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the sports
THE BATTALION Page 11
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1978
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Crime watch
I don’t think there is anything much worse than watching a crime
being committed, especially on national television. What is even
worse than watching the crime is sitting there listening to the crimi
nals admit that they committed the crime and got away with it. Even
worse than that (if that is possible) is that the law enforcers let the
confessors get away with it.
What was this grand crime that was on national television? You say
you didn’t hear about it? It happened Sunday when the San Diego
Chargers had a game stolen from them in the last ten seconds by none
other than the black-clad Oakland Raiders.
It was the perfect scenario. The bad guys wearing black and riding
away with the booty, which in this case turned out to be a National
Football League victory. Without the victory, the Raiders would
have been 0-2 on the season and tied with Seattle for last place in the
Western Division of the American Conference. On the other hand,
with the victory the Chargers would have been in sole possession of
first place in the same division.
I return you now to the scene of the crime. It is the last play of the
game, the Raiders have the ball on the Chargers 10-yard line. There
are ten seconds left in the game and the Chargers are winning 20-14.
Oakland quarterback Ken Stabler gets the ball, rolls right and is
grabbed by San Diego s Woodrow Lowe. While going down Stabler
pitches the ball forward in hopes that a Raider will pick the ball up
and score. Oakland running back Pete Banaszak scoops the ball up
and pitches it forward again where tight end Dave Casper kicks and
bobbles the ball into the end zone for a touchdown tying the score.
Oakland’s Errol Mann comes in to kick the extra point with no time
left winning the game for the Raiders.
Some may say that’s just the way the ball bounces. Well, some
times it is but not in this case. After the game Stabler admitted he
pitched the ball forward, which is illegal. Then to add insult to injury,
Casper admitted that he intentionally pushed the ball into the end
zone and then fell on it.
There is an NFL ride that says a touchdown counts in the final two
minutes of an NFL game only if it is recovered in the end zone by the
man who fumbled it. Stabler was not the man who fell on his own
fumble in the end zone.
Chalk a couple of ridiculous calls up to the referees, although the
referees follies did not stop with that one game.
But where does all this leave the San Diego Chargers? About the
same place the Houston Oilers ended up after a referee blew a call
which woidd have given them a victory over Cincinnati last year. The
referee admitted be made a mistake on the Oilers’ call and NFL
Commissioner Pete Rozelle apologized to the Oilers. They still lost
the game. That is where San Diego stands, with a loss that could
deeply affect them later in the season.
Another hit-and-run crime nearly took place on Monday night
when the Minnesota Vikings were almost robbed of victory by the
Denver Broncos. Of course, the law enforcers, the referees, had a
hand in the decision once again.
Just as in the Oakland game, it was the last play of the game,
supposedly. Denver quarterback Norris Weese rolled right and was
sacked by the Minnesota defense. The clock should have kept run
ning because it can only be stopped if the passer was intending to
pass. Weese admitted that he never intended to pass. With the clock
stopped and the ensuing mayhem that developed, Denver’s field goal
unit had time to run on the field and kick a field goal to send the game
into overtime.
Fortunately, the Vikings got the ball in overtime and former Rice
quaterback Tommy Kramer guided them down the field to set up a
field goal and eventually win the game.
Once again it was a decision by a referee that caused Minnesota
coach Bud Grant to run on to the field protesting and rightfully so.
What is the answer to all these referee’s bad calls that can wreck a
team’s season in a matter of seconds? Maybe they should experiment
more with instant replay on the sidelines. There should be nothing
wrong with a referee reversing a decision, especially when it involves
a team winning or losing a game. A team works out all season, plays
16 regular season games yet the referees have the power to wipe out a
victory by one man’s call. Something must be done to improve pro
fessional football’s law enforcers.
Underclassmen dominate
opening weekend in SWC
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Freshmen and sophomores
wasted no time in letting folks know
they were around as the Southwest
Conference opened its 64th football
season last Saturday.
Underclassmen were involved in
71 of the 124 points scored by SWC
teams in four games played Satur
day, and they lead in five of the ten
individual statistical categories.
Freshman Maury Buford of Texas
Tech is the SWC’s leading punter
with a 45.8-yard average on ten
kicks in the Red Raiders’ narrow
17-9 loss to heavily favored South
ern California in Los Angeles. And
another freshman, SMU linebacker
Jerry Kovar, is tied for the pass in
terception lead with his 70-yard
touchdown return in the Mustangs’
45-14 victory over TCU.
Two other SMU youngsters hold
the lead in three other categories in
the first SWC statistical accounting
of the season.
Quarterback Mike Ford, the
SWC total offense leader last year as
a freshman, ts back on top this time
around. Ford leads the conference
in both passing and total offense
with his 280 yards on 17 comple
tions in 26 attempts against the
Frogs.
And running back Derrek Shelton
leads in tandem offense on 84 yards
rushing and eight yards receiving.
Shelton also ranks second in rush
ing to Texas A&M junior Curtis
Ags host softball
tourney in Bryan
Texas A&M will host the Fifth
Annual Invitational Softball Tour
nament Friday and Saturday at
Travis Park in Bryan.
The tournament features two of
the top teams in the state, Texas*
Woman’s University and Stephen
F. Austin State University, along
with St. Mary’s, Trinity, West Texas
State, Baylor, the University of
Texas at Arlington, Sam Houston
State University, and Texas A&M
University.
TWU, the defending state and
regional champion, finished fourth
in nationals. Many ofTWU’s players
are back, including All-America
pitcher Kathy Arendsen who played
on the national women’s champion
ship team this past summer. During
competition at nationals, Arendsen
pitched two no-hitters in one day.
SFA, another top competitor,
placed second in regionals and 13th
nationally. UTA will also shoot for
the championship as they feature
All-America Brenda Marshall.
Returning lettermen for Texas
A&M are Rhonda Reese, Toni For
tier, Tony Hymel, Liz Zemanek,
Nancy Sullivan, Cindy Gough and
Sami Evans. These lettermen will
be joined by dorian Motal,
freshmen Dana Thiessen, Shannon
Murray, Mary Lou Wargo, Karen
Guerrero and walk-ons Debra
Takacs and Vicky MarkovVsky.
Outstanding players for Texas
A&M are Gough, one of the top
stortstops in the Southwest and the
Aggies’ leading hitters, Rhonda
Reese (.379) and Liz Zemanek
(.316). Gough and Reese are also
captains for the team.
Texas A&M, the defending title
holder for the tournament, placed
sixth in state and seventh in region
als last season. The Aggies claimed
the tournament championship with
a 5-2 win over SFA.
“This tournament offers the op
portunity to see some of the people
who have been chosen for the Pan-
American games in San Juan,
Puerto Rico next summer,’’ said
Texas A&M coach Bill Galloway.
The games are a preview for
Olympic-bound athletes in the
Western Hemisphere.
Tournament play begins at 10
a.m. Friday. The Aggies play at
11:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Friday.
Gervin doesn’t show
for preseason
Dickey, who was called on 25 times
in the 37-10 victory over Kansas and
responded with 128 yards. Shelton
gained 84 yards in 26 tries, while
fellow sophomore David Beal of
Texas A&M picked up 82 yards in
just three carries.
A look at some of the other out
standing performances by freshmen
and sophomores in Saturday’s open
ers:
Rice sophomore defensive end
Dennis Barry recovered two fum
bles and threw an Iowa State runner
for a fourth-down loss deep in Rice
territory to thwart three scoring
drives as the Owls were nipped by
heavily-favored Iowa State, 23-19.
Rice sophomore Randy Hertel
threw two touchdown passes, com
pleted 15 of 27 for 149 yards.
TCU sophomore Bobby Stewart
caught a 27-yard touchdown pass to
cut SMU’s margin to 21-14 just be
fore the half.
SMU freshman Eddie Garcia
kicked six extra points and his only
field-goal attempt, a 34-yarder, to
rank second in SWC scoring with
nine points.
And Beal, backing up fellow
sophomore Mike Mosley, broke an
80-yard touchdown run to seal Kan
sas’ defeat. Mosley, incidentally,
completed 63.6 percent of his passes
for an average gain of just under 14
yards per completion.
In fact, the only senior to lead the
SWC in anything this week is
SMU’s Harold (D.K.) Perry. He re
turned the game’s opening kickoff
94 yards for a touchdown and aver
aged 47.3 yards on three returns,
while also leading in punt returns
with three for an average of 24.7
yards.
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United Press International
SAN ANTONIO — Lanky
George Gervin, a converted guard
who led the National Basketball As
sociation in scoring, was the only
San Antonio Spurs veteran not to
show up for his physical Wednesday
in preparation for preseason training
camp.
However, team officials dis
counted the significance of Gervin’s
absence despite the fact he has been
embroiled in a re-negotiation with
the team all summer.
Gervin’s agent, Pat Hegly of
Tacoma, Wash., has said Gervin was
hurt that he made less money than
some other San Antortio players al
though he led the league with a 27-
point average last year and made
considerably less money than most
other all-pro selections, who aver
age $500,000 to $600,000.
The Spurs reportedly offered to
more than double Gervin’s current
salary of more than $150,000, but
the Detroit native was not satisfied
with the long-term pact.
QRAIMD
OPENlNQ
CELEBRATION
Thursday - Sept. 14
25c HIGHBALLS
(WITH LUNCH 11 TO 2)
2 FOR 1 MIXED DRINKS
(4 til Midnight)
LIVE Entertainment
(Starting at 8:00)
Serving Great Food 11:00 - Midnight
CULPEPPER PLAZA
693-3399