Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 18

C2 TIMES-ADVOCATE. Escondido, Monday, December 28, 1987 Chargers Notes Sierens upends critics with first NFL game call conditions prevent a specific determination of the actual attendance. Reporters estimated the crowd at between 15,000 and 20,000. How bad were the conditions? The worst conditions Ive ever seen for the start of a football game here, said Gary Jones, stadium operations manager, whos been working at Mile High since 1967. Jones said he brought in a groundskeeping crew of about 135 people for Sundays game.

The normal crew numbers between 10 and 12. Officially, the temperature at game time was 20 degrees, with winds of 22-37 mph making the wind-chill factor minus-9. More than a foot of snow was on the ground. Several fans entertained themselves by making luge-type runs down stairways covered by snow. Denver will open the playoffs at Mile High Stadium the weekend of Jan.

9-10 against either Houston or Indianapolis. The Broncos are 27-5 at home since 1984, which ties them with Chicago for the best mark in the league during that time. Finally: The Broncos have now won 28 straight games when leading after three quarters Despite the weather, punters Ralf Mojsie-jenko of San Diego and Mike Horan of Denver averaged 44.8 yards and 44.0 yards per kick kickoffs for 85 yards, including a 46-yarder, the Chargers longest of the year. He finished the season with a 21.6-yard average on 19 kickoff returns. The Chargers other wide receivers didnt fare quite as well as Holland.

Chandler, Lionel James and Timmie Ware were all held without a reception. Chandler finished the season with just 39 catches, his fewest since his rookie season of 1978. The Chargers eight non-division opponents for 1988 will not be set until after tonights Miami-New England game. Here, though, is the tentative lineup, with dates to be announced next April: Home: San Francisco, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. Away: Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta, Cincinnati and the third-place finisher in the AFC East, either Miami, New England or Buffalo.

The only Charger not to play Sunday was linebacker Steve Bus-ick, ironically one of only three former Broncos on the roster (Herrmann and Daniel Hunter are the others). It was just one of those things, Saunders said. The substitution groups in there didnt indicate he be a part (of the action). I was hoping hed get to play more. A total of 76,189 tickets were distributed for Sundays game, but the Broncos announced weather airport disappointed.

Oh, sure, there was plenty for the nit-pickers, such as calling a couple of receptions and runs pretty," and continuously reading NBCs Ten-Minute Ticker scores (on the screen) at the expense of play-by-play. But she was far from the gimmick or publicity stunt some said she was. She recognized the flea-flicker unfolding when Seattle surprised KC with it, and correctly spotted the Chiefs third-quarter return to the 4-3 defense (from the 3-4). Weisman, in fact, was satisfied enough with her work that he publicly committed to assigning Sierens, who is expecting a child next summer, to more games next season. Im delighted, Weisman said.

I woke up in the middle of the night and I heard a womans voice it wasn't Gayles voice saying, Hes at the 30, the 40, the 50, the 60, the 70, the 80, hes still goin and that woke me up in a cold sweat. So I think I had about an hour's sleep last night. So I know how Gayle feels." The next step for NBCs announcers coach, Marty Glickman, and Weisman, is to bring out Sierens personality more, raise her energy level and improve her stamina. We got not a sliver of Sierens personality Sunday, and NBC's emphasis on the middle ground seemed to prohibit Sierens from conveying the games flavor. Her enthusiasm and concentration also seemed to fade after halftime.

Sierens only goof came on a 3-vard touchdown pass to Kansas Citys Mark Adickes, an offensive lineman, that made it 34-20 with 8:54 remaining in the third quarter. No mention as made of Adickes reporting to the official to inform him that he would be an eligible receiver from his tackle position. Said Weisman: I think we must keep in mind that were comparing Gayles first football telecast with play-by-play people who have done literally hundreds of games. I'm sitting here with critics who are comparing it to Dick Enberg and A1 Michaels and Pat Summerall. When you consider that this was Gayles very first telecast, under less than ideal circumstances, it was remarkable." Vlasic enters in pickle, but goes 3-for-6 By Jay Posner Times-Advocate Sportswriter DENVER Mark Vlasic entered his first NFL game with 5 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the Chargers 24-0 loss to Denver Sunday.

He promptly dropped his first snap from center, picked it up and threw a pass to Wes Chandler that traveled 62 yards in the air but fell incomplete. However, on the next play Vlasic got his first NFL completion, a 7-yard pass to Winslow. He finished the game three of six for eight yards, with one sack and one interception. It was fun to get in, Vlasic said. I was looking forward to this all year.

Its too bad it had to be in a situation like that. I was hoping the game would be out of hand the other way. After the game, Vlasic had a message for Winslow. He just mentioned the fact that he was honored that his first NFL completion was to me, said Winslow, the Chargers leading receiver Sunday with six catches. Who knows? Maybe thats a trend of something to come in the future.

He is extremely, extremely tal Chargers Continued from page Cl get it done. Next year we have to play hard and make the big plays. It was the Broncos K.C. Clark who made the first big play of Sundays game, returning Ralf Mojsie-jenkos initial punt of the day 71 yards for a touchdown. Before the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fans who braved the horrible weather temperatures in the teens, a wind-chill factor of below minus-10 and continuous heavy snowfall could finish scraping off the snow from their seats, Denver had a 7-0 lead.

Only 1 minute, 50 seconds had elapsed. That set the tide for the game, Saunders said. I think it probably played a mental part in the game, added safety Martin Bay less. We knew it was going to be a chess match with the way the field was. When one of the teams gets a real quick score like that well, that took a little breath away from me.

It was a head start for them. You get up seven points in weather like this and control the football, youre going to win. Clark also set up the Broncos second touchdown, returning a punt 15 yards to the Charger 38. Seven plays later, Sammy Winder went in from the 1, and the Broncos had a 14-0 lead before the points; and the misdirection-type running game gained 129 yards. This is not as much fun as it was the last time here," said Saunders, who got his first coaching victory here last year against Denver.

The fun" actually started Saturday when the Chargers arrival here was delayed for more than six hours. They finally checked into their hotel shortly after midnight MST Sunday. About 14 hours later they got routed by the Broncos, but even then they couldnt escape. Weather conditions forced Denver's Staple-ton International Airport to close Sunday for the first time in four years. The Chargers were tentatively scheduled to depart Denver at noon MST today.

Said defensive end Les Miller: Its been a long, weird trip." Not to mention season. high, and they made just seven first downs (one after halftime), one away from another season low. In the second half, San Diego ran 22 plays and gained 22 yards. Saunders and most of his players discounted the weather as a factor. We thought the weather could certainly minimize the effectiveness of their offense, and it did," Saunders said.

But it minimized our offense equally. Said Smith: It was perfect for us. They have a barefooted kicker and a quarterback from California and they run a misdirection-type offense. It was to our advantage." Except the kicker. Rich Karlis, booted one field goal and three extra points through the snow; the quarterback, John Elway, while recording season lows of seven completions and 98 yards, did enough to get his team at least some By Kevin Mulligan Knight Riddet News Service KANSAS CITY, Mo.

The analyst leaned over and gave his play-by-play partner a peck on the cheek. Fifteen minutes later, the executive producer of NBC Sports entered the glass-enclosed Arrowhead Stadium TV booth and did the same. Gayle Sierens had just finished the first call of an NFL game by a woman in television history. The things that mattered were: That her seven-week crash course in NFL play-by-play, which cost NBC $50,000, had ended. Another gender barrier in television sports had been cracked.

And she was respectable, in an upset almost as surprising to some as the Chiefs 41-20 victory over the playoff-bound Seattle Seahawks. She was even easy to listen to, though at times hard to hear. I would have to say I am glad it's over, yes," she said. Because I got the monkey off my back, you know. Everyone wanted to see if this girl could do this football game.

And now they know. I hope they thought they saw a good game, and that the announcers didnt get in the way of the game. I dont want anyone to say, Oh, she as great for a girl. And I dont want people to take exception because I am a woman and say, Well, she couldve done this better but I want them to look at it the way they'd look at any other game." As TV debuts go, Sierens was memorable only in a historic context. The game was shown only in Kansas City and parts of the Northwest.

The game plan of executive producer Mike Weisman was to keep it simple, and NBC did not stray from that, even when the Chiefs took a two-touchdown lead with 8:54 remaining in the third quarter. The strategy worked. The 33-year-old Tampa newscaster played it straight consistently giving the downs, yards to go, time remaining and offensive and defensive sets and won. She said nothing earth-shattering, and was content to let the exciting game a 27-20 air show at halftime work itself. The sexists who came looking for glaring mistakes headed to the i i W1333 1 I nl 'l r-- XZXMXL STEEL BELTED RAOIALS FOR IMPORTS AN0 SMALL CARS $2795 SAVE UP TO Si GOOD 145SR13 SIZE PRICE WAS 34" 29 155SR12 155SR13 16580R13 175SR14 185SR14 165SR15 17570R13 XA4 18570R13 18570R14 19570R14 30.95 31.95 35.95 41.95 43.95 38.95 42.95 47.95 50.95 51.95 BW SQ95 mill www os salt yunoj LIGHT TRUCK AND CAMPER TIRES $3595 70015TT 6PR.

'SERVICE HEAVY DUTY SHOCKS FRONT ALIGN anjWIHTnfiTrmH ented. I think he definitely has a future (in the league). Whether that future is next year or two years from now or three years from now, that remains to be seen. Winslow also had nothing but praise for Sundays starter, Mark Herrmann, who was 13 of 23 for 123 yards and four interceptions. Said Winslow: I still believe that if Mark Herrmann is given the opportunity from Day 1 and told, Hey, you are the starting quarterback, he will come in and, in this system, he will produce.

Instead of being thrown to the wolves like he was in Seattle (Herrmanns other start) and thrown to the wolves like he was (Sunday) in a snowstorm against the Denver Broncos. And he still threw the ball well. So, who will be the starter next year? Herrmann? Vlasic? Dan Fouts? Winslow threw his hands up in the air. I have no idea, he said. Perhaps the brighest light of the Chargers day was rookie speedster Jamie Holland, who doubled his season output with three receptions (for 64 yards).

I took advantage of the opportunity that was presented, said Holland, the Chargers seventh-round draft choice this year. Its a good feeling, and I want to keep that positive feeling going into the offseason and next training camp. Holland also returned three end of the first quarter. For the Chargers, who have had enough trouble scoring 14 points in good weather, the situation was hopeless. With backups Mark Herrmann and Mark Vlasic playing in place of the injured Dan Fouts, the Chargers suffered their first shutout since Oct.

29, 1984, against Seattle a span of 53 games. Including last weeks game against Indianapolis, the Chargers finished the season with a scoreless streak of 27 possessions covering 112 minutes, 59 seconds. The Chargers reached midfield or beyond on eight possessions Sunday, but came away empty each time. Five times the drives ended with interceptions one was returned 52 yards for a score by Ricky Hunley and there was also one punt and a missed 26-yard field goal by Vince Abbott. The other possession ended with Herrmann being stopped for no gain on fourth-and-one at midfield in the second quarter.

I tried the best I could, I just couldnt go anywhere, Herrmann said of that play or was it the entire afternoon? In addition to points scored, the Chargers set season lows for net yards passing (108). total yards (151) and third-down conversion percentage (8.3, or l-for-12). The five interceptions were a season Obviously, Im disappointed not to win the football game. Its not a good situation when you limp into the playoffs like were doing now. But well regroup and come back next week, Largent said.

His six catches ran his career total to 752, eclipsing the 750 by Charlie Joiner in a brilliant career with the Chargers. Largent got the record on a three-yard gain in the second quarter and was stopped on a jarring tackle by linebacker Dino Hackett. I got hit so hard on that play, I wasnt thinking about the record at all, he said with a grin. It seemed like last year on the consecutive game streak, it was a bigger deal because you could predict which game it would happen. For me, its more satisfying than the consecutive game deal.

I consider it a more important record. But its bittersweet now. We lost the game. He and Dave Krieg are timed up as well as any quarterbackre-ceiver pair in football, said an admiring Lewis. Hes so smart, he can set you up one way, then do something else.

If he was a boxer, theyd talk about what a great counter-puncher he is. teams played in Baltimore. The Denver Broncos, also playing Sunday, gained the home field for the entire playoffs Houston beat Cincinnati 21-16 to clinch an AFC wild-card berth. The Oilers will play host to Seattle next Sunday in the AFC wild-card game. If Houston wins next week, the Oilers will play the following week at Denver.

If Seattle wins, the Seahawks will play next at Cleveland. Indianapolis will play at either Denver or Cleveland, depending on the outcome of the Houston-Seat-tle game. In the NFC, if Minnesota beats New Orleans in the wild-card game, the Vikings would play the next round at San Francisco and Washington would play at Chicago. If the Saints beat the Vikings, they would travel to Chicago and the 49ers would play host to the Redskins. 1 4 tH service coupon Largent eclipses Joiner as all-time catch leader GUnRAOTEGD UOJ'JEST We are so committed to underselling our competition whether they be Department Stores, Discounters, Warehouses or Clubs, that if you can find the same tire advertised for less, well beat that price! SEE IMPORIIflADI FRONT WHEEL BRAKE PACKAGE TT EUROPEAN RA01ALS FOR SMALL IMPORT CARS $1795 155SR12 omtan uui wnimi STEEL RA0IALS FOR DOMESTIC CARS WHITEWALL 3UXH LTD.

WARRANTY $1995 PI 5580813 SIZE PRICE SAVE up TO SAVE UP TO 1 BETTER BEST WAS 5 8" WAS M25" s4995 J8995 mt P16580R13 P18580R13 P18575R14 P19575R14 P20575R14 P20575R15 P21575R15 P22575R15 P23575R15 2195 28.95 28.95 28.95 29.95 3195 34.95 34.95 36.95 -SENV1CI COUPON- HYDRAULIC STRUT CARTRIDGES I SI 79 95 SERVICE COUPON. llniDCiSTon WU SEASON STEEL BELTED RAOULS 40S0S MCE LTD. WARRANTY ET 1 it S3 SAVE 50. SPORT XGT HIGH PERFORMANCE TIRES SPECIAL HURRY' PURCHASE SUPPLY LIMITED NO ADDITIONAL NO DISCOUNTS APPLY RAINCHECKS KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Albert Lewis, 27, is a superbly conditioned athlete in the prime of his youth, and he very, very rarely feels clumsy.

It happens about twice a year every time the Kansas City Chiefs play the Seattle Seahawks. Steve Largent is so smooth out there, he makes you feel awkward, said the Chiefs 1986 all-pro cor-nerback. He makes you feel clumsy. Im honored to play in the same game with Steve Largent. Largent, Seattles 12-year veteran, became the NFLs all-time reception leader Sunday with six catches in the Seahawks 41-20 loss to the Chiefs.

He also extended his NFL record for consecutive games with a reception to 152. Largent entered the game needing five catches, 201 yards and six receiving touchdowns for career records. It was a situation where we didnt know what game we were going to break the record, but I was glad to get it over with, he said. The loss consigned the Seahawks to wild-card status in next weekends playoffs, sending them to Houston. Playoffs Continued from page Cl it this way I feel good about it.

When we started the season, our objective was to get into the playoffs any way we could. When its all said and done, they dont ask how, they ask how many. If we hadnt played well yesterday, if we stunk up the joint against the Redskins, I might have thought that we backed in. But we played hard and just came up short at the end. We have a good team.

Sunday began with only the Redskins, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns in possession of division titles, with the Bears having won the NFC Central and the Browns the AFC Central. Indianapolis beat Tampa Bay 24-6 Sunday to take the AFC East, locking up its first division championship since 1977, when the END ALIGNMENT NqW FRONT-END Set Qr camber, caster and toe where Ij 33 applicable. Inspect for worn parts. Road test good thru 1-2-88 mux RC0T 375 STEEL BELTED RADIAL WHITEWALL FOR DOMESTIC CARS SR SPEED RATED TO 112 MPH 55.000 MILE WARRANTY $3995 P17575SR13 SERVICE COUPON LIFETIME ALIGNMENT POLICY SAVE with purchase of two tires Cimn Warranty a lb upon noun) UU GOOD THRU 1-2-88 im a a 'r NOW OPEN 6 DAYS Mon Fri 81m -6 pm Thursday 8 a in 8pm Saturday 8am 5pm CHARGE IT! fu SIZE WAS SALE 20560VR13 112.95 56.47 2456WR14 148.95 74.47 24560VR15 174.95 87.47 25560VR15 189.95 94.97 ASK ABOUT OUR ROAD HAZARD AND 3-WAY PROTECTION PLAN. CALL FOR PRICES NOT LISTtD- NO CARRYOUTS-NO DEALERS SAN DIEGO 5433 Gaines St (619) 291-9150 Interstate (5) at (8) near Friars Road, behind Police Station.

EL CAJON 1445 No. (619) 440-0701 'It mile South of Bradley. SERVICE CENTERS NOW PART Of A 75 STORE CHAIN WITH MORE BUYING MUSCLE AND LOWER PRICES EARS TIRE a i Hmu mart of AKH Company, He. AVAILABLE CHULA VISTA 1135 Broadway (619) 427-9655 Across from the Price Club. Sc HabU Espanol 550 (619) and GOOD THRU 1-2-88 AND SUBJECT TO STOCK ON HAND OPEN THURSDAY UNTIL 8 PM.

ESCONDIDO MIRAMAR N. Broadway 6696 Miramar Rd 741-8280 (619) 535-8112 Corner of Washington Broadway Braket not avertable at Convoy Store KEARNY MESA 3747 Convoy St. (619) 576-0054 Interstate (805) at (163) North of Aero Drive. POWAY 13205 Poway Rd. (619) 748-1120 Center of town off 1-15.

Magnolia.