PAGE 14, THE BEHREND BEACON, SEPTEMBER 17, 1999
Lions win 'old
by Kimberly Jones
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Ninety
five games or not, the Pitt-Penn State
rivalry may have ventured into a new
dimension on Saturday afternoon at
Beaver Stadium.
"An old-fashioned bar fight in the
hack alley," was how Nittany Lion
fullback Mike Cerimele - with sweat
dripping down his forehead and a
smile covering his lace - described
No. 2 Penn State's 20-17 escape from
the Panthers.
And who could argue'?
The tilt, Penn State's seventh
straight victory in a series that is not
scheduled to continue past next sea
son, featured a trio of game-chang
ing interceptions, few rushing yards
by either side, a timely sack by Lion
defensive tackle David Fleischhauer
and a game-clinching blocked field
goal attempt on the second-to-last
play by linebacker LaVar Arrington.
Speaking of Arrington, he also
made an interception that went for
naught and provided one of the
contest's more entertaining side
shows when he and Pitt punter Greg
Deßolt engaged in a couple of spe
cial teams battles that resembled
wrestling matches, one of which re
sulted in not one hut two personal
fouls against Penn State.
Steelers give Cleveland rude welcome, 43-0
by T.J. Simers
Los Angeles 'Fillies
CLEVELAND - They waited three
years for this, and by the start of the
fourth quarter they were headed to the
parking lot, witnesses no more to the
worst defeat at home in Cleveland
Browns' history.
If the gun-toting, bayonet-fixed
U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Pla
toon had performed in pregame fes
tivities with the same precision as the
Browns, it would have been a blood
bath.
The Pittsburgh Steelers pounded
the expansion Browns, 43-0, Sunday
night, as happy as anyone that Cleve
land is hack in the league alter record
ing their seventh victory in a row over
them.
It was only the ninth time in fran
chise history the Browns had failed
to score at home, the very first time
in the new Cleveland Browns Sta
dium before 73,138.
— We learned about sonic of our in
dividuals tonight," Cleveland Coach
Andre Agassi continues comeback
by winning his second U.S. Open
by Bill Fleischman
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
NEW YORK - Good show, guys
Following rousing semifinals, the
U.S. Open men's final is often anti
climatic. Not this year.
No. 2 seed Andre Agassi climbed
off the Arthur Ashe Stadium
hardcourt to beat seventh-seeded
Todd Martin Sunday night, 6-4, 6-
7 (5-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2, to gain
his second U.S. Open title.
The last major tournament final
of the millennium was worthy of
champagne toasts for both players.
Since filing for divorce from ac
tress Brooke Shields in April,
Agassi has won the U.S. Open and
French Open, and was runner-up
to Pete Sampras at Wimbledon. In
raising his Grand Slam tournament
title total to five, Agassi won two
majors in one year for the first time.
Single life has allowed him to
make a serious commitment to ten
nis again. Agassi's ranking has
rocketed from No. 141 to No. 1.
Any day, Agassi, 29, will show
up on billboards advocating bach
elorhood.
Former touring pro Brad Gilbert
has directed Agassi's comeback.
Two years ago, Gilbert said
Agassi's "agony was self-inflicted.
I told him he had a lot left. If he
rededicated himself, he'd get every
thing back."
Said Agassi: "I had to make a
choice: play the game or quit. If I
was going to play, I had to do a lot
of work."
"If Pitt didn't make a statement
about this being a rivalry today, then
I don't know what a rivalry is," said
Arrington, a Pittsburgh native who
didn't necessarily make a statement
about his grappling ability. Said he
of the double-flagged skirmish, "1
knocked the punter down (and) I
was laying on him." Of snuffing
Nick Lutz's 52-yard field goal at
tempt w ith four seconds remaining,
Arrington grinned. "I've gotta block
it," was what ran through his mind
before the ball was snapped. "But
thinking and doing are two differ
ent things," he added.
What the Nittany Lions did was
win when it wasn't easy for them,
as had been the case in a pair of
season-opening maulings over Ari
zona and Akron.
"We didn't do everything right."
said Penn State tight end Tony
Stewart. who made his first recep
tion of the season, "but we showed
we're tough and we got things done
when we had to."
First, the offense did so, driving
77 yards after Pitt had forged a 17-
17 tie with 4:34 to go on a 42-yard
touchdown reception by Julius
Dixon. Penn State's big play of its
final series - and possibly its biggest
play of the game - was a splendid
pass from Kevin Thompson to Eddie
Drummond that covered 51 yards
Chris Palmer said
They can't play football very well.
The Steelers had more points than
the Browns' had offensive yards, 43-
40. and if the city of Cleveland
thought the return of football and a
blimp flying overhead with a national
TV audience watching would he a
boost to its self-esteem - oops.
just sorry the fans of Cleve
land had to go through that joke to
night," fullback Marc Edwards said.
This was one for the dawgs, all
right, the Browns running nine times
for nine yards, a dead man falling flat
on his face gaining more yardage on
the averay.e.
Ty Detmer and Tim Couch com
bined to average 1.6 yards a passing
play. Couch, the No. I player selected
in the 1999 draft, came On in relief in
the fourth quarter and his first pass
as a professional was intercepted.
He's still waiting for his first comple
tion.
The easiest way to take the crowd
out of it is not to give them anything
to cheer about," Pittsburgh Coach Bill
Agassi worked with his personal
trainer, Gil Reyes, for hours daily
in the broiling Nevada sun. He
bitted weights and ran up and down
a 320-yard hill he named "Magic
Mountain."
Martin, appearing in his second
major tournament final, moved
through the top half of the Open
draw vacated by four-time Open
champion Pete Sampras. The top
seeded Sampras withdrew prior to
his first match with a herniated
disk. Martin breezed past unseeded
Cedric Pioline, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, in the
Martin, also 29, is experiencing
an Agassi-like resurgence.
Throughout his career, Martin has
been hampered by injuries. The
former Northwestern University
student gained momentum toward
the final with his Round of 16 vic
tory over Greg Rusedski. After
dropping the first two sets, Martin
won in one of the tournament's
most remarkable matches.
"I feel very good about the way
I played," Martin said. "I lost to a
better player."
The 6-6 Martin hit 77 winners to
45 by Agassi. However, Martin's
unforced errors more than doubled
Agassi's, 60 to 23.
Agassi's amazingly low un
forced-error total wasn't his only
stunning statistic. He also went the
entire 3-hour, 23-minute match
without suffering a service break.
"I'm just thrilled to be in this situ
ation," said Agassi, a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3,
6-3 winner over No. 3 seed
fashioned bar
and put the Nittany Lions at the Pitt
Thompson finished 17 for 29 for
232 yards with two interceptions.
One pick in the third quarter re-
NITTANY LIONS
20
suited in a Pitt field goal. Another
came a quarter later at the Pitt 13,
on the possession following
Arrington's interception. Still, Th
ompson rebounded to complete the
pass that mattered most.
"Kevin threw a great ball; it was
easy for me," said Drummond, a
sophomore who scored his first ca
reer touchdown against Akron.
"All I had to do was adjust to the
ball and catch it."
Cowher said. — I think all of it's ex-
CCUI1011."
Whose execution? This was cruel
and inhumane punishment for a
group of people who once cheered
Jim Brown, Otto Graham and
Marion Motley. All the anticipation,
the hoopla, the fireworks. As badly
as these people felt when Art
Modell took his team to Baltimore,
and as good as they felt three hours
earlier in the evening, it just might
never he the same.
Commissioner Paul Tagliahue
showed up before the game, the
noted stadium serial killer return
ing to the scene of the crime, chris
tening the Cleveland Browns' new
playpen and officially putting an
end to the gritty history of down and
dirty football.
Tagliahue had allowed Modell to
abandon these people, and it ap
pears he wants to knock off the Los
Angeles Coliseum next, maybe as
early as Monday after another set
of expansion meetings in New
York. History he damned, and the
Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the semi
finals. "(Martin) gave me a lot to
worry about. He was not only
serving great, he was volleying
magnificently."
After dominating the second
and third-set tiebreakers, Martin's
serve was broken in the third
game of the fourth set. Agassi
saved two break points in the
eighth game.
Any question about the out
come was decided in the second
game of the final set when Agassi
broke Martin's serve at love with
a stinging backhand service re
turn down the line.
Martin also was broken at love
in the final game. After Martin hit
a backhand into the net, Agassi
raised both arms and flashed a
smile from here to Las Vegas for
his adoring fans.
Explaining the slip in his serv
ing effectiveness, Martin said, "I
lost my legs a little."
Martin's biggest problem was
dealing with the "relentless pres
sure" of Agassi. Said Martin:
"Over five sets, under this type
of pressure, that's quite an
achievement."
If Agassi had continued at his
mid-1990s level, he would have
stayed on the same elevated level
as Sampras, who has a record-ty
ing 12 major titles. But Agassi
said he has no regrets.
"If it wasn't for those valleys,
then these peaks would be this
high," he said. "It's kind of how
my spirit has always worked.
SPORTS
After three rushing plays netted four
yards - and set the ball on the left hash
mark - Travis Forney booted a 24-yard
field goal for the winning points with
80 seconds remaining.
"You've gotta he able to win a foot
ball game like this if you have any as
pirations," Penn State coach Joe
Paterno said. Then it was the Penn
State defense's turn. And, after Pitt's
Hank Poteat returned the kickoff 47
yards to midfield, the Panthers ap
peared to he sitting pretty.
"I don't know what happened on that
last (return)," Paterno said. Penn State
linebacker Brandon Short had an idea.
"Hank almost won the game for
day is coming when the NFL will have
a stadium built with only luxury boxes.
Here's a place where atmosphere
counted for something for so many
years, the stirring voice of John
Facenda seemingly whistling in the
chilly winds with every grimy pileup,
a place where the home-field advantage
meant more than having every seat in
the place painted orange.
Ballyhooed as the return of the tra
dition-rich Browns, this experience was
more akin to a wine-tasting festival
than a renewed rivalry with the
Steelers.
This is not Cleveland as most fans
remember it. The paying customers had
to buy personal seat licenses, a personal
blockade to the return of sonic of the
diehard blue-collar locals, and what is
this football world coming to when
someone is handcuffed and removed
from the Dawg Pound for being noth
ing more than unruly less than a quar
ter into the game?
The last-line of defense for Cleve
land has always been its Dawg Pound
at the east end of the field, a threat of
Williams
sisters win
U.S. Open
Title
NEW YORK - A day after she upset
top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzer
land to capture the women's singles
title, Serena Williams teamed with big
sister Venus to win the U.S. Open
doubles championship.
The Williams sisters defeated
Sandrine Testud and Chandra Rubin,
4-6, 6-1, 6-4, on Sunday, adding
$330,000 to their weekend earnings.
Serena Williams won $750,000 on
Saturday after ousting Hingis, 6-3, 7-
6 (7-4), and climbed the world rankings
from No. 7 to No. 4. Third-ranked Ve
nus Williams, who lost to No. 1 Mina"
in the semifinals, won $210,000. She
and Hingis retain their ranks, as does
No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, who lost to
Serena Williams in the semis.
After her singles win, Serena Will
iams got a call from Bill Clinton, the
first president to phone the women's
champion, and his daughter, Chelsea.
"I didn't really think my day could
DOUBLE THE FUN:
by Helene St. James
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
fight' with Pitt
them," he said. So did John Turman.
The Pitt quarterback, a junior and
junior college transfer making his
first career start, completed a pass to
Latef Grim for 25 yards to the Lion
25. After an incompletion and with
54 seconds to go. Penn State called
time.
Considering that the two teams
combined for just 120 yards rushing,
the Nittany Lions figured the Pan
thers would continue to try to pass.
They were ready.
"This is what we get into the game
for," Short said. "A team's driving on
you and you have to stop them to win
the game."
"You just need to go out there and
expect to win," said linebacker Mac
Morrison. "I think we did that."
Following another incompletion,
Fleischhauer dropped Turman for a
10-yard loss and drew this reaction
from Arrington: "I just kept telling
(Fleischhauer) that I love him. That
was just a great effort on his part." It
was an inauspicious end to Turman's
fine day; he was 19 for 35 for 316
yards, with two touchdowns and an
interception and won the Coogan
Award as the game's MVP.
"We showed," Turman said, "that
our offense has a spark." As the clock
ticked and the Panthers lined up for
a field goal try - Pitt had exhausted
its final timeout early in the fourth
bodily harm to any opponent daring
to cross the goal line face-first.
But now the dog-faced drunken
customers are ejected for firing dog
bones, batteries or other missiles onto
the field. Ruff-ruff just doesn't cut it
as evidenced by the Steelers' willing
ness to take up residence in the end
The new stadium doesn't even al
low nasty signs to adorn the stadium
walls. Who knows, beneath the sta
dium, the Welcome Wagon might
have been there to greet the Steelers.
Baseball builds throw-back fields of
dream, but come to Cleveland Browns
Stadium and you could be sitting in
Tampa Bay or Washington or Caro
lina, all pampered in comfort in one
of the climate-controlled and spacious
club lounges. It used to be a test of
manhood to attend a Browns' game.
But this is progress, the NFL way, or
chestrated by Tagliabue who has had
nine new stadiums open on his watch
with new ones to come in Denver,
Pittsburgh and Seattle in the next few
years.
Serena Williams returns a shot against Kim Clijsters of Belgium
in Williams' third round victory at the U.S. Open
get any better," she said. "I was think
ing, "Wow!' He said they had watched
my last three matches, and they were
really rooting for me, him and
Chelsea. I talked to her, also. She's
really nice. She said she'll show me
quarter - the crowd of %. I 27 was
On it feet.
The kick entered the air, and de
fensive end Courtney Brow n and
Arrington leaped. Arrington's out
stretched right hand deflected it.
ending the threat of overtime, \‘ hich
would have been a first in Paterno's
50-year coaching career.
"It was a tremendous phis . ,"
Brown said. "God blessed us." Per
haps it was Pitt coach Walt Harris,
whose squad is I 4 scholarship play
ers shy oldie NCAA's 85-man limit,
who could have used the blessing.
The Panthers' starting linemen gas e
up 29 pounds per player to Penn
State's offensive line.
"Doggone it." Harris said. "Ow
guys played their butts oil." There
was no disputing that by the Nittany
"I'll take nothing away from the
University of Pittsburgh," said Penn
State defensive end Justin
Kurpeikis, who is from Pittsburgh.
"They played unbelievable. It's too
had we only have one (game against
the Panthers) left." Ccri melt:, the
high-intensity Junior whose I I -yard
reception from Rashard Case) gave
Penn State a 7-0 lead in the first
quarter, said he "loved it today" on
the field. "(But) I don't ever want to
he in that situation again." he
quickly added. "None of us do."
NFL SCHEDULE
Week 2
Sunday, September 19
Arizona Cq' Miami 1:00
Green Bay Detroit 1:00
Ind. New England 1:00
Jacksonville Q?' Carolina 1:00
Oakland (0' Minnesota 1:00
Pittsburgh ( n Baltimore 1:00
San Diego Or Cincinnati 1:0))
Seattle 03) Chicago 1:00
Tampa Bay (ci . Philadelphia 1:00
Washington (p N.Y.
New Orleans 0 San Iran 4:05
Cleveland O. Tennessee 4:15
Denver Kansas City 4: 15
N.Y. Jets OP Buffalo 5: 1 0
Monday, September 20
Atlanta Dallas 9:00
Bye: Saint Louis
GAME OF THE WEEK
WASHINGTON @
N.Y. GIANTS
around Stanford when I go there f
Fed Cup. Pretty exciting."
Chelsea is a student at Stanfori
which will host the Sept. 18-19 Fe
Cup final between the U.S. an
Russia.