Show The Salt Lake Tribune Wednesday January 2 1991 NFL's Expanded Playoffs Set Saints Pleased to Enter Postseason Picture 8-- 8 By Dave Goldberg AP Football Writer It came down to the final two seconds of the NFL's regular season and the final 48 minutes of 1990 — at least in the East — but the playoff matchups were finally set The final spot was determined Monday night when Morten Anderien's field goal gave New Orleans a 7 win over the Los Angeles Rams and the final spot in the expanded playoffs The Saints at only the second 500 team ever to qualify for postseason now go to Chicago for a game with the Bears on Sunday The Saints will go against a Chicago team missing quarterback Jim Harbaugh Mike Tomczak will start over rookie Peter Tom Willis although Tomczak was dismal in Chicago's loss to Kansas City last Saturday and coach Mike Ditka suggested then that his playoff quarterback was still in doubt But he announced Monday that hell go with Tomczak who has started two NFC championship games for d 20-1- 8-- 8 first-roun- d Chicago "He's going to do great and I'm going to support him just like his teammates" Ditka said of Tomczak The Saints 10-- two years ago and last year but out of the playoffs made it this time because of the expanded format But that didn't lessen 6 9-- 7 the pleasure at one point and "We were a lot of people gave up on us" coach Jim Mora said "Buried us said our season was over dead gone close the door call the hearse A lot of people in this room said that "It didn't happen" The other wild-car- d matchup in the NFC will be Saturday when Washington (10-6- ) is at Philadelphia (10-6- ) That will be followed by an AFC matchup pitting Kansas City (11-5- ) at Miami (12-4- ) Houston and Cincinnati each 7 will meet for the second time in three weeks at Cincinnati on Sunday followed by the Bears-Saint- s 9-- San Francisco (14-2- ) has the top seed in the NFC and will meet either New Orleans or the Philadelphia-Washingto- n winner Jan 12 The New York Giants (13-3- ) are the second seed and will host the Bears or the Philadelphia-Washingtowinner the next day In the AFC Buffalo (13-3- ) is the top seed and will play either Houston or the winner of the Kansas game on Dec 12 The Los Angeles Raiders (12-4- ) will play host dto either to Cincinnati or the Kansas City-Miawinner The two Saturday games figure to be the most intriguing The Eagles and Redskins split their games — Washington winning 13-- 7 at n City-Mia- Cowboys' Johnson i )1 - 1 1' v Rutledge and Stan Humphries But Washington now has regular Mark Rypien back although he's been since returning four games ago and his lack of mobility could hurt him against the Philadelphia pass rush Miami at one point this season won just three of its final six games and lost the NFC title in Buffalo to a Bills team run by backup Frank i It I - t ' ':Iiir k 1 ' - ''' 122 yards rushing in their four losses — all to 1 - 414 k 4ii kft t 0 1 I If '1 i cl 1t ? 1 e - 4 440 L6' - c to Li t tl t 111 1 'I 17 ' ' 241 -- ' 414 I VII i' t ' --: ' t ' o- 1 i: 1 ir'-- '" ' I 6 N ' ' ' t I ' ''' 4 4 r ll A ''l e N itha -- ' just ' 00° - At' 411Pe ' if -- 4 0 C ti if - 0 01' ' 44 4 - "IL 4- i' Reich physical defensive teams like the Chiefs They were also vulnerable to the run in those losses which is what the Chiefs do best Cincinnati the AFC Central chamtwo weeks pion beat Houston 40-2ago and the Bengals have won nine straight games there against division opponents That was the game in which the Oilers lost quarterback Warren Moon who passed for 369 yards and five touchdowns in Houswin over the Bengals at ton's 48-1- 7 home to a thumb injury But Cody Carlson Moon's backup was for 247 yards and three touchdowns as Houston got both itself and the Bengals into the playoffs with a win over Pittsburgh I ' ' ' 9-- 1 They also gained Remains Upbeat - ' P 1 at Philadelhome then losing 28-1- 4 phia in a game in which the Eagles knocked out two quarterbacks Jeff D3 r ' I '1 qv 1 s ' '' 11 i t tit - 14- CZZI :‘' if itp - k -- wo '' c:A ' "111 V200"-- )4 44111011- V-Ø - p d A Nrb41bsollblOb 'k'''' ' ' - '- 4 slop4 ' traW 4 t 22-of-- ' Press Photo Morten Andersen celebrates field goal that capped Saints' climb into NFL playoffs New Orleans is at Chicago Sunday 34-1- 4 DALLAS (UPI) — Despite the late- season disappointments that resulted in a failure by the Dallas Cowboys to make the playoffs coach Jimmy Johnson chooses to look at the long term "When we started the season I don't think anybody and I mean any- body had it in their minds that we were headed for the playoffs" John- son said "Now when we go into next season s going to be the goal for every indi vidual that not only are we going to be in the playoffs we're going to be sue- cessful in them" Dallas' last hope to make postseason play ended Monday night when d Morten Andersen kicked a field goal with two seconds left to victory bring New Orleans a over the Los Angeles Rams That win put New Orleans into the playoffs and knocked Dallas out The Cowboys needed to win either of their last two games to reach the playoffs for the first time in five years btit with quarterback Troy Aikman injured in the opening quarter against Philadelphia two weeks ago the Cow- boys' offense went into decline "What these last two weeks show us" Johnson said "is how much work we need to do and how much further we need to go We really don't have the depth on this football team to be able to overcome a couple of devas- tating injuries "If we can address that problem in the draft we will make significant provement next year" e record was a Dallas' improvement from Johnson's first year with the Cowboys 24-yar- 20-1- 7 7-- 9 Players Colleagues Recall Allen Thrived on Challenges By Ken Pivernetz r Newspapers Bob Donlan an associate athletic director at Long Beach State heard about George Allen's death Monday and went out and ran — just as the two had done together every day Allen was at Long Beach Two assistant coaches on the 49ers' staff had trouble controlling their emotions talking about the coach they had come to admire Long Beach linebacker Pepper Jenkins called him a father away from home Pro football Hall of Famer Deacon Jones credited Allen with giving him a sense of direction with his life Whether it was only one year at bong Beach or his long association with the NFL people recalled Allen with fondness Certainly he was unique but his attention to detail was perhaps unmatched as was his dedication to the game of football espe Knight-Ridde- cially defense "He was the first head coach I knew who let his defensive players feel they were appreciated" said Merlin Olsen who along with Jones was a part of the Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" line of the late 1960s "Defense was where his heart was He certainly had a major impact on my professional life He turned around a losing team into a winner "1 guess that was what he did best He took some sad situations and injected his enthusiasm and confidence and made things happen "He was unusual There aren't many that thrive in the kind of situations he did He went looking for them" Long Beach State presented just such a situation Allen called it the toughest Division I coaching job in the country But he also said the season in 1989 was his most 49ers' gratifying in 35 years of coaching 6-- 5 Bronchitis May Have Killed Allen PALOS VERDES Calif (UM — Coaching great George Allen contracted bronchitis soon after his Long Beach State players doused him with ice water and was under a doctor's care when he died suddenly a school official said Tuesday But exactly what killed the former coach of the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins remained unknown as was it unclear if the bronchitis was brought on by the dousing Steve Janisch the school's assistant sports information director said Allen's wife found her husband unconscious on the kitchen floor of their Palos Verdes home at "Certainly we had heard about all the stories on how difficult he was to work with" related Donlan who 12:30 pm after she returned from errands Etty Allen called paramedics but the coach a fitness buff could not be revived Janisch said Allen came down with bronchitis an inflammation of the lining of the lungs after he was showered with ice water by his players in celebrating a season-endinvictory Nov 17 over Nevada-g Las Vegas Becca Wohlt an assistant sports information director said the coach had not been feeling well since Janisch said Allen was under a doctor's care but continued to work daily worked closely with Allen at Long Beach and was someone he confided in during their daily runs But based on what he did for us this past year I wish he had come into my life 20 years earlier There was no one any happier for the football program at 5 o'clock Nov 17 after the final Long Beach game than I was "He made a point of shaking my hand after that game and thanking me for everything I did during the year He was that kind of person" Junior wide receiver Mark Seay recalled how Allen had encouraged him in his attempts to play football after being shot and losing one kidney two years ago "It was the highlight of my life to have had the opportunity to play for him" Seay said "He had to have lived his life to the fullest I'm just going to try and do my best to be strong for him" Many of the players found out about Allen's death when the telecast of the Stale game was interrupted for a news bulletin n "It was devastating" said linebacker Pepper Jenkins "It seemed like everyone started calling each other after that not believing what they just heard He certainly stuck by me until the end It's just hard to believe it happened" With recruiting under way the last time the entire Long Beach State staff had met was last Thursday "And typical of George he was reaffirming the kind of individual we should be concentrating on A player's character was very important to him" said Pete Kettela Kettela who had also been an assistant to Allen in the USFL at Phoenix said those years were the two greatest years of his coaching life "At Phoenix we were written off and wound up gowhen we were ing to the divisional championship game And when we started out this everyone said 'Hey that's year just Long Beach' But he loved the 6-- 8 0-- 3 challenge" Ags Still Searching for Right Combination Bailey Nears 600 Games By Joe Baird Tribune Sports Writer LOGAN — Utah State can only hope that 1991 goes a little better than 1990 It's almost going to have to because the Aggies open their Big West Conference season Wednesday in the night against revived Spectrum - asid Tipoff is at 7:30 sofCal-Irvi- pm Alter:1)60 After nine the games Aggies are still spinning their wheels overUSU is just all shooting poorly (42 percent) getting outmuscled on the boards (by almost five rebounds a night) and on the whole still seems to be groping for the right chemistry Not a good sign going into conference play Most disturbing to Aggie coach Kohn Smith has been his team's tendency to get on a roll then with a horrible four- - or stretch The Ags have blown significant leads in their last two non-leag- 3-- 6 five-minu- Capitals Beat Devils Break Losing String LANDOVER Md (UPI) — Wash- ington coach Terry Murray warned he is not going to let up on the Capitals even after they broke an eight-gam- e win winless streak Tuesday with a over the New Jersey Devils -I'm not letting anyone out from under the gun" Murray said "The screws are still going to be tight We have done a lot in the last four days in terms of team meetings and individual meetings" John Druce ended a month-lonscoring drought with two goals and Dino Ciccarelli broke a tie at 5:40 of the third period as the Capitals halted e their losing skid and the undefeated run Devils' eight-gam- e Washington entered the game in their last and New Jersey eight games "We beared down in practice the last couple days" Druce said "Terry got us doing what he wanted us to do and we executed well Tuesday We got on their defense and kept the puck in their end most of the game" Washington outshot New Jersey 4-- 3 g four-gam- 34-1- 9 - loss also kept the Devils from The recording the franchise's longest undefeated string and from moving into a first-plactie in the Patrick Division with the New York Rangers The Capitals remain in fifth pace in the Patrick and three games below 500 e 4 games against San Francisco and Utah with such lapses They lost both contests "It's a combination of things" Smith said Tuesday "We'll miss a layup or miss a free throw then have a turnover and it starts to compound Then we start shooting too quick we don't get back defensively they score easily and the air goes out of the balloon We have to find a way to get through that in a more positive way" One thing the USU coach wants to see when the dry spells hit is more assertiveness from his seniors — point guard Allen Gordon forward Rich Jardine and center Randy Funk "When you have seniors you expect them to make the good plays in the key points of games" said Smith "But that hasn't been the case The seniors have been the ones making the bad plays When the game is there to be won or lost they have to be able to make things happen" On the whole there may not be a lot wrong with the Aggies that a good shooting night or two couldn't cure Of the USU starters only Funk is con By Craig Hansell Tribune Sports Writer Winter athletes are ready to begin the fifth annual Utah Winter Games which open Wednesday with a Nor-Aski race at Snow-basimen's super-and hockey action at the Bountiful ice rink Su- The Nor-AillitArt at Snowba- - 1111111114011110 per-sin is scheduled to begin at 11 am n Hat Wednesday and foot Thursday The last time 411 Snowbasin hosted Nor-A- competition AJ Kitt and Tommy Moe were skiing very fast This time Kitt and Moe are out chasing the blixskt - World Cup and the field will be open for some new talent There will be about 15 US Ski Team athletes competing including Park City's Jeremy Nobis Salt Lake's Spencer Eccles also will compete About 70 of the best American Canadian and European skiers not competing on the World Cup circuit will be testing Snowbasin's terrain down Porky Face 'r0 run has been proposed as Utah's tod13 Winter Olympic Downhill and Super-venue Wednesday's alpine skiing and hockey games mark the start of this edition of the winter games There will be competition in everything from ski archery to snowboarding I struggling "That's what's been disappointing" said Smith "I know we're a good shooting team We shoot well in practice We just haven't done it in the games We just need a couple of good shooting nights Something that can get us going and over the hump" e should provide Utah State with plenty of chances to bust out The Anteaters like the Aggies love to run And so far they've been better at it UCI is just going into its league opener but the Anteaters have already matched their victory total from last season (when they went 5- 23) while playing what veteran coach Bill Mulligan calls their toughest schedule in recent 5-- 7 memory "I'm not as happy as I was eight years ago when we were beating the hell out of everybody" said Mulligan alluding to the Anteaters 23-- 7 season 1981-8"But were obviously a lot better than we were last year" Leading the Anteaters is a leaner meaner Ricky Butler The senior is averaging 187 points and eight rebounds per game pounds and "Ricky's down having a really good season" said the Irvine coach "Butler's going to be tough for us to handle inside" granted Smith But Butler's just one of four Anteaters averaging in the double figures The others are senior forward Jeff Herdman (156 ppg) sophomore guard Dylan Rigdon (141) and junior guard Gerald McDonald (101) in New this year will be speed skiing and snowmobile racing Salt Lake's Kirsten Culver with be in charge of the speed skiing Skiers are expected to reach speeds of 85 miles per hour on the course on Anderson's Hill below Tower Three at Snowbird There will be alpine skiing for everyone from the young new competis tor to high school skiers the the disabled and masters-clas- s older skiers Sunday through Jan 11 the men's and women's Western PIS technical series of slalom and giant slalom races will be conducted at Park City Park West Snowbird and Deer Valley There will be cross country skiing telemark skiing biathlon skiing and ski archery In addition there will be mogul and ballet freestyle skiing at Park West (which has been designated a Nor-Ameet There is hockey for peewee bantam squirt high school and women's classes and a full slate of senior and divisions Figure skating competition is scheduled at the Cottonwood Heights Arena Park City is m w the home of the US Speed Skating Association The Utah Winter Games speed skating is scheduled for January 13 at Fort Buenaventura in North Ogden Since the impressive Jeremy Ranch cross country skiing facility is closed all events scheduled for Jeremy have been moved to Park City's White Pine Ski Touring Center golf course track White Pine will host the best western NCAA collegiate cross country newly-establishe- d almost-Olympian- ) Looks Forward to More 2 245-poun- d 15-2- 0 NOTES: The Anteaters ore in Logan Besides beating no the strangers to winning in the Spectrum last season they also Aggies won here in '81 '82 '83 '85 and '86 Kohn Smith is e UC1 10- Irvine is in the midst of a vs I Dr Pepper in After the a earning split day road trip Classic at Chattanooga Tenn over the weekend (detealed Alabama State lost to Tennesseee-Chatanoogthe Anteaters arrived in Solt Lake on Sunday and were scheduled to stay put until Wednesday afternoon They wrap up their trip Friday at San Jose State Following Wednesdays game the Barbaro Friday then hd the Agestorhost rood games at Cal State Fullerton and UNIV Continued From D-- 1 but I think it's a responsibility players have You have to as yourself What makes the team better?' s Sloan thinks the switch has made his team better but he quickly responds when asked if Bailey's role is less significant than it has been in recent years "For us to be really good" Sloan said "he's got to play well all the It seems like when he has time a big game we're right in there all the way" Bailey knows he struggled early In the three games prior to the lineup change he went from the field As discussed there might have been contributing circumstances No problem Go with the flow Says Stockton "He never pouts Some players when things aren't going well will point fingers and bitch about everybody else Not Bailey-Edward- Thurl" Event Kicks Off Winter Games Nor-A- m mens necting on half his shots (54 percent) Everybody else — Kendall Youngblood (43 percent) Jay Goodman (34) Gordon (39) and Jardine (45) — is skiers Friday and Saturday In addition to the cross country skiers collegiate alpine skiers will be competing in the University of Utah Invitational events at Solitude The Utes who finished second to the University of Vermont in the NCAA Ski Championship last March at Stowe Vt will be starting their push toward the NCAA finals Utah will host at Park City Feb 2 Perhaps that's because Bailey's toughest critic is Bailey "I always want to go out and play well" he said "That's the only thing that bothers me Starting or not starting that doesn't make a difference What bothers me is when my performance isn't up to par Besides the bottom line is winning Happiness is winning And now we're winning" According to Bailey the key to as coming off the bench this year a member of a more potent team — is patience "I try to concentrate and get into the flow with my defense" he said "Maybe a blocked shot or a rebound Maybe it's running the floor for an easy basket I want to get a good shot instead of trying to create something If you go out and rush something you put yourself into that mode the whole game" Says Sloan "When Thurl gives us defense and rebounding he ends up scoring It usually goes together not just for him but for a lot of players" On one fascinating night during e career everything his came together for Bailey On March 14 1988 Karl Malone was ejected three minutes into a game with the Nuggets at McNichols Frank Layden Arena Then-coac- h was kicked out a couple minutes after Malone Against a Nugget team that played some defense and was playoff-bound — unlike the version Paul Westhead coaches in Denver today — Utah seemed doomed 600-gam- Bailey however went into overdrive He finished with 41 points induel cluding a torrid with Alex English that ended when he buried a off the baseline in the final seconds of the Jazz's 116-11victory Asked to name a most memorable game Bailey says "I guess that one in Denver I guess that's the obvious one" But there have been others and Bailey hopes they'll be more to shot-for-sh- 5 come "I'm looking forward to the next 600" he says 27-M- Park City Trains Athletes: The Park City Ski Education Foundation Christmas Training Camp was opened to about 25 black skiers The black youngsters trained giant slalom and slalom technique on Willy's and Clementine runs with Bob Marsh and his cadre of coaches Adequate Snowfall: Last season European mountain bikers were riding bicycles in places they should have been skiing Jeremy Nobis reports the European snow drought is over I skied some great pou der- Nobis said at Park City "The Europeans don't know what to do with it powder Nobis the former junior world champion who capped wins in the East with a trip to Europe for World Cup competition is enthusiastic about his chances for a start next year when the World Cup will probably start with America's Opening on his home hill at Park City That charge may gain some steam Wednesday and Thursday in the Nor-Aat Snowbasin Super-G- s Kings Sign ExJazzman Les for Defense SACRAMENTO Calif (AP) — The Sacramento Kings signed conpoint guard Jim Les to a tract to bolster its defensive backcourt Les a former member of the Utah Jazz who was averaging 18 points and 11 assists with the Omaha Racers of the Continental Basketball Associa "6 —4r 1 lion worked out with the Kings on Monday and will be in uniform for the NBA teams next game Thursday against Golden State The Kings need a point guard who can prevent other teams from shutting down the Kings' offense with full-cou- pressure rt 0 9:3 — 1 a s d TAY 11 v" ' a a ( 1 ‘r1-- LiJ 4 - ' - |