The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 25

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1998 0 THE TAMPA TRIBUNE SPORTS 5 Mutiny season tickets Extras at RJS add to Mutiny prices SEATING ADULT YOUTHSR.D $162 $162 S270 $180 PcSSKHSSlESS 5216 1 COLLECTIBLES McGwire mug set to grace Wheaties box GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. The Breakfast of Champions has a new champ: Mark McGwire of the St Louis Cardinals. General () Youth seating for age 14 and under; senior seating for age 60 and over. probasketball NBA drops 1st 2 weeks of season A Tribune wire report NEW YORK The NBAs perfect record is dead. The league canceled regular-season games because of a work stoppage for the first time in its history Tuesday when collective bargaining talks between owners and players broke off after about 3V2 hours.

"Lousy, disappointed," Commissioner David Stern said when asked to describe his feelings. 13Sj 107 103 j.if..!. 7 NORTH -1 4 149 ''j 148 I. 1 3 146 soccer most expensive season ticket cost $408 but didn't offer some of the amenities of RJS: air-conditioned lounges with video walls and televisions, extra-wide chairs with cushions and waiterwaitress service. Also, new next year will be a Bounty season-ticket package, located in the RJS north end zone, which has the Bucs' mock pirate ship.

This is the only ticket package that does not include free parking. The cost of rent at the new stadium is expected to be approximately $18,000 a game $3,000 more than Houlihan's and the Mutiny also must pay an 8 percent surcharge on each ticket as part of a county plan to help pay stadium construction costs. Last week, MLS Commissioner Doug Logan announced he had decided to give the Mutiny one year to improve its fan and corporate base in Tampa before MLS would consider relocating the club. To extend the team's stay here, Sakiewicz says he is targeting an average paid attendance of 10,000. Last season, the Mutiny had approximately 3,200 season ticket-holders, which Sakiewicz says he won't sideline UFs Shannon Tampa Bay Mutiny season ticket prices for 1998-99.

Packages are for 1 8 games (includes 16 regular-season games). Call (813) 289-6811 for more information. Single-game tickets not available at this time. Schedule to be announced. 114 113 112 Raymond James am 131 1 132 133 134 1 135 6l36 Source: The Tampa Bay Mutiny is hoping to boost next year with the help of a committee of local civic officials headed by Tampa Mayor Dick Greco and Monsignor Lawrence Higgins of Tampa.

Renewal forms for last year's He'll play with corrective eye wear. The doctors feel it's perfectly OK for him to play." Shannon has been playing with limited vision since being struck in the eye by a rock in the seventh grade. The accident required surgery and, ultimately, resulted in scar tissue and blood vessels forming behind the eye, which led to retina problems in recent years. By the end of last season, Donovan said, Shannon had lost nearly all vision in the eye, which had become constantly swollen and bloodshot. He had surgery Sept 5 to clean out the back of the eye as a precursor to the artificial transplant "Since this has just come out, I think to the media, they look at this and say, "Wow, this just hap- all these nagging injuries and no open dates to rest up," Bowden said.

The Clemson defense is being looked upon as the best unit FSU has played this year. Bowden said Clemson was "right on the verge of doing something big and our pass protection will definitely be tested." "They've got more sacks than we do at this point," Bowden said. Sophomore DL David Warren spent Tuesday on the sidelines recovering from a seizure he suffered Saturday night on the flight back from Miami. Warren has been put on medication and is expected to return to practice today or Thursday, depending on how he responds to medication. Bowden admitted that after watching game film on Clemson he finds it difficult to believe the Tigers have lost four games this season.

Clemson's defense has impressed him the most. "All of them can run and they're very good athletes much like us," Bowden said. "Last year we beat them by only one touchdown. The fact North Carolina beat us the way they did gives Clemson all hope." Sophomore LB Tommy Polley has moved from strongside LB to weakside to replace the injured Green. The move may be temporary depending on the play of backup LBs Bobby Rhodes and Theon Rackley and Deon Humphrey.

Tickets for Saturday night's Clemson at Rorida State game have been sold out. It will be televised at 6 on ESPN2. Around the nation UCLA: TB Jermaine Lewis was reinstated after serving a onegame suspension for his involvement in an off-campus fight. Lewis, the team's leading rusher, will play in Saturday's game against No. 11 Oregon at the Rose Bowl, although he won't start for the second-ranked Bruins.

Lewis missed last week's 52-28 win against Arizona after he was suspended for his involvement in an altercation on Oct. 3. North Carolina: PK Josh McGee sprained his knee while playing touch football with friends and is questionable for Saturday's game at Wake Forest. Boise State: A reserve DB was suspended for one game and another was thrown off the team for violating team rules. Senior CB Kevin Chiles of Kent, was kicked off the team and sophomore Ryan Brinkley of Antioch, was suspended from Saturday's home game against Weber State.

First-year coach Dirk Koetter would not elaborate. Chiles was fifth in tackles for Boise State last season with 56, playing outside linebacker and cornerback. Brinkley missed the 1997 season after tearing a ligament in his right knee in the opening game. Tribune wires Bounty Sideline TAMPA Mutiny season tickets will cost more, but the GM says it will be worth it with the team at Raymond James Stadium. By BILL WARD of The Tampa Tribune If going to cost the Tampa Bay Mutiny a little more to play in the plush surroundings of Raymond James Stadium next season.

As a result fans will be paying slightly more for season tickets. But General Manager Nick Sakiewicz said it will be worth the approximate 8 percent increase, considering the difference in comfort level between old Houlihan's Stadium and the new $168.5 million facility. Also, some season- ticket holders will benefit from free parking, a possible $90 savings over the 18-game schedule. "Going from Houlihan's to RJS is like going from a $20-a-night hotel to a $250-a-night hotel," Sakiewicz said. "As far as the facilities go, there's no comparison between the two.

And factoring in the free parking, it will actually be cheaper for nearly all of our season-ticket holders to see a game next year." Under the seating configuration for Mutiny games at RJS (capacity a limited number of club seats will be available for the season at $468 each. This year's Loss of eye GAINESVILLE -A severely damaged retina has cost UF guard Eddie Shannon his right eye, but no playing time. By JOEY KNIGHT of The Tampa Tribune A history of problems with his right eye, culminating with an eroded retina, has prompted Florida point guard Eddie Shannon to have the eye surgically replaced with a prosthesis. The surgery Shannon is scheduled for later this week, but that's not South Florida Status quo: As this season approached, Bulls coach Jim Leavitt repeatedly emphasized the intense competition, throughout the lineup, for starting jobs. Now, five games into a so-far unbeaten season, things have settled in, despite continued competition.

So look for no lineup changes -leading into Saturday night's showdown with 20th-ranked Western Kentucky at Raymond James Stadium. "There hasn't been anybody in the 'Is', that I see, getting knocked out yet," Leavitt said Tuesday after a three-hour practice he termed "We worked on the punting team, the kickoff teams and we ran pretty well at the end of practice," he said, adding that the inside running game also was addressed. Each week Leavitt has talked up the opponent. Only once has his concern manifested on the field a Week 2, 24-21 win against Liberty. Western Kentucky definitely looks like the best team USF has faced thus far.

"I don't know how its gonna play out," Leavitt said, "but we have to realize how good this team is that's coming in." Don't expect suspended players Demetrius Woods and Terra nee Smiley to return this week, and Leavitt isn't speculating about their future with the team. "All I know is when the thing gets resolved, Til get a phone call," Leavitt said. "Until then I can't think about it too much because I don't want to lose my focus." That phone call, from USF Athletic Director Paul Griffin, might come late next week. By then two separate investigations into the burglary and petty theft charges brought against the two players could be complete one by the state attorney's office, the other by USFs student affairs department. DL Ron Johnson will return this week, after missing four games because of a broken arm.

Johnson had a cast removed early this week. H.A. Branham Florida Palmer upbeat: For the first time since suffering a season-ending injury against LSU, QB Jesse Palmer ad dressed the media with a surprisingly upbeat attitude. Sporting a sling around his right shoulder Tuesday, Palmer said his fractured clavicle, sustained on a second-quarter sack from Jarvis Green, won't require surgery or even painkillers. He's expected to miss about two months, giving him an outside shot at appearing in i 11 111 1 Mill nn Tuesday unveiled a special Wheaties box com memorating McGwire's record-setting 70 home runs.

Starting next week, 1.5 million Wheaties boxes with McGwire will be available to the public. BOXING Holyfield, Lewis may fight next year LONDON -A heavyweight title unification fight between Evan-der Holyfield and Lennox Lewis could happen next year. Don King confirmed the proposed bout after meeting Lewis' promoter Panos Eliades and manager Frank Maloney in London. The fight is tentatively scheduled for late February or early March, possibly in Las Vegas. Holyfield, the WBA and IBF champ, would reportedly earn $20 million.

COLLEGES Ohio State's Cooper in pickle with union TOLEDO, Ohio Ohio State football coach John Cooper has upset the head of a migrant farm workers' union because he plans to endorse a pickle company that may be targeted for a boycott by the Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee. Cooper, who said he doesn't know anything about the possible boycott, said he plans to sign an endorsement deal with the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. USF's women's volleyball team beat Central Florida 15-1, 15-11, 15-8. USF (12-3) won the season series 2-0.

Bethune-Cookman's men's golf team won the 12-team Fariways Collegiate Tournament at Tiger Point Golf Club with an 896 total. Florida State finished seventh (921). Florida was ninth (936). Senior Jon Akin scored and assisted on another goal as Saint Leo's men's soccer team beat Catawba 2-1 to snap a four-game losing streak. TENNIS Kournikova beaten at European tourney ZURICH, Switzerland -Anna Kournikova double-faulted 17 times, handing eighth-seed Dominique Van Roost a 6-3, 6-1 victory in the first round of the European Championships.

Van Roost a day earlier became the first Belgian man or women ever to break into the world's top-10 rankings. Fourth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill beat Jonathan Stark 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round of the Singapore Open. At Vienna, Austria, qualifier Jeff Tarango upset Jason Stoltenberg 6-2, 6-2 to set a second-round showdown with top-ranked Pete Sampras at the CA Trophy ATP tournament ETC. Basketball: Jason Kidd of the Phoenix Suns and his wife Joumana became parents for the first time when their 9-pound, 2-ounce son, Trey Jason, was born Monday at Scottsdale Healthcare. Bowling: At Coram, N.Y., Walter Ray Williams Jr.

won sue of his last eight matches to claim the top seed for the finals of the PBA's Brunswick Long Island Open. Golf: At Virginia Water, England, defending champion Vijay Singh was made the top seed for the World Match Play Championship. Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Mark O'Meara are the other seeds. Hockey: The arena where Travis Roy played while growing up in Maine has been renamed in his honor. Roy is the former Boston University hockey player paralyzed on his first college shift three years ago.

Running: South African Josiah Thugwaned, one of the South-Trust Running Festival's top-seeded male runners, has withdrawn from Saturday's race in St Petersburg. Compiled by Tribune ctaff mm "My job is to put on games for the fans, not to cancel them. It's terribly disappointing." The first two weeks of games totaling 99 from Nov. 3-16 will not be made Stern up, and the vast majority of players will miss their first paychecks Nov. 15.

The union came to the table Tuesday with an llth-hour proposala luxury tax on players resigning under the so-called Larry Bird exception to address the owners' concern over rapidly escalating salaries, but it wasn't enough to save the full 82-game season. "It's evident we're not going to reach an agreement any time soon, so we are reluctantly canceling the first two weeks," a dour-faced deputy commissioner Russ Granik said from a podium at a midtown Manhattan hotel. Sitting beside him was Stern, who was looking equally glum as the NBAs 51-year history of playing uninterrupted seasons 35,001 consecutive 'games came to an end. The NBA had been the only major American professional sport that had never lost a game due to a labor dispute. Two previous NBA lockouts in 1995 and 1996 ended before any games were missed.

The next move in this dispute will come from the owners, who will deliver a counterproposal later this week. Tuesday was the 105th day of the lockout "It doesn't look promising," Stern said. "The reality is that the owners had no choice. The union indicated some flexibility, but the reality is that their proposal doesn't completely address what we've focused on." The sides met for two sessions, one in the morning when the union made its proposal and one in the afternoon after the owners discussed it The union's luxury tax proposal would require owners to pay a tax on certain exorbitant contracts such as the $126 million, six-year extension signed by Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves last year when he was just 20. The exact threshold numbers and percentages were not disclosed, but union lawyers said the Garnett contract would have triggered the tax.

Money collected from the luxury tax would be redistributed to low-revenue teams. Both sides still are awaiting a decision from arbitrator John Feerick, dean of Fordham Law School, who will rule by Sunday whether more than 200 players with guaranteed contracts must be paid during the lockout In the last labor agreement In 1995, the owners agreed to pay the players between 48 percent and 51.8 percent of revenues. If the percentage went higher, the owners had the right to toss out the old deal and seek a new one, which they did. They have demanded "cost certainty" from the players, meaning they want to put an absolute ceiling on the amount of money that can be devoted to payrolls. The union calls such a system a "hard" salary cap and has refused to accept one.

Etc. Shinn lawsuit: At Columbia, S.C., two former female employees of the Charlotte Hornets say owner George Shinn made unwanted sexual advances, then paid them to keep quiet about it The allegations are in a motion filed as part of an earlier lawsuit that alleges Shinn forced another woman to perform oral sex at his Tega Cay mansion last year. Shinn, who is married, has coun-tersued that Charlotte, N.C., woman for slander. v'P. Emi3 "ll I II Stadium, 137 1 133 1391 140 VAUGHN HUGHESTribune graphic season-ticket holders will be mailed by the end of the week.

Single-game tickets, which go on sale after the first of the year, will increase about $1, Sakiewicz said. Donovan said. "But he's been dealing with this for basically his whole, entire life since he's been playing. He's had very limited vision in that eye. Does that concern me? Yeah, it concerns me.

But for Eddie, it's not that big of a deal." Shannon, who has been wearing a patch over the eye during fall workouts, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The Gators' No. 2 returning scorer (11.6 points a game) shot 60 percent from three-point range during preseason drills. "His spirit's been very, very good, and he's kind of going on like he's always gone on," Donovan said. "I've noticed no change in his attitude at all." Spartans fall totop'ianked Lindsey Wilson A Tribune staff report TAMPA Despite solid defense and several last-minute opportunities, the University of Tampa men's soccer rnprfp team fell 1-0 to CO I lege Lindsey Wilson SOCCGT of Kentucky at PepinRood Stadium.

Lindsey Wilson (13-0), ranked No. 1 in the NAIA, provided some evenly matched competition for the Spartans (8-3), boasting a largely international roster and effective passing. Midfielder Orlando Bueso had the game's only score, connecting off a close-range shot in the 29th minute. Blane Bachelor USF women shut out Central Florida, 4-0 TAMPA Jennifer Wilson's first-half goal was all South Florida's women (10-0-1) would need in a victory against Central Florida at the USF Soccer Stadium. Janeen Sobush scored the game's first goal, converting a corner kick from Siri Norby.

USF made it 2-0 in the 79th minute Sobush put a corner kick past UCF keeper Alyssa O'Brien. Less than two minutes later Carlene Wawizo-nek, and Sarah Gumina scored in the final minute on a breakaway. Florida 2, Florida State At Tallahassee, the fifth-ranked Florida women (12-1) knocked off Florida State Seminoles in front of the largest crowd (1,046) ever to see a soccer game in Tallahassee, The Gators dominated much of the game, rarely giving FSU (4-9-2) a scoring chance. Florida outshot FSU 21-2 and was constantly on the attack. Midfielder Heather Mitts scored at the 29-minute mark for Florida as her 30-yard free kick got past the Seminoles defense and goalkeeper Jamie Gurtov.

Midfielder Erin Baxter notched made it 2-0 in the 89th minute after a corner kick. Modglin ill collegebasketball the real stunner involving the 5-foot-11 senior, a probable preseason all-conference candidate. According to Coach Billy Donovan, Shannon has been shooting better than ever, and he's not expected to miss a game for the Gators, who open their season with an exhibition contest Nov. 7. "Provided something doesn't happen with his surgery, he should not miss anything," Donovan said Tuesday, three days before the Gators tip off the 1998-99 season with a "Midnight Madness" event Friday night at the O'Connell Center.

"There should not be a problem once this thing is corrected. Florida's bowl game. In the meantime, he said he'll use his newly acquired spare time to improve his conditioning and keep studying the offense. "Of course, it's a little bit disappointing but things happen for a reason," Palmer said. "You try to find the positives out of all this, and I've been doing that these past couple of days." For the first time since tearing knee cartilage in August, OL Pat Browning of Tampa returned to full-contact practice, albeit as a scout-team defensive lineman.

Browning is among 17 players listed as "out" for the Auburn game on UPs official injury report. The only "questionable" is LB Johnny Rutledge, who sustained a concussion against LSU and practiced in a norvcon-tact jersey Tuesday. "The list of guys out for the year is the most we've had, for whatever reason," Coach Steve Spurrier said. "But we've still got plenty of players. We're not in bad shape at all." Clearly perturbed by last Saturday's officiating, Spurrier notified the Southeastern Conference of several questionable calls and got at least one response in his favor.

SEC officials acknowledged Florida did not have 12 men on the field during a kickoff, which cost them 15 yards. "ft was, I guess, not a very well-called game according to the SEC commissioner and some people," Spurrier said. "But it's history and hopefully it won't happen again." Sure to Spurrier's prediction, LG Ryan Kalich had his best game of the year Saturday. Kalich graded out at 94 percent against LSU and has held off senior Deac Story for the starting job for at least another week. Expect the Gators, suddenly becoming stable up front, to use the same starting offensive line they had against LSU and Kentucky: Kalich, Zac Zedalis, LT Zach Filter, RG Cooper Carlisle and RT Kenyatta Walker.

The Gator Ticket Office announced Tuesday that 200 tickets returned by Auburn for Saturday's game now are on sale to the general public. The tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-344-2867. Joey Knight Florida State Elbow woes: Senior LB Lamont Green's elbow injury is worse than the medical staff originally thought. Green dislocated his elbow on the first series of the game against Miami last Saturday. Coach Bobby Bowden said his defensive leader could be out for some time and they will know more after an MRI today.

RB Travis Minor (sprained ankle) and Dexter Jackson (pulled hamstring) worked with FSU's first teams some Tuesday but are probable for Saturday against Clemson. "It's that time of the year. We have 1 1 tr fr FE f-i tit -ii fri I.