Sugar Bowl Not Sweet on Problems Duke’s Election Could Cause

With the Louisiana gubernatorial election only two days away, Sugar Bowl officials are nervously awaiting the potential political fallout should Republican candidate David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, win the much-publicized race.

Last year, the Phoenix-based Fiesta Bowl found itself in the middle of the controversy involving a failed Arizona referendum calling for a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The voters’ decision cost the Fiesta its first choice--Virginia--and bowl officials eventually settled for Alabama vs. Louisville.

This time, the Sugar Bowl, which is played in the state-owned Superdome, is faced with the possibility of a similar political backlash. However, indications are that Florida, which should earn a bid to the New Orleans bowl game as Southeastern Conference champion, and Notre Dame, which is expected to receive the at-large bid, will attend the game no matter the outcome of the election.

Addressing the subject at his weekly news conference, Irish Coach Lou Holtz said: “We don’t use the Notre Dame football team to promote any cause. We aren’t going to wear patches on our sleeves that say we’re for gay rights or anti-abortion or anything like that. We go where Notre Dame tells us to go.

“I have my personal and political feelings on David Duke’s past and his philosophy. But if someone asks you to go and you don’t go, does that solve it? Does that change it? Does that correct it? Does that rectify it? There are a lot of things I believe politically that are opposed to what some other people believe. I don’t think any political affair in a particular state should have a bearing on an athletic contest, any more than I think politics belongs in the Olympics.”

Holtz stressed that these were his personal feelings, and that school and athletic department officials would not make a decision on the Sugar Bowl until Saturday.

Mickey Holmes, executive director of the Sugar Bowl, said he has no idea what to expect if Duke is elected.

“It sure as hell isn’t going to be something that comes out of a textbook,” he said of his options.

Holmes said Florida, as well as schools being considered for the Sugar Bowl’s at-large bid, had asked about the Duke situation. Holmes told them what he could, “but as far as the effect (of his potential election goes), I just don’t know.

“We’re apolitical,” he said. “I really don’t think it should have any bearing.”

However, a source familiar with California’s bowl discussions said the Berkeley school was relieved to be going to the Citrus Bowl rather than the Sugar Bowl, simply because it didn’t want to deal with the possibility of a David Duke victory.

In 1990, the Golden Bears played in the Tucson-based Copper Bowl, which also was affected by the King controversy.

The news of Magic Johnson’s disclosure that he is HIV-infected has caused the NCAA to place the issue of AIDS testing on its February committee meeting agenda. At present, the NCAA does not test for the disease, but it does distribute an eight-page pamphlet to athletes dedicated entirely to the subject of AIDS.

Big East Conference Commissioner Mike Tranghese said he will introduce the subject of AIDS testing at his league’s winter meetings.

“Without question, no ifs, ands or buts, we have to talk about it,” he said.

The Big East, as with many conferences, doesn’t administer drug tests to athletes. That duty is left to the discretion of the member institutions.

Tom Hansen, Pacific 10 Conference commissioner, said his league would be inclined to keep it that way--that is, if an individual school wanted to test for AIDS, then it could do so.

“That doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be conversation about (adopting a conference-wide policy concerning AIDS testing),” Hansen said.

Pac-10 meetings are scheduled for December. If, said Hansen, team trainers and team physicians of member schools propose that Pac-10 athletic directors and conference administrators discuss the possibility of AIDS testing, he would consider asking them to do so.

“That’s a time when it might be brought up,” Hansen said.

Added Charles Neinas, executive director of the College Football Assn.: “I think the institutions will take care of that themselves. I’m sure some institutions will talk about (AIDS testing).”

As if anyone needed more reasons why the bowl selection process--if you can call it that--is flawed, simply look at the situation in which Jim Brock, the Cotton Bowl’s executive director, finds himself.

Brock needed to find a team to play probable Southwest Conference champion Texas A&M.; He courted Notre Dame, but the Irish chose the Sugar Bowl. Then, after Florida State expressed an interest in the Dallas bowl game, Brock put Alabama, his second choice, on hold and turned his attention to the Seminoles. While Brock talked with Florida State, Alabama committed to the Blockbuster Bowl.

Brock eventually worked out a deal with the Seminoles, contingent on a Miami victory over Florida State Saturday.

One problem: What if Florida State wins?

Because everyone ignores the Nov. 17 bid date, Brock is left with few choices. If Florida State beats Miami, Brock must settle for a Nebraska team which, by then, would be the third-place Big Eight Conference finisher at 8-2-1; or take Colorado, which would be 8-2-1 and the Big Eight runner-up. There is an outside chance that Oklahoma could be invited, but only if SWC officials can stomach the thought of the Sooners in Dallas, prime recruiting territory.

Not exactly the same as a 10-1 Florida State, is it? Then again, the Seminoles are only 10-1 if they lose to Miami or Florida on Nov. 30.

The bowl alliance, which goes into effect next season (thank goodness), should alleviate a lot of the insanity.

And now, the latest look at the probable bowl lineup:

California--Fresno State vs. Bowling Green.

Aloha--Georgia Tech vs. Stanford.

Freedom--Tulsa vs. San Diego State-BYU loser.

Blockbuster--Alabama vs. Miami or Oklahoma or Colorado.

Liberty--Air Force vs. Mississippi-Mississippi State winner.

Gator--Virginia vs. Oklahoma or ?.

Independence--North Carolina State or Georgia vs. Arkansas, West Virginia or Pitt.

Holiday--BYU-San Diego State winner vs. Iowa.

Hancock--UCLA vs. Illinois.

Copper--Indiana vs. Baylor.

Peach--North Carolina State or Georgia vs. East Carolina.

Hall of Fame--Syracuse vs. Ohio State.

Citrus--California vs. Clemson.

Cotton--Texas A&M; vs. Florida State-Miami loser or Nebraska or Colorado.

Fiesta--Penn State vs. Tennessee.

Rose--Michigan vs. Washington.

Orange--Nebraska or Colorado vs. Florida State-Miami winner.

Sugar--Notre Dame vs. Florida.

Footnotes: Because of the rule requiring all postseason participants to have at least six victories against Division I-A opponents, Stanford still has to win one of its two remaining games, against Washington State or Cal; Georgia has to beat either Auburn or Georgia Tech and Indiana has to defeat either Ohio State or Purdue.

Teams on the bowl bubble include Kansas (5-4) and Virginia Tech (5-4). Kansas plays Colorado at Boulder, Colo., and the Hokies face No. 14 East Carolina at Blacksburg, Va. Upsets are essential.

“If any team in the country needs to be looked at . . . it’s Virginia Tech,” said Hokie Coach Frank Beamer, whose team has won four of its last five games and lost to Florida State by only 13 points. “We have an opportunity to show the bowl people that we do belong.”

It will take some doing. East Carolina, coached by Bill Lewis, is off to its best start since 1976, and with victories over Virginia Tech and Cincinnati, would finish 10-1. The Pirates feature linebacker and Butkus Award candidate Robert Jones on defense and quarterback Jeff Blake on offense.

Blake earned considerable praise from ESPN analyst Lee Corso, who said that if not for Michigan receiver Desmond Howard, the Pirate star would be his Heisman Trophy choice. Beamer called Blake, who passed for 361 yards and five touchdowns against Southern Mississippi last Saturday, “the hottest quarterback that we’ve ever faced and probably the best.” That would include Florida State’s Casey Weldon and Georgia Tech’s Shawn Jones, both of whom played against the Hokies in 1990.

“This is not a fluke East Carolina team,” Beamer said.

Two possibilities: Beamer is serious, or he is trying to talk up the Pirates, thus making a Virginia Tech upset seem more significant.

The U.S. Naval Academy (0-9), in danger of going winless for the first time since 1948, will undergo a complete review of its football program at season’s end. School officials are looking for ways to make the program more competitive. A suggestion: Do whatever fellow service academy Air Force, which has been to seven bowl games in the last nine years, is doing. If the Falcons, under similar academic and size restrictions, can win, so can Navy. . . . Oklahoma State Coach Pat Jones said Colorado’s touchdown pass on a fake field goal with six seconds remaining in the game was the “guttiest” play he had seen in his coaching career. The score gave the Buffaloes a 16-12 victory. . . . Can’t be: USC is 3-6, but perennial loser Vanderbilt is 5-5. Look for first-year Commodore Coach Gerry DiNardo to get some well-deserved Southeastern Conference coach-of-the-year votes. Vandy was 1-10 in 1990. . . . Stanford should be ashamed about the way it deceived the Freedom Bowl. After making it clear that they intended to accept a Freedom Bowl bid, Cardinal athletic department officials changed their minds at the last moment when the Aloha Bowl and, more important, ABC, which is televising the game, wooed them.

So much for the luck of the Irish: Craig Hentrich, Notre Dame’s dependable junior kicker, had never tried a game-winning field goal in high school or college. He still hasn’t. A knee injury forced him out of last Saturday’s game against Tennessee in the third quarter. Walk-on Rob Leonard, who had never attempted a field goal in his two seasons at Notre Dame, was asked to try a 27-yard kick with four seconds left. He missed, and the Irish lost, 35-34. . . . Georgia Tech’s Scott Sisson beat Furman with a 37-yard kick with 21 seconds remaining. It was the fifth game-winning field goal of his collegiate career. . . . The John Gutekunst Job Watch is on at Minnesota. The Gophers are 2-7 overall, 1-5 in Big Ten play, and fading fast. A loss to Wisconsin Saturday would tie them for last place. Only 31,145 fans, the smallest crowd to see a Gopher game at the Metrodome, bought tickets for their most recent mess, a 35-6 loss to Ohio State. Gutekunst is 29-35-2 at Minnesota.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Florida State 10-0 2. Washington 9-0 3. Miami 8-0 4. Michigan 8-1 5. Florida 8-1 6. Penn State 8-2 7. California 8-1 8. Iowa 8-1 9. Alabama 8-1 10. Texas A&M; 7-1

Waiting list: Tennessee (6-2), Notre Dame (8-2), Nebraska (7-1-1), East Carolina (8-1), Clemson (6-1-1).