Dungy

MIAMI-- --It's the quintessential dopey Super Bowl week question: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? This year, there's a legit answer, at least if you ask the two coaches, the Indianapolis Colts' Tony Dungy and the Chicago Bears' Lovie Smith: a coaching tree. Well, Dungy has a tree. Smith is one of its products. This tree is unique in a couple of ways - it's one of the more recently planted, since Dungy has been an NFL head coach for only 11 years, and its branches include primarily, although not solely, African-American coaches.

INDIANAPOLIS-- --Is Tony Dungy concerned about his players being distracted or even intrigued by the Colts' history with the city of Baltimore? Get ready to shake your head. The answer might be laughable if it weren't so sad. Brace yourself ... "Probably most of our guys - I'd say two-thirds of our players - don't even know that we started out in Baltimore," Dungy, the Colts coach, said yesterday. "So those two-thirds, they won't even know. You talk about Willie Mays and Jim Brown, these guys don't know who that is. So you talk about the Baltimore Colts, there would be a lot of guys who would not be aware of that."

TAMPA, Fla. -- In their 23rd season, the makeover of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appears complete. They have replaced chaos with continuity, futility with success, and now, even long-standing apathy with renewed passion.This summer, for the first time in his stewardship, general manager Rich McKay was confronted with a crisis of ticket availability and a throng of disgruntled fans. There wasn't nearly enough ticket supply to meet fan demand when the club sold out its first four home games in record time in early August.

Tony Dungy remembers passing through the aluminum bleacher seats of Lambeau Field on a December afternoon five years ago, catching the crackle of dissatisfaction from the Green Bay Packers faithful.Back then, Dungy was a promising defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre a young, struggling quarterback for the Packers."After the game, going down the stands, I heard stuff like 'We'll never win with Favre. The guy's too antsy. He always does dumb things,' " Dungy said.

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers returned home at about 2 a.m. Monday after their victory over the New York Giants, coach Tony Dungy had to stop to fill up his gas tank."

For the second-youngest team in the NFL, these are milestones the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are passing these days, not millstones anymore.Beat the San Francisco 49ers? Until Aug. 31, the Bucs hadn't done that since 1980, covering nine losses.Win two consecutive road games in the same season? Before they won at Detroit and at Minnesota in the past two weeks, the Bucs hadn't accomplished that trick since 1989.Start 3-0 and lead the NFC Central Division? The Bucs have to go back 18 years to match that kind of success.

1. San Francisco: Bill Walsh is getting involved.2. Denver: Will they work on the tip drill this week?3. Dallas: Emmitt Smith isn't what he once was.4. Green Bay: Is the tundra frozen yet?5. Pittsburgh: Jerome Bettis can't wait to run against the Ravens.6. Buffalo: The ageless ones keep on winning.7. Washington: Booing Heath Shuler was really tacky.8. New England: Tough test coming up at San Diego.9. Miami: Dan Marino didn't make the big play Monday.10. Kansas City: Chiefs don't have a reliable quarterback.

1. Green Bay: Only 78 no-shows at tundra last Sunday.2. Denver: Broncos now playing exhibition games.3. Dallas: Getting ready for a stretch run.4. San Francisco: Why can't 49ers beat Carolina?5. New England: Is this Bill Parcells' swan song?6. Pittsburgh: Still struggling with Mike Tomczak at quarterback.7. Philadelphia: Good time to play the Jets.8. Kansas City: Rich Gannon can't do it at quarterback.9. Carolina: Remember, Panthers lost at Jacksonville.10. Buffalo: Fading fast.11. Minnesota: Brad Johnson showed in World League that he could play.

BaseballAstros: Signed 3B Sean Berry for $995,000. He had sought $1.19 M in arbitration; club had offered $800,000.Athletics: Traded OF-DH Danny Tartabull to the White Sox for P Andrew Lorraine and minor-league OF Charlie Poe.Brewers: Designated P Marshall Boze for assignment.Cardinals: Traded OF Bernard Gilkey to Mets for three minor-leaguers: P Eric Ludwig, P Eric Hiljus and OF Yudith Ozorio. Gave OF Ray Lankford $12.5 million, three-year deal with option for fourth year; he was asking for $4.2 M in arbitration and club was offering $3.7 M.Phillies: Signed 2B Mickey Morandini for $1.75 million.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Tony Dungy will try to prove that nice guys don't always finish last -- even with Tampa Bay.Dungy, an assistant coach with Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Minnesota for the past 15 years, signed a six-year deal yesterday to become head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that hasn't had a winning season since 1982.Dungy, 40, wants to change that situation in a hurry."We feel like we're going to make a run at the playoffs; that's our goal," he said in a conference call with reporters at the Super Bowl after being named the Bucs' coach.

A remorseful Michael Vick wants a second chance and vowed to crusade for animal rights with the Philadelphia Eagles - and knows he won't be easily forgiven by fans. "I've done some terrible things, I made a horrible mistake. And now I want to be part of the solution and not the problem," Vick said Friday, referring to his conviction for his role in running a dogfighting ring. Vick was introduced by the Eagles a day after signing a one-year deal for $1.6 million with a team option for a second year for $5.2 million.

Tony Dungy has retired after seven years as coach of the Indianapolis Colts, saying this was right moment. "These seven years have been better than I could ever have imagined," Dungy, the only black coach to win a Super Bowl, said at a news conference yesterday. "I just have to thank everyone." He will be replaced by associate coach Jim Caldwell. Dungy has spent the past five years debating whether to leave football to spend more time with his family. Dungy, 53, is the Colts' franchise leader in victories.

The easy answer would be "Cowboys" if they had not been overrated to begin with. They were consensus NFC favorites - why, again? On the other hand, even after Peyton Manning's knee surgeries, the Colts entered the season looking much as they always look. Their play, their philosophy, the way they approach and perform each regular season has barely changed in the Tony Dungy era. Now, they're completely unpredictable. They're 3-3, for one thing, whereas they're often still unbeaten by now. They're either losing to or barely escaping teams they have no business even being threatened by. They're playing catch-up in their own division.

September and October have belonged to the Indianapolis Colts for as long as Tony Dungy has walked their sideline. In the past three seasons, they didn't lose until November - at the earliest - and opened with winning streaks of seven, nine and 13 games. This September was different. Derailed by July surgery on Peyton Manning's left knee and myriad injuries on the offensive line, the Colts lost twice in the opening month and barely escaped a third defeat. Here's how rare that 1-2 September was for the Colts: In Dungy's previous six years as coach, they lost a total of two games in September (against 18 wins)

It's probably fitting that an introspective and candid figure like Tony Dungy elicits similar reaction from the people who try to write about him. In sports, we usually deal with the obvious by accentuating it with whatever flourish we can muster, whether it's the impressive excellence of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady or the delightful surprise of the New York Giants and Eli Manning. However, Dungy is a constant reminder of a greater purpose in life beyond the sidelines or off the court.

With Joe Gibbs hanging up his whistle last week and Tony Dungy contemplating doing the same this week, let's pay tribute to the type of coach both men represent - the Classy, Quiet Coach. The Classy, Quiet Coach probably will never get the respect he deserves. Oh, we pay lip service to him. We write columns about him and say things, "I'd like my son to play for him," but then our attention wanes, and we fall in love all over again with a Bill Parcells or a Bill Belichick, someone who is ruthless and someone who screams, demoralizes his players and chews them up and throws them in a ditch when they're all used up. Sports are so closely associated with our expectations and perceptions of manhood in this country that we want the guys in headsets or with clipboards to be gruff, angry, cold men. Bob Knight keeps doing crazy things, and we keep embracing him. Belichick would kidnap the opposing quarterback's dog if it gave his team an advantage on Sunday, and we shrug our shoulders and say, "Whatever it takes."

It has become an annual ritual for Tony Dungy to contemplate retirement as the Indianapolis Colts' coach once the team's season ends. While the mere mention of the name Irsay raises predictable ire in Baltimore, the lengths to which owner Jim Irsay is willing to go to keep Dungy and yet allow the coach to spend more time away from the team and with his family are admirable. Dungy's soul-searching is understandable. The difficult balancing act between work and family is something many people can identify with, regardless of what they do for a living.

There should be no recriminations for Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy sitting his first string in the first half of Sunday night's game against the Tennessee Titans just because the Cleveland Browns desperately needed the Colts to win. The Browns' playoff scenario was simple: If the Colts, already sitting comfortably as the AFC's No. 2 seed, beat the Titans, Cleveland would make the postseason. But it wasn't the Colts' responsibility to get Cleveland into the playoffs - especially since the Browns could have assured that themselves the previous week against the Cincinnati Bengals and failed to do so. And had Peyton Manning wound up getting bent into a pretzel while playing in a meaningless game, the blame (rightfully so)

I could be wrong, but I can't imagine an opposing player running up to Tony Dungy, yapping about his players, and seeing Dungy blowing kisses in response. Yet another reason the Ravens' conspiracy theories came off as so preposterous: The last thing the NFL wants is the continued perception that only one team has a chance to win the Super Bowl. For $25,000, Bart Scott must be thinking: The flag's making it all the way into the stands next time. Strange how a certain worldwide-leading sports network brings out its "legal analysts" when an athlete (Barry Bonds, Michael Vick, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Tank Johnson)

Foxborough, Mass. -- New England Patriots running back Kevin Faulk described the atmosphere in the locker room as a soap opera as the NFL's best two teams prepare to meet Sunday. Using a boxing analogy, Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy compared the league's best rivalry in recent years to a much-anticipated heavyweight title fight. There are a number of aspects that make it unique, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't in the mood to come up with any. "It hasn't been that special the last three times we played them," Belichick said, referring to three straight losses to the Colts, including an excruciating one in the AFC championship game in January in Indianapolis.