Skip to main content

A roundup of the sports information of the week

BOXING—The Italian and U.S. amateur teams met at Madison Square Garden under Olympic rules and ITALY came away with the Rocky Marciano Memorial Trophy, winning six matches out of 11 and the best-boxer award, given to Flyweight Filippo Grasso, a truck driver from Turin.

In Naples, meanwhile, World Middleweight Champion NINO BENVENUTI retained his title when challenger Fraser Scott from Seattle was disqualified, after three warnings, for butting.

FOOTBALL—NFL: Only two teams remained undefeated at the end of the league's third week. DALLAS (3-0) was the clear-cut leader in the Capitol Division after rookie Calvin Hill led the Cowboys to their 38-7 win over Philadelphia (1-2). Playing only the first half, Hill gained a total of 162 yards. He could do nothing wrong—when he fumbled in the end zone in the first quarter Lance Rentzel recovered for the first Cowboy score. LOS ANGELES (3-0) secured its lead in the Coastal by beating New Orleans (0-3) easily 36-17. Roman Gabriel threw four touchdown passes, three of them—35, 24 and 74 yards—to Jack Snow. The Century and Central divisions both evolved into three-way ties among teams with 2-1 records. NEW YORK (2-1) took a squeaker, 28-24, from Chicago (0-3) on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Fran Tarkenton to Joe Morrison with only 59 seconds left. Just two minutes earlier the Bears had gained the lead on Mac Percival's 25-yard field goal. ST. LOUIS (2-1) intercepted four Pittsburgh (1-2) passes—one from Dick Shiner, three from his replacement, Kent Nix—and recovered a fumble. Turning four of these breaks into scores, the Cards won 27-14. A sharp DETROIT (2-1) defense gave Quarterback Bill Munson three chances to score in the second half against Cleveland (2-1). He grabbed each one and the Lions came from 14 points behind at the half to give the Browns their first loss, 28-21. MINNESOTA'S (2-1) line dumped Bart Starr eight times for a total loss of 63 yards and Green Bay (2-1) moved past midfield only twice as the Vikings won 19-7 and tied the Packers and the Lions for first in the Central Division. BALTIMORE (1-2) backed into its first win, 21-14, when, with the score tied at Atlanta (1-2), the Falcons allowed a Colt punt to roll dead on their own four. After the forced punt, Johnny Unitas engineered the winning score from the 34. With two seconds to go, WASHINGTON (1-1-1) tried a 56-yard field goal on a free kick following a fair catch that might have beaten SAN FRANCISCO (0-2-1) but settled for a 17-17 tie.

AFL: Led by Fullback Brad Hubbert, who ran for all three Charger touchdowns, SAN DIEGO (2-2) broke up the Cincinnati (3-1) winning streak, 21-14 (page 30). The tie-breaking score from the one was set up for Hubbert by his own 24-yard run. Sam Wyche, who quarterbacked the Bengals in place of injured rookie Greg Cook, had tied the game in the third quarter with a 62-yard pass to Tight End Bob Trumpy. OAKLAND (3-0-1) did not win but still took over first place in the West by half a game when it tied, 20-20, with MIAMI (0-3-1). Dolphin rookie Karl Kremser from the University of Tennessee kicked a field goal from the 39 that saved Miami from a second painful 20-17 loss. Twelve of KANSAS CITY's (3-1) 26 points at Denver (2-2) were field goals scored by soccerstyle kicker Jan Stenerud, one of them a 54-yard stadium record. Those were the Chiefs' only points until the last quarter when they scored two touchdowns within 80 seconds, one on Safety Jim Kearney's 60-yard run with an intercepted pass, to beat the Broncos by 13. Pete Beathard passed to Roy Hopkins for one score and ran for another to help HOUSTON (3-1) to a 28-14 win over Buffalo (1-3) that kept the Oilers at the top of the Eastern Division. Joe Namath ran four yards for one touchdown, passed for another and Jim Turner kicked three field goals as NEW YORK (2-2) put another loss, 23-14, on Boston's (0-4) record.

GOLF—A record-equaling 65 by LEE TREVINO that took individual honors and a closing 69 by partner ORVILLE MOODY led the U.S. entry to an eight-stroke victory in the World Cup tournament in Singapore (page 83).

HARNESS RACING—The fifth Triple Crown of trotting went to LINDY'S PRIDE (barred from betting) following his straight heat victory in the $64,757 Kentucky Futurity in Lexington. The Lindy Farms 3-year-old was timed at 1:59 and 1:59[3/5] as he took the heats by three and four lengths.

HORSE RACING—LEVMOSS, a 52-to-1 shot despite having won the Ascot Gold Cup earlier in the year, captured the rich Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp (page 72).

Canadian John H. Stafford's TUDOR QUEEN ($19.60), Avelino Gomez up, found an opening at the 3/16ths pole, caught the leaders at the eighth and won the one-mile $138,025 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at Belmont Park by a length and a half over Cherry Sundae and two more over Repoise.

Sonny Werblin's 2-year-old SILENT SCREEN ($2.80), the favorite, won the seven-furlong $77,025 Cowdin Stakes at Belmont Park as expected, but not before he had stumbled at the start, been challenged in the last furlong by four horses and survived two inquiries. Half a length back in second was Wig Out. Insubordination was third.

Gallant Bloom ($5.20), the only 3-year-old in the field of seven fillies and mares, won the $100,000 Matchmaker Stakes at Atlantic City by seven lengths, plus a service to Dr. Fager, the bonus that went with the $30,000 first-place money.

MOTOR SPORTS—Austrian JOCHEN RINDT led for 99 laps of the 108-lap U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, N.Y. and finished 47 seconds ahead of Piers Courage of England (page 78).

TRACK & FIELD—In the first of two scheduled international meets hosted by Kenya, this one in Mombasa, Olympic champion Lee Evans was upset in the 400 meters by Kenyan CHARLES ASATI. The winning time, 46.2, was well off Evans' world record 43.8.

In a special competition, scheduled last week in Los Angeles to give Olympic decathlon champion BILL TOOMEY, 31, one more chance to break Kurt Bendlin's world record before his retirement, Toomey fell 42 points short. His 8,277 total, however, bettered Russ Hodges' U.S. mark by 47 points.

MILEPOSTS—PROMOTED: By the Boston Red Sox to replace Dick Williams as manager, EDDIE KASKO, onetime utility infielder who for the last three years has managed Red Sox farm clubs in Toronto and Louisville.

RETIRED: After eight seasons with the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers followed by two with the San Francisco Warriors, RUDY LaRUSSO, 31, because, "Last year was a difficult one for me, personally and physically." The 6'8" forward had a 10-year scoring average of 15.5 per game, but it was 21.2 over the last two years.

DIED: Of cancer at his home in Traverse City, Mich., WALTER HAGEN, 76, America's most famous and glamorous professional in the golf-mad '20s, who won the first of two U.S. Opens in 1914 at the age of 21 and later added four British Opens, five PGA Championships and five appearances on Ryder Cup teams. In 1926 he whipped young Bobby Jones 12 and 11 in a 72-hole match for which he was paid $6,800, at that time the largest fee ever offered a pro for a single match.

DIED: In Fresno, Calif., HANK THOMPSON, 43, who began his baseball career with the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Negro League in 1948, played third base for the New York Giants from 1949-56 and was perhaps best remembered for the eight homers he hit during the Giants' final drive for the pennant in 1951.