The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 59

Iri.Jay, Dec. 25, K31 Section i i jP -p LA. gets two centers in one day Kareerns back, McAdoo's in Sun news services INGLEWOOD The Lakers, seeking to bolster their front line while providing a backup to center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, acquired veteran Bob McAdoo from the New Jersey Nets on Thursday. The Lakers hope to have McAdoo in uniform for Sunday's game against the San Diego Clippers at the Forum. Perhaps the best news for the Lakers on Thursday came when they learned that Abdul-Jabbar, who has missed three games because of a strained tendon in his right ankle, is expected to be in the starting lineup this afternoon when Los Angeles takes on the Phoenix Suns in a nationally televised game in Phoenix.

Abdul-Jabbar' has been sidelined since he was injured in a game against Golden State on Dec. 17. The Lakers have won all three games they've played without their all-Pro center. Abdul-Jabbar worked out with the club on Thursday and appeared to be running well, according to Bruce Jolesch, the club's public relations director. McAdoo was obtained in exchange for a 1983 second-round draft pick plus an undiclosed amount of cash, the Lakers said.

The trade is contingent upon McAdoo passing a physical given by doctors for the team. A nine-year NBA veteran, McAdoo was the 1975 NBA Most Valuable Player with Buffalo and is a three-time NBA scoring champion. His career scoring average is 26.4 points per game. The Lakers were looking for a center to back up Abdul-Jabbar even before the six-time Most Valuable Player was hurt last week. Los Angeles general manager Bill Sharman said McAdoo "has been at the top of our list, since we have been shopping for a center.

We're very happy to have Bob and we are quite confident he can aid the Lakers. It took a long time to put this deal together, but we are pleased with the result." The Lakers apparently intensified their efforts when starting forward Mitch Kupchak broke a bone in his left leg, also last week. He will be out eight to 10 weeks. McAdoo hasn't played for the Nets this year because he had not signed a contract. Joiesch said McAdoo and the Lakers have agreed to terms for the remainder of the 1981-82 season.

Coach Pat Riley said McAdoo seems to be in good physical condition "and he knows we see him in a backup capacity. He can play two positions for us center and power forward and is capable of giving (Continued on F4, column 1) I i i i Bob McAdoo insurance in middle Kareem Abdul-Jabbar returns today Item itDnenn0 naMtSq DSods Unsav MlaDdDinmeafl Hayden Fry: Hard times to good times By DAVID LEON MOORE Sun Sports Writer -m I Ji rose 1i I PASADENA For a man who laughs as much as glib, fun-loving Iowa football coach Hayden Fry, his smile isn't much to look at. Even though his Hawkeyes are in the limelight now, it's safe to say mm wuwiuwiiui. luuuiiiummbpimiWwj, I i i i i 1 1 1 I (Ma a I -i Ti humor. Pepsodent may not be interested, but he's going to smile, anyway.

"You gotta have a sense of humor," he says, "or this coaching will drive you crazy." Fry has also maintained his focus. All along, what he loved was coaching and coaches, football and football players. Now 52 years old and seemingly as spry as ever, he's still at it. Boy, is he ever. His Iowa Hawkeyes, a traditional doormat in the Big Ten conference known as Michigan and Ohio State and the other guys, are in the Rose Bowl.

He's been up and down and up again, but never this far up. "The Rose Bowl is the ultimate," he said the other day. "Every coach dreams of playing in the Rose Bowl." No one ever accused Hayden Fry of having small dreams. Fry grew up in Odessa, the heart of Texas oil country. Trouble is, it wasn't oil country when Fry grew up there, which means that the Frys were poor.

"We were so poor," Fry says often, "we didn't even know we were poor." When the Frys moved to Odessa in 1936, the population was around 3,000. When Hayden graduated from Baylor 15 years later Hayden won't be doing any Pepsodent commercials. Let's face it George Hamilton, he ain't. But his crooked teeth point out an important part of the Hayden Fry story namely, that there was nothing fancy or luxurious about his upbringing. When Hayden was a youngster down in west Texas, about the only thing that came in abundance was nothing.

Braces for little Hayden's teeth were out of the question. So were most other luxuries. But despite humble beginnings, Hayden Fry grew up to be big and tall and strong and creative and courageous and opportunistic and wise and successful. Through it all, he's maintained his modesty and, maybe most important of all, his sense of (Continued on F-7, column 1) Iowa coach Hayden Fry Don James: Born to be a football coach 1 Hyiww" i i if ll 1 sr uih 1 t. -J in Hollywood should grow up to be an actress and anyone from Hershey, Pa.

should crave chocolate, James was destined to spend his life as a coach, in a love affair with football. "I wanted to be a coach because of my high school experience," said James, one of a handful of Massillon people who have been successful in the field. "Bud Houghton and Chuck Mather were my first two influences." Mather went on to the University of Kansas and the Chicago Bears, and another Massillon man, Bob Commings, preceded current Iowa coach Hayden Fry with the Hawkeyes. "When you think of it, though," observed James, "you'd think that there would be more. But of the four boys in my family who played football, only one of us is in coaching." Before that was going to happen, though, James had some more playing to do.

He accepted a scholarship to the University of Miami and eventually started at quarterback his junior and senior years, setting several passing records. Off to the Army for two years, James played on service football and baseball teams, but upon his discharge in 1956, he got his first coaching break from his Massillon connections. Mather, then at Kansas, was looking for a freshman coach and James jumped at the opportunity. After two years in Lawrence, where he managed to pick up a master's degree in education, he landed his first head coaching job at Southwest High School in (Continued on F-7, column 1) By GREGG PATTON Sun Sports Writer ANAHEIM Don James wasn't born with a football in his arms, although he should have been. His main problem was that his mother, Florence, gave birth to him in the family home on the outskirts of Massillon, Ohio.

And in Massillon, Ohio, don't you know, every male infant is supposed to get a football from the city Chamber of Commerce. So where is his? James smiled at the thought, stretched out on the grass at Rams Park, where the Washington coach had just run his Huskies through their morning drills in preparation for the Rose Bowl. "I've heard that they did that," said James, who will be 49 on New Year's Eve, the day before Washington meets Iowa in Pasadena. "But I wasn't born in a hospital." In fact, James also may have been born a couple of years too soon. Massillon's football madness really didn't take hold until Hall of Famer Paul Brown took the high school's Tigers on a string of four Ohio state championships in his nine years as coach.

And Crown's first year happened to be 1932, the year James was born. If James didn't get the football, he got the madness. He was an enthusiast from early on, and eventually played quarterback on two more Ohio championship teams in 1948 and 1949 for Massillon's Washington High. His high school coaches, Bud Houghton and Chuck Mather, were the ultimate in role models for him. And, like a woman born Don James of Washington Year off was pain and pleasure for Riki Gray Lott, Munoz awarded all-Pro recognition the pros, or keep it out and remain with the Trojans for one more year.

Given a similar choice two years ago, offensive tackle Anthony Munoz elected to leave USC. Gray has elected to stay. "The NFL," he says, "is out of the question this year." USC coach John Robinson will be glad to hear that, if he hasn't already (no official announcement on Gray's 1982 status has been made). He can certainly find room in his plans for a man of Gray's talents. Gray says now that his one-year sabbatical from football was the best thing that could have happened to him.

The knee, he says, is "100 percent stronger" for having been rested. His schoolwork has improved to the point where he expects to make the Dean's List this year. He also says he learned a lot about his position by watching games from the sidelines. More important, he learned a lot about his natural father, whom he visited in the Fiji Islands during the late-summer a time Gray would (Continued on F-6, column 1) Lott, who will play in the Pro Bowl game in January, was second on the team in interceptions to Dwight Hicks' nine, led the 49ers in forced fumbles with four and was the club's second leading tackier with 89. Named to the writers' all-Pro offense along with Munoz, Sims and Dorsett were Cincinnati quarterback Ken Anderson, wide receivers Alfred Jenkins of Atlanta and James Lofton of Green Bay, tight end Kellen Winslow of San Diego, tackle Marvin Powell of the New York Jets, guards John Hannah of New England and Randy Cross of San Francisco and center Mike Webster of Pittsburgh.

The remaining defensive players are ends Joe Klecko of the Jets and Fred Dean of San Francisco, tackles Randy White of Dallas and Gary Johnson of San Diego, linebackers Jack Lambert of Pittsburgh and Jerry Robinson of Philadelphia, cornerback Mel Blount of Pittsburgh and safety Gary Barbaro of Kansas City. The other specialists are place-kicker Rafael Septien of Dallas, punter Pat Mclnally of Cincinnati and kickoff-returner Mike Nelms of Washington. Sun news services NEW YORK San Francisco 49ers cornerback Ronnie Lott, the former Eisenhower High School and USC star, was named to the Pro Football Writers of America all-Pro team in the National Football League on Thursday. Lott was one of only two rookies to make the squad. New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was the other.

Another former San Bernardino County prep star, ex-Chaffey and USC offensive tackle Anthony Munoz, was selected to the writers' all-Pro offensive squad. Two members of the Rams made the team: Safety Nolan Cromwell and punt returner Leroy Irvin. Running back George Rogers of the New Orleans Saints was named Rookie of the Year in the nationwide balloting sponsored by Stuck, but he failed to beat out Tony Dorsett of Dallas and Billy Sims of Detroit for a berth on the team. Lott intercepted seven passes and returned a club-record three of them for touchdowns in the just-concluded season. His return yardage on the seven thefts totaled 117 yards, including a long of 41 yards.

By MIKE DAVIS Sun Sports Writer LOS ANGELES Looking at the big picture, it could have been a lot worse for Riki Gray in 1981. He could have spent the year shoveling coal in Silesia, for instance, or bombing buildings in Belfast. Compared to what's going on in the rest of the world, sitting out USC's football season doesn't seem a bad way to pass the time. A lot safer, anyway. Still, it wasn't such an easy thing for Gray to do, at least at first.

"It ate me up inside," he said. A three-year starter at inside linebacker, Gray made all-Pacific 10 as a sophomore and might even have made all-America had he played as a senior this year. Instead, he didn't even make the press guide. An off-season knee operation the third of his career and the advice of doctors and coaches prompted Gray to decide he'd be better off redshirting this season, giving his knee a year off for rehabilitation. This left Gray with another decision.

His USC class graduates in June, meaning he'll be eligible for the NFL draft. He can put his name into the draft and go with USC linebacker Riki Gray.