PAGE 14, THE BEHREND BEACON, SEPTEMBER 24, 1999 ATIONAL SPORTS Nittany Lions awed by winning play by Mike Jensen Knight-Ridder Newspapers MIAMI - As the chapters pile up, this Kevin Thompson saga keeps getting more interesting. In the last year, the quarterback has been booed by the student section of his own school at a basketball game and castigated loudly around the state. He's also had his head coach defend him at every turn. c ,o4tsi STA 7:6„ Add this chapter in hold print: Thompson will he remembered in one of the big plays in Penn State history. "They will he talking about that for decades!" Penn State assistant coach Jay Paterno said outside the Nittany Lions' locker room when he spotted Linda Fields of Philadelphia, waiting to see her son, Chafie. "What (Millie Fields and Kevin Thompson did on that play!" Fields down the left sideline. Th ompson leading him perfectly, the cornerback never seeing it coming. A 79-yard touchdown strike when the Orange Bowl was getting delirious for the first time in about five years and Penn State's national championship hopes looked to he going up in smoke. "We only had a minute and some left on the clock, no timeouts, we were deep in our end," said Thomspon, siz Hollywood could have written a better script for Tim Couch by Michael Weinreb Knight-Ridder Newspapers NASHVILLE, Tenn. - This was the pass he'd been waiting to throw, the $4B million special, languishing and sloping and dripping over the out stretched arms of a defensive hack and into the hands of his receiver. This was the pass he'd honed over hours, over months, over years, loft ing touch throws into a garbage can on his front lawn and hurling bombs that rattled the goal posts of his high school field in Hyden, Ky. In the beginning, there was Tim Couch to Kevin Johnson. Thirty-nine yards of spiraling beauty. It was the first transcendent mo ment in the revised history of the Cleveland Browns, this touchdown, the only one in Sunday's 26-9 loss to Tennessee at Adelphia Coliseum, the only moment to cling to so far in an otherwise bland season. And yet it already has the feel of a burgeoning legend. Because what happened before the pass, in the midst of Couch's first-ever start as a pro fessional football player, is as breath taking as the throw itself. That was when the kid leaned into the huddle. And he said something Fans flock to see homeruns, by Steve Kelley Knight-Ridder Newspapers CHICAGO - Wrigley Field was sold out. There was an expectant buzz in the stands before the game, like the buzz before a championship fight. This night had a playoff feel to it, cold and windy. But this was just a late September game between two teams that were a combined 38 games under .500. They didn't come for the baseball game. They came for dingers. It wasn't the Cubs against the Car dinals. It was Sammy Sosa against Mark McGwire. They came to Wrigley last night for the history. This was Home Run Derby, Part 11. Sosa has 61. And, in this game, a 7-2 victory for St. Louis, McGwire hit 59. "If I wasn't having the kind of year I'm having, the situation would be ing up the situation neatly, after the Nittany Lions had fallen behind, 23- 20, in the fourth period. Thompson didn't even know he would he in the game at the end until just before the pivotal series began, when both head coach Joe Paterno and offensive coordinator Fran Canter told him he was in. He hadn't had a big game. He would end up throwing for more yardage on that play than the rest of the afternoon. "With the two-minute drill, he has more experience than Rashard Casey," Paterno said later. In the second half, Paterno's QB ro tation had veered heavily toward Casey, whose mobility gave Penn State more options. For the first time in his career, Casey was in there for three straight possessions with the game on the line. When Thompson went in with two minutes left, he hadn't played through the third quarter. Back out there, the idea, Thump son said, was not to go long on first down, hut to stay conservative, work the sidelines, and try to get into field- goal range. That sideline pattern hadn't been open much, Thompson said. And that rookies aren't supposed to say, something that even Babe Ruth had trouble getting away with. He lilted his chin. He locked his eves on his linemen He said, "If you give me time, this is a touchdown. ,. He called his shot. And he delivered. He is 22, all mussed blond hair and rosy cheeks. He was named the start ing quarterback on Wednesday. It was the first controversy in Browns his tory. Was Couch ready'? Could he handle this? What happened to play ing the veterans? What happened to Ty Detmer'? Here is your answer: Thirty-nine yards. Couch to Johnson. If you give me time. . . "Now," said Lomas Brown, the vet eran offensive tackle, "it's like, tie's our man There's the matter of the other 59 minutes, 50 seconds. There are his rather nondescript statistics: 12-for-24, 134 yards. There are the seven sacks, and the throws that were intended for the neighbor ing Cumberland River. There is the fumble on his final play of the game. There are the first two drives. One started at his own 6. The other started at his own 3. pretty ugly," Sosa said. Before the game, McGwire and Sosa talked on the outfield grass. On Saturday, Sosa became the first man in baseball history to have consecu tive 60 home-run seasons. Later this week, McGwire will become the sec ond. "It's an awesome achievement and I wanted to congratulate Sammy," McGwire said. "I don't think he got the due press he should have for something as historical as that. It should have been leading off every sportscast. "I don't know why it wasn't. You guys hold the pens and the cameras and the microphones. But I was re ally surprised to turn on CNN, ESPN, all those guys, and he wasn't the lead story. "To he the first person in history to hit 60 twice, how can he not re ceive the same kind of attention we received last year? I told him it wasn't right." Miami quarterback Kenny Kelly is tackled leading to a fumble in the second quarter against Penn State Saturday. Penn State won 27-23 Fields wasn't the first option. Penn State split end Eddie Drummond, who had caught a 5 I -yard pass from Th ompson the week before to set up the game-winning field goal against Pittsbugh, got the first look on the other side. But Thompson didn't see much there. Thompson also had op tions in the middle of the field that could get him short yardage. "Chafe made a great release and got down field," Thompson said. "So I decided to give him the hall so he could go out there and run underneath and catch it. He made a great play. - That was all the big talk anyone heard from Thompson. "I feel good about myself, too, - he said when pressed. "But I'm not a player who's going to go out and con gratulate myself on things." His teammates handled that. "Kevin Thompson should get some credit after taking all the heat after what happend last year," said line hacker Brandon Short, Thompson's fellow co-captain. "He's a hell of a of There is the safety on that second drive, when Couch was swarmed in the end zone and folded like an alu- minuet chair "There were some mistakes made," Couch admitted. But here is the disclaimer again: He is a rookie. He was making his first start, in a league in which even the greatest quarterbacks have needed time to adjust. Sometimes even years. If you give me time ... So, you cling to that grain of hope in an otherwise barren seabed. And you continue to anticipate the pearl. "He's a better quarterback going hack to Cleveland than he was when he came to Nashville, - said Browns team president Carmen Policy. There also is the matter of the Urrgh. The spike. Before Couch does that again, someone might want to offer him a scholarship to the Delon Sanders school of end-zone celebrations. "Ugly," Brown said This one was formulated that morn ing, by Couch and Johnson. Two rookies, two road roommates, schem ing like children. Throw me a touch down pass, Johnson told Couch, and I'll give you hack the ball. Last year McGwire hit 70 home runs and Sosa hit 66. It was supposed to he a once-in-a-lifetime race. Now they're revisiting that place. "Last year was unbelievable be cause both guys were trying to get to a record that was there for 37 years," Sosa said before the game. "This year the record is 70 and it's not such a surprise anymore. But I'm not think ing about that. It's more for the fans to enjoy." Every time McGwire and Sosa come to the plate, life inside the ballpark stops. In the ninth inning last night, with the Cubs trailing 7-0 and the tempera ture dropping into the low 50s, Wrigley still was filled because Sosa was leading off the inning. He was given a standing ovation and, when he struck out, the place emptied as if there was a fire raging in the box seats. "It's been a year when I've been doing my part, but the team still is in quarterback. and I'm glad he's play ing for Penn State. Its time for people to get off his back." Asked what that one play says about Thompson, Fields shot hack, "It doesn't say anything! I've been con fident in Kevin's arm all along. I ex pect him to make plays like that." Paterno, of course, had originally recruited Thompson to he Dan Kendra's backup before Kendra hacked away from his oral commit ment and went to Florida State, where he now is the starting fullback. "Kevin Thomspon got a bad rap from some people up our way," Paterno said. "I feel great for the kid." But Thompson wasn't talking of vindication. Someone asked if there was some of that feeling after he had gotten honed at a Penn State-Indiana hasketball game last winter. "Nope. Nope," Thompson said po litely before turning his hack to the questioner. So Couch did. And Johnson did. And Couch took the hall and spiked it. emphatically, the hall careening into the stands - and the Titans' egos careening right along with it. It might cost Couch a bruise or two down the road. A sharp hit after the whistle. A forearm to the chin. Take that, rookie. Spike this, golden boy. The thing is, he doesn't care. He spent half of this day picking grass from his face mask, his jersey untucked, his body jarred by the Ti tans' behemoth of a defensive end, Jevon Kcarse. Yet, every time, he got hack up, and he tucked in his jersey, and he walked hack to the huddle. As he did as a high-school prodigy. As he did as the messiah of Kentucky football. "Once we got started," he said, "it was just football again." If you give me time ... What? How far can this go, if you give him time? To answer that would he desper ately premature. But with one dreamy pass, with one touchdown, with one sprint downfield, with one spike, Tim Couch restored hope to an otherwise hopeless season. And, in the beginning, hope is enough the position we're in," Sosa said. "It's not fun like that. - There is another home-run race in the Midwest, hut the pennant race is far from here. "There's really nothing to hype as far as I' m concerned," McGwire said. "The home-run title is not something I look at and say it's important to me. It never has been and it never will be. "Winning a home-run title has never been a goal of mine. You don't win a prize for it. There's no trophy. I've won it before and nobody ever talked about it. So now, all of a sud den it's a big deal?" It should be a big deal. There should he hype. Whether or not he wants to participate in the celebra tion, McGwire, with Sosa, is per forming another historical home-run pas de deux. "I don't get into that. I'm sorry," McGwire said. "When I came in in 1987 and tied for the title with 49 home runs, nobody came to me and Trinidad rallies to win majority decision by Carlos Arias Knight-Ridder Newspapers LAS VEGAS - Oscar De La Hoya had Felix Trinidad bloodied, out classed and beaten after eight rounds, so he listened to his corner and stayed away from the danger ous Puerto Rican. De La Hoya's corner told him there was no need to engage in a toe-to-toe slugfest after he clearly had outboxed Trinidad and built a huge lead on points. De La Hoya has ignored his cor ner in the past, but in the weeks leading up to a bout billed as "The Fight of the Millennium" by pro moter Bob Arum, De La Hoya said he had learned his lesson. He wouldn't ignore his corner again. Plus, the judges were sure to side with De La Hoya. He's the Golden Boy. Las Vegas is his hack yard. It turned out to be a major mis calculation. Trinidad knew the tight was close and rallied in the final four rounds to pull out a majority decision Sat urday night in front of a capacity crowd of 12,000 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Trinidad (36-0, 31 knockouts), the IBF welterweight champion since 1993, added De La Hoya's WBC 147-pound title. De La Hoya fell to 31-1 with 25 KOs. "I knew it was close, so I put the pressure on in the later rounds," said Trinidad, who won the final four rounds on one judge's card and three of the last four rounds on the two other judges' cards. Jerry Roth of Las Vegas scored it 115-113 for Trinidad, Bob Logist of Belgium had it 115-114 for Trinidad, and Glen Hamada of Tacoma, Wash., had it a 114-114 draw. De La Hoya had a significant sta tistical advantage according to Compußox numbers. He landed 263 of 648 punches (41 percent), while Trinidad landed 166 of 462 (36 percent). De La Hoya landed 101 more jabs than Trinidad and connected at a higher percentage. Trinidad had a slight edge in power punches, landing 124 of 318 to De La Hoya's 120 of 277. One judge gave Trinidad the sec ond round even though he landed only five punches. "I don't know what the hell people are looking at anymore when scoring these fights," said Arum, De La Hoya's promoter. "Honestly, in my heart, I thought I won the fight," De La Hoya said. really believe I was giving him a boxing lesson, but apparently it wasn't appreciated by people (the judges). I really believe I was in control of the fight." It took 30 minutes after the final undercard bout before the main not the game said "Congratulations, you won a home-run title.' Nobody said it in '96. Nobody said it in '97. I had some pretty good home-run battles with Ken Griffey in the American League and nobody ever wanted to talk about it. "Now it's such a big deal. I set goals I think I can reach. For me 50 home runs is something that's reason able. That's what I'm going to expect from myself until the day I retire. Ev erything else is just icing on the cake." But Wrigley Field was sold out be cause of the dingers. And McGwire delivered Cub starter Jon Lieber retired the first 20 hitters. He struck out McGwire twice and threw a nasty, biting slider to McGwire to get ahead 0- I . Then he got a fastball over the plate and McGwire hit it into the teeth of a I 5-mph wind and into the center-field bleachers, just to the right of the 400- event started. There were national anthems for Puerto Rico, Mexico and the United States, and then came the ring entrances. There was another delay because Trinidad's cornermen forgot his mouthpiece. When the fight finally started at 9 p.m., De La Hoya made true on his promise to use lateral move ment, combinations and a strong left jab instead of slugging it out as he has done in recent fights. Trinidad seemed baffled by De La Hoya and failed to cut off the ring as De La Hoya sprinted to an early lead. De La Hoya was very economi cal with his punches, but the punches he landed had an impact. A double left jab at the end of the second round bloodied Trinidad's nose, staining his white trunks. Trinidad's left eye was swollen from a right at the end of the fifth. "I was making him miss and mak ing him pay," Dc La Hoya said. "I'm hurt. Emotionally, I'm hurt." Neither fighter was knocked down or in serious jeopardy. The fight had few exchanges or dramatic moments. The seventh round ended with Trinidad nailing Dc La Hoya with a left at the hell. Dc La Hoya had to he pulled hack to his corner by his trainer, Robert Alcazar. Trinidad started to rally in the ninth. He seemed to he willing to eat jabs in order to land hard rights. He continued to chase De La Hoya, who got hit only when he stopped moving. The most exciting exchange came at the end of the 10th as the fighters went toe-to-toe for the final 10 sec onds. Trinidad got the better of the exchange. De La Hoya used a strange tactic in the final two rounds. Whenever Trinidad landed a right hand, Dc La Hoya rolled with the punch in an ex aggerated motion that made the punch look more damaging than it was. "I knew Oscar is a great fighter," Trinidad said. "I had the will to win. I told everybody I'd win." Trinidad said he is willing to give De La Hoya a rematch. De La Hoya earned slsmillion, and Trinidad made slomillion. Trinidad's pro moter, Don King, said he has no problem with a rematch as long as Trinidad gets the lion's share of the cut next time. "Just change the names where Bob Arum was and put my name in," King said. King also promotes WBA welter weight champion James Page, so a fight between Trinidad and Page could he made to unify the welter weight titles if a rematch isn't made. "People will demand (a rematch)," De La Hoya said. "I guess next time I'll brawl him." foot marker. His 59th home run broke up a per- feet game "The way he was pitching, I wasn't sure I was going to make any contact tonight," McGwire said. But they came for the dingers. In the first, Sosa hit a towering fly to right-center that the wind stopped and Thomas Howard caught on the warning track in front of the 368-foot sign. "Any other day, that's into the street," Cub Manager Jim Riggleman said. They came for the clingers, because that's what they expect from Sosa and McGwire "When you hit home runs, nobody's going to talk about the rest of your game," McGwire said. "Look at Hank Aaron. He won Gold Gloves and nobody talks about it. I won a Gold Glove. Nobody talks about it. I accept that." Reluctantly.
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