The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 39

For Tiie Memorj, For Tiie Moment, Thanks, Jack TN 1941, TED WILLIAMS hit .406. He was years old. In 1957, he hit .388. And at 42, his last year as a player, he still got the bat on the ball often enough for a .316 average. At 20, Ty Cobb hit at 40, he hit .357.

A 20-year-old rookie named Henry Aaron smashed 13 home runs for the Milwaukee Braves. A 39-year-old Superstar by the same name hit 40 for the Atlanta Braves. And three games into the next season, Aaron, 40, climbed Mt. Everest. He sent a line drive into the bullpen in left field that lifted him one above the most glittering record in the book of sports the 714 home runs of Babe Ruth.

Bill Tilden was playing and winning tennis tournaments when he was past 50. Gordie Howe still was a formidible hockey opponent when he was past the half century mark. (Archie Moore z3, Sports Over Kj Lightly lifetime of anybody who is old enough to read this today. Think about it. That takes us a few years into another century.

Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer who ever picked up a club. You can't compare apples and oranges, boxing and baseball, but he has to rank 1-2-3 when you make a list of the best athletes of all time. The recent U.S. Open was more of an emotional experience than a sporting event. The Bear, fighting his way out of the worst slump of his career, got their attention with a 63 on opening day.

He finished them off with birdies on 17 and 18 for a new Open record of 272. That's 3-under the standard he set on the same golf course, Baltusrol, in 1967. I've served 32 years of what is looking like a life sentence as a sportswriter. There are times when I get every bit as sick of this job as guys who pump gas or run drill machines. Hey, man, living out of a suitcase ain't ail that great after you have been everywhere at least six times.

BUT JUST ABOUT the time a fellow starts wondering if maybe he couldn't finish off in another job, he runs into a real emotional experience. If sport, as somebody wrote, is a small slice of life, then I'll take it. There was Nicklaus marching down the final two fairways to the chants of "Jack, Jack, Jack." He was getting the accolades reserved for emperors and kings. Perhaps the flowers were strewn in his path a little late. But he deserved them and the adulation was all the more rewarding.

At 40, an athlete, still active, takes what he can get. Jack got the Brass Monkey, the gonfalon, the crown, the scepter and the hearts of his subjects. It was joyous, a super moment; one to be filed away and cherished. Thanks, Jack. Nicklaus Back In Canadian Open Page 43 was at least 42 when he traded punches with Rocky Marciano in 1955.) MUHAMMAD ALI, THEN known as Cassius Marcellus Clay, won the heavyweight boxing championship of the known world in 1964.

He took it for the third time in 1978. He was 22 when he beat Sonny Liston, 36 when he gave Leon Spinks a boxing lesson. That brings us to Jack Nicklaus. It is my contention that, except for Ali, no man has dominated his sport for as long a time as Jack Nicklaus. Jack was 19 when he won the first of two U.S.

Amateur titles. He was 22 when, halfway through this first season as a pro, he finally finished in front. The tournament was played at Oakmont; Jack beat Arnold Palmer in LBob Collins, Sports Editor a playoff. The name of the show was the National Open. Over the past 18 years, Jack has won just about everything except permanent possession of the door knobs and bathroom fixtures at the venerable golf clubs where major tournaments are conducted.

Right now he is at 18 and counting. THE GREATEST CINCH bet I can think of is that nobody will surpass his records in the 1 JAWI1V9 TIME ALMOST OVER Leonard-Duran Bout Nears Sports The Indianapolis Star friday, june 20, 1980 PAGE 39 Comics Classified envisioning a fast and fresh Leonard nailing Duran on the way in. JACOBS SAID he expects Duran to try to come out slowly, to stay away and box, but he doubts Duran will have the patience in a fight the challenger has made a personal crusade. Whether Leonard can keep his poise against Duran's aggressive tactics and whether Duran can overcome Leonard's hand and foot speed are two of the questions that make this fight such an appealing one. Another question, perhaps the biggest one, is whether Duran, the man called "hands of stone," is past his peak.

He has not been the devastating fighter as a welterweight that he was as a lightweight and in Leonard he will not only be fighting a younger, faster man, but one who is physically bigger. The 5-10 Leonard has a 2V2-inch height advantage and 3-inch reach advantage over Duran. Leonard also carries his weight naturally, while, Duran has ballooned into the 170s between some fights and has to work hard to get the weight off. IF DURAN IS successful against Leonard, he will become the third man to win both the lightweight and welterweight titles. The others were Barney Ross and Henry Armstrong.

The most important fight on the undercard is a heavyweight bout between John Tate of Knoxville, and Trevor Berbick of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Montreal (AP) Sugar Ray Leonard, who fights with a flair, and Roberto Duran, who fights with a fury, clash tonight for Leonard's World Boxing Council welterweight championship. The scheduled 15-round bout in Olympic Stadium probably is the most anticipated non-heavyweight fight since Sugar Ray Robinson fought Randy Turpin and Carmen Basilio in the 1950s. Leonard will gross at least $8 million and could make $10 million, while Duran will earn $1.5 million, according to Bob Arum, co-promoter of the fight with Don King in conjunction with the Olympic Installations Board, operator of Olympic Stadium. An estimated crowd of is expected in the stadium for the fight, which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m.

Indianapolis time. It will be seen on closed circuit television at 310 locations in the United States and Canada and will be televised to about 70 other countries. (THE FIGHT WILL be shown in Market Square Arena on a 20-foot-by-30-foot screen. MSA officials report brisk ticket sales and expect a crowd of more than 9,000. MSA doors open at 7 tonight, and the telecast begins at 8.

Tickets are $20.50 and may be purchased at the MSA box office, Ross Babcock, Ross Young and all L.S. Ayres outlets. (Added to the lineup Thursday for the first defense of the title he won by stopping Wilfred Benitez with six seconds left in their fight Nov. 30. DURAN HAS SCORED 55 knockouts, 11 of them in defense of the lightweight championship which he won in 1972, and held until last year, when he voluntarily surrendered the 135-pound-class crown to campaign in the 147-pound division.

Duran is not just a brawler. Esteban DeJesus knocked Duran down and beat him in a non-title fight in 1972. He knocked Duran down again in a title bout in 1974 which Duran won by knockout in the 11th round. Then, in a second title meeting in 1978, Duran, displaying patience, confused De-Jesus by boxing him before knocking him out in the 12th round. Dave Jacobs, who helps train Leonard, would prefer a non-boxing Duran Friday night.

"I'd appreciate it if Duran came at him right away," said Jacobs, obviously MSA telecast is a lightweight bout between Aaron Pryor, 26-0, a former Indiana Golden Gloves champion who also won the national title, and Carl Crowley of Chicago in a 10-rounder, beamed to Indianapolis from Cincinnati.) Leonard, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 in this French-Canadian city, was listed by Las Vegas oddsmak-ers as the 9-5 favorite to remain victorious in 28 pro fights and hand Duran only his second loss in 71 fights. While the "flair" and "fury" tags generally fit the two fighters, the 24-year-old Leonard is not just dazzle and the 29-year-old Duran is not just fire. LEONARD HAS LIGHTNING hand and foot speed and fancy moves, but he also punches with power and is deadly at finishing off an opponent in trouble. He has scored 18 knockouts, the last accomplished with a picture-perfect left hook that flattened Davey (Boy) Green in the fourth round. That victory last March 31 was the I' 'll-J I -v 1 I I I ROBERTO DURAN DOES ROAD WORK AT MONTREAL THURSDAY Panamanian Welterweight Finishing Preparations For Title Fight Parsons escaped injury, but the car was totally demolished and he'll have to qualify his team's turbo-charged Chevy in today's final 90-minutes of time trials.

Other than all the accidents, the big newsmakers of the day had to be Mike Mosley and Jerry Sneva. Mosley, in Dan Gurney's EagleChevy, appeared to be the pole favorite following his Thursday morning run of 185.682. He didn't wind up No. 1 but was plenty popular with the healthy turnout of fans and his crew after traveling 183.262 to take the pole of the second row. "I might have been a bit too conservative but we can't afford to crash," said Mosley, referring to the fact Gurney's operation may be finished for 1980 if they don't run well Sunday.

Jerry Sneva. who surprised everyone at Indy by qualifying in the middle of the second row, came up with another strong effort Thursday to post the sixth-quickest speed 180.325. Another good performance was turned in by Bill Vukovich, who mustered up a 176.730 average in Ralph Wilkie's Offy-powered Watson. In all, 31 cars qualified, with Tony Bet-tenhausen's 169.747 average the slowest. A maximum of five cars will be granted a chance to qualify today and Bettenhausen can be bumped.

so fortunate. Gordy, in almost exactly the same spot as Bagley, hit the fence in Patrick's other Phoenix racer and incurred the same amount of damage to the same place in the chassis left rear. But the only available backup North American Van Lines Spl. for Johncock was the PC-6 he drove to fourth at Indianapolis. And that's where it was Thursday in Indy.

"We considered flying back in Pat's plane, installing an engine and driving back here in time to qualify tomorrow but we decided it just wasn't feasible," explained Mark Bridges, chief mechanic on Johncock's machine. Carter, who'd just turned a lap of 182-plus in his Alex Foods PC-7Cosworth, was the victim of Johncock's circumstance as he had to spin to avoid Gordy. He managed to miss him but caught the wall and ruined the front bulkhead. He then hopped in the old Lightning chassis and went 176.384 with virtually no practice. The last crash of the day was undoubtedly the hardest.

PARSONS, IN Lindsey Hopkins' ground-effects car that Janet Guthrie missed Indianapolis in, opened his qualifying run with a lap of 179.497 mph. But sailing through the infamous tunnel turn of his second circuit, the right front tire was cut and sent J. P. thundering into the wall. "I screwed up on the first lap going through the tunnel turn (that's No.

2) or I could have probably beaten Bobby," replied Foyt, a three-time Pocono winner. "But I'm satisfied. We're finally working the way we should be." The other member of the front row is Mario Andretti, who recorded 184.124 in Penske's Essex PC-9 after just missing the fence in a morning practice session spin. But there were some others who couldn't avoid the PIR cement and their stories could be major chapters in Sunday's script. Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford, Tom Bagley and Pancho Carter all caught the wall during the three hours of hot laps, and Johnny Parsons crashed hard during qualifying to conclude an expensive day.

Rutherford, winner of the first two poles and CRL races in Jim Hall's ChaparralCosworth, slapped the second-turn wall hard enough to merit getting in his backup Pennzoil Spl. And, even tiiough he didn't have much practice in it, Lone Star J.R. managed a 182.315 mark to earn the middle of row two. BAGLEY KNOCKED OFF the left corner of his Kent Oil Phoenix Cosworth when he tagged the popular turn two concrete. So he crawled into Pat Patrick's Wildcat and recorded a 178.165 average.

However, his teammate, Johncock, wasn't Bobby U. Takes Pocono Pole; A. J. Has Fast Lap By ROBIN MILLER Star Sportswriter Lone Pond, Pa. A.J.

Foyt turned the fastest lap, but Bobby Unser put together the best average Thursday afternoon to earn the pole position for Sunday's True Value Hardware 500 here at the Pocono International Raceway. Bobby U. hustled Roger Penske's Norton Spirit PC-9Cosworth around the "Indy of the East" in 185.414 and 185.567 miles an hour for a five-mile run of 185.491 to claim the catbird seat for the fourth Championship Racing League event of 1980. Foyt, in the Gilmore ParnelliCosworth he just hasn't been very competitive in so far this season, responded with the quickest trip of the day at 185.874 mph but his initial go-around of 183.599 left him with a 184.729 average and No. 2 in the 33-car grid.

"It was good but it could have been better," exclaimed Bobby who's never won here in the Pennsylvania mountains. "I was working on a 187 the first time around but I got too high going through the third turn and had to get out of the throttle or hit the fence." OBVIOUSLY, UNSER opted to ease off the gas pedal but it was still good enough to take his first pole at PIR. flflDEROn--. PCEDUJflY Ditto IN9iaM Gadis May Be Backcourt Key PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU JUNE 21st QUANTITY RIGHTS RESERVED EARLY TIMES CANADA HOUSE $R88 CANADIAN BLEND 1.75 LT. OR BOOTH'S Meet The All-Stars, Page 40 SAT.

NITE JUNE 21 FIRST TIME EVER AT ANDERSON 50 LAP OPEN COMPETITION FIG. 8 PAYS SW TO WIN! ANY CAR CAN ENTER MUST HAVE SAFETY EQUIP. FASTEST FIG. 8 TRACK IN MIDWEST IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE, YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN A FIG. 8 RACE ALONG WITH OUR REGULAR BIG SHOW.

ADULTS $5.00 CHILD $1.00 T.T. 6:45 RACE 8:30 HWY. 9 NORTH Of 1-69 ANDERSON, IND. GIN PASSPORT SCOTCH J4.67 750 ML. CROWN RUSSE VODKA $3.33 750 ML.

CANADIAN CLUB 750 ML RIUNITE WINES $2.27 750 ML. Qxurchm PAYLESS GIVES YOU A SIZZLING SUMMER BEER PRICE! FALSTAFF owns $-3 25 i i 2Z23 r. kttSal Ym iy 'Sua AH 6 12-OZ. N.R.'s WARM 67 By BOB WILLIAMS Pike's David Gadis may hold the inside track on the Indiana All-Star basketball team's point guard position for the Blind Fund series against Kentucky the next two Saturdays. Coach Bill Smith still is undecided on his point guard for the Indiana-Kentucky opener at Louisville's Freedom Hall Saturday night, but the high-scoring backcourt ace from Ed Siegel's Marion County champs filled that spot for Thurs-' day night's final scrimmage game at Mitchell.

Anderson's Shawn Teague (19.4-ppg), Elkhart Memorial's Loren Littleton (18.2) and Gadis (25) have been waging a heated battle for the important point guard spot since the Hoosiers reported for practice last Friday. All three have been doing well and all will be able to contribute in certain situations, according to the Indiana All-Star coach. ALL THREE HAVE impressive credentials and Coach Smith plans to use each one in the role that fits best. Smitty was looking forward to Thursday's practice game against the Hancock Construction AAU team at Mitchell with much anticipation. He said, 'We need another practice game to analyze a few more things before we take the floor against the Kentuckians." The starting lineup Coach Smith announced for the Mitchell High School exhibition game included Mr.

Basketball Jim Master of Fort Wayne Harding and Gadis at guards, Greg Eifert of Fort Wayne Dwenger at center, with Henry Johnson of Anderson and Richie Johnson of state runner-up New Albany completing the front line. Richie Johnson's rapid recovery from a sore knee the last two days has been one of the most encouraging signs in the Indiana camp, according to Coach Smith. "Richie has been working his tail off even though he's hurting and this has been a big inspiration to the rest of the "ball club. We took him to Dr. Brady (Indianapolis knee expert Thomas A.

Brady) and he feels a lot better about it. "We need Richie Johnson badly against Kentucky because of his size (6-8) and his quickness. Of all the big men $4 OR 24-PK. N.R.'s on this Indiana team, he is probably the quickest. All of us are pleased by the way Richie has bounced back from his knee injury.

A couple of days ago we couldn't even be sure he'd be back." THE COACH OF Indianapolis Broad Ripple's state champs also credited New Albany's Jack Ford (his Indiana All-Star assistant) for the team's excellent attitude. "Coach Ford has been a tremendous help working with these kids both on the floor and aside from basketball. "In view of the limited time that we've had together (less than a week), this Indiana team has a lot of pride and motivation. I'm beginning to loosen up a bit myself, becoming more relaxed and I get the feeling that the kids are, too. We're communicating better and I've gotta give a lot of the credit for this to Coach Ford." Coach Smith said his Indiana team will have to hit the boards hard, show more intensity on defense and execute on offense in order to beat a much-quicker Kentucky team in the Louisville game Saturday and The Indianapolis Star's 40th anniversary Blind Fund Classic at Market Square Arena June 28.

Both Indiana All-Star teams (boys and girls) headed for Louisville following the Mitchell doubleheader. They will have a chance to warm up this afternoon on the Freedom Hall floor and then the Kentucky Lions Clubs (Louisville All-Star game sponsor) will host tonight's pregame banquet at Masterson's Restaurant. Tickets priced at $6, $5, and $4 are now on sale for the June 28 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star games at Market Square Arena at these locations: The Star's Public Service Desk, Ross and Young at Castleton Square, L.S. Ayres stores at Lafayette Square, Greenwood, Glendale, Washington Square and Downtown. Also the Market Square Arena box office.

To order by phone call (317) 639-4444. Charge with Master Card or VISA ($1.50 service charge per order). WARM BLATZ BEER OLYMPIA BEER 12-PK. CANS i 12-PK, N.R.'s $057 WARM N.R.'s $197 For clubhouse reierved irati, phone (5021 636-3541 before II JO am. Dimnf room rrsrrta op rr.

dons, phone iSOZi 6J6-33SI WARM i. zj WARM I 1 i liimO TheExacta -r ii 1 is Back! Came mtt andpLiy IL 9 Races Thru June 28 First Daily Doubl U5 Daily Double Race edt iir.