Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 8

CALGARY HERALD Tuesday, October 1 4, 1 997 C7 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE CURLING Li. 2 STANDINGS SPORTS 'A -S flexes Its (Through Oct. 13) The Associated Preit American Conference v-r O-- --) ft I 1. East Pet. PF PA New England 5 1 0 .833 176 80 Miami 4 2 0 .667 119 111 NY.

Jets 4 3 0 .571 177 137 Buffalo 3 3 0 .500 122 159 Indianapolis 0 6 0 .000 88 155 Central Jacksonville 5 1 0 .833 169 119 Pittsburgh 4 2 0 .667 145 160 Baltimore 3 3 0 .500 161 134 Tennessee 2 4 0 .333 114 133 Cincinnati 1 5 0 .167 88 164 West Denver 6 0 0 1.000 190 85 Kansas City 4 2 0 .667 122 110 San Diego 3 3 0 .500 102 126 Seattle 3 3 0 .500 107 134 Oakland 2 4 0 .333 151 148 National Conference East Pet. PF PA Washington 4 2 0 .667 111 89 N.Y. Giants 4 3 0 .571 131 133 Dallas 3 3 0 .500 140 96 Philadelphia 2 4 0 .333 111 137 Arizona 1 5 0 .167 109 131 Central Green Bay 5 2 0 .714 168 149 Minnesota 5 2 0 .714 176 155 Tampa Bay 5 2 0 .714 140 124 Detroit 4 3 0 .571 160 129 Chicago 0 7 0 .000 101 199 West San Francisco 5 1 0 .833 152 70 Carolina 2 4 0 .333 94 127 St. Louis 2 4 0 .333 104 142 New Orleans 2 5 0 .286 118 162 Atlanta 1 5 0 .167 105 153 Monday's Game i A 4s MURRAY RAUW Calgary Herald They got together over a cup of coffee and made a curling commitment as a team this summer. At the time, they had never seen Heather Rankin throw a rock, yet she was going to skip.

But lead Margo Wright said they went with a hunch. "I think we all knew that this is the team," said Wright. "We met every week at Red Robin's and we talked and we felt it. I had never seen Heather curl; she'd never seen me." So far, that women's intuition is right. Rankin and her rink of third Carolyn Darbyshire, second Sally Shigehiro and Wright defeated Cheryl Kullman 8-4 in an all-Calgary final at the Husky Autumn Gold Curling Classic at the Calgary Club.

The win was worth $9,000 for the Rankin rink. It was the first time two Calgary rinks appeared in the final in the 20 year history of the Autumn Gold. "I'm speechless. I've never won a major cash 'spiel in my life," said Rankin, who moved West from Nova Scotia four months ago. "I've won provincials in Nova Scotia, but never anything like this." Rankin cracked three in the second end to take a 3-1 lead and never trailed in the final.

"We had all our rocks behind the four foot and we needed one 'top four' or Cheryl would steal the end," explained Rankin. "My sweepers put it in exactly the right place. Cheryl made a good shot to stop us from getting five." The win over Kullman was Rankin's third of the day She opened with 7-4 victory over defending champion Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary then beat 1996 Alberta provincial champion Cathy Borst of Edmonton 7-6 in the semifinal. Kullman, who won this 'spiel in 1990 and is rated in the top two in Calgary along with Kleibrink, agreed Rankin served notice that there is another contender in the area. "We lack skips here and now there is another one," said Kullman, who won $6,000.

"You have to look up. They played Kleibrink, they played us and they won. It was no fluke." Kullman defeated Michelle Schneider of Regina 9-4 in her first playoff game and the beat Alison Goring of North York, 8-2 in the semifinals. LAST STRAWS: All eight qualifiers were former provincial champions. Joe Stefanchik, Associated Press the end zone Monday.

Rich Owens (right) is among the Redskins defenders moving in to finish off Aikman. STINGY DEFENCE: Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman gets upended near the goal-line as he tries to dive into Dallas 16 at Washington 21 Summary Dallas 3 0 Washington 7 7 6 716 7 0-21 JJS) First Quarter Dat-TFG Cunningham 19, 5:45. WafcrS.Davis 2 run (Blanton kick), 2:12. Second Quarter Was Jenkins 13 pass from Frerotte (Blanton kick), Third Quarter Was Davis 4 run (Blanton kick), 10:49. Dal Coakley 16 fumble return (pass failed), 4:26.

Fourth Quarter Dal Irvin 14 pass from Aikman (Cunningham kick), 9:40. Attendance: 76,159. Yardsticks coinral sfiruggiSiig Dal 16 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Punt Returns Kickoff Returns Interceptions Ret. Comp-Att-Int Sacked-Yards Lost Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Wash 16 32-116 139 0-0 3-67 0- 0 12-23-0 3-16 1- 1 3-25 29:27 28-115 175 5-53 3-66 0- 0 17-31-0 3-18 1- 1 3-20 the Cowboys were going to ride Smith to the end zone, looked for him on the third play. But Aikman faked the hand-off to Smith and fooled them 16 30:23 Tinjejjf Possession INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Dallas: Smith 17-61, Williams 8-35, Aikman 3-19.

Washington: Davis 22-94, Allen 4-12, Mitchell 3-11, Frerotte 3-(-1). PASSING Dallas: Aikman 17-31-0-193 yards. Washington: Frerotte 12-23-0-155. RECEIVING Dallas: Irvin 5-81, Williams 3-34, Miller 3-25, Smith 2-23, Bjornson 3-17. Lafleur 1-13.

Washington: Westbrook 2-32, Shepherd 2-60. Mitchell 1-20. Allen 1-15, Jenkins 1-13, Bowie 3-6, Asher 1-5, Davis 1-4. MISSED FIELD GOALS None. FUTURE GAMES ins with a 13-yard pass for a 14-3 lead.

Washington's defence got into the act three plays into the third quarter, with Ken Harvey sacking Aikman and forcing a fumble that defensive end Rich Owens covered at the Cowboys' 25. Davis covered the 25 yards on six straight carries, the last going four yards for a 21-3 lead. At that point, the Redskins had everything going for them momentum, adrenalin and a nearly delirious home crowd. Only the Redskins, it seemed, could beat the Redskins. Later in the quarter, though, it seemed like they were trying to do just that.

The offence turned sour, Frerotte had negative passing yardage in the half before completing a 12-yard pass to Leslie Shepherd on the final drive, and an untimely turnover gave the Cowboys reason to keep the faith. Washington running back Brian Mitchell, trying to sweep the right side, coughed up the ball after being hit by safety Darren Woodson. Dallas' Dexter Coakley returned it 16 yards for a touchdown that stifled more than a few premature victory celebrations. An air of genuine concern swept through the stadium with 9:40 to play when Aikman capped off a 73-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Irvin in the back of the end zone to cut the deficit to 21-16. But the Redskins' defence came to the rescue of their ineffective offence, keeping Dallas out of the end zone on its final two possessions.

Dallas stages late rally, but Washington holds on for victory WARNER HESSLER Newport News (Va.) Daily Press LANDOVER, Md. The celebration started a little earlier than it should have. The Washington Redskins and 76,159 fans, many of whom were raising toasts and exchanging high-fives in the third quarter, withstood some anxious moments before defeating the Dallas Cowboys 21-16 Monday night at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. The stadium was rocking, and it looked like no contest after the Redskins bolted to a 21-3 lead 4:11 into the third quarter. But Dallas came back with two touchdowns, keeping the fans and a national television audience on the edges of their seats before quarterback Troy Aikman overthrew Anthony Miller on fourth down with 2:32 left.

Dallas never got the ball again and fell to 3-3. The Redskins moved to 4-2 and into sole possession of first place in the National Conference East. The Cowboys' Emmitt Smith, who extended his career-high scoreless streak to eight games, didn't look over the hill on his first two carries of the game, going 16 and 11 yards to ignite the Cowboys' first scoring drive. The Redskins, apparently sensing (All games MOT) Thursday San Diego at Kansas City, 6 p.m. Sunday Arizona at Philadelphia, 1L.m.

Camtaia at New Orleans, Jacksonville at Dallas, 11 a.m. New England at New York Jets, 11 am. San Francisco at Atlanta, 1U.m. Seattle at St. Louis, 11 a.m.

Washington at Tennessee, 1 1 a.m. Denver at Oakland, 2 p.m. Miami at Baltimore, 2 p.m. New York Giants at Detroit, 2 p.m. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 2 p.m.

Open date: Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota, Tampa Bay Monday Buffalo at Indianapolis, 7 p.m. with a 42-yard pass to Michael Irvin at the Redskins' two-yard line. The Cowboys then did something that has plagued them most of the season. They were forced to settle for Richie Cunningham's 19-yard field goal. It was Dallas' 15th field goal in its past 22 visits inside an opponent's 20-yard line.

The Redskins took a pair of hits before the quarter ended with running back Terry Allen going out with a sprained left ankle and receiver Michael Westbrook leaving with a sprained left knee. Neither returned, and their status for Sunday's game against the Tennessee Oilers in Memphis is unknown. Both will be evaluated today Stephen Davis, who scored for a 7-3 lead with 2:12 left in the quarter, filled in admirably for Allen, gaining 94 yards on 22 carries. He ran five times for 40 yards on yet another 80-yard scoring drive midway through the second half, and the joint was rocking with 7:36 remaining in the half when Gus Frerotte found tight James Jenk- CAREER RUSHING LEADERS By The Associated Press Through Oct. 12 (x-active) Atl.

Yards Avg. TD 1. Walter Payton 3,838 16,726 4.4 110 2, Eric Dickerson 2.996 13.259 4.4 90 J.TonyDorsett 2,936 12.739 4.3 77 4. x-Barry Sanders 2,523 12.513 5.0 86 5. Jim Brown 2,359 12,312 5.2 106 Viktor Pivovarov, Calgary Herald SHARPSHOOTER: Skip Heather Rankin delivers her rock en route to the Autumn Gold bonspiel crown.

AUTO RACING leoneimv feces tcoCi7 wot Duos si la 1 title based on more wins (7-5) during the season. Villeneuve has already had a run-in this year with the FIA. Just two days before the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, he was hauled on to the carpet for using an obscenity in his criticism of rules changes that will go into effect next season. He was allowed to compete in the Quebec competition. And the FIA has suspended drivers before.

Both Schumacher and Nigel Mansell were forced to miss races in recent years. FIA will decide Canadian's fate in Oct. 21 hearing The Associated Press PARIS Canadian Jacques Villeneuve will learn next week if he's still in running for the Formula 1 driver's title after the International Automobile Federation announced Monday it will hear the appeal of Villeneuve's disqualification at the Japanese Grand lead (78-77) heading into the season's final race Oct. 26 in Jerez Spain. But the driver's championship could be a moot point by then if Villeneuve is stripped of the two points he earned Sunday and barred from competing in Spain.

Should Villeneuve be allowed to keep the points but be barred from racing in Jerez, Schumacher would need to finish fifth or better to overcome the one-point lead. If Villeneuve and Schumacher finish the season tied in the points, Villeneuve would capture his first Formu Prix on Oct. 21. FIA issued a statement saying the International Court of Appeal will meet in Paris at that time to examine the appeal brought by the Royal Automobile Club of Great Britain. As members of FIA, the RAC brought the appeal on the behalf of Williams Grand Prix Engineejing, the team Villeneuve drives for.

Villeneuve, of Iberville, didn't slow down for a yellow flag during practice Saturday at the Japanese Grand Prix just before he won the pole position in qualifying. After his team appealed the decision, Villeneuve was reinstated to the pole. Any penalties will be decided Oct. 21. Villeneuve held a nine-point lead over German Michael Schumacher atop the driver's standings prior to Sunday's race, and could've clinched the title with a win.

But Schumacher won the race and Villeneuve was fifth, leaving the Canadian with a slender one-point lead (79-78) in the overall standings. If Villeneuve is stripped of Sunday's points for the yellow-flag violation, Schumacher would hold a one-point MISS JlH ilS OSWEISf- Centaur Subaru 3819 Modeod Trail S. Calgary 287-2544 Subaru of Calgary 1403 Centre SUM. Calgary 571 -3099 Import Auto Subaru 3316 lAve. Lelhbridge 380-6860 Uncle Ben's Subaru 2930 Gaetz Ave.

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