The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • H2

Continued from H1 Wednesday will have a chance to contend for the job along with returnees A.J. Suggs and Damar- ius Bilbo. Gailey acted as his own coordinator while coach of the Dallas Cowboys but said last August that he would not do the same thing at Tech. passing game struggled last season, but refused to abandon it or alter much of his play-calling. The frustration came to a head during the loss to Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Football Classic on New Eve.

Following the game, Gailey questioned at least one of play calls, an ill-fated fourth-and-1 pass play that fell incomplete late in the game and all but assured 30-21 loss. Neither Gailey nor could be reached Friday. really appreciate the opportunities had at Georgia Tech, and especially the opportunity that Coach Gailey gave said in a news release issued by Tech. 32, spent the past eight seasons on the Yellow staff in various positions, the last two as offensive coordinator. He was promoted to assistant head coach before last season and given a raise that pushed his base salary to $175,000.

Friedgen hired at Tech as a graduate assistant in 1995 and helped his rise through the ranks. They have remained close since return to Maryland. Jackets lose offensive coordinator GOLF ASSOCIATED PRESS Fuzzy Zoeller teed it up too many times Friday at the Royal Caribbean Classic at Key Biscayne, Fla. Zoeller shot a 1-over 73 in the opening round of the first full-field senior event, but he was disqualified when he hit three shots while filming a segment for a local television station. Bobby Wadkins overcame back spasms over the final six holes to take a two- shot lead.

After Zoeller was finished with his round, he spent an hour giving golf instruction to a television reporter. When the cameraman said he wanted to film the ball being hit at full speed, Zoeller hit three balls off the No. 6 tee, deliberately putting them into the lake. PGA Tour officials saw Zoeller and disqualified him. Tour rules say competitors cannot practice on the course between rounds.

Zoeller could not be reached for comment. He would have been in 36th place. Wadkins made two bogeys and eight birdies in the first full-field event on the Champions Tour, formerly known as the Senior PGA Tour. best birdie may have been his last, a two- putt from 100 feet on the par-5 No. 18 to finish two shots ahead of Christy Wadkins started feeling the back spasms after he birdied the 12th.

Furyk takes lead Taking the second-round lead at the Pebble Beach (Calif.) National Pro-Am was a thrill for Jim Furyk though it really compare to the thrill of playing with one of his boyhood idols. Furyk birdied his final three holes for a 6-under- par 66, moving one stroke atop a crowded leaderboard while teaming up with former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Lynn Swann Furyk grew up in Pennsylvania as a huge Steelers fan, and he still holds season tickets in Pittsburgh. Zoeller: A few swings too many J. PAT CARTER Associated Press Fuzzy Zoeller was disqualified for practicing on the course after he finished his round. LEADERBOARD Pebble Beach Pro-Am Jim Furyk66-137-7 Rod Pampling68-138-6 Paul Stankowski67-138-6 Tim Herron69-138-6 Tom Lehman70-138-6 K.

Sutherland72-138-6 Royal Caribbean Classic Bobby Wadkins66-6 Christy Five tied at -3 RSPT0208OH2FSPT0208OH2 4 star 2H 2H RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack BlueRedYellowBlack H2 Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 4 FREE RANGE STEVE HUMMER The list of NBA All-Star activities is longer than Steve Nash hair, and, yet, there is not a single one that suits me. the NBA All-Star Bass Boat Expo? What time does the Jeff Foxworthy party kick off? And what about that special All-Star performance by polka great Larry Chesky I felt this out of it since covering the Winter Olympics halfpipe. Understand that I neither hip nor hop, I prefer my music to have less profanity than a bus station bathroom wall, and I believe Stuart Scott was sent here by aliens to torture the English language into capitulation. That leave me with much this weekend, other than to edge a couple days closer to assisted living.

Charles Barkley may criticize the selection of Vince Carter as an All-Star starter, but is that so bad, really? sort of nice that Carter can spend some quality time with fellas who actually have played this season and catch up with what he has missed while he was gone. know they are starting to run out of gimmicks for All-Star weekend when they introduce the Metamucil Old-Timers Slam-Dunk Competition. Although the vision of, say, Elvin Hayes slowly making his way up a ramp to the front of the rim then windmilling one down does spark some perverse curiosity. They may be unrepresented in this game, but the Hawks have had more players declared All-Stars (28) than any other franchise save the Philadelphia 76ers (also 28). due largely to the fact Pete Babcock live and work in St.

Louis in the late Just wondering: How on earth did Michael Jordan ever jump so high using that Nike junk? Perhaps Phil Mickelson even had a point when he took a backhanded shot at the Nike equipment used by Tiger Woods Who knows? That stuff is all more technologically complicated and unfathomable than modern microsurgery. Funny, though, that Mickelson never mentioned the equipment that really has made a difference, that far superior brand Woods keeps stored beneath his Nike cap. The marriage between NASCAR and big tobacco is ending, sending big-time stock car racing in search of another unhealthy product line to be a name sponsor. How about the Crisco Cup Championship? The Double Whopper With Cheese Million does have a nice ring. Or an All-Star race in Charlotte that goes simply by The MD Whatever else you may think of David Justice you must give him great credit for two at-bats that were among the best in history the World Series-winning home run against Cleveland, and, of course, Halle Berry Police are concerned they may not be able to make an indecent exposure case stick against a male Duke student who streaked the Blue Devils basketball game Wednesday night.

Something about insufficient evidence. The Detroit Lions head coaching job has swallowed up more good men than the Bermuda Triangle and online sports betting combined. already beginning to forget what Steve Mariucci looks like. The United States Olympic Committee makes Michael Jackson family look healthy and fully functional. A few pieces of unasked-for advice before Annika Sorenstam takes a crack at a PGA Tour event: be spooked; all those people on the other side of the ropes are supposed to be there.

called a gallery. hear it an awful lot, but is not this current slogan. Resist the urge to ask Tim Herron if his breasts get in the way of his swing. At the pace both are keeping, Bobby Knight victory total will surpass the Dow Jones Industrial Average in approximately 11 months. A new cereal celebrating Richard Petty is on the way to a market shelf near you.

Sugary 4s and 3s will ensure poor nutrition for another generation of auto racing enthusiasts. The only problem is that the expiration date on every box is 1975. question: What do Florida coach Ron Zook and the United States Army have in common? They are both incredible recruiters that turn out lousy football teams. Now, perhaps Colin Powell can come up with some satellite photos to show whatever happened to University of North Carolina basketball. All-Star no place for the hip-hopless Steve Free Range appears Saturday.

Just wondering: How on earth did Michael Jordan ever jump so high using that Nike junk? MORRY GASH Associated Press Vince Carter being voted an All-Star starter will give him a chance to talk with people, like Jason Caffey who actually played in more than two games this season. Charles Barkley has criticized Vince selection as a starter Steve Mariucci face is getting harder and harder to picture. This is about a basketball player, not one of the All- Stars converging on our town this weekend, but one never have suspected. In fact, until I came across Losing at Publix, it never occurred to me that the novelist Pat Conroy had ever executed a crossover dribble or smelled the pungent odor of a locker room. Not only that, but that he could have written 400 pages on the misadventures of a team with a record of 8-17.

It was the season of 1966-67 at The Citadel. Conroy not only played, he was the captain and voted the most valuable player on his team. This is not a book review. I choose to tread on the turf of our department of the literati. What attracted me at first was the number of people I recognized, sports writers, players and coaches I had known.

Lefty Driesell was just launching himself at Davidson College. Frank Selvy, the great Selvy, had returned to the scene of his triumphs as a player to coach the team at Furman University. The Citadel played them all as a member of the Southern Conference. But, basketball was only the vehicle that drove the story. In the middle years of his life, Conroy was stricken with the idea of writing about this star-crossed team when one of his Citadel teammates presented himself at one of the stops on a book-signing tour.

Memories came gushing out of the recesses of his mind, and Conroy spent the next four years visiting old teammates one at a time, and the eventuality that developed was Losing Maybe it was because I was such a mediocre athlete that I found myself wrapped up in this book, night after night. a slow reader. I find a phrase I like, I read it again, savor it. I was amused in one sense that Conroy waffled between remembering himself as a star, then as a mediocre player. Not until the cadets came to the end of their wrenching season did he finally receive confirmation of Conroy the player through something his coach said to a Charleston sports writer.

Mel Thompson said of Conroy, more mileage out of his talent than any player I have ever So exalted was he that he could have taken flight without wings. those words on my he wrote. Throughout the book, tormenting relationship with his father and with his brooding coach set the undertone. Thompson had known the glory of playing for Everett Case at N.C. State, the coaching giant responsible for the class of basketball we now see in the ACC.

Thompson made brutal demands on players, driving hard for perfection that was not achievable. demon-driven coach the dark icon of as Conroy describes him. This relationship was tame and temporary measured by the tragedy of the hate that existed between Conroy and his bestial father. Throughout the book I cursed his old man, grieved for the son who so fervently looked for one glint of paternal approval. From boyhood he had been cuffed about, brutally assaulted by his Marine Corps father.

Not even high times on the basketball court brought a civil word out of him. After a game in which Pat had scored 25 points, his old man sneered, Your team is Pat got even. He did it in the book he titled, Great Even so, he said later, he softened the character of Bull Mecham, but in the end killed the fictional father in a plane crash. As one who reared three sons alone, I came to recognize that my most important role in life was being a father. When I read of rejection after rejection, my heart bled for the young Conroy.

Later, however, long after basketball days at The Citadel, father and son made peace, and by that time, you almost resent the son accepting his father after all the years of abuse. By this time, basketball was far removed from the scene until Conroy rediscovered it as one of the driving forces in his life. He recalled little morsels of recognition, as when Selvy patted him on the backside and said, game, And Driesell said to him, did Mel bury you the last two years? a- played you up here, In his own mind, he was still bugged by admonition ringing in his ears as he brought the ball downcourt, shoot, Helluva book. FURMAN BISHER Conroy nails best shot By GLENN SHEELEY The LPGA Chick-fil-A Charity Championship in Stockbridge wants 13-year- old Michelle Wie in its April 25-27 tournament at Landing and is hoping to free up a sponsor exemption for the long-hitting Hawaiian player. seriously trying to make that tournament director Torrey Gane said Thursday.

Wie reportedly has accepted a sponsor exemption to play in at least one tournament on the Canadian Tour, hitting from the tees. Wie also was invited to play in the first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, March 27-30. The Chick-fil-A receives two sponsor exemptions one for the Georgia Open champion, Linda Hunt of Newnan, and one for the winner of the Nancy Lopez Award, given to the outstanding amateur of last year. A spot could be available if the Lopez winner is former Arizona star Lorena Ochoa, who has since turned pro and should qualify for the Chick-fil-A field off her 2002 Futures Tour record. Wie also is a candidate for the Lopez award.

the winner is a player already in the Gane said, have an opportunity to invite Michelle. say 99 percent sure that we Chick-fil-A wants phenom Wie.