A Roundup of the Week Jan. 16-22
PRO BASKETBALL—Life at the bottom of the Midwest Division was especially trying last week for Ron Rothstein, coach of the 4-32 Heat. After riots in Miami's Overtown section caused the postponement of the Heat's game with the Suns, Rothstein suffered a blowout just a few blocks from the disturbances. Police helped Rothstein change the tire, but the next night nobody could help Miami stop the Bulls' Michael Jordan, who flattened Roth-stein's team, scoring 34 points and leading Chicago to a 112-108 victory. Later in the week, Jordan got an NBA-season-high 53 points, against Phoenix, but his teammates scored only 54 more, which added up to a 116-107 Suns win. At week's end the fifth-place Bulls were one of five Central Division teams with more than 20 victories. At the top of that list, with 29 wins, were the Cavaliers, whose usually assist-minded guard Mark Price scored 29 points, his season high, in a 126-110 defeat of Phoenix. Price enjoyed that so much that he hit for 29 more in his next outing, a 113-106 win over the Pacers. The Atlantic Division pacesetters, the Knicks, began the week by polishing off San Antonio 116-106 for their 14th home win in a row. But then they went west and lost three straight, in the process shooting a dismal 20% from three-point territory. In a 133-119 loss to the Warriors, New York set an NBA record for long-range attempts and misses, converting only 5 of 28 three-point attempts. Indifferent weeks by the 76ers (1-3) and the Celtics (2-2) kept New York's lead at 4½. For the Rockets it was a different story. As the week began, Midwest Division-leading Houston traveled to Los Angeles for a game with the Pacific Division leaders, the Lakers, who pummeled them 124-113. The Rockets then headed north, where they received icy receptions in Sacramento and Seattle, losing 123-109 and 124-108, respectively, and slipped a game behind the Jazz in the division race. The Lakers stayed home to defend their 15-0 record at the Forum, against the Clippers, who, because of injuries, dressed but nine players. Magic Johnson proceeded to run them ragged, scoring 19 points and dishing out 13 assists in a 111-90 win. This helped keep the Lakers three ahead of Phoenix and Seattle, and 5½ up on Golden State, which ran its winning streak to eight.
PRO FOOTBALL—The SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII, in Miami (page 14).
GOLF—MARK CALCAVECCHIA shot a 21-under-par 263 to defeat Chip Beck by seven strokes and win the Phoenix Open. He earned $126,000.
HOCKEY—The latest diversion for the NHL's best team, Montreal, was its attempt to amass twice as many points as its nearest pursuer in the Adams Division. Center Guy Carbonneau's shorthanded goal put the Canadiens on their way to a 4-3 win over Toronto, which gave Montreal 72 points at week's end, 24 more than the second-place Sabres. Meanwhile, the division's tailenders were thriving on insults. After being mocked as "turkeys" in The Calgary Sun, the last-place Nordiques stopped talking with reporters. The silent treatment woke up center Ken McRae, whose first two goals of the season helped Quebec beat the Devils 5-4. Two days later, defenseman Iiro Jarvi had three assists in the Nordiques' 4-3 upset of the Smythe Division-leading Flames. In NHL parlance, one step up from a turkey is a plumber, at least according to defenseman Sylvain Cote of the fourth-place Whalers. After Cote derided some of his teammates by calling them plumbers. Hartford scored six unanswered goals to sink the Canadiens 6-4. In their next outing, against the Kings, the Whalers couldn't stop Wayne Gretzky, whose four points pushed him past the Rangers' Marcel Dionne into second place on the NHL's career scoring list, 79 behind Gordie Howe's record 1,850. Still, the Whalers were willing to celebrate with the Great One after trimming Los Angeles 5-4. In the Norris Division, the Blues crept to within nine points of the faltering Red Wings. Mario Lemieux had two goals and five assists in the Penguins' 7-4 beating of the Oilers. Thus at week's end he had had a hand in Pittsburgh's last 12 goals. That overreliance on Lemieux made for a 1-2 week for the Penguins. Among other Patrick Division teams. the Flyers, with goalie Ron Hextall getting 37 saves and assisting on Tim Kerr's third goal of the night, defeated the Jets 7-3. and the last-place Islanders won three times, including coach Al Arbour's 600th career victory, a 5-2 rout of Pittsburgh. The Penguins' woes helped the Rangers, led by their youthful pair of Brian Leetch and Tony Granato, to take the division lead (page 40).
INDOOR SOCCER—Baltimore stayed two games ahead of Dallas and San Diego by winning its only game, 6-3 against Los Angeles. The Sidekicks lost 4-3 in overtime to fourth-place Los Angeles for their first loss in four years to the Lazers in Reunion Arena. The Sockers moved into the tie for second when they beat Kansas City 8-2.
SKIING—VRENT SCHNEIDER of Switzerland tied Annemarie Moser-Pr‚Äö√†√∂‚Äö√†√áll's World Cup record when she skied to her 11th victory in 11 tries this season, winning a giant slalom in Tignes, France, by .77 of a second over Carole Merle of France.
TENNIS—Top-seeded Mats Wilander's 3-6, 2-6, 6-7 loss to Ramesh Krishnan and fourth-seeded Pam Shriver's 6-0, 4-6, 6-8 loss to Catarina Lindqvist were the only major upsets in the first week of the singles competition at the Australian Open, in Melbourne.
TRACK & FIELD—RANDY BARNES set a world indoor shot-put record of 74'4¼", breaking Werner Gunthor's 1987 mark by 1'3¾", in Los Angeles.
MILEPOSTS—AWARDED: To the USFL by a U.S. District Court judge in New York. $5,515,290.81 in attorneys' fees and $62,220.92 in costs accrued during the league's 1986 antitrust litigation against the NFL, which resulted in a jury's awarding the USFL $1, after finding the NFL guilty of monopolizing a marketplace.
FIRED: As coach of the L.A. Clippers, GENE SHUE, 57, who guided the Clippers to a 10-28 record this season, including losses in their last 11 games under his direction, and a 27-93 mark in his second tenure with them. He was replaced on an interim basis by DON CASEY, 51, one of his assistants.
NAMED: As coach of the U.S. national soccer team, BOB GANSLER, 47.
As football coach: at Maine, TOM LICHTENBERG, 48, who was recently hired as offensive coordinator at Colorado State; at Columbia, RAY TELLIER, 37, who resigned from Rochester to take this job; and at Rice, FRED GOLDSMITH, 44, former defensive coordinator at Arkansas.
PARDONED: By President Reagan, New York Yankee owner GEORGE STEINBRENNER, 58, who was convicted of violating federal campaign laws in 1974.
DIED: Former Dodger rightfielder CARL FURILLO, 66; of natural causes; in Stony Creek Mills, Pa. During 15 seasons with the Dodgers, 12 of them in Brooklyn, Furillo hit .299 with 192 home runs and 1,058 RBIs and won the 1953 National League batting title with a .344 average, but he was best known for his defensive abilities, which included a strong arm—hence his nickname, the Reading Rifle—and an unsurpassed understanding of Ebbets Field's tricky rightfield wall.
TWO PHOTOS
JEFF ALEXANDER
PHOTO
DAVE HUEY
PHOTO
KATHRYN DUDEK
PHOTO
JEFF BOWEN
PHOTO
GARY WOLFSON
FACES IN THE CROWD
APRIL HALATE
ZUNI, N.MEX.
MELISSA LUCERO
LAGUNA, N.MEX.
April, a senior at Zuni High, and Melissa, an eighth-grader at Laguna-Acoma (junior-senior) High, triumphed at the state girls' cross-country meet. April ran the 3.1-mile course in 20:49.3 to win the Class AAA title and lead the Thunder-birds to a state-record eighth straight girls' team crown. Melissa ran the same circuit in 19:45.5, to win the Class AA-A title. She surpassed the times of both April and the Class AAAA champ. Annabelle Ortiz, a senior at Española Valley High.
CHRIS PARKER
TIPP CITY, OHIO
Chris, a senior striker at Bethel High, scored thrice in a 3-0 soccer win over Yellow Springs High to break the state single-season record for goals (48). He's tied for sixth on the alltime national high school list for career goals, with 147.
CHRIS CONFESSORE
HUNTINGTON, N.Y.
Confessore, 24, a salesman, lifted a total of 1,951 pounds in the squat (722), bench press (584) and deadlift (645) to win the 198-pound class and be selected best overall lifter at the YMCA open national powerlifting championships.
HOSEA KNOWLTON
BARTON, ARK.
Hosea, a senior running back at Barton High, carried the ball 12 times for 152 yards and TDs of 68, 26 and 6 yards as the Bears defeated Augusta High 40-6 for their third straight Class A football title. Barton has had 40 wins in a row.
LISA FORE
BELL, FLA.
Lisa, a junior forward on the Bell High girls' basketball team, scored 32 points and had 14 rebounds in leading the Bulldogs to a 56-49 victory over Trenton High that ended a 64-game losing streak. Bell had not won since 1984.