Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 56

10C ST. PETERSBURG TIMES FRIDAY, MAY 4. 1984 Bulls on rocks, but not marriage with Jacksonville By JOHN LUTTERMOSER St. Peiertburj Timet Sleft Writer 'When I took the job I was fully prepared to Jn ts. vlf take a team on the field and be out there in i I front of 15,000 to 20,000 people says Bulls coach Lindy Infante, who has been 90rSs i pleasantly surprised by big turnouts.

That has happened twice on the road, but the smallest home crowd the Bulls have had is 35,084 for the San Antonio game. Those people were not entertained. "We played our worst ballgame against San Antonio, Infante said. "We got exactly what we deserved in that ballgame." "If I'd sat out in the stands, I might have booed a little bit, too," Cash said. "The fans got restless.

We were all disgusted." And out of the ashes of a shutout, a star was born. "We reacted to that," Cash said. "We created a mythical character that we call Ralph 'Hang In There' Harris. Ralph has been an advertising spokesman for the team." Ralph is portrayed in newspaper and television ads by a sincere and somewhat round fellow who Cash describes as "just a character that was a friend of our ad guy." This character, with the team's enthusiastic blessing, responded to the San Antonio fiasco by camping in the Gator Bowl and announcing that he would sleep on the field until the Bulls broke their losing streak. The Memphis win got him off the hook early.

Rnlnh nfmiiruA ia iiiBt nn extension of the idea that the The Jacksonville Bulls set a USFL attendance record in their second week of existence, drawing 73,227 for a game against Herschel Walker and the New Jersey Generals. The record still stands. But it's not the most impressive crowd the Bulls have drawn. Seven weeks later, the novelty had worn off and the Bulls were 2-6. They had lost three in a row, including an embarrassing 20-0 game with San Antonio (also 2-6), and they were playing Memphis (guess what, 2-6).

The score was Jacksonville 12, Memphis 10. The attendance was 36,256, the second-biggest USFL crowd of the week. Surprise? "Well, really not at all, to tell you the truth," said Bulls president Billy Cash. "We've got a good, strong season-ticket holder base of 23,000 now. We've got a tremendous amount of support here." Now the Bulls have two wins in a row to improve their record to 4-6.

They are fourth in the Southern Division, but lead the league in attendance with an average of 47,661. Saturday, the Bulls play the Tampa Bay Bandits in the Gator Bowl, and a Bulls spokesman said Thursday that 52,000 tickets had already been sold. The conservative attendance estimate is 65,000, but Cash isn't being conservative. "We should have another record this week," he said. Of course, he means if the weather's good, right? fans and the team are partners in the "good marriage" Cash speaks of.

Rumors of possible polygamy don't faze him. There have been reports that the New Orleans Saints might relocate in Jacksonville, but Saints officials denied that this week and Cash said he doesn't believe it. "We really haven't been affected by it at all yet," he said. "It's possible that if it ever came to fruition we could be affected by it, but I don't really think it's going to happen." "The Bulls only play in good weather," Cash deadpan-ned, adding with a chuckle that so far that's been true. "You talk about being lucky Cash said Bulls management has urged its fans "to treat our love affair with Jacksonville like a good marriage, which means not to have unreasonable expectations." Maybe it wouldn't work in Chicago or Los Angeles, but neither has the USFL.

In Jacksonville, it has worked and produced pleasant surprises for everyone involved. Head coach Lindy Infante, whose last job was offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, said he came without any unreasonable expectations. "When I took the job I was fully prepared to take a team on the field and be out there in front of 15,000 to 20,000 people," Infante said. Giles from 1-C Foiled again Sports Time's brief Suncoast visit was mistake SPORTS ON THE AIR "A lot of times, when you're not dealing with people directly, there's the possibility of being misunderstood," he said. "In the process, a lot can get lost.

I'm not going to deny that I asked to be traded. But things change. I was a little disgruntled after the season. But after analyzing things, I changed the way I was thinking." Giles actually had few options if the Bucs chose not to trade him. He owed the club another year on his contract and could not have earned free agent's status without fulfilling the obligation.

With strong ties to the area, including his business, Jimmie Giles Limousine Service, he opted for compromise rather than confrontation. Giles' outlook appears remarkably upbeat now. He said no bad blood exists between himself and McKay. He has been working out since January with new strength coach Joe Diange and feels optimistic about the coming season. "I want to emphasize that everybody is really enthusiastic," he said.

"We've got a good football team and we're going to have a good season." BUC NOTES: Tampa Bay Buc season tickets will be on sale at area Maas Brothers stores through June 30. In the past, they were only available at One Buc Place in Tampa Defensive end Lee Roy Selmon will lead the Florida Orchestra Sunday in a rousing rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever. The time: 4:30 p.m. The place: Tampa's Horizon Park. Just last Thursday, Childers said all negotiations with the Bucs had ceased.

"They said they did not want to negotiate," he said. "Jimmie has asked for a trade and we are under the assumption that they will trade him." The Bucs reportedly perused the NFL market for Giles prior to the May 1 draft, but were unable to find any team that would trade a No. 1 pick in return for the 29-year-old receiver. McKay simply maintained that he wanted Giles on the team in '84. And despite the trade talk, Giles gradually decided that he wanted the same thing.

Last Friday, he met one-on-one with owner Hugh Culverhouse. The two met again Monday and agreed upon a new contract. Terms were not disclosed by the club or Giles, who reportedly had been seeking to at least double his $250,000 salary. "Mr. Culverhouse and I sat down and talked and hashed everything out," Giles said.

"I appreciate the fact that they (the club) considered it important enough for me to talk to him. I'm very satisfied with the contract. If I hadn't been, I'm sure they would have traded me, because they don't want any unhappy people here." Giles felt the trade demand was blown out of proportion, which is why he asked last week to meet personally with Culverhouse. Normally, assistant to the president Phil Krueger handles player negotiations. noGEn FISCHER Ami-freeze Transmission Radiator hose Tune-up Shock Absorber Air Fillers Batteries 1495 Belleair Road (cornw Beflfciir Highldn-i) PABVVATER TfflEO TLbb" SERVICE CENTER 585 9275 iiiiin OPEN MON -FRI.

8 5 SATURDAY 8-6 Jhi TENT; CO SALE! SPECIAL ONE WEEK ONLY TIRE SALE! ENDS SAT. 5 P.M. It looked a little too good The Reds and Giants Friday night, the Cardinals and Pirates on Saturday. Then, they told us, we'd see the White Sox play the Yankees both Monday and Tuesday nights. It never got that far.

Too good to be true? Precisely. It's not time for Sports Time yet, at least on the Suncoast. It was by error that two cable systems serving Pinellas County, Group and Vision, had the new sports service on their respective financial news channels last weekend and early this week. Sports Time, from St. Louis, came through on Group W's Channel in St.

Petersburg and on Vision's Channel 49 in Pinellas County. Group W's David Dea and Vision's Tom Cruden, local general managers, said Sports Time sneaked onto their systems by error. And it wasn't their fault. Sports Time, the majority of which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, is in its fifth week of existence and has had similar experiences in other states, according to spokesman Jerry Lovelace. "We share a transponder with the Financial News Network and, at times, our signal has been carried on systems that are outside of our region, after FNN goes off the air," Lovelace said Thursday.

The key word here is "region." Sports Time, Lovelace stressed, is a regional network that serves at least parts of 15 states, Iowa being its boundary on the north, Tennessee on the South, West Virginia east and Colorado west. "At the present, we are not interested in Florida," he said, noting that, contractually, only NBC is permitted to have a national television agreement with Major League Baseball. What Sports Time does is cover the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Cincinnati Reds, all of which are located in its current, contiguous region. Recently, through an agreement with Sports Vision of Chicago, Sports Time has added the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians.

Chances are, Sports Time won't show up here for quite a while, if ever. It's quite unlikely it even would expand into Georgia, whose Atlanta Braves already have a cable network. We're victims of geography. You pay for what you get ABC must be relieved the ante wasn't raised for United States Football League television rights. Last week, it was reported that the network is shelling out only $18-million to renew the USFL for next season.

That reversed all rumors that ratings for the USFL were way, way up and the cost of rights would rise commensurately, despite ABC's fixed option on the deal. Now come the numbers. Last Sunday's USFL regional coverage rated a flimsy 4.5 (13 share) to finish fourth among televised sports events. CBS's NBA playoff games chalked up a 5.7 (18) for the first game and 5.3 (14) for the second. NBC's Legends of Golf final round got a 4.6 (13).

A 6.0 is what the USFL and ABC consider a success. What you can't see so often is better when keeping up with electronic sports coverage on the Suncoast: Area radio stations, among them WPLP, WSUN and WDAE, had live and on-the-scene coverage of this past Tuesday's National Football League draft from Bucs headquarters. WSUN's Kevin Miller and WDAE's Mark Champion provided their listeners with reports, while WPLP's Jim Louk and Nanci Donnellan worked the morning and afternoon shifts, respectively, often breaking into the station's talk programing for updates that were very helpful to sports fans. Louk-Donnellan then interviewed Tampa Bay pick Fred Acorn on the evening sports talk show. A memorable interview about memorable subjects was heard on Tedd Wedd's WFLA Sports Huddle last Friday evening.

Webb invited Mel Allen, the renowned "Voice of the New York Yankees," for a short visit that quickly became a half hour of listening, especially for those who have spent any time following the Yankees from the '20s to the '60s. Webb, like the rest of us, just listened while Allen expounded, without much prompting, on Ruth, Gehrig, Stengel, Mantle and Maris. Allen, Webb noted, is an unusually fortunate person to have shared in some of baseball's greatest moments during the generations-long Yankee dynasty. Allen, fired by the Yankees after the 1964 Goodyear FaouBrand A ForVW whitewall 5" St86lRadial N0W 5Q884r World Series, announces their games for Sportschannel in New York in addition to narrating the weekly This Week in Baseball program. Webb invited him back to a future program.

Upcoming highlights and announcers, subject to change, are supplied by stations and networks. Events are rated for the casual viewer who has no bias toward any particular sport. Ratings are: Mandatory. Recommended. Good for general audiences.

Good for diehard followers only. Good for nothing. Saturday 1:15 p.m. GE BASEBALL Dodgers vs. Pirates Announcers: Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola Little wonder that Scully would be sent to a Dodgers game since that's the team he covers all year.

Site is Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, where the hapless Pirates haven't been drawing many spectators. Other regional telecast is White Sox-Red Sox at Boston with Bob Costas and Tony Kubek. 2 p.m. NBA PLAYOFF Bucks vs. Nets Announcers: Frank Glieber, James Brown Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals comes from Brendon Byrne-Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., home of the surprising Nets.

4 p.m. GB GOLF Tournament of Champions Announcers: Charlie Jones, Lee Trevino, John Brodie, Jay Randolph, Bob Goalby Coverage of third round from La Costa Country Club in Carlsbad, Calif. Jones is NBC's choice for host once Vin Scully becomes unavailable during the baseball season. Trevino lends a shot of life to this otherwise bland crew of weekend hackers. He's the only one besides Goalby whose expertise is golf.

Brodie, an ex-quarterback, repeatedly attempts to impress listeners with his knowledge of technical lingo, a real turnoff that's not a bad idea, either. Returns for final round at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 4:30 p.m. ffl HORSE RACING Kentucky Derby tttSt Announcers: Jim McKay, Howard Cosell, Jack Whitaker, Bill Hartack, Mike Bartaglia ABC has its triumvirate of the senior sports announcers in the country, McKay-Cosell-Whitaker, at Churchill Downs for the 1 10th running.

Hartack is the expert analyst and Battaglia the track announcer, who will call the race for TV. Twenty-one cameras also will do their best to bring it home Those on the go might lend an ear to CBS Radio's coverage from 5- p.m. on WPLP-570. Sunday lp.m. NBA PLAYOFF Celtics vs.

Knicks titi Announcers: Dick Stockton, Tom Heinsohn Watch as the Celtics try, maybe, to make it four in a row over New York in the other Eastern Conference semifinal. The sweep idea, of course, depends on what Boston does in tonight's game at New York. The Celts currently lead the series 2-0. 2:30 p.m. USFL FOOTBALL Stars vs.

Stallions i Announcers: Keith Jackson, Lynn Swann, Mike Adamle This game, which was moved from Friday for telecast purposes, matches the two division leaders of the USFL's Eastern Conference. Atlantic Conference-leader Philadelphia is 9-1 while Birmingham, best in the Southern, is 9-1, two games ahead of the Tampa Bay Bandits. You might recognize the name of Adamle, former co-co-co-co-host of NBC's NFL studio shows who recently left NBC to become sports anchor for Chicago's ABC affiliate, WLS-TV. At NBC, Adamle wanted to work on game coverage and was rejected; with ABC, he gets that chance as sideline reporter. I don't think that is quite what he was hoping for Other regional telecasts: Oklahoma-New Jersey and Houston-Michigan.

ABC wisely sends a New Jersey game into the New York metro area whenever available since the home team, especially when if winning, is about all New Yorkers care to see. So far the Generals have been televised by ABC nine weeks out of 1 1. 3:30 p.m. NBA PLAYOFF Lakers vs. Mavericks Announcers: Brent Musberger, Kevin Loughery Going into tonight's action, Los Angeles led the series 2-0, well on its way to ending Dallas' dream excursion into the NBA playoffs.

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Rotate 4 tires. 88 I I 88 4 14 Most Cars Most Cars i Coupon Expires 5584 I Coupon Expires 5584 1 Logan I 7hEa7y "MO NROE-'SfflC SHOCK ABSORBERS from 1-C AIR CONDITIONING SPECIAL I I I 8 Includes recharge system, up to 1 lb. 83 5S I I 1 I Most FrWi, check for! Cars leaks. Installed Most Cars Coupon Expires 5584 NOTE: Additional repairs if needed are extra Coupon Expires 5584 "I'm still a Buccaneer," Logan said. "I have to continue talking to the organization.

And a decision on my part has to be made in the near future." The Gamblers, tied for their division lead with a 6-4 record, have eight games remaining and have no limit on when they can add another player. The current Houston nose tackle is former Seminole High and University of Miami standout Tony Fitzpatrick. "I don't think they'd expect me to play this week," Logan said, "but I think they want me for the stretch, maybe as soon as a week." If he signs with the Bucs, Logan wouldn't be required to report to the team until the May 25 mini-camp. He hopes to reach a decisioh within a week and readily admits, "it's going to be a tough one." ESI H9 RE RS ESI ISI H9 I "We'd love to have a Dave Logan or a Hugh Green," Argovitz said. "Hugh's a personal friend.

He's just going to come down and watch a game." Logan worked out on his own at Gambler practice sessions and then flew home to Pittsburgh to ponder his future. Losing Logan would represent a major blow to the three-man Buc defensive line, which also features defensive ends Lee Roy Selmon and John Cannon. Tampa Bay has only two other nose tackles available at the moment. Brad White has seen little action in three seasons with the team and Tony Chickillo, drafted out of Miami last year, spent the entire season on injured reserve. to Air conditioning senile Radiator hose Tune-up Air conditioning service Rad lalor hose.