easy field-goal range early in the third quarter. The next, they were watching Hampton dance into the end zone. The loss also cost Florida any possible bid to the Hall of Fame Bowl on Jan. 1. With a victory over Georgia, the Gators would have received an oral commitment to be invited to Tampa's post-season game, providing they beat Kentucky next week, according to Hall of Fame representative and former Gator head coach Ray Graves.

Now Auburn appears to be the front-runner for that bid. Florida needs a win over Kentucky just to salvage a bid to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 30. "We have to turn it around," said Florida defensive back Richard Fain. "If we don't, we're going to be home real early for Christmas.

If we don't go out and impressively handle Kentucky, don't be surprised if we're home for Christmas." In fact, the Gators started the gift-giving season Saturday. Florida starting quarterback Donald Douglas, who played admirably while completing 12 of 20 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown, threw two costly interceptions. The Gators also killed themselves with penalties 10 for 63 yards. At least eight of them were major infractions, including five holding calls that stalled drives. But no Florida failure was bigger than the Gators' inability to move the football 1 yard on two tries early in the third quarter at the Georgia 22.

Leading 7-3 and storming downfield with relative ease, the Gators decided against an easy field goal and tailback Emmitt Timei photo KATHLEEN CABBLE Georgia linebacker Morris Lewis nipped this pass in the bud by grabbing Donald Douglas' arm. The pass fell incomplete. Gators need help; Spurrier is the answer TOP 25 SCORES No. 1 Notre Dame 59, SMU 6 No. 2 Colorado 41, Okla.

St. 17 No. 3 Mich. 24, No. 8 Illinois 10 No.

4 Alabama 32, LSU 16 No. 6 Nebraska 51, Kansas 14 No. 7 Miami 24, No. 14 Pitt 3 No. 9 USC 24, No.

25 Ariz. 3 No. 10 Arkansas 19, Baylor 10 No. 11 Tennessee 52, Akron 9 No. 12 Auburn 38.

La. Tech 23 No. 13 Penn St. 13, Maryland 13 No. 15 Houston 47, Texas 9 No.

18 Virginia 32, Va. Tech 25 No. 19 W. Virginia 21, Rutgers 20 Georgia 17, No. 20 Florida 10 No.

21 BYU 44, Air Force 35 Duke 35, No. 22 N.C. State 26 No. 23 Texas Tech 37, TCU 7 No. 24 Fresno St 45, N.M.

St. 5 STATE SCORES Howard U. 18, Florida 14 Cent. Florida 20, E. Kentucky 19 B-CC 68, Univ.

of D.C. 6 Details, Pages 10C-12C SPORTS COLUMNIST HUBERT MIZELL JACKSONVILLE igh in Saturday's heavenly blue Florida sky, a banner flapped devilishly behind a single-engine airplane, suggesting to 81,577 Gator Bowl football clientele, "Arnsparger Must Go!" So much boils in the University of Florida pot. Athletics under siege. Coaches being fired. Fears of an NCAA death penalty.

Unrest between high-rolling Gator alumni and school administra- UF athletic director, has consistently maintained, "We don't have anything against anybody" in the search for a 1990 head coach, there are murmurs about somebody being on a covert cam-' paign to poison the wells against Spurrier. Somebody official. Arnsparger's name is being! batted around like a volleyball by; many influential Gator Please see MIZELL 8C Gator Stew gets spicier. Florida boosters, from Key West to Pensacola, crave Steve Spurrier coming home to Gainesville as head coach. Every poll says so.

The 1966 Heisman Trophy winner, now head coach at Duke University, seems the only logical and realistic hope for unifying a program immersed in turmoil. So what's the problem? Although Bill Arnsparger, the By midafternoon, the University of Georgia was celebrating what has become an all-but-annual embarrassment of Florida's football team. Please see GATORS 8C tors. Hurricanes sweep through No. 14 Pitt Hawks pounce on Magic 148-109 By JOHN ROMANO Time Staff Writer By JOHN HARRIS Timet Stafl Writer 116 l524? 2V to open a season since 1971.

Also consider that Orlando extended itself against the champion Detroit Pistons one night earlier, before losing 125-121. The Magic didn't have much left to give against the Hawks. "No excuses. We just had a terrible ballgame. We dug an early hole, and there was no way getting out of it.

Mentally, we were just totally out of it," Guokas said. Atlanta, on the other hand, had much to prove. Forward Dominique Wilkins, who shot 2-for-14 the night before in a loss to Boston, hit his first five shots against the Magic and finished with 25 points. Center Moses Malone had a game-high 28 points. Nine Atlanta players scored in double figures.

The Hawks shot 68 percent in the Please see MAGIC 4C team," Erickson said. Miami quarterback Craig Erickson making his first start since breaking his knuckle against Michigan State, completed 18 of 39 passes for 199 yards and one touchdown. He also threw an intercept tion and fumbled near Pitt's end zone early in the game. "Craig looked good," said coach Erickson. "He made some key plays for us." Steve McGuire, playing in place of the injured fullback Leonard Conley of Tarpon Springs, ran for a touchdown and gained 114 yards.

The Miami defense, which held Pitt to minus-10 yards rushing in the first half, helped set up three Carlos Huerta field goals and also forced a safety. The victory virtually assures Miami (8-1) a spot in a New Year's Day bowl game. Next week's home game with San Diego State is the only thing standing in Please see MIAMI 9C 7r- ATLANTA Matt Guokas warned us there would be games like Saturday night, when the Orlando Magic has neither the personnel nor the execution to compete with the NBA's elite. It's no shame to lose to the Atlanta Hawks, no shame at all, although the Magic is the first team to do so this season. But the gap in talent between Orlando and Atlanta, at least after the Magic's 148-109 loss in front of 12,505 fans at The Omni, is cavernous.

The teams play again Monday night at Orlando Arena. Guokas, Orlando's coach, knows his team. And he knew right away that Atlanta (1-3) came to olav and the Maeic (2-3) didn't. PITTSBURGH So maybe it wasn't a vintage Miami Hurricanes performance. The offense wasn't explosive and the defense wasn't terribly nasty.

But the seventh-ranked Hurricanes did roll out one trademark of previous seasons they smothered a Top 20 team in front of a national television audience Saturday afternoon. The 24-3 victory against No. 14 Pitt was Miami's first against a Top 20 team this season. It was also the biggest victory in Dennis Erickson's first year as coach. Erickson said the win should restore some of the prestige Miami squandered in a loss to Florida State two weeks ago.

"When you come to the University of Pittsburgh and beat them 24-3, you've proven you're a pretty good football 5t AP Orlando's Terry Catledge (33) and Atlanta's Kevin Willis battle for a rebound Saturday night In Atlanta. A e. ii i i i Aiier an, miania naan i gone u-o.