2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - Monday, January 14, 2002 R11 TO r NEW ORLEANS Bucs loss triggers 31 Parcells-watch 9 'Can we rock? What's up doc?' AeLEidFtEWEilK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK 0 Who: Kris Zimmerman Hometown: Winnetka, Ill. Sport: Men's Gymnastics Year: Junior What: The Wolverines had three individual champions Saturday at the Windy City Invitational. Conan Parzuchowski claimed that honor in the still rings event, Edward Umphrey was first in the floor exercise and Kris Zim- merman was the all around champion. Zimmerman, with an overall score of 51.4, also took second in the horizontal bar and third in the floor exercise for the No. 2 Wolverines. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Eagles are headed for Chicago and the second round of the playoffs, and Bill Parcells might be headed for Tampa Bay to replace Tony Dungy as the Buccaneers' coach. Donovan McNabb threw for two touchdowns and 194 yards Saturday and ran for 57 more as the Eagles beat Tampa Bay 31-9 Saturday, the second straight season they've beaten the Bucs in the first round of the playoffs. The Eagles' win was overshadowed by speculation that this would be Dungy's last game after six seasons as the only winning coach in Bucs' history. He could be replaced by Parcells, who led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories, took New England to the Super Bowl and the New York Jets to the AFC title game. The loss was typical of Tampa Bay's offensive failures - the Bucs have had three starting quarterbacks and three offensive coordinators in the last three seasons and just don't score touch- downs. This was the third straight play- off game they didn't score a touchdown, and Brad Johnson compounded the problems by throwing four interceptions. In the first half, the Bucs matched Philadelphia drive for drive, but went to the lockerroom trailing 17-9 because they managed just three field goals while the Eagles scored two touchdowns to go with David Akers' field goal. The Bucs' cold-weather jinx wasn't a factor - the team entered the game 0- 20 in games begun in temperatures under 40 degrees. It was a balmy 46 as the late-afternoon game began Saturday, but it made no difference. The Eagles (12-5) will face the Bears (13-3) in Chicago next Saturday. Zimmerman SpoprT sBRIEFS Rice back to old 38 tricks in Oakland 24 OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - No mat- ter his age or the color of his uniform, Jerry Rice is just amazing in the play- offs. Rice caught nine passes for 183 yards and a touchdown, and Charlie Garner rushed 80 yards for a score with 1:27 left as the Oakland Raiders pulled out of their late-season nosedive with a 38-24 victory over the New York Jets on Saturday night. Six days after the Jets beat Oakland 24-22 in the teams' regular-season finale, the Raiders emphatically turned the tables with their best performance in two months. A roster of veterans assembled specifically for the postsea- son got it together just in time - and Rice led the way. It was Rice's 24th career postseason game, but his first with the Raiders after 16 record-setting seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. At 39, the NFL's most prolific receiver wrote a remark- able new chapter in his matchless career with several clutch receptions in the second half. Rice caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rich Gannon with 5:53 left, giving the Raiders a 31-17 lead. It was his 20th playoff touchdown, moving him one behind Thurman Thomas and Emmitt Smith for the NFL record. The Jets pulled within seven points on Vinny Testaverde's second touch- down pass to Wayne Chrebet, with 1:52 left. After the Raiders forced New York to use its final two timeouts, Garner sprinted down Oakland's sideline on third-and-10 for the clinching score. The Raiders (11-6) advanced to face New England (11-5) next Saturday in Foxboro. By closing the season with three straight losses, Oakland handed a bye and home-field advantage to the Patriots. AP PHOTO Hack-a-Shaq finally upset Shaquille O'Neal when the Bulls' Brad Miller fouled Shaq too hard Saturday night, causing the Lakers' center to send Miller (40) to the floor._ Fight Club On Saturday night, Los Angeles Lakers' center Shaquille O'Neal nearly landed two punches on Chicago's Brad Miller in the Bulls' miracle-win over the Lakers (below). The O'Neal and Miller brawl, though broken up before it could reach its climax, wasn't the first time in the NBA that disputes were resolved with violence instead of words.t Latrell Sprewell vs. P.J. Carlissimo, December 1997: Round 1: Sprewell, in what would be his final year at Golden State, became furious at coach Carlissimo's treatment of him during an early-season prac- tice and proceeded to choke him. Round 2: Sprewell was suspended for the remainder of the 1997-98 season. Round 3: Carlissimo finished the '97-'98 season with a 17-65 record and coached just one more season for the Warriors. Winner: Sprewell by a landslide. He took out his coach, got a year off, and is currently playing for the Knicks making millions while Carlissimo has disap- peared from the spotlight. Jeff Van Gundy vs. Alonzo Mourning 1998 playoffs and Marcus Camby, January 2001: Hurt for helping: Twice in his career Van Gundy tried to get his players out of fights, and twice he has been the one who has gotten abused. In 1998, dur- ing a'battle between the Knicks' Larry Johnson and the Heat's Alonzo Mourn- ing, Van Gundy went in to mediate but instead ended up around Mourning's ankles holding on to the center's legs for dear life. Last season his own play- er, Marcus Camby, nailed him by accident with a head-butt. Camby, who was in a skirmish with San Antonio's Danny Ferry, missed Ferry with a punch and hit his head coach, who was only trying to prevent Camby from getting hurt. Karl Malone and Diamond Dallas Page vs. Dennis Rodman and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, at World ChampIonship Wrestling's Bash at the Beach, July 1998: Bulls beat Jazz twice in '98: In a rematch of the 1998 NBA Finals, Karl Malone of the runner-up Utah Jazz, teamed with DDP to take on "Rodzilla" of the cham- pion Chicago Bulls and Hogan of the defiant New World Order. While Malone was primed to exact revenge for his team's loss, an outsider interfered taking out Page and allowing Hogan to score the pin. Afterwards, Malone expressed his outrage against the interference by slamming the referee to the ground. Bulls' center attacked by 'Sha-Fu i1n upe Gator fans sleep easy as Grossman returns GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Quarter- back Rex Grossman handed new Florida coach Ron Zook his first big triumph Friday when he announced he would return to the Gators for his junior season. "It's the hardest decision I've had to make in my entire life," Gross- man said. "It was going to be a big decision either way. But I'm glad I'm coming back." The Heisman Trophy runner-up will have receiver Taylor Jacobs to throw to. Jacobs, a senior next sea- son, also said he would return. Neither Grossman nor Taylor were considering leaving before Spurni- er's unexpected resignation last week. Berlin to join Miami after leaving Florida SHREVEPORT, La. - Brock Berlin, the Florida quarterback who rode the bench most of the last two seasons behind fellow sophomore Rex Grossman, said Thursday night he is transferring to the University of Miami. "I've decided to leave the Univer- sity of Florida and head down to the University of Miami," Berlin said at a hastily called news conference in his hometown. "I just wanted to make sure I was making the right choice. I felt good about it. I was looking for the best situation for me." The announcement wasn't unex- pected, but the timing was. Berlin had said earlier that he would make the decision soon after Florida played Maryland in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2. But all decisions were put on hold when coach Steve Spurrier unex- pectedly resigned last week. Duckett leads class of underclassmen to NFL EAST LANSING (AP) - tJ. Duckett, Michigan State's fifth-leading career rusher, is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft. The 6-foot-1, 250-pound running back ran for 1,420 yards and 12 touch- downs as a junior for the 7-5 Spartans. In three seasons, he rushed for 3,379 yards. "The time has come for me to move on," Duckett said at a news conference last week. Other big names to make their offi- cial entrance into the NFL draft on Fri- day were William Green (Boston College), Julius Peppers (North Caroli- na), Jabar Gaffney (Florida), Antonio Bryant (Pittsburgh), Jerramy Stevens (Washington), Luke Staley (Brigham Young), Clinton Portis (Miami-FL) and Roy Williams (Oklahoma). No. 3 Agassi pulls out of Australian Open MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Andre Agassi's bid for a third straight Australian Open title ended when he withdrew from the year's first Grand Slam event because of a wrist injury. The announcement yesterday. by the organizers came just hours before the tournament was to begin. Agassi won this event in 2000 and 2001 and was in position to become the first man to win three consecutive Aus- tralian Opens since Roy Emerson. I Cold, home-field give Pack a win 15 25 GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - The Lambeau mystique lives on. Brett Favre threw two touchdown passes as the Green Bay Packers stayed perfect at home in the playoffs with a 25-15 victory over San Francis- co yesterday. The Packers (13-5), who advanced to face the St. Louis Rams next week, improved to 13-0 at home in playoff games. Favre improved to 31-0 in starts at Lambeau Field with the tem- perature 34 degrees or colder. It was 28 degrees at kickoff Sun- day, and Favre was 22-of-29 for 269 yards, two touchdowns and one inter- ception. Favre guided Green Bay on a 93- yard touchdown drive after Tyrone Williams' interception of a deflection by Mike McKenzie with five minutes left and the Packers clinging to an 18- 15 lead. Ahman Green capped the touch- down drive with a 9-yard run. Corey Bradford stripped Paul Smith of the ball and recovered on the ensu- ing kickoff, and the Packers ran out the clock for their first playoff victory since the 1997 NFC championship at San Francisco. The 49ers, who also returned to the playoffs after a two-year hiatus, fin- ished 12-5. Wednesday, Jan. 16 M Basketball vs. Northwestern, 7 p.m, Thursday Jan. 17 W Basketball at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Friday Jan. 18 W Swim/Diving vs. Penn State, 4 p.m. M Swim/Diving at Penn State, vs. Purdue, 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19 W Tennis vs. Western Michigan, 10 a.m. TOM FELDCAMP/Daily M Tennis vs. DePaul, 1 p.m. Women's tennis will host M Swim/Diving at Penn State, vs. Purdue, 1 p.m. two meets this weekend. W Swim/Diving at Michigan State, vs. Purdue, 2. p.m. M Basketball vs. Minnesota. 4:37 p.m. M Gymnastics vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m. Hockey vs. Michigan State, 7:35 p.m. W Gymnastics at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Wrestling at National Dual Team Championship(Columbus) M Track/Field hosts Red Simmons Invitational, 9:30 a.m./12 p.m. W Track/Field hosts Red Simmons Invitational, 9:30 a.m./12 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20 M Tennis vs. California-irvine, 10 a.m. W Tennis vs. DePaul, 11 a.m. W Basketball vs. Indiana, 1 p.m. Wrestling at National Dual Team Championship (Columbus) DAILY SC~oREBOAR°D 0 Champs advance 20 as 'Fins fall apart x 3 MIAMI (AP) - Bruising defense, a grinding ground game and one piv- otal pass put the Baltimore Ravens one victory closer to a possible return to the Super Bowl. Baltimore scored on touchdown marches of 90 and 99 yards and allowed just 151 yards to beat the Miami Dolphins 20-3 in a wild-card playoff game yesterday. The Ravens, who needed a win last week over Minnesota to make the playoffs, advanced to a second-round game Sunday at AFC Central cham- pion Pittsburgh. Baltimore won at Pittsburgh 13-10 on Nov. 4, but lost 26-21 at home to the Steelers on Dec. 16. It was a painfully familiar ending for the Dolphins (11-6). They're the only team to reach the playoffs each of the past five years, but they've made an early exit every time by a combined score of 161-16. Miami still hasn't advanced to the AFC championship game since the 1992 season or the Super Bowl since the 1984 season. The Ravens played the sort of smothering defense that took them to the NFL title last year. Miami's lone score came after Baltimore fumbled the opening kickoff, and the Dol- phins managed just one first down in the opening 23 minutes. The defending champions also showed surprising punch on offense, rushing for 227 yards and converting 10 of 16 third downs. Terry Allen carried 25 times for 109 yards and a score, and Jason Brookins added 65 yards in 10 attempts. The Ravens' defense slipped this season from its 2000 level, but was still ranked No. 2 in the NFL, and it was in fine form against Miami. Bal- timore stuffed the Dolphins' feeble ground game, blanketed their receivers, harried Jay Fiedler and forced three turnovers. CHICAGO (AP) - If his first punch had connected, Shaquille O'Neal would be facing a far harsher penalty. After years and years of being on the receiving end of the Hack-a-Shaq defense, O'Neal finally snapped Satur- day night when he was fouled hard by Brad Miller and Charles Oakley of the Chicago Bulls. O'Neal immediately went after Miller and threw two roundhouse punches while Miller had his back turned. The first punch was the most ferocious, and fortunately it missed. The second one connected before O'Neal and Miller fell to the floor and a full-scale melee broke out. "He lands one of those, and I feel sorry for the guy he connects with," Bulls rookie Tyson Chandler said. "Going through a whole year, that dude gets fouled a lot, and people intention- ally foul him. I'm surprised he keeps his composure as much as he does." O'Neal will likely have quite a while to regain his composure and ponder the error of his ways. The NBA was reviewing the fight yesterday, and a multi-game suspension seemed likely. A year ago, Marcus Camby of the New York Knicks was suspended five games for throwing a sucker punch at Danny Ferry of the San Antonio Spurs. Throwing a punch of any kind car- ries an automatic one-game suspension. "I'm just glad that I moved my head at the last second for no reason," Miller said. "Anybody who comes at you from behind, you have to wonder about him. I was just glad we picked up Oakley over the summer because I knew if I got into something he'd have my back. He saved me from a shattered jaw at least." The Lakers went on to lose the game 106-104 in overtime, giving them their third two-game losing streak of the sea- son. They now return home for games against the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami before playing San Antonio next Saturday for the first time this season. Whether O'Neal will be available remains to be seen. Before the game, O'Neal seemed bemused that Oakley had said he. would not back down from the 7-foot, 340- pound center. And as the game pro- gressed, it was clear that Oakley was keeping his word. Nearly every time that O'Neal got the ball in the low post, Oakley or Miller fouled him hard. O'Neal responded to one hard foul by whack- ing Miller in the face with his forearm. On the play that led to the fight, Oakley and Miller both hammered O'Neal after he caught a pass. "You can't hit him softly because he's just going to flick you off like a lit- tle fly. Just to bump him is doing noth- ing. You've got to wrap him up and put him on the free-throw line," Miller said. Miller emerged from the pileup shirtless, and lead referee Danny Craw- ford said a security guard had pulled it NBA STANDINGS NHL STANDINGS EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W New Jersey 24 Boston 22 Washington i Orlando 1 Philadelphia i1 New York1 Miami 8- Central Division W Milwaukee 2 Indiana2 Toronto 2 Detroit 1 Charlotte 1 Atlanta Cleveland 1 Chicago 7 WESTERN CONFERENCE Midwest Division W Minnesota 2 San Antonio2 Dallas 2 utah 1 Memphis 1 Houston Denver 1 Pacific Division W LA Lakers 2 Sacramento 2 Seattle Phoenix 1 LA Clippers1 Portlands17 Golden State 1 L PCT GB PF 4 11 .686 - 95.7 14 .611 2.5 95.6 .16 .529 5.5 91.6 .20 .487 7 99.6 .20 .444 8.5 88.8 .22 .389 10.5 89.4 t26 .235 15.5 83.7 L PCT GB PF !13 .618- 96.9 17 .553 2 97.3 !17 .556 2.5 92.2 .18 .541 4.5 94.1 .19 .472 5 93.9 .323 .361 9 94.4 323 .3619 92 29 .19415 85.5 PA 91.6 92.6 91.8 97.4 87.9 92.3 89.1 PA 95.5 97 92.1 93.6 95.9 100.2 95.9 95.3 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W Philadelphia 2 NY Islanders 2 NY Rangers 2 New Jersey 1 Pittsburgh16 Northeast Division W Toronto 2 Boston2 Ottawa 24 Montreal i1 Buffalo 18 Southeast Division W Carolina 2: Washington i1 Tampa Bay 16 Florida 1 Atlanta 1 L T OTL Pts GF GA 5 12 5 1 56 133 98 !155 2 51 121 119 !193 3 50 127 139 .185 2 45 104 105 6 215 2 3994 122 L T OTL Pts GF GA 5 135 3 58 137 112 5 133 4 57 132 106 !4 154 2 54 145 111 . 1962 44115123 8 224 1 41 120 119 V .6 .4 VL PCT GB PF PA 9 .750 - 102.4 95.2 5 9 .7351 99.5 92.4 5 11 .694 2 103.3 98.9 .917 .5288 96.2 95.2 .24 .333 15 90.2 95.9 224 .33315 90.3 94.8 L 24 .314 15.5 92.3 96.7 L PCT GB PF PA 6 8 .765 - 101.7 92.5 ! 9 .743.5 102.5 95.9 .17 .5288 98 97.1 .18 .514 8.5 98.4 96.9 .19 .5009 95.3 95.1 219 .47210 93.4 93.9 .23 .343 14.5 94.5 99.6 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division L T 17 5 20 8 22 4 25 3 27 6 L TC 8 3 14 8 12 6 20 8 25 6 OTL Pts GF GA 5 52 132 144 0 44 132 143 2 38 85 96 3 34 91 132 3 29 107 167 OTL Pts GF GA 2 69 145 99 0 60 139 130 3 55 125 97 0 40 116 119 1 31 87 126 6 Detroit Chicago St. Louis Nashville Columbus Northwest Division Edmonton Colorado Calgary Vancouver Minnesota Pacific Division San Jose Dallas Losc Angeles W 32 26 23 16 12 W L T OTL Pts GF GA 23 157 2 55124112 24 166 0 54 116 95 19 168 2 48 111 114 19 234 1 43 126 127 16 198 3 43 115 135 NBA GAMES Saturday's games w 22 21 19 LT 136 14 6 177 OTL Pts GF GA 3 53 132 109 4 52 122 117 2 47 117 106 Ah