The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 37

SPORTS Friday, January 1, 1982 000 Angeles Sftmefi CCtPart III Jim Murray Some things Easier Said Than Done "ii i 2P Jmmmmmimmmmmmmmmggmim r-if 11 0 H. --ift yii oo lillifi $00 i' 1 2: rs -1 Lj Comes the Resolution. OK, come on in, 1982. Make yourself uncomfortable. We've got a lot of plans for you.

Also, ourselves. In this happy New Year, I resolve: 1 I will not beg Muhammad Ali to retire or shed tears over what might happen to him. -There's nobody out -there can hurt him. Larry Holmes caught him weak, overweight, slow and out of shape generally and couldn't put him down once in 11 rounds. not so sure he couldn't beat Gerry Cooney right today.

2 I'm not gonna blame Georgia Frontiere for what's wrong with the Rams. Football is a coaches' medium. If the coach is good, the team is good. And I'm a little bothered by a coach who gets down on players like Charle Young, Cullen Bryant and Fred Dryer for no apparent reason. 3 I'm not going to attack any city this year.

Not even Cleveland. 4 I'm not going to chastise John McEnroe anymore. Whatever is wrong with him is inherent, as much a part of him as his blue eyes. You might as well try to reform a shark. 5 1 am going to take up a collection for that tennis official who walked off the court.

Bravo for him! 6 I'm going to watch a half-time show all the way through this year. 7 I'm not going to write about ballplayers who refuse to talk to the press anymore. If ballplayers hadn't been talking to the press, getting publicity for their sport for over 90 years, these guys would all be driving coal trucks and couldn't get their names in the paper unless the brakes went out in an intersection. If they don't realize that they're getting a million bucks a year because of the media hype of their sport, they're too dumb to talk to anyway: Please see MURRAY, Page 13 Aaodated Prca Bo Schembechler, who won the battle of the clock before the game, loses his balance on a victory ride after the game as Bubba Paris (75) drops the Michigan coach to the turf. Schembechler Beats Clock and UCLA, 33-14 All the Excitement Comes Early as Michigan Coach Wins Argument in Bluebonnet Bowl Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler engaged in a little and silly battle of wills.

According to Donahue, everybody had agreed to a 25- By RICHARD HOFFER, Times Staff Writer HOUSTON The Bluebonnet Bowl people make a big thing of their game's tradition for wild finishes, booming the annual New Year's Eve match as "the nation's most exciting postseason game." As documentation, they provide this less than startling statistic in the bowl program: "Of the first 22 games played, 12 of the contests have gone to the wire." Thursday night's game didn't provide much of a finish, Michigan grinding out a last-minute touchdown for a 33-14 victory over UCLA in a game that wasn't even as close as that score suggested. But the beginning, of all things, was wild enough to keep the Bluebonnet people knee deep in promo fSchembochlor called 'rude, childish and Story on Page 3 The battle for No. 1 in Orange, Sugar and Cotton Bowls. Stories on Page 4. registered any offense at all.

It wasn't until the third quarter that they finally scored. "We couldn't seem to get untracked," Donahue said. "The quarterback had a cold hand, we had a lot of holding penalties football gets to be momentum, emotion, enthusiasm, a lot of things. When everything starts going wrong It keeps going wrong. UCLA did get a little bit untracked, but it was too late when they did.

Michigan, meanwhile, was enjoying a hot hand from its up-and-down sophomore quarterback, Steve Smith; a great game from its junior flanker, Anthony Carter, and another great game from its senior tailback, Butch Woolfolk. Please see BLUEBONNET, Page 9 Donahue suggested a compromise, the 25-second clock being lighted for UCLA, dark for Michigan. Schembechler stood fast A summit meeting at midfield, where the coaches were seen to get a little animated, was fruitless. Finally an official stepped in, saying he had a bowl game to get under way. There would be no 25-second clock, at least not in view of the 40,309 in the Astrodome.

Bo had beat the clock. "Intimidation," said Donahue later. "That's typical." But then things really began to go bad for UCLA, and they lost more than just the battle of the clock. The way the Bruins began, Donahue should have kept them inside the portals indefinitely. Even when they did take the field, it was hard to tell.

It was midway through the second quarter before UCLA had second clock at both ends of the Astrodome to keep track of the time it takes for a team to get off a play. Schembechler disputed this. Neither would let his team come out onto the -AstroTurf until the matter had been decided, in his favor, presumably. tional material for the next 22 years. It included a seven-minute delay, during which UCLA Coach Terry Donahue and Fcrcfi Wko'c Fabycy 200 TUNNEL SOW SEAT ENTER GATE Rose Is a Rose, Even With Iowa, Huskies and a Threat of Rain By BOB OATES, Times Staff Writer Iowa and Washington will play a different kind of Rose Bowl game at the old stadium in Pasadena today at 2 p.m.

This one won't be for the No. 1 ranking, as some of the others were in the 93 Tournaments of Roses. Nor will it showcase Heisman Trophy winners, or runners-up, or even runners-up to the runners-up. All it has is this: It is still the winners' bowl. The Rose Bowl remains the TccCxc32EnTovjn.

150 100 WCQiUUCOI. CUiH pivoHftWMU VI long tradition of matching Eastern and Western champions. 50 Fiesta Spotlight ft I 18 74 113 im IM KM nun 18 74 113 i IMMHiMMI pMLM IU 18 74 113 imi un 9 raow on i earns, Not Coaches 1 sTjattien 25 I 0 A II IU I 1 1 II I 18 74 113 18 74 113 jJJipllno 18 74 113 USC isn't here because it lost to Washington. The old Michigan familiars aren't here because they lost to Iowa, And the hard truth about both USC and Michigan is that, combined, their 1981 teams could score only one touchdown against Washington and Iowa. That's why they are not here.

Between them this season, Washington and Iowa belted no fewer than five other bowl teams. That's why they're here. And Pasadena is still the place to be on New Year's Day-and 104,000 are expected. In an uncharacteristically unfriendly gesture to Iowans, California is serving Washington weather this week. Those from Seattle waking up in Los Angeles can roll over and pretend they never left home.

However, the forecast says the rains likely will end New Year's morning with partial clearing in the afternoon. The predicted high temperature is around 60 degrees. So, this may not be the first rained-on Rose Bowl in a quarter century. STRATEGY Washington: This is a team rest-ings its hopes on defense, the kicking game and a timely touchdown or two. Operating from the I formation, the Huskies won the Pac-10 by running seven times on the average for every three passes.

Iowa: Also intrinsically a defensive team, Iowa differs drastically from Washington on offense in that it has the resources and imagination for wide-open football It won the Big 10 by going to the shotgun formation in its last three games as a basic fomationrfrequentlyrnot Just' on passing downs. In the I formation Please tee ROSE BOWL, Page 8 By MAL FLORENCE, Times Staff Writer TEMPE, Ariz. It is normal at news conferences to ask coaches to talk about their teams. But the focus here the past week has not been on USC and Penn State, opponents in today's Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Rather, the media has been more interested in rumors that either Penn State's Joe Paterno or USC's John Robinson will become the new head coach of the New England Patriots.

Paterno's name was more prominent earlier in the week, and he denied that he had been contacted by the Patriots. Then, becoming exasperated, he said he would answer no more questions on the subject. Then, it was reported that Robinson was possibly the No. 1 candidate for the job. The USC coach was put on the spot and Paterno, more relaxed, resumed cracking jokes.

When Robinson arrived late for a press conference, Paterno said: "Hey, John. What time did the plane get in from Boston?" Robinson confirmed that he has been sounded out for the New England job but emphasizd that he has not had serious discussions with the FRANK BURSINGER tnd JAMES FRANCAVK1A Loi AngatMTirmt Face value for a Rose Bowl ticket is $25, but scalpers have been charging as little as $65 and as much as $200 a ticket. a Really Hot Ticket Is Going for $200 By CHRIS BAKER, Timet Staff Writer Local interest may be light in today's 68th Rose Bowl football game, as a California team isn't playing, but ticket prices are up on the open market way up. "It's the toughest ticket in town," said one broker. "It's like trying to get a ticket to see Bruce Springsteen or the Rolling Stones." And scalpers, ticket brokers and tour operators have been doing good business after taking a beating on the 1981 Rose Bowl game.

Iowa fans, who haven't been to the Rose -Bowl since 1959, have come to the Southland midweek found that the cheapest ticket offered was $65 and it was high in the end "Last year there wasn't much of a demand because Michigan comes every year," said Joe, a ticket broker at the Tyson Agency. "But it seems like the whole state of Iowa is coming this year. I've never seen anything like this year." Even official Rose Bowl parking passes are a hot item. A member of the media was offered $20 for his Rose Bow! parking pass by-Please see SCALPERS, Pace 13 in force and apparently are willing to pay well for Rose Bowl tickets. Local ticket brokers, tour operators end scalpers have done Super Bowl-like business, with 50-yard line seats as high as $200 apiece, a $175 markup over the list price of $25.

A parade ticket is going for and they're hard to find. Face value of most parade tickets is $15-120. By comparison, a broker said, 50-yar i-line tickets for the 1980 Rose Bowl between USC and Ohio State went for about $150. "A reporter who phoned seven brokers in scuu uimrwnen uie Fiesta Bowl is over, he will listen to any offers and, if the situation is Please tee FIESTA, Page 14.