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A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: Improving steadily as they learn how to take advantage of Alcindor's intimidating presence, the Bucks ran their string to 11 wins in 12 games, including a 13-point victory over the Knicks, and took second place. Development of Forwards Bobby Dandridge and both Smiths was Milwaukee's best news. In the West, Atlanta remained the only team over .500, but lost ground as the Lakers, still without Wilt and Baylor and heavily dependent on West's shooting, leapfrogged from fourth to second.
ABA: Though still in last place in the West, having lost 22 of their first 32 games, Denver's Rockets beat Washington for their sixth straight victory, moving them within a game of fourth-place L.A. In the East, Indiana was the solid leader at .818 after losing only its sixth game in 33, to New York.
NBA—East: New York (2-2), Milwaukee (4-0), Baltimore (1-3), Philadelphia (3-0), Cincinnati (3-1), Boston (3-1), Detroit (0-4). West: Atlanta (2-2), Los Angeles (3-1), San Francisco (2-2), Chicago (1-3), Phoenix (2-2), San Diego (0-4), Seattle (1-2).
ABA—East: Indiana (3-1), Kentucky (3-2), Carolina (3-1), New York (3-1), Pittsburgh (0-4), Miami (1-3). West: New Orleans (1-3). Dallas (2-0), Washington (0-2), Los Angeles (1-3), Denver (3-0).
BOATING—The 33-foot fiber-glass sloop, MORNING CLOUD, owned and skippered by Edward Heath, leader of Britain's Conservative Party, won the Sydney-Hobart race over a record fleet of 78 boats with a corrected time of 3:04:25:57. It was the first British win in a major ocean race in two years.
FOOTBALL—College: The season ended with TEXAS, winner of the Cotton Bowl 21-17 over Notre Dame, still No. 1 (page 26). PENN STATE extended its undefeated streak to 30 games, beating Missouri 10-3 before a record crowd of 78,282 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Quarterback Chuck Burkhart threw a touchdown pass and Mike Reitz kicked a 29-yard field goal in the first quarter for Penn State's points; then the Lions' defense intercepted seven Missouri passes and held the Tigers to a field goal. Penn State Coach Joe Paterno commented, "All I can say is that we have as much right as anyone to be No. 1." In the Rose Bowl at Pasadena, USC broke a 3-3 tie in the third quarter with a 33-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Quarterback Jimmy Jones to Flanker Bob Chandler to upset favored Michigan 10-3. There was another upset in the Sugar Bowl as underdog MISSISSIPPI took an early lead over Arkansas and, with the help of Safetyman Glenn Cannon, who recovered a Razorback fumble with less than two minutes on the clock, held it for a 27-22 victory. HOUSTON rolled over Auburn 36-7 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl as Running Back Jim Strong ran for 184 yards and two touchdowns and the Cougar defense held Auburn to a net gain of one yard. The SOUTH, behind 17-3 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter of the American Bowl Game in Tampa, rallied to beat the North 24-23 after officials ruled a North receiver, Jim McFarland of Nebraska, was out of bounds as he caught a would-have-been touchdown pass.
NFL: MINNESOTA, evidently immune to 7° temperatures and a partially frozen field, ran over ice-cold Cleveland 27-7 to win its first NFL championship at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis (page 12).
At the NFL Playoff Bowl in Miami, LOS ANGELES romped to a 31-0 victory over the Dallas Cowboys behind the passing of Roman Gabriel, who threw for four touchdowns.
AFL: The last game to be played in the AFL was won by the KANSAS CITY Chiefs as they defeated Oakland's Raiders 17-7 for the league championship and a chance to meet NFL champion Minnesota in the Super Bowl at New Orleans (page 17).
HARNESS RACING—Roosevelt Raceway opened its 1970 season with a record winter crowd of 28,042 braving snow and 29° Long Island weather to watch four $10,000 first-round events in the $100,000 Early Bird pacing series. But the main interest was the new million-dollar rubberized track surface that promises a faster, softer ride for horses and drivers. Del Insko, top money-winning driver of 1969, said, "It's a great improvement. It's not nearly as hard and it's consistent. The footing seems to be the same everywhere."
HOCKEY—The New York Rangers clung to the top spot in the East Division in spite of a mediocre 1-0-2 week, including a 3-3 tie with the unfortunate Los Angeles Kings, who had dropped 12 of their previous 14 road games. Fourth-place Detroit gained a few points in the standings with three wins, one a surprising 5-1 rout of second-place Boston. In the West, St. Louis shut out Montreal 5-0, the first victory for the Blues over the Canadiens in three seasons, and Pittsburgh 6-0 to pull further ahead in the standings. The Canadiens were also defeated 4-2 by Pittsburgh, only the second time in three years, a win that moved the Penguins from fourth to third place in the West, the only change in either division.
NHL—East: New York (1-0-2), Boston (2-1-0), Montreal (1-2-0), Detroit (3-0-0), Chicago (0-2-0), Toronto (1-0-1). West: St. Louis (2-0-0), Minnesota (0-0-2), Pittsburgh (1-1-0), Philadelphia (0-3-0), Oakland (0-2-1), Los Angeles (1-1-2).
MOTOR SPORTS—Englishman DAVID HOBBS drove his Surtees-Chevrolet to a 116.642 mph victory over Trevor Taylor of England and Gus Hutchinson of Dallas in the first heat, then edged Joakim Bonnier of Sweden by 2/10ths of a second to win the final heat and the winner's purse at the $42,000 Continental Grand Prix in Sebring, Fla.
SKIING—At World Cup competitions in Oberstaufen, West Germany, Austrian BERNI RAUTER survived an icy course that had eliminated a number of top skiers, to win the women's special slalom event with times of 44.60 and 46.41 for a two-run total of 91.01 seconds. Isabelle Mir and Francoise Macchi of France finished second and third with totals of 91.63 and 93.78, and Karen Budge of Jackson, Wyo. was fourth with 94.64. Victims of the slippery slopes included France's Michele Jacot, the leader in World Cup standings, Kiki Cutter of Bend, Ore. and Barbara Cochran of Richmond, Vt. Miss Jacot managed to remain upright in the giant slalom event as she finished less than a second ahead of Macchi, who was closely followed by Cochran and Budge. Eighteen-year-old GUSTAVO THOENI of Italy won the men's World Cup special slalom at Hindelang, West Germany with a combined time of 97.88; France's Patrick Russel was second in 98.74. The top U.S. finisher was fifth-place Billy Kidd.
MILEPOSTS—NAMED: The AFL's Player of the Year for the second straight year, JOE NAMATH. League coaches gave Namath and Daryle Lamonica four first-place votes apiece but Namath won on total points, 30 to 23.
NAMED: As head football coach at the University of Florida, DOUG DICKEY, who led Tennessee to a 9-1 season and into the Gator Bowl, only to be defeated by Florida's retiring coach, RAY GRAVES, who now becomes the Gators' full-time athletic director.
NAMED: As Texas Tech's new football coach, JIM CARLEN, who coached West Virginia to a 9-1 season and a 14-3 Peach Bowl victory over South Carolina. BOBBY BOWDEN, offensive coach under Carlen for the last four years, will move up to the top job at West Virginia.
RESIGNED: As coach of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, JOHNNY KERR, who, after reviewing the Suns' fifth-place Western Division standing and 15-23 record, declared he had done his best "and, in failing, feel it is in the best interest of the ball club to step down." General Manager JERRY COLANGELO will take over as interim coach.
FILED: Three separate petitions of bankruptcy by JERRY LUCAS, star of the San Francisco Warriors, his wife Treva and a chain of Jerry Lucas Beef 'n Shakes restaurants, listing debts of more than a million dollars.
ARRESTED: Nine men in Michigan by Internal Revenue Service agents in what one official described as a "national scheme involving famous figures in baseball and football and hundreds of trainers and jockeys at racetracks throughout the U.S."
DIED: EDGAR (Ed) A. DIDDLE, 74, basketball coach at Western Kentucky University from 1923 to 1964, whose famous red towel was waved and wrung through 759 victories and 302 defeats during a record 1,061 games for any coach at one college. Explaining why he enjoyed coaching, Diddle once said, "There is nothing that gives me more of a thrill than taking some country kid who is flat-footed, walks like he is following a plow and doesn't know much about basketball, except that the ball is round, and make something out of him."
