The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 27

The Boston Globe Monday. December 16. 1968 27 iiiiiiiiiintiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii innnii Bruins' Johnston Wears New Face-Thanks to Norwood Expert By MARVIN PAVE Bruins' goaltender Ed Johnston is sporting a new face mask today, thanks to Norwood resident Ernie Higgins, whose clientele in the net-minding ranks ranges from Gerry Cheevers and Johnston of the Bruins to Boston University goalie Jimmy McCann. Johnston, who was injured in Detroit earlier this season, has worn a Higgins-designed mask before. So has Cheevers, who found out about Higgins' "hobby" from Providence Reds' goalie Ross Brooks.

Eddie was struck by a practice shot in Detroit earlier this season and suffered a severe concussion. The Bruins management, and Johnston, felt the regular goalie's mask would be inadequate to protect the injured area (around right ear), and Higgins, whose son Neil tended goal for Norwood High (1965-68), was called upon once again. "Before I took a mold of Johnston's head, I wanted to make sure such a mask would be practical," said Higgins. So he contacted Jack Kelley, B.U.'s hockey coach, and asked if McCann a family acquaintance from Dedham, would be willing to donate his features while Johnston was recuperating. McCann consented, and the experiment was a success.

Jimmy still wears the finished product at all B.U. practices. The new-style mask covers the ears, hooks under the chin, and can protect as much area above the forehead as the wearer desires. Then came Johnston's turn, and with team physician Dr. Ronald Adams and trainer Dan Canney on hand for supervision and suggestions, Higgins took the mold.

He brought the mask to Eddie' J. last Saturday morning at the Garden. "I guess I'd never be designing these things if it weren't for my son's interest in hockey and being a goalie, of course," said Higgins, whose sidelight admittedly keeps him so busy he "sometimes doesn't have time to breathe." "I bought three masks for Neil when he played PeeWee seven years ago, but either they weren't comfortable, or his vision was blocked slightly. So I figured I'd give it a try in designing one for him in my home workshop." Former Bruins' star Woody Du-mart helped at this point by supplying a special kit, and Ernie was on his way. He's still experimenting with different cloths, resins and protective devices for the mouth, eyebrows, ears and nose with his fiberglass materials.

His connection with the pro goalies began when Neil went to a hockey school where former Bruins' goalie Ed Chadwick saw the mask he was wearing and asked the youngster where he got it. "My dad made it," said the boy. Chadwick contacted Ernie, and was fitted for a mold. Then word spread about Higgins' talent. Marcel Paille and Brooks.of the American League Providence club were next on the list.

B.U.'s Jack Fer-reira and B.C.'s Jeff Cohen joined the parade. U.S. Olympic goalie Pat Rupp was fitted. In fact, colleges like B.U., Dartmouth, Harvard, Brown, Amherst and Vermont have sent goalies to Higgins for their masks. Latest customers were the Bruins' minor league goalies, Colin McCormick and Joe Junkin.

Mc- Cormick is wearing his at Hershey, while Junkin was fitted for his only last Monday. He's still in town as the B's backup goalie until Johnston returns. "I save all the molds of the pro and college players at home," said Higgins, who works as a supervisor for a Somerville plumbing contractor. "I don't bother saving the ones I've taken of high school goalies because their facial features change while they're growing. The masks I've designed for McCann and Johnston, though, are completely different, bigger and more protective than any I've made before." Higgins' hobby has certainly grown to giant proportions.

He stiil talks to goalies, coaches, doctors and trainers about improvements. And he envisions the new mask he's made for Eddie J. as "one which could catch on on a wide scale if kids notice that the pros don't mind wearing one." In Johnston's case, the mask should enable him to return to the lineup even faster. He won't have to worry about shots near the head. And that means a lot to any goalie peewee, high school, college or I THE MASK MAN Ernest Higgins, Norwood, works on the all-protective mask designed to make goal-tending a less hazardous occupation.

(William Ryerson photo) ciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiu. Cowboy Meredith Has Secret -And the Coach Isn't Talking By MILTON RICHMAN Concannon9 Dad Has Hectic Sunday By LEIGH MONTVILLE John Concannon Sr. spent Sunday like the rest Df Boston's professional football fans. He sat at home and he sat in the dark. He watched the New York Giants arm-wrestle the Dallas Cowboys in the televised show from Yankee Stadium.

He bypassed 1 the Patriots to watch the Los I Angeles Rams lose to the Bal-' timore Colts. 28-24. 0m SsS -SNA tU He didn't see the decisionmaking games in the final day of the professional football season. He didn't see the quarter-backing of his son Jack for the Chicago Bears. "Frustrating," said John Concannon Sr.

in his home in Dorchester. "I just sat there wondering and wondering. The scores kept coming through in NEW YORK Don Meredith did it so quietly that nobody in the whole ball park noticed. Not even his own teammates. They didn't think anything of the fact that he spoke briefly on the sidelines to Tom.

Landry, coach of the Dallas Cowboys, coming off the frozen turf of Yankee Stadium after a series of downs. Why should they? A coach and his quarterback always have something to say to each other. This conversation was different though. It came with less than five minutes gone in the second period Sunday with the New York Giants ahead, 3-0, in a game the Cowboys were to win, 28-10. With the Capitol Division title already locked up before they went in, the game didn't mean much to the Cowboys except as a tune-up for next Saturday's Eastern Conference playoff against the Cleveland Browns.

Don Meredith had looked awfuL He had made good only one of his nine passes and one had been intercepted. Meredith, the Cowboys' celebrated field general, approached Landry quietly and said: "Why don't you give Craig (Morton) a chance out there? I don't think it's my day." Landry, a rugged individualist who generally does his own thinking, listened to his No. 1 quarterback this time. Morton played the remainder of the game. All he did was turn it around completely for Dallas by hitting on 14 of his 20 pegs for 214 yards and one of the Cowboys' touchdowns.

When it was all over and the last of those 30,851 intrepid souls who had sat blanketed in frigid weather had left the ball park, Meredith came out of the clubhouse shower, smiled rather sheepishly and admitted it had been a bad day for him. But he didn't tell anybody he had asked to be removed himself. Landry kept Meredith's secret beautifully. "How concerned are you over Meredith's showing?" the Dallas coach was asked? "Naturally it concerns me," he replied evenly. "What was wrong with was the second question.

"He just didn't have the feel today. We, only intended to play him the first so we just brought Craig in a little earlier, that's all." "What would you do against Cleveland next week in similar circumstances?" "I'd leave him in there." "Regardless?" "Regardless," Landry emphasized. "I don't think he'll go that way next week. He'll be all right." A friend of Meredith's started to kid him. "It was all a put-on," the friend said.

"Wasn't it? You just didn't wanna play, did you? You just wanted to take the day off." Meredith smiled again. "I'm not telling anything," he laughed. But one of his Dallas teammates discovered what Meredith had done during; the second period and looked after him as-" he exited from the clubhouse. "I admire the guy," said the teammate. "He was fighting for the league's passing leadership and needed only a few more yards but he wanted to give Craig Morton a chance.

It was very unselfish of him to do what he did." CONCANNON TIME TO REMINISCE Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks, and Aja Zanova, former world champion figure skater, in Boston with the Ice have much in common. Both are of Czechoslovakian extraction and both have relatives living there. (Danny Goshtigian photo) Rose Ends Pirate Hold on Hit Title Cardinals and Willie Mc-Covey of the San Francisco Giants were big winners in other championship categories. Brock had 46 doubles, 14 triples and 62 stolen bases, becoming the first player since Honus Wagner in 1908 to lead in those three dribs and drabs." The dribs were discouraging all day for the elder Concannon. First they said the Minnesota Vikings were winning big against the Philadelphia Eagles, then they said the Bears were losing big to the Green Bay Packers.

The first final result was the Vikings game, the Vikings winning, 24-17. At the same time, the dribs said the Bears were losing, 21-10. The Giants finished playing, the Rams came on. The Bears crept forward across the TV screen in vivid type ind numbers. With under a minute to play, the score was 28-27.

The Bears trailed by a point, but had the football. Inside the Packers' 50. A few moments later, it was announced that Ray Nitschke had made his interception. A few moments later the game was over. "I would have liked to have seen it," Concannon Sr.

said. "My other son and my daughter went out there, but my wife and I stayed home. There were just too many Christmas things to do at home." The elder Concannon heard the score, heard about the interception, heard the end. His next report was a telephone call. "A friend called," Concannon said.

"He said somehow he had stumbled upon the game on the radio. He told me how the Bears had scored the 17 points in the last period. He said Jack played a hell of a game. "I had been wondering what sort of shape Jack would be in. He phoned during the week and said his leg was still bothering him.

If you'll remember, on that televised game last week he was run out of bounds and he bruised the leg. "He said he hadn't been allowed to do anything but handoffs all week. I guess, though, they must have taped him up pretty well today. I guess from what I heard, he did all right." Did you know theworld's largest-selling brandy is imported from friendly Italy? Asaoclited Preu CINCINNATI-Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds' outfielder, is the official National League 1968 batting champion, thus ending a four-year-old hold by the Pittsburgh Pirates on the hitting title. But it was a Pirate who gave Rose his toughest battle.

Rose finished with .335 in 149 games and Pittsburgh's Matty Alou was sec-cond with .332 in 146 games, according to official league averages. Alou won the title in 1966 and Roberto Clemente of the Pirates did it in 1964, 1965 and 1967. In addition to having a batting champion for the first time since 1938, the Reds also copped the team hitting title with an average of .273 to .252 for second place Pittsburgh. A pitching collapse, however, left the Reds in fourth place at the finish of the season. Rose and Felipe Alou of the Atlanta Braves shared the lead in hits with 210 each.

Lou Brock of the St. Louis McCovey topped the league in home runs with 36 and runs batted in with 105. It was the lowest championship runs batted in total since the league started compiling such records in 1920. High in 1920 was Roger Hornsby of the Cardinals and George Kelly of the then New York Giants, each with 94. In other categories, Glenn Beckert of the Chicago Cubs led in runs with 98 and Curt Flood of the Cardinals in singles with 160.

Phil Niekro of the Braves became only the second pitcher in history to lead in sacrifices with 18. The other was Johnny Sain of the then Boston Braves with 16 in 1948. Beckert also had the longest consecutive game hitting streak, 27, extending from June 26 to July 22. The longest team winning streaks were nine by the Cardinals and the Pirates. And Billy Williams of the Cubs built his consecutive game playing streak to 819 by playing in all of Chicago's 1968 games.

Heidi Furor Makes a Point With NBC Brass United Prest International NEW YORK The National Broacasting Company was determined not to have another "Heidi" on its hands. NBC Sunday broacast the Oakland Raiders 34-27 American Football League victory over the San Diego Chargers in its entirety, despite the fact that the telecast extended its scheduled air time by nine minutes. "Huckleberry Finn," the regularly scheduled program, was delayed nine minutes Sunday while Oakland and San Diego played out the last two minutes. All of NBC's Sunday night shows were delayed nine minutes because of the network's decision to telecast the conclusion of the game. Jackson Undergoes Second Operation I'nlttd Prrgs International PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia 76ers center Luke Jackson underwent a second operation on his left leg yesterday to alleviate arterial spasms in the calf.

Luke underwent surgery on Friday morning to repair a ruptured achilles tendon in the left leg which he suffered in a game against Phoenix last Wednesday. Dr. Charles Parsons, the team's orthopedic consultant, said the second operation was not expected to hinder Jackson's recuperation. N.F.L. Officials an Affluent Lot But They Must Produce Vt if, Lt.

Beeks, for example, is a rising officer in the St. Louis police department. Five days a week he makes some important decisions as a detective. Two days a week he devotes to his hobby, football. He is a line judge in the NFL.

Bell is a referee. Every Saturday morning, Tommy flies to Chicago, Atlanta or possibly Green Bay, where he spends Saturday night going over last week's movies with his crew before refereeing Sunday's game. From Monday through Friday, Bell is in his law office at Lexington, Ky. He is a prosperous lawyer. One of his clients is Happy Chandler, the former governor and baseball commissioner.

Tony Sacco, an NFL umpire, is a chemical engineer in Chicago. Charles He-berling, a head linesman, is an electrical engineer in New Jersey. Umpire Lou Pa-lazzi owns a landscape company in Scran-ton, Pa. He has become one of the most prominent landscape architects in Pennsylvania. Field Judge Tony Skover is a Detroit realtor and contractor-developer who is one of those responsible for the current facelifting in Detroit.

One NFL field judge Richard Dolack, is a pharmacist in Muskeegon, Mich. A line judge, Fred Wyant, the owner of an insurance business, has topped 1 million dollars in sales in each of the past three years in Mor-gantown, W. Va. By BOB OATES Football Quiz: What does Tommy Bell, the Lexington lawyer, have in common with Lt. Robert Beeks, the Louis police detective, or with Norm Schachter, the principal of a Los Angeles High School? Answer: Bell, Beeks and Schachter are all officials in the National Football League.

And now they're on the spot. One of them lost a down in the Ram game a week ago Sunday, and suddenly the world is wondering if umpires can count. Who are these people? There are 86 of them altogether in pro football, and as a group they include a cross-section of upper-income well-educated America. Some of them make $50,000 to $100,000 a year as businessmen, sales managers or engineers. This is not to say they're infallible.

But the key to understanding that mistake in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is to note that it was a mechanical mistake. It was not a judgment mistake, and the distinction is critical. Mechanical errors are an annoying part of everyday life everywhere, sometimes serious but almost unavoidable. Errors of judgment are something else. It is in this area that the NFL concentrates its attention in respect to dating and there can be little doubt that the official ing has markedly, in lf-iit years.

Today, each official must arrive for work Saturday afternoon. The Rams-Bears crew, for example, spent Saturday night in a Los Angeles hotel discussing the game of seven days earlier and reviewing the movies. The film had been sent to Schachter from New York after the analysis by Duncan, McNally and Rozelle, who included a lengthy report. But the key to the quality of today's officiating is in the character of the officials in NFL recruiting for improved quality. Duncan and others from the league office spend their Friday and Saturdays scouting high school and college officials.

Most of them would pay $4000 a year to referee in the NFL, if that weren't the salary and most of them could. pay it without missing it. Each is a specialist. The head linesman came up as a head linesman and will remain a head linesman, and proud of it, until the end. Umpires do not "progress" to become referees.

Referees are no more important than back judges, just different. The work is as specialized as linebacker or offensive guard. The six officials do only one thing together. They all count the downs. Rozelle says this is too important a matter to entrust to any one man and besides, field judges, for instance, do different things on second and third downs.

They've all got to J4.ow the down. Umpire Bill Swanson is in the carpet business as a district sales manager in Chicago. Back Judge Tom Kelleher is in the sporting goods business as a district sales manager in Miami. For six months a year, these men work seven days a week. But for most of them, none of it is work, They move from one interesting day to another.

Referees Schachter and Jim Tunney, for example, are high school principals in the Los Angeles area Tunney at Fairfax and Schacter at L.A. High. Tunney hasn't had a dull day for five years. They are graded in the New York office each week, off the movies, by Mark Duncan, the NFL's director of personnel, and his two assistants, Art McNally, supervisor of officials, and Mel Hein, AFL supervisor. The post-season assignments are based on these weekly reports.

Each official chosen to work a divisional playoff game gets a $500 bonus. For the NFL title game it is $750, and for the Super Bowl, $1000. Referees, umpires and judges all draw the same annual salaries, based on longevity. The commissioner, Pete Rozelle, says the six officials are equal in importance. Ten-year veterans get a $4000 minimum annually.

The rookie minimum is $1800. Those who work all 14 games make a little more, based on $250 a week for rookie officials to $350 for veterans, plus expenses. You'll know why when you taste it WORLD FAMOUS SINCE 1884 johty rasoF UHtMLfY iMMnrt co kcw roK, nrw TOOK .1.