A roundup of the week July 28-Aug. 3
BOATING—DORA IV, a 61-foot culler owned and skippered by Lynn Williams of Chicago, won the 333-mile Chicago-to-Mackinac race with a corrected time of 40 hours, 57 minutes.
CREW—JIM DIETZ of the New York Athletic Club rowed to victory in the championship single sculls at the 93rd Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catherines, Ontario, beating Jim Ricksecker of the University of Wisconsin by an easy four lengths.
CYCLING—STEVE WOZNICK of Ridgefield Park, N.J. won the men's kilo and sprint, and Detroit's SUE NOVARA took the women's sprint at the national championships at Northbrook, Ill. (page 18).
PRO FOOTBALL—WFL: Jim Kiick scored all but five of Memphis' points as the Southmen stalled the Jacksonville Express 27-26 before 25,166 Memphis fans. The former Miami Dolphin skipped over from the one with 41 seconds remaining for the win. The debut of black head coach Willie Wood was an auspicious one, the Philadelphia Bell holding off the Hawaiians 21-15. Only 2,732 paid in Philly to witness Calvin Hill of the Hawaiians make his WFL debut with 155 yards rushing. An estimated crowd of 29,000 in Birmingham saw the Vulcans blank Chigo 10-0. San Antonio beat Shreveport 19-3 on the strength of two Johnnie Walton bombs before a crowd of 10,400. Southern California quelled the Portland Thunder 21-15 before 14,362 in Anaheim.
ALL-STARS: Quarterback Joe Gilliam of the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers came off the bench to rally his team to a 21-14 victory over the College All-Stars in Chicago (page 14).
GOLF—GENE LITTLER defeated Julius Boros on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the $250,000 Westchester Classic in Harrison, N.Y. Both men were tied at the end of regulation play with 17-under-par 271s. Littler, who shot a final-round six-under-par 66, collected $50,000 and donated $8,000, which he won for a hole in one, to the American Cancer Society in memory of Gary Sanders.
HARNESS RACING—SONGFLORI ($9), driven by Del Miller, beat Glasgow by a head to capture the $118,525 Dexter Cup, trotting the mile in 2:02 at Roosevelt Raceway in New York. Favorite Surefire Hanover finished fourth behind Fashion Blaze.
HORSE RACING—ANCIENT TITLE ($9), ridden by Sandy Hawley, outlasted Group Plan by a neck to win the 48th running of the $83,475 Whitney at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The 5-year-old gelding covered the 1‚⅛ miles in 1:48[1/5].
Wajima ($3.40), Braulio Baeza aboard, took the lead a few strides from the finish to win the $100,000 Monmouth Invitational by a neck over Intrepid Hero at Oceanport, N.J. Wajima, purchased for $600,000 as a yearling two years ago, was timed in 1:49[3/5] for the 1‚⅛ miles.
LACROSSE—NLL: League-leading Long Island lost to third-place Philadelphia 17-15, and second-place Montreal was defeated by Quebec 17-9 and Maryland 16-15 to tighten the standings. A mere eight points separated first from third. The Boston Bolts, tied with the Maryland Arrows two points behind the Philadelphia Wings, knocked off the Arrows 27-17, the Wings 25-13 and Quebec 19-12. Ivan Thompson of the Bolts bombarded the opposition with eight goals and 15 assists in the three games.
MOTOR SPORTS—Argentina's CARLOS REUTEMANN, at the wheel of a Brabham BT44B-1, took the German Grand Prix, averaging 118 mph over the 14-lap 198.6-mile Eifel Mountain course; in Adenau, West Germany. By finishing third, Austrian Niki Lauda virtually clinched the world driving championship for 1975.
SOCCER—NASL: Hartford's first home win since May could not have come at a worse time for the New York Cosmos, as the Bicentennials beat them 3-1, squashing any remaining hope for a playoff spot. The Bicentennials have won only five of 19, and New York was the only club they beat twice this season. Thus, postseason competition will be without audience-magnet Pelé. Tampa Bay clinched the Eastern Division with a 1-0 overtime win against Philadelphia. Second-place Miami was assured of a wildcard berth by winning overtime games with San Antonio and Dallas. St. Louis, with seven native sons in the starting lineup, took the Central title after holding off Chicago 3-2. In the Western, Portland bowed to Seattle 3-2 in overtime before 17,925, but still held on to first place (page 46). Boston clung to the top spot in the Northern, as the Minutemen defeated the Cosmos 5-0.
ASL: In the tight Midwestern race, Cleveland remained a scant two points ahead of Cincinnati by romping over Pittsburgh 4-1. The Cobras' Danny Budimir tallied two goals and assisted on another. The second-place Comets beat Connecticut 1-0 to keep pace. New York is protesting its 2-1 loss to Chicago, but the Apollos still had a comfortable nine-point advantage over the New Jersey Brewers in the Eastern Division. Boston kicked its way to within four points of the Northern-leading Rhode Island Oceaneers by beating the Brewers 3-2.
SWIMMING—CINDY NICHOLAS, 17, of Toronto, Canada, trimmed 13 minutes off the women's record for crossing the English Channel from France to England. Her time of 9 hours, 46 minutes broke the mark set by Linda McGill of Australia in 1967.
TRACK & FIELD—New Zealand's JOHN WALKER ran the 1,500 in 3:32.4 and DWIGHT STONES high-jumped 7'5¾", both 1975 bests, at an international meet in Oslo. Other notable performances were registered by JIM BOLDING of the U.S., who won the 400-meter hurdles in 49.0, defeating world record holder John Akii-Bua of Uganda by .1; by Kenya's MIKE BOIT, who took the 800 in 1:44.3; and by GRETE ANDERSEN WAITZ of Norway, who beat Francie Larrieu of the U.S. by two seconds in the women's 1,500 (4:07.5).
VOLLEYBALL—IVA: All told, it was a disappointing week for El Paso-Juarez. After walking out of a team practice, Mary Jo Peppler was suspended and offered, without success, to other clubs in a trade. The Sol also lost two matches to first-place San Diego. The Breakers couldn't break their first-place tie with Los Angeles. Both teams won three contests, the Stars running their streak to eight straight. Led by the spiking heroics of Peter Stefaniuk, the Stars beat third-place Santa Barbara 6-12, 9-12, 12-9, 12-8, 12-10. Southern California dropped two and hoped for help from their new owner-player. Wilt Chamberlain.
MILEPOSTS—NAMED: BILLY MARTIN, 47, as manager of the New York Yankees, replacing BILL VIRDON, who was fired after the club lost 18 of 30 in July and trailed Boston by 10 games in the AL East. Martin, a former Yankee infielder (1950-57), was dismissed as manager of the Texas Rangers two weeks ago.
NAMED: WILLIE WOOD, 41, as head coach of the WFL Philadelphia Bell, replacing Ron Waller, who resigned two weeks ago. Wood, a former All-Pro safety with the Green Bay Packers, is the first black head coach in modern professional football.
SIGNED: BILL MUSSELMAN, 34, basketball coach at Minnesota, whose athletic program is under investigation by the NCAA, to a three-year contract as coach of the ABA San Diego Sails, formerly the Conquistadors.
SIGNED: New York Jet Quarterback JOE NAMATH, 32, to a two-year contract at an estimated $450,000 a season.
DIED: Pro golfer GARY SANDERS, 25, after suffering a massive cerebral hemorrhage; in Buena Park, Calif. A two-time All-America at USC, he joined the PGA tour two years ago after an amateur career that included victories in the U.S. Junior and Southwestern Amateur.
DIED: NAT PIERCE, 62, one of the celebrated "Seven Blocks of Granite" that made up Fordham's defensive line in 1936-37; in Biddleford, Maine.
