The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 18

SECTION PAGE FOUR ALEXANDRIA DAILY TOWN TALK, ALEXANDRIA-PINEVILLE, SUNDAY, APRIL 28. 1974 Ullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllimillllllllllllim Celtics, Bucks Open NBA Championsh enes MILWAUKEE (AP) The shootout begins Sunday, and a classic matchup of contrasting styles appears in store. The run and gun Boston Celtics and the methodical Milwaukee Bucks, who patiently seek the open shot or feed 7-foot-2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, collide at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) in game one of the National Basketball Association championship playoffs. A capacity crowd of 10,938 at the Milwaukee Arena and a national television audience will watch.

"One team is going to win this, and I want it to be us," Bucks' Coach Larry Costello said. "But we've got to be alert, no relaxing a minute, or these guys (the Celtics) can run right by you. We can't let them run wild." The Bucks, seeking to recapture the NBA title they won in 1971, posted the best regular season record in the league at 59-23 to Boston's 56-2(5. They advanced to the playoff finals by eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers four victories to one and crushing the Chicago Bulls in four consecutive games. The Celtics had a surprisingly tough time with the young Buffalo Braves in their first round, but regained peak form by whipping 1973 NBA champion New York in five games in the second round.

Boston and Milwaukee split four regular season games, with the Bucks outscoring the Celtics 101.5 to 97.3 points per meeting. In two games at the Arena, Milwaukee won 117-93 Nov. 30 and Boston prevailed 105-104 Feb. 6. The Celtics are at full strength, but Bucks' guard Lucius Allen was lost for the season after knee surgery in mid-March.

Ron Williams, his replacement, is averaging 12.4 points per game and shooting at a .521 clip in the playoffs, but Allen's speed is expected to be sorely missed against Boston. "Boston is not an exceptionally good shooting team, so we would like to make them play halfcourt basketball," Costello said. "They like to run and shoot it up there quickly. With nobody rebounding, they should get only one shot if we get two or three people back there to get the ball." The Celtics averaged 51 rebounds to Milwaukee's 44.5 in the four regular season meetings. However, the Bucks have out-rebounded playoff opponents by an average of 51.6 to 43.7 per game.

Forward Cornell Warner, who became a first stringer in late March, is averaging 11.4 rebounds per playoff game. The Celtics are in the final round for the first time since 1969, when they won the title for the 10th time in 11 seasons. Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's most valuable player for the third time in his five years in the league, is averaging 31.9 points in the playoffs, showing longer range with his all but unstoppable hook shot and more confidence in his jumper. Boston's Dave Cowcns is expected to guard Abdul-Jabbar by himself, spotting the Bucks' center a five-inch height advantage. However, the Celtics are counting on Cowens' mobility and outside shooting touch to trouble Abdul-Jabbar on defense.

Costello said Cowens "will take some adjustments." "Cowens is a good shooter, and if he goes out 15 or 18 feet Kareem will have to go out and play him," he said. "The key then will be what our forwards do ith their forwards." Perennial All-Star John Havlicek, averaging 27.5 points in the playoffs, and steady Don Nelson, both holdovers from the Celtics' 1969 champions, are Boston's forwards. The match-ups are expected to be Bob Dandridge vs. Havlicek and Warner vs. Nelson.

Williams will guard hot shooting Jo-Jo White, with 14-year veteran Oscar Robertson taking the Celtics' Don Chaney. Robertson also is expected to draw Havlicek when the Boston star shifts to guard. Pro Grid Architects Wimby Must ST Hearing Aids Reactivated Collar Cream Bv Geoffrev Miller WIMBLEDON, England (AP) "Wimbledon is still the greatest tennis tournament in the world," said the man who has been elected to run it. will always be an elusive creature. The added protection given the wide receiver, reducing the kind of hits he must take, should make for an enlivened air game.

The pass, especially the "bomb," is one of football's major nerve-stabbers. The number of field goals more than 800 attempted, more than 500 made in 1973 is bound to be reduced. But in their stead, as Garo Yepr-emian and Jan Stenerud insist, there will be more punts. If a field goal is dull, the punt is a sedative. The 15-minute sudden death period for tie games will be welcomed.

As Bear Bryant, William Shakespeare or Adam once said, "A tie is like kissing your sister." But there aren't that many tie games, and if two teams can play an hour with no decision, they might as well play an hour and 15 minutes to no avail. The best antidote for the tie probably is the two-point conversion, or, as Coach George Allen of the Washington Redskins, laconically puts it, the Flying Wedge over-reacted. Pete Rozelle is one of sharpest, most public relations-minded executives in sports. Although the changes were made by a special N'FL committee you can bet that the commissioner stoked the fire. Rozelle realizes that pro football, to maintain its television appeal in prime time' and keep alive those multimillion-dollar contracts, must not let its product lose out to "I Love Lucy" and "Tarzan of the Apes." Besides, there is pressure from the new World Football League, which has leaped onto the sports stage with fist fulls of greenbacks and a lot of revolutionary ideas.

The NFL needed to take quick action to counteract the increasing dullness of the pro game, brought about by more sophisticated zone defenses, caution of the coaches and an emphasis on the place kick instead of the touchdown as the main striking weapon. The changes should rectify some of this, but they apparently are not the panacea. In a changing game, the panacea iv I 4 -1 Bv Will Grimslcy NEW YORK (AP) For years arm-chair observers have argued that the colleges play a more exciting brand of football than the pros. The sounds finally have penetrated the crusty facade of the pro architects, who have reactivated their hearing aids. The National Football League has imposed sweeping changes for 1974.

The most important of these changes is aimed at blunting the cutting edges of the kicking game. The goal posts are being moved back ten yards and the penalty has been broadened for a place-kick attempt that misses the mark. Failure on long kicks returns the ball to the line of scrimmage, giving coaches second thoughts about going for three points from mid-field. The colleges have been playing with the goal posts ten yards back of the goal line for years. They kept telling the pros that is the best way to play.

The pros were hard to convince but convinced they were. If the pros were smart, they also would adopt the college plan of an optional two-point conversion after the touchdown. One point for a place-kick conversion, two for a pass or a run. In close games, this gamble can present one of the most dramatic moments in football. A team has just scored a touchdown to move within a point of tying the game.

Time is running out. Should the coach play for a tie with a kick or go for broke with a pass-or-run play? The situation brings fans to their feet in wild excitement. d-guessing erupts among parlor quarterbacks. The outcome hinges on this single maneuver. In addition to being highly exciting, the optional two-point conversion cuts down on the number of tie games.

The biggest complaint against the pros has been that they play a patented, stylized game, built largely on the old theory that you must be careful not to lose the game before you try to win it. Pro coaches are inclined to play the percentage. They stress ball control whereas college coaches appear to concentrate on field position. The colleges take more chances on third and fourth downs. College teams are less predictable and, as a result, generally more interesting.

The pros are bigger, faster, smarter every man supposedly a master at his position. The pro game's fan appeal is built on the general excellence of its talent. The job is to turn this talent into a saleable commodity. The pros haven't had a game in years to match the Notre Dame-Alabama thriller in the Sugar Bowl last Jan. 1, won by the Irish 24-23 after gambling last gasp decisions by both Coach Bear Bryant of Alabama and Ara Parseg-hian of Notre Dame.

In instituting those sweeping changes this week, you have to give the pros a blue medallion for trying, although they seemed to have and amateurs apart. The federation gave in, and within six months open tennis had come to stay. David had the traditions of Wimbledon behind him. He knew that whatever happened, the world's best players would still want to compete on the famous grass court behind the ivy-covered walls. Burnett takes over the citadel at a time when it has been weakened slightly by commercial trends in the game.

In 1972 David, for all his enthusiasm for bringing the world's best players together, failed to agree to terms with World Championship Tennis and Wimbledon lost the top layer of stars. In 1973 that disagreement was mended, and then the players themselves walked out of Wimbledon over the disputed suspension of Yugoslavian Nikki Pilic by the international federation. At the moment most of the world's stars seem likely to compete in the Wimbledon of 1974. But the All-England Club will have to struggle to keep its prize money up to the level of other big events. This year's competition is set for June 24-July 6.

"That is certainly our future problems," said Burnett, smiling and soft spoken. "We must simply review the prize money year' by year." "But you can't go on for long calling yourselves the world championships if you haven't got the world's best players." With these cautious words Sir Brian Burnett, former Air Chief Marshall of the Royal Air Force, faced up to his new unpaid job as chairman of the All-England Club, which runs the famed tournament. "It's highly important that we get the cream of the world's players there this year," Burnett said. He was thinking of the quarrels which kept most of the top stars away in 1972 and 1973, and of the new World Team Tennis league and other counter-attractions in the United States. The 61-year-old air force hero and all-round sports enthusiast steps into the gap left by the death of Herman David, one of Britain's best loved sports administrators.

David had been chairman of the exclusive All-England Club for 14 years. He was proud of Wimbledon's reputation as the best run sports event in Britain. He was the man who showed royalty into their seats behind the baseline of the celebrated Center Court and explained to them the finer points of Billie Jean King's volleying and Rod La-ver's backhand. And it was Da vid who led the revolution in 1968 arid pioneered open tennis. The club told the world it would go ahead with an open tourna-' ment, even against the wishes of the International Lawn Tennis Federation, which wanted to keep professionals LA.C.

SPORTS-CHARLES D'AMICO, PROMOTER PRESENTS CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING TUESDAY NIGHT P.M. RAPIDES PARISH COLISEUM I1 PRE-GAME EJECTION Texas Rangers manager Billy Martin kicks dirt on the shoes of umpire Joe Brinkman after the ump had ejected Martin even before the game with the New York Yankees got underway. Martin, continuing an argument with Brinkman that began Friday night, was ejected for verbal assault and physical pushing of Brinkman. Story on page A-7 (AP Wirephoto). -4.

Kevin Billerman, a junior from Bricktown, N.J., captains Duke's basketball team. SOLID STATE LAWfl-BOY HERE'S WHY it almost never needs a tune-up: Football Pioneers Are Honored BRUISER BOB SWEETAN GRIZZLY SMITH MAIN EVENT-BRUISER BOB SWEETAN vs. GRIZZLY SMITH Bruiser Bob Sweetan challenges Grinly Smith. Grizzly accpeted the challenge and says this is the match he has been wanting anyway. The Bruiser claims that it was Grizzly Smith that caused him to lose the third and deciding fall in last weeks U.S.

Tag Team Championship match to Chief Thundercloud and Billy Whitecould. MR. VRESTLING vs. BUCK ROBLEY Conventional mowers have coils, condensers and points to replace. NEW YORK (AP) Heartley "Hunk" Anderson, Paddy Driscoll and Ed Healey were among 11 college football stars of over a half-century ago who were named Sunday to the National Football Foundation's Hall of Fame in the Pioneer Category.

Special induction ceremonies are traditionally held on home campuses for the inductees, usually in conjunction with a major game in the fall. Also chosen by the Foundation's Honors Court were Bill Fincher, Don Lourie, Bob Eugene "Shorty" Miller, Dr. Mai Stevens, Ed Travis, Joe Utay and Col. Alex Weyand. Athletes who competed prior to 1927 are eligible in the Pioneer Category.

All of the inductees except Driscoll, Maxwell and Miller are living. Anderson was an Ail-American guard at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne in 1918-1921 and attained All-Pro recognition with the Chicago Bears. He later succeeded Rockne as coach at Notre Dame, and also coached at St. Louis, North Carolina State, Michigan, Cincinnati and "in the pro ranks with Detroit and Chicago. Driscoll was a triple-threat tailback at Northwestern in 1915-17 and for the Great Lakes Naval Station the following year.

He later coached at Marquette and starred for the Chicago Bears under George Halas. Healey, like Driscoll a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, played for Dartmouth in 1915-16 and was called by Walter Camp "the best tackle I ever saw." He was a five-time All-Pro with the Chicago Bears. Fincher, who played tackle and end for Georgia Tech in 1918-20, was one of the first Southerners chosen to Walter Camp's All-America team. Lourie was an outstanding back for Princeton in 1919-21, while Maxwell was a 257-pound All-American tackle who played for Chicago in 1904 and Swarthmore the following two years. Miller and Stevens were backs, Miller playing for Penn State 1910-13 and Stevens for Washburn 1918-20 and Yale 1923.

Travis was a standout tackle for Tarkio in 1916 and Missouri in 1917-20; Utay was a star back for Texas in 1905-07 and helped form the Southwest Conference, and Col. Weyand was an outstanding lineman at Army 1911-15 and later became a noted sports historian. Lawn-Boy Solid State Ignition has no moving parts. Solid State Ignition does it all. SIGFREID STANKE vs.

BRUCE AUSTIN Hockey Fights Stir Ire of President PHILADELPHIA (AP) Clarence Campbell, president of the National Hockey League, says he was "very angry" with the fights which marred the end of Thursday's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers. Snap-on grass bag. Pivoting grass bag support rod for close maneuvering. Lightweight Magnalite deck for easy handling. Extra quiet under-the-deck muffler.

Patented safety teatures. 1-year warranty. Plus- LADY WRESTLER SPECIAL EVENT! MISS TONI ROSE vs. MISS VICKY WILLIAMS Two top lady wrestlers tangl- jf if, if Kyle Rote Signs $15,000 Contract DALLAS (AP) -Kyle Rote son of a former Southern Methodist football great and himself a soccer superstar, reached agreement Satur-. day with the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League.

Rote, an SMU divinity student, led the league in scoring last season and was named Rookie of the Year. The agreement was announced at 4:30 a.m. after an all-night negotiating session ith Lamar Hunt, director of the club. Rote had said he was holding out for enough money to allow him to perform as a full-time professional soccer player. The year before, he had plaved for a reported $1,500.

Rote was said to be asking in the neighborhood of 15,000. Terms of the three-year contract ere not announced, but Rote said they were Gators Discover New Quarterback GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) When the Florida Gators took to the field Saturday for an intra-squad game to wind up spring football practice, coaches were hoping to find another quarterback to back up Don Gaffney. They might have in the person of Jimmy Fisher, a 6-1, ISO-pound sophomore from Tampa. Fisher lead the Blue team to a 21-20 victory over the Orange team by running in two touchdowns, hitting on five of seven passes for 104 yards and gaining 43 yards in 13 rushes while engineering several long drives.

"We were hoping one of our quarterbacks would play well," said assistant coach Don Breaux. "And I think Jimmy Fisher gained a lot of confidence and the respect of his teammates out there today. He threw some clutch passes and made some fine runs." We Have The Largest Staff of Trained Technicians in Cenla With Over 130 Years Combined Experience curred near the end of the game. Campbell declined to specify why he had come to Philadelphia, or say whether he had threatened suspensions or other sanctions if there are more fights Sunday. But Flyer general manager Keith Allen said no threats were made or possible suspensions discussed.

But Allen did say, "I guess he (Campbell) doesn't want any spillover into the next game. Ranger officials had criticized the officiating after the second game, won by the Flyers, and it as the Flyers' turn for criticizing officials after the third contest. "I was angry, very angry," said Campbell during a trip here Friday to talk to Flyer officials. "I was angry at the entire presentation. It injured the league's image in my opinion." Campbell was referring to the third game of the best-of-seven series, won by the Rangers 5-3 in New York.

The Flyers lead the series 2-1 with nationally televised fourth game scheduled Sunday afternoon in New York. The Flyers, who have a reputation around the NHL as a physical, brawling team, ended up with 108 penalty minutes in the game, including four misconduct penalties. Several fights oc We Have Our Own Complete Service Dept. See Cuz Odis or One of His Trained Technicians at UNITED ELECTRIC MAGNETO SERVICE, INC. ing in the special event here Tues- day Night in a Two Best of Three 1 Falls.

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