| Show Section C Wednesday Morning— January 28 1987 Page Sports 1 LaVell Wanted Him super-sophomo- re 24-1- in a mop-u- p role” Entering his senior season Smith figured why not play another year since he finally would be the starter By then he had grown to 9 weighing 200 pounds He topped every season California passing record in leading Hacienda Heights to a 14-- record and the CIF title He then signed with BYU to get rid of the misrecruiting nuisances Since his two-yesion following his freshman season in which he helped the Cougars to an NCAA tournament spot Smith has grown an inch and has added 20 more pounds to his frame Given the thought that Smith might have opted for a collegiate football career Coach Ladell Andersen said: “From a purely selfish standpoint I’d be disappointed He’s one of the best shooters I have ever seen and he could be the best I’ve had if he continues to improve on defense” single-- 6-- 0 ar Assistant Coach Roger Reid added: “Football? Why he’d be crazy Why jeopardize a body like that? Can you imagine having his linemen? He'd be body subjected to 260-pou- nuts” Smith admitted after finishing his mission service he gave consideration to trying out with Edwards’ troops “I did some serious thinking about it” he said “I also considered that John Paye the Stanford quarterback who is a good friend of mine played both sports He and I were considered the two top prep athletes in California our senior year "Anyway” he continued “I came to the conclusion that basketball would be my best shot — at least for the next two years You know after I finish my basketball career I do have the option of playing one year in another sport” Realistically could he? “I don’t know Maybe I have to look at it this way: high school ball is one thing Major college football is another I’d have to wonder whether I could handle it all” abWhen Smith returned after his two-yesence only three members of the basketball team were familiar to him He had played with Jim Usevitch Brian Taylor and Alan Astle on the 1984 team that beat by 16 points on the latter’s home court in the NCAA tourney Could this Cougar team beat that one? ar Alabama-Birmingha- “Boy that's a tough one I don’t know It would be a good game This team has more balance The other had Devin Durrant He was the best I've seen” Smith feels the Cougars have the potential to be a great team “We should go farther than winning the WAC We are a Top 20 team Hey there are no big dominant teams out there I just saw Pittsburgh whip Syracuse on TV and you know what we did to Pitt” Final score BYU 93 Pittsburgh 73 Call 2:17-202- By Steve Luhm Tribune Sports Writer HOUSTON — The Jazz sour at home Monday night sweetened up on the road just 24 hours later “I can’t explain it” smiled Mark Eaton “except to say that it’s life in the NBA” The good life Karl Malone fired in 24 points and also made the game’s key defensive play in the final seconds here Tuesday night as the Jazz 8 Houston Rockets cooled off the red-hat the Summit The surprising win — Utah had lost its last seven games on the road by an average of 14 Vi points — came on the heels of a headloss to Seattle at the Salt shaking 108-9- 5 Palace It was a low point and it noticeably affected the Jazz Before meeting the Rockets who had won 12 of their previous 14 games Coach Frank Layden stepped in “I just told ’em we should get back to having fun” he said “I thought we were uptight last night against the Sonics and I thought that was true on the bus today “I told them I was getting the impression they were feeling pressure So I just reminded them to relax have fun Hey we know who we are We’re a good team Let’s play that way “I think what happened was there were a lot of high expectations We had a good start and then boom when you don’t win every game you feel like you’re letting everybody down" Layden laughed It was that kind of night “Hey these kids are too young to feel pressure” he said “The pressure should be on the old people” Jazz guard Bob Hansen who finished with e 17 points felt Layden's speech helped "Frank gave us a good little talk” said Hansen “He said to relax and get it done He 92-8- all-sta- te ar Sports Information -- Koo-M2-i:r 257-20- 0 1 Jazz Loosen Up Defeat Rockets BYU’s Smith a QB? Most of us have imagined what our lives would be like had we taken the left fork in the road instead of the right Brigham Young University’s basketball player Mike Smith sometimes reflects upon his decision to forego a collegiate football career and give full attention to what appears to be a brilliant basketball future Smith was as a prepster in Hacienda Heights Calif By the time he finished he had earned or honors in football basketball and volleyball and he received scholar awards four straight avyears He currently has a 35 grade-poierage in medicine The BYU sports information office has nominated him for academic honors Smith admits he sometimes wondered while watching the Cougars’ football team last fall whether he should have accepted a invitation from LaVell Edwards to quarterback the football team “In high school" said Smith “I was getting bombarded by basketball recruiters I was getting tired of it so I signed early like in November with BYU Frank Arnold was the coach then” Edwards still wanted him for his football team Smith wasn’t sure Arnold begrudgingly agreed to make a pact with the other two The deal was this: Smith could play both football and basketball for one year Then he had to choose between the two sports Looking back it’s not surprising Smith chose the Marriott Center over Cougar Stadium “I come from a very good high school program We were CIF champions comparable to state champs elsewhere five times in a period I really didn’t want to play football in high school But most of my buddies went out for the team Also Paul McDonald who used to be the quarterback at USC was a friend of some of the coaches there He talked me into giving football a try” That freshman season saw Smith (then quarterback his club to a 10-- 0 record Still he was not overly impressed with the sport He didn’t want to play for the sophomore team either “My coach asked me to come back and give it another try” He did and led the junior varsity team to an unbeaten season The scenario was the same his junior year “I quit again” said Smith “But there was a problem Our starting quarterback got sick and had to go into the hospital The coach was desperate and asked me to come back I did but the week of our first game the starter gets out of the hospital and he starts that game “We’re down 10-- 7 at halftime In the second 0 half I go in and lead the team to a victory Guess what? The other guy starts every game the rest of the season and I’m used For Hcconloil Scores I Cali i 5 Local — UPl Photo In your face! Utah Jazz’s Karl Malone jams two points home Tuesday night as Houston Rockets’ Akeem Olajuwon retreats to safety in The Summit pre-gam- DePaul Has Too Many Horses Against Hapless Weber State Special to The Tribune CHICAGO — DePaul Coach Joey Meyer tossed out a challenge to his players A challenge they responded to with a thumping of the Weber State Wildcats Tuesday night “I put the old carrot in front of them I said they’d have a day off if they hustled and won and it worked" said Meyer after 1 the Blue Demons’ victory over the 6 Wildcats The Blue Demons simply had too much horsepower for the Wildcats senior There was center Dallas Comegys working under and around the basket and 3 sparkplug sophomore guard Rod Strickland running the offense Blue DeComegys led the 16 points seven mons with a game-hig- h rebounds and three blocked shots Strickland added 14 points and was named the game’s MVP That’s not bad for a guy who didn’t start the game Strickland missed a team practice Monday and spent the first five minutes watching the action from the DePaul bench Strickland had received permission from Meyer to remain in the New Jersey area following the Blue Demons’ first loss of the season to Georgetown 70-5- 6-- But a snowstorm closed down the Newark Airport and Strickland couldn’t get a flight out to rejoin his teammates for a scheduled Monday practice In Strickland’s place Meyer inserted 5 junior Andy Laux Laux responded with a s pair of Once Strickland entered the game he immediately became an impact player With Strickland engineering the DePaul fast break the Blue Demons overcame a sluggish start and slowly began to pull away from the Wildcats Strickland hit on seven of nine field-goattempts and had six assists "What do you say after a game like this? We're just happy we got the win and we’re back on the right track” said Meyer Weber State got 10 points each from Dale Baum and Walt Tyler Tyler played in his first game since injuring an ankle in the Wildcats’ last home loss to Montana State “I was very concerned at the beginning of the game when our kids seemed a little bit tight” said Weber State Coach Larry 6-- three-pointer- Farmer If the Wildcats were tight so were the Blue Demons The Wildcats stayed within a point before a 10-- 0 DePaul run beginning at See C-- 4 15:03 Column 7 said the whole world wasn’t riding on our shoulders and when the main man says that it helps” Said Layden "I guess I’ve gotta start telling jokes again" While the Jazz were enjoying their win — it got them to the halfway point of the season with a 7 record — the Rockets were struggling for an explanation made only 22 of 47 free Houston now throws The Rockets made only 3 of 10 in the fourth quarter "We missed more free throws tonight than I can remember” moaned Houston Coach Bill Fitch To take anything away from the Jazz for this victory however would be a disservice Utah only shot 377 percent from the field but the Jazz held the Rockets to 41 percent shooting while upping their record in games decided by four points or less this season to 0 24-1- 22-2- 0 9-- The Jazz did it by controlling the first half They led 0 at halftime and even when the Rockets took a 6 lead into the fourth quarter they stayed cool After trailing by as many as five points early in the fourth quarter Utah regained the lead for good when Kelly Tripucka fed Malone for a dunk with 239 remaining 3 The Jazz led a did good job of setting it up” said “Kelly Malone who also grabbed 11 rebounds “He was able to draw everybody to him and get me the ball” Said Tripucka who had four points two assists and two rebounds in the final three minutes “The play is designed for me to shoot the jumper if it’s there or if it’s not take the ball to the hole I did that and two or three guys came to me I was able to flip in to Karl and from there he threw it down” Another basket by Malone and two free throws by Tripucka with 1 54 left put the Jazz The Rockets got four quick in front 49-4- 67-6- 84-8- 88-8- 3 See CANTON Ohio (AP) — Running backs Larry Csonka and John Henry Johnson quarterback Len Dawson defensive tackle Joe Greene offensive linemen Jim Langer and Gene Upshaw and receiver Don Maynard were voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday The seven elected swelling the ranks of the Hall of Fame to 140 will make up the largest single group to be inducted since 1971 and will be enshrined in ceremonies Aug 8 in Canton Ohio Greene Upshaw and Langer all made it in their first year of eligibility the first time since 1977 that three players were inducted in their first year for consideration Johnson was the recommended candidate of the Committee which nominates players who played most of their careers prior to 1962 Csonka who rushed for 8081 yards and 64 career and Langer touchdowns in his who spent most of his 10 pro seasons with the Miami Dolphins became the first two players inducted from the Dolphins’ championship years fullback was Csonka a the most valuable player in the Dolphins’ in Super Bowl VIII vic-tor- y 6-- 2 Dawson became the third former Kansas City Chiefs player voted into the Hall joining Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier Dawson passed for 28711 yards and 239 touchdowns during a career with the Steelers Cleveland Browns Dallas Texans and Chiefs Capsulezz “Sports NBA Utah 92 Houston 88 Atlanta 114 Indiana Philadelphia Boston 105 Chicago 97 118 107 115 115 Top 20 Basketball Temple 76 Rutgers 56 DePaul 70 Weber State 51 Oklahoma 87 Colorado 62 St John’s 61 Villanova 58 Kansas 72 Iowa St 48 NHL Hartford 4 Quebec 2 7 Washington 5 V’ Islanders 2 2 Montreal 1 Edmonton 4 Vancouver 4 Pittsburgh Winnipeg St Louis N 2 IHL Milwaukee 3-- 4 Salt Lake 3 TV Sports 5 ESPN pm — College Basketball Georgetown at Providence f one-on-o- 1 USA D’Amour ) 6pm— College Basketball Tex- as at Houston "They didn’t see me break I yelled to Yak and he got me the puck" explained Schamehorn “I took it down the side and then broke inside on him Morrison He was hooking me but I got around him and put it low under the — College Basketball State at Louisville Memphis t ESPN ) 7 CNN 1 7:30 Game goalie’s pad" The shot also he noted nicked the post as it went in to light the lamp Post or no “We let him go right to the net” said Eagle Coach Wayne Thomas of the game winner “We were there to cover him but we 3 113 LA Lakers Portland 100 Milwaukee 119 Golden State Sacramento 118 New Jersey g Column Dallas 107 4-- 3 3 98 108 New York 103 San Antonio 118 Detroit By Joe Baird Tribune Sports Writer Kevin Schamehorn and a relentless Milwaukee power play grounded the Golden Eagles Tuesday night The Admirals scored three times with the man advantage while Schamehorn busted loose in the slot for the winning goal with 101 victory at remaining to give the visitors a the Salt Palace before 2608 fans Admiral veterSchamehorn a an who had 16 goals coming in snapped a 3 tie when he broke up the middle and took a nicely threaded pass from center Dale He then beat Eagle winger Doug shot for a point-blan- k Morrison that he drilled past Salt Lake goalie Marc C-- 7 d center was Langer a claimed on waivers by the Dolphins and went on to be named to the Pro Bowl six times He played every offensive down of the Dolphins’ perfect 1972 season Greene and Johnson became the sixth and seventh Steelers voted into the Hall of Fame the first former Steelers inducted since Ernie Stautner in 1969 Greene nicknamed “Mean Joe” played in 10 Pro Bowls and four Super Bowls during his career with the Steelers d Milwaukee Powers Past Salt Lake didn’t" That wasn't the only reason the Birds had their three-gam- e winning streak snuffed There were also the three Admiral power play goals in just five attempts The Admirals have the league’s best power 24 percent of play They’re converting over the time with the extra man and against the e Eagles were clicking at better than 33 per-Se- Column Seven NFL Greats Hear Call to Hall of Fame Washington high-flyin- C-- 4 pm pm — Heritage Series Quotable The two newcomers to the front bar at the Fremantle Hotel (Australia) leaped back in alarm as the wild erupted just six feet away from two fellow drinkers "Just two New Zealanders still a bit upset over losing out against the Yanks in the America's Cup” observed the barman to the newcomers "I hope you two aren’t Americans ’’ "Certainly not” ventured one hurriedly in an accent remarkably similar to that of citizens of New York “We re from Canada ’’ fist-fig- — TnOunt Staff Photo by Al Hartmann Salt Lake Golden Eagles’ Gary Stewart takes shot to the face from Milwaukee’s Dale Yakiwchuk (77) Tuesday night during Admirals’ victory 4-- 3 |
