The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 61

Stephenson To Defend U.S. Open Title, D3 Vilas Out of Friday's Davis Cup Match, D6 Calendar, P.S., TV Listings, D8 Will Hagler Have To Fight Hamsho First? D11 Doric Vilas The Post THURSDAY; JULY 12, 1984 SECTION i And All These Years, You Thought llustrated's Jinx Was Real Sports I CvJ UL I 'in U.S. Swimming Trials SP.IASII! 5- i i 'These results come as no surprise to me. Tye never heard anybody say to me, 'Don't put me on the I Mark AAulvoy I Sports Illustrated assistant managing editor I LOS ANGELES (AP) The infamous Sports Illustrated cover jinx, reputed to cause the decline of many a fine athlete and team, "appears to be a myth, say two researchers at the University of Southern California. They found teams and athletes maintained or improved their level pf performance almost 58 percent of the time after appearing on the Sports Illustrated cover.

The study analyzed 271 randomly selected cover subjects from 1954 through m. "Baseball pitchers, baseball teams, basketball teams and basketball players did well more than 70 percent of the time" after they were on the cover, said researcher Tim Leone. Leone and Robbie Gluckson, two graduate students at the USC School of, Journalism, conducted the study, Tennis players and golfers seem to suffer most after appearing on the cover. Their performance fell off more than 83 percent of the time. Swimmers, skiers, football rushers and crew also dropped off significantly after jinx.

"What they (Sports Illustrated) do is put a team or athlete on when they're at their peak. Then what usually happens is they normally fall off," Anderson said. "These results come as no surprise to me," said Mark Mulvoy, assistant managing editor of Sports Illustrated. "I've never heard anybody say to me, 'Don't put me on the According to current sports folklore, the Sports Illustrated jinx dooms teams or athletes appearing on the cover to lose or suffer other bad fortune after they are featured. As recently as last month, two sports stars seemed to fall victim to the jinx.

Chicago Cubs first baseman Leon (Bull) Durham was featured on the cover shortly before he was injured and went on the disabled list for three weeks. Earvin (Magic) Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers graced the cover when Turn to JINX, D7 cover appearances. The two students asked sports authorities and magazine officials about the jinx and the results of their survey. "I have to agree with the results," said Sparky Anderson, manager of the Detroit Tigers, whose team was on a May cover and has continued to have the best record in baseball. "I don't think there's such a thing as a Jeff Float made this week's cover will he bomb or strike gold in tho i L.

A. Smog Alerts Breaking Records As Games Near Ewing Sitting In a Different Role, D4 Contagious Disease No Throat to Olympic Horses, D5 LOS ANGELES (AP) Southern California choked under a brown blanket of heavy smog yesterday for the 17th day out of 18 since June 23, but Olympic officials and doctors said they don't think air pollution will seriously hamper athletes in the Summer Games. Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee spokeswoman Amy Quinn said yesterday the committee has taken every precaution with doctors and oxygen bottles at competition sites and with events timed and placed for I Ml minimum smog levels. She said the Olympic medical staff I Russell BronionTHE POST he is a well-respected Florida artist, whose work is in demand at art shows and conservation stamp competitions. Outdoors Page, D2 TOUCH OF THE WILD Despite growing up on the concrete of Yonkers, N.Y., Allen Friedman fed his interest in painting wildlife by spending time at the Bronx Zoo and the Museum of Natural History.

Today, 'Hale Leaflets' Distributed To 3 Countries WASHINGTON (AP) The State Department said yesterday that; "hate leaflets" mailed to Olympic committees in several Asian and Af-) rican nations "bear all the hallmarks of a disinformation campaign." The department said the thrust of the messages aimed thus far at the Olympic committees in Malaysia, Zimbabwe and South Korea "dove-1 tails neatly with the Soviet justifica-' tion for their withdrawal" from the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Ange- les. The Soviets blamed their with- drawal on an alleged threat of physical violence by American extremists in Los Angeles. The department did not directly accuse the Soviet govern- ment of responsibility for the leaf-' lets. The State Department made avail- able copies of a leaflet sent to the Olympic committee of Zimbabwe. Its markings suggested that it came -from the "Ku Klux Klan." The leaflet was contained in an envelope bearing U.S.

postage stamps and a U.S. postmark. The letter received by the Zimbabwe committee contains threatening language and was illustrated with a drawing of a white-hooded figure on a rearing horse and of a monkey with, a noose around its neck. Alan Romberg, the State Department's deputy spokesman, said the "hate leaflets" received in the three countries "bear all the hallmarks of a disinformation campaign." Secretary of State George P. Shultz told reporters Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that he had ordered the State Department to determine whether the threatening letters actually came from the Ku Klux Klan.

is more concerned about heat, humidity and altitude problems than smog during the games, which run July 28 through Aug. 12. July and August are traditionally the hottest months of the year in Los Angeles, with temperatures hovering daily around 100 degrees. "Smog is about fourth on their list," she said. "Sure, there'll be oxygen, but that will be for a variety of things, not just smog.

The athletes and trainers are not concerned." Mile runner Steve Scott of Leuca-dia, near San Diego, said he believes that "anybody who trained in Southern California's smog, heat, sunlight and humidity will have an advantage." However, he said if the Olympics get both heavy smog and excessive heat, "it will be a struggle." U.S. athletes for the first time will use antiasthma medications during smoggy days. Up to 50 of the 600 U.S. team members will use the drugs, which are legal under Olympic rules, Dr. Robert Voy said last spring.

Voy is chief medical officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee. But that won't help the eyes of archers or skeet shooters, who "won't have time to wipe away a tear," said David Boyd, assistant director of the National Rifle Association's international competition. Jim Birakos, deputy executive director of the Air Quality Management District, said he is setting up a pre-Olympic "summit meeting" Tuesday among the district, the Los Angeles Olympic Committee and several major industries at the request of the county board of Supervisors. But he said he's been having such meetings with industry for six months.

He said power plants have already converted to natural gas to minimize smog, and other stationary sources of pollution, such as oil refineries, have revised and upgraded anti-pollution efforts. Also, he said, companies are emphasizing car pooling since auto Turn to SMOG, D5 Niekro Sits and Steams During All-Star Game x- 'It's old hat Vv i five All-Star Cz i games and I've kv pitched to four Phil Niekro Niekro. "It's got to be a blow-out for me to pitch." Niekro said he hadn't talked to Baltimore's Joe Altobelli, the American League manager, about not playing. "The managers do what they feel like they have to do." Altobelli wasn't around after Niekro's comments, but he had indicated Monday that the knuckleball specialist might stay on the bench. "We've got five starters and three relievers and I know that all five starters are not going to get in unless we go into overtime," Altobelli said.

Eleven players did not appear in Tuesday night's game National Leaguers Mike Marshall of Los Angeles, Juan Samuel of Philadelphia, Jesse Orosco of New York, Al Holland of Philadelphia, Rafael Ramirez of Atlanta, and Bruce Sutter of St. Louis. American Leaguers not participating were Niekro, Dave Engle of Minnesota, Mike Boddicker of Baltimore, Dan Quisenberry of Kansas City, and Tony Armas of Boston. Twins Apparently Staying Put, 10 Pitchers Heated Up Ail-Star Game, DU The Midseason of Baseball, DU SAN FRANCISCO(AP) Phil Niekro, miffed at not getting into Tuesday night's All-Star game, says he might turn down future chances to appear in the annual midsummer classic. "It's old hat five All-Star games and I've pitched to four batters," Niekro said in the clubhouse after the National League's 3-1 victory.

just a wasted uniform, a wasted body. Asked if he would come to the game if he was selected again next year Niekro said, "I would really have to think about it. I'm not going to get to pitch in this game. That's all there is to it." Niekro, who was named to four All-Star Games with (he Atlanta Braves, but pitched only 1 Mi inning, striking out two and giving up no hits or walks. In 1975 and 1982, he did not play in the game.

"This year he had hoped it would be different, after compiling an 11-4 record for the New York. Yankees with an American League-leading 1.84 earned run average. Had he gotten into the game Tuesday, the 45-year-old Niekro would have been the second oldest player in an All-Star Game. Satchel Paige was 47 when he pitched in the 1953 game for the St. Louis Browns.

"It's the knuckleball that gets me here and the knuckleball that keeps me from pitching," said From Bucktown Bucks to Miami, Nelson Weaves Longshofs Dream liberal arts school with an enrollment just under 1,000. Tiffin is one of those small, Midwest industrial towns where a good time is a defined as a S3 six-pack and a Chevrolet with a waist-high rear bumper. He played football one season for Heidelberg, the Student Princes, running the ball 120 times for 344 yards, a 2.9 average and a touchdown. That was 1982, forgettable at best. "I was bigger than most my offensive linemen at Heidelberg," he says, "but I wanted to go there because I wanted to play right away.

It was a last-ditch thing. I didn't have much time after I left junior college. It really didn't matter to me where I went I knew I had Big Ten talent." Nelson since has worked at a health spa, as a body guard and as a security guard at a high school. So he shows up at the Miami Dolphins' camp this summer. Coach Don Shula puts him in shorts and through agility, strength and speed tests.

And Shula, who was coaching in the National Football League before Nelson was born, is impressed Tur() to DOLPHINS, D6 Noll: Bradshaw Retired, D6 Wranglers' Trip To Top, D7 By Dan Moffett Staff Writer MIAMI Today is the first day of the rest of the David Nelson dream. The Miami Dolphins put on pads for the first time at their St. Thomas University training camp this afternoon. All football players look good in shorts. When the hitting starts, the players emerge.

Nelson knows this. The difference between pads and shorts is the difference between singing in the shower and singing at the Met. The Dolphins will begin to separate the men from the boys, and in the case of David Leon Nelson, this will be a distinction both nebulous and paradoxical. At 20 years old, David Leon Nelson is both man and child. The' sinewy 6-foot-2, 230-pound body is deception; inside is the spirit of youth, a psyche that has been force-fed the lessons of maturity ahead of schedule.

A free-agent running back, Nelson will be playing with men who were professionals when was in grade 'I don't even think about things not working out. I've been given a chance here arid all I have to do is make the most of it. I've struggled my whole life. This is another David Nelson i school. Miami guard Bob Kuechen-berg is 36 and a 15-year pro.

Nelson has credentials that are impressive only to his immediate family. He graduated from North Miami High School three years ago, after playing on a football team that won only two of its 10 games during his senior season. He then attended Taft Junior College in Taft, playing only briefly in his first and only season. Then Nelson transferred to Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, a tiny -r, John ColtyTHE POST Free-agent David Nelson has the sjie, speed to impress evenJJonjShula.