Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current, August 25, 1977, Image 15

Griffin daily news., August 25, 1977, Page Page 15, Image 15

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Newspaper Page TextBears QB may get booed in Cleveland By MIKE HARRIS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) - The biggest question about tonight’s National Football League pre season meeting between the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns is what kind of recep tion the fans will give quarter back Mike Phipps. The former Browns’ quarter back says he doesn’t care, but it will be interesting to see what his “homecoming” will be like after seven years of a love-hate relationship with the Cleveland fans. The Bears, 3-1, and the Browns, 1-2, are preparing for the regular season. Phipps, who will play the first three quarters against his ex-teammates, says NFL at a glance By The Associated Press Thursday’s Game Chicago at Cleveland, (n) Friday’s Game Miami at Minnesota, (n), (ABC) Saturday’s Games Cincinnati at St. Louis, (n) New York Jets at New Or leans, (n) Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta at Or lando, (n) San Diego at Oakland, (n) Detroit at Seattle, (n) Sports roundup By the Associated Press World Gaines U. S. Men’s team wins SOFIA, Bulgaria — The U.S. men’s basketball team defeated Brazil 103-81 for its sixth straight victory at the World University Games. Freeman Williams of Portland State was the U.S. team’s top scorer with 19 points. American swimmers got off to a strong start in the opening events of the aquatic activities, collecting three of the five gold medals. Mike Currington of the University of Alabama won the men’s 100-meter butterfly and anchored the 400-meter freestyle relay team to victory. Rich Hannula of the University of Southern California took the gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle. Track and Field Olympic champion upset ZURICH. Switzerland — Olympic champion John Walker of New Zealand was upset by West German Olympian Thomas Wessinghage, while an American relay team clocked the world’s fastest time of the year — 38.56 seconds — in the 400 meters at an international track and field meet. Wessinghage was clocked in 3 minutes, 37.37 seconds, four-hundredths of a second better than Walker. The American team of Bill Collins, Steve Riddick, Clifford Wiley and Steve Williams was less than a one-half second off the world mark of 38.19 set in 1972 by a different American foursome. If i V \ * ik ▼? jr >" ' ■Or ME>. .*±i * — %■■& wmSLm ww “* XW’IW/ . «”v». »'*V ~. I **»"»ww«wr- W®** m>- ' £ "\g ■ 1H «£- * a wjfj i j j,j » /£■ ty-AT -*-C. *•*’ * rstSV *' < Happy Little Leaguer Bob Schroll of Rotterdam, N. Y. Little League team, leaps onto home plate as he is greeted by fellow teammates after hitting a 2-run homer. Action was in sth inning of 3rd game of. Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Wednesday against Youngstown, Ohio. Rotterdam won 4-1. (AP) that is all that is on his mind. 8 “I’m really going to enjoy this,” he said. “I hope I do well, but if I don’t, it won’t be the end of the world. It’s just an exhibition game and the ex hibition season has never been too popular ir my mind.” Phipps, traded to the Bears last winter for two draft choices, is in a battle for Chi cago’s No. 1 quarterback job with incumbent Bob Avellini. It was Avellini’s turn to start in Jack Pardee’s rotation, but the Bears’ coach switched so that Phipps could get the major share of the action against his old teammates. In Cleveland, Phipps often was booed lustily by the fans and blamed for most of the ills Washington vs. Green Bay, (n) Baltimore at Dallas, (n), (NBC) Los Angeles at Kansas City, (n) Sunday’s Games Pittsburgh at New England, (CBS) Denver at Philadelphia, (n) Monday’s Games Buffalo at New York Giants, (n) San Francisco at Houston, (n) the Browns suffered. The big raps against him were that he never approached the potential he showed at Purdue and that the Browns traded popular re ceiver Paul Warfield in order to get a No. 1 draft choice they used to pick Phipps. “Truly, I don’t think they (the Browns fans) appreciate what I’ve done,” Phipps said this week. “They all seem to remember the bad things and not the good. I walked away with good memories. If they want to blame me for a couple of bad years, they can.” Cleveland will start Brian Sipe at quarterback against Phipps. Sipe became the Browns’ quarterback after Phipps suffered a shoulder sep aration in the 1976 season open er. Cleveland star running back Greg Pruitt remains sidelined with a pulled muscle. Starting in his place will be Eddie Pay ton, getting a chance to match skills against his younger brother, Bears star Walter Pay ton. The elder Payton, bothered by injuries, said, “I’ll play. I’ve got to show my little brother what I can do. And we’ve got a whole busload of people coming in to see us play.” In NFL personnel move ments, veteran wide receiver Gerald Tinker — attempting a comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him all last year — was waived by the Green Bay Packers. Tinker had been acquired on waivers from Atlanta in 1975. The Packer also waived guard Larron Jackson, ac quired from Atlanta earlier this month. The Philadelphia Eagles re leased veteran defensive tackle Walter Johnson to make room for newly-acquired offensive tackle Donnie Green. Tide picked to win SEC TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Forget those preseason pre dictions of Alabama winning the Southeastern Conference football championship for the sixth time in seven years. At least, for the moment. “Y’all are going to make heroes out of those guys,” Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant told the SEC Skywriters Wednes day. He was referring to coaches Johnny Majors of Ten nessee and Doug Barfield of Auburn, teams generally picked to finish in the second division. “I wish we had players like them,” he added. “One of them will probably win it.” Moments later, however, the Bear, winningest active coach in college football, revealed his agreement that the preseason choice in the SEC had to be Alabama. “Whoever wins it is gonna have to beat us every year,” he said. Bryant, with a career record 'g-1 L ■ ..jpyy s "*®REii® i «< •>* A® ■■■ X >&tr — >" |pL Shortstop Pat Rockett of the Atlanta Braves makes certain would-be culprit Bill Buckner doesn’t get away after tagging out the Chicago Cub’s outfielder who was attempting to steal second during the 6th inning of Wednesday night’s contest (AP) Braves break 5-game losing streak, win 4-3 ATLANTA (AP) - It was a night to forget, or as Chicago Cubs’ second baseman Manny Trillo aptly said: “It was just one of those . . . days.” What it turned out to be was a 4-3 victory for the Atlanta Braves Wednesday night, snapping a five-game losing string while the Cubs fell to fourth place in the National League East, nine games be hind Philadelphia. The Braves won the game in the eighth inning when Jeff Burroughs scored from third as Trillo failed to get the ball out of his glove on a potential double play bouncer that would have ended the inning. “My thumb caught in the glove (pointing at the web bing),” said Trillo as Burroughs crossed with the winning run on the bouncer by Junior Moore. Burroughs opened the inning with a single, moved to second on a balk by reliever Wilie Her- of 262-75-16, has steered the Tide to 37 victories in their last 40 conference games, missing a sixth straight crown last fall when Georgia edged his team by a half-game. He said the conference will be much stronger overall than it has been in recent years pri marily because of a better bal anced schedule and a number of returning starters at almost every school. “I just hope we’ll be up around the top of it,” Bryant said. “But we are slow and thin, a lot thinner than I thought we’d be and as slow as I thought we’d be.” He does have 30 letter winners returning, including 13 starters, from last year’s team that went 8-3 and then demolished UCLA 36-6 in the Liberty Bowl. However, five defensive starters departed, all down linemen, and that poses the major problem facing Alabama this fall. Alabama should have an ex plosive offense built around such outstanding talent as split end Ozzie Newsome, running backs Johnny Davis and Tony BASEBALL STANDINGS f r By The Associated Press American League East W L Pct. GB NYork 74 51 .592 - Boston 71 52 .577 2 Balt 71 52 .577 2 Detroit 59 66 .472 15 Cleve 58 68 .460 16% Milwkee 56 75 .427 21 Toronto 45 79 .363 28% West K.C. 72 51 .585 - Texas 71 54 .568 2 Minn 72 55 .567 2 Chicago 69 54 .561 3 Calif 60 63 .488 12 Seattle 51 79 .392 24% Oakland 47 77 .379 25% National League East W L Pct. GB Phila 78 46 .629 - Pitts 72 55 .567 7% S Louis 71 55 .563 8 Chicago 69 55 .556 9 Montreal 59 67 .468 20 NYork 51 74 .408 27% West LosAng 75 51 .595 — Cinci 66 61 .520 9% Houston 58 69 .457 17% SFran 58 70 .453 18 San Diego 56 73 .434 20% Atlanta 44 81 .352 30% nandez, 7-5, and went to third on Willie Montanez’ single. One out later, Moore hit the grounder to shortstop off Dave Giusti. The Cubs blew an opportunity in the ninth when with one out and Steve Ontiveros on first and the count 3-0 on the next hitter, Ontiveros was cut down by 10 feet attempting to steal. “I misunderstood what the first base coach told me,” he said. Asked if the game was one of the Cubs’ worst this season, Manager Herman Franks re plied: “What’s so bad about the . . . game. It wasn’t that bad. . . So we had a balk. So we missed a double play. There are a lot of double plays missed. If you can’t get the ball out of your glove, you can’t get it out, that’s all.” Ontiveros had given the Cubs a 3-2 lead with a leadoff homer in the seventh inning, his ninth Nathan and the quarterback combination of Jeff Rutledge and Jack O’Rear. The returning defensive starters include the entire defensive secondary headed by Mike Kramer and linebackers Dewey Mitchell and Barry Krauss, most valuable player in the Liberty Bowl triumph. Bryant moved Terry Jones, one of the league’s top centers, to nose guard during the spring, but may be forced to move him back to center because of an ailing achilles tendon that limits the 250-pounder’s lateral movement. The 227-pound Davis is the key to the inside power of the Wishbone offense. During his three-year career, he has never lost a yard, averaging six yards per carry with a total of 1,588 yards. He gained 668 last year, Nathan had 480 and O’Rear, considered the team’s strongest running quarterback, 467. BMC GOODYEAR »M i THIS WEEK’S I I g B .TIIHV,MIHg Fl_ ] 'Custom Power Cushion Polyglas' jo ■Qi r G° od y ear ' s All Time Best Seller ini &pi Os Ar w " rh BUM >V! PC & RAltid fnr TOl D7B-14 MM $2.09 JU rJ® It? ° e " ec * for E7B-14 ■^^■□s 2 - 26 LHL Strength 41 "f" G7B-i<r^^ssLs2- 58 fW" ifln H7B-14 BEEm~~STBo~~ ■ ■ wW G7B-15 KJEWYs 2 65 ■ I X ..78 ~3 *i-4e*all plus Si 73 ’B-'5 $ 2 88 ™R||| thRaTSiHBBiUsBSBHBBBBBIi FET Nolradeneeded L7B-is | $3.17 | Just Say 'Charge It.'.. DC See The Guys In The Winners Caps JU Btt GOOD-YEAR JWfl HILL'S TIRE STORE Page 15 of the year but Atlanta tied it in the bottom of the inning on Cito Gaston’s sacrifice fly. The Braves had solo homers by Rowland Office and Monta nez off Chicago starter Mike Krukow before the Cubs evened it at 2-2 in the sixth when Greg Gross ripped a two-run homer off Atlanta starter Eddie Solo mon. Rookie left-hander Don Col lins, 3-9, picked up the victory in relief for Atlanta. Rodgers hopes Jackets show steadiness in ’77 By ED SHEARER AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — A decade of generally mediocre football had descended on Georgia Tech since the end of the Bobby Dodd era, but colorful Coach Pepper Rodgers is hoping the foundation for a return to the glory days will be established this year. “I hope this year our team will begin to show some steadi ness in our program,” said Rodgers, who in three years owns a 17-15-1 record at Tech. The record in the 10 years since Dodd retired is 56-52-2. “I think our best physical team will be next year with our first four-year class,” he said. First, he must negotiate a schedule that includes five road games, rare for the Jackets, who normally lure seven oppo nents to Atlanta each season. Tech should improve on last year’s 4-6-1 standard, but it’s doubtful the Jackets will enjoy an outstanding campaign, Rod gers said. “The graduation of many top players, the fact that young and mostly inexperienced per sonnel will fill vacated spots, and a tough road schedule, make it difficult to predict Tech will have an outstanding Griffin Daily News Thursday, August 25, 1977 Fowler returns to Kentucky lineup LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP)- Academic ineligibility forced the University of Kentucky’s Dan Fowler to join the fans in the stands last fall and the two time letterman didn’t like it. Instead of pitching in on the offensive line, Fowler could only watch as his teammates marched to a Peach Bowl vic tory and an 8-4 season record. “Sitting through the games was like hell for me,” the Eu clid, Ohio, native said. “A lot of times, I didn’t want to go. I hadn’t been in the stands since I was in the seventh grade.” With the help of his wife, Cin di, Fowler said he worked hard the following spring to regain his eligibility and a starting po sition. “I realized I had to go to class and my wife often went with me to make sure I went,” he said. “I finished with a 3.2 grade point average for 17 hours. I want to keep my grades above a ‘B’ from now on.” Fowler began full practice at center and was moved to tackle last Monday. The adjustment created some minor problems, but Fowler said he wasn’t disappointed. “I have an easy time gaining and losing weight,” he said. “I was 278 (pounds) this spring and 245 now. I thought I’d be at center, so I ran and lifted weights with quickness in mind. Now I’ll have to beef up for tackle and still keep my quick- season,” he said. “If returning players play up to their capabilities and young players perform well in the of fensive line and in the secon dary, the Yellow Jackets should be better,” he added. Tech does have a handful of outstanding performers, mostly on defense where linebackers Lucius Sanford and Mackel Harris are returning stars after combining for more than 200 tackles a year ago. Tackle Mike Blanton, who nailed Notre Dame backs for losses six times totaling 17 yards in Tech’s upset victory last year, is the key to the de fensive front and Don Bessillieu is the only returnee in the sec ondary. Bessillieu, however, under went knee surgery a few weeks before the start of fall practice and was expected to be side lined for the first two games. The wishbone offense is trig gered by sophomore Gary La nier, a strong runner who de voted much of the spring to im proving his passing, which pro duced only 290 yards and one touchdown last year. Rodgers considers split end Drew Hill an exceptional re ceiver and wants to use his tal ents more this season. ness. Strengthwise, I can com pete with anyone.” Fowler is the strongest mem ber of the Kentucky team, bench pressing 460 pounds. Although he had plenty of ex perience in his first two sea sons, Fowler can not be counted as a returning starter because of the layoff, said coach Fran Curci. Curci said Fowler would need time to resharpen his skills. “Moving back into the hitting grove was the hardest part of spring practice, but it worked out all right,” Fowler said. Now that he has accepted the move to tackle, Fowler said he has one thing on his mind: “I want to start. It matters a lot to me,” he said. “I’m start ing over at tackle, but I want to play so bad, I don’t care.” Flames sign Ecclestone ATLANTA (AP) - Veteran forward Tim Ecclestone has reached a contract agreement with the Atlanta Flames, the National Hockey League team announced Wednesday. Ecclestone, who had been a free agent since June, will begin his 11th season in the NHL this fall, the team said. Ecclestone has scored 28 goals since he came to the Flames in 1974. The Flames open their train ing camp Sept. 19. The key back is Eddie Lee Ivery, a 200-pound junior who rambled for 754 yards last year while playing in the shadow of the graduated David Sims, the school’s all-time rushing leader. “He’s one of the most ex citing runners to watch you’ll see,” Rodgers said. “He’s go ing to be a great one. I’ve had great ones before and I know what they look like.” Tech opens its season at South Carolina Sept. 10 and then returns home for con secutive games against Miami, Fla., Clemson and Air Force. Johnston named Nordiques coach LEWISTON, Maine (AP) - Larry Johnston, a former de fenseman with the Detroit Red Wings, has been appointed coach of the Maine Nordiques of the North American Hockey League. Johnston, 35, was named Wednesday to succeed J.C. Gravel, who resigned after one season as coach. John Cunniff, one of the top scoring left wings in the NAHL, was appointed as Johnston’s as sistant. Cunniff will continue to play for the Lewiston club.