A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: Philadelphia (52-10) lost another half a game of its Eastern Division lead as the 76ers won three of five, while BOSTON (45-14) took three of four. The Celtics—now 5½ games behind—beat Western Division leader San Francisco 137-136 in double overtime when Tom Sanders tipped in a rebound with 18 seconds left, and two days later edged the 76ers 113-112. NEW YORK (31-32) opened the week with a loss, but came back to win three games, by a total of seven points, and moved three games ahead of the Royals in the battle for third place. CINCINNATI (26-33), which won two and lost three, ended a five-game losing streak by beating the Pistons twice in a row, while last-place BALTIMORE (16-48) closed out a surprising 3-2 week by defeating both the Celtics and 76ers. In the West, SAN FRANCISCO (36-26) lost four games in a row. Worse yet, the Warriors lost Center Nate Thurmond, possibly for the rest of the season, when he broke two bones in his left hand during a scramble for a loose ball in the game against the Celtics. Second-place ST. LOUIS (29-32) won three of four and climbed to within 6½ games of the Warriors, while LOS ANGELES (26-34), in third, also won three of four. DETROIT (24-37) split four games, and last-place CHICAGO (23-42) dropped five in a row.
BOBSLEDDING—ERWIN THALER and REINHOLD DURNTHALER of Austria won the world two-man title in Alpe d'Huez, site of next year's Olympic bobsled events (page 16). Because of the treacherous conditions of the run, the four-man championships were caeled.
BOWLING—TIM HARAHAN, 20, a relative unknown from Encino, Calif., started the final day of competition in fifth place, then won successive match games from established stars Jim St. John, Al Thompson, Dick Weber and Billy Hardwick to win the $50,000 PBA Brut Open in Overland Park, Kans.
FIGURE SKATING—As expected, world champion PEGGY FLEMING of Colorado Springs won the ladies' title at the North American championships in Montreal. In the men's event, however, DONALD KNIGHT, 19, of Dundas, Ont. upset the two favored Americans—Scott Allen of Smoke Rise, N.J. and U.S. Champion Gary Visconti of Detroit. A pair of University of Washington students, LORNA DYER and JOHN CARRELL, won the dance title, while CYNTHIA and RONALD KAUFFMAN of Seattle took the pairs championship.
GOLF—JULIUS BOROS, three strokes behind after three rounds, shot a 67 for a 272 total to win the $14,000 first-place money in the $70,000 Phoenix Open by one stroke over Ken Still.
HOCKEY—NHL: CHICAGO (30-11-8) won twice, tied once and extended its unbeaten streak to 14 games and its lead to 14 points. Bobby Hull rammed in five goals, including three in a 4-4 tie with the Maple Leafs, while Denis DeJordy turned back 30 shots as he blanked the Canadiens 5-0 for his second consecutive shutout. Floundering NEW YORK (23-18-8) lost two, tied one, making it seven defeats in 12 games and MONTREAL (21-20-7), 1-1-1 for the week, moved to within five points of the Rangers. DETROIT (21-25-3), with two wins, one loss, climbed past TORONTO (18-21-9) into fourth place as Norm Ullman scored three quick goals in a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs. The loss was the 10th in a row for the Leafs, the longest losing streak in the NHL since 1962. But the string finally ended when the Maple Leafs tied the Hawks and beat the Bruins 2-1 to tie the Wings for fourth. Last-place BOSTON (13-31-7) halted a run of five straight losses with a 2-1 victory over the Rangers, then lost its next two games.
HORSE RACING—TEQUILLO ($26) took the $33,350 Bougainvillea Handicap at Hialeah in a race marred by a serious three-horse collision. Exhibitionist, a 4-year-old colt owned by Mrs. Ethel D. Jacobs, sustained a broken shoulder and had to be destroyed, while Jockeys Braulio Baeza, last year's leading money winner, and Larry Adams suffered broken collarbones.
SKIING—With MARIELLE GOITSCHEL winning both the ladies' slalom and giant slalom, GEORGES MAUDUIT the men's giant slalom, and ISABELLE MIR the ladies' downhill, France won the Alpine Cup in Bad Gastein, Austria. The French team scored 554.75 points, while runner-up Austria had 573.43.
Sandy Shellworth of Boise, Idaho won the women's combined trophy and the downhill, and JIMMY HEUGA of Tahoe City, Calif, gained the men's combined championship and the slalom at the Roch Cup in Aspen, Colo. Other winners were: SUZY CHAFFEE of Rutland, Vt. in the giant slalom, PENNY McCOY of Bishop, Calif, in the slalom, and PETER ROHR and DUMENG GIOVANOLI, both of Switzerland, in the downhill and giant slalom.
SPEED SKATING—For the second year in a row Dutch skaters finished one-two in the world championships as KEES VERKERK, a 24-year-old bartender, gained the overall title at Oslo with a record low score of 178.058 points, followed by Ard Schenck with 178.533. Individual winners were Verkerk in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, Schenck in the 1,500 and Keiichi Suzuki of Japan in the 500.
TRACK & FIELD—ABBY HOFFMAN of Canada won a special women's 880-yard race at the Los Angeles Times meet (page 22), finishing 20 feet in front of Marie Mulder in 2:11.4, and Australia's RON CLARKE easily won the two-mile run in 8:41.8. On his final toss of the night at a meet in Dallas, RANDY MATSON exceeded his own world outdoor shotput record by¼ of an inch and the indoor mark by 2'9½", with a heave of 70'7½". Matson's throw, however, will not count as a record—either indoor or outdoor—since he used an outdoor shot in an indoor meet. JIM RYUN lapped the field on his way to a 4:03.7 mile win at the Michigan State Relays in East Lansing. The fastest mile of the season, however, was run by DAVE PATRICK of Villanova during the U.S. Track and Field Federation meet in New York. Patrick sprinted into the lead with four laps to go and finished in 4:00.6.
Pierre Toussant of France broke Michel Jazy's indoor world mark for 1,000 meters with a time of 2:21.2, in Lyons.
MILEPOSTS—DENIED: Licenses to own, train or drive horses in New York by the State Harness Racing Commission, WILLIAM (Bud) GILMOUR, 34, and ROBERT SHUTTLEWORTH, 36, both of Westbury, N.Y. The action was taken against Gilmour, the fifth leading money-winning driver ($749,297) last year, because he allegedly lied to the commission during investigations and also in his application for a license. Shuttleworth, a leading driver in New York for 17 years, was banned because he, too, allegedly lied during an investigation by the commission and because of his alleged association with undesirable persons.
HIRED: Two assistant football coaches as head coaches—BUD CARSON, 36, who moved up from the ranks after just one year at Georgia Tech, to replace Bobby Dodd, who had retired after 22 seasons; and CHUCK MILLS, 38, a member of the Kansas City Chiefs' staff last year, who will take over at Utah State.
SELECTED: By the New Orleans Saints, latest entry in the National Football League, 42 players from the 14 established teams, at a cost of $8.5 million to be paid over the next eight to 10 years. Most prominent of the players acquired was Halfback PAUL HORNUNG, 31, of Green Bay.
UNRETIRED: EL CORDOBÉS, 29, the controversial Spanish bullfighter, one week after he announced his retirement.
RESIGNED: NORM VAN BROCKLIN, 40, as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, a job he had held since the team entered the NFL in 1961. His club had an overall record of 29-51-4 and last year finished in a tie for last place in the Western Conference with a 4-9-1 mark.
