Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 21

Ilh7DMIN5W1 Undisputed: Pressure on Florida State to thrash Nebraska soundly. 2B Eil Expectations: Texas chances against N.D. depend on QB Pullig. 20 Titletown USA: Packers hope to live up to town nickname against Lions. 3B ri Sergei the star: Wings' Fedorov selected for NHL All-Star Game.

50 Joe FALLS Friday Section A 4ro 4 1k i I So srts COMICS 10-116 WEATHERLOTTERY 128 DECEMBER 31, 1993 MN I'll watch Probert fight, Pistons flail and Cherry chatter, and I promise that I will not complain re at One vso this year's mode' Fedorov, Gretzky to square off tonight for the 6 t. 's. .10 -iii 1 I ElE1 6 H. i I ibr. ,0 mg 12 It was different playing Central Red Army squad on the mon rink in Moscow.

More than a dif- 1,,, ferent culture, a different lifestyle, a different mood, a different Ian- guage. "I was a very A N.st'slr young player and I was playing on ERR the best club in GREE the Soviet Union," Sergei Fedorov said. "The Red A JERRY GREEN being hailed as the most talented athlete playing ice hockey in all of North America. Now, on this New Year's Eve, he is squared off, straight on, in a duel with Wayne Gretzky, also known as The Great One. "Well," Fedorov said, "he's a great player.

It's going to be a very good game." Fedorov tugged at the cap on his head in the home dressing room at Joe Louis Arena. "Nice hat," he said with a wide smile. The cap said Red Wings, in italic Please see Green, 5B The Red Wings play the Kings tonight at 7:05 at Joe Louis Arena. The game will be broadcast on PASS and WJR-AM (760). Fourth line.

Viktor Tikhinov put the emphasis on defense for the center. The focus was more on defense than offense. "He thinks for the center, defense is more important than offense." So it was that Sergei Fedorov had seasons in which he scored six, seven, nine and 19 goals at center for the Red Army. Now, on this New Year's Eve, Fedorov ranks No. 1 among all scorers in the National Hockey League.

Now, on this New Year's Eve, he is DIANE WEISS The Detroit News Fedoros: This year's top scorer. DIANE WEISS The Detroit News Gretzky: All-time scoring king. Army. Geeked for the game Walker rumors swirl a Just smoke? Report says Tigers GM on the way out, maybe to Red Sox. By Jerry Green THE DETROIT NEWS I 0 0 9 '1 4N f-'' 1 CAW 4A, 7 4, 't, t.

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Some New Year's resolutions while waiting for Michigan to mop up North Carolina State in the Hall of Shame game: I promise to understand hockey fans who drink two beers at a time in Joe Louis Arena. I promise not to keep this promise. I promise to accept Dan Dierdoff talking so much even when he is saying so little. I promise to find out who plays inside right for the Bolivian soccer team. I promise to write a nice letter to the poor guy who has to stand next to Don Cherry while Cherry babbles and babbles on Hockey Night in Canada.

I promise to watch the late-night basketball highlights on ESPN and not say: "Didn't we see this stuff last night?" I promise to visit every part of Tiger Stadium, inside and out, and take pictures for the day when the place is no longer with us. I promise to get a new puppy and call her "Rika" which is short for "Puprika." (You see, my wife is Hungarian and Hungarian wives have a way of getting their way.) I promise to keep our back yard filled with corn cobs and keep the drinking water from freezing with our portable warmer so our squirrels and their friends can make it through the winter. I promise not to sneak sliders more than once a month. I promise not to wonder why some of our teams want paid propagandists as their broadcasters. I promise not to write how many months are left in the pro basketball season because everyone knows the pro basketball season never ends.

I promise to watch at least one play in the Pro Bowl game. I promise not to talk out loud when cars pass me on the left and right when I am going 70 mph. I promise not to say anything the next time I see Bob Probert in one of those stupid fights. I promise to see the Pistons play, even if it hurts. I promise not to ask the fans why they cheer the Lions so much when they're winning and walk out on them when they're losing.

I promise not to think of those heavenly Havana cigars over in Windsor, since we are not supposed to be friends with Cuba. I promise to read more editorials and fewer box scores. I promise not to be awed by Bob Knight, even though I am. I promise to have a sit-down with Perry Watson to see how he is doing. 1 promise not to get mad at Desmond Howard for squandering so much talent.

I promise not to see my Dr. Hannibal Lecter tape more than four or five times in the new year. I promise to stop wishing Rick Rizzs would quit trying to make everything so dramatic but get the most out of his ample ability by letting the games decide the tone of his broadcasts. I promise not to go crazy at the way they keep moving the camera around on NYPD Blue. I promise to stop pointing out all the empty seats in Spartan Stadium, because it is not their fault they are empty.

I promise to get my expense accounts in on time (Ho. Ho. Ho. Ho.) I promise to read George Will's column to the end, even though he keeps discouraging me with all those big words. I promise to touch every puppy dog I see for the next 365 days, maybe even give them a hug.

I promise to try golf one more time, keeping my head down this time and swinging very slowly. (See expense accounts.) 1 promise not to say, "I'm going to take 10" when I intend to take an hourlong nap. I promise not to get mad when the movies don't come close to matching John Grisham's books. I promise not to count the number of times Tony Phillips spits in each turn at bat. I promise not to make fun of the draft-day comments of the Lions.

I promise not to use the letter more than once in each sentence for the rest of my life or at least the rest of this column. Is Jerry Walker doomed as general manager of the Tigers, with an announcement expected in the early days of 1994? There is considerable smoke, again, that Walker would be forced out despite his excellent performance in the recent re-signings of David Wells, Alan Trammell and Eric Davis. A new report surfaced Thursday in Detroit that Tigers owner Mike hitch would make the change in the near future. This report, accompanied by fragmentary reports in the current issue of the monthly, Baseball America, that Walker had made himself a candidate for the vacant Red Sox GM spot, might be tied together to make a believable package. Walker and Gary Vitt, Tigers assistant GM, both denied knowledge of any impending change.

The Baseball America report, written by Peter Gammons, also said that George Bradley would meet with Pitch to be interviewed as Walker's replacement. "I know absolutely nothing about it," Vitt said Thursday from his Tiger Stadium office. He said he had checked with Ilitch's Little Caesars headquarters after reading the Baseball America item and had been told there was nothing to the report. "I haven't talked with anyone regarding this," Walker said regarding the report that he was interested in the Boston job. Walker was reached via phone in Oklahoma, where he has been visit CLARENCE TABB JR.

The Detroit News Buster Stanley (60) and Ty Law (22) tussle, as Tyrone Wheatley (6) and Matt Dyson (81) anxiously await bowl day. Page 2B Peterson's hat trick leads Huskies over Irish By Bill Halls THE DETROIT NEWS from a scramble in front of the net. Kyle Peterson scored at 10:19, poking in a rebound after Justin Peca's shot hit the post. That gave Tech a 4-2 lead and sent Salzman packing in favor of Greh Louder. Pat Mikesch greeted Louder with a goal at 13:46 of the second period to push the Tech lead to 5-2, and Layne Le Bel scored a shorthanded goal at 18:16 to give the Huskies a 6-2 lead.

Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead with the game only 40 seconds old on Jamie Lang's goal. Harberts scored for the Irish (7-9-2) to cut the Huskies lead to one goal. Michigan State played Michigan in the championship game later Thursday night. Trailing 6-2 going into the third period, the Fighting Irish rallied for four goals. Chris Bales, Jay Mutushak and Brent Lamppa all scored for the Irish in the third period.

MTU scored five second-period goals and went on to snap an 11- game winless string. The Huskies are 6-11-4. Michigan Tech spotted Notre Dame a 2-0 lead before unloading some offensive punch. The Huskies exploded for three goals in less than three minutes to take a 4-2 lead. Randy Stevens scored his second goal of the game at 7:33 of the second period to tie the score at 2-2.

Stevens took a pass from Jeff Mikesch and beat Wade Salzman, the Irish goalie, from the right side. Mitch Lane gave the Huskies a 3-2 lead with a goal at 9:02. He flipped a backhander past Salzman Kyle Peterson's third goal of the game sealed an 8-2 victory for Michigan Tech over Notre Dame on Thursday night in the consolation game of the Great Lakes Invitational college hockey tournament at Joe Louis Arena. Peterson scored the final goal of his hat track at 18:13 of the third period. It came shortly after Tim Please see Walker, 4B Shag not under attack after ejections, bad rap He's coming home for Olympic shot By Colleen Fitzpatrick THE DETROIT NEWS U.S.

Skating Championship What: U.S. Figure Skating Championships. More than 300 skaters will compete for the U.S. Championship and spots on the U.S. Olympic team, When: Jan.

2-9. Where: Joe Louis Arena, Cobo Arena and Detroit Skating Club. II TV: ABC will televise men's finals, 9-10 pm. Jan. 6, ladies finals, 7-9 p.m Jan.

8, Tickets: Range from $10 to $50. An all-events ticket costs $200 On sale at TicketMaster and Joe Louis Arena box office. A 1 I STAI. (7) ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, Fla. Was it good, tough defense or plainly, poor officiating? Shaquille O'Neal didn't appreciate either and let the referees know Wednesday night, setting the stage for a player he would have been guarding to score the winning basket in the Atlanta Hawks' 92-90 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Orlando's Jeff Turner also was thrown out of the game in the third quarter for arguing a no-call against O'Neal, who vented his frustration three minutes later when he was bumped making a strong move to the basket. Again, no foul was called. Atlanta's Kevin Willis rebounded an O'Neal miss and was fouled by the Orlando center, who directed a stream of obscenities at officials. Two technical fouls were assessed, bringing an automatic ejection. Orlando hung in the game despite the loss of the NBA's leading scorer, who left with 19 points and 13 rebounds, but was unable to handle the 7-foot Willis in the final minute.

MONSEY, N.Y. In a rink set among oak trees in the shadow of New York City, Jason Dungien has seen his dreams both soar and crash around him. In the white neon glare of Monsey's Sport-O-Rama rink, Dungjen, a Troy native whose family still lives in Metro Detroit, pulled together the pieces of his figure-skating career, temporarily shattered by his father's death in 1985. "I wanted to become the best I could, and I knew when I quit I hadn't been that," he said. But then, during practice at the rink.

he caught his blade on a chunk of ice while lifting his partner, Kyoko Ina. She fell. Her skate landed on his left forearm and ripped through tendons, muscles and nerves. The closest he got to the ice in the next two months was the warm-up area. Now, after a year in which he and Ina have taken second- and third-place finishes in national and interna ASSOCIATED PRESS Kyoko Ina will be partner for Troy native Jason Dungjen.

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