Star-Phoenix from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada • 13

Jens Nielsen EDMONTON Under the guidelines set up by Edmonton Eskimos, it's all supposed to be very hush, hush and secretive. We aren't supposed to know the identity of the coach of the year in the Canadian Football League until later tonight when thamysterious envelope is opened by Annis Stukus. But suppose we dispense with the attempt at drama because as well- bant con rote nr thic nno Hnracn't El jtf I Lhl -A Jxn. the team wouldn't have struggled so badly in the players' absence. 3.

Jack Gotta: 20-1 There has to be a third choice and that's where Jocko comes in. As a general manager he had some shortcomings last season, but at least he piloted the unfashionable Stamps back into the playoffs in his return to the coaching ranks. They weren't awesome it was more than most would 'have expected. 4. George Brancato: 25-1 It would be interesting to see what Brancato could do if he had a real team for an entire season.

Maybe now with Jake Dunlap's departure, he will be given that chance. 5. Ray Jauch: 40-1 Acknowledged as a top drawer coach, the Bombers' second-half slide didn't speak kindly for the way Jauch was able to enthuse his players following his announcement to move to Washington. Let's not make a federal case out of it, Jauch didn't go out in a blaze of glory. 6.

Joe Galat: 50-1 Just for hanging in there in Montreal, Galat should at least receive a reward for bravery. He fully deserves the feast he will have tonight. He knows all too well about famine. 7. Joe Faragalli: 70-1 Unlike last year when he had the Midas touch, 1982 wasn't kind to the jovial Italian.

Occasionally, he was too patient with some players and at other times he was too in his judgement. This was supposed to be a team that reflected Papa Joe's personality and the Riders again missed the playoffs. Enough said. 8. Bud Riley: 80-1 By most people's reckoning, the Ticats had the best talent in the East but they seldom showed it.

You can look at the coaching in such a case. 9. Vic Rapp: 100-1 He took the rap for B.C. Lions' shock exit from the playoff picture. A team with the sort of firepower the Leos boasted should not wind up in fourth place, especially since they had been in first place earlier in the year.

So, you see folks, it's all cut and dried. av.si Jv-v-i v.i.j tiitkj vi iv, uuvJii rate. The fact there is a rampant unemployment problem would practically be a revelation compared to the lack of suspense that surrounds this contest among the CFL field bosses. Let's put it this way. If Bob Q'Bil-lovich has any off-season plans that call a little extra loot, he's going to have at least $5,000 to help him toward that end.

You have to know the Toronto Argonaut tutor is going to be the one who accepts a cheque for five grand along with the traditional silverware. Often, this becomes a matter of who did the most with the least. Like it was the preceding year when Joe Faragalli moulded Saskatchewan Roughriders into a respectable force. He won the award despite not even qualifying for the playoffs. So, when you consider O'Billovich turned a team from 2-14 to a berth in the Grey Cup, the verdict has to be in.

If you have any doubts, suppose we peruse the oandidates, bearing in mind three whose pictures are on the wall will be in absentia. 1. O'Billovich: 1-1 Coaches don't always last an entire season in Toronto and seldom do they win more games than they lose. O'Billovich was just the man they needed in this heretofore CFL wasteland. If anyone other than O'Billovich wins, it will be an injustice.

2. Hugh Campbell: 5-1 The only other legitimate contender. But. like last year he will again only be second choice. It's not because he chose to defect to the United States Football League either.

The fact is. although the Eskimos' second-half revival was remarkable, it wasn't all Campbell's doing. Things started to click when Jim Germany and Brian Kelly returned from the infir- ten un l-: niary, aiupueu was sucu a wius, S-P Photo by Glen Berger Bill Hunter reads one of thousands of requests for season tickets to NHL games in Saskatoon Ralston board meets today the sale to Hunter, the final obstacle will be obtaining approval from the NHL board of governors to transfer the team to Saskatoon. That item is expected to surface on the agenda when the NHL governors meet Feb. 7 prior to the annual all-star game the next night in Un-iondale, N.Y.

Hunter, meanwhile, continues to maintain a low profile, waiting for direction from Ralston Purina and the NHL. The mail keeps him busy. A daily average of more than 1,000 requests for season tickets are pouring into his office. should accept the offer by Batoni-Hunter to buy the club. The.

board of directors is expected to meet today, and that meeting could carry into Friday. Even if Ralston reaches a decision today, it might not be announced until Friday. There has been speculation the purchase price is in the vicinity of $15 million. As of early this morning, there has been no report of a St. Louis group stepping forward in an effort to buy the team and keep it in the Missouri city.

Should Ralston Purina approve By John Cherneski S-P Sports Editor Bill Hunter, president of Batoni-Hunter Enterprises and Saskatchewan hockey fans may be kept on hold until Friday in efforts to find out if the next hurdle to bring a National Hockey League team to Saskatoon has been cleared. Ralston Purina, which owns St. Louis Blues, will began its annual stockholders' meeting today at 2 p.m. The stockholders' meeting will be followed by a meeting of the board of directors, the group which must ultimately decide if Ralston Youthful skips lose Until the final end, neither team had managed more than a single, but the opening end set the tone as far as Farnham was concerned. "We started out hitting and peeling so well that we just kept it explained the veteran shotmaker who was a Canadian champion in 1974 and a participant at the Saskatoon playdowns for 15 of the past 21 years.

"It was a well curled game and probably the biggest difference was that they hit and rolled out and we didn't." Farnham is backed by third Marilynne Earl, second Lori Harvie and Doreen Rouse. Lack of competition probably hurt the Schmirler rink of Wilson, second Diane Choquette and Shannon Olafson, who were unopposed in gaining the of berth. "Sandy is the only one that curls regular," offered Wilson, when asked why she calls the house but throws third rocks. "I played with Sandy in the Granite Gamble, but other than that have only curled a couple of games. This was our first game together as a rink this year and that's why we didn't gamble a lot more tonight." Wilson, Choquette, and Olafson are also Canadian champions, winning the junior title in 1979.

Earlier, McGeary one of the pre-favorites in the 24-team showdown was upset 8-6 by Lynn Barnes of the Exhibition when she missed a double kill that would have given her the victory. SECTION Star-Phoenix Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Thursday, January 20, 1983 Nehemiah reinstated as amateur LOS ANGELES (AP) Renaldo Nehemiah, the world champion hurdler turned professional football player, was reinstated as an amateur for domestic track meets Wednesday in a precedent-setting move by the United States Olympic Committee. The decision marked the first time a professional in one sport other than a college athlete has been allowed to compete as an amateur in track and field. In doing so, the committee defied an International Amateur Athletic Federation ruling and declared Nehemiah eligible for domestic meets in the United States only. It claimed the IAAF cannot interfere in such meets.

Nehemiah, world record holder in the 110 metres and now a wide receiver for San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League, is still banned from international track competition. The IAAF follows the Olympic rule that an athlete who has been a professional in any sport may not compete. William Simon, USOC president, said at a news conference: "I don't think Nehemiah will be allowed to run in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles next year." "But I think we should push for it. Let's try to bring our eligibility rules into the 20th Century." Nehemiah, 23, signed a multi-year contract last April with the 49ers, making him a professional. Simon was asked if he would expect the IAAF to recognize a world record set by Nehemiah at a purely domestic meet.

"I would not presume to predict what the IAAF might do in a case like that," Simon replied. "It would be the IAAF's responsibility." accepted The following proposals are not now covered in the rule book: If a kick attempt from scrimmage fails to cross the line of scrimmage and is touched by an off-side player on the kicking team, the ball shall be awarded to the opposing team at that point. A team can no longer gain any advantage by batting or throwing the ball in an off-side direction, other than by kicking, when it is recovered downfield, such as after a punt. The ball would be returned to the point of the ff-side pass and if that's in the end zone the appropriate points awarded. If a defensive player moves the ball after an official has placed it at the line of scrimmage the next play, the team shall be penalized for delay of game.

s9a gambles Trailing 7-6 coming home, McGeary had two in the house but chose to try the double with Barnes counting two. A touchy draw for shot was a possibility but McGeary saw it otherwise. "A draw only gave us a tie and another end, but if I make the double we win." For Barnes, third Joy Darholm, second Lois Aikens and lead Mary Beyer, the game was also a first as a rink. "My sister Shirley (who normally plays third) was admitted to hospital on Friday with appendicitis, so we picked up Joy," said Barnes. "I just met her on Monday because she curls on a different night than us, but she fit in well with the team." In other games, Sandra McLeod of the Granite trounced ciubmate Marg Pratt 11-3, Carolyn O'Keefe of Nutana whipped Rhoda Besse of the Exhibition 13-1, Arva Goodman of the Hub downed Nutana's Marnie McNiven 9-1, Sheila Rowan of Nutana defeated Sutherland's Karen Kent 9-3, Gerry Street of Nutana coasted to a 10-4 decision over Marvel Hood of the Granite and Maizie Howard beat Diane Riley of the CN 10-4.

Teams receiving the first-round bye will be part of tonight's 6 p.m. draw at the Granite. Featured games will have Barnes taking on Barb Despins of Nutana while Howard squares off against Charlene Goodwin of the Hub. Other proposals recommended: Wording of the unnecessary roughness rule will be changed to provide 'a penalty for contacting an opponent out of bounds in an unnecessarily rough manner. On a pass interception, if a defensive player tips the intercepted ball forward to a teammate, the second player will be permitted to advance the ball.

Now the ball would be ruled dead where the first player touched it. If a defending team is offside on a missed convert attempt, the kicking team may elect to decline the yardage penalty and repeat the convert attempt from the same point. Now if the penalty is taken the ball is moved ahead five yards. By Len Roberts of the Star-Phoenix Sandra Schmirler and Lori McGeary can't be blamed if they both had trouble getting to sleep Wednesday night. Their thoughts likely would return again and again to their final shots in the Saskatoon women's playdowns which got under way Wednesday at the Granite Curling Club.

In both cases, the youthful skips faced a similar situation. Make their final delivery and they come away winners, but miss it and welcome, insomnia city. For Schmirler who throws skip rocks for the Denise Wilson foursome from the of her final delivery couldn't have turned' out worse. Settling in the hack for her final delivery against Emily Farnham of Sutherland, her rink trailed 5-4 and Farnham appeared to have first and third shots while Schmirler had second shot among a cluster at the back of the house. A clean hit and slight roll would give Schmirler the necessary deuce, but as it turned out she only got a piece of Farnham's rock, and the delivered stone rolled across the house to also spill her own.

The result left Farnham with a 6-4 victory. "Even if I hit on the other side we get a tie," sighed Schmirler, "The shot was there, the game was there, but I was too heavy." On pass interference inside the' 10-yard line or in the end zone the ball presently would be scrimmaged either at the 10-yard line or halfway between the line, of scrimmage and the goal line, whichever is closer to the end zone. Gaudaur said CFL officials had been applying the uncatchable ball rule "with some tolerance but with no language to rely on." Gaudaur said officials will be vigilant for infractions such as roughing or holding penalties against receivers away from the pass or against the primary receiver before the pass is thrown. One accepted proposal not dealing with the actual playing would change the halftime break to 20 minutes from 15 minutes. "The ball has to be kicked off at 20 minutes," said Gaudaur.

"Any S-P Photo by Sallie Hunt Emily Farnham signals successful shot CFL recommends 10 rule changes be team not on the field and ready will be penalized for delay of There were four or five games this year that ran more than three hours. Ten years ago it was seldom a game ran more than 2V2 hours. Gaudaur said a study of halftime showed the ball wasn't being kicked off at 15 minutes but much later. While the committee agreed with 10 of 19 proposals, it rejected proposals that a single point not be awarded on missed field goals and various proposals for changes in the no-yards rule on punts. "There was lengthy discussion." Gaudaur said about the single point proposal.

"But the major feeling was that we would be eliminating something we felt important in our game that at some point the ball must be fielded and run out or the point conceded." EDMONTON (CP) The Canadian Football League rules committee has recommended acceptance of 10 proposed changes, three dealing with defensive pass interference. CFL commissioner Jake Gaudaur told a news conference the recommended changes, which still require approval of the league's board of governors, are mainly technical adjustments and not fundamental changes. The committee agreed with proposals that defensive pass interference not be called if the pass is clearly uncatchable; if pass interference takes place inside the 10-yard line the ball wiy be scrimmaged from the point of infraction and if the penalty occurs in the end zone the ball will be placed on the one-yard line. fey ijjjsp 1 Jake Gaudaur.