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Show Ill~ NAT' L s p ORT s ~ ,t---TH_E_UNIVE--RS-IT_Y_J_O_URN_AL_•_SO_U_T_HERN _ _UT_AH_UN_IV-RS-IT_Y_•_M_O_N_D_A_Y,-JANU E _ _A_R_Y_l2-,1-9-98_ _ _ _ _ _1 It's down to the Packers, Broncos w ho m issed all but two games th is season with By TH E ASSOCIATED PRESS two major knee injuries. John Elway didn't need a fourth-quarter It'll likely be a battle of arms in San Diego on comeback to get back to the Super Bowl this Jan. 25 as the NFC's Brett Farve and the Green time. The Denver Broncos took a 10-point lead Bay Packers will meet the AFC's John Elway on El way's two touchdown passes in the final and the Denver Broncos after conference two minutes of the first half, then held off championship games yesterday. turnover stricken Pittsburgh for a 24-21 victory yesterday in the AFC championship game. In Pittsburgh, the Broncos topped the Steelers 24-21, while the defending champion Packers Elway also led a tense drive in the final also overcame the home field advantage to best minutes to keep the ball away from the Steelers, the San Francisco 49crs 23-10 who pulled within a field goal on Kordcll In San Francisco, Favre and the Green Bay Stewart's touchdown pass with 2:46 left, the only points in the second half. defense made the big plays. The 49ers made the big mistakes. The result was a 23-10 Packers One year after they couldn't get to t he Super victory yesterday in the NFC championship Bowl with h ome-field advantage, the Broncos game. fou nd the road there leads away from Mile High Favre threw for 222 yards, including a 27-yard Stadium. The victory gives the 37-year-old touchdown pass to Elway a fourth Antonio Freeman . and possibly last The NFL's MVP - chance to win a quarterback took ring after an eightadvantage of San year wait. Francisco T he last two AFC cornerbacks Rod championship Woodson and games in Marquez Pope, the Pittsburgh went one wea kness in the down to the fina l 49ers' leagueplay, just as leading defense. Elway's first two Instead, it was t he G reen Bay defense, victories in the AFC title game in playing in ra in that the 1986 and 1987 grew steadier as the gam e wo re on, that seasons did. Nobody is better at looked like the game-winning league's best. With rallies than t he the Favre-led certain Hall of offense, the Packers look invincible in a Farner, who has led 42 such game the NFC team comebacks i n the has won 13 straight fou rth qu arter. But times. this time, Elway T he Green Bay ~ managed t he clock defense allowed ~ and his offense to only three points perfection late in the other seven the second quarter, came on C huck masterfully driving Levy's 95-yard ~ the Broncos to two kic koff return with ; touchdowns in a 2:52 left after Dorsey Levens, who ~=r!~~~~~,,~1~,~~~~~ f'.: span of I :34 to put Denver up 24-14 at ran for 107 yards, Den ver Broncos quarterback foh n Elway (7) runs past halftime. Both made it 23-3 with a Piltsburgh Steelers lineback er f ason Gildon (92) for a 5-yard TD run. It firs t-quarter firs t down during the AFC Championship touchdown passes - one to fullback was the first time game yesterday. Howard Griffith, the 49ers allowed a the other to wide receiver Ed Mcc affrey 100-yard game thi s season. came after pass interference penalties, which T he Packers played tea m defense as preached totaled 56 ya rds. by coordina tor Fritz Shurmur, but there were Still, Stewart, who has mimicked Elway all individua l standouts, too. Eugene Robinson season by leading five fo urth-quarter com ebacks retu rned an interception 5 1 ya rds to set up th e of his own, nearly did it again. He shook off gam e's first touchdown. G ilber t Brown, Brian three interceptions, all of them critical, to hit Will iams and LeRoy Butler shut down the San C harles Johnson on a 14 yard TD pass wi th 2:46 Francisco running game, limiting it to 32 yards to play. T he score, Pittsb urgh's first since on 17 carries. Jerome Bettis' 1-yard run with 12:42 left in the And w hile the 49ers made a few big plays, second quarter, seemed to electrify the Steelers they also made huge mistakes - 59 yards of and their bench, and they held Denver to three penalties in the first half. T hey in cluded two yards on the their next two plays. Hold them consecu tive holding penalties that negated one more play, and they'd get the ba ll back in major gai ns, a pass interference call that set up good field position, three timeou ts and plenty of an early Gree n Bay field goal and a botched time to win or tie. reverse that eventually led to Robinson's But Elway fo und tight end Shannon Sharpe interception. The Ni ners also allowed a 40-yard over the middle for 18 yards and the first down, Favre-to-Freema n connection in the final and, with only l :52 left, D enver had its fifth seconds of the first half t hat set up a field goal. AFC championship - and its second on the While it wasn 't a blowout, the outcome road. seemed a lmos t certa in when Favre hit Freeman, Elway finished 18-of-3 1 for 210 yards, two who caugh t four passes for 107 ya rds, on a slant touchdowns and an interception, wh ile Stewart early in the second quarter, giving the Packers a was 18-of-36 for 20 1 yards, a TD and three 10-0 lead . Iro nica lly, that's the favorite play of Young a nd Jerry Rice, the San Francisco req:iver interceptions, two of them in the end zone. f'.: 8 g DIGEST U.S. SKATERS LOOK FORWARD T O A SWEEP: Three U.S . women figure s katers, three Olympic medals. No, this isn 't the usual, rah-rah, everything-is-wonderful, pre Olympic spin. With the way Miche lle Kwan, Tara Lipinski and Nicole Bobek skated at this week's national championships, a 1-2-3 sweep at next month's Nagano Games is a strong possibility. " I think we have a great chance Michelle with th ese girls to sweep," said Christa Fassi, Kwan Bobek's coach. " We definitely have the Dream - - - - Team ." For the first time, the United States is sending three female national champions to the Olympics. Between the three of them, they've had a stranglehold on the U.S. crown the past four years, and the world title the past two. "The past skaters never jumped the way we do now," Dobek said. " I thi nk we can do 1-2-3, no problem." MESSIER HITS 1,000-ASSIST PLATEAU: Mark Mess ier became t he sixth NHL player to reach t he 1,000assist plateau against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. The Van couver Canucks' captain reached the personal milestone when he helped set up Alex Mogilny's seventh goal of the season late in the second period to give Vancouver a 21 lead. T he assist was Messier's 23rd of the eason. Messier joined three other active players in the 1,000-as ist club, which is led by al l-tim e leader and Mcssier's fo rmer team ma te Wayne Gretz ky, who curren tly has 1,873 assists. Boston Bruins defcnseman Ray Bourqu e is fifth on the list, 19 assists ahead of Messier, who is in h is 19th season in the league. Rounding out the list is Philadelphia defcnseman Paul Coffey, who currentl y has 1,080 assists, for mer Detroit great Gord ie Howe I l,049) and Marcel Dionne, who finished his 18year career w ith 1,040. Pittsburgh Penguins veteran Ron Francis is seventh on the all-ti me list, 23 assists from 1,000. Messier recorded the bulk of his assists 1642) in his 12 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. CHINESE PAIR T O H EAD HOME AWAITING DISCIPLINE: A C hinese swimmer and her coach were set to return home Monday for trying to sneak a banned drug into Australia for t he world ch ampionships. Swimming authorit ies, awaiting further drug reports, have delayed disciplinary action against swimm er Yuan Yuan and coach Z hou Z hc men. " It would have been nice if we could have revealed the decision before the start of the swimming, " said Gun nar Werner, secretary of PINA, swimm ing's governing body. " We have to suffer a little from the bureaucracy. We have not yet received confirmation with the official report from the customs regarding the analysis. It's the weekend." Zhou and Z hewen were recalled from the championships after I 3 v.ials of banned human growth hormone were fo und packed in a th erm os seized from Yuan's baggage. In th e wake of the latest accusations against the Chi nese, Swedish swim coach Hans Chrunak said his country plans to boycott the World Cup swim meet in Beijing next month. PIPPEN'S BACK BUT STILL FRUSTRATED: Scottie Pippen's ailing foot ? Much better, thank you. Sufficiently healed so he can play basketball again with the C hicago Bulls. His relationships with those in the front office? They may never be mended. " I don't th ink they've been repaired at all. We haven't tried to repai r them. 1 don't Scottie Pippen thin~ th_ey c_a n _be repaired," Pippen said after - - - - - - playing m h is firs t game of the season Saturday night. " I'm just going to do my job an d just allow them to do theirs," he said. Pippen asked for a trade two months ago while recovering from foot surgery. He said he'd never play again for the Bulls because management specifically general manager Jerry Krause - had not shown h im the respect he feels he deserved and tried to trade hi m. "This is the frustration I've been going through for the last couple of years and over the summer, having to deal w ith all the trade talk and things of that na ture," he said. "I think a player of my caliber deserves better, so l had to stand up and spea k out for myself." |