The Daily Herald from Provo, Utah • 6

Page 6 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Fnoty, April 18, 1980 Jill Sports What's happening on the national scene, state and local sports, columns and opinions Watson Sizzles With Opening 65 Ainge All-Am erica Academician I tv if I I tive birdies starting No. 13 with putts of eight 25 and 20 feet. Following his triumph in the Los Angeles Open in February, Watson went into a mild slump. He finished 12th in last week's Masters at Augusta. Ga.

"The missing confidence is back he said. "I was fighting it the last month or two and wasn't hitting many golf shots. I didn realize until Wednesday that I was shifting too much weight to my right side during my backswing and was forcing everything I worked on it yesterday and apparently corrected it." Jim Colbert was alone at 67 two strokes behind Watson, with Craig Stadler Jeff Mitchell and Doug Tewell tied at 69. At 2-under-par 70 were Lee Trevino Larry Nelson Ed Fiori, George Burns and Masters champion Severaino Ballesteros. Ballesteros was 3-under-par after nine holes and 5-under after 14 holes.

But his putter turned cold and he carded three birdies over the final four holes to finish five strokes behind Watson. "That's the way it goes sometimes," said the 23-year-old Spaniard, who was the youngest ever to capture the British Open, the youngest ever to capture the Masters and is bidding to become the youngest ever to capture the Tournament of Champions in it's 28-year history. "Today I bogeyed three of final four but tomorrow I could birdie three of final four," he said. "It's a funny game." CARLSBAD, Calif. (LTD Tom Watson has regained his confidence but he has 33 years of tour experience breathing down his neck.

Watson fired a 7-under-par 65 Thursday in the opening round of the $300 000 Tournament of Champions for a one-stroke lead over veterans Ray Floyd and Lou Graham in the exclusive 30-man field. Watson's 65 was just one stroke off the course and tournament record set by Jack Nicklaus in 1964 and equaled by Arnold Palmer in 1967 and Frank Beard in 1970. "I hit the ball very well," said Watson, who is the leading money winner on the tour this year with victories in the San Diego and Los Angeles Opens. "I turned a possible 62 or 63 into a 65. My score could have been much better than 65 "It was probaby my finest round of the year." Watson, the premier player on the PGA tour the past three years, had eight birdies and a lone bogey over the par-72, 6 889-yard La Costa Country Club layout.

Watson's bogey came on No. 17, when he pushed his drive to the right, hit his second shot into the rough on the left and one-hopped his third shot into a pond on the right side on the fairway. He chipped to within 10 feet and made the putt for a six. "I played that hole military style," he quipped. "Left-right, left-right." Graham, a 16-year PGA veteran, from Nashville, was 1-under-par after nine holes but strung together four birdies starting on the 11th hole and added his sixth birdie of the round on No.

17 for a share of second place. Floyd, a 17-year tour veteran from Miami, had four birdies on the front side and then duplicated Graham's four consecutive birdies starting at No. 11. He added another birdie on the 16th hole to pull into a share of the lead with Watson, but bogeyed No. 18 to fall into the tie for second.

Both Floyd and Graham said putting saved the day for them, and Graham summed up the feelings of both veterans after the first round. "When a man (Watson) shoots a 65. you can't complain about being just one stroke back," Graham said. Watson, 30, of Mission Hills, had birdies on the second, fourth, sixth and ninth holes for a 4-under-par 33 on the front side. All four birdies came on putts of less than 10 feet.

On the back side, he birdied the 11th hole with a 12-foot putt, then reeled off three consecu LPl Telepooto Thursday was a blast for PGA leader Tom Watson. Ageless McCovey Lifts Giants Past Padres, 7-3 Tom Watson Lou Graham Ray Floyd Jim Colbert Craig Stadler Jeff Mitchell Doug Tewell Lee Trevino Larry Nelson Seve Ballesteros Ed Fiori George Burns Gil Morgan Jack Renner Jerry McGee Andy Bean Hale Irwin Calvin Peete A. Weibring David Graham Howard Twitty Curtis Strange Al Geiberger Dave Eichelberger Johnny Miller Wayne Levi Hubert Green Chi Chi Rodriguex Lon Hinkle John Fought 32- 33-35-31-34-32- 33- 34- 34- 35-6 36-33-69 35- 34 -69 35-35-70 37-33-70 33- 37 -70 35-35-70 35-35-70 35-36-71 35- 36-71 37-37-72 32-40-72 36- 36-72 34- 36-72 34- 36-72 35- 37-72 36- 36-72 39- 33-72 37- 36-73 35-36 -73 34-39-73 37-37-74 37-38-75 40- 36-76 39-37-76 41- 39-80 Rams and five with the Eagles. He was named the NFL's most valuable player in 1969, when he completed 54 percent of his passes and threw 24 touchdowns, and was a four-time all-pro selection. He currently ranks seventh on the all-time NFL passing lists and still holds most of the Rams passing records.

Gabriel replaces Jim Jones, who resigned after coaching Cal Poly to a 3-8 record last season and an 8-23 record over the past three years. The school, which competes in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, later had to forfeit its three wins for using an ineligible player. Former Rams Star Joins Coaching Ranks There really no need for Danny Ainge. BYU's all-America basketball player, to prove his versatility, since his basketball career with the Cougars and his baseball exploits with the Toronto Blue Jays are on record But the junior from Eugene. has now established himseif as a scholar athlete, having been selected to the Academic All-America squad for 1980.

Ainge is one of 10 players in the nation to be chosen on the Skoal Happy Days team picked at the end of each season by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) A three-time all-Western Athletic Conference guard, he was nominated for the honor on the strength of his 3.05 grade point average as a communications major at BYU. A total of 471 student-athletes were nominated as candidates, but only a select few were voted academic honors. Ainge holds the Cougar career scoring record, and he has one year of eligibility remaining at BYU. Other members of the 10-man team are Dean Hunger (Utah State), Ron Perry (Holy Cross), Kiki Vandeweghe (UCLA), Mike Campbell (Northwestern), Andy Kolesar (VMI), Darnell Valentine (Kansas), Rich Branning (Notre Dame), Terry Stotts (Oklahoma) and Mike Gminskl (Duke). Vikings Trade Foreman MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) The Minnesota Vikings have traded former All-Pro running back Chuck Foreman to the New England Patriots for an undisclosed 1981 draft choice and Vikings' Coach Bud Grant said the 29-year-old back "can still play football." Foreman signed with the Vikings out of Miami University (Fla.) in 1973 and set several records with the club in seven years.

crowd of 45,476. Jerry Reuss, 1-0, who took over for starter Don Sutton in the seventh inning gained the victory, while Dave Smith 1-2, who relieved Nolan Ryan in the seventh, took the loss. Red Sox 5, Tigers 4 Right-handed reliever Dick Drago didn't care who was batting or what his batting average was. "I knew they had the lefties and that the wind was blowing to right and I tried not to look at what the batters were hitting (for averages)." said Drago, who pitched 4 2-3 innings of one-hit relief Thursday to help the Boston Red Sox down the Detroit Tigers 5-4 in 11 innings. Drago's performance kept Boston in the game long enough for teammate Carlton Fisk to crack an llth-inning leadoff home run off loser Aurelio Lopez, 0-1.

Blue Javs 1, Brewers 0 Rick Bosetti" belted a ninth-inning homer to back up Paul Mirabella's seven-hitter and give Toronto a victory. With one out in the ninth. Bosetti blasted the first pitch off Milwaukee starter and loser Lary Sorensen. 1-1 into the leftfield bleachers for his first homer of the season. Orioles 5, Royals 2 Eddie Murray slammed a two-run homer and Al Bumbry added a solo shot to power Baltimore to a three-game sweep.

Murray's homer his first of the year, came off losing pitcher Rich Gale, 0-1, after Kiko Garcia walked in the first inning. White Sox 8, Yankees 6 Mike Squires and Chet Lemon each drove in two runs in a five-run fifth inning to lead Chicago Starter and winner Britt Burns 1-0. retired the first 15 Yankees before Dennis Werth opened the sixth with a single. Mariners 4, Twins 3 Bruce Bochte doubled with one out in the ninth inning and outfielder Bombo Rivera bobbled the ball allowing Larry Milbourne to score from first base with the winning run for Seattle. Winner Rick Honeycutt, 2-0 has now gone the distance in both of his outings.

Geoff Zahn, 1-1, absorbed the loss. Tracee Talavera, 13, of Eugene. is in second place with 37.75 points. In third is Amy Koopman, 13, of Northbrook 111. with a score of 37.45.

The competition involves the 29 best women gymnasts in the United States and will determine the official USA team and 16 qualifiers for the Olympic trials. Finals in individual events are scheduled for Saturday. New Grid League GROSSE POINTE, Mich. (UPI) A group of investors is exploring the possibility of starting a new football league to compcts with the NFL, Roger Stanton, editor and publisher of Football News, said Thursday. "While it is not publicaUy announced yet, it is in the talking stage," Stanton said.

"Potential investors are being contacted to see if the thing can transpire. "An ex-NFL coach called and gave me the story," said Stanton, who named seven of eight cities under consideration. "I do not have the names of people involved yet." The owner of the weekly football newspaper said "certain people are talking about the possibility of getting into Los Angeles and Yankee Stadium." Other cities, Stanton said, are "Phoenix, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Memphis, and Indianapolis, Ind. The Indianapolis would be contingent upon whether tney can get 1 domed stadium built. POMONA, Calif.

(UPI) Roman Gabriel, one of the NFL's most prolific quarterbacks during his 16 years with the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, was named Thursday as head football coach at Cal Poly Pomona, an NCAA Division II school. "The things I bring to this position are my experience, discipline and dedication to hard work," said Gabriel, who worked for the past two seasons as an assistant coach at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, Calif. Gabriel, a 1962 graduate of North Carolina State threw for a total of 29.4-44 yards during his 11 seasons with the Marion Dunn By LOGAN HOBSON UPI Sports Writer When Willie McCovey speaks, nobody listens. "I've been saying it now for at least a half dozen years that age is not that important if you still have the desire and your body is in good shape," said the 42-year-old first baseman. McCovey, in his 18th San Francisco home opener, drove in three runs with a double and two singles Thursday io lead the struggling Giants to a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres.

"Apparently no one has been listening, so I'm nor interested in answering questions about my health and my age," said the left-hand hitting slugger, who began his major-league career in 1959. In other NL games, streaking Cincinnati beat Atlanta 4-1, St. Louis outslug-ged Pittsburgh 12-9, Chicago downed New York 4-1 and Los Angeles defeated Houston 6-4. In the American League it was: Boston 5, Detroit 4 in 11 innings; Toronto 1 Milwaukee Chicago 8. New York Baltimore 5, Kansas City and Seattle 4, Minnesota 3.

Reds 4, Braves 1 Dan Driessen and Ray Knight hit two-run homers in the fourth inning and Frank Pastore, 2-0, threw a five-hitter to pace unbeaten Cincinnati to victory over winless Atlanta. The triumph was the eighth for the Reds, two less than the major-league record for the start of a season and the loss was the seventh for the Braves, two short of the National League record since 1900. Cardinals 12. Pirates 9 George Hendrick drove in six runs and Bobby Bonds knocked in three more in pacing St. Louis' 17-hit attack against six Pittsburgh pitchers.

Cubs 4, Mets 1 Rookie Carlos Lezcano got his first major-league hit. a two-run homer in the fifth inning to give Chicago a victory in their home opener. Dodgers 6, Astros 4 Ron Cey hit a two-run homer in the third inning and singled in a pair of tie-breaking runs in the eighth to lead Los Angeles in front of an opening-day Title IX White Buffalo Colleges News Item: Utah. Georgia. Florida and Maryland-Eastern Shore have dropped their wrestling programs; Southern Methodist says it will drop baseball after this year or continue the sport but eliminate scholarship aid.

and Colorado State will probably drop several of its program. This decline in non-revenue sports is blamed on Title IX and the need to fund new women's programs in our colleges. News Item: Lee Rose, head basketball coach at Purdue, resigned to accept a similar position at the University of South Florida. Complete details of the salary and fringe benefits offered Rose were not released but the total package including a television show is believed to be between 150 and 200 thousand dollars. News Item: (1978) The University of Colorado whipped up a whirlwind of controversary by signing New England Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks while the Patriots School president Arnold R.

Weber also has appointed a committee to review the financial situation with an emphasis on how much money the university is spending on women's athletics. News Item: The University of Colorado's Student Union organization said late last night it would seek a state audit of the athletic itjrim. hinting the problem is not t' result of the Title IX pro-am. There is no doubt that college athletics are in a financial bind. There is also no doubt that university administrators are taking, the easy way out by dropping the so called non-revenue sports and blaming Title IX for forcing them to take that action.

It reminds me of an ancient custom in India that I read about back in my own college days. If a village in India was having problems sickness, drought, starvation, etc. the villages would select a white buffalo, drive it through the village and were involved in the NFL playoffs. A Colorado sports booster is reported to have offered Fairbanks a tremendous amount of money in fringe benefits if he would leave the Patriots for the Bufv In addition. Fairbanks' sjlary is reported to be higher tt-an the governor of Colorado.

News Item: (April 18, 1980) The University of Colorado's athletic department is so short of money members of the department have been informally asked if they would consider working the final month of this fiscal year for free. "We're dead broke there's no other way to explain it." said one member of the athletic department. The work for free request was reportedly made in a memo from athletic director Eddie Crowder. The memo also restricts travel to spring sports; bans credit-card telephone calls by the staff; training table meals for staffers and limits the use of in-office copy machines and long distance calls. the residents would throw or wipe dung, mud.

whatever, on the animal as it passed through the street. Then the buffalo would be driven out of the village. The idea was that all of the sins of the villagers were placed on the buffalo so that it took those sins with it when it was turned into an outcast. Having done that the village was then supposedly free of sin and its problems would vanish. I think that Title IX has become the white buffalo of collegiate athletics.

How, for example, can Colorado justify the package it offered Fairbanks to lure him away from New England with the fact it has asked the peasants in the athletic department to toil for free one month7 Declare Title IX a white buffalo. Run it across the campus and wipe all your sins on it. Then drive it out into the wilderness of the press and electronic media. Presto, all your sins have been taken away. That's how! Frederick Leads Gymnasts SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) Marcia Frederick of Milford is leading after the compulsory events in the U.S.

Gymnastics Foderption Championships of the USA lor Women after compulsory events at the University of Utah Thursday. The 17-year-old had a total score of 37.9 and had the highest score of the competition with a 9.8 mark on the uneven bars..