The Danville Register from Danville, Virginia • Page 6

The Register: Danville, Va, Tuesday JWay22, 1 973 Fails To Excite trainer Bears Sign sooth. Adjusted Clocking Gives Secretariat Garrett, Venerable Sporting Events Second Fastest Preakness Winning Time Cotton Known For Spawning Legends By GORDON BEARD Associated Press Sports Writer BALTIMORE (AP) Secretariat still hasn't run the fastest Preakness but an adjusted time Monday did give him the second fastest change that failed to excite his trainer. After a stewards announced that Secretariat's winning time in Saturday's 98th Preakness had been officially set at 1:54 2-5 for the 1 3-16 Jmiles. That's three-fifths of a second below the 1:55 shown on the Visumatic electric time immediately after the race, but still off the 1:54 record set by Cano- nero II in 1971. Two dockers for the Daily- Racing Form said they had timed Secretariat, who has run the fastest miles, 1:59 2-5, in Kentucky Derby history, in 1:53 2-5.

Laurin said, Sunday he would request a review of the time because a record clpcking by Secretariat "would hare to help his value at stud." Informed of the official change, Laurin said in New York that it "leaves me cold because it still doesn't give him the record." But Laurin added, "Actually, I'm not too upset because he still won the Preakness and that's what counts." Secretariat, syndicated earlier this year for a record is scheduled to be retired to stud on Nov. 15. The stewards approved the change after viewing tapes of the race, and being told that Pimlico's official timer, E.T. day, however, McLean failed to McLean had recorded the report his clocking. 1:54 2-5 with a stopwatch.

"I can't get mad at McLean serves as a backup McLean," said Charles J. for the electric timer, and dur- "Chick" Lang, general man- ing the current Pimiico meet- ager of Pimlico. "He's a capable, dedicated worker." As paddock judge, McLean sent the six Preakness starters sources but two have occa- ing the two agreed on all sions. McLean reported those two to the track, timed the race discrepancies to stewards, and from a porch outside the jock- his times were noted officially ey's quarters near the finish on the racing charts. On Satur- line, and then hustled across to "the infield to weigh out winning Jockey Ron Turcotte.

The Visumatic timer, set in the three-sixteenths pole some three lengths in front of the starting gate, is activiated when the first horse passes the electric beam. The 25-second clocking for the first quarter mile by the electric timer was the slowest for any race on Pimlico's Saturday card. Ecole Etage. who set the early pace, had been timed at 23 1-5 for the quarter when he won the 1-16 mile Preakness Prep a week earlier. Secretariat topped Sham by 2 la lengths and third-place finisher Our Native by lO'A lengths, the exact margins for the same order of finish in the Derby.

It was the first time the order of finish was the same for the two classic races. CHICAGO (AP) Running back Carl Garrett and tight end Craig Cotton became the newest members of the Chicago Bears Coach Abe Gibron became a happy man. "They're both my kind of football players," Gibron said at a news conference called to announce the signing of the two Cards-Cubs Make Minor League Trade ST. LOUIS (AP) The St. Louis Cardinals announced Monday that they have obtained 29-year-old left-hander Dan McGinn for their Tulsa farm club in a minor league transaction and that they have signed pitcher Dick Selma to a Tulsa contract.

The Cardinals sent left-hand- er Wade Blasingame of- their Tulsa team to the Chicago Cubs' Wichita farm club in exchange for McGinn. In 25 1-3 innings with Wichita, McGinn was 0-3 and had a 5.70 earned run average. He compiled a 15-30 mark in the major leagues during stints with the Cincinnati Reds, the Montreal Citation in 1948, and the ninth in history. The final hurdle in the tough grind for 3-year-olds, the mile Belmont Stakes, will be run June 9. The opposition is uncertain, although it was announced Monday that Sham would take another shot at Sec- National Football League veter- ans.

"They give us a chance to With Secretariat as the drawing card, Pimlico set Maryland records-Saturday with a crowd of 61,657 and a handle of $3,792,076. Helen the sole owner until the syndication takes ef- turn it around in one year." Despite missing three games in 1972, the 5-foot-ll, 217-pound Garrett rolled up 1,344 yards in total offense for the New England Patriots. He was Rookie of the Year in the old American Football League in 1969 when his yardage total reached 1,909 including 691 rushing and 792 in kickoff returns. Cotton, at 6-foot-4 and 226 the $190,000 value set for each pounds, spent most of the past the product of a young editor's of the 32 syndication shares four seasons with the Detroit imagination and confusion. For feet, said after the race that Secretariat probably would have brought more had negotiations been delayed until now.

Laurin said he was convinced WALSENBURG, Colo. (AP) Venerable sporting events like the Indianapolis 500 have a knack of spawning legends. The roar of the beast-like Novi with Duke Nalon at the Ralph DePalma pushing his car across the finish line a lap short of Shaw flashing to victory in his famed Jones running away from the field in a revolutionary turbine only to have the car mysteriously stop three laps from the finish. And Will mythical hero whose 40th anniversary is being celebrated this' month. Overhead wasn't the stuff of which legends usually are made.

For thing, he was the Indianapolis 500 race in his The W-I editor, however, paper, although his Associated wasn't familiar with the term Press wire was to shut down "overhead" in that context. Un- before the race was over. der the pressure of a deadline The- last report he received already passed, he assumed the announced Fred Frame's elimi- race had been a nation while leading the race, driver named Will Overhead So the editor messaged the had won, so he quickly set to Denver bureau of The AP, ask- work on a story ing for the final outcome of the And the slory b6 an Overhead won the Indianapolis Memorial Day race today. At 200-lap marathon when it was over. The AP meant he would "overhead," or send the result by regular Western Union telegram, since the paper's wire wasn't operable.

To Secretarial the 250-mile post, was leading the string of. roaring cars, but gave way toX)ver- hea'd on the last half of ttie 500- mile was "too cheap." "I said when they syndicated him," Laurin said, "that they could have gotten 8250,000 a share without any trouble. "I think this horse is one of the great horses of all time. He's the greatest horse I've seen." for a $2 ticket was the third Expos and the Cubs. Blasingame, also had a 1- lowest in Preakness history 0 record and a 0.98 ERA with With S805 122 Tulsa.

His major league mark after nn in earnings of 14 career starts, Secretariat now has a Braves, the Houston Astros and chance to become the first the New York Yankees. Triple Crown hampion since NICKLAUS ON TOP AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Jack Nicklaus earned $12,500 for a third-place tie in the recent Masters. It lifted him to the top place on the 1973 PGA golf tour' The winner payoff of $2.60 'through April 9 with $106,064. Lee Trevino, 43rd at Augusta where he earned 51,675, dropped to second place in the year's tour earnings with $102,311.

Bruce Crampton of Australia was third for the first three months with $96,660. Lions backing up Charlie Sanders and playing on specialty teams. But, Gibron noted, Cotton is "a two-fisted football player." "They both like to hit people," the Coach continued. "That's 90 per cent of it." They both also received the "controversial" tag after disagreements with management of their former teams, but Gibron didn't even want to talk about that. What they did last year is history, he said.

"They're Chicago Bears now." Garrett was a three-time Little All American at New Mexico Highlands. Cotton played his college ball at Youngstown (Ohio) State versity. another, his memory summons a different type of reverence. Overhead is more of a journalistic legend, akin to the Chicago Tribune's "Dewey Defeats Truman" blunder. Overhead never even sat behind the wheel of a race car, much less turned a lap.

Yet he became an instant, though previously unknown, hero for racing fans in this small southern Colorado community. Few of the perpetrators of the dramatic error are still around, but those who remember relate the incident this way: On the afternoon of May 30, 1933, the young, relatively' inexperienced editor of the Uni- World-Independent desperately wanted to get final results of Sham To Be Biggest Challence In Belmont Agent Al Ross Prefers To Be Called Money Manager Al Ross By MURRAY QLDERMAN (Second of Three Parts) LOS ANGELES. Calif. agent, a term that Al Ross hates, is the ineluctable figure of modern sports affluence. The first time I saw Al Ross was in a dressing room of the Seattle Super Sonics, where he was shepherding a seven-foot giant named Jim McDaniels, who had just recently escaped from -the American Basketball Association and now.

thanks to Ross, was the beneficiarv of a new, iron-clad $1.5 million contract. Al deals in such staggering figures. He did even'bet- ter than that for Spencer Haywood, also an ABA jumper to the Sonics at $1.6 million. He recently negotiated a long-term contract which makes Carl Eller the highest paid defensive lineman in the history of the National Football League or so Ross claims. Al says he prefers that you call him a money manager-as he leans back in his 18th floor suite at Century City, looking west through the smog to the Pacific Ocean, his shiny patent leather Guccis crossed under the table modern executives shun desks.

The omnipresent yellow legal pad at his elbow. His two-tone shirt is open at the collar. His eyes are tired because juggling the lives and finances of some 25 different sports figures can be fatigu- ing, even for an inveterate hustler like Al. He's in his early 30's but his modishly long hair tucked over his ears is more salt than pepper. Why.

every now and then he even has to go out and one-on-one basketball with some of his clients. He wants you to know that he beat Elvin Hayes, the Big 8 to 5 in one of these matches. "Ask Elvin to tell you the truth," he says. He's a jock follower because he has been one, jock, he'll point out to you quickly. He went to Seward High School in New York and made all-city and a basketball scholarship to "Michigan State.

Then he got as far as a tryout camp with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1961. Those slumped shoulders are deceiving. He's 6-3 standing up straight still plays in a gym two, three nights a week. So he knows the jock mentality. "When I was a kid," he says, "I wanted to play so bad that if they showed me the dotted line where to sign, I would have signed.

No questions asked. Any terms they wanted." But now that he's an adult, hovering like a mother hen over super, athletes, he sees another side of it. The side of the negotiator, the lawyer (which he also is, after night school), trying to get the best deal possible for his clients. "I know the guys neeu this help," he says. need competent representation because management sits on one side with all the cards stacked, with the best legal talent.

And the kid's on the other side, naked, exposed. Particularly the black athlete. He's abused a lot Al's home in the verdantly manicured hills north of. Sunset Boulevard has been called the Bel Air Black Hilton because he often brings clients there. His roster of 23 shows, not surprisingly, only one white Diron Talbert of the Washington Redskins.

Eller, the all-pro defen- sive end of the Vikings, was 'wedge to sports representation. He met Carl at the NEA All-Pro party in January, 1970, straightened out Eller's finances and, in appreciation, Al's office fea- tures a display of the George Halas Trophy, awarded to Carl by NEA as the top defensive player of 1971. Al's firm, with its suite at 1900 Avenue of the is Called First United Man-; agement, and you wonder: why he would include! such, less than immortal," names as Lee Winfield, Gar-; field Heard, Travis Grant and Don Smith among the players he represents for a 10 per cent gross (for which he provides contract nego- allocates a living allowance, files tax returns, builds tax shelters, counsels on 1 I mean, what can Don Smith, rather obscure center who! has been on four different NBA teams, be making? "Would you believe," smiles Al, "that he is the highest paid player on the Houston Rockets. NEW YORK (AP) When Secretariat goes after the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes June 9, his main challenger once again will be Sham, trainer Frank "Pancho" Martin confirmed Monday. "He came out of the race just fine and his next race will be the Belmont," Martin said of Sham, runnerup to Secretariat in the Kentucky and the Preakness, each time by lengths.

After Saturday's Preakness, Martin had indicated Sham would skip the Belmont, saying: "I have no plans for the horse including the Belmont." But the trainer said he and owner Sigmond Sommer have decided to start Sham in the 1 'i-mile Belmont, longest of the Triple Crown races, because the colt had problems in the Derby and Preakness and they wanted to give him another chance. In the Derby, Sham hit his head in the starting gate and loosened two teeth, had to be cut out, but'still broke two minutes in finishing second to who ran the miles in a record 1:59 2-5. Then, in the Preakness, Sham hit the rail going into the first turn. "It's tough enough to horse Secretariat without having trouble," said Martin. "I want to see him in a race like the Belmont with plenty of room." Sham is scheduled to take it easy this week and serious preparation for ifie Belmont.

Secretariat's trainer, Lucien Laurin, also said his Meadow Stable colt will relax at Belmont Park this week, then get to work for his bid to become thoroughbred racing's first Triple Crown winner since 1 Citation a quarter of a century ago. "He came out of Preakness raring to go again," said Laurin. Laurin also was informed Monday that Pimlico stewards had officially adjusted Secretariat's time of 1:55, third'fast- est for the 1 3-16 PreakneSs, to 1:54 2-5, making it the'second fastest. Canonero II set' the record of 1:54 in 1971. Laurin said "the change leaves me cold because it still doesn't give me the record," but added he wasn't too upset because the victory was what really counted.

YES Independents have specials the same as everyone else. Shock absorbers, tune-ups, brakes, safety, oil changes, alignment, motor overhaul and many others too numerous to list. AUTO BEARING PARTS CO. There's no friend like a good friend. $1 10 SCOO 1 n9 $060 Avs- I OLD CHARTER The smoothest Kentucky Bourbon you'll ever know.

SWIfiHT WUBBW Wmt 86 PROOF 1873 010 ClittUR fl KIT. At the Sign of the Cat CONTINENTAL MARK IV LINCOLN CONTINENTAL MERCURY MARQUIS BROUGHAM MERCURY MONTEREY (Sag; The only medium-price car that gives you steel-belted radial tires as standard. MERCURY MONTEGO MX BROUGHAMt Mercury Monterey JUST MERCURY COUGAR XR-7 EQUIPPED WITH: engine Select-Shift Automatic Transmission Power front disc brakes Steel-belted radial ply tires Power steering nylon loop carpeting Automatic parking brake release -Energy-absorbing bumper Front bumper guards Inside hood latch re.aase Power ventilation Bright body side moldings Ford Motor Company Lifeguard Design Safety Features MERCURY COMET CAPRI Nobodyhas more kinds of cars for more kinds of people. 'Manufacturer's suggested retail price, excluding destinition charges, state and local taxes, license and title fees Ootional whltewalls ttumptr rub strips and guards and deluxe wheel covers ($25) illustrated are extra cost onl 7 illustrated with optional whitewalis and bumper rub strip. Vinyl roof standard on Marquis Brougham and CouaarXR-7 optional on other Mercurys illustrated.

Capri illustrated with optional Decor Group. Montego now available il engines and power trains. SEE YOUR MERCURY DEALER DANVILLE LINCOLN-MERCURY SALES, INC. 2333 RIVIRSIDE DRIVE DANVILLI, VIRGINIA.