CONTENTS
28 The Baseball Playoffs
And now the crash of two Big Red Machines and a duel of base-burning newcomers
by Ron Fimrite and Larry Keith
34 Meaner than Junkyard Dogs
Bama looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces missing after meeting Georgia
by John Underwood
36 Not the Greatest
After a lackluster performance against Ken Norton, Ali maintained he had fought his last
by Mark Kram
44 Struggle to Stay in Control
Leo Loudenslager's plane seems out of place in aerobatic contests—until the points are tallied
by Budd Davisson
52 Flat Feet with Garlic Breath
Despite his imperfections, the composite worst football specimen is a Hall of Fame candidate
by George Plimpton and Bill Curry
126 Nobody Loves 'Em
Whether umps or refs, those who make the decisions in sports remain the bad guys
by Frank Deford
The Departments
23 Scorecard
101 TV/Radio
102 College Football
110 Horse Racing
118 Pro Football
149 Baseball
150 For the Record
152 19th Hole
Credits on page 150
Cover photograph by Walter Iooss Jr.
PHOTO
28
PHOTO
34
PHOTO
36
PHOTO
44
ILLUSTRATION
52
ILLUSTRATION
126
Next Week
Bobby Orr and the hockey season intrude on the Cincinnati-Philadelphia and Kansas City-New York baseball playoffs as well as the college and pro football schedules. Peter Gammons trails On as the former Boston star begins anew career as a $600,000-a-year defenseman for the Chicago Black Hawks, while the preview package describes hockey's foreign invasion—particularly by Swedes such as Toronto's Borje Salming and Winnipeg's Anders Hedberg—and offers scouting analyses of the 30 major league teams.