European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 30 the stars and stripes sports tuesday january 18,1994 they saw no fear in Montana s eyes Houston there was the legend of Joe. The there was the reality of a 37-year-old quarterback with surgically repaired parts preparing for the 18th game Ina season in which injuries had already Cost him five As late As last week Kansas City coach Marty Schot Genheimer needed to convince himself they were still one and the same. So in the Middle of a practice ses Sion he got Down in one knee in front of the Center and stared across the line As Montana prepared to take snap. " " he asked me what i was doing sch Ottenheimer recalled. I told him i wanted to see if there was any fear in  on sunday the Houston Oil ers did the same thing Only they did it for real. And they got the same answer no fear. We got some pretty Good licks on him and he kept getting up just like he always does said buddy Ryan the oilers defensive coordinator so he looks like the same Guy to  not exactly Montana was different Jim Litke file every time he oilers defenders decked him chiefs Joe Montana came Back throwing and conquered them. Wearing a Anderen Jersey standing at the Helm of a different team and throwing to different receivers. Still the result was the same. Ryan was right about this much though.  got knocked Down he got Back up. A pop up doll you look awful sch Ottenheimer said As he watched Montana Limp toward a microphone shortly after scrawling the chiefs 28-20 acc playoff win at the Bottom of his resume. It feels Good to do this when a lot of people did t think you could Montana  m just glad he added a moment later that i m still in one  though he was sacked officially just twice Montana disappeared under a swarm of blitzing defenders a commentary handful of times. They hammered his already tender ribs smashed an occasional helmet into his hand his Elbow and his Back. They Laid on his Chest rolled Over on his legs and perched there. And from that perspective through much of the first half they could see the things that really Hurt Montana most passes falling harmlessly to the ground because a the receiver ran the wrong route or worse a dropped the Ball or worse still c. The Ball was poorly thrown. Joe though is different from everybody else. Joe does not get Down on himself. Joe does not scold his lineman for missed assignments or upbraid his receivers for dropping balls. He understands he will need allow them when the time comes. That s Why he s a legend in the first place. He never loses his temper out there said hideout Willie Davis who made up for losing an easy to catch Early in the game by finding a Tough one in the lat going. He does t say he s not going to throw you the Ball any More. He keeps his Confidence in  Montana completed just nine of 20 passes in the first half for 87 Yards none for scores and was still certain there were weaknesses he had t found. In the second half he proved himself right completing 14 of 18 for another 212 Yards and three touchdowns. How Many lost causes is that now that Mon Tana has overcome at the last minute Twenty nine inthe fourth Quarter. How Many opposing coaches defensive coordinators Young guns and even teammates who expected to make their reputation by knocking Montana on his can Are out of work whatever the total you can probably add one More after sunday. The same old question is put to Oiler defensive end William Fuller How does Montana do it he under stands though that it s a technical question or even Avery hard one. He Fuller said May be the  by the associated press Lillehammer does t need Harding Bojoh Jeansonne. New Day. As they say around Tonya Harding s Hometown of Portland Ore Tim Berr she has Cut herself Down. -. V. ".-, she has cleared herself from the olympic Forest even if reports of her possible involvement in the Nancy Kerrigan attack Don t come True. An assistant District attorney in Portland denied that Harding was implicated in the alleged plot. Harding has to withdraw from the Lillehammer games now. And if she can t find that in her nature then the . Figure skating association . Olympic committee have to find the Lega loopholes that will allow them to throw her out. Last week she said i guess i m the kind of per son who wants someone to take my Chin off if any body challenges me that i can t do something i gout and do  but the arrests already Are too closet Home for her to go on. Her sex husband. Her Bod Hardin the Little fibs she been throwing out for Public consumption for a couple of years now already Are too much. She insisted that she is still married to Jeff Gillooly the out of work liquor store worker she dropped out of High school to live with in her teens but whom she later accused of physical abuse. Last thursday in fact it was confirmed by a court clerk that the two Are divorced. Harding claimed that she was t gelling her share of financial Aid from the Ussa. In fact she received roughly $40,000 in Grant Money last year. She repeatedly denied that she smokes and could t understand Why people keep saying she docs especially since she i asthmatic. Last thursday in fact photographs in news papers across America snowed her holding a cigarette commentary in one hand and a cigarette pack in the other. All of that was insignificant none of your business detail until the Harding Camp allegedly was moved to commit mayhem on Kerrigan Jan. 6. And then the whole package of cynicism Harb Redby the skating Community toward the outsider Harding came True. All the private mean spirited sarcastic comments about Harding s crowd they appeared to be paranoid and defensive at Best Low lifes at worst took on allegedly human form in Gillooly and body guard Shawn Eckardt who in 1988 reportedly pleaded no contest to a prostitution charge. Part of the Odd twist to the Harding olympic Story is that it could have made for grand and Lucra Tive soap opera Complete with a boffo Happy end ing which was the approach her former agent Michael Rosenberg had taken for the 1992 Albertville olym pics. The bad hand she had been dealt by life six times married Mother Odd Job father Pool playing drag car racing transmission changing youth would make her Gold medal Triumph All the More endearing. Rosenberg called her the Little engine  he worked mightily at Selling the common Folk attractiveness because Tonya Harding proves that you Don t have to be a Barbie doll to succeed in this sport. Tonya certainly is a Barbie doll. She s a  of a fighter than he bargained for it turned out. Rosenberg dropped Harding As a client several weeks ago frustrated by her Independent Streak that went beyond feisty. She quit speaking to Rosenberg in part because she did t want to pay the percentage showed the Ussa for her Trust fund earnings and she was convinced that Rosenberg was t trying hard enough to get her the kind of endorsement bounties that Kerrigan was enjoying. Since the Albertville olympics when Kerrigan won the Bronze medal and Harding finished fourth Kerri Gan s life changed completely according to her coach Evy Scotvold. She signed with the powerful Washington base sports Agency Proser had her Teeth capped landed deals with fashion designer Vera Wang for her skating costumes with Seiko watches with evian bottled water with cosmopolitan Magazine and Reebok. Taking full advantage of Liberal olympic eligibility rules which have been evolving since the Early 1980s, Kerrigan s current earnings Are in the mid to High six figures. Her Proser agent Jerry Solomon has said that a Gold medal in Lillehammer would mean at least $10 million to Kerrigan Rosenberg put the figure at Between $12 million and $15 million. Harding meanwhile is finished. She should disappear from the Lillehammer scene As one figure skating agent suggested last week. Whatever she knew about the plot if anything and whenever she knew it her absence from the team is in the Best interests of skating and the olympics. There already is enough political Mambo jumbo at the games we Don t need to watch the olym Pic judges giving Harding 4.5s, just to pay her Back for hanging around the principals in this bad imitation of those Light Beer commercials figure skate mugging. We Don t need to take the some times ruinous scuffling Over Fame and Fortune into the alleys. Former olympic skater Brian Boitano was kid Ding when he was asked after the Kerrigan assault had been administered by Kerrigan an apparent fan and after Boitano had lost the men s singles to Scott Davis at the National championships if he would worry about his fans in the future. Ill worry More about Scott Davis fans he said. Davis seated next to Boitano laughed. But it s not funny anymore. This is America and Harding is inno cent until proven guilty. But she should just leave. Go. I3