The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 18

16 SPORTS THE HOME NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1983 fpha JJ7 ft a 'J 1 i xV ill 1 1 ffH v. Qt v4 J. I Rodriguez thanks Holmes for chance SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) Instead of striking fierce poses, challenger Lucien Rodriguez thanked Larry Holmes with a bottle of champagne yes-i terday for a shot at the World Boxing Council heavyweight title in the city where Holmes began his career. I Rodriguez, the barrel-chested European champion and ninth-ranked WBC contender, will square off with Holmes Sunday in the Watres National Guard Armory, which seats about 6,800.

Holmes began his career here on March 21, 1973, with a triumph over Rodell Dupree. i Appearing at ease and confident, the champion told reporters that at that time, "My goal was to make some money and paythe rent." Later, in 1975, he said he decided "to see what would happen if I dedicated myself to boxing. I saw my potential." Now, "I'm glad I'm able to come back as a champion," said Holmes, who is from Easton, about 85 miles to the south. i Holmes said he gave Rodriguez a chance for the title because "I feel this man has worked hard in his career. He deserves a shot." I The undefeated champion has a fight upcoming against Tim Wither-spoon on May 20.

"I haven't underestimated Lucien Rodriguez," Holmes said. "He's a pro. He's been in the fight business a long time." Holmes, who has a 41-0 record, said he was tired of criticism that his challengers are not worthy. "Everybody I fight, they say, is not a good match, a good challenge," Holmes said. Rodriguez, a Parisian who speaks little English, is undefeated in his last 12 fights, enters his toughest challenge ever.

He has defended his European championship four times, including a June, 1982, decision over Alfredo Evangelista, who had previously handed him three of his seven career defeats. All of Evangelista's wins were by knockout. His camp says Rodriguez, 31, who has won 35 times with one draw, will use a "sneak right" to try to slip by Holmes in Sunday's nationally televised bout. Besides the right, his trainers say good conditioning and a solid, left hook are Rodriguez's principal attributes. Holmes said he will enter the fight a little heavier than usual because of the proximity of the Witherspoon bout.

He $aid he weighs 218 now. "I'll box the rest of 1983 and decide what I'm going to do then," said Holmes, who, at 33, has been contemplating retirement. "If I decide to stop, I'll go run my hotel and make it the best hotel in the world." Besides the hotel, Holmes owns a palatial home and a sporting goods store and a nightclub in Easton. Vi i The fight will be the first heavyweight title bout in Scranton, where championship fights in other weight classes have been held. The bout is being promoted Easton and Scranton interests, although promoter Don King appeared at the press conference.

King has promoted Holmes' previous title fights and also will promote the May 20 bout. Holmes has disputed with King recently, but the fighter shook King's hand and said, "There is no fight between Don King and NBA strike deadline still set for April 2 RIDE 'EM, COWBOY Chris Risoli gets ready for a hard landing during a bull-riding event in NIT nears New York By The Associated Press The National Invitation Tournament, the nation's oldest postseason playoff, has reached the quarterfinals and the teams are beginning to see the New York City skyline down the road. "We're in Newark, just across the bridge," said Ken Turner, Mississippi's assistant coach, after the Rebels advanced with a 65-57 victory over South Florida in one of eight NIT games played Monday night. But the road to Madison Square Garden, where the NIT finishes up, can be a difficult path. Just ask DePaul and Texas Christian, which squeezed into the third round with narrow two-point victories.

TCU edged Arizona State 78-76 and DePaul downed Northwestern 65-63. In other games, it was South Carolina 75, Virginia Tech 68; Fresno State 72, Michigan State 58; Wake Forest 65, South Florida 57; Nebraska 85, Iona 73; and Oregon State 88, New Orleans 71. NIT action resumes tomorrow night when TCU plays at Nebraska, Wake Forest goes against South Carolina at Greensboro, N.C., and Fresno State plays at Oregon State. On Friday night, Mississippi plays DePaul at Rosemont, 111. TCU figured it was in trouble against Arizona State when high scorer Darrell Browder fouled out with 9.52 to go.

Browder had 29 points and the Horned Frogs were nursing a narrow 60-59 lead. But with Browder gone, Doug Arnold picked up the slack, and finished with 26 as TCU hung on for the victory. Byron Scott scored 33 for Arizona State but missed the shot at the end that would have tied the score. "We wanted Byron to take the ball to the basket and he got a great shot off," said Sun Devil Coach Bob Weinhauer. "We'll take that 99 times out 100.

But it just wouldn't go in and we had at least two, maybe three other chances to tap it in and those wouldn't fall either. It was not to be for us." It was to be, however, for DePaul. forced into an impromptu last-second 35-foot shot that fell for Kenny Patterson. The plan formulated by Coach Ray Meyer, called for either Bernard Randolph or Tyrone Corbin to take the final shoit. "But they overloaded on both of them," explained Patterson.

"So they threw the ball back to me, figuring the worst it would be would be a tie." Instead, it was a victory. Iona Coach Pat Kennedy missed his team's loss to Nebraska. Kennedy had stayed at home Sunday when his wife gave birth to a son, and then was unable to make connections for a flight to the game Monday. Stan Cloudy's career-high 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists, beat the Gaels for the Cornhuskers. Oregon State used a tight defense to beat New Orleans.

"We knew they had not played against defensive pressure such as ours," said Coach Ralph Miller. "We disrupted tgheir offensive organization and we were able to parlay it out to the end for a very good win." A.C. Green's 18 points led five shooters in double figures for the winners. Mississippi scored 10 straight points midway through the first half to take control against South Florida. Carlos Clark scored 30 points and Ole Miss held Charlie Bradford, the NCAA's No.

2 scorer with a 28-point average, to just 16. "Ole Miss' defense was superb," said South Florida Coach Lee Rose. "They took away our fast break. We never could get a tempo going." Delaney Rudd scored 21 points, 15 in the second half, to move Wake Forest past Vanderbilt. He also held Phil Cox, the Commodores' leading scorer, to six point.

"This was probably our biggest win," said Rudd. "I think psychologically this will give us a big lift and allow us to get to New York and the NIT's final four." a 1981 rodeo in Houston. Bull riding: a tough way to make a living Risoli OCCUPATION: Rodeo performer SPECIALTY: Bull riding and bareback broncos SOUTH PLAINFIELD So why does a nice boy from New Jersey want to ride bulls and bucking broncos, you ask? It started when Chris Risoli was nine-years old and brother John who had become interested in the rodeo through relatives in Missouri took him to Woodstown, N.J., for a Saturday afternoon with the cowboys. Bob Knobelman NEW YORK (AP) Player union chief Larry Fleisher, after a second consecutive day of National Basketball Association contract negotiations, said last night he fprsees nothing that would make him consider extending the strike deadline beyond April 2. The two sides met for five hours yesterday and will meet again tomorrow, 10 days before the strike date.

Asked if the approach of the deadline meant that negotiations would be held more regularly than they had been since talks began last fall, Fleisher; said, "Unless somebody gets angry, I believe we will continue talking. But nothing has been decided past Thursday." Fleisher, in keeping with an agree what takes place at the meetings," said Alex Sachare, a public relations spokesman for the league. He again declined to say where yesterday's session had been held, other than that it was in New York. Asked if tomorrow's meeting would be in New York, Sachare replied, "No comment." Sachare said a meeting of the league's board of governors scheduled for. tomorrow in Chicago had been called off with no new date set.

Commissioner Larry O'Brien had been expected to brief the club owners on the talks' status at the meeting. O'Brien and David Stern, the league's executive vice president and chief negotiator, again headed management's bargaining team at the meeting. The Milwaukee Bucks' Junior Bridgeman, treasurer of the players' association, sat in on the negotiations. The league, maintaining that several teams are having financial problems, is attempting to put a ceiling on team salaries. The players have said the plan presented by the owners would curtail the right of free agents to move from team to team since clubs exceeding the salary cap would be barred from signing those who have played out their options with other franchises.

ment that neither side would discuss the content of negotiations, declined to say if there had been any progress in nearly 12 hours of talks this week. and kept on riding," Risoli said. The knee was operated on last December. 1980 broke right leg. "I stepped off and snapped the leg," Risoli explained.

"I was out two months." Assorted broken ribs collected along the way. How long does Risoli figure this will continue? "I want to do this as long as I feel healthy and can heal like I'm supposed to," he said. "I won't push my limit." And how do John and Diamond feel about the chosen occupation of their son? "John (the older brother who was on the circuit for a while) broke the ice for me," Risoli said. "My parents get nervous but they told me that if this is what I want to do, I should go ahead. They want me to be good at it.

Whenever I come home from the rodeo. Dad wants to know how much money I won. He wears one of my trophy buckles." Despite time lost to aches and pains, Risoli has pocketed $18,000 during each of the past two years. He performed in 70 rodeos last year and 90 in 1981. There are 650 professional rodeos in the United States each year and the top prizes range from $250 to $12,000.

The former wrestler for South Plainfield High School explained how he does what he does. "There's a loose rope around the bull. You wrap it around one hand and the grip holds the rope in place," Risoli said. "You try to get good position in the shoot and once the bull leaves the shoot it's action and reaction. You just try to keep one leg on one side, the other leg on the other side, and your butt in the middle." The object of the game is to stay put for eight seconds.

Then the rider is judged on how well he rode compared to how well the animal bucked. The top score is 100 and anything in the 70's is considered pretty good. Bareback is not quite as dangerous but is harder to learn and more skill is involved. The ultimate goal of a bull rider is to compete in the national rodeo finals. "It's the Super Bowl, the World Series," Risoli said.

"The top 15 in each event get to go." Risoli was ranked 42nd last year. He was first in the northeast circuit. Risoli has a healthy respect for the animals he rides. "Sometimes I get butterflies. I'll be a little jumpy when I get on my first bull (when the collar bone heals)." He'll spend the next few weeks in Tampa judging a rodeo but hopes to test the collar bone soon in Woodstown.

"I just want to get in some practice and see how it feels," Risoli said. He hopes to be back in competition by the end of April. He's looking for a sponsor for a competition he plans to enter at the end of April in Del Rio, Tex. "In return for $500 I'll give him half of what I win," Risoli said. "At first I just did this because my brother did it," Risoli said.

"Then I got to like it. It's you and the animal. You don't have to rely on anybody else. And I like to travel." He added, however, that no new proposals had been presented. "Ev erything we've talked about has been related to what's been brought up before," he said.

Fleisher indicated he was not pleased with the veil of secrecy thrown over the bargaining, commenting'Nothing can be gained Dy not talking. The policy agreed upon by the It wasn't long before the youngster was on the backs of yearlings and steers which didn't particularly like the idea that he was hanging on. "They're just as wild as bulls and broncos, just smaller." Risoli said. That nine-year-old has grown into a 22-year-old professional who travels throughout the United States in search of the bulls and broncos on whose backs he makes a living. Bull riding is generally considered the most dangerous event in the rodeo.

It's the main event and is usually last on the program. During one stretch last summer Risoli plied his trade in Greeley, Dickinson, N.D., Mobridge, S.D., back to Kildeer, N.D., then back to Belle Fourche, S.D. And that was all in three days. "I usually fly to the first one and then catch rides from there," Risoli said of his lifestyle. "I look for the cheapest way possible." But right now Chris is living with parents John and Diamond Risoli at 212 Easton Blvd.

He's licking a wound. The average bull weighs in at 1,600 to 1,800 pounds and earlier this year one of the beasts stepped on Risoli's chest, cracking the collar bone. It happened in Fort Worth, and sometime before the accident this particular bull had been honored as "bull of the year" by the cowboys. Bulls don't achieve such recognition for kindness and sportsmanship. "It spinned, threw me to the outside, and the next thing I knew his front feet were on my chest," Risoli said.

If Risoli knows about bulls and broncos, he also knows about injuries. This most recent is just the latest in a series. The chronology goes something like this: October, 1981 injured left knee. It happened in Kentucky and Risoli tore the cartilege in his left knee because he was favoring his right foot as he dismounted. The reason he favored his right foot was because he had broken that a few weeks earlier.

"I just taped the knee parties is to make no comment on 3 sfym Princeton stickmen take easy 17-5 victory LANCASTER. Pa. Gerrv Ro- non, Bob Flippin, and Mike Wiec-zorek scored three goals apiece yesterday to carrv Princeton to its first 01' Chuck Kontulis, Paul Hollis, Bruce Gehkre, and Paul Faber tallied a goal apiece for Princeton, which bombarded with 47 shots. Princeton will go for its second win of the seison against traditional national power Johns Hopkins Saturday in Baltimore. The Tigers meet Navy at home the following lacrosse victory of the season, a 17-5 rout of Franklin Marshall.

Both teams are now 1-1. The Tigers also eot two eoals each 'rom David Chane and Charlie Managed by Ethel Milazzo A Full Service Beauty Salon 776 Route 1 Carolier Lanes Mall North Brunswick Stillwell, who notched the game-winner at 7:18 of the first period while the visitors were a man up. Stillwell also recorded four assists, while Ronon chalked ud three and Princeton Franklin Marshall 734317 1 112 246-1242 Princeton goals: Ronon 3. Flippin 3. Wiec-jprek 3.

Stillwell 2. Chang 2. Kntulis. HoUis. Gehkre.

and Faber. Franklin Marshall goals: Bidstnjp 2, Mucci, Schaller. Oille; pie. Flippin a pair. Gerulaitis cleared by grand jury NfUI vrDV Tii NEW YORK (API Tennis nrn Vitas 'We are obviouslv delighted with he hnt Inm GARFIELD the cat is the star of "GARFIELD," but you'll enjoy Odie and Jon also.

If you like cats, you'll love GARFIELD. If you hate cats, you'll really love GARFIELD because he's the kind of cat that cat-haters love rflVW WITH THIS AP to hate! CATCH ME Every Week on the Most domestic and imported car I Adjust bands linkage Replace pan gasket fluid where pallcaUe I Road test I Remove pan Visual inspection Clean sump screen BACK PAGE laitis, dogged for months by allegations that he had agreed to purchase $20,000 worth of cocaine, has been cleared by a federal grand jury, prosecutors said yesterday. After a year-long probe, U.S. Attorney John S. Martin Jr.

said no charges would be filed against Gerulaitis, who is renowned both for his tennis he is currently ranked fifth in the world and for his jet-setting lifestyle. Martin said he would not press misdemeanor charges, though he could do so without an indictment. And he said the grand jury action marked the end of the Gerulaitis investigation. "I'm just happy it's ended," Gerulaitis told reporters, via a telephone hookup between the office of his lawyer, Thomas Puccio, and Milan, Italy, where he was waiting to play his first-round match in the Cuore Cup tournament. "I know that both sides did what they both felt was correct and just," Gerulaitis said.

"I'm just happy with the result." Gerulaitis said his family was "greatly relieved" at the outcome of the investigation, though he said he always believed he would be exonerated. line," said Puccio. Martin's office rarely comments on the actions of a grand jury that does not indict. But he said he felt he had to make the jury action public because of the publicity the case had received. At one point in February, Gerulaitis held a news conference to protest his innocence, though he said he believed he would be indicted.

But Martin said yesterday that the grand jury "found a lack of sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Mr; Gerulaitis with respect to allegations involving a cocaine transaction engaged in by Tony Coble, an acquaintence of Mr. Gerulaitis." f- Goble, 36, was convicted last Sept 2 of conspiracy to buy a share of synthetic cocaine from federal undercover agents, i According to testimony and taped conversations introduced as evidence in that trial, the federal agents spread the word that they were willing to sell high-quality pharmaceutical cocaine at low prices. Two California drug dealers, Richard Purvis and Matthew Spur, Hew in to make a $100,000 deal. They brought along Goble, who said he made his living playing backgammon. of the COMICS SECTION Only in Remember this is a preventative maintenance service It you already have transmission problems, ask about our other reliable services I TRANSMISSION tlNCt 1962 'iho MM OTS Homo 600 Jersey Ave.

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