Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By ERNEST HOOPER
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 24, 2000
Seven owners who comprise what the NFL is calling the "realignment working group" met last week via one-hour conference call, but it's going to take many more hours to work out a plan for the 2002 season that will get approved.
The group -- Buffalo's Ralph Wilson, Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney, Jacksonville's Wayne Weaver, Kansas City's Lamar Hunt, Arizona's Bill Bidwill, Chicago's Mike McCaskey and Carolina's Jerry Richardson -- has much to consider before making a report to the owners at a special league meeting in January in Dallas.
In addition to coming up with four four-team divisions for each conference, the owners have to consider scheduling formats, the number of playoff teams, the possible seeding of those teams and the number of byes in the post-season.
On the surface, it seems fairly easy to re-shuffle the teams (see chart). But every team forced to change conferences or divisions is a potential "no" vote. And it's more than just resisting change. Some teams will not be happy with the potential gate money they will lose by changing. Others will resist realignment if it means more travel. A handful of teams will be desperate to maintain long-standing rivalries.
Anticipating a protracted battle, commissioner Paul Tagliabue will have his working group meet with other owners on a regional basis. The group meets with "west" owners Nov.14 in Denver and "east" owners Dec. 6 in New York.
The owners may approve a new scheduling format when they meet Oct. 31 in Atlanta, but the final vote on realignment will not come until possibly June.
DIPLOMACY: Who else but Washington would know how to give the league a lesson in diplomacy: with examples. Redskins receiver Albert Connell gave us a glimpse of how not to negotiate a dispute last week when he got in a visible shouting match with receivers coach Terry Robiskie.
Connell simply wanted the ball thrown his way, but all he got was a fine.
On Sunday, Connell would have made Madeleine Albright proud. Again, he wanted the ball, but his protests were formed in a more constructive manner.
"I tried to channel it a different way, instead of handling it like that," said Connell, who was convinced he could take Jaguars cornerback Kiwaukee Thomas. "I try to control my emotions. It's better for me to go to the coach and say: "Coach, I think I can beat this guy, give me the ball,' instead of blowing up. Different approach."
Different result, too. Connell ended up catching seven passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns. The breakout performance for Connell, who had not had a touchdown before Sunday and was singled out by coach Norv Turner for the Redskins' offensive woes, could prove pivotal.
"He and Brad (Johnson) made plays that we had been close to making earlier," Turner said. "We made them in this game, and that was a big difference."
DO YOU HEAR ME?: The Jaguars have been plagued by injuries, the latest being guard Zach Weigert's torn anterior cruciate, but no one has been placed on the injured reserve because of a hearing ailment.
Still, a lot of people in Jacksonville believe the Jaguars have stopped listening to coach Tom Coughlin. Coughlin refused to change his message Monday.
"Before we can expect to win, we have to keep from defeating ourselves," Coughlin said. "I know that's a point that keeps getting driven home, but until it becomes an area of response on the field, it will continue to be our Achilles' heel."
The Jaguars also have a perplexing halftime problem. They have piled up 65 percent of their offense in the first half in four of their five consecutive losses. They have fallen behind by double digits in each of their past five games.
A GOOD CAUSE: The NFL has a new Web page called "NFL For Her." For some women, the idea of needing a separate page may seem insulting, but at least on this day, there's a reason to check it out.
For every visit the page gets, $5 will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The section, which can be found at http://www.NFL.com, includes stories about breast cancer survivor Janice McNair, wife of Houston Texans owner Robert, and Zenobia Anderson, the mother of Jamal Anderson and a friend of several breast cancer victims.
QUOTABLE: Denver safety Billy Jenkins on the 278-yard performance by Cincinnati running back Corey Dillon: "When you have a guy set an all-time NFL record, that's the epitome of embarrassing."
-Information from Times wires was used in this report.