Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 50

i 4 -i i i i 2 Section 4 Chlcaqo Tribune, Tuesday. November 9. 1976 'NK BLOT ON ALL COP IES faack, but no Hawks TVhockey 1 3 Gary Deeb TV-Radio critic 1 i j.j "Dristan" Albert, the New York sportscaster whose nasal voice and forced delivery gave many viewersthis one included an Ex- cedrin headache during the last year's play- offs. Albert, who has become an enthusiastic shill for the NHL, evidently has parlayed his brown-nosing into a lucrative assignment. His color sidekick each week will be picked from among the broadcasters of the two competing teams, FOR PROFESSIONAL delivery, hockey and "understandablllty," the NHL could have chosen many other play-by-play JJ men-like Dan Kelly of St.

Louis, Boston's Bob Wilson, and Buffalo Sabre voice Ted Darling. Ah, well mark down the signing of Albert as a minor aggravation. Even a stuffed-up nose and an oppresive New York accent won't spoil Monday nights for us hockey con- noisseurs. 3 3 i i it Feb. 7 Toronto at Buffalo.

Feb. 14-St, Louis at Philadelphia. Feb. 21-Atlanta at Montreal March 7 Toronto at Philadelphia. March 14 To be annotmced.

March 21 Montreal atBoston. March 23 Montreal at Detroit. The only telecast missing from the Channel 44 lineup is the Feb. 28 game between the Cleveland Barcns and St. Louis Blues, which is likely to be a Sominex special anyway.

The station has a previous "ommitment to carry a college basketball game that night. You also may have noticed that the Black Hawks, even hopefully with Bobby Orr, are not among the NHL's Monday night TV attractions. That gives you an idea of the yawn-provoking status the Hawks have achieved elsewhere around the league. EVEN CHANNEL 44 bossman Morris partially agrees with that all due respect to the Hawks," he says, "I think this Monday night package gives the fans a much better look at the league's top teams than any schedule of Hawk road games possibly could. I'm personally delighted with the matchups." But the "Monday Night Game of the Week" does sport one annoying drawback: The play-by-play announcer will be Mar THOSE LONG, lonely nights for Chicago television hockey fans are coming to an end.

No, the crippled Black Hawks still haven't browbeaten a local station into picking up their games. But WSNS-TV Channel 44 just sealed a deal with the National Hockey League to televise a "Monday Night Game of the Week" beginning Jan. 3 and running through the end of the regular season. The independent UHF channel also probably will be Chicago's outlet for the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring. Thus, Channel 44, which lost Chicago Bull basketball to WGN-TV Channel 9 this season, continues its heavy accent on sports and hopes to take advantage of the huge void plaguing local hockey freaks.

"WITH THE BLACK Hawks off TV for the first time in years, there are a lot of unhappy fans in this town," reasons Ed Morris, General Manager of Channel 44. "In fact, if the Hawks were being carried, on local TV, I don't honestly know if we would have signed for this package." The Monday night TV games are an outgrowth of last season's successful Stanley Cup playoff network. Unlike the NHL's ill-fated previous contract with NBC, this new hookup is owned and operated by the league itself. The NHL distributes the prime-time TV games on a city-by-city basis. But Instead of paying for the rights, the stations get the games for free.

NATURALLY, THERE'S a catch: The NHL gets to sell most of the commercial time itself, a provision that could wind up rather profitably for the league. The TV games will hit the air at 7 p. m. each Monday. Not surprisingly, the video roster favors the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens, who are slated for at least five telecasts, and the Philadelphia Flyers, penciled in for four.

The full schedule: Jan. 3 Philadelphia at Montreal. Jan. io Philadelphia at New York Islanders. Jan.

17 Montreal at Boston. Jan. 25 Tuesday NHL All-Star Game at Vancouver. Jan. 31 Toronto at Atlanta.

UPI Telepftoto Hawks' John Marks (right) and Grant Mulvey trying to tie up Rockies' Simon Nolet Sunday night during 3-2 Colorado victory. SPORTSBRIEFS: NBC Sports and baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn take fierce excep- tl tion to this column's charge that they delib- erately played down and refused to comment on the slob antics of many New York Yankee fans during the final two telecasts of the World Series Says Kuhn: "It's not true." Says NBC: "You're totally wrong." I believe you, fellas. I also have great faith in the Easter Bunny. Jimmy Piersall, fired as a scout by the 5 Texas Rangers, could wind up in Chicago as the permanent partner to Harry Caray and Lorn Brown in the White Sox; TV-radio booth. And Johnny "Red" Kerr is Brown's color sidekick on those Btlltasket- ball telecasts over Channel 9.

Rota latest sick Hawk; out 3 weeks Orantes wins in Stockholm 4 4" third in this Grand Prix event behind Jimmy jit vd STOCKHOLM API Manuel Orantes took advantage of a sudden collapse by Kjell Johansson in the first set and went on to whip the unseeded Swede 7-5, 6-0 in the first round of the $150,000 Stockholm Open tennis tournament Monday. The 27-year-old Spanish left hander, seeded Connors and Bjorn Borg, came from 2-5 to take the first set, winning the last four games at love. Orantes made it 3-5 on his fourth break point with a pin-point passing shot and then ripped off 16 straight points. mw.Tif:':';v.:iilS -TOW i i wiw I fraW 'TIRES ALL VALUE PRICED! By Neil Milbert ON MONDAY morning the morning after the latest in a series of very bad nights the Black Hawks assembled in Chicago Stadium to pose for their official team picture. But is a team picture really necessary? The way things have been going, wouldn't a pop-art motif convey a more meaningful impression of the life and times of Team Chicago 1976-77? Certainly, pop artist Andy Warhol would find a better way to portray our one-time secretary of state Paul Powell than by drawing a picture.

Warhol would likely hang up a shoebox and say "that's Paul Powell." SO IT SHOULD be with Chicago's battered and broken-down hockey team who learned Monday that forward Darcy Rota Will miss at least three weeks because of an ailing knee. Wouldn't a massive pile of cartilage and surgical hardware conjure up a more accurate vision than a smiling portrait of what Bobby Orr has to go through to play hockey? How about came crutches and a cast to depict Chicago's other wounded-kneed warrior, Stan Mikita? And maybe a tangle of silver wires to portray for posterity the broken-jawed Keith Magnuson of November, 1976? NOW FOR some essential finishing touches: mounds of bandages jars of liniment piled up like canned goods on a grocery shelf and a battery of whirlpool baths, preferably perpetually in motion. There you have it. The team picture of the Black Hawks in black For living color, merely add generous portions of blood-red and black-and-blue. ROTA, THE TEAM'S third-leading point producer, sustained the injury in a collision with teammate Grant Mulvey during the first period of Sunday night's 3-2 loss to Colorado.

Originally it was thought that the injury was minor, but the left knee swelled suddenly Monday afternoon, and after an examination, the team doctor dictated the layoff. Adding insult to the seeming Infinity of injuries is the fact that the Hawks are floundering badly and the Chicago Stadium customers are very unsympathetic. Coach Billy Reay's team will go into Wednesday night's home encounter with Philadelphia with a three-game losing streak, and the fact that the Invading group pummeled them in Philly a few weeks back isn't very therapeutic. SINCE THIS is the second time the Smythe Division's favorite sons have found themselves in a' three-game depression, the question arises: Have the Hawks fallen into the same rut? "I'm trying my best to forget about that other horror show," confessed defenseman Phil Russell. "We've all got to forget everything that has happened and take It one at a time from now on.

ALL GUARANTEED! Snow, Or We Pay The Tow!" a) i 1 Vm i nr In IUU JkJ II I I I tit Popular Priced Winter Traction General Winter Cleat Shop and Compare AP Wlrepholo Hawk goalie Tony Esposito and Colorado's Don Cairnes peering intently at puck as it skitter's behind net. "Sure, now we've been getting some powerplay goals without Bobby Orr. it wa3 nice getting two in Sunday night's 3-2 loss to Denver, but against a team like that you should be able to do a lot more than rely on powerplay goals." TRYING TO BRING out the best in his band with the virtuosos missing, Reay has apparently decided to give the best of the rest the maximum of playing time even if it means juggling lines and positions. A prime example is John Marks, the big left wing who was playing the part of a defenseman for the first time this year against Denver. "I played defenseman all through college arid I did it a few times last season," Marks said.

"But I haven't even practiced as a defenseman this year. It's just a case of getting my confidence back and thinking like a defenseman. "I think there are three key things a defenseman has to do: 1, move the puck up to ths wings and be strong on the puck; 2, stand up to the guy' who is coming at you with the puck and force him to do something; 3, turn and drop back to protect." Protection is paramount. Just ask goalie Tony Esposito. He's the only Hawk star still physically sound.

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SAVE $8 00 OFF OUR BEGUUR LOW PRICE ON ANY DELCO ENERGIZER E-3000 OR E-5000 SERIES BATTERY (EXCHANGE UNIT ftEOUIREDI Delco Batteries can help give you sure starts every time! They're designed to provide the power you need When you need it: with Norm Van Lier on a regular basis. "THERE'S A POSSIBILITY we'll do something that could involve more than one player coming here," Badger said. "We've talked to a lot of teams. A couple of quality guards are available, but a lack of a first-round draft choice hurts us." Badger said the Bulls were interested in Jim Price, dealt Milwaukee to Buffalo for a No. 1 pick last week, "but we didn't have anything the Bucks, wanted." Tom Kropp, who was burned by Denver's David Thompson, ia slated for another starting shot against Houston's tough Mike Newlin.

The Rockets have plenty of quickness to complement Newlin In Calvin "Kayo" Murphy and No. 1 draftee John Lucas. "I SAW HOUSTON shoot 51 per cent the other night and lose," said Badger. "If we shoot 51 per cent, we're gonna bronze the game ball." The Bulls' anemic 37 per cent mark is not their only problem. This is a team in search of an Identity.

Their fast-break Is still a figment of Badger's Imagination, and they haven't been able to run a set offense fluldly around Artis Gilmore. "What I thought was our strongest position has become our biggest problem," said Badger, referring to the Inconsistency at forward. "THE ADJUSTMENT to GUtnore lit the low post has been more difficult than I thought it would We're trying to get more movement from our front line. "When they get the ball to the big guy, they have a tendency to watch him. They should be working for rebounding position and setting screens to get open bo he can kick It out to them for good shots.

"We were badly outrebounded in our last two games. If you can't rebound, you can't break," Badger said. By Ed Stone IT'S BUSINESS AS usual for Bulls' cjacli Ed Badger. He's trying to trade for a starting guard while contemplating the loss of a starting forward for Tuesday night's Stadium match with the Houston Rockets. "I don't know if I'll be able to play," said Bob Love after missing Monday's practice.

He irritated the ball of his left foot so severely last week that inffamation developed. Adding to the Bulls' numerous other misadventures during their four-game losing streak, Love bruised the foot when he changed to hard-soled sneakers and forgot to wear an extra pair of socks. "IT REALLY SWELLED up after the last game," he said. "I could hardly walk. The doctor gave me some pills for the pain and the but it still hurts when I put my foot down." If Love isn't ready, "I'll have to start Cliff Pondex-ter," said Badger.

That could help the rebounding against big front line bolstered by Moses Malone, but it's not exactly a remedy for the offensive ills of the gang that can't shoot straight. fhe only other forwards behind Mickey Johnson are Erie Fernsten and rookie swing man Keith Starr. But at least Scott May's Nov. 21 return is still a possibility. AFTER A MEDICAL exam Monday showed his spleen was back to normal, May was given the go-ahead to engage in full-scale workouts with the Bulls when they return from a Wednesday TV game In Philadelphia against Dr.

i and the 76ers. Jack Marin, scheduled for an early December return to the lineup, has started the light workouts. But Jerry Sloan "still has some pain" in his knee and will stay off it for another week, said Dr. David Bachman. With doubts growing about a comeback by Sloan, Badger is seeking a deal for a guard who can team Most American Compacts S00 SAVE OFFER EXPIRES NOVEMBER 30, 1976 Disc Brakes Extra This Week Only! Rain Supply ot torn! lt or Unit run ihort during IMi vtnl.

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