CONTENTS

The NFL Playoffs 12

Pittsburgh won the fumble-filled, rain-drenched AFC championship game routing the upstart Houston Oilers 34-5
by Joe Marshall

The defending champion Dallas Cowboys won a trip to Super Bowl XIII by whipping Los Angeles 28-0 in the NFC title game
by Dan Jenkins

A High-Caliber Bullet 20
Washington has the best record in the NBA, due in no small part to the peerless play of small Forward Bobby Dandridge
by Curry Kirkpatrick

The Wrath of Grapes 26
Don't cross Don (Grapes) Cherry, hockey's most outspoken coach, lest he sic one of his Boston Bruins or ol' Blue on you
by Jerry Kirshenbaum

All's Not Tranquil at Placid 30
Preparations for the 1980 Winter Olympics are well under way despite cost overruns and charges of bungling
by Robert H. Boyle

He Just Keeps Rollin' Along 88
After 29 years of drag racing, Don Garlits would like to leave the driving to someone else—but no one can do it like Big Daddy
by Bruce Newman

The Departments

Scorecard 7
TV/Radio 71
College Basketball 75
Tennis 80
Track & Field 86
For the Record 103
19th Hole 104

Credits on page 103

Cover photograph by James Drake

Next Week

Louisiana lightning, as Ron Guidry's fastball is called, has made him baseball's top pitcher. As Sam Moses writes, Guidry is as much in the groove when it comes to Louisiana living, which means lots of hunting, touch football and gumbo.

Big doings are at hand in Big Ten basketball as the nation's top-rated team, Michigan State, meets unbeaten Illinois. Larry Keith reports on the battle for No. 1 and other action in the conference that now shapes up as the country's strongest.