Newspaper Page Text
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:•:• HOUSTON — The score doesn’t show but the results do —
£ as a disgruntled Viking fan watches the final minutes of
£ the Miami victory over the Vikings in the Super Bowl.
£ (UPI)
| ‘Best ever? 9 |
:•:: By MILTON RICHMAN
•:•: UPI Sports Editor •
£ HOUSTON (UPI) — Only two words were on the :
£ blackboard standing in the near corner of the Miami J
Dolphins dressing room. •
“Best Ever.” :
£ This is what’s generally known as the pre-game inspira- :
;£ tional message. :
;£ According to all the movie and TV scripts ever written, :
£ the one who goes up there and quietly chalks the words on :
£ the board is the head coach, the quarterback, or maybe •:
£ one of the team’s injured members who has no chance of •
£ performing at all. •:
£ None of those was responsible in this particular case. :
£ Don Shula didn’t do it; Bob Griese didn’t, and neither J
£ did Charlie Leigh, the Dolphins’ speedy kickoff return <
£ specialist who didn’t even suit up due to a separated J
shoulder. J
£ The plain, unvarnished truth is that one of the Dolphins’ •:
£ equipment men wrote the words on the blackboard. •:
£ Less inspirational yet, few of the Miami players who •:
fashioned their second straight Super Bowl triumph •:
£ Sunday by beating the blood out of Minnesota, 24-7, even :■
noticed the message, the tribute, or whatever else you’d :•
£ call it, written on the board. :•
So what would you say? <
Are the Miami Dolphins, with their eye-popping 32-and-2 •:
£ record over the past two seasons, the “best ever?” :•
£ Marv Fleming thinks so. :•
£ Miami’s 31-year-old tight end has played in five Super >
Bowl games, more than any other man, and he also played :■
£ with Green Bay’s first two Super Bowl winners, which :■
£ some feel represented professional football’s finest <
£ collection of players in history. •:
£ “This is the greatest team ever,” said Marv Fleming in •:
£ the Miami quarters Sunday. “I’ve been on both teams, •:
£ and there is no question about it in my mind. I’d say •:
absolutely and 100 per cent this is the best team. ” :■
£ “You’re sure you’re not simply saying that because it’s >
£ so easy to say...here...now?” I asked Marv Fleming. :•
£ “No, that’s not the reason I’m saying it at all,” he came :•
£ back. :•
“Well, then why specifically are you saying it?” J:
£ “I’m saying it because of the way we’ve progressed,” <
£ Fleming said. “Remember in 1970, this team made the •:
£ playoff for the first time and lost to Oakland? A year later •:
£ we got to the Super Bowl and were beaten by Dallas. Last •:
£ year we went to the Super Bowl again and defeated
Washington, and today Minnesota. I say this is the best •:
£ team because of the players, the coaching staff and the ;•
camaraderie,” Fleming went on. :•
£ There’s no question Miami is one of the finest football :•
£ teams to come along in some time. Their victory over the J;
£ Vikings was a beautifully orchestrated affair and center •:
£ Jim Langer put it as well as anyone. •!
“We do it so easy, we make the other teams look bad,” :•
said Langer. “It’s not that they’re so bad though, it’s just :•
£ that we’re so good.” !;
£ Personally, I’m willing to go along with that. The <
£ Dolphins are good, very good, but the best ever is quite a •:
£ mouthful. Maybe I’m on the wrong wavelength, but I still •:
£ think those Green Bay teams molded by the late Vince £
£ Lombardi were the best. If there actually is such a thing £
£ as a team being the “best ever.”
£ Bart Starr, Green Bay’s former quarterback, was here £
£ working Sunday’s game for TV and they asked him what £
£ he thought of some of the Miami players feeling they were v
£ the best team ever.
:£ “I’d think less of the Dolphins if they didn’t think they ?;
:£ were the best team in the world,” Starr said. £
£ Then he smiled and added: £
£ “By the same token, I’d think less of myself if I didn’t £
£ think our team was the best in the world. ’ ’ £
£ Okay, Bart Starr, you’ve got me convinced. g
£ Now you have to work a little on Marv Fleming. .£:
| NHL standings |
By United Press International
East
w 1 t pts gs ga
Boston 27 7 5 59 177 108
Montreal 24 9 6 54 145 107
Toronto 21 14 7 49 155 122
N.Y.Rngrs2o 14 9 49 156 133
Buffalo 21 18 4 46 144 138
Detroit 16 21 5 37 138 168
N.Y.lslndrs9 21 11 29 97 135
Vancouver 9 25 7 25 106 158
West
w 1 tpts gs ga
Philadelph 25 9 5 55 127 75
Chicago 19 8 13 51 141 84
St. Louis 18 15 6 42 113 102
Atlanta 17 18 7 41 107 119
Minnesota 12 19 10 34 126 144
Los Angels 13 20 7 33 113 135
Pittsburgh 11 25 5 27 110 157
California 9 28 5 23 107 177
Sunday’s Results
N.Y. Rangers 7 California 2
Boston 5 Pittsburgh 3
Chicago 4 Detroit 1
Buffalo 1 St. Louis 0
Philadelphia 1 Atlanta 0
(only games scheduled)
Monday’s Games
(No games scheduled)
|Vandy knocked from unbeaten
ATHENS, Ga. (UPI)-Battle
£ scarred Vanderbilt, knocked
from the ranks of the unbeaten
£ by LSU Saturday night, moves
£ on to Georgia tonight to contin
£ ue its quest for the Southeast
£: ern Conference basketball title.
The Bth-ranked Commodores
£ were physically pounded at the
£ hands of the Tigers 84-81. A
fistfight near the end of the
£ game marred the contest.
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For the Commodores it was
the first loss in 11 outings this
season. LSU has beaten Ken
tucky and Vanderbilt on suc
cessive Saturdays.
The fight broke out between
Vandy’s Jan Van Breda Kolff
and LSU’s Wade Evans and
then both benches emptied.
Vanderbilt coach Roy Skinner
said “Gosh what a battle.
We’re scarred but I thought we
really hung in there when it
was tough.
“Nobody is going to win down
here (Baton Rouge) when the
officials let the game get this
rough. I have never seen a
fight explode so fast and get so
violent. It’s a wonder someone
wasn’t seriously hurt,” Skinner
said.
Junior guard Glenn Hansen
led the Tigers with 23 points
Page 7
and hauled down a dozen re
bounds.
Pearson named driver of year
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (UPI) -
NASCAR ace David Pearson
today was named the 1973
driver of the year by the
National Motorsports Press
Association.
The 38-year-old Spartanburg,
— Griffin Daily News Monday, January 14,1974
Vandy’s Lee Fowler paced
the Commodores with 20 points.
S.C. driver was a landslide
winner over Grand National
champion Benny Parson in
balloting by association mem
bers and will be presented a
trophy at a banquet tonight.
Pearson’s no. 21 Purolator
★★★*★★★★
SPORTS
★★★★★★★★
Mercury built by the Woods
Brothers was virtually unbeata
ble during the last racing
season on superspeedway
tracks. He captured 10 of the 13
events he entered between mid-
March and mid-September. He
finished second twice and third
once.