Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 17

in IS BASEBALL Sun late rally burns Pistons Section NHL, Page 3 Basketball, Page 4 NFL, Page 5 Tuesday, January 21, 1997 Cardinals centerfieldcr Curt Flood, who challenged baseball's reserve system, dies of throat cancer. Page 2C. Jim Dclroit 4frcc Pre AO "TIN 1 Mb TVO ii ii i i i i SICE. By Perry A. farrell Free Prr Sport Wrilir PHOENIX For one of the few times this season, the Pistons were guilty of not taking advantage of what the defense gave them Monday night Phoenix bombed away from the outside in the final 12 minutes and wrestled away an 89-86 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,023 at America West Arena.

The Pistons (28-10) are 2-2 on their West Coast trip. Any momentum they gained from beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday evaporated in the Phoenix night Abandoning their usual slowdown game and Otis Thorpe's presence on the inside, the Pistons tried to match Phoenix three-pointer for three-pointer in the last quarter and failed, getting outscored, 32-24. And Thorpe wasn't pleased. "He already has the story made up, so just go with that" Thorpe said of coach Doug Collins after getting only eight shots in 44 minutes. He made three and scored eight points to go with 13 rebounds.

Thorpe felt he had an advantage on 6-foot-9 Mark Bryant on the inside, and that 6-10 Terry Mills did, too, when Suns Please see PISTONS, Page 4C lions hire Moeller to coach runners "r-p- I RedWings forward Brendan Shanahan, later ejected for spearing, is double-teamed against the boards by Montreal's Darcy Tucker (42) and Turner Stevenson in the first period of Monday night's 4-1 loss at the Molson Center. RYAN ntMIORZAP ft By Curt Sylvester Fret Prnt SjjofU Whirr Bobby Ross has found a silver lining behind the dark cloud that drove Gary Moeller out as Michigan football coach two years ago. Moeller. forced to resign after a rowdy drinking bout in a Southfleld restaurant, was hired Monday as run ning backs coach for the Lions. Koss, named Lions head coach last week, said he knew the drinking incident would be revived as an issue if he hired Moeller but said he would not let it affect his decision.

"I was not going to allow that to interfere with what I thought was a really outstanding football Ross said. "I anticipated the questions; I'm not a dummy in that respect I knew it would be coming. I'd given it a lot of thought in hiring him, and I felt this is a good man and a good football coach. I'm excited about adding him to our program." Moeller is equally excited about working for Ross, but he said the incident two years ago didn't influ ence his considerations for the job. That's a thing of the past really Moeller said.

"I look forward to where we can go coaching with him.i Those things are over and I wan! to be a coordinator. That's the route, 4 I i s. I I i 1 i Wrong-way Wings fall, 4-1, to Habs I'd like to take. Looking at everythin, and weighing things, this is the roa as I judge it now that will taW me there the fastest" Moeller said he and Ross did not talk about a position until Thursday (n Mobile, where Ross had gone tu hire a staff and scout. Moeller haS been tight ends coach on Bruce Co kt's staff with the Bengals.

Moeller, who will be 56 on Surf day, is one of three assistants Rosi byhelenest.james Pre ftm Sporti Wrilw MONTREAL So much for all the talk about turning things around. In their inaugural visit to the Molson Center, the Red Wings nosedived to 1-5-2 in their last eight games after a 4-1 loss Monday night to the Montreal Canadicns. True, the Wings were without their most consistent defenseman, Nick Lidstrom, who was out with a stomach bug. And yes. No.

1 goalie Chris Osgood stayed home nursing a hamstring. And they lost Brendan Shanahan after the first period and Sergei Fedorov after the second. But as Scotty Bowman said before the game: "How do you get better? You get better through adversity." Well just how much more adversity do they need? "For some of the younger guys, that's the only way to learn," Steve Yzerman said. "Older guys shouldn't really have an excuse for it You come off the All-Star break, and it would be nice to start off with a win. (The first two periods) we played with enthusiasm and we played hard, but when you're Struggling, these tilings happen.

We lost for the same reason Please see RED WINGS, Page 2C JUL) AN H. GONZALQ Detroit Ftm Prau Former Michiin coach Gary Moeller, above, "is a good man and a good football coach," Lions coach Bobby Ross said upon hiring him Monday. Ross also hired linebackers coach Joe Pascale and defensive backs coach Richard Sclcer, and shifted recently hired Frank Falks from running backs to tight ends to make room for Moeller. Please see GARY MOELLER, Page 5C AMAIZIN The ups and downs of Gary Moeller's careen Lets let Gary Moeller mistake stay where it belongs in the past SOUTH OF THE BORDER Puch. Has Dennis Rodman started a fad? An unidentified Mexican player kicked Birmingham's Alexi Lalas in the groin Sunday after a scuffle broke out during Mexico's 2-0 soccer victory over the United States.

Lalas dropped to the ground and rolled around in pain for several minutes, but later said there were no hard feelings. here was no press conference, no big announcement, no fanfare, just a fax that slipped off the machine in the Free Press sports department late Monday afternoon. Tie Lions had hired three more assistant coaches, it said. Joe Pascale. Rich "A full-on attack on I Moeller was a center and linebacker under coach Woody Hayes (and assistant Bo Schembechler) at Ohio State in 1960-62.

The Buckeyes were 21-5-1 in that span, won the national title in '61, and Moeller was captain in '62. Moeller began his college coaching career as an assistant on Schembechler's Miami (Ohio) staff in 1967. He accompanied Schembechler to Michigan in '69 and was named defensive coordinator in 73. Illinois named Moeller, 35, head coach in 1977. He was forced out after three seasons and a 6-24-3 record.

Moeller returned to Ann Arbor in 1980 to coach quarterbacks and in 1982 began a second stint as defensive coordinator. His team including son Andy, a linebacker led the nation in scoring defense (6.8 points) in 1985. Schembechler made Moeller his first and only offensive coordinator in 1987, and hired him as his suc cessor as head coach in January 1990. Moeller' Wolverines compiled a 44-13-3 record in five seasons. They won or tied for the Big Ten title his first three seasons, went 3-1-1 against Ohio State, 1-1 in Rose Bowls and also posted victories in the Gator, Hall of Fame and Holiday bowls.

On April 28, 1995. Moeller was arrested outside a Southficld restaurant where he had been drinking and abusive. He was forced to resign (the buyout cost U-M Moeller pleaded no contest May 8 to charges of disorderly conduct and assaulting a police officer. He was fined $409. On June 23, 1995.

the Cincinnati Bengals hired Moeller to coach tight ends. He survived the firing of head coach David Shuia after a 1-6 start this season and was offered a contract for 1997, but took the job as running backs coach on Bobby Ross' Lions staff. was magnified by the media. If not magnified, surely examined closely fur all its sensational minutiae, surely belabored, and in the end the glare was more than the University of Michigan could bear. So Moeller disappeared.

Poof! Just like that Now, Bobby Ross has reversed the magic. Poof! And Moeller is back, because Ross was one of those people who admired and respected the man and his work. They met again a couple of nights ago at a hotel in suburban Detroit, got to know each other better and by the time they parted, Ross had a running backs coach. There will be some who will object to Moellcr's coming back, probably, some who will joke about it, some who will dredge up the past those awful couple of hours when a career was undone. Moeller said, before he accepted Ross' offer, "I thought about that for two seconds, and it bothers me some.

But hopefully people will remember the good things I've done." The afternoon that Moeller was forced Charlie Vincent i ard Selcer. And Gary Moeller. And so, as quietly as he stole away. Gary Moeller returns. He had one of the best jobs in college football, coaching Michigan, and he had the respect and admiration of the people who worked with him.

Then, on an April evening not quite two my manhood, Lalas said. That's how it should be a player kicking a player, not a player kicking a photographer. That's what happens when boys come together. There'9 a whole lot of spitting, fighting and kicking. There was a whole lot of testosterone flying around out there." ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING Lalas also is a musician, whose 1994 CD, "Woodland," included a cut called "Kckin'BahVIfhe still has a music career, we have a few years ago, he had one bad night About as bad a night as a guy can have, COACHES' CORNER Dick Vermeil, out of coaching since 1982.

is headed for Rams. Report says Bill Parcclls' career with Patriots ends on Super Sunday. Fakrons hire Dan Reeves. Page 5C. I guess.

One awful public display that some say Please see ClLUUJE VINCENT, Page 5C Mitchell, Lions close to a deal ELSAHASCHAIUport Alexi Lalas is in discomfort after being kicked in the groin by an opponent A Gilbert Brown Don't argue with him: Bigger better for Brown BY CtIRT SYLVESTER fnt Pmu Spof WrilfT NEW ORLEANS OK, what do you expect from a guy who has a hamburger named after him? Svelte? Narrow waisted? A weight-watcher? C'mon now. What you expect in Gilbert Brown the man responsible for the growing popularity of the Gilbert Burger at Burger Kings all over Green Bay is exactly what you get He's a big man, with a big waistline and big ambitions, and he has been making big plays lining up between Reggie White and Sean Jones on the Packers' defensive line. He's the guy the Packers call their run stopper. And his critics say he's so big he's listed at 325 pounds but there's a Please see SUPER BOWL, Page 5C period begins Feb. 15.

Sources say Mitchell's return is based primarily on the interest of owner William Clay Ford and vice-chairman Bill Ford Jr. in retaining him as the team's quarterback not, as previously rumored, on the firing of former coach Wayne Pontes. On the occasion of Fontes' firing, however. Ford Jr. indicated the Lions planned to re-sign Mitchell, whom they originally landed as a free agent for a three-year, contract in 1994.

Most of the groundwork on the contract had been laid during the season, and it apparently is ready for finalizing. BY CIRT SYLVESTER frrt Vrrm Spnrtt Wntrr If there were any doubt about quarterback Scott Mitchell's future with the Lions, it could be eliminated within the next few days by a new four-year contract NFL sources said Monday that Mitchell and the Lions are very close to finalizing the deal, which would include a signing bonus between $8 million and $10 million. Mitchell's agent, Tony Agnone of Baltimore, could not be reached to confirm progress in contract talks. But Agnone has said he expects things to go smoothly and result in an agreement before the free agency suggestions for his new repertoire: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feclin' "Achy Breaky, uh, Heart" "You Really Got Me" "Money for Nothing (and Your Kicks for Free)" "A Whiter Shade of Pale" "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" The Thrill Is Gone" "Mania Sang Bass, Daddy Sang Tenor" Rodman to pay cameraman $200,000 settlement, report says. Page 4C.

SUPER BOWL XXXI WHEN: 6: 18 p.m. Sunday. WHERE: New Orleans. TV: Fox (Channel 2 in Detroit). LINE: Packers by 14..