A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: PHILADELPHIA (7-1) regained first place in the Eastern Division by beating the Bullets 136-111 on Hal Greer's 27 points and the Warriors 117-110 as Wilt Chamberlain did not take a shot from the floor. BOSTON (6-1) fell half a game back with its first loss of the season, 111-104 to the Hawks. The night before, the Celtics ran their winning streak to six by edging the Lakers 105-104. Dave Bing tossed in 42 points as DETROIT (5-4) followed up a loss to the Warriors with a 115-113 win over the Bullets. He then scored 38 as the Pistons beat the Bullets again, this time 127-118. Fourth-place CINCINNATI (5-5) won one and dropped two. In a 101-96 loss to the Hawks, the Royals, feeling the absence of Oscar Robertson (thigh injury), made only one field goal in 23 attempts in the third period. NEW YORK (4-6), after losing to the Warriors, finally ended a six-game winless streak with three straight victories—129-113 over the Lakers, 134-100 over the Seattle Sonics and 125-121 over the San Diego Rockets. Hapless BALTIMORE (3-7), bringing up the rear, dropped all five of its games. ST. LOUIS (11-1) increased its lead in the West to 3½ games with three straight wins (page 24). SAN FRANCISCO (8-5), in second place, extended its winning streak to six with three victories before dropping a game to the 76ers, while LOS ANGELES (6-4) split four games. SAN DIEGO (2-8) won one of three; SEATTLE (2-9) beat the last-place Bulls 114-104 and then lost three in a row; and CHICAGO (1-9) finally ended its nine-game losing streak with a 119-105 victory over Seattle.
ABA: INDIANA (7-2) held on to the Eastern Division lead by gaining its sixth straight victory—123-113 over New Jersey—before losing to Minnesota, while PITTSBURGH (5-3), still 1½ games back, split four games. MINNESOTA (4-3) won three games in a row—109-84 over the Indiana Pacers, 108-91 over the Houston Mavericks and 94-81 over the Kentucky Colonels. KENTUCKY (4-5), following its loss to the Muskies, edged Anaheim 104-103 and split two games with NEW JERSEY (3-5), which dropped two others. NEW ORLEANS (6-1) boosted its lead in the Western Division to 2½ games with three more victories to run its winning streak to five, while OAKLAND (4-4) won one and lost two. In the Oaks' 126-123 loss to Anaheim, Lavern Tart set an ABA single-game record with 49 points. DENVER (3-4) dropped its only game of the week; DALLAS (2-3) did not play; ANAHEIM (3-7) split four; and HOUSTON (1-5) lost two.
BOATING—National powerboat champion DON ARONOW of Coral Gables, Fla. averaged 58.7 mph to set a course record in his 28-foot Maltese Magnum in winning the 183-mile Miami-Key West race by one minute over John Bakos of Fond du Lac, Wis.
BOXING—Unbeaten Welterweight GYPSY JOE HARRIS gained his 22nd victory with a 10-round unanimous decision over Irish Bobby Cassidy of New York, in Philadelphia.
FOOTBALL—NFL: BALTIMORE (6-0-2), in first place in the Coastal Division, remained undefeated by edging Central Division leader Green Bay (5-2-1) 13-10 (page 20). Earlier in the week the Packers scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 93-yard kickoff return by rookie Travis Williams, and defeated the Cardinals 31-23. In their second game of the week the Cardinals also scored twice—following an interception and a recovered fumble—in the final period to edge Washington (2-4-2) 27-21. The victory tied the Cardinals for the lead in the Century Division with CLEVELAND (5-3), which beat Pittsburgh (2-6) 34-14 as Frank Ryan tossed two first-quarter TD passes despite a painful muscle bruise in his right arm. New York (4-4) dropped out of a share of first place by losing to MINNESOTA (2-5-1) 27-24 when Fred Cox booted a field goal with only 10 seconds left in the game. The Giants had held a 17-point lead in the third period on three Fran Tarkenton TD passes—66 and 45 yards to Homer Jones, 48 yards to Aaron Thomas—before the Vikings came sailing back. San Francisco (5-3) held a 7-0 lead after the first quarter, but the rugged LOS ANGELES (5-1-2) defense shut out the 49ers the rest of the way, and the Rams won 17-7. Don Meredith, who missed three games because of illness, tossed two TD passes to Dan Reeves in leading Capitol Division leader DALLAS (6-2) to a 37-7 rout of Atlanta (1-6-1). Reeves scored two other touchdowns on short runs. NEW ORLEANS (1-7) finally won its first game, 31-24 over erratic Philadelphia (4-4), when Walt Roberts scored three touchdowns—on a 91-yard kickoff return, a fumble recovery for 27 yards and a 49-yard pass from Gary Cuozzo. Gale Sayers also scored a TD on a kickoff return this one 97 yards—and set up another with a 63-yard run as CHICAGO (3-5) defeated Detroit (3-4-1) 27-13.
AFL: KANSAS CITY (5-3) scored 22 points in the third quarter and walloped Eastern Division leader NEW YORK (5-2-1) 42-18 as Mike Garrett, with 192 yards rushing in 23 attempts, broke a Chiefs' club record. Joe Namath, who was rushed hard by the Chiefs, completed 20 of 40 passes for 245 yards and one TD. Gino Cappelletti kicked three field goals, and AFL rushing leader Jim Nance gained 108 yards to lead third-place BOSTON (3-5-1) to an 18-7 victory over second-place Houston (4-3-1), while BUFFALO (3-5), tied for third with the Patriots, beat Miami 35-13. George Blanda booted 46-and 43-yard field goals and Daryle Lamonica passed for two touchdowns as Western Division leader OAKLAND (7-1) edged last-place Denver (1-8) 21-17.
HARNESS RACING—NEVELE PRIDE ($2.20) took the $100,000 E. Roland Harriman Trot for 2-year-olds as Stanley Dancer guided him to a 3½-lenglh victory over Dart Hanover at Yonkers. The win—the son of Star's Pride's eighth in a row—boosted his career earnings to $222,913, a world money-winning record for 2-year-old standardbreds.
Guided by the nation's leading driver, Robert Farrington, EASY PROM ($10.20) breezed to a 2½-length victory over True Duane in the $60,000 American Pacing Classic at Hollywood Park.
HOCKEY—NHL: NEW YORK (6-2-3) moved into a one-point lead in the Eastern Division by extending its unbeaten streak to eight before finally losing a game. The Rangers defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 as Bob Nevin and Orland Kurtenbach each scored within a 31-second span, crushed Los Angeles 6-1 and shut out California 2-0. Second place TORONTO (7-4-0) then beat the Rangers 4-2 to make it three straight victories after the early-week loss to New York. DETROIT (6-4-1), two points out in third, defeated last-place Chicago 5-1 before dropping games to the Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues. MONTREAL (5-3-2) dropped two; BOSTON (5-2-1) split two; and CHICAGO (2-7-1), after one more loss, defeated Los Angeles 3-1 when Bobby Hull scored one goal (his 10th) and assisted on another (page 26). In the Western Division, PITTSBURGH (5-6-1) moved into a tie for the lead with LOS ANGELES (4-4-3), which dropped two and tied one, by beating Minnesota 4-1 and California 1-0 after losing a game to the Bruins. MINNESOTA (3-4-3) followed its loss to the Penguins with a 3-1 victory over Philadelphia and a 2-2 tie with Los Angeles, while PHILADELPHIA (4-4-1), tied with Minnesota for third, went 1-1-1 for the week. The Flyers' lone victory, however, was over the Canadiens, 4-1, as Leon Rochefort scored three goals. ST. LOUIS (3-5-2), by winning twice over the old teams, moved out of the cellar. Ron Stewart scored two first-period goals in a 5-1 rout of the Bruins, and Stewart scored the winning goal in a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings. CALIFORNIA (2-7-2) dropped to the bottom of the division after tying Philadelphia 2-2 and suffering two shutouts.
HORSE RACING—Greentree Stable's SWEET FOLLY ($25) finished 2½ lengths ahead of Harem Lady in the $58,600 Ladies Handicap for fillies and marcs at Aqueduct, as favored Straight Deal placed a disappointing fifth.
Vitriolic ($3.20), a son of Bold Ruler out of Sarcastic, clinched 2-year-old honors with a three-length victory over T.V. Commercial in the 1[1/16]-mile $180,870 Pimlico-Laurel Futurity at Maryland's Laurel Race Course.
MILEPOSTS—VOTED: The Cy Young Award as the outstanding pitcher of 1967 in the American League, JIM LONBORG, 25, of the pennant-winning Boston Red Sox, who had a 22-9 record and led the league with 246 strikeouts; and, in the National League, MIKE McCORMICK, 29, of the second-place San Francisco Giants, after a 22-10 record and a 2.85 ERA.
DIED: Photo-Journalist HANS KNOPF, 60; of a heart attack, in Houston. Knopf had worked on 92 assignments for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED since the start of the magazine in 1954. A fine yachtsman himself, he was best known for his sailing photography.
