THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 6, 1995 TAG: 9501060578
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Airborne: After traveling to France, Hawaii, Seattle, New Orleans, and now Philadelphia and Arizona, the Old Dominion Monarchs must be hoping that the NCAA basketball power ratings take into account frequent flier miles.
Bagelmania: Everybody understood that Charlie Woollum was taking on a big job as William and Mary basketball coach, but who thought he'd start '95 looking up from an 0-7 hole?
Pretzel logic: The New York Jets fired Pete Carroll for losing his last five games and hired former Philadelphia Eagles coach Rich Kotite, who lost his last seven. By this criterion, Richie Petitbon should have been a top contender for the job.
Jurrasic hero: The most unforgettable single athletic accomplishment of 1994 was 45-year-old George Foreman knocking out what's-his-name Michael Moorer. Some year, huh?
Consider it done: There's no question that Miami Hurricanes coach Dennis Erickson will move on to an NFL team. It's time.
Radio daze: In this world of loose talk, instant analysis and constant blather, it only makes sense that Jacksonville Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin would have a talk show long before his NFL expansion team has played a single down.
The way we were: Some of us can remember when the No. 1 college football team was known as the ``mythical'' national champion.
Political football: Never fear, Joe Paterno. Now that the media have awarded Bobby Bowden and Tom Osborne their national championships, the sympathy vote swings over to you next time Penn State is in the running for No. 1.
Still searching: That the NFC lost out to the AFC in the TV ratings for the first time in 20 years only proves that some viewers don't know where to find the Fox Network on their remote controls.
Achilles heel: Shaquille O'Neal, who is shooting 54 percent from the free throw line this season, says, ``I'm trying my hardest, but I can't have everything. I can't have the looks, the rapping ability, the scoring ability and the free throws.'' He left out the part about having modesty.
Mailing it in: As a former Heisman Trophy winner, O.J. Simpson took advantage of his voting privileges. From his jail cell, Simpson filled out, signed and returned his Heisman Trophy ballot this year. That explains the vote for Bullet Bob Shapiro.
Feud: With Scottie Pippen and Bulls general manager Jerry Krause sparring through the Chicago media, the Pippen-for-Shawn Kemp trade might happen yet.
Slow on the draw: The last thing you'd think the Cowboys would have to worry about in the playoffs is Troy Aikman's effectiveness. But since returning from his knee injury, Aikman's longest completion has been 22 yards.
Dream on: The party line out of Dallas has the Cowboys applauding Barry Switzer because he trusts the players to motivate themselves (i.e. he doesn't yell at them like big, bad Jimmy Johnson did.) Sounds nice, but if the kid gloves approach really worked - if you could trust jocks to motivate themselves - more coaches would try it.
No brainer: With Tommie Frazier coming back for another season, expect Nebraska to be ranked No. 1 in the 1995 pre-season college football poll.
Long shot: Now that he's in his final season at North Carolina, I'm wondering if we'll ever again see the Donald Williams who shot the Tar Heels to the national basketball title two years ago.
Idle thought: In college football, the rankings mean too much; in college basketball they mean next to nothing. by CNB