Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 13

4 miriningliuiii Post-1 lent Id TT 7 TTTZTT 1 5 Monday December 23 1991 GolfB3 Sports Monday 1 Wimbley stomping back in grounds for Dye and AU football People who watched "60 Minutes" last night expecting a bombshell had to be somewhat surprised and a bit By Ray Melick Post-Herald Reporter FORT LAUDERDALE Fla -The Prince of the Tide has returned home contused On the other hand saying "it was the best Christmas news I've heard" as Coach Pat Dye's attorney Sam Franklin did well that might be taking things a bit too far "It's great" Alabama wide receiver Prince Wimbley said "I've got friends and relatives I want to see who haven't had a chance to see me play in person This game will be a big thrill for me and for minute segment last night on the CBS news program "60 Minutes" all it did was add yet another chapter in the bizarre three-month orchestrated affair This is not to say that the Auburn Admissions Office is going to start using the segment in recruiting films to attract prospective student-athletes The image of Auburn and of Dye was badly skewered by last night's report People from Maine to Montana probably came away with the impression that the Auburn football program has real problems Regardless of how it looked and few people come away from "60 Minutes" looking the same was it enough to do what we heard it would do what attorney Donald Watkins and his client former Auburn defensive back Eric Ramsey said it would do: force Dye out as the school's football coach? roots Miami is a city of flash where image is everything where life is where you go and who you know "There is so much to do here" Wimbley said "Pick any direction and go and you'll find something "I'm taking my boys to Luke Sky-walker's club Luke's On The Beach It's in Miami not far from where we're staying" This Luke Skywalker has nothing to do with Ewoks Wookies or Star Wars He is the leader of a rather notorius group called 2 Live Crew a Miami based-band "I'm pretty sure if the players aren't careful they'll get in trouble" Wimbley said "But that's the case in any big city "You've got to use good judgment And we will We're down here to have fun but first we're down here to win a ballgame" Please turn to WIMBLEY page B5 First let's examine the new facts brought out last night by the broadcast of the unreleased tapes We heard Ramsey tell Dye that recruiting coordinator Frank Young was helping him with financial problems But Dye did not respond His handlers would have you believe he was thinking about horses or perhaps a trick play against Alabama Yet the tape does not reveal much because Dye didn't say anything Dye did respond when Ramsey asked for help in getting a $7500 loan But there really is nothing new about that Ramsey maintains he put up no collateral and signed no papers Dye has a different view However Dye never has denied calling the bank Please turn to FINEBAUM page B7 BLOCKBUSTER BOWL PAUL K1NKBAUM Colorado vs Alabama 4 T'' Stephen GatesPost-Herald For many weeks all we have heard from Team Ramsey is that the so-called "Pat Dye tapes" would be so eviscerating the result of hearing them would be as dramatic as witnessing the parting of the Red Sea But after watching the 11 '2- them" Wimbley grew up approximately 40 minutes south of Joe Robbie Stadium in south Miami And even though he hasn't been home much in the past three years Wimbley has never forgotten his south Florida A native of south Miami Alabama senior Prince Wimbley has caught 14 passes for 174 yards this season Jets still kicking Sub's overtime field goal settles last playoff spot New York Jets at Houston LA Raiders at Kansas City Atlanta at New Orleans Dallas at Chicago or Detroit -H laS JHI5 1 mmiL- jBi2tMmkitit Associated Press MIAMI Appropriately a journeyman kicker decided the matchup of mediocrity for the NFL's final playoff spot Raul Allegre signed Tuesday by the New York Jets to replace the injured Pat Leahy kicked a 44-yard field goal to force overtime and hit a 30-yarder in sudden death yesterday for a 23-20 victory over the Miami Dolphins The Jets will play at Houston in an AFC wild-card game next weekend It will be their first playoff appearance since 1986 "We're in it" linebacker Joe Kelly said "It's just like the lottery You have to be in it to win it" 1 "I don't know that we've arrived" Coach Bruce Coslet said "We won a big game but don't give it any more significance than it has" New York and Miami finished 8-8 The Jets earned the playoff berth because they beat Miami twice "I think they're going to lose their first game" Dolphins receiver Jim Jensen said "They're not that good" If Jensen sounded bitter it's understandable His team had a chance to clinch the playoff berth a week ago but blew a 13-point fourth-quarter lead at San Diego This time the Dolphins rallied to take the lead in the final minute of regulation and failed to hold it "We had control of it in San Diego and couldn't do the job and then we had control again here and couldn't do the job" coach Don Shula said "This one will last a long time for me and for us" Allegre with the Houston Oilers and New York Giants earlier this year hit a 25-yarder with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter for a 17-13 lead That kick banked off the upright Miami drove 70 yards to score on a fourth-down one-yard pass from Dan Marino to Ferrell Edmunds with 44 seconds left for a 20-17 lead "I felt we had it won" Marino said "The way we played we don't deserve to be in the playoffs" The Jets have had trouble holding leads and making comebacks all season but this time they rallied Passes by Ken O'Brien of 23 yards to AP Rob Moore and 14 yards to Terance Mathis moved the ball to Miami's 33 After Freeman McNeil ran seven yards to the 26 with two seconds left Allegre hit his longest field goal of the day as time ran out A tie would have given the Dolphins the playoff berth but they couldn't stop New York in overtime Miami took the kickoff ran four plays and punted The Jets starting from their 23 moved 65 yards in 11 plays Johnny Hector ran 16 yards on the first play O'Brien hit Moore with a 29-yard pass to the eight setting up the field goal with 7:27 left The Dolphins called a timeout in an attempt to unnerve Allegre a ninth-year pro "He's a professional" Coslet said "Nobody is going to ice him He went over and got a scotch and soda stretched at the 50-yard line and went and did his job" When the kick sailed through the uprights Allegre was mobbed by his new teammates "Somebody jumped on top of me" he said "My back paid the price" As in New York's 41-23 win over Miami in September the Jets did a good job of keeping Marino on the bench Their 64-yard scoring drive in the first quarter consumed 8:26 The Jets outrushed Miami 231-46 Hector gained 132 yards in 32 carries Still the Dolphins would have won if not for squandered scoring chances Trailing 14-13 with nine minutes left they appeared about to take the lead when they reached the Jets' nine But on second down Marino threw a short pass intended for Mark Duper along the sideline and Kelly intercepted Earlier Miami's Pete Stoyano-vich missed field goals of 41 and 53 yards Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin (88) is tackled by the Falcons' Deion Sanders (21) and Brian Jordan after catching a nine-yard pass Cowboys foil Falcons' title hopes would be at Chicago if the Bears lose to San Francisco "We don't care where we go" Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson said "All I know is that a couple of years ago everybody was laughing at us To reach this point after where we started (1-15) a couple of years ago is remarkable" Smith who gained 160 yards on 32 carries to edge Barry Sanders for the rushing crown scored the go-ahead touchdown on a six-yard run with 14:10 left But his fumble with 1:54 to go also gave Atlanta (10-6) a last-ditch chance Smith won the NFL rushing title with 1563 yards to 1548 for Detroit's Sanders "Some people didn't believe in Associated Press IRVING Texas It was redemption yesterday for the Dallas Cowboys Knocked out of the playoffs by Atlanta in the final game of the 1990 regular season the Cowboys prevented the Falcons from winning the NFC Western Division title chances with a 31-27 victory fashioned by NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith and a brilliant defensive stand New Orleans beat Phoenix 27-3 to clinch the division Atlanta opens the playoffs next week against the Saints in the Superdome Dallas (11-5) clinching its best record since the 1983 team went 12-4 will play at Detroit if Chicago beats San Francisco tonight The Cowboys me" Smith said "They said I was too small and not fast This is a great feeling I'm just trying to become a total package player like Thurman Thomas (Buffalo) and Sanders I idolized those guys coming out of college and I still do" Dallas had to sweat it to the end Scott Case recovered Smith's fumble at the Atlanta 18 and Chris Miller took the Falcons to the Dallas 16 where he threw four consecutive incompletions Dallas defensive tackle Tony Ca-sillas traded to Dallas after a much-publicized feud with Glan-ville said "We didn't want them bringing out the champagne and popping corks in Texas Stadium" On the final play of the game Larry Brown tipped away a pass intended for Deion Sanders a defensive back who had been inserted into the offense Miller threw three touchdown passes and had 316 yards passing Miller gave the Falcons the lead for the first time at 27-24 with 6:20 left in the third period on a 43-yard pass to Michael Haynes The Cowboys led 21-14 after a wild first quarter Former Auburn wide receiver Alexander Wright's dazzling 102-yard kickoff return broke the club record of 101 yards by Amos Marsh and Ike Harris "I was thinking about downing the ball" Wright said "It was about time for me to make a big play" Without much sound Fury edges Bandits weekend and released former Alabama and UAB player William DeVaughn QUOTE: "If our fans had been here they wouldn't have let our players lose" Fury coach Gerald Oliver said NEXT: 5:05 pm Wednesday vs Grand Rapids at State Fair Arena Chef Fussman SCORE: Fort Wayne Fury 99 Bandits 95 ATTENDANCE: 349 QUARTERS WON: Fury 212 Bandits Vz STAR: Fort Wayne's Derrick Gervin scored 31 points and grabbed 1 3 rebounds KEY STAT: Gervin and Jay Edwards combined for 56 of Fort Wayne's 99 points NOTE: The Bandits signed Richard Hollis over the By Chet Fussman Post-Herald Reporter After the Fort Wayne Fury edged the Birmingham Bandits 99-95 yesterday both team's coaches were in total agreement on the reason why It wasn't a player specific play or late foul call The culprit wasn't even at State Fair Arena In fact that was the whole point A crowd of only 349 watched Fort Wayne break a 95-95 tie in the final 36 seconds to register its first road victory of the season in eight tries In those final tense seconds the Bandits found precious little support "I can only tell you" Fury coach Gerald Oliver said "if our fans had been here they wouldn't have let our players lose" Bandits coach Mo McHone and many of his players agreed saying the crowd probably would have charged up the fatigued Bandits who were playing their 11th game in 18 days and perhaps steered a few late officiating calls toward the home team "The crowd can affect the players referees everybody" said Bandits guard Jim Farmer who scored 18 points including two ckitch free throws to tie the game with 36 seconds remaining "Unfortunately we have nobody to help us out It's a shame we have no home-field advantage" The Bandits average 1327 fans per game and rank last in the 17-team CBA in attendance Yesterday's crowd was a season-low for the CBA Oliver whose Fort Wayne team ranks second in CBA attendance (5103 per game) is a former longtime assistant at the University of Tennessee and has coached many times against Alabama teams "The Bandits are a good team" he said "The basketball out here is the best the people are gonna see whether they watch Alabama Auburn or UAB It's a shame they don't get more support" Still the Bandits were in a position to beat the Fury when Farmer tied the game 95-95 After Fort Wayne's Derrick Gervin brother of former San Antonio Spurs star George "Ice" Gervin sank two free throws to put the Fury ahead Richard Hollis whom the Bandits signed over the weekend tipped in a Farmer shot with 19 seconds left But the points were ruled off by an offensive goaltending call "That call killed us" Bandits guard Michael Cutright said "Was inoffensive goaltejiding? I don't know'' asked McHone who was hit with a technical foul earlier in the game and later wondered privately if the refs would have made the same call in front of a full house Please turn to BANDITS page B6 Karim Shamsi-BashaPost-Herald The Bandits' Jim Farmer goes up for a layup against the Fury's Jay Edwards.