Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 15

Thursday December 26 1991 pirmingham rogMlerald Sports update B2 NFL B4 Recreation B6 Business B7 Sports Now you Bucs bid for Parcells him see Tide eyes challenge of tackling elusive Hagan By Ray Melick Post-Herald Reporter FORT LAUDERDALE Fla -The first time Darian Hagan touched the ball as Colorado's start ing quarter-back he sprinted left holding the football out in that position that says "Touch me and I'll pitch" froze the Texas defense with that threat and went 75 yards for a ference championships and one national championship And as Hagan prepares for his final game in a Colorado uniform the Alabama defense is working hard to handle that threat Colorado (8-2-1) plays Alabama (10-1) at 8 pm CST Saturday in the Blockbuster Bowl in suburban Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium "This guy (Hagan) is so good" Alabama outside linebacker Antonio London said "one mistake and he's gone 100 yards for a touchdown" "He reminds me of the quarterback at Memphis State (Keith Benton who gave the Tide fits in a 10-7 Alabama victory)" said Steve Webbm the Tide's other outside linebacker "Only he's a better athlete more agile and he has so much more experience so he knows exactly what to do in every situation" Please turn to TIDE page B5 BLOCKBIISTKR BOWL Associated Press TAMPA Fla Bill Parcells who won two Super Bowls before leaving the New York Giants for the broadcast booth this season reportedly has been offered the job of trying to rescue the floundering Tampa Bay Buccaneers Two newspapers reported yes-H terday that Bucs owner Hugh Cul- verhouse is willing to pay Parcells more than $1 million per year to return to coaching and that he wants an answer by this weekend The Tampa Tribune quoting an unidentified source said Parcells has been offered a multiyear contract worth $15 million annually a deal that would make him the highest-paid coach in the NFL The Orlando Sentinel said Par-jjS cells met with Culverhouse on Monday in New Jersey their second meeting in as many weeks The offer is for five years and Parcells has been given assurances of having complete responsibility for personnel decisions the newspaper said "I have no comment on that" Cul- verhouse told The Sentinel on Christmas Eve Parcells who lives in Upper Saddle River NJ spent his first year after quitting the Super Bowl champion Giants as an NBC commentator for NFL games while the Bucs were struggling through their ninth consecutive losing season Tampa Bay finished with a 3-13 record in Richard Williamson's first Colorado VS Alabama That was in 1989 Since then that run-or-pitch threat has turned so many aggresssive defenses into indecisive victims as the Buffaloes have gone 30-4-2 (18-0-1 in the conference) with three Big Eight Con- It's 'what Christmas is all about' full season as coach Williamson replaced Ray Perkins last December and was given a two-year contract after guiding the Bucs to 1-2 mark in the final three games of the 1990 By Ray Melick Post-Herald Reporter FORT LAUDERDALE Fla A number of Alabama and Colorado players spent Christmas morning speaking to Police Athletic League teams in Liberty City perhaps the part of Miami most notorious for economic depression and crime Among those representing the Crimson Tide were Siran Stacy Jay Barker Eric Curry Tobie Shiels John Sullins Steve Webb Antonio London and David Palmer "That's what Christmas is all about" Stacy said "helping people less fortunate than you are I enjoyed it "Liberty City is a rough neighborhood I had a group of 13-year-olds and the way they talked you'd have thought they were 22 years old They see so much it's scary To be a kid that age exposed to sex and drugs and violence like they are the people they look up to are drug dealers It's true" Stacy said what he tried to do was help those kids realize there was a better way and if they worked hard and stayed clean they could make a better life for themselves "You can see the good in those kids in all kids" Stacy said "But they get programmed by all that is around them and the good gets lost some times "I think it meant a lot to them to have athletes guys that maybe they look up to to come and speak to them like that I hope the message got across" Otherwise it was not much of a Christmas Day for the Tide outside of a team dinner last night that featured equipment manager Tank Co-nerly as Santa Claus The football team went through a two-hour workout yesterday at St Thomas Aquinas High School "I told the players I hated that it wasn't much of a Christmas environment" Alabama coach Gene Sta-llings said "But I'd rather be working than sitting at home this time of year" Asked if he did anything special for the players since it was Christmas Stallings smiled "I didn't run them after practice" he said "That's something" IPIflSBlBBilBlBIBBBIBEly AP season Parcells reportedly is also under consideration for the Green Bay Packers coaching job that opened when Lindy Infante was fired last weekend Parcells could interview for that position as early as Thursday and the Sentinel reported he may not be able to meet Culverhouse's deadline for responding to the Bucs because of a promise not to accept any coaching offers until Packers general manager Ron Wolf has a chance to formally talk to him Wolf a close friend of Parcells has said he also plans to look at several NFL assistants as possible replacements for Infante Gray day Gray won 20-12 as McDowell's one-yard touchdown run with 11:27 left in the third quarter provided the eventual winning margin Story page B5 The Gray team's Anthony McDowell of Texas Tech is stopped by the Blue's Richard Holt of Arizona during the first half of the 54th annual Blue-Gray All-Star Classic in Montgomery The Person beginning to show he can do more than score in NBA had a career-high 11 in 34 minutes against Houston last month and is second on the team with a 51 average compared with a career-average of 34 "Chuck has stepped up and has really helped us I'm really proud of him" Hill said "He's playing awfully good basketball and needs to be given credit" "On some nights one player sometimes has to step forward step his game up a notch to help his teammates" Person said after contributing seven rebounds and five assists while having only one turnover in 46 minutes against the Nets "A guy can't do it unless his teammates game and I'm going to get a lot of minutes and I'm able to just lull my opponent to sleep The guy's defending me and then all of a sudden bam bam bam I've rolled up seven or eight points" "He's very different" teammate Reggie Miller said "He's bringing more enthusiasm passing the ball more staying in games more even if his shot isn't going down" The Pacers however continue to have problems on the road They're 12-15 overall but only 2-11 away from Market Square Arena "We need positive attitudes both at home and on the road" Miller said "Chuck is certainly capable of inspiring that" this team needs to pick up their defense help out guys that need help" Person led the Pacers in scoring in three of the last five games making 21-of-45 three-point shots and averaging nearly 25 points per game in that span "The thing about me now than in the past is I don't need plays I have the freedom to shoot whenever it's appropriate" he said "Bo (Hill) has given me a lot of freedom to take shots and make plays when I deem it necessary but to do it within the confines of the basketball team "I think I've learned to do that and I don't worry if I go eight minutes without getting as shot It's a long trust him and they trust me enough to give me the ball in the clutch" Person wants to bring Indiana a team that never has reached the second round of the NBA playoffs to another level and he realizes it takes more than his scoring to get there "This game is not won on offense" he said "Really it's won on defense and in this past offseason I told myself that I would pick up my defensive game to help this team get to a new level I think we're getting better but we're still now working with Rik the right way "Once we learn to work with Rik we'll be fine I think everybody on effective and allowing me to do a lot more" The 6-foot-8 225-pound Person scored a season-high 33 points making 13-of-20 shots in his last game as Indiana beat the New Jersey Nets 118-109 in overtime "That was the first time I saw Chuck play like he wasn't going to let us lose" Pacers coach Bob Hill said "He did everything He was active I thought he played great defense" Person the NBA Rookie of the Year after being the fourth pick in the 1986 draft is averaging 185 points But it's his assist total that shows the biggest difference He Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS His confidence is as high as ever yet there's something different about the Indiana Pacers' Chuck Person In his sixth NBA season the former Auburn star is passing rebounding and diving for loose balls like never before "I'm still going to get my shots and when I'm open I'm going to put it up" said Person who has been criticized for being selfish on offense "But I don't feel like I have to score like I did in the past "The progress of Rik Smits in the middle has given our team a new weapon that's making me more Hollis McDowell gift wrap victory MT vtH Yakima Sun Kings for a third-round draft choice The Bandits signed guard Mark Wade who played with the team last year in Pensacola Fla QUOTE: "One of things I'm finding out about this league is it's hard to have your team running on all cylinders at all times'' Bandits coach Mo McHone said NEXT: 4:05 pm Sunday vs Columbus at State Fair Arena (originally scheduled for Saturday) Chef Fussman SCORE: Bandits 107 Grand Rapids Hoops 103 ATTENDANCE: 463 QUARTERS WON: Hoops 3 Bandits 1 STAR: The Bandits' Richard Hollis scored 27 points and had three steals KEY STAT: Grand Rapids' Jeff Martin scored a team-high 22 points but made only seven-of-21 shots and turned the ball over seven times NOTE: Before the game the Bandits traded starting point-guard Anthony Houston to the thing (in the GBA)" Hollis said "I just wanted to have a chance to show what 1 can do" McDowell a former three-time all-Southeastern Conference center at Florida did his thing with Birmingham trailing 72-67 midway through the third quarter After making a steal near midcourt he dribbled toward the basket turned left and blindly passed to the right to Henry who turned the sequence into a three-point play The Bandits scored the next four points to gain the lead and the momentum "When you get into the flow of the game you do things you wouldn't normally do" McDowell said "Jt wasn't planned It just happened" Still Grand Rapids after being outscored 32-18 in the third quarter rallied to tie the game at 99-99 on a Walter Watts free throw with 2:22 remaining Hollis responded with two free throws and a steal leading to an Eric Johnson basket putting the Bandits up 103-99 with 1:29 remaining Henry sealed the victory with two free throws with 16 seconds left McHone couldn't complain "One of the things I'm finding out about this league" said McHone noting the recent roster moves "is it's hard to have your team running on alf cylinders at all times" By Chet Fussman Post-Herald Reporter The Birmingham Bandits found two unexpected Christmas gifts yesterday and parlayed both into a 107-103 victory over the Grand Rapids Hoops at State Fair Arena Gift No 1: a surprising 27-point performance from forward Richard Hollis who joined the team a few days ago Hollis added a key steal and blocked shot in the final two minutes Gift No 2: a surprising and eyecatching no-look pass from gimpy-kneed 6-foot-9 center Eugene McDowell while orchestrating a three-on-two fast break Recipient Skeeter Henry made the layup and was fouled igniting the Bandits' comeback hopes and the small holiday crowd of 463 "I'd never seen him do that before" Henry said laughing "That was the key play of the second half It got us and the crowd pumped up" The Bandits after trailing 58-50 at halftime stormed back to take a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter They then held off a furious Hoops charge with Hollis scoring six consecutive points down the stretch "It's never easy for us" said Bandits coach Mo McHone whose team won only four of seven points losing tried to sign with the team weeks ago but the Huntsville Lasers of the Global Basketball Association refused to release his rights and subsequently traded him to Albany Ga When Hollis refused to report he was suspended The whole mess finally was worked out shortly before the Bandits' game Sunday against Fort Wayne Hollis sank 10-of-14 shots yesterday and added five rebounds and three steals "I tfever got a chance to do my every quarter but the third Earlier in the day McHone traded starting point-guard Anthony Houston to the Yakima Sun Kings for a third-round draft choice and signed veteran guard Anthony Wade (2227 assists during four CBA seasons) to replace him Wade who had returned to UNLV this fall played 14 minutes yesterday He handed out seven assists but did not score and looked rusty Hollis looked the same way in his first game with the Bandits He had Karim Shamsi-BashaPost-Herald The Bandits' Jim armer cuts past Grand Rapids' Reggie Jordan.