PAGE 16 THE BEHREND BEACON MARCH 17 2000
NATIONAL SPORTS
Was he the best? Dan Marino
retires with mixed reviews
by Don Pierson
Chicago Tribune
March 13, 20( X )
CHICAGO - By record and reputa
tion, Dan Marino retired Monday as
the greatest passer in National Foot
ball League history.
If passers can he separated from
quarterbacks, however, he leaves a
legac, open to debate.
He threw more passes for more
completions for more yards and more
touchdowns than anybody who ever
lived. His quick release, strong arm,
deep accurac>. and astonishing num
bers made him the envy of his peers.
Yet Marino never won a Super
Bowl in his 17 seasons with the Mi
ami Dolphins. He got to only one, in
1984, after the most extraordinary
season in passing history, 48
touchdown passes. That ac
complishment in only his sec-
and pro season, an unprec
edented avera,e of three touch
down pitse, a ~ ,!aine, hay been
approached only once, by
Marino when hc threw .44 in his
fouith v e,lr. 19s1)
Thoso tau phenomenal scars
established Marino as a legend
for the duration of career in
which he reached 30 touch-
down pa , ,sc-, only one more
season 19 1 )4I
Marino took his team to the
playoits in toot Ins 1 7 `,CaIIIIS.
the IMlplun Ikl.l champi-
011i1111 in 1985 and
1992. .111 d >c a rccoi (I with
tlic'illik) Il pity,c., 111 13 can-
sccutiv e pla But the
phiws' pos,l ~ eason record
ith him tartine v..a 8-10. He
spent his last tew cars in a desperate
A in. and had to think twice
hetore rejecting. an otter to join the
Minnesota Vikin‘2s next season for
ore last Clin
"Everyone 11011Iti love to play for
ever. but Mat •, impossible." Marino
said before last season. "As long as
We'k C got a chance to in and I feel
like I can help, I \\ ant to play. But you
never know aholli The circumstances
around the team."
XlltertheUulhhiti were eliminated,
(2-7, Jack.onville. Nlarino again
expressed lii, desire to return, hut
without coining right out and saving
it, the Dolphins didn't want the 38-
year-old quartet hack an\ more. New
coach Dave Wannstedt referred to the
dilemma as — The Dan Thing.''
On the dio. Wannstedt replaced
Jinun\ Johnson, he had this answer
to a question about Marino: - Ah, you
know w hat. I yeah, I mean, Dan
had a toug.h \ ear because of some in
juries :ind so forth . What his plans
are for the future. I don't know."
Marino pl.xed gulf last week with
Dolphins' owner Wayne Huizenga in
an attempt to smooth over xt, hat team
mates felt NA as insensitive handling of
a Miami ix on, and Marino is expected
Elliott
by Bill Plaschke
I.os Angeles Times
Niarch 15, 2000
SAN ANTONIO - Midway through
the third quarter. the crowd sliding
from the edge of its seats, the star tee
tering on the edge of his nerves, Sean
Elliott did the only appropriate thing.
He performed another transplant.
A basketball, taken from his right
hand, fitted into a metal rim.
A soaring slam dunk that rattled not
only 26,708 screeching Alamodome
fans, but medical and sports history.
Elliott became the first professional
athlete to play after an organ trans
plant Tuesday, scoring his first and
only points on that dunk, inspiring the
San Antonio Spurs to a 94-79 victory
over the Atlanta Hawks less than
seven months after receiving a new
kidney
But this wasn't about a kidney. This
was about a heart, which carried
Elliott through 12 bruising minutes
most basketball people never thought
possible. He bounced off hard floor
boards, ran through thick forwards,
to swallow any hard feelings. His
standing as a hero in the Miami corn
munity for his charity work is impec
cable, unaffected by losses or inter
ceptions. Because of his efforts, there
is a Dan Marino Center at Miami
Children's Hospital, a legacy more
important to many than his future
Hall of Fame bust.
When it comes to gauging
Marino's standing among quarter
backs, there are differences of opin
ion. Former Bears coach Mike Ditka
once said Marino would go down as
the greatest player in NFL history, but
Ditka's opinion might have been
prejudiced by their common Univer
sity of Pittsburgh background and his
memory of Marino and the Dolphins
ruining the Bears' perfect 1985 sea
Green Bay Packers' general man
ager Ron Wolf did not place Marino
on his list of top 10 all-time quarter
backs a year ago, when he ranked
Denver's John Elway sixth. Marino
and Elway were the last of the six
first-round quarterbacks drafted in
1983 to retire.
"His (Marino) problem is he never
won the big one," Wolf said. "That's
how everybody is judged."
But Wolf didn't included five-time
world champion Bail Starr on his list,
Minnesota Vikings' pro scout Paul
Wiggin, a former player and coach,
also downgraded Marino "because I
don't like the number of Super Bowls
he's won."
Marino's reputation among col
leagues was better. When The Sport
ing News ranked Marino 27th among
all-time football players and sixth
among all-time quarterbacks last No
vember, former New York Giants'
quarterback Phil Simms argued
Marino should be "much higher."
Simms said Marino's pure physi
cal talent separated him from quar
terbacks such as Joe Montana who
benefited from a passer-friendly sys
tem and a better team.
shows 'em how he
dented all common sense
"I was just shocked. ... I couldn't
even think about it ... it was a
miracle," Hawk center Dikembe
Mutombo said. "I ask myself, 'Why
is he coming to the basket so hard?'
Then the next time he comes even
harder, and I get out of the way."
This was also about eyes, those of
Sean and older brother and donor
Noel. Their gaze met during the na
tional anthem with a look that nearly
swallowed them both in tears.
"It was breathtaking," said Noel,
sitting in the courtside seats Sean had
jokingly promised in exchange for
the kidney. "It was overwhelming."
This, too, was about hands, which his
mother Odie laid on Sean before the
game, reminding him that this come
back ended where it began.
"This," she said, "is a night for
family."
Finally, this was about what is
probably best described as a soul. Or
whatever it is that kept Elliott chug
ging through open skepticism by his
coach, lonely hours running stairs,
and a December bout with pneumo-
"Elway and Marino are completely
different quarterbacks," Simms wrote.
"It wasn't about the system with them.
It was their physical ability to throw
the ball like nobody else could."
The NFL separates quarterbacks
from passers in its "passer rating sys
tem," a complex formula combining
percentage of completions, touch
down passes, interceptions and aver
age yards gained per attempt that is
supposed to enable statisticians to
compare passers from different eras.
By that measure, Marino ranks fifth
all-time behind Steve Young, Mon
tana, Brett Favre, and Otto Graham.
But the formula includes the caveat:
"It is important to remember that the
system is used to rate passers, not
quarterbacks. Statistics do not reflect
leadership, play-calling, and other in
tangible factors that go into making a
successful professional quarterback."
Wolf rejects the separation and
judges quarterbacks solely on their
ability "to make the right throw at the
right moment," which is why he ranks
Detroit's Bobby Layne, 106th in all
time passer ratings, ahead of Marino
as a quarterback. Layne won three
championships.
To George Young, NFL vice presi
dent of football operations and a
former Giants' general manager, rank
ing the great quarterbacks is as impos
sible and unnecessary as ranking five
star generals. To him, greatness is
earned by "the guys who create great
anxiety before the ball is even snapped
;that's when you have a true great
player."
There is no doubt Marino gave de
fensive coordinators and cornerbacks
nightmares. Simms calls Marino's
numbers "hilarious, so absurd they're
funny."
To put the numbers into perspective
for fans accustomed to watching the
Bears, Marino threw for more touch
downs (420) and more yards (61,361)
than the top five Bears quarterbacks
of all-time combined. His 66 games
of passing for at least 300 yards are
nia that left him too weak to even walk
to the bathroom.
"I hope this gives people encour
agement, I hope it helps them not to
be afraid," Elliott said with a tired
smile. "That dunk was probably more
memorable than the Memorial Day
Miracle." He was referring to one of
the last times anyone had seen him
play before Tuesday, his three-point
shot in the final seconds that beat the
Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 of
the Western Conference finals last
spnng
The Spurs used that dramatic win
to launch them to an NBA champion
ship while Elliott quietly was sinking
under the weight of degenerative kid
ney disease.
He kept his problem quiet until af
ter the playoffs, then underwent trans
plant surgery Aug. 16.
At the time, the Spurs assumed his
career was over.
All except Elliott, who looked
dumb when he began his comeback,
and dumber as he kept trying.
"When we first started running
wind sprints in November, he looked
23 more 300-yard games than all the
Bears quarterbacks in the team's 80-
year history have managed together.
Barely mobile, Marino neverthe
less was sacked only 291 times in
9,045 passing attempts because of
quick feet and a quicker release. His
147 regular season wins put him one
behind Elway on the all-time list. But
only twice in 10 playoff seasons was
his postseason passer rating higher
than his regular season rating. Over
all, it was 10 points lower.
Said former teammate Bryan Cox,
who faced him twice with the New
York Jets last season: "His arm is,
like, 20 years old. But his body is,
like, 50 now."
Marino and wife Claire have five
children, including an autistic son and
an adopted daughter. His desire to re-
main close to his family was one rea
son for turning down the Vikings.
Another was the memory of one of
his old Pittsburgh Steeler heroes,
Franco Harris, limping out in the uni
form of the Seattle Seahawks.
By retiring a Dolphin, Marino
avoided the incongruous career fin
ishes of Johnny Unitas in a San Di
ego Chargers uniform or Joe Namath
in a Los Angeles Rams uniform. In
five years, when he is eligible for Hall
of Fame selection, Marino will join
Sonny Jurgensen, Y.A. Tittle, Fran
Tarkenton, and Dan Fouts as prolific
passers without a championship. But
he will go way to the head of that
class.
The sixth and final quarterback
drafted in the first round in 1983,
Marino quickly dispelled any doubt
about his ability. Former coach Don
Shula said he sat him down and told
him what he had heard and what he
expected.
"He said, Coach, all I want is to be
the best quarterback in the NFL and
I'll do whatever you want me to do
to be that.' He has," Shula said as
early as 1984.
terrible," teammate Steve Kerr re
called. "But he kept showing up. Ev
ery day he showed up. He kept tug
ging on Pop's (Coach Greg
Popovich) sleeve until he finally
gave him a chance."
On Tuesday, after purposely skipping
what could have been his first game
in New York, Elliott gave his home
town fans a chance.
A chance to cheer like their team
won another championship. A chance
to clutch their armrests in amaze
ment. A chance to joyfully chant
"We Want Sean" in the final minute
of the game, as if their resting star
was a beloved bench-warmer.
Not to mention, it was a chance for
Popovich to take it all back, all those
times he said it would take more than
a doctor's orders or a veteran's pleas
to return Elliott to the floor.
Take it back he did, putting Elliott
in the starting lineup at the last
minute in deference to last season.
"It was a surreal experience,"
Popovich said. "It was just magic."
It began 15 minutes before the game
when Elliott walked to the court to a
Tough
NCAA
panel
by Andrew Bagnato
Chicago Tribune
March 13, 2000
Everything seemed to be falling
into place even before the NCAA Di
vision I men's basketball committee
gathered in Indianapolis the first
weekend of March to hammer out the
tournament field.
Cincinnati, perched atop the polls,
was a lock for the No. 1 seed in the
Midwest Regional. Duke, still click
ing along despite losing four players
to the NBA draft, was a gimme No. 1
in the East. Stanford looked like a
solid No. 1 in the West, and either
Michigan State or Ohio State would
come out of the Big Ten tournament
as the No. 1 in the South.
But then Cincinnati center Kenyon
Martin took a spill in Memphis.
Stanford lost to Arizona. The NCAA
lifted UCLA star Jaßon Rush's sus
pension. And Arkansas and St. Louis,
seemingly destined for NIT oblivion,
charged out of nowhere to win the
Southeastern Conference and Confer
ence USA tournaments, respectively,
and earn automatic berths.
Faster than you can say
"Valparaiso," the brackets were in
shambles.
"With the injuries, the suspensions,
the tournament upsets, it was a phe
nomenal weekend," said rookie chair
man Craig Thompson, in his fifth year
on the panel. "It seemed like every
new game brought a new result that
made us reconsider something we had
just talked about. It was highly un
usual."
And highly controversial
The committee handed No. 1 seeds
to Duke in the Bast, Michigan State
in the Midwest, Arizona in the West
and Stanford in the South, then slot
ted the Bearcats No. 2 in the South.
Coach Bob Huggins took no con
solation in being spared a weekend
in Cleveland, where Cincinnati
seemed headed as No. 1 in the Mid
"It's ridiculous, totally ridiculous,"
Huggins said. "We must be the first
team in history to be No. 1 in the RPI
and not get a No. 1 seed."
Said Thompson, commissioner of
the Mountain West Conference: "The
Ratings Percentage Index is some
thing that is very overrated."
Bracketologists often try to sift the
seeds in search of a message. This
year the committee made it clear that
it pays to play the big boys.
Strength of schedule was a big fac
tor in selecting the top seeds, Thomp
son said, and it helped DePaul, Mis
souri and North Carolina sneak into
the field while excluding Virginia,
operates
standing ovation.
Noel Elliott, that is.
He was followed by Sean, and the
ovation grew louder, and more insis
tent, and repeated itself every time
Sean touched the ball or appeared on
the video scoreboard.
The game began, and Sean took a
pass, dribbled toward the baseline,
and promptly slipped and fell hard.
The guy whose kidney he was car
rying fell with him.
"I was like, `Ohhhh,"' Noel said. "It
was really strange. I couldn't even
talk."
But Sean stood up smiling, and that
was that. Doctors who claimed the
body's natural muscle and bone
mechanisms would protect the kidney
were one for one.
Sean bounced around for the rest
of his five-minute first half, picking
up a rebound and an assist.
Then, with 7:04 remaining in the
third quarter, frustrated by an earlier
missed layup, he dribbled around
Roshown McLeod and flew.
Sitting underneath the basket just
steps away, Noel flew with him, leap-
calls for
selection
Vanderbilt, Villanova and Bowling
Green. Tulsa, which leads the field
with 29 wins, is only a seventh seed
because it loaded up on the likes of
Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Centenary.
"I was afraid I may have
overscheduled," North Carolina
coach Bill Guthridge said.
But while the committee's empha
sis on strength of schedule was clear,
its decision to seed Arizona ahead of
Cincinnati seemed a contradiction.
Like the Bearcats, the Wildcats
will be without their dominant cen
ter in the tournament. Thompson said
Arizona notified the committee that
back problems would keep Loren
Woods out of action.
This came as a stunning injustice
to Cincinnati, whose only losses be
fore the Conference USA tournament
had come in an upset by crosstown
rival Xavier and by Temple, the sec
ond seed in the East.
"That's a historical thing those
guys just did," Huggins said. "How
do they know how good we'll be
without Kenyon?"
They don't. But the committee
does know how good Arizona can be
without Woods. The Wildcats
knocked off Stanford and destroyed
UCLA with Woods in street clothes.
"There was a test there," Thompson
said.
The Wildcats also lost to Oregon
and Oregon State, but the committee
finally decided, unanimously, that
Arizona was less of a question mark
than Cincinnati.
"When you lose a potential and
probable player of the year, that's go
ing to affect your team," Thompson
said. "We did not have an opportu
nity, other than one 37-minute span
in one game, to judge how Cincin
nati would play without Martin. And
it was very difficult because that was
such an emotional period."
It's possible that the snub will in
spire the Bearcats. It's also possible
that they will repeat their history of
early wipeouts. That won't be known
until Cincinnati tips off with UNC-
Wilmington on Friday in Nashville.
Until then, hoop-a-holics have
plenty to quarrel about. Anyone fill
ing out a bracket in the next few days
will appreciate what the selection
committee went through. The uncer
tainty may foretell a wild ride to the
Final Four.
"It brings back into the perspective
of the whole college basketball land
scape how college basketball is just
so competitive," Thompson said. "It
was a very difficult process this
ing to his feet with the dunk and
cheering.
"To break the ice like that, I
couldn't believe it," Noel said.
"Amazing."
Sean, as usual, agreed.
"You dream about something like
that," he said. "But it's not realistic."
It is now. Lots of things are realistic
now.
A basketball player's message to
transplant patients everywhere was
The body part may belong to some
body else, but the courage is still
yours.
Like Sean Elliott's sneakers, hope
was everywhere.
"Watching him, we were alt like,
`Damn,'' eammate Malik Rose said.
"That's all we could think. 'Damn!' "
Walking off the floor to the locker
room amid camera lights and blaring
music and one final standing ovation
Tuesday night, Sean stopped to en
close Noel in a long, sweaty embrace.
The brothers said nothing. The broth
ers said everything.