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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle, Friday, May JO, 1986 Page Eleven SPORTS Brazil will capture Boston destroys IRoeket soccer's World Cup Bird knocks in 31 in 117-9- 5 victory over France, So, you think you know everything when it comes to sports, do you? You know what a good power forward should do, when to use a play and you can name the last five Super Bowl champions. What else is there to know? But to test your great knowledge of sports, I've made up a little sports quiz. 1: What is the world's biggest sporting event? Q.No. 2: is What No. world's the most popular team sport? Q. Q.No. 3: What is the most popular intramural participation team sport at the University of Utah? Q.No. 4: What is the fastest growing sport in the United States? hit-and-r- BOSTON (UPI) Larry Bird, one day after being named Most Valuable Player for the third straight season, scored 31 points to power the Boston Celtics to a 117-9- 5 victory over the Houston Rockets Thursday night and a 0 lead in the NBA Finals. Boston, recording its 40th consecutive home game and triumph, won its seventh straight successfully defended its home-couadvantage. The series shifts to Houston for Game 3 Sunday afternoon. Bird hit on 12 of 19 shots from the floor and netted three Boston's other forward, Kevin McHalc, used his inside moves to hit on 9 of 14 shots and 25 points. The Celtics, seeking their 16th NBA title, held a lead after one quarter and took the lead for good 0 0 when the in the second, outscoring Houston Rockets shot just 32 percent. Bird scored 13 points in the second quarter on a and converted all 4 variety of jumpers, a attempts. Leading 0 entering the third quarter, Boston used a 0 run to take control. Bird finished the run at of the game for a 6 7:23 with his third lead as the sellout crowd of 14,890 inside a steamy Boston Garden started chanting "MVP, MVP." 9 in the third The Rockets were outscorcd 17 who had Akeem and Olajuwon, points in the quarter 2 in third was the held to points first half, quarter by first McHile, a member of the NB A's 10 a collection in on the also scored who team, quarter of spin moves and two foul shots. The Celtics gradually expanding their lead to 27 points, taking a 1 advantage at 10:13 of the fourth jumper. quarter on a Jerry Sichting Boston effectively boxed out the larger Rockets and frequently had second and third opportunities off the offensive boards. They also stymied Houston's defense with brisk ball movement that often had all five Celtics touching the ball in the same play. The Rockets' Ralph Sampson missed part of the second quarter when he received a cut under his left eye. j on rt best-of-sev- U en ON SPORTS Loren Jorgensen 31-3- 29-2- free-thro- w 60-5- 9-- 73-5- 34-1- All-Defens- ive 98-7- 12-fo- ot I l Steve Chronicle photo by Oriilin Houston forward Ralph Sampson powers toward the hoop in action this season. Sampson's 18 points couldn't carry the load Thursday night, though. Boston won 117-9- 5. 5-- ' conference singles champions, nine doubles champions and 12 Ute teams that qualified for the NCAA tennis championships. James' career climaxed last week with his team's trip to the NCAA championships in Athens, Ga. Robbins, a player under James at Utah from 1968-7- 2, was one of the top ranked players in the country and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 1970. A two-ye- ar player at Utah, he was ranked No. 2 in singles in the country and No. 1 in AU-Ameri- can doubles. Peter Behle and John Youngren SPORTSCAN ...Ute third baseman Chris Shultis has been named Nine baseball team by members of the to the American Baseball Coaches Association, it was announced earlier this week. Other local players named to the squad include Gary Cooper, an outfielder from BYU, who was named to the first team along with Shultis, and BYU catcher Dave Morrow, who was named to the second team. Shultis, who led the Utes in nearly every offensive category last season, batted .402 on the year for the Utes, smacked six home runs, ten doubles, stole seven bases, and 27 RBIs. He also led the Utes with a had a team-hig- h scorching .631 slugging percentage. It was the second consecutive year Shultis, a four-ye- ar team. Last year starter, has been named to the he hit for a .421 average and drove in 58 RBIs as a junior, and set NCAA records for RBIs in a single game (13) and consecutive hits in a series (13). All-Distr- ict All-Distr- ict Shultis has also been honored by the WAC; the conference placed him on its early May. all-West- ern Division team in ...Ute baseball coach Lonnie Keeter announced Thursday that Lance Madsen of East High School in Salt to play for the Utes all state pick, hit .531 for the Leopards last year. The third baseman also slammed four home runs. Thorseth has been named to the ...Ute senior Lake City has signed a letter-of-intenext year. Madsen, a second-tea- m nt Jay Golf Coaches of America team, it was announced Thursday. Thorseth has a 3.39 grade-poiselection this average in geophysics and was an past year for the U. golf team. assistant coach Doug ...Runnin' Ute part-tim- e similar a take Oliver has resigned to position at Stanford. Oliver, who worked under Ute head coach Lynn Archibald for the 1985-8- 6 season, is a native of the San All-Acade- nt all-W- AC Francisco area. ...local baseball enthusiasts will get a chance at collectibles Saturday at the fourth annual Baseball Card and Comics Show, held all day at the Radisson Hotel, 161 W. 600 South. "The show will feature at least 20 different dealers," said Dean Haley, manager of the Baseball Card Shop. "Some cards can go for as much as $500-1,00- 0, but there will be stuff at the show for 10 cents, too." Admission is $3. ...the Utah Jazz announced their ' ticket campaign is underway. In 1986-8- 7 The answers are, in order, Soccer's World Cup, soccer, soccer and soccer. Indeed, the sport the entire world is crazy about will be on display this month. The 24 best national teams in the world will be in Mexico for that great soccer festival known as the the World Cup. An estimated three billion will watch viewers over half the earth's population part, if not all, of the 52 games, which begin Saturday and run through June 29. While some Americans may still wonder what all the fuss is about, many others will be just as excited as the rest of the world. Since the Cup was last played four years ago, soccer in the United States has been growing at a phenomenal pace. Even' at the U. soccer is popular. In fact, more teams participate in intramural soccer than any other sport, if you combine the indoor, fall and spring seasons. And while the U.S. national team failed once again to qualify for the World Cup, NBC and ESPN realized the potential audiences soccer has in the United States. NBC will televise seven games, including Saturday's opening match that pits Italy against Bulgaria and the final game. ESPN will cover 15 contests. The 24 teams competing for the World Cup championship are divided into six groups of four teams. Each squad will play the other three in its group with the teams with the best records moving into the second round. mid-we- ek So, without further ado, here's my preview and Utes to name Robbins tennis coach F.D. Robbins will be named the new Ute head tennis coach Friday, the Chronicle learned Thursday afternoon, Robbins played for the Utes in the early '70s and was an assistant coach with the team in the early '80s, Robbins will be taking the Ute tennis helm from retiring Utah coach Harry James. James, who's turning 65 in June, announced his retirement in late April, before his Utes gave him their 11th WAC team tennis title with a 1 win over BYU in Provo May 7. Coach of the Utes since 1960, James produced 29 un four-questi- on 2-- post-seas- 2-- 1 season fact, the club began accepting new season ticket orders May 19. But the Jazz list of ticket prices for 1986-8- 7 is higher than the same list last year. "This is the first time we've had to increase prices in two years," Checketts said. "We think we've had two good seasons. It's obvious Utah fans want a winner and we're out to build one." predictions for the upcoming games: Group A: This will definitely be one of the most closely watched groups. The four teams include the past two World Cup champions in Argentina (1978) and Italy e entrant (1982), with a tough Bulgaria team and South Korea rounding out the field. One of the biggest questions around Mexico is whether or not the Italians and striker Paulo Rossi can repeat 1982's magic. They won't. Look for Argentina, led by Diego Maradona, to emerge as the team to beat in group A, although the Bulgarians could be the surprise of the tournament. Group B: Probably the weakest group in the field, group B includes host Mexico, Paraguay, Belgium and Iraq. Two of the last three host countries have won the title, which will be an advantage to the Mexicans, while Iraq is making its first appearance and is lightly regarded. Either Belgium or Paraguay will come out of group B with the best record. Group C: Canada, making its first appearance, is the odds. biggest underdog of the tourney with 1000-to- -l France, the Soviet Union and Hungary will battle for group C supremacy, but France and star forward, Michel Platini (considered the world's premier player) will move into the second round. Group D: Brazil. That one word will explain who will win this group. Zico and the other Brazilians will get some competition from Spain, Algeria and Northern Ireland, but if the South American team is healthy, look for them to get through Round 1 unblemished. Group E: West Germany and Uruguay have each won two Cup championships and, along with Denmark and Scotland, this is the strongest group. Germany, coached by Franz Beckenbauer, a former defender for the New York Cosmos, will move into the second round. Group F: Poland made it to the semifinals four years first-tim- ago, and should challenge again th.. ear. But England will give the Poles a run for their money, and is actually my favorite in the group that also includes Morocco and Portugal. As for the semifinalists, Brazil, Argentina, France and West Germany will make the "final four." The finals will pit the aging Brazilians against the French with Brazil winning by a 1 score, June 29. 2-- |