A roundup of the week Feb. 20-26
PRO BASKETBALL—All that Jazz jive has begun to quiet down now that Utah has begun to cool down. The Midwest Division-leading Jazz, 7-8 since the All-Star break, was only three games ahead of Dallas following the Mavericks' 97-95 win in Salt Lake City. The Mavs' Rolando Blackman scored the decisive tip-in with :01 left. Utah earlier beat San Antonio 143-142 in double OT—but worse than the defeat for the Spurs were the two fractured cheekbones center Artis Gilmore suffered. He'll be out at least four weeks. Milwaukee clung to a one-game Central Division lead over Detroit by winning twice, including a 130-119 victory over San Antonio in which the Bucks tied the club record for field-goal percentage by making 65.8% of their shots. Portland had the good fortune to make an Eastern road trip when its hosts were slumping. The Trail Blazers beat the 76ers 119-114 in Philadelphia and the Knicks 106-89 in New York. Overall, Philly and New York lost four games apiece. The Atlantic Division leader, Boston, lost twice; one of the defeats was at the hands of Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles (page 12).
BOXING—MICHAEL SPINKS retained the world light heavyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Eddie Davis in Atlantic City.
Rocky Lockridge knocked out Roger May-weather in the first round to win the WBA junior lightweight crown in Beaumont, Texas.
Loris Stecca won the WBA junior featherweight title with a 12th-round technical knockout of Leo Cruz in Milan, Italy.
BOWLING—RICKIE SAJEK defeated Gary Skidmore 246-243 to win a $125,000 PBA tournament in North Olmsted, Ohio.
PRO FOOTBALL—The USFL looked glossy in Florida but drossy in other places. Jacksonville debuted with a 53-14 rout of Washington. Bulls quarterback Matt Robinson threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns before 49,392 Gator Bowl fans. Gary Anderson had 214 all-purpose yards and two TDs to lead Tampa Bay past Houston 20-17 as 42,915 looked on at Tampa Stadium. Crowds of less than 20,000 watched New Orleans beat San Antonio 13-10 and Oklahoma defeat Pittsburgh 7-3. Arizona walloped Oakland 35-7. Philadelphia beat Memphis 17-9, Denver ripped Los Angeles 27-10 and New Jersey took care of Birmingham 17-6 (page 16).
HOCKEY—Minnesota, the Norris Division leader, played the good teams well and the bad teams badly. Neal Broten's two goals lifted the North Stars into a 3-3 tie with Philadelphia, and Mark Napier's two scores and one assist paced them past Adams Division-leading Buffalo 5-1 but not before Minnesota lost 3-2 to Los Angeles and 5-2 to Detroit. The Sabres beat the Flyers 5-4 in overtime in Philadelphia. The Flyers stayed close in the tight Patrick Division race on Sunday when they won, 5-3, over the first-place Islanders, who led the Rangers by two points and the Capitals and Flyers by four. Wayne Gretzky of Smythe Division-leading Edmonton had four-goal games on successive nights in defeats of St. Louis and Pittsburgh but against Calgary he was shut out for only the second time this season. The Oilers won anyway, 5-3, and made it seven wins in a row the next night with an 8-3 rout of Toronto.
MOTOR SPORTS—BRIAN REDMAN and DOC BUNDY, in a Jaguar XJR-5, won the three-hour Grand Prix of Miami by 1:21.3 over Bob Tullius and Pat Bedard, also in a Jag. The winners averaged 72.623 mph on a 1.85-mile course through the streets of Miami.
SPEED SKATING—OLEG BOGIEV of the Soviet Union won the men's World All-Around Championship in Goteborg, Sweden.
ALPINE SKIING—In the U.S. Championships at Copper Mountain, Colo., BILL JOHNSON and LISA WILCOX won the men's and women's downhill titles, respectively; STEVE MAHRE and CHRISTIN COOPER got the giant slalom crowns; and MAHRE and TAMARA McKINNEY were the slalom champions.
INDOOR SOCCER—MISL: Kansas City remained percentage points ahead of St. Louis in the West. Both teams lost twice, the Steamers 8-2 at Los Angeles and 7-5 at Phoenix, while K.C. fell to Eastern stalwarts Pittsburgh (8-5) and first-place Cleveland (6-5). Financially strapped New York traded Fred Grgurev, tied for the league scoring lead, and his hefty contract to Memphis.
NASL: San Diego got a half-game edge on Golden Bay and Chicago by beating Tampa Bay 7-5 and Tulsa 4-3. The Sockers' Julie Veee had four goals against the Rowdies.
TENNIS—MARTINA NAVRATILOVA beat Chris Evert Lloyd 6-2, 7-6 to win the $150,000 U.S. Women's Indoor title in East Hanover, N.J.
The UNITED STATES beat Romania 5-0 in first-round Davis Cup competition in Bucharest (page 56).
TRACK & FIELD—CARLO THRANHARDT of West Germany set a world indoor high jump record of 7'9¼" in Berlin. He surpassed by half an inch the mark set last month by Igor Paklin of the Soviet Union.
At the TAC Championships, JIM HEIRING established by 2.12 seconds a world indoor record for the two-mile walk with a time of 12:11.21, and JUD LOGAN broke by 3½" his own U.S. indoor record in the 35-pound weight throw with a heave of 75'3¼" (page 60).
In Colorado Springs, TORE JOHNSEN, a Norwegian who goes to Texas-El Paso, set a world indoor record of 78'7" in the 35-pound throw, 1'¼" farther than the 1983 mark of Robert Weir of Great Britain.
MILEPOSTS—ELECTED: To the Basketball Hall of Fame, former Boston Celtics JOHN HAVLICEK, 43, and SAM JONES, 50; JACK GARDNER, 73, who had a 486-235 record in 28 years as coach of Kansas State (1939-42, 1946-53) and Utah (1953-71); and administrators EDWARD STEITZ, 63, and CLIFF FAGAN, 73.
HIRED: As coach of the Montreal Canadiens, JACQUES LEMAIRE, 39, who had been assistant coach of the 28-30-5 club. He replaces BOB BERRY, 39, who was fired after going 116-71-36 in three seasons with Montreal.
TRADED: By the Montreal Expos, first baseman AL OLIVER, 37, to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher FRED BREINING, 28, and a player to be named later.
By the Miami Dolphins, quarterback DAVID WOODLEY, to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a third-round draft choice in 1984 and a future conditional pick; and by the Philadelphia Eagles, kicker TONY FRANKLIN, 27, to the New England Patriots for an undisclosed 1985 choice.
By the Philadelphia Flyers, right wing PAUL HOLMGREN, 28, to the Minnesota North Stars for U.S. Olympic team right wing Paul Guay and a third-round selection in the 1985 draft.
DIED: KIRK COLLINS, 25, a cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams since 1980; of cancer of the esophagus; in Anaheim, Calif. (page 10).
Sherrill Ward, 72, the initial trainer of Forego, who was horse of the year in 1974, '75 and '76; of heart failure; in Hollywood, Fla.
