The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 28

I por Palm Beach Post Pari-Muluols WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1972 PAGE C6 Dolphins' Morris Upset With Lack of Activity wZ IP HZZX ZT7 III Y' Griese O.K. Tony Petrella Post Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) The Miami Dolphins quickly spiked reports yesterday that ace quarterback Bob Griese had injured his passing arm and Griese showed his effectiveness by performing well in a practice session. There had been reports that the Miami quarterback had injured his passing arm. The Dolphins face Dallas in the Super Bowl Sunday. But Charlie Callahan, public information director for the Dolphins, denied the report when asked about it, and the Dolphins trainer told those who asked: "Well, take a look.

There he is throwing." 1 sifr i i n.i iWriariiwti.itii.lilwiliiiBiiillliaA NEW ORLEANS Instead of mingling with his teammates, who were kicking field goals, laughing, and bantering with the press, the flashy halfback was sitting all alone in the stands. One or two of his black "brothers" waved to him but got no response. The few members of the press who ventured into the stadium bleachers and sat with him got a few mumbled replies and stony looks. The solitary, silent figure was Eugene Morris, though, not Duane Thomas. Miami's speedster is upset.

He is brooding because of inactivity and, like a thoroughbred race horse, he wants to be set free; to run like he did in college but hasn't done in the National Football League. "I don't feel like a part of all that stuff going on down there," Morris said, pointing to the Poly-Turf floor of Tulane Stadium. "All season, I've been on the bench. Kickoff returns? That stuff doesn't mean anything to me. "Running with the ball is where it's at, man.

I'm a running back, not a kick receiver. Only I haven't been carrying the ball. I've been watching." Morris is in an unenviable position. He is the odd-man out in what was supposed to be a "three-back system" Dolphins' coach Don Shula was planning. But with Larry Csonka punishing defenses with his brute strength and Jim Kiick out-finessing opponents with his running and pass receiving, Morris has seen very limited service.

When he did start, after Kiick banged Leaving Morris on the sideline is like tucking the Mona Lisa away in some dusty old attic. A complete waste. But the situation isn't likely to change unless Morris gets traded. "Hell, no, I wouldn't mind going somewhere else," he said. "I want to play, man.

I can do it in this league. If I get a chance." The prospect of peddling him off to Denver or Houston or anywhere is possible. Indeed, likely. But the' Dolphins would have to get something they want, which is a lineman. A good lineman.

Letting Morris go for an experienced guard, or a defensive tackle, wouldn't make Shula too unhappy. After all, he can pluck a backup runner from the draft but linemen need experience and Shula needs linemen. Another thing is the matter of Morris' contract, which comes up for renewal this spring. He plans on asking for a bundle, which he probably won't get from the Dolphins. His best recourse is to demand so much cash that the Dolphins will be forced to get rid of him.

Morris probably could force several other teams to pay dearly for his services but he's beating a dead horse in Miami and he knows it. Packing his gear and speeding off in his yellow Corvette to some other city, any other city, would make Mercury Morris one very happy fellow. up a knee in Los Angeles, Mercury ripped off 116 yards, of which 45 came on one carry which set up a touchdown. His 315 yards on 57 carries averages out to 5.5 yards every time he gets his hands on the football. But Mercury has one big problem he can't block.

In Shula's game plan, blocking is prerequisite. Kiick and Csonka complement each other beautifully in that respect, so they play while Morris sits and simmers. Of course, Mercury claims that's not true. "I'm not too bad at blocking people," he said with a very, very defensive air. "Who said I can't block?" But the simple truth is, he can't.

Don Shula said so. UPI leiepnoio Dolphins' Eugene (Mercury) Morris- Does He Want Out of Miami? Cowboys' Lilly Is a Blooming Strongman As a defensive tackle, Bob Lilly ranks supreme in the National Football League. "Lilly, along with Alan Page of Minnesota, have to be the two best defensive linemen in football." Miami coach Don Shula said yesterday morning. Miami halfback Jim Kiick, who must negotiate a path around or over Lilly Sunday in Super Bowl VI. couldn't think up enough words of praise to describe Dallas' right tackle.

'Eventually, Vd like to spend all my time selling real estate. But after playing as long as I have, you kind of want to go out a world champ. Bob Lilly By TONY PETRELLA Post Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS Just for a "joke" Bob Lillv once lifted a car out of its parking space and deposited it on a sidewalk. "Shucks, it was only a Volkswagen." Lilly said yesterday with a touch of modesty. "And I lifted one end al a time, not the wholecar." Whether it was a Volkswagen or a Cadillac makes no difference.

The mere fact that Lilly, who never lifted weights until two years ago, could so easily remove an obstacle like an automobile should petrify running backs. his strength. Well, ask some linemen around the league about how strong Bob Lilly is. "Naturally strong," is the way Lilly describes himself. "I guess it comes from baling hey back in Throckmorton Tex.

when I was young," he said. "I never did lift weights or anything until I came here to Dallas, and even then I didn't start until a couple years ago." Besides his strength, Ially has the experience that 11 years in the NFL will provide. "I'm at a point now where I can look at the guard opposite me and tell whether he's fixing to pull or fire out on me. Turn to LILLY, C9 He's the reason the Cowboys' defense is so great." Kiick said. "There's practically no way to get away from Lilly because he has such tremendous speed.

And BOB LILLY Cowboy Strongman Ready-Made Team Miami Builder Shula or Wilson? lJoe Doakes could have coached that team. As far as Vm concerned, he took over a ready-made team. George Wilson Sit if ml 1 bJ Cobras Fall Suncoast Charges To 87-67 Triumph By CHUCK OTTERSON Post Sports Writer RIVIERA BEACH Suncoast, finally managing to avoid a second half collapse, charged to an 87-67 triumph over visiting Fort Pierce Central last night, knocking the Cobras out of the Suncoast East basketball lead. Leading only by a point, 41-40, at halftime, coach Bob Slobodnik's Chargers turned the game into a near-rout in the last two periods. "Now I feel good," said Slobodnik, whose club led most of the way in recent games with Twin Lakes and Lake Worth but wilted in the second half and lost.

"I think the kids got sick and tired of losing 'em in the last couple of minutes. They really played some good ball." The victory was Suncoast second in three conference starts and boosted the Chargers into a second place tie with Fort Pierce Central and Twin Lakes. Lake Worth (3-1 1 regained the Suncoast East lead last night with an 88-56 victory over Forest Hill. Junior center Hughsie Weathersbee, Suncoast's answer to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, led the way with 20 points and 19 rebounds but scoring honors went to his unheralded teammate, Harvey Reynolds, who netted 22 points. Herman Saffold scored 16.

"Vernon Davis and James Jackson really helped us when they were in there," said Slobodnik, "and I thought Reynolds and Genorace Bell were outstanding." Davis and Jackson took turns filling in for starting forward Richard Nelson, who picked up three personal fouls in the first period and sat out most of the game, finally fouling out in the final quarter. The ballhawking Bell scored nine points and handed out 11 assists as the Chargers boosted their overall record to 4-3. "I think the kids hustled a lot more defensively," said Slobodnik. who watched helplessly last week as the Chargers allowed a 10-point lead to dwindle away against Lake Worth. "We really played some defense and got to the boards that second half." With the 6-foot-6 Weathersbee leading the way, Suncoast finished with a 49-43 edge in rebounds.

William Hall and Ray Isaac topped the Cobras with 16 and 13, respectively. The same pair led coach Roger Wrench's club in scoring. Isaac tossed in 25 points and Hall hit for 22. Grady Lee contributed 10 assists, all but two of them in the first half. The loss was the Cobras' fifth in eight starts and halted their three-game winning streak.

Nothing that happened in the first two periods gave any indication of the runaway that was to take place in the second half. The score was tied three times in the opening period and the lead changed hands 10 times before intermission, with Suncoast going ahead for keeps on a driving lay up by Reynolds on a feed from Bell with nine seconds remaining in the first half. MIAMI (APi George Wilson, who coached the Miami Dolphins their first four years, said yesterday he turned "a ready-made team" over to Don Shula that anybt.dy could have coached into the Super Bowl. "Joe Doakes could have coached that team," Wilson told the Miami News, two years after owner Joe Robbie fired him and brought Shula from Baltimore to take over the job. Wilson said the public is mistaken in thinking that Shula built something from nothing in his 10-5 and 12-3-1 seasons including playoff games.

"As far as I'm concerned, he took over a ready-made team," Wilson said. "I was fired just when the team was ready to go." He predicted that the Dolphins, with "youth and momentum going for them," will win the National Football League championship by beating the Dallas Cowboys in the Jan. 16 Super Bowl at New Orleans. Wilson's records with the Dolphins starting in 1966 were 3-11, 4-10, 5-8-1 and 3-10 1. "You go over the first three years and you'll see we equalled or bettered the record of any expansion team in pro football," he said.

"In the fourth season, we were taken out by injuries. "I told Robbie it would take five years, and you saw what happened. I think what Robbie did was very unfair. "You go over the roster and you'll see most of the guys who are doing the playing were committed to the Dolphins before Shula ever got here." Wilson said he felt that Shula owed him the courtesy of letting him know that he was taking over the Dolphins, but it was 22 days after his acceptance of the job before it was announced. Shula was making $7,000 a year as an assistant at Kentucky when I hired him at Detroit for $14,000," said Wilson, who coached the Detroit Lions to the NFL title in 1957.

"I also helped him get the Baltimore Colts head coaching job. I practically wrote GEORGE WILSON strikes out at Shula his contract for him. Carroll Rosenbloom (Colts owner) wanted me to take the job and I had 12 meetings with him about it. But I got him to take Shula." In New Orleans, Shula said he was "very unhappy to hear these things coming from George. But he's entitled to his opinion.

On the Dolphin rise, Shula said, "I am proud of what we have accomplished in the past two years. I never personally stepped forward to accept the credit." The Wilson blast, Shula said, "won't influence my thinking this week. I'm not going toloseany sleep over it." Keeping Posted' Basketball Area High School Sports on the Air Still Photo by Ed Tancig None Scheduled Suncoast 17, Fort Pierce Central 67 lmmokalee94, Moore Haven 75 Riverside Military 62, St. Andrew's 56, overtime Vero Beach 69, EauGallieS7 Hollywood Riverside 62, St. Andrew's 56 Lake Worth it, Forest Hill So Leonard 61, Atlantic North Shore 72, Glades Central 45 Pahokee 66, Cardinal Newman 60 Palm Beach Gardens 64, Twin Lakes 72 Jupiter 70, Boca Raton 69 Cobras' Tony Crutchfield Goes High To Score Two Points FORT PIERCE (67): Isaac 11-3-25, Collins 0-3-3, Davis 2-1-5, Shelton 0-0-0, Garner 1-0-2.

Totals 34-19- Hall 8-6-22, Mercer 2-0-4, Lee 1-0-2, Crutchfield 3-3-9, 87. Latimer 1-0-2. Totals 26-15-67. Fort Pierce 18 22 14 13-67 SUNCOAST (87): Saffold 6-4-16, Nelson 3-3-9, Weath- Suncoast 21 20 22 24-87 ersbee 8-4-20, Bell 3-3-9, Reynolds 9-4-22, Jackson 2-0-4 Fort Pierce Central, 79-38 "When we only led by a point at halftime, I thought it was going to be the Twin Lakes and Lake Worth games all over again," said the 6-foot-9 Slobodnik. "But the kids had other ideas.".