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A roundup of the week Sept. 16-22
BOATING—The U.S. completed its 22nd successful defense of the 123-year-old America's Cup as Courageous won four straight races from Australia's Southern Cross off Rhode Island (page 75).
CHESS—After three games, ANATOLY KARPOV led Viktor Korchnoi 1-0 (two games were draws, which do not count in the scoring) in their match in Moscow to determine the challenger for the world title (page 78).
PRO FOOTBALL—NFL: The New York Jets slid by resurging Chicago 23-21, but not before play was interrupted several times in the last period because of the din from the Chicago crowd. The noise was so deafening that no one on the field could hear Joe Namath's signals. Three personal fouls and 39 yards in penalties were called on the Bears with 1:25 left when they threw a few punches after vainly protesting a dead-ball call on an apparent Jet fumble. New York had led 20-0 at the half, but the Bears rallied and the Jets needed a 39-yard field goal by Bobby Howfield to win. Miami overcame Buffalo 24-16 (page 22), while Ken Stabler threw for three touchdowns as Oakland disposed of Kansas City 27-7. Cleveland ended Houston's one-game winning streak, dumping the Oilers 20-7. The Browns converted three Houston turnovers into 17 points. An Oiler fumble on the Browns' 24-yard line was turned into a 76-yard Cleveland drive that ended with Greg Pruitt scoring from the nine-yard line. Minnesota defeated Detroit for the 13th straight time, 7-6, despite two fumbles and a blocked punt. Chuck Foreman scored the game's only touchdown on a run from the 11, and Fred Cox kicked the winning point. The Lions had two field goals. Mack Herron, a 5'5" former Canadian Football Leaguer, pranced in from the four-yard line to score New England's final points in their 28-20 defeat of the New York Giants. Jim Plunkett supplied the Patriots' other touchdowns through the air. Los Angeles bruised New Orleans 24-0, St. Louis dropped Washington 17-10, and San Francisco stopped Atlanta 16-10. Joe Gilliam completed 31 of 50 passes for 348 yards as Pittsburgh and Denver tied 35-35 at the end of regulation play and went into the NFL's first regular-season sudden death. Both teams missed game-winning field goals—Pittsburgh with :05 left in regulation and Denver with 3:13 left in overtime. So much for the tie breaker. MacArthur Lane accounted for two Packer touchdowns as Green Bay beat Baltimore 20-13, while Quarterback Dan Fouts, who inherited his job when Johnny Unitas retired, piloted San Diego to a 20-17 upset win over Cincinnati.
WFL: If ever a team was in trouble, it was the Houston—er, Shreveport—Texans (Louisianans?) last week. Commissioner Gary Davidson announced that the league was taking over the sagging franchise, which was playing poorly (3-8-1) and drawing worse, and moving it to Shreveport, La. The next day Texan Coach Jim Garrett, who allegedly encouraged his players to oppose the shift, was suspended by the league for "detrimental conduct." Then Quarterback Mike Taliaferro left the team, saying he would rather quit playing than move out of Houston. Henry Lee Parker, the WFL's director of operations, was appointed interim coach and general manager. Parker took his mixed-up charges to Birmingham, where they showed they still knew how to lose. The Americans romped 42-14, with George Mira passing for a WFL-record 380 yards. Mira hit 22 of 36 passes, including touchdowns of 33 and 44 yards, both caught by Alfred Jenkins. Florida took sole possession of the Eastern Division lead with a 24-21 victory over Philadelphia. The Bell, suffering with defensive-team injuries, almost had it wrapped up 21-17 when Claude Watts scored from the 12-yard line with 1:14 left. But with 17 seconds remaining Blazer Quarterback Bob Davis threw 22 yards to Greg Latta for the winning touchdown. The Hawaiians edged the Stars 17-14 as R. A. Coppedge Jr. kicked field goals of 36, 28 and 48 yards. That dropped New York to one game behind Florida. Memphis stayed close to Birmingham in the Central Division, winning its seventh straight, a 25-7 decision over the waning Chicago Fire. Southern California, leading the West, let the air out of the Wheels 29-24, and Booth Lusteg's 28-yard field goal on the last play of the game gave Portland (3-8-1) a 19-17 win over Jacksonville.
GOLF—Carding a one-over-par 72 final round, MILLER BARBER finished at 277 to win the $150,000 Ohio Kings Island Open, three strokes up on George Johnson.
HARNESS RACING—ARMBRO OMAHA ($5.60), driven by Billy Haughton, beat Boyden Hanover by a neck in the final of the $132,630 Little Brown Jug, covering the mile in 1:58[4/5] at the Delaware (Ohio) Fairgrounds (page 70).
Spitfire Hanover ($20.40), Del Miller driving, covered the mile in 2:05[2/5] to nose out Armbro Oxford in the $50,329 final heat of the $125,822 Yonkers Trot, second leg of the trotting triple crown, at Yonkers Raceway.
HOCKEY—Team Canada and the Soviet National team tied their first game and split the next two as their eight-game series opened in Canada (page 28).
HORSE RACING—DESERT VIXEN ($4.60), under Laffit Pincay Jr., repeated her triumph of last year with a 12-length victory over Poker Night in the $114,600 Beldame Stakes for fillies and mares at Belmont Park. The winning time for 1‚⅛ miles was 1:46[3/5].
MOTOR SPORTS—EMERSON FITTIPALDI, driving a McLaren-Ford, won the 197-mile Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport, Ontario in 1:40:26.14, 13 seconds ahead of Clay Regazzoni, in a Ferrari. The victory moved Fittipaldi into a tie with Regazzoni in the point battle for the World Driving Championship.
SHOOTING—MARGARET MURDOCK of Topeka, Kans. led the U.S. women's team to victory in the prone rifle event at the world championship in Thun, Switzerland. Murdock scored 598 out of a possible 600, which tied the world record, to take the individual gold medal. Otherwise, the Russians dominated competition, setting world team marks in women's air rifle and men's free pistol.
TENNIS—MARTINA NAVRATILOVA, a 17-year-old from Czechoslovakia, upset Julie Heldman 7-6, 6-4 in the final of the $50,000 Barnett Bank Classic in Orlando, Fla. In the doubles final, BETTY STOVE and FRANCOISE DURR defeated Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
TRACK & FIELD—Czechoslovakia's HELENA FIBINGEROVA set a new world shotput record for women with a 70'8¼" effort at a meet in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia.
MILEPOSTS—NAMED: As assistant coach of the new NBA New Orleans Jazz, SAM JONES, 41, former Boston Celtic guard (1957-69) who recently resigned as head basketball coach at North Carolina Central College.
RESIGNED: After nine years and a 38-48-1 record as head football coach at the University of South Carolina, PAUL DIETZEL, 50, effective at the end of the season. Dietzel, who will stay on as athletic director, was named college Coach of the Year in 1958, when Louisiana State won the national championship. He coached LSU from 1955 to 1961 and Army from 1962 to 1965 before going to South Carolina in 1966.
RETIRED: BOB FOSTER, 32, world light heavyweight boxing champion whose 14 successful title defenses surpassed Archie Moore's old record of 11. Foster will reside in Albuquerque, where he is a county sheriff.
RETIRED: New York Knicks Center WILLIS REED, 32, because of the debilitated condition of his right knee, which has been operated on twice. Reed joined the Knicks in 1964 and was pivotal in their transformation into a team that won two world championships (1970, 1973). He was voted the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 1970 and named to five All-Star teams in his 10-year career. Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds in 650 regular-season games and 17.4 points in 78 playoff games.
DIED: JAMES WREN (Zack) TAYLOR, 76, who spent 52 years as a major league baseball player, manager and scout; of a heart attack; in Orlando, Fla. Taylor compiled a .261 batting average in 16 years as a catcher but was best known as the manager of the St. Louis Browns (1946, 1948-51). In 1951, under Owner Bill Veeck, Taylor was directing the team when the late Eddie Gaedel, a midget, was signed to the club and made an appearance as a pinch hitter.
DIED: DR. FORREST C. (Phog) ALLEN, 88, osteopath turned college basketball coach,; in Lawrence, Kans. Allen coached the University of Kansas in 1908 and 1909 and from 1920 to 1956. His teams compiled a 591-219 record and won or shared 24 Missouri Valley, Big Six and Big Seven conferences titles. Allen was instrumental in adding basketball to Olympic competition and in starting the NCAA tournament, which his 1952 Jayhawk team won. In 1950 he was named college Coach of the Year, and in 1959 he was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame.
