European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 7, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 7, 1993 sports the stars and stripes Page 33 it was according to the 1990 census the median age in the United states was 32.9 years and creeping up slightly. Even if you Factor out Newborn infants people who would Ratner listen to Bartok on a sunday afternoon soccer fans and other eccentrics there Are still Mil Lions of Young people who follow football but could not possibly fathom what it meant for two elderly gents to be gambling around Joe Robbie stadium on sunday. Steve Deberg age 39, the oldest Active player in this brutal business took seven stitches below the Chin an occupational Hazard for quarterbacks but rushed Back onto the Field a Bandage covering his Throat above his bloody uniform. Phil Simms age 38, threw a touchdown pass and ran a highly uncharacteristic quarterback sneak to keep his counterpart from getting his hands on the Ball any too soon. And both of them absorbed the Odd sack and other insults to their aging bodies. A i feel like i lost the fight a said Deberg who also Tost the football game As the  held off the dolphins 19-14. Nobody on the shallow Side of the Seinfeld line knows How it feels to be 38 or 39, when your Knees Start to ache from disco dancing. From carrying a Laptop computer Down interminable Airport corridors. From raking leaves. Only people older than Deberg and Simms can appreciate trying to Bend Down Ana hold a ludicrously shaped Ball and take a few Dainty Steps backward George Vecsey commentary and throw the goofy thing while dodging bulked up a roid raged human incoming fire. Personally i wanted both quarterbacks to win. In a older than they Are and was never much of an athlete but 1 can remember what it was like to approach 40 and Start to Feci strange twinges and creaks from hitherto sound Muscles. At their age i Felt my full court basketball game deteriorate from functional to ludicrous so 1 Hung it up. Great athletes always say they will be the first to know but they Are usually the last and sometimes it gets ugly. Bill Laimbeer retired the other Day because he said he had become the kind of player he bad. Always despised somebody who could t play hard. And Kareem Abdul Jabbar still in terrific shape still a great clutch competitor was clanking up and Down the court in his final year playing on memory. The body goes. It just goes. This is Why it was so wonderful to see Phil Simms and Steve Deberg surviving. Simms has survived coaches who did no to see the consistency the quiet Zeal inside him. Deberg has been shuffled around the league a regular a backup and at the moment a replacement for an injured fill in for Dan Marino. A live always followed Steve a Simms said after the Fame. A i remember my Rookie year playing in san Vancisco in my second Start and i thought a he can really  a that was 14 years ago doctor. And they still can throw. Simms completed 17 of 24 passes for 257 Yards and one touchdown. He was also sacked three times for 16 Yards which he labelled a a Good Day a since he was Able to stand upright in the locker room with no noticeable welts or cuts on his Pale body. Simms  compare the Way he Felt at age 38 in to the Way he Felt at age 23, because it was so Long ago. Deberg had even bigger numbers but then again he should. He has More experience. He completed 26 of 41 passes for 365 Yards and one touchdown and he was sacked twice for 11 Yards. And seven stitches on a hit that never happened officially. It happened in the third Quarter. Corey Miller was already launched from a Blitz As Deberg tossed a 42-Yard completion to Irving Fryar so there was no foul no malice when Miller opened a Cut under  a Chin. The blood ribbed Down  a neck and shirt As the quarterback dashed straight to the Loeker room. Quot i figured maybe he broke a Finger or something a Simms recalled. The dolphins fourth string quarterback somebody named Doug Pederson ran handoffs while the doctor stitched. And Early in the fourth period the fans cheered when Deberg bloody shirt and All materialized from the runway. A when he came trotting out i Wasny to too Happy for him a Simms said. Deberg threw an interception to kill a rally. Then Simms ate the clock with a third Down quarterback sneak that was sent in by Dan Reeves. Both quarterbacks have survived so Long because they stayed in the pocket whenever possible and went into the baseball slide whenever a tackle was within a Kilometre of them. To some football people this disqualifies them from being real men like Randall Cunningham the repeatedly bunged up Ball car incr or Francis Asbury Tarkenton the fabled scrambler who wore out the opposing defense and his offence simultaneously. Whatever. Simms and Deberg have survived. What a shame that half the country could not relate. The no wort Ittem big As Arizona tops Osu Nona s Dylan Rigdon drives against Oklahoma slates Brooks Thompson at  the associated press Phoenix a the player known As a big country was defended like a superpower. Arizona limited Oklahoma states Bryant Reeves to 12 Points As the no. 14 wildcats beat the no. 15 cowboys 97-84 on sunday in the second game of the dial invitational. Reeves Oklahoma states 7-foot-0 Junior Center scored two Points in the first half both on free throws. Arizona forwards Kevin Flanagan and Joseph Blair combined with Wildcat Center Ray owes to double team Reeves whenever he touched the Ball a they pushed him out further away from the Basket and doubled Down on him when he got the Ball a said Oklahoma state coach Eddie Sutton. A the was frustrated out there a Reeves who entered the contest averaging 28.5 Points and 11.1, rebounds per ame pulled Down six rebounds and locked one shot. A lot has been said about our Lack of size a Arizona coach Lute Olson said. Quot when you go against a Guy like Reeves you know you la be tested. 1 think we responded pretty  in addition to quieting Reeves Blair scored 14 Points and pulled Down eight rebounds in 20 minutes. Owes added 16 Points and six rebounds. �?�1 think we re very highly underrated a Blair said. A in All the magazines they say we have a great backcourt but there s always a question Mark on the front court. This shows we can play with the big  arizonans defensive efforts against Reeves were aided by the wildcats Quick Start. Arizona 3-0 scored the games first eight Points and led 15-4 with 14 31 to play in the first half. Acc put them into the kind of game we wanted to play an up Tempo game Quot said Arizona guard Damon Stoudamire who led the wildcats with 22 Points. Quot once we got them in that style of play a College basketball they had to play catchup. They could t get Reeves in this game in the first half because there were no Hal court sets for them to  with Reeves neutralized guard Brooks Thompson assumed Oklahoma state s scoring role. Thompson scored 15 first half Points including a personal u-0 run late in the period keeping arizonans Lead at 46-34 at Naif time. The wildcats stretched their Lead to As Many As 15 in the second half before the cowboys went on their final run. An intentional foul by Stoudamire and a Trio of 3-pointers keyed Oklahoma state s 13-4 run As the cowboys pulled within 83-77 with 5 08 to play. But the wildcats scored the next eight Points to ice the game. Khalid Reeves scored 18 Points for Arizona and Dylan Rigdon added 10, Randy Rutherford and Fred Burley each scored 15 Points for Oklahoma state. Vandy women win Nashville Tenn. A Donna Harris scored 26 Points sinking two key free throws in the final seconds As no. 5 Vanderbilt beat no 23 Purdue 96-91 sunday in the Sci first american classic championship game. Vanderbilt 3-2 led 45-31 at halftime but later built a 71-52 Lead on two free throws by Harris at the 9 00 Mark. The closest Purdue 3-1 got after that was 92-89 when Leslie Johnson made two free throws with 16 seconds left. Ginger jarred and Harris then made four straight free throws for the commodores in the final seconds. Jarred and Sheri Sam scored 18 Points each. Kelly Dougherty had 14 and Heidi Gillingham 12. Johnson scored 34 Points for Purdue. Danielle Mcculley had 18 and Jennifer Jacoby and Stacy lace 11 apiece