Bush Fined For Taunt in Loss to Bears

MIAMI, Jan. 28 -- The NFL fined New Orleans Saints tailback Reggie Bush $5,000 for taunting Chicago Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher during the NFC championship game.

Bush wagged his finger at Urlacher just before crossing the goal line for a touchdown on an 88-yard catch-and-run. Bush performed a somersault in the end zone. He was not penalized by the officials but later apologized for his gesture.

Bears players said they'd felt insulted by Bush's actions and used them as motivation for the remainder of the game. They scored the game's last 23 points after Bush's touchdown to win, 39-14, and advance to Sunday's Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts.

Cowboys Focus on Turner

Former Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders coach Norv Turner interviewed for the Dallas Cowboys' vacant head coaching job Sunday and apparently has emerged as one of the favorites for the job.

Turner, who spent this season as the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, met with owner Jerry Jones and other Cowboys officials in Irving, Tex. Turner's interview came on the heels of the club interviewing two NFL defensive coordinators, the San Diego Chargers' Wade Phillips on Friday and the Saints' Gary Gibbs on Saturday.

Two NFL sources said they believed that Jones was likely to pick either Turner or Phillips, and Turner might have the slight edge because of his relationship with Jones. He was the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys' Super Bowl-winning teams under former coach Jimmy Johnson before being hired by the Redskins as their head coach.

Turner's two stints as an NFL head coach were disappointing but Jones still has a high regard for him. Turner received high marks around the league this season for his work with 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. The 49ers have been pushing in recent days to try to retain Turner, but he almost certainly would not pass up the opportunity to be a head coach again.

Jones hired Jason Garrett last week as the Cowboys' offensive coordinator but also left open the possibility of naming him the team's head coach.

Those within the league charged with enforcing the NFL's diversity guidelines are watching the Cowboys' coaching search closely and would like to see Jones interview at least one more minority candidate before making his choice, according to sources close to the situation.

Jones launched his search last week by interviewing Cowboys assistant coaches Todd Bowles, Todd Haley and Tony Sparano on the day after Bill Parcells announced his retirement from coaching. Jones satisfied the NFL rule that each team with a head coaching vacancy must interview at least one minority candidate by meeting with Bowles, who is black.

But those in the league connected with the diversity process don't regard Bowles as a serious candidate and would be disappointed if Jones doesn't interview another minority candidate, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Before hiring Parcells, Jones satisfied the rule with a phone interview of Dennis Green.

Chicago Touches Down

The Chicago Bears arrived here on Sunday afternoon and the Indianapolis Colts are not scheduled to arrive until 7:30 tonight.

Smith is sticking with his plan to keep the Bears on a normal game-week schedule. "We're taking Halas Hall down to Miami. I'm a routine guy, and that's what we're going to do," Smith said Friday.