ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996 TAG: 9612240073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Stocking stuffers:
There were 20 arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct, in the crazed aftermath Sunday of the final NFL game in the history of RFK Stadium. None was Barry Switzer.
His conduct was no felony, but may be at least a misdemeanor to the NFL.
The Dallas coach wisely held out banged-up stars Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith from a game that was meaningless in the standings to the playoff-bound Cowboys. However, by playing so few defensive starters more than one series, Switzer went too far and made a joke of the game. He should be fined by the league.
Dallas media won't be surprised if a Cowboys loss in the playoffs before the NFC championship game gets Switzer booted upstairs in the organization. The names mentioned most as his potential sideline successor are Dan Reeves and Lou Holtz.
THE FUTURE: If the Washington Redskins are to rejoin the NFL's elite teams, they actually will have to have a good draft. The 1996 Redskins got next to no production from April's six draft choices. Top pick Andre Johnson, an offensive lineman from Penn State, wasn't deemed ready to play one down this season.
With the NFL salary cap, Washington can't use Jack Kent Cooke's deep pockets to build a playoff club. General manager Charley Casserly and coach Norv Turner must do better with their first-round pick, which, barring a trade, will be No.17 overall.
The Redskins' No. 1 choices since 1991 are Bobby Wilson (gone), Desmond Howard (gone), Tom Carter (soon to be gone), Heath Shuler (soon to be gone), Michael Westbrook (very promising, when healthy) and Johnson (a 320-pound mistake?). The club has improved, but with several free agents to re-sign, draft improvement in the future is a must.
CLOSE COUNTS: The fervor of the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry is reflected in recent numbers. In the five consecutive seasons Dallas has won the NFC East Division, the Cowboys are 30-10 against divisional foes - 25-5 against Arizona, New York and Philadelphia, and 5-5 against a diminished Redskins franchise.
MAYBE NOT: The notion exists that had Virginia not upset North Carolina on Nov. 16, the Tar Heels, at 10-1, would have been a second ACC team in the Bowl Alliance, taking an at-large spot. That was billed as a ``$7 million loss,'' the difference between an alliance and Gator Bowl paycheck.
So, each ACC school will receive $1.36 million in bowl bucks rather than $2.14 million. Or, maybe the ACC is getting what it would have anyway. Had everything else in the alliance picture fallen as it did, would Carolina, considering the ACC's lack of football tradition, been chosen over Penn State and Nebraska, both 10-victory teams with big reputations?
It's not likely - and Brigham Young would have had company on the uninvited list.
UMESS: Twelve of the 305 Division I men's basketball teams remain unbeaten. Meanwhile, the rookie coach of one perennial power, James ``Bruiser'' Flint of Massachusetts, perhaps should change his nickname to ``Bruised.'' The Minutemen (4-6) will be thrilled just to get to the Atlantic 10 Conference part of their schedule after Jan. 1.
Coach John Calipari left for the NBA with Marcus Camby and left Flint with no frontcourt and a schedule that has included Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgetown, Fresno State, California and Virginia. UMass still has Connecticut, Boston College and Maryland to meet in non-conference dates.
BIG IS BAD: The supposed fervor for the proposed Hampton Roads Rhinos skating on the other side of the commonwealth notwithstanding, does the NHL really want or need to expand? In Sunday's standings, only 11 of the 26 clubs had winning records. Can the league afford to dilute the talent further by putting teams in Houston, Atlanta or even Norfolk?
PARTING GIFT: My Christmas present came early, when I walked out of RFK Stadium on Sunday night after the last NFL game there. Even with 229 consecutive sellouts and quaking bleachers, it was a Bob Cratchit kind of place - cold, old, miserable and tattered.
As I drove away after the game, I not-so-wistfully checked out RFK in my rearview mirror one last time. I was reminded of a line from ``A Charlie Brown Christmas.''
Good grief.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB