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A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: In the East, the Knicks slowed up, but not enough to matter as their lead over Baltimore held at 7½ games, while in the West Atlanta won four out of seven to take a 6½-game lead. There was one other feat of note: despite a 127-116 loss to Phoenix—the first time the Suns ever beat them—the World Champion Boston Celtics rose from the cellar to sixth place.
ABA: Los Angeles moved into third in the West with five wins, two losses. The Stars' best win, 105-101 over Kentucky on Christmas, came when Merv Jackson hit a three-pointer with 1:58 remaining to tie the Colonels, and Mack Calvin sank four straight free throws. In the East, Indiana went 5-0. One of the Pacers' victories wrecked the return of Rick Barry, who had missed 32 games with a knee injury. Barry went three for six from the foul line and scored one field goal in a brief but encouraging performance as Washington lost 118-113.
NBA—East: New York (4-2), Baltimore (4-1), Milwaukee (5-1), Philadelphia (4-4), Cincinnati (4-3), Boston (4-4), Detroit (1-5). West: Atlanta (4-3), San Francisco (3-4), Chicago (1-5), Los Angeles (3-2), Phoenix (1-4), San Diego (5-3), Seattle (3-5).
ABA—East: Indiana (5-0), Kentucky (5-3), Carolina (l-5), Pittsburgh (2-3), New York (0-7), Miami (2-4). West: New Orleans (3-1), Washington (4-4), Los Angeles (5-2), Dallas (1-3), Denver (5-1).
FOOTBALL—College: Six traditional bowl and all-star games were played during the Christmas holiday. Big Eight co-champion NEBRASKA, led by Paul Rogers, who kicked four field goals in the first quarter, tore into a surprisingly inept Georgia team and won 45-6 in the Sun Bowl at El Paso, Texas. Mid-American Conference Champion TOLEDO made it 11 wins for the year with a 56-33 rout of Davidson as NCAA extra-point record holder Ken Crots kicked eight straight. FLORIDA, which finished fourth in the Southeastern Conference to Tennessee's first, showed unexpected defensive strength in beating the Vols 14-13 in the Gator Bowl. John Reaves passed to End Carlos Alvarez for one touchdown, with the Gators' other score coming on a runback of a blocked punt by Mike Kelley. In the North-South Game in Miami, the NORTH, coached by Purdue's Jack Mollenkopf and led by Rutgers' Bruce Van Ness, won 31-10. In Montgomery, Ala. the Blue and Gray fought to a 6-6 tie and in San Francisco's East-West Shrine Game the WEST, led by Dennis Shaw of San Diego State, scored all its 15 points in the fourth quarter to beat the scoreless East.
AFL: Jim Turner and Jan Stenerud each kicked two field goals, but Stenerud also had a shot at an extra point when Gloster Richardson caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Len Dawson, and that was the difference as KANSAS CITY won over New York 13-6 in the Eastern playoff at Shea Stadium. On the other coast Daryle Lamonica (page 36) connected on six touchdown passes as OAKLAND rolled over Houston for the Western title 56—7.
NFL: The regular season ended on a quiet note, with all the division winners long settled. Green Bay beat St. Louis 45-28 on five touchdown passes by Don Horn. San Francisco downed Philadelphia 14-13 when the Eagles failed on a PAT for a first-period touchdown. Lou Michaels' two field goals for Baltimore helped spoil Los Angeles' last game 13-7. New Orleans, behind 14-0 in the first quarter, beat Pittsburgh 27-24, Dallas scraped past Washington 20-10 and Detroit rubbed poor controversy-ridden Chicago into the Wrigley Field turf 20-3 for the Bears' worst season in their 50-year history. New York, getting its third straight win, topped Cleveland 27-14 at Yankee Stadium. Norm Van Brocklin got some revenge over his old Vikings as Minnesota fell to the Atlanta Falcons 10-3. Then in the playoffs (page 10) MINNESOTA beat the Rams 23-20 for the Western Conference title, and CLEVELAND walloped Dallas 38-14 for the Eastern championship.
NFL—East: Century—Cleveland (10-3-1), New York (6-8), St. Louis (4-9-1), Pittsburgh (1-13). Capitol—Dallas (11-2-1), Washington (7-5-2), New Orleans (5-9), Philadelphia (4-9-1). West: Central—Minnesota (12-2), Detroit (9-4-1), Green Bay (8-6). Chicago (1-13). Coastal—Los Angeles (11-3), Baltimore (8-5-1), Atlanta (6-8), San Francisco (4-8-2).
HOCKEY—NHL: There were few changes in the standings in two weeks, but Montreal dropped to third and Pittsburgh fell into fourth place behind Philadelphia. The Penguins, however, dropped with flair. Their lone win was against the New York Rangers 3-2, their first ever at Madison Square Garden. It was also the Rangers' first loss to a West Division team this season. "We were checking like hang," said clean-spoken Pittsburgh Coach Red Kelly in explaining the victory. Chicago's rookie Goalie Tony Esposito scored three shutouts, upping his total to seven, as the Black Hawks went 4-0-2 and moved into a tie with Detroit for fourth.
NHL—East: New York (2-2-1), Boston (3-1-1), Montreal (2-2-2), Detroit (2-2-1), Chicago (4-0-2), Toronto (4-2-0). West: St. Louis (4-2-1), Minnesota (0-3-3), Philadelphia (2-2-2), Pittsburgh (1-5-0), Oakland (2-3-0), Los Angeles (1-2-2).
HORSE RACING—NORMANDY, a 15-to-2 shot ridden by Terry Biddlecombe, won the Irish Sweepstakes at Fairyhouse, Ireland by a neck over 25-to-1 Orient War. Favorite Persian War was third in the first Irish Sweepstakes race decided over hurdles.
SKIING—JUDY NAGEL of Enumclaw, Wash, won the Dolomite Trophy in Lienz, Austria, taking both the giant slalom and slalom of the opening World Cup women's events. JEAN NOEL AUGERT of France won the men's slalom and trophy, and PATRICK RUSSEL, also of France, the giant slalom. Earlier in the week MALCOLM MILNE of Australia took the men's open Alpine downhill, the Henri-Oreiller Cup, at Val d'Is√®re, France.
MILEPOSTS—MARRIED: BILL TOOMEY, 30, world record holder in the decathlon and gold medal winner at the Mexico Olympics, and MARY RAND, 29, British gold medalist in the long jump at the Tokyo Olympics, who was forced into retirement by an injury in 1968.
NAMED: By the wire services, as Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player, BUD GRANT, 42, in his third year with the Minnesota Vikings, and ROMAN GABRIEL, 29, Los Angeles Rams' quarterback. Under Grant the lowly Vikings rose to the Central Division championship last year and to the NFL championship game against Cleveland this season. "When we talk of winning now we are talking about winning everything," he says. Gabriel, the fourth successive quarterback named, led the Rams to an 11-3 season and the Coastal Division title before falling to Minnesota. He holds club records in passes attempted (2,231), completed (1,149), passes without an interception (207) and I this year completed 217 of 399 for 2,549 yards. Carl Eller, Viking defensive end, was second in the voting but far behind.
NAMED: As winner of the 1969 Hutch Award, Boston Red Sox Outfielder TONY CONIGLIARO, 24, who made a comeback after being hit on the cheekbone by a pitched ball in 1967, an injury that nearly cost him his eyesight. Named after the late Manager Fred Hutchinson, it is given to the player who shows the most spirit and character.
NAMED: As coach of the last-place Los Angeles Kings, JOHN WILSON, 40, replacing Hal Laycoe. Wilson, who never missed a game while playing with Detroit, Chicago, Toronto and New York between 1952 and 1959, coached at Princeton and then the Kings' Springfield (Mass.) American Hockey League club. Laycoe, whose team won five of 24 games, was named director of player personnel.
NAMED: As College Coach of the Year, by the Football Writers Association of America, BO SCHEMBECHLER. In his first year at Michigan after six years at Miami of Ohio, Schembechler led the Wolverines to an 8-2 season, a tie for the Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl berth and an upset of the nation's No. 1 team at the time, Ohio State.
NAMED: As head football coaches at the University of Wisconsin, Clemson and Colorado State, JOHN JARDINE, 34, CECIL (Hootie) INGRAM, 36, and JERRY WAMPFLER, 38. Jar-dine, who played guard and linebacker at Purdue and coached Fenwick High School in Chicago to a city championship in 1963, has been an assistant at UCLA for the past five years. Ingram, most recently the defensive coach at Arkansas, replaces Clemson Athletic Director Frank Howard. Said Howard: "He'll be the finest coach Clemson ever had." Wampfler was a tackle at Miami of Ohio under Ara Parseghian and later was Parseghian's offensive line coach at Notre Dame. He replaces Mike Lude, whose eight-season record at Colorado State was 29-51-1.
NAMED: PAUL BROWN, 61, as AFL Coach of the Year, after his Cincinnati Bengals finished with a 4-9-1 record, the best for a second-year AFL expansion team. Brown won a similar title in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns 12 years ago.
