
A roundup of the week Sept. 25-Oct. 1
BOWLING—VESMA GRINFELDS of San Francisco defeated Virginia Norton of South Gate, Calif. by 150 pins to win the $50,000 WPBA Chicago Classic.
BOXING—KIM SUNG-JUN of South Korea won the WBC junior flyweight title in Seoul on a third-round knockout of champion Netrnoi Vorasing of Thailand.
CHESS—Viktor Korchnoi won the 28th game of the World Championship in Baguio City, Philippines, when world champion Anatoly Karpov resigned after the 60th move. Korchnoi's victory reduced his deficit to 5-3. Karpov, who had won Game 27, is one game short of victory in the match.
PRO FOOTBALL—Minnesota won two games in less than a week and thrust itself back into contention in the NFC Central Division. Fran Tarkenton, who in recent weeks had been replaced in key situations by second-year Quarterback Tommy Kramer, threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Sammy White just six plays into the game as the Vikings beat previously undefeated Chicago 24-20 on Monday night, then completed 20 of 31 passes for 213 yards as Minnesota whipped Tampa Bay 24-7 on Sunday. The Bears dropped into a tie with the Vikings for second place, a game behind Green Bay, when Oakland's Arthur Whittington swept in from the two-yard line 5:19 into sudden-death overtime, giving the Raiders a 25-19 victory. The Packers defeated Detroit 35-14 in Milwaukee to improve their record to 4-1, their best start since 1972. Terdell Middleton rushed for 148 yards, 76 of them on a third-quarter touchdown run, and David Whitehurst threw touchdown passes of 43 and 19 yards to Aundra Thompson. New England and Miami remained tied for the lead in the AFC East. Steve Grogan scored on a four-yard run with 31 seconds remaining to give the Patriots a 28-23 victory over San Diego and spoil the Charger coaching debut of Don Coryell. In Miami, Don Strock broke a 10-10 third-period tie with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Nat Moore, and in the fourth quarter Delvin Williams scored on a one-yard plunge as the Dolphins whipped winless St. Louis 24-10. In a battle of winless teams, San Francisco defeated Cincinnati 28-12. Between them, 49er defensive backs Anthony Leonard and Eddie Lewis intercepted five passes, and Steve DeBerg threw for two touchdowns. Bengal Coach Tiger Johnson was fired the next day, and Homer Rice replaced him. Unbeaten Pittsburgh and Los Angeles stretched their winning streaks to five. The Steelers beat the Jets 28-17 and took a two-game lead in the AFC Central. Terry Bradshaw threw two touchdown passes to Lynn Swann and completed 17 of 25 for 189 yards. In New Orleans the Rams needed two fourth-quarter field goals from rookie Frank Corral to hold off the Saints 26-20. Corral, who had earlier missed two field-goal attempts and an extra-point try, made good on kicks of 34 and 39 yards. Toni Fritsch booted a 19-yarder with just 14 seconds remaining as Houston handed Cleveland its second straight defeat, 16-13. Atlanta recovered from an early 14-0 deficit to beat the New York Giants 23-20. The winning touchdown came on Haskel Stanback's nine-yard run with 1:52 left. Wilbert Montgomery rushed for 144 yards and scored the winning touchdown on a 14-yard sprint with 2:39 to go as Philadelphia defeated Baltimore 17-14. Joe Ferguson passed for two touchdowns to lead Buffalo to its second straight win, 28-13 over Kansas City. Backup Quarterbacks Norris Weese and Craig Penrose, subbing for the injured Craig Morton, directed Denver to a 28-7 victory over Seattle.
GOLF—GIL MORGAN defeated Hubert Green by par-ring the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the $100,000 first-place check at the World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio (page 36).
Jane Blalock shot a final round one-under-par 71 for a 276 total, 12-under, to win a $100,000 LPGA tournament in Calabasas Park, Calif. by two strokes over Hollis Stacy.
HORSE RACING—SEATTLE SLEW ($2.60), ridden by Angel Cordero Jr., defeated Exceller by four lengths to win the $163,000 Woodward Stakes at Belmont and become thoroughbred racing's 23rd millionaire. The 1977 Triple Crown winner was timed in 2:00 for the mile and a quarter, establishing a track record for the distance and equalling the stakes record set by Kelso in 1961. First-prize money of $97,800 boosted the 4-year-old's earnings to $1,075,520.
Alleged, Lester Piggott up, won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the second time, taking the 57th running by two lengths over Trillion, in Paris. The 3-year-old colt was clocked in 2:36.5 over the soft turf course of about 1½ miles and collected $346,000 of the $470,000 purse.
MOTOR SPORTS—CARLOS REUTEMANN, averaging 118.57 mph in his Ferrari, won the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, N.Y. by 19.7 seconds over Alan Jones of Australia. Mario Andretti, who crashed his Lotus in a pre-race warmup, failed in his bid to become the first American to win his country's Formula I race when his back-up car blew an engine on the 27th lap.
A. J. FOYT, driving a Coyote, averaged 104.36 mph on Silverstone Raceway's 2.9-mile circuit to win the rain-abbreviated Daily Express Indy Silverstone, the first race for Indianapolis-type cars ever held in England. Rick Mears, in a Penske, was second.
TENNIS—CHRIS EVERT defeated Martina Navratilova 7-6, 0-6, 6-3.
Arthur Ashe defeated Brian Gottfried 6-2, 6-4 to win a $200,000 Grand Prix tournament in Los Angeles.
MILEPOSTS—AWARDED: By NBA Commissioner Lawrence O'Brien, to the Seattle SuperSonics, Forward LONNIE SHELTON, a 1979 first-round draft choice and $450,000, as compensation for the New York Knicks' signing of free-agent Center Marvin Webster.
NAMED: As manager of the Texas Rangers, Third Base Coach PAT CORRALES, 37, replacing Billy Hunter, 50, who was fired. Corrales, a former major league catcher, became a Ranger coach in 1975. Hunter, who joined the Rangers as manager in June 1977, led them to a 60-33 record the rest of that season. But Texas did not do as well as expected this year, finishing third in the American League West with an 87-75 record.
RETIRED: From the Atlanta Falcons, Defensive End CLAUDE HUMPHREY, 34, after 10 seasons. Drafted in the first round by Atlanta in 1968, Humphrey was an All-Pro three times and played in six Pro Bowls.
DIED: NEIL JOHNSTON, 49, for three consecutive years the NBA scoring leader (1953-55); of a heart attack; in Irving, Texas. Johnston, who played for the Philadelphia Warriors for eight years, became the team's coach in 1959, after a knee injury ended his career. He also coached Pittsburgh of the American Basketball League and was an assistant at Wake Forest and with the Portland Trail Blazers.
DIED: HARRY MEHRE, 77, the starting center for the Notre Dame football team that featured the Four Horsemen and later football coach at Georgia and Mississippi; in Atlanta.