A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—RUSSIAN TEAMS, on a tour of the U.S., split the first doubleheader in New York (see page 76). The hard-pressing Soviet men lost in the last minute to an AAU All-Star team, 70-66, while the women, led by 6-foot 2-inch Skaydrite Smildzinia, needed two overtimes to beat the national champion Nashville Business College team 59-57. The next doubleheader, in College Park, Md., was a resounding repeat. The American men won 85-60, and the U.S. girls lost again, 50-44.
NBA: BOSTON picked up two wins but lost an important 133-120 home contest to the recharged Los Angeles Lakers. The defeat slipped the Celtics into a nip-and-tuck struggle with a surprisingly strong Syracuse team for the Eastern Division lead. The Nationals, paced by Hal Greer, played only once, to a 101-93 victory over still buoyant St. Louis. This, in turn, dumped the Hawks into a tussle with San Francisco for the Western Division lead. The Warriors split, beating Chicago 134-126, but losing 132-108 to the Lakers, who this time held Wilt Chamber-Iain to a lowly 38 points. After their unexpectedly dismal beginning, the Lakers are coming back up, with the Elgin Baylor-Jerry West combination starting to click. In four games (won 2, lost 2) Baylor scored 139 points for a 34.8-point average. Cincinnati and New York follow the Eastern leaders in that order. In the West, Chicago and Detroit lag, the Pistons gaining a thimbleful of encouragement, however, by their first win, a close 116-114 one over the Royals.
FOOTBALL—NFL: GREEN BAY marched on Philadelphia with a merciless offense and an iron defense (see page 30) that held the Eagles scoreless. It was a thumping 49-0 ninth straight win for the Western Division leaders and the Eagles' seventh loss—they were soundly booed by home fans as the game became a 35-0 farce before the end of the half. Statistics: Fullback Jim Taylor led the assault with four touchdowns and increased his league-leading running total by 141 yards for a high of 934. Precision passer Bart Starr completed 15 of 20 for a 274-yard gain. After Quarterback Eddie LeBaron went out in the first quarter with a leg injury, the Cowboys crumbled before New York's crushing attack (see page 22). The Giants rumbled on to a 41-10 victory to hold their lead over Washington in the Eastern Division and decisively blocked any Dallas championship hopes. A much-improved Washington defense tied down Cleveland, as the Redskins won 17-9 in a tumultuous game marked by fumbles, penalties (Skins 91 yards, Cleveland 152) and injuries (most serious, Washington Halfback Claude Crabb with a brain concussion). Deadlocked with San Francisco at 17-17 in the first half, Detroit pushed on to a 38-24 victory after Dick Lane intercepted a pass. Four plays later. Fullback Nick Pietrosante (see page 24) tumbled one yard for a TD. A revitalized Johnny Unitas whipped Baltimore to two touchdowns in their meeting with the punchless Los Angeles Rams before a bored crowd of 39,502 Angelenos who came to watch the Rams take their eighth dreary defeat 14-2. Chicago's Roger Leclerc kicked a deciding 10-yard field goal in the final seconds against Minnesota and beat the fumbling Vikings 31-30. Helped by four intercepted passes plus Fullback John Henry Johnson, the league's next-to-best rusher, who averaged 5.5 yards per carry, Pittsburgh overtook St. Louis 26-17.
AFL: LEAGUE LEADERS Boston and Denver clashed in Denver. The outcome: a 33-29 win for the Patriots, who made good use of four field goals from End Gino Cappelletti. With Quarterback Frank Tripucka having an off day, the Broncos also relied on field goals as Gene Mingo kicked three. As usual, Backs Wray Carlton and Cookie Gilchrist took charge for the Buffalo Bills, who needed nothing more for an easy 40-20 win over San Diego. The Chargers have now lost five. Houston stayed within striking distance of Boston in the Eastern Division standings with a 28-20 victory over winless Oakland. Although the Titans struggled fitfully until the last quarter, Quarterback Len Dawson and Halfback Abner Hayes crashed their defense with scoring passes and runs. New York surrendered 52-31 to Dallas, who thus took the lead in the Western Division over Denver.
GOLF—SAM SNEAD AND ARNOLD PALMER teamed to win the internationally prized Canada Cup for the U.S. on the sun-hardened Jockey Club course in Buenos Aires, the fifth U.S. win in 10 years (see page 42).
E. J. (Dutch) Harrison, jovial 52-year-old San Franciscan, went briefly barefoot while successfully defending his national senior title in the Palm Desert, Calif. championships. Harrison plunged into the water to make a dripping 140-yard shot to the green in the first round, and went on to win, two strokes ahead of Al Feldman. Harrison finished with a 278, 10 under par.
John Barnum, 50, gray-haired teaching pro from Blythefield, Mich. steadied his tournament nerves and shot a record 270 in the $17,500 Cajun Classic tourney in Lafayette, La. Barnum's victory, his first major one, included one course-record round of 63, during which he scored nine birdies.
HARNESS RACING—STAND BY ($2.80), a bargain buy at $3,000 for Owner Don MacFarlane, won the $44,402 Bronx Filly Pace at Yonkers Raceway. She added $24,421 to her earnings, boosting a two-season total to $95,744. In winning. Driver Billy Haughton firmly fought off a challenging stretch drive by Cathy J. Hanover.
HOCKEY—DETROIT's eight-game winning binge ended with a 4-1 defeat by Montreal. It was Goalie Terry Sawchuk who took the beating, although later he solidly backstopped the Wings against New York while Captain Alex Delvecchio shot two goals to help gain a 3-2 victory. Don Simmons, the able replacement for aging Goalie Johnny Bower (38), lifted Toronto into a 5-3 win over Chicago that hurt the Hawks' chances for overtaking the Wings. The Leafs arc tied with Montreal in third place in the NHL standings. Then come the Rangers, who lost three, and Boston with one loss and two ties.
HORSE RACING—CREWMAN ($10.60) sloshed through a sloppy mile and a sixteenth for a big upset win in the rich $273,530 Garden Stale Slakes for 2-year-olds (see page 72). Jockey Willie Shoemaker urged George D. Widener's colt into an early lead, and increased it to a six-length margin at the finish. The victory was Shoemaker's 301st. leaving him a scant five wins ahead of Apprentice Rider Ronnie Ferraro in the tight race to become the most winning jockey of the year.
Dead Ahead ($16) impressively won the $57,300 Roamer Handicap at Aqueduct. Although bunched behind the leaders at the start. Jockey Avelino Gomez calmly waited until he spoiled a hole, shot Dead Ahead into it at the final turn, and beat Jaipur by a length.
Even Stevens effortlessly won the two-mile Melbourne Cup race in Melbourne, and thus became the seventh New Zealand entry to win the Australian classic in the last 10 years. Jockey Les Coles, an Australian who was forced to move to New Zealand for lack of mounts, returned to ride the winner home in 3:21 2/5.
Match II ($14.20), a 4-year-old French colt, upset U. S. champions Kelso and Carry Back in the $125,000 Washington, D.C. International (see page 75).
HORSE SHOW—NATIONAL HORSE SHOW concluded in New York with the U.S. Equestrian Team taking the elusive and exclusive Nations Cup (see page 71). Other finals: Maj. Piero d'Inzeo won the individual title with 36 points; Kathy Kusner guided Unusual through a flawless jumpoff to win the open jumper title; and Cold Climate, Mrs. J. Deane Rucker's 7-year-old chestnut gelding from Grosse Pointe, Mich., clinched the conformation hunter title for the third straight year.
MOTOR SPORTS—ROGER PENSKE, fresh from two major triumphs in California, extended his victory streak by winning the first Grand Prix of Puerto Rico at Caguas. Penske, a 25-year-old Philadelphia sales engineer, carefully cornered his Zerex Special through eight tight turns of the 1.7-mile course that twists around a hill covered with banana plants, to gain a three-lap win over Tim Mayer, another Pennsylvania racer, and California's ace, Dan Gurney. He averaged a prudent 76.5 mph for 153 miles in the testing two-hour endurance run.
MILEPOSTS—WON: MARV JENSON, lean West Jordan, Utah mink rancher and former boxing manager (of Gene Fullmer), after stepping into the political ring; a two-year term as a Salt Lake county commissioner.
DECIDED: ROD LAVER, the world's best amateur tennis player, to turn professional immediately after next month's Davis Cup, for a 2½-year contract calling for $109,760.
RESIGNED: BOB WATERFIELD, 41, stoically reserved coach of the last-place Los Angeles Rams, a team he brilliantly quarterbacked for seven years but was unable to help from the sidelines in three disastrous seasons. Defensive Line Coach Harland Svare, a former New York Giant linebacker and coach, was named to replace Waterfield for the rest of the season.
DIED: NEVILLE SELLWOOD, 39, renowned Australian jockey who had more than 1,600 wins including England's Epsom Derby last June, top rider for the Aga Khan Stables and leading jockey in France this season, when his mount stumbled and fell on him during a race in Paris.
