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Show Page 6—-THE HERALD. Provo Utah, Monday December 17. 1979 Sports: What's happening, on the national ‘scene, state and local sports, columns and opinions ALK CowboysStun Redskins; Bears Blast Cardinals ByUnited Press International It took a miraclefinish by the Dallas Cowboys and some unaccustomed offensive fireworks from the Chicago Bears but the NFL finallyfilled its 10 playoff berths All that is left is to determine the final order of finish in the AFC West and that will take place tonight when San Diego plays host to Denver in the last regular-season game of 1979. The winneris the division champion and the loser a wild card or best runner-up entryin the playoffs Dallas won the NFC Easttitle with its incredible 35-34 victory over Washingtonand in the process knocked the Redskins out of contention and handed Chicago, a 42-6 winneroverSt Louis, an NFC wild card berth Tampa Bay earned thefirst playoff berth in its 4-year history by edging Kansas City 3-0 andjoined Los :Angeles, which captured the Westlast week, and Philadelphia which already had clinched a playoff berth, as the NFC's playoff clubs Pittsburgh took the AFC Centraltitle with a 28-0 romppast Buffalo and dropped Houstonto wild card status. Miami took the AFC Eastlast week. Losses by Cleveland and Oakland Sundayenabled Denverto clinch at least a wild card berth and tonight's gameagainst San Diego will determine the AFC Westti- PHILADELPHIA’S Dennis Harrison et. hah to eee ae aes peonatine ine of serim. magene ~-‘s game een the les and the Houston Oilers. Looking on helplessly is Oiler lineman Conway Hayman. Nielsen completed tive passes in 13 attempts for 52 rueand hadone pa: —tercepted during the Oilers’ 26-20 loss. (UPI Telephoto) The wild card playoffs will be held suniay, with Chicago at Philadelphia and the San Diego-Denver loser at Houston. The divisionplayoffs will be held on Dec. 29-30 and the AFC and NFCtitle games will be played on Jan. 6, with the winners advancing to the Super BowlJan.20 at Pasadena,Calif. The home field advantage in the playoffs goes to the team with the best record. The matchupsfor the division playoffs will be decided after next week's wild card playoffs since clubs from the samedivision cannot meetin the first round of the playoffs. The Cowboys’ victory over Washington wasa classic in the long duel between the twobitter rivals. Roger Staubach’s 8-yard touchdown flip to Tony Hill with39 secondsleft In other games Sunday Philadelphia beat Houston 26-20, Seattle defeated Oakland 29-24, Cincinnati shaded Cincinnati 16-12, New Orleans surprised Los Angeles 29-14, Baltimore crushed complete contro! after John Riggins the New York Giants 31-7, New ran yards for a TD and a 34-2)lead England beat Minnesota 27-23 and Atlanta defeated San Francisco 21-21 Dallas earlier trailed 17-0 In Saturday games, it was the New I'm heartbroken” said Redskin Coach Jack Pardee. “Not just for York Jets 27, Miami 24 and Green Bay myself but for the players. I told them 1 18 Detroit 13. Eagles 26, Oilers 20 wasproudof them that I love them and Ron Jaworski ran for one TD and that they had nothing to be ashamed backup John Walton passed for another of to lead Philadelphia over Houston. Earl Chicago s Waiter Payton scored three TDs and gained 157 yards to cap- Campbellfinished with the NFL record ture his fourth straight NFC rushingti- of 1.697 yards. Seahawks 29, Raiders 24 tle and lead the Bears to the playoffs Jim Zorn completed 23 passesfor 314 Chicago employed a wide open offense all day and earned a slot by having four yards and Efren Herrera converted points more than Washington in the two Oakland turnoversinto field goals as Seattle crushed Oakland's playoff pointdifferential tiebreaker “The rushingtitle was not the impor- hopes. tant thing; winning was and makingthe Bengals 16, Browns 12 playoffs,” said Payton. who overtook Chris Bahrkicked a 43-yard field goal St. Louis rookie Ottis Anderson. Anderson washeld to 39 yards in 14 carries with 1:51 left to lift Cincinnati over andleft in the third period with a knee Cleveland and end the Browns’ playoff chances injury. Saints 29, Rams14 Neil0’‘Donoghue’s pressure-packed Mike Strachan ran for two TDs and 19-yard field goal midway through the final period gave Tampa Bayits vic- Garo Yepremian added a pair of second-half field goals tory over KansasCity. The win, ending Colts 31, Giants 7 a three-gamelosing streak, gave the Colts finished at 5-11. The Giants’ Bucsa 10-6 record andthe Centraltitle. Rickey Bell carried 39 times tor 137 fourth loss in the last five gamesleft them at6-10. yards to keep the ball away from Patriots 27, Vikings 23 KansasCity. The Patriots finished at 9-7 while the “T really don’t feel too tired,” said Vikings suffered their first losing Bell. “I was caught up in the game. season since 1967. They just kept giving me the ball and I Falcons 31, 49ers 21 just tried to crack it and pick up the The game marked the final playing first down.” appearance for San Francisco’s 0.J. Franco Harris ran for 100 yards and Simpson, the second leading rusher in scored on runs of 1 and 11 yardsasPitt- NFLhistory. iturday sburgh swamped Buffalo to win the Jets 27, Dolphins 24 AFCCentraltitle for the sixth straight The Jets finished at 8-8 and Miami, year. “Our offense wasn't as crisp as we'd the AFC East champion, closed the likeit to be,”’ said Steeler Coach Chuck regular season at 10-6. Packers 18, Lions 13 Noll, who becamethe 14th NFL coach Tom Birney kicked four field goals to win 100 regular-season games. “We'll take whatever we can get. Que and Erick Torkelson ran 1-yard for a sera, que sera! The positive things are TD to lead Green Bay over Detroit, that we're in there and we get the week which will have the first pick in next April’s college draft. off. The rest is the chief thing. and Rafael Septien’stie-breaking extra point capped an incredible Dallas comeback. Staubach’s third TD pass brought Dallas from a 13-point deficit with 6:54 to go. Washington seemed in BYU Cagers Face Long Beach, Utah State This Week cois Wise and Utah State’s Brian Jackson and Dean Hunger. The was determined in a triple overtime, Cougars will face the Wiley-Wise com- 108-106, special in favor of BYU. The bination on Tuesday in Long Beach, Cougars’ Danny Ainge was a unCalif., and both of them are All- animous pick to the all-tournament American candidates. The Jackson- team and was joined by teammates Hunger confrontation will occur when Devin Durrant and Alan Taylor. BYU travels to Logan this Saturday. The BYU-Long BeachState game has “If we can hold these pairs of someotherchallenges, too. Tex Winter icvana to the pointtotals of Michael is the CSULB coach and aitiueh heis then we will okay,” says just in his second year with the 4-4 Arno! a 49ers,heis in his 27th year of coaching. Winter is the ninth winningest active However, the Cougars will have to patin a 24 of 36 night from the tied coachin the game andwill the 37th face some more fine forwards this any in the Marriott Center for man in the history of the sport to win week when Seeclash with two of the three new records in the arena. Conse- 400 gamesif he can pick up four more finest tandems in the nation — Long quently, Brooks was named the MVPof victories this season. e sixth annual CougarClassic which Beach State’s Michael Wiley and FranAdditionally, CSULB sports one of Fatigue, finals and forwards are things the ie Cougars concern themselves the winningest home records in the country, having won 130 ofits past 140 games overan 11-year period. And Jerty Tarkanian, a former CSULB coach, never lost a home gamein six years at the schoo! One concern for the 49ers is last weekend’s disciplinary action taken against6-10 starting center Kevin Tye, who was demoted to second team.In Saturday’s 102-67 victory over Oklahoma State in the Long Beach Arena,6-9 senior MichaelWiley started in place of Tye and did quite well, scoring 23 points. Another challenge lies ahead of the Cougars once the verdict is delivered —__Marion Dunn wired has written a letter in Tesponse to one ran on the Daily Herald's sports pages several days ago. Circuit's letter: Dear Marion: T would like to respond to some of the comments made in Mr. Craig M. Snyder's letter, which was printed in The Herald on December4, 1979: (1) The Holiday Bowl Team Selection Committee donated hundreds of hours in seeking a participant for the Holiday Bowl. The Committee traveled thousands of miles across the United States looking at over 32 teams. The Conference jons of the Big Ten, Pac Ten, Big 8, SEC and SWC are committed by contractual agreements to the Big Four Bowl games. This year this elimirated six of the top ten teams in the nation. Onceit lost three games, Notre Dame eliminated itself from consideration of attending any Bow! game. Traditionally, the runners-up in the SWC and Big8 participate in the Cotton, Sugar or Orange Bowls. Because of the higher payouts, the Gator, Liberty and Fiesta Bowls generally are able to attract higher ranking teams than the remaining eight NCAA sanctioned Bowl games. With network contracts, the Peach and Sun Bowls have the advantage when the payoutis essentially equivalent to other Bowls. (2) When it gets to the bottom line, when a university has the option to attend several Bowl games, they usually attend the one that has the highest payout or Greatest national exposure(i.e., network TV). This year was no exception to the rule. (3) Since hundreds of thousandsof dollarsis at stake,there is a considerable amount of jockeying by most universities to be able to get the most prestigious and lucrative Bowl bid. 1 believe that is exactly the case with Purdue. I suspect, although I do not have specific knowledge, that there are many at Purdue that feel that Purdue officials made « mistake in opting for the Bluebonnet over the Holiday Bowl. (4) Mr. Snyderinfers that the Holiday Bowl has not considered the best interest of the WAC in selecting Indiana. Nothing could be further from the truth. The prestige of the Holiday Bow! and the tent. For that the only ranked team in the WAC, won the Western Athletic Conference and the right to play in the Holiday Bowl. Further, no person has more input into the actual selection of the non-WAC representative in the Holiday Bowl than Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Stan Bates. He is viewed in the highest esteem by Conference Commissioners and football representatives across the United States. I personally know of no man of higherintegrity. I have not heard any protestations by Stan Bates of the selection of Indiana. In fact, he is pleased with the selection. (5) The reputation of BYU will be enhanced (win or lose) by playing in the Holiday Bowl against Big Ten team Indiana. To my knowledge, BYU has never played a Big Ten team. BYU and the WAC must open those doors somehow in some way. This year’s Holiday Bowl may represent that entrance. Mr. Snyderis concerned about BYU’s reputa: tion in footballfalling to the level of the Big Sky; perhaps he should be more concerned about the future elimination of such teams as Weber State from the BYU schedule. This year's contest between BYU and Weber State brought such favorable comments as “wherever that is'’ to “Webber” by west coast sportscasters. (6) The fact that the University of Indiana basketball team will be playing in San Diego the week after the Holiday Bowl has proved to be of no benefit whatsoever to the Holiday Bowl. Indiana fans, probably being no different than BYU fans, desire to return to their homes for Christmas after the Holiday Bowl. The fact that the Indiana played “‘spectacuiarly.”” Another steady performer for BYU who shouldn't be overlooked is 6-10 Taylor, whois tied with Durrantat 13.7 Ppg, and is pulling down 13.9 caroms. Thestellar senior has led the Cougars inurgiesof each game, including four games of 15 boards. For the Aggies, who faceae in Togat this ey rd Keith lood has been exce] on defense. jae was frustra' dina By performancefrom the field Saturday in an 8479 loss against Colorado. However, Hunger had a sign of brilliance last in an 87-77 win over Idaho State wherehescored 36 points. Celts Survive Newlin Burst To Win in Overtime, 115-112 Letter Answers Holiday BowlCritic Today's column is going to be turned over to Richard Circuit of San Diego who is chairmanof the ey Bowl Liaison Commit- from the CSULB gameas BYUtravels to Utah State. The Cougars have never won at Logan under Frank Arnold. Last year in Logan the Cougars were leading, 44-37,at the half when Durrant washitting from the top of the key for 18 points with a 78 per cent touch. Durrant was held scoreless for the second half and the Cougarslost sight of the lead after four minutes expired in the second stanza. To date, Durrant is once again shooting at a torrid pace, 71 per cent from the field, yet Aingeis leading the Cougars in scoringata 20.7 clip. Arnold cited Durrant for a great series over the weekend, along with Ainge, who basketball team will be playing in San Diego was of no significance whatsoever in inviting the Indiana football team to the Holiday Bowl. Coincidentally, because the Indiana basketball team is coming,it has now made Holiday Bowl committee members conscious of advantages that might be obtained by scheduling the San Diego State basketball classic during the same week as the Holiday Bowl during future years. (7) Somehow Mr. Snyder imputes evil intent to the San Diego businessmen backingthe Holiday Bowl. Those so-called evil men are underwriting the Holiday Bowl to the extent of personally guarantying a sellout. In vother words, if tic! public do not generate a sellout, these businessmen will buy the balance of the unused tickets. With 52,500 seats at $12.50 a ticket, this is quite a commitment. The Holiday Bowl and San Diego businessmen supporting the Holiday Bowl have every reason, both financial and otherwise, to bring the most highly ranked and entertaining team that can be lured toSan Diego. This year Indiara was that choice. With continued success, in future yeare higher ranked teams will oppose the WAC champion. Yours very truly, Richard K.Circuit Chairman, Holiday Bowl/WAC Liaison Committee The Boston Celtics. owners of the Kings limited Indiana to five points in best record in the NBA, keep finding the final three minutes in exieocing new ways to win games. their winning streakio six games al On Bunday tants ne celuee winning the i4ih gamein last 17. managed to overcomea 52-poin Mickey Johnson led the Pacers with 25 formance by the New Jersey Nets’ points. Bucks 104, Jazz 79 go to overtime before topping the Nets, 115-112. And Boston Marques Johnson scored 21 points,all Coach Bill Fitch thinks it’sall a matter in the first three quarters, as of his team’s attitude. Milwaukee broke a six-game losi “The team is coming out like every streak. The score was tied ee nightis the playoffs,’ said Fitch, after midway through the second Bucks wenton a Jazz 1 tout te Celtics had improved their record when burst to take a 47-36 halftime lead. to 25-7 In other games, Kansas City edged Utah,led by Adrian Dantley’s 17points, Indiana 107-105, Milwaukee routed lost its second straight game. Utah 104-79, Portland drubbed Houston Trail 123-101, San Diego outgunned Detroit Blazers 123, Rockets 101 133-126, Los Angeles nipped San AnRon Brewer scored a career-high 33 tonio 121-119, and Seattle topped points to lead Portland. Lionel Hollins, Denver 123-121, who had comeofftheinjurylist SaturKings 107, Pacers 105 dayafter nae» games, broke open Phil Ford scored a game-high 26 the contest a 12-point secondpoints and Sam Lacey grabbed 15 quarter surge to help theEBlazers to a Tebounds to lead Kansas City. The 68-54 halftime lead, finishing with 17 points. Moses Maloneled Houston with Prep Action Runs All Week High school basketball action begins early this week as Orem entertains Granite and Timpview travels to Bonneville for a pair of 7:30 p.m. games Tuesday. Payson and American Fork open the week's Region Six action with a 5:30 p.m. game Wednesday. Spanish Fork entertains Lehi in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference gamethat a On Thursday, Cedar City will be at Springville aad Carbon will be at Provo in 7:30 p.m. Region Six games. St. J will ve)ee Tintic for a 6 p.m. Region 12 gi On Friday‘Dixie will be at Spanish Fork and we Grove will be at Timpview in 4 p.m. Region Six contests. Orem will entertain Logan at 5 p.m. in a non-conference game and sab will be at South Sevier for a 7:30 m. Region Eight contest. Wasatch tall be at Delta for a 7:30 p.m. nonconference gameSaturday. 25 points. Clippers 133, Pistons 126 Lloyd Free equaled his career high with 49 points as San Diego notched its fifth victory in six outings, Free, who also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists, collected 35 of his points in the second half. John Long scored a season-high 38 points for Detroit and Bob McAdoo added 21. Swen Nater backed Free with 22 rebounds ard 22 points, Lakers 121, Spurs 119 Norm Nixonhit two free throws with 9 seconds left and finished with 27 points to lift Los Angeles past San Antonio. Nixon's free throws gave the Lakers a 119-115 lead. George Gervin, the NBA’s leading scorer, totaled 43 points for San Antonio. SuperSonics 123, Nuggets 121 Dennis Johnson scored a career-high 32 points and Fred Brown hit a fourfoot jump shot with two seconds to go to propelSeattle to victory. Denver led 97-89 going into the final period but the Sonics scored the first nine points of the final quarter — seven by Johnson — to take the lead, which changed hands repeated untilthe final buzzer. Dan Issel led Denver with 24 points. |