Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 41

Times-Advocate Businoss Thursday, October 30, 1986 SKdteu liKf CORYELL 00. SAUIIHERS Skipper takes helm in rough midstream By Jay Posner Times-Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO The Chargers have lost seven straight games, their longest such streak in 11 years, and their hopes for ending the skein rest upon a third-string quarterback who has never started an NFL game. Welcome to the NFL, A1 Saunders. Its always hard to grab an oar in the middle of a river when youre flowing quite fast, but its a great challenge, Saunders said. All coaches look forward to having the opportunity to be a head football coach.

For Saunders, that opportunity came at least two months sooner than he had expected when he was named Wednesday to succeed Don Coryell as the Chargers new head coach. Saunders selection came as no surprise; he was thought to be Coryells heir apparent last December upon his promotion to assistant head coach. Except no one thought Coryell would be gone until the end of this season at the earliest. The Chargers 1-7 start this year changed Coryells mind, however, and now it is up to Saunders at 39, the NFLs youngest head coach to try and salvage something from this dismal season. His first chance will be Sunday when the Chargers host the Kansas City Chiefs, and his contract runs through the end of the 1987 season.

I dont see a lot of people walking around happy about being a San Diego Charger, whether it be a fan or a player or axoach or an administrator, Saunders said. Weve got to get that feeling in this organization now that youre proud to be a San Diego Charger. 'When you lose, everything becomes attitude. People dont feel good about themselves. They feel embarrassed to walk around with a Charger logo on.

Fans wear bigs over their heads. They dont want to be affiliated with a loser. My job is to get this thing turned around so that people feel good about being part of the San Diego Chargers. So our payers can feel proud to put on their uniform and go out on the field and play hard. 4 Please see Saunders, page D6 Coaches, players say hes no quitter By Jay Posner Times-Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO The move was unexpected only in that it came two months sooner than expected.

Don Coryell did not figure to coach the Chargers beyond this year, but owner Alex Spanos had repeatedly said Coryell could finish this season, despite the teams dismal record. So, when Coryell stepped down Wednesday with assistant head coach A1 Saunders named as his successor it was no surprise speculation surfaced as to whether the resignation was entirely Coryells idea. Coryell was unavailable for comment, though in a prepared statement he said the decision was his alone. And, Spanos denied he played any role in Coryells leaving. But those who know Coryell said he has never been a quitter, and the longtime coach left San Diego Stadium Wednesday without telling either his players or assistant coaches of his decision.

Center Don Macek, one of only five Chargers to have played for Coryell during the coachs entire nine-year tenure here, left no doubt as to his feeling. I dont think he quit, Macek said. I never knew Don Coryell to quit in my life. To say he quit just doesnt sit well with me at all. Nor did it sit well with Los Angeles Raiders linebacker Linden King, who played eight years for Coryell before being released this summer.

I dont think Coach Coryell was the problem. Theyre looking for scapegoats and getting rid of people, said King, who still travels here each Tuesday to visit with friends on the team. I dont think it came as a surprise to anyone. Pretty much everyone knew hed be gone if they werent winning by halfway through the end of the season. The Chargers arrived at that point last Sunday with their seventh straight loss, dropping their record to 1-7.

Its one of those things that happens in professional sports, said Charlie Joiner, another leftover from the pre-Coryell regime. When management feels they need Please see Coryell, page D5 Robert GauthierThe Times-Advocate Don Coryells nine years with the Chargers ended Wednesday. Shocked, somber players voice regrets, pain shame, but it happens in pro sports. Coaches get fired and players get waived. You just have to pick yourself up and keep going.

Ed White, the assistant offensive line coach who played eight years under Coryell, was just as moved. My first thought was my sadness for Coach, said White. Everybody has been under pressure, but its still a shock. Hes a very sensitive and warm guy. He doesnt mind laughing at himself.

He loves football and he loves to win. He had concern for the players at all times. I know how much he wanted to create a championship team. Its so sad he was not able to achieve that. times and Im going to miss him.

I have as much respect for him as anyone I have ever met, said center Don Macek. What made him special was the way he treated his players. If you ever had a problem of any kind, you knew he was the person you could go to. I hope if ever I can do anything for him, hell come to me. The players learned of Coryells resignation in a special team meeting just moments before Wednesdays practice.

When I heard, I felt the same way as when I see a good friend get cut or waived, said wide receiver Charlie Joiner. He was a good coach, a players coach. He was good for the San Diego Chargers. I was shocked. I had a down feeling inside.

Its a Macek recalled Coryells first day as head coach of the Chargers, Sept. 25, 1978. Coryell, a near-deity to local football fans after building San Diego State into a big winner from 1961-72, took over the Chargers after the fourth game of the 78 season. At his first team meeting, Coryell surveyed the room of players. I can remember that day vividly, said Macek.

Coach Coryell told us he already knew Ed (White) and recognized Dan (Fouts), said Macek. He then said he didnt know who any of the rest of us were. Ill always remember the laughter and Please see Players, page D6 By Bob Gaines Times-Advocate Sportswriter "SAN DIEGO Don Coryell slipped out of San Diego Stadium Wednesday unnoticed by players and coaches. Within the hour, the news had spread. Coryell, the Chargers head coach for the past nine years and a near folk hero in San Diego for the past 25 years, had resigned.

To a man, the Chargers players were shocked and somber. The tributes were emotional, painful. My memories of Coach Coryell will always be very strong, said kicker Rolf Be-nirschke. Ill remember him with real car-ng and respect. For nine years, he was our eader.

Weve been through some great "WEST iuropes Horse of Year favorite in Breeders Hoyt faces prison for his drug arrest Manuel CenicerosThe Times-Advocate LaMarr Hoyt faced the press after his rehabilitation clinic stay. Kennedy traded for Orioles Davis Braves starts were in England. While there was no doubt about favoritism in the Turf event, opinion is divided on the favorite for the $3 million Breeders Cup Classic, seventh of the $1 million-plus events. It is speed vs. stretch-runner; Precisionist vs.

Turkoman. While Precisionist was billed as the favorite in prerace speculation, Santa Anita oddsmaker Jeff Tufts made Turkoman (Day) 8-to-5 with Precisionist (Gary Stevens) the second choice at 2-1 in a field of 1 1. It doesnt matter whos favored, said Ross Fenstermaker, trainer of 88-year-old Fred Hoopers Precisionist. The horses cant read. It was reported that this would be the 5-year-old Precision-ists last race before going to stud, but Fenstermaker said, The only one who knows about that is Mr.

Hooper, and I dont think hes made up his mind yet. Precisionist reportedly will be syndicated at $500,000 a share, making him worth a total of $20 million. The others in the mile-and-a-quarter Classic are Alphabatim (Eddie Delahousssaye) 8-1; Sky-walker (Laffit Pincay) 12-1; Nostalgias Star (Toro) 12-1; Triptych (A.S. Cruz) 15-1; Herat (Jerry D. Bailey) 20-1; Mogambo (Angel Cordero) 20-1; Bold Arrangement (Eddery) 30-1; and lades (Cash As-mussen) 30-1.

Turkoman drew post one and Precisionist post two. Either horse could earn Horse of the Year laurels with a victory, but the first two runnings of the Classic were taken Please see Cup, pageD7 Russ Harris lew York Daily News ARCADIA It is thoroughbred acings World Series and Super 3owl wrapped into a four-hour ex-ravaganza. Seventy-nine of the est racehorses in the world, in-luding 17 from Europe and one rom Canada, drew post positions Vednesday for Saturdays $10 mil-ion Breeders Cup program at ianta Anita. Abdullah Khaleds Dancing Jrave, hero of the Arc de riomphe and already Horse of he Year in Europe, helped bring wo dozen reporters from overseas 0 cover Breeders Cup III, which urpasses the first two runnings of te championship series. Dancing Brave, ridden by Brit- ih champion jockey Pat Eddery nd a winner eight times in nine arts, worked three furlongs on le grass here Wednesday in 36 sconds and was made the 9-5 fa- orite in the $2 million Breeders up Turf.

The lVfc-mile grass event attract- 1 a field of 10, including Califor-ia-based Estrapade (Fernando oro), Manila (Jose Santos), The-trical (Gary Stevens), Duty ance (Pat Day) and Dahar (Alex olis). Dancing Brave drew the ex-eme outside post, and while he is garded as the best horse in Eu-pe since Nijinsky, there is still a lestion in the minds of some merican horsemen whether the entucky-bred son of Lyphard will I able to handle the tight turns of Santa Anita turf course (nine-nths of a mile around). Except for the Arc at Longch-ops in Paris, all of Dancing By John Shea Times-Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO LaMarr Hoyt faces a maximum of 15 years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine for allegedly transporting narcotics across the San Ysidro border crossing. Preliminary.indications say the Padres pitcher, should he be found guilty, would be imprisoned for at least a short term, which would still have an adverse effect on his baseball career. He has an excellent chance of serving some time, said a member of the Padres.

Thats a definite possibility, added Michael Maas, a vice president to Hoyts agent, Ron Shapiro. Hoyt, apprehended Tuesday night in a drug-related incident for the third time this year, would be slapped with the prison term and fine if convicted of a charge of importing a controlled substance. Tuesdays border incident occurred at approximately 7 p.m. Hoyt was stopped for allegedly attempting to carry several hundred tablets, including Valium, across the border from Mexico. U.S.

drug agents and U.S. Customs inspectors discovered in Hoyts possession two bags containing 322 Valium tablets, and 138 tablets first thought to be Quaaludes, but identified Wednesday by the Drug Enforcement Administration as propoxyphene, a narcotic pain-killer. Thirty additional pills were identified as a non-controlled drug by the DEA. Hoyt spent Tuesday night at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego. After Hoyt appeared for arraignment before U.S.

Magistrate Roger Curtis McKee on a single count complaint and reached bail Wednesday, he was released, pending a Nov. 10 hearing. A federal prosecutor, assistant U.S. attorney Pat Swan, said Hoyt could have remained in custody considering he had been serving a three-year probation for a previous -drug arrest. Were entitled to request that he be detained without bail, but this is not the type of case that we would call for that, Swan said.

We reserve that for cases where there is a chance that the person would leave the country or that he would be a great danger to society. Hoyt has been ordered to remain in the U.S. and is subject to random drug testing. It was uncertain whether the case will be presented to a grand jury. Hoyts career as a Padre is over, according to club policy, and his future in baseball remains in doubt.

Hoyt wouldnt pitch again for the Padres because of the teams drug policy, which bans secondtime drug offenders. The Padres set a precedent in 1985 when they traded Alan Wiggins after the second baseman had a relapse of Kis cocaine addiction. Club President Ballard Smith hasnt confirmed that Hoyt wont return to the club, but he had previously warned that another drug Please see Hoyt, page D2 runs batted in in 1986. His best seasons were 1982 and 83 when he hit .295 and .284 respectively. He had 21 home runs and 97 RBI in 82 and 17 homers and 98 RBI in 83.

I look at this as an adventure, Kennedy told the Times-Advocate this morning. This will be great. Its a good deal for both clubs and (the Orioles) are really fired up. Not as fired up as I am, though. Kennedy had been rumored to be on the trading block the last two seasons.

He learned of his trade at 10:30 this morning when he was called by Padres General Manager Jack McKeon. By Jeff Frank Times-Advocate Sports Editor SAN DIEGO Padres catcher Terry Kennedy was traded this morning along with right-handed minor league pitcher Mark Williamson to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for right-handed pitcher Storm Davis. Davis, 24, has a career record of 54-40 and an earned run average of 3.65 in 4 V4 seasons with the Orioles. Known as a power pitcher, the 6-4, 200-pounder was 9-12 this season with an earned run average of 3.62. Kennedy, 30, a Padre since 1981, hit .264 with 12 home runs and 57 a.