Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.sports,americast.usa-today.sports From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: sports Fri, Oct 16 1992 Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 08:02:01 EDT Message-ID: 10-16 0000 DECISIONLINE: Sports USA TODAY Update Oct. 16-18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TORONTO CAN IGNORE PAST NUMBERS: Finally after a season of piling up impressive numbers, the Toronto Blue Jays can lay to rest the numbers that hurt the most: 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991. The Blue Jays play in their first World Series starting Saturday night (8:29 p.m. ET) in Atlanta against the Braves. Jack Morris is the starter. The Braves remember his 10 shutout innings last year that won the Series for Minnesota. BRAVES CONCERNED BY PITCHING: The Atlanta Braves know how fragile post-season success can be. They know what faces them - and it's not just Toronto. And going through the Game 7 comeback with Pittsburgh only makes the Braves more pressure-hardened. Their greatest concern entering Game 1 is pitching. Tom Glavine and Steve Avery were not impressive in the NLCS, but Glavine will start the first game of the World Series. SOUTHERN MISS. EDGES TULANE: Chris Buckhalter sealed Southern Mississippi's 17-7 victory Thursday night against Tulane with a 23-yard touchdown run with 5:23 remaining - the Golden Eagles' fourth rushing touchdown of the season. The loss was the second in a row for Tulane (2-4) and its sixth in a row to Southern Mississippi (4-3). TENNESSEE HOSTS ALABAMA: Undefeated but untested Alabama faces its first ranked opponent in Saturday's Southeastern Conference showdown against Tennessee at Knoxville. Alabama is No. 5 in the USA TODAY:CNN Top 25 Coaches' Poll. The Volunteers are No. 13. Other key games: No. 6 Florida State at No. 15 Georgia Tech; No. 18 Boston College at No. 9 Penn State; No. 1 Miami hosts TCU; No. 2 Washington is at Oregon. VIKINGS SCORE EARLY, DOWN LIONS: The Minnesota Vikings scored on their first four possessions Thursday night and eased past the Detroit Lions 31-14 in an NFL game at Minneapolis. Rich Gannon threw touchdown passes of 47 yards to Anthony Carter and 43 to Hassan Jones as the Vikings took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Gannon left with a hyperextended left knee in the second quarter and was replaced by Sean Salisbury. CHIEFS TAKE ON COWBOYS: After knocking off one toughie from the tough NFC East, the Kansas City Chiefs take on another Sunday. The Chiefs (4-2), tied with the Denver Broncos (4-2) atop the AFC West, visit the Dallas Cowboys. Also Sunday, Philadelphia plays at Washington. Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham needs 31 rushing yards to surpass Fran Tarkenton as the NFL's all-time QB rushing leader. PENGUINS STAY UNBEATEN: Mario Lemieux had a goal and two assists to lead the unbeaten Pittsburgh Penguins (3-0-2) past the Montreal Canadiens 5-2. Lemieux has had at least two points in every game this season. In other games: Quebec 4, Detroit 2; NY Islanders 5, Philadelphia 4; Toronto 5, Tampa Bay 3; Edmonton 4, Chicago 3, OT; Minnesota 5, St. Louis 4; Boston 8, San Jose 2; Los Angeles 4, Calgary 0. NFL OWNERS FACE FULL SLATE: NFL owners, at their annual two-day fall meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in Chicago, might set a record for updates. The agenda includes reports on labor negotiations, pension plans, television ratings, preseason scheduling, the American Bowl series, World League, NFL Properties, expansion, Pro Bowl, college relations and Super Bowl XXVII and five experiments. All within two days. N.Y. CITY GETS GOODWILL GAMES: New York City was selected Thursday as host for the 1998 Goodwill Games. The winner was chosen from among four cities, whose representatives gathered at Turner Broadcasting's Atlanta headquarters to make final presentations. Also bidding: Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami:South Florida and St. Louis. Madison Square Garden and the Meadowlands are proposed competition sites. MAGIC RETURNS AGAINST PORTLAND: Magic Johnson will be back in uniform and most likely the starting lineup Friday when the Los Angeles Lakers open their exhibition season against Portland in Honolulu. Johnson has looked like the Magic of old in practices. The two teams play again Saturday, but Johnson, sticking to the plan he announced when he ended his retirement, will not play in back-to-back games. RAHAL MAKES FINAL RUN FOR CUP: Bobby Rahal faces the daunting task of trying to beat Michael Andretti for the PPG Cup IndyCar crown. Rahal has a 12-point lead on Andretti going into Sunday's Toyota Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca Raceway. Also chasing the title: Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr., 17 points back. In addition to the $1 million bonus, Rahal is looking for his first championship as an owner-driver. SANDERS STRIKES OUT IN POSTGAME: Atlanta's Deion Sanders might have gone 3-for-4 in the postgame locker room Wednesday. CBS analyst Tim McCarver says Sanders doused him three times with ice water - and tried to throw a fourth bucket before McCarver stopped his work to confront Sanders. CBS officials said Sanders was angered about criticism McCarver made on-air about him playing for the Braves and NFL Falcons. CROWLEY TAKES OVER NCAA POST: University of Nevada President Joseph Crowley was nominated as the next NCAA president, succeeding California-San Diego's Judy Sweet. Crowley's appointment - along with Arizona athletic director Cedric Dempsey's as secretary-treasurer - is expected to be approved at the NCAA's January convention in Dallas. REMATCH COMES 8 YEARS LATER: Mary Decker-Slaney of the USA and Zola Budd-Pieterse of South Africa are scheduled to compete Friday in a mile road race in Sydney, Australia, billed as a rematch to their collision in the women's 3,000-meter final in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. When the two bumped, Decker-Slaney fell to the track injured and in tears. Budd-Pieterse finished seventh and was jeered by the crowd. COOK TRYING TO MAKE UP GROUND: John Cook, who is seeking to move to the top of the PGA Tour money list, is six strokes behind leader Lee Janzen and tied for 26th after one round of the Disney Golf Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Cook trails money leader Fred Couples by less than $150,000 and Davis Love III by less than $38,000. The Disney winner gets $180,000. Janzen shot a 10-under-par 62 Thursday. GERMANY, USA GET TOP SEEDS: Germany and the USA Thursday were made the top seeds in the Davis Cup World Group for 1993. They were followed by Sweden, Switzerland, France, Spain, Czechoslovakia and Italy. The USA plays Switzerland in the 1992 Cup final in December at Fort Worth. 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Sports Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Sports Editor: Kate Coughlin. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM