THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: 56 lines
The next step: The Bowl Alliance has done its job. It has effectively drained the juice from the college football bowl season, a development which should speed up the process for a playoff.
No respect: Without the Alliance, Virginia Tech would have been the Eastern version of Brigham Young, a team with only a single loss that couldn't scare up an invitation from a major bowl.
Future watch: Pilot newshound Rich Radford tells me that of the 10 basketball teams in the MEAC, the conference of choice next season for Norfolk State, none has a winning record. And this, we've been assured, is a step up for the Spartans.
Premature: Tiger Woods, Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, shot 14-over at the U.S. Open and won two tournaments. The kid's great, but can't his canonization wait until he's at least won a major?
Summing up: Now that the college football season is over, the year's strangest result remains the September victory by footwipe Wake Forest over Citrus Bowl participant Northwestern.
Farewell: What do you give Turkish weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu, a.k.a ``Pocket Hercules,'' on the occasion of his retirement? Perhaps a pocket watch.
Road warriors: Join The Navy And See The World would have been an appropriate rallying cry for a Naval Academy football team that played in Dublin and Honolulu.
Different strokes: While trouble magnets Michael Irvin and Erik Williams are scheduled to suit up for the Cowboys Sunday in Charlotte, Panthers coach Dom Capers suspended reserve defensive end Shawn King because he was late for too many meetings. I think it's safe to assume that the two organizations operate under different philosophies.
Idle thought: The Cowboys' 1996 highlight tape may be the first in NFL history to carry an NC rating.
For what it's worth: Williams picked a bad time to try his hand at producing independent films.
Bargain buy: For a mere $196,000 in salary, Dallas placekicker Chris Boniol scored 42 percent of the Cowboys' points, and made a team-record 27 consecutive field goals, though nobody knows how good he is with a camcorder.
More of the same: Even if you're not a Cowboy fan, you've got to feel a little sorry for Barry Switzer, who must have thought he left behind wholesale player depravity when he departed the University of Oklahoma.
Stay tuned: Taking into account the tackiness of television today, I'm surprised one of the cable networks hasn't gotten around to programming mud wrassling, though CNN's ``Crossfire'' comes close.
Talent search: NFL draft maven Mel Kiper says Virginia Tech's Jim Druckenmiller is the strongest quarterback he's ever scouted. The Hokie hurler has been known to bench press 350 pounds. He also squats 500, and we all know how painful that can be.
Chill: Before America recognizes sprinter Donovan Bailey for the great Canadian athlete that he is, he'll have to win a gold medal while wearing skates and a stocking cap.