Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 11

USL DRAT PAGE 12 College And NBA Roundup Page 13 Scoreboard Page 14 Bristol Herald Courier SPORTS riday January 4 Section 2 Clock winds down on Hodgdon By COY BAYS Larry Carrier president and general man Sports Writer ager of the Bristol facility said Wednesday Warner Hodgdon literally dropped from the sky on a November day in 1981 to announce that he had become part owner of Bristol In ternauonai naceway and the Californian ac quired full ownership from partner Gary Baker in similar fashion in the summer of that he could not comment on the situation other than to say that the payment was due and that the bank had given Hodgdon a short grace period to produce the money 1983 In the coming weeks it may take some ac tion with similar flair on part to maintain his hold on what has grown into an impressive principality within the NASCAR racing empire It now appears that the financial problems plaguing Hodgdon extend beyond his need for an extension on a lease payment deadline at another NASCAR facility he owns in Nashville Hodgdon has failed to meet a Dec 31 dead line for a payment of $102000 on a note held by a Bristol bank on the 600 acre Bristol racing complex which includes Bristol International Raceway Thunder Valley Dragway and Thun der Valley Stables and Showgrounds Elsewhere records in the Clerk of the Court office for Wilkes County NC show that the California businessman and prominent fig ure in stock car racing currently has four suits filed against him as a means of placing attach ments on stock in Johnson Hodgdon Racing which is located near North Wilkes boro in Ingle Hollow Hodgdon failed last week to meet a pay ment deadline in Nashville for the 1985 lease to the state fairground property on which the Nashville track sits and was given an exten sion until January 11 on the $102644 owed the State air Board my last conversations with him he seemed in an up mood and the closer it got to the New Year the more optimistic he said Joe Carver general manager of the track at Nashville not due until the 11th and he said come through with The Johnson Hodgdon Racing team was formed at the conclusion of the 1983 NASCAR season when Hodgdon agreed to buy half in terest in Junior highly successful racing operation which fields the Budweiser sponsored cars of Darrell Waltrip and Neil Bonnett A fifth creditor Parkway Galleries of Bristol had filed against his holdings in Wilkes County but repossessed furniture from the racing complex Wednesday as a means of re couping $16131 allegedly owed by Hodgdon A spokesperson at the store said Thursday that the furniture had been picked up and would be auctioned off on a date to be set by the court in North Carolina Neither Johnson nor Hodgdon were avail able for comment when attempts were made to reach them Thursday Other parties seeking attachments on stock in Wilkes County and the amounts include North Carolina Motor Speed way $105000 Riverside (Calif) Speedway $71823 oster Sturdivant Co $4967587 and Morgan ranz $5799406 The two speedways claim Hodgdon owes the respective amounts from sponsorship con tracts for races at the tracks while the oster Surdivant action is in regard to alleged unpaid bills on construction work done by the com pany at the racing complex on prop erty The Morgan ranz attachment stems from a judgement the insurance concern won against Hodgdon in a California court now all we can do is wait and said Carver of the approaching deadline in Nashville I be surprised to see him show up on the 10th with the check in hand Apparently he was expecting some se rious money to be coming his way after the first of the year when I talked to him over the I rj 4 Wk AHWM'fByyi '1 yM i Warner Hodgdon San rancisco finesse SAN RANCISCO (AP) Coach Bill Walsh has called the San rancisco 49ers finesse on offense His linemen live uneasily with the label not going to many people in the National oot ball League certainly not going to the Chicago right tackle Keith ahn horst said as the 49ers prepared for NC championship game with Chicago at Candlestick Park no football player likes to be labeled part of a fi fiesse said the 275 pound All Pyo player what known as a finesse team (but I think we really are afinesse offense We got that label because we used to throw the ball a lot more than we do 4 The 1981 Super Bowl championship team was l3 3 in I the regular season despite a rush ing average of only 35 yards per attempt Running backs Wendelf Tyler and Roger Craig have ar rived since then averaging 51 and 42 yards per carry respec tively This season the 49ers are 15 1 and had 2465 yards rushing to complement the 4079 yards of the Joe Montana led passing a certain amount of finesse in anything you do in foot ball You try to get players on the other team out of Bears Coach Mike Ditka said at his temporary practice head quarters in Santa Rosa north of San rancisco Bill Walsh believes the same as I do that it comes down to what happens up front who controls the he added impressed with the way they come off the line and the way their backs run going to try to control them which is not going to be easy because I think there is any question that they have the best offense in football blocking schemes are innovative and team? UNDERDOG Pittsburgh will at least have an edge in the kicking department Sunday when the Steelers travel to Miami to face the Dolphins for the AC Championship See story page 12 The Chicago defense as run by Ditka aide Buddy Ryan is rec ognized as innovative and the Bears broke an NL record this season by recording 72 sacks They had seven sacks in last Sun 23 19 playoff victory over the Washington Redskins No one has accused the Bears of playing finesse defense Late in the 1983 season the last time the teams met the 49ers suffered a 13 3 loss in Chicago Montana was sacked five times and intercepted twice in what still ranks as the lowest scoring game' since Walsh became coach six years ago added fuel to the fire of that finesse 265 pound guard Randy Cross recalled I think our offense this year is bet ter than we had last The defensive tactics caused confusion along the San rancisco line Cross admitted Chicago still uses those tactics such as often putting seven or eight men up on the line of scrim like playing a goal line defense all the said Bubba Paris the offen sive left tackle The Bears might consider Paris a 295 pound weak link in the starting line played only two NL seasons compared to at least seven by the other starters Richard Dent the defensive end who led the NC in sacks with 17 this season will be aiming at Montana from side of the line made the Joe Jacoby a Pro Bowl tackle look crazy My goal is to not let him make me look Paris said AP I jmrrphoto mik tWIMiBB sSr wl Mt is i 5r mm 49er finesse man quarterback Joe Montana hopes to lead club into Super Bowl XIX Sasser remains in limbo ByBILLVILONA SportsWritcr Though his name continues to be tossed around the rumor mill East Tennessee State football coach Buddy Sasser says he knows "noth ing about his chances for the vacant athletic director's job at The Citadel trying to stay out of it" said Sasser when reached by tele phone Wednesday at his office in Me morial Center guess the best thing for ine to say is I know any more than I did a couple weeks name first surfaced as a possible successor to the retiring Eddie Teague back in early Decem ber when a sports columnist for The Columbia (SC) State newspaper re ported Sasser and Citadel head bas ketball coach Les Robinson were the leading candidates At the time Sasser denied having any formal contact with the school He says the situation has remained the same "I have not gone down there for any Sasser said I really don't know what they've been However Sasser's name contin ues to be mentioned as a possible candidate by several of South Caroli leading newspapers Sources say he is definitely under consider ation Others include Robinson and for mer University of South Carolina head football coach Paul Dietzel One paper has reported Bill Parker the current head football coach at Wofford and a former assistant of at Wofford has been men tioned as part of a package deal which would call for Sasser as the AD and Parker as the assistant Sasser is understandably tight lipped on the matter because of the possible negative effects to recruiting efforts The Bucs along with all NCAA Division 1 schools are in the midst of the most crucial pe riod for wooing prospective prep prospects The national signing date is eb 15 AP I JiMTphoto Georgia head coach and athletic director Vince Dooley Scholarships affected Georgia on probation ATHENS Ga (AP) The University of Georgia an nounced Thursday its football program had been placed on NCAA probation for one year but said the penalty would not affect television or bowl appearances Claude elton sports information direc tor said the school had been notified by the National Col legiate Athletic Association that it would be penalized by a reduction in football scholarships it may offer in 1985 and 1986 Georgia will be permitted 23 scholarships each of those years instead of the normal 30 he said The school released a statement from the NCAA which said its Committee on Infractions levied the pen alty primarily because of the actions of Georgia boosters not employed by the university It said Georgia had been ordered to prohibit three boosters from further recruit ing In 1982 one of the "outside athletics representa helped an unidentified athlete get a loan for a 1975 model car and later paid off the loan when the athlete fell behind on his payments the NCAA statement said representative had been a long time friend of the student family and had aided the family prior to becoming involved in the recruiting said Infractions Committee Chairman rank Remington Remington said the booster attended a seminar on NCAA recruiting rules but continued to improperly as sist the athlete ithout advising members of the univer coaching staff of his actions and with the knowl edge he was violating NCAA The NCAA statement said two Georgia boosters a student athlete a limited amount of cash for his personal during the 1982 83 academic year And it said a booster made four improper recruiting contacts involving the families of two prospects during the period from November 1983 to ebruary 1984 Unidentified members of the coaching staff were cited for arranging "one way automobile transporta for a player from Athens to his home about 50 miles away The NCAA said two coaching staff members allowed their cars to be used by athletes who traveled home for family emergencies but noted student athletes paid appropriate costs for gasoline and Remington praised cooperation with NCAA investigators saying the school confirmed information available to the NCAA and vigorously pursued additional information concerning the improper acts of its representatives when that information would have been unavailable to the NCAA without the universi In a statement released by the school football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley said are disap pointed with some aspects of the NCAA (Infractions) action However considering the extensive and prolonged inquiry and both the small number and nature of the violations involved I think we can have a very positive feeling about our program plan to address all the points involved at a press conference on Dooley said really don't want to say much more about said Sasser "To say anything else would hurt all con Duane DaPron the sports infor mation director at The Citadel said yesterday the search been slow in proceeding" were still being accepted until December 15 They are still screening the applications and I don't think gone any further from that said Da Pron my knowledge no inter views have taken place" Teague who has served as The Citadel athletic director since 1957 scheduled to officially step down until June 30 It is quite possible the school could wait a while before reaching a decision But for Sasser who must concentrate on recruiting and spring practice during the next few months such a delay would likely inhibit his chances of landing the position The entire ETSU staff will be in Nashville next week for the Ameri can ootball Coaches national con vention Sasser said the NCAA has put a freeze on recruiting next week so all coaches can attend the meetings we will start bringing in prospects for offi cial Sasser explained figure on bringing in more than 50 players and out of that we hope to sign 22 We will also visit the kids at their homes" i 1.