Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 46

2B DETROIT FREE PRESSSATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1989 IJohnLewis matdi race works; agents Ron Irvrinenn irA Pari cmno iW miAt Qmt running back Eric Wilkerson from the develop lure Andre into signing a contract. Rodgers has (mm I '41 General manager Larry Doughty denied reports the Pittsburgh Pirates were about to deal leftfielder Barry Bonds to Los Angeles for third baseman Jeff Hamilton of Flint and pitcher John Wetteland, a former Tigers! property. EEl HOCKEY: The Soviet Union routed in Moscow, winning the Izvestia tourrameht and relegating the Canadians (2-1-2) to fourth' place. Finland and Canada each had six points, but the Finns got tne bronze medal by beating Canada. The Czechs won the silver.

SOCCER: Argentina's Diego Maradona may be banned from next year's World Cup because 51 his accusations that the tournament draW'MS fixed for television purposes and to favorthe host Italians, said Joseph Blatter, secretary general of FIFA, the international soccer feder-j ation. mental squad. Wilkerson played at Kent State. The New England Patriots put defensive end Kenneth Sims (knee) on injured reserve and activated defensive end Peter Shorts from their developmental squad. OLYMPICS: The U.S.

Olympic Committee named hurdlers Roger Kingdom and Sandra Farmer-Patrick as its athletes of the year, and Mike Barrowman of the University if Michigan and Janet Evans as the top swimmers. Barrowman broke two world records in the breaststroke. BASEBALL Free-agent infielder Damaso Garcia of Montreal agreed to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract worth $500,000 with the New York Yankees, and catcher Rick Cerone agreed to a two-year contract worth $1.4 million. Cerone became a free agent when Boston failed to offer him a contract. denied wrongdoing.

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Jim Strong was named as coach at Nevada-Las Vegas. Strong, 36, signed a five-year contract at $95,000 a year. He is to be introduced to fans at halftime of today's UNLV-Iowa basketball game, before joining the Irish for their trip to Miami for the Jan. 1 Orange Bowl against Colorado. NFL The Los Angeles Rams placed safety Anthony Newman (elbow) on injured reserve and activated running- back Mel Fair Jr.

off their developmental squad. Green Bay Packers All-Pro linebacker Tim Harris has been named in a paternity suit by a Birmingham, woman who claims he is the father of her 8-year-old son. The Pittsburgh Steelers placed running back Rodney Carter (knee) on injured reserve and activated wide receiver and 25 in a $3.2 million rematch of their Olympic 100-meter final, two days after Johnson's sus-I pension for drug use expires, according to a published report. The Daily Express of London said U.S. boxing promoter Bob Arum was lining up the race, scheduled to be run in Barcelona, Spain.

"People have talked to me about it period," Arum told the Associated Press from i Las Vegas. "But it's so premature now it's almost laughable." Johnson beat Lewis with a world-record of 9.79 seconds on Sept. 24, 1988, in the Olympic final at Seoul. But two days later, he -was stripped of the gold medal after testing positive for steroids. He was suspended for two years by the International Amateur Athletic Federation and the record was voided.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska and a Nebraska sports marketing firm identified as TEAM America of Lincoln were fined $10,000 apiece by the Texas secretary of state, who alleged that they illegally contacted 1989 Heisman winner Andre Ware. The fines are the maximum provided by Texas' athlete agent law enacted in 1987, under which agents may not contact an athlete who has college eligibility remaining. Ware, quarterback at Houston, has one year of eligibility left and, according to secretary of state George Bayoud, has said he plans to return for his senior year. Bayoud alleges that Rodgers and TEAM America failed to register as athlete agents in Texas; illegally contacted Ware; and offered gifts, cash, and transportation to the Heisman ceremonies in New York to Joyce Ware, Andre's mother, to FREE PRESS PRO PICKS Froe Press sports writers Curt Sylvester, Corky Metnecke and George Puscas take their best shots each week at predicting pro football's winners and losers. Their choices are made against the Glantz-Culver line (indicated with each game).

Home teams are capitalized. Ml I III HAPPY 100TH Paul Otis who turns 100 Sunday, shows the clove and he used in SYLVESTER'S MEINECKE'S PUSCAS' i ii his four-game THIS WEEK'S GAMES PICKS PICKS PICKS Buffalo 7 over NY JETS Buffalo NY Jets Buffalo SEATTLE 1V4 over Wash. Washington Seattle Seattle HOUSTON 3Mi over Cleve. Houston Houston Cleveland Detroit 3 over ATLANTA Detroit Detroit Detroit MIAMI 3V4 over Kansas City Miami Kansas City Kansas City NY GIANTS 7 over Raiders LA Raiders LA Raiders NY Giants NEW ORLEANS 2V4 over Indy New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans Rams 7 over NEW ENGLAND LA Rams LA Rams LA Rams Green Bay 7 over DALLAS Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay PHIL. 13 over Phoenix Philadelphia Philadelphia Philadelphia Pitt.

3 over TAMPA BAY Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Denver 2Vt over SAN DEGO Denver San Diego Denver SAN FRAN. 9 over Chicago San Francisco Chicago San Fran. MINN. 6 over Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Minnesota LAST WEEK ymi'fm 8-6 1Q-4 ifMi 9-5 SEASON TOTALS 99-106-5 95-110-5 94-111-5 1 IT I i i Sylvester's best bet: Detroit minus-3 over Atlanta Falcons have endured an agonizing season, want to get It over, Lions want to finish strong and will. Count on It.

Best bet record: Bia. Melnecke's best bet: Green Bay plus-7 over Dallas. Anytime is a good time to bet against the Cowboys. Best bet record: 7-7-1. Puscas' best bet Detroit minus-3 over Atlanta.

Falcons give up more points than anybody, so Lions look fof a shootln' wind up to the season. Best bet record: 6-9. career as an outfielder with the New York Highlanders in 1912. Otis, who lives in Duluth, will be tthe third former major leaguer to 100. He batted l-for-20: "It was off Walter Johnson a drive over second base, a clean single to centerfield" A special Aloha for former Nearly 25 years ago, Charlie Wedemeyer left Iolani High School in Hawaii for East Lansing.

Coach Duffy Daugherty persuaded him to get his college education and play football at Michigan State. Wedemeyer will be welcomed home Monday at the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu and honored as Hawaii's Sportsman of the Year for his work on behalf of victims of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's Disease. 1 The presentation will be made at halftime of the football game be-l tween Hawaii and the Spartans. Wedemeyer, a quarterback for the Spartans in 1966-68, was diagnosed with ALS 13 years ago. Doc-' tors said he would live only months, a Santa mu know hoVP to pick 'eip Well, it's Christmas, and I anTfiop ing Santa allows me to get all my picks correct this weekend so I down the street without having "Scfljie: nice old lady stop and say, HeyJ There's the moron that pickedPhilly over New Orleans.

You cost me five bucks!" By the way, speaking of Christmas, I fully expect Santa to bring the following gifts to the following people: new stick of gum. I think we're just about finished with that last one, don't you Mike? Wayne Fontes: Some credit. Joe Montana: Something he can't do. You know. For a change of Jim Harbaugh: A new arm.

Bernie Kosar. His old arm. Christian Okoye: A dental appointment for tomorrow. That way, Barry Sanders can win the rushing titled And now this week's picks. .,11 LIONS 23, ATLANTA 10: 1 see a Sanders.

No. Wait. I see two Sanders. I see one Sanders racing past the othet Sanders. I see one Sanders going to the Pro Bowl, while the other goes to the jewelry store.

I see a Sanders. SAN FRANCISCO 28, CHICAGO 14: The 49ers win when they have to! They win when they don't have to.l'fi) beginning to think they can win in heir, sleep. GREEN BAY 22, DALLAS It's been a great year for Jimmy Johnson, hasn't it? Santa will leave him an extra can of hair spray. 7 LA RAMS 21, NEW ENGLAND 20: Santa doesn't leave any presents for Steve Grogan, since Grogan is older than Santa by a few years. NEW ORLEANS 7, INDIANAPOLIS 16: Eric Dickerson gets, his Christmas wish: To never be hit by, defender again.

Santa makes him i analyst. NY GIANTS 20, LA RAIDERS 10: Bo Jackson reveals his Christmas wish: To play for the U.S. soccer team jn next year's World Cup. PHILADELPHIA 28, PHOENIX 13: Now let's see. What could we get Buddy Ryan for Christmas? Hmm.

How about a brain? PITTSBURGH 21, TAMPA BAY 12: Here is what Vinny Testaverde's wishes: That all players wore the same color uniforms. That way, his interceptions wouldn't count. SEATTLE 0, WASHINGTON 0: Just before kickoff, the teams decide "Hey. Why play this game? We're, both out of it." They go to brunch at the Marriott instead. BUFFALO 14, NY JETS 10: The battle for New York.

Loser has to stay there. HOUSTON 34, CLEVELAND 28:. The problem with the AFC Central is that everybody wants to go to the playoffs. DENVER 24, SAN DIEGO 23: John Elway's Christmas wish; That people would forget him for 24 hours. Jim McMahon's wish: That people would remember him for 24 hours.

KANSAS CITY 20, MIAMI The Miami offensive linemen rip open their presents and Oh, no! Not those stupid Isotoner gloves again! MINNESOTA 20, CINCINNATI 1 7: Boomer Esiason reveals his Christmas wish: To change his first name to Irving. RECORD LAST WEEK: 10-4'. RECORD VS. SPREAD: 6-8, SEASON RECORD: 139-71. RECORD VS.

SPREAD: 98 -107-5. BEST PICK LAST WEEK: Rams 30, Jets 21. Rams won, 38-14. WORST PICK LAST WEEK: Kansas City 27, San Wego 14. Chargers, won, 20-13.

Mitch albcm The picB- Falcons face lions after facing tragedy Falcons, from Page IB 3-12 record are of little consequence. But it has made for a long, unhappy season in Atlanta. "Obviously it was a shock to the team and the coaching staff when Marion retired," Hanifan said. "Right before that we had the tragic death of Ralph Norwood, a very promising young man and a terrific youngster. "The guys just extended themselves to the max Sunday afternoon against the Redskins and lost, 31-30.

1 turn around the next morning and walk into the office and find out our young tight end, Brad Beckman, had been killed in a car accident. That's really been difficult, no question about that. "I have never been associated where there has really, truly been one death on the team during the season during the last 30 years I've been coaching. That we have two in the same year is unbelievable. "It is difficult to overcome, particularly for the fellows who were real close to the young men.

It's difficult for the coaches. You're at a loss for words. "The loss of human life obviously affects all of us." Campbell resigned Nov. 27 before he could be fired at the end of the season, leaving Hanifan and his assistants in a difficult position. They were told they would not be considered when the Smith family Rankin Rankin Jr.

and Taylor gets around to hiring a head coach. The names most often mentioned as candidates are Duke coach Steve Spurrier, Washington assistant head coach Joe Bugel and San Francisco offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren. Whoever gets the job will be taking over a team that has had two winning records in the 1980s 124 and a division championship in 1980, 5-4 and a wild-card playoff berth in the 1982 strike season. The Falcons have the third-worst record of the '80s (57-93-1 for a .381 winning percentage), only slightly worse than the Lions, who are 60-90-1 (.397) going into the final game of the decade. The Smith family has taken most of the blame for the team's miseries.

By naming Ken Herock as vice president for player personnel, they might finally be putting the Falcons on the right track. As it stands, Atlanta has the nucleus of a representative NFL team in promising young players: quarterback Chris Miller, receivers Michael Haynes and Shawn Collins, linebackers Aundray Bruce and Marcus Cotton and corner-back Deion Sanders. "Whoever the responsible parties select for the coaching position, the guy is stepping into a pretty good situation, in that it is a young team," Hanifan said. "It's not an old team where the guy has to come in and lop off a lot of old-timers. It's not that way.

"Marion really did that a couple of years ago, and these kids are not going New Toledo Free Press Wire Reports TOLEDO Nick Saban, the University of Toledo's new football coach, says he hopes fans can put be-' i hind them the controversy cre-- ated by his pre-f decessor's firing. We need support from the people in the community to do that," Saban said, "and I hope we can move forward in a positive Nick Saban direction and not dwell on the past. This university, this program is bigger than any one person, arf3 it's bigger than Nick Saban." ill to get anything but better." The Falcons also have three high draft picks next spring. They have their own first-rounder (possibly No. 1 overall because Dallas used its No.

1 on Steve Walsh in last June's supplemental draft), Washington's first-round pick and their own No. 2, which might be the 27th player overall. Hanifan and his staff probably won't be around for the better days that might be ahead. They just have to get through the final game Sunday. "The coaches who are in a lame-duck situation as it is and have been for the last four weeks I'm really proud as hell to be associated with those guys," Hanifan said.

"They have really shown the professionalism they have and worked their tails off." NOTEBOOK: Lions coach Wayne Fontes met Thursday evening with Lions owner William Clay Ford to discuss the team's future. Fontes said he thinks Ford will decide on a new front-office alignment soon, possibly next week. Linebacker George Jamison, who had arthroscopic knee surgery earlier this week, was put on injured reserve Friday but will not require further surgery. Wide receiver Michael Williams was activated from the developmental squad for Sunday's game. Robert Morris College admits violations to NCAA PITTSBURGH (AP) A Robert Morris College staff member twice in 14 years paid apartment rents for athletes who had been kicked out of dormitories, the college has informed the NCAA.

Four athletes were involved in the violation of NCAA rules, according to college president Edward Nicholson. None is currently at the college. One incident lasted five months, the other three months. Nicholson did not say what sports were involved, but he previously said attorney Alan Garfinkle was investigating reports about all sports. The investigation began last summer, two weeks before Nicholson became president.

Table tennis couple finishes long journey down the aisle Jiao Zhimin of China, a former world champion of women's table tennis, was married to Ahn Jae-hyung, a South Korean table tennis star, in a traditional Korean-style ceremony Friday in Seoul, where both won medals in the 1988 Olympics. The couple first met at a table tennis meet in Pakistan in 1984, but their relationship faced five years of difficulty because South Korea and China have no diplomatic relations. Some sports leaders, including International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, lent their influence to help the couple marry. By Brad Betker, from Free Press wire reports Associated Press Spartan Wedemeyer prediction he nuuieu. A ia8 made-for-TV movie on his life has given him a new mission: spreading a message of joy and hope to victims of ALS and other neuromuscular diseases.

"I am convinced that God has a sense of humor to send someone like me, that cannot talk, on a speaking tour," Wedemeyer said. He communicates by having his wife, Lucy, read his lips and voice his thoughts. Wedemeyer coaches the freshman football team at Los Gatos (Calif.) High School and travels to Cal-Berkeley games to watch his son Kale play football. "It's been a wonderful experience," Wedemeyer said. "I never dreamed two years ago that I would be doing so much." i tbj i u.u.

oiympic (jold: Skate Canada figure skating competition, Cornwell, Ontario (taped). Midnight (USD College basketball: Oklahoma at Loyola Marymount. Radio 1:30 p.m. Red Wings: Detroit at Boston, WJR-AM (760) 4:00 College basketball: Seton Hall vs. Michigan at Las Vegas, WWJ-AM (950), WPZA-AM (1050); WJR-AM (760) will join after Wings.

7:30 Pistons: Orlando at Detroit, WWJ-AM (950), WPZA-AM (1050). 8:00 NHL: Chicago at Toronto, CHYR-AM (730). 8:00 College basketball: Eastern Michigan at Michigan State, WXYT-AM (1270), WEMU-FM (89.1). 10:00 College basketball: Detroit vs. Maine or New Mexico at Albuquerque (8 p.m.

if consolation game) WMTG-AM (1310). Detroit area events Basketball Pistons vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m., the Palace. Call 377-8600. Michigan State vs.

Eastern Michigan, 8 p.m., Breslin Center. Some $10 tickets left. Call 517-355-1610. Harness racing Northville Downs 11 races, 1 p.m., 12 races, 7:30 p.m., 301 S. Center St.

Call 349-1000. Sports Creek Raceway 1 1 races, 1 p.m., 12 races, 7 p.m., 4290 Morrish Road, Swartz Creek. Call 635-3333. Windsor Raceway 10 races, 1:30 p.m., 10 races, 7:30 p.m., Highway 18 and Sprucewood. Call 961-9545.

1:00 Ou j) Lions: Detroit at Allania. 1:00 US NFL: LA Raiders at NY Giants. 4:00 Q(TJ NFL: Chicago at San Francisco. 11:30 Sunday Sportsjpdate. Today's Games Buffalo at NY Jets KICKOFF: 12:30 p.m., Giants Stadium.

TV: NBC, Channel 4 in Detroit. LINE: Bills by 7. OVERVKW: Buffalo (8-7), in a three-way tie atop the AFC East, will win the division with a victory over the Jets (4-11). The Bills hold the tiebreaker advantage in the division because they beat Miami twice and have a better division record than Indianapolis. If the Bills lose, they can win the division if Indianapolis and Miami lose, but they can be a wildcard only if Indianapolis, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, the Raiders and Seattle all lose.

The Bills have lost three straight. The Jets, who were awful last season, too, kept the Giants out of the playoffs with a Week 16 victory last year. Washington at Seattle KICKOFF: 4 p.m., Seattle Kingdome. TV: CBS, Channel 2 in Detroit. LINE: Seahawks by Vh.

OVERVIEW: The Redskins can't make the playoffs, but not only can they knock out the Seahawks (8-7), who have the slimmest of chances anyway, but they could have an impact on the NFC race if they win. A three-way tie at 10-6 among Green Bay, the LA Rams and the Redskins would keep the Rams out of the playoffs. Cleveland at Houston KICKOFF: 8 p.m., Houston Astrodome. TV: ESPN cable. LINE: Oilers by 3V4.

OVERVIEW: The winner wins the AFC Central. The loser stays alive in the wild-card race with the Oilers (9-6) having a much better chance than the Browns (8-6-1) to make It in the back door. Much is made of the House of Pain, but the Browns have won four of their last five there. feated USC in the 1988 Rose Bowl. Saban said he will remain with the Oilers until their season ends.

They play Cleveland tonight and are guaranteed a playoff game with a victory. "If we can get out of this thing by the middle of January, I don't think we'll miss a beat," Saban said. "And with the connections I have, hopefully we can make up for lost time in recruiting and salvage the recruiting year from that standpoint." Saban will make about $62,000 a year, Bohl said. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Running back Kevin Mitchell of Saginaw Valley State and offensive lineman David Beebe of Grand Valley State made the second unit of the Associated Press' Little All-America team. Grand Valley State defensive lineman Todd Tracey made the third team.

Sports today Television 11:30 JB Michigan Outdoors. Noon ED Fishing Michigan. Noon CBSD College basketball: Kansas State at North Carolina Noon (NBC) NFL Live. 12:30 p.m. (NBC) NFL Buffalo at New York Jets.

1:00 College bowl preview. 1:00 Billy Packer's College Basketball Preview. 1:30 IS (ABC) College basketball: Iowa at Nevada-Las Vegas. 1:30 (TJ College basketball: Pittsburgh at Toledo. 2:00 Skiing: women's World Cup downhill, Steamboat Springs, Colo, (taped).

3:00 Sportsweekend: Skiing, men's World Cup downhill, Saalbach, Austria; Commonwealth Games swimming and boxing trials. 3:00 CW3D College basketball: Marquette at DePaul. 3:30 (ED (CBS) NFL Today. 4:00 (ABC) College basketball: Seton Hall vs. Michigan at Las Vegas.

4:00 (TJ (CBS) NFL: Washington at Seattle. 4:00 (ED (NBC) Sportsworld: Nutcracker on Ice, Minneapolis. 7:15 QM) Pistons Today, i 7:30 USD Pistons: Orlando at Detroit. 7:30 CMD NBA: Chicago at Philadelphia 7:30 Don Cherry's Grapevine. 8:00 NHL: Chicago at Toronto.

8:00 OSD NFL Cleveland at Houston. SUNDAY TELEVISION 11:30 a.m. George Perles. Noon 0 Detroit Lions Today. Noon CSD Senior league baseball: St.

Lucie at West Palm Beach. 12:30 13) (CBS) NFL Today. 1130 (NBC) Live. coach asks fans for support Saban, 38, the Houston Oilers' defensive backfield coach the last two seasons, became Toledo's coach Friday, in a week Sports Illustrated published an article detailing Dan SimreH's firing after a season in which the Rockets (6-5, 6-2) tied for second in the Mid-American Conference. Athletic director Allen Bohl's firing of Simrell last month outraged the community and led to a petition drive to reinstate him.

Saban was an assistant defensive coach at Ohio State for the 1980-81 season and an assistant at Michigan State in 1983-1987. He was defensive coordinator when Michigan State de mMM.