Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 47

rl tho tmltrv" ll Tho drops 011 JIILt Vcdnosday, lan. 13t 1002 rnnrrnn3( scorobosrii KIKKfiSL. I Dave Schultz, the baddest of the Broad COLLEGE SCORES 4 rSn II IJ IPi Jf iTVVi: i i Street Bullies when he was an active player ENTERTAINMENT 7 () ZJ I JKJLI OCi The complete sports 7qUI ifTJ with the Philadelphia Flyers, tells all in his COMICS 9 I I LJ Detroit free press rundown. Page 4D. book Bj McGraws story is on page 30.

c.n with 222-6660 I i Zfoii? to build Super teams 1 in Gcornc rivi Puscas The patient Bengals get well in the draft CINCINNATI The scholarly and profound question facing us this morning 1 1 days before Super Bowl XVI is this: Why two Super long shots, coalesced hen Lions didn't Just between us The situation might change, but it's unlikely, says Jimmy the Greek. The XVIth Super Bowl is "a tossup a helluva football game" certain to have a lot of scoring, tingle-tingle, and, of course, the heaviest betting done on anything, anywhere. The Greek makes the San Francisco 49ers a one-point favorite over the Cincinnati Bengals. Oh, yeah? I flip the other way and take the Bengals. Didn't I give you Tommy Hearns, the Lions, the Chargers and the Cowboys? Trust me.

Our only problem is we know too much. "You gotta make a choice somewhere, even if you don't want to," says the Greek, who has no real conviction about either team. "I might be wrong, but at this moment I like the 49ers." Why? Because they beat the Dallas Cowboys twice this season. The Cowboys "Who dey. is "Who dey.

"Who dey think gonna beat dent Bengals? "Who dey That's the catchy little ditty Cin-cinnatians have been chanting with ever-increasing fervor as the Bengals made their way through the 12-4 regular season to the AFC championship and now on to the Super Bowl. And if the singsong "Who dey, who dey" doesn't drive you whacky first, it does provoke a legitimate inquiry: "Who dey think gonna beat Curt Sylvester Bengali dem Bengals?" If the San Francisco 49ers don't get it done on Jan. 24, the upstarts in the atrocious orange and black stripes will be the champions of the National Football League. And if that happens, there is another question that folks in this part of southern Ohio might want to to ponder: Why'd it take so long? No team in the NFL has had a better opportunity to build a winning team than the Cincinnati Bengals. Consider: See BENGALS, Page 6D were pre-season favorites to win everything.

Nobody says the Bengals and 49ers are "great" teams. The NFL had no great teams, or any teams close to greatness, this year. The Bengals and 49ers are merely survivors in a season devoid of superpowers. Not even the home folks believed The Bengals were 60-1, the 49ers 40-1, in the preseason book, to show you what gamblers know. They are the oddest couple of teams ever to come into the Super Bowl.

Not until midseason did they gain respect in their own towns. The Bengals, to show you more, consistently fell 15,000 short of sellouts at their stadium, a shocking fan response in the NFL. Not until they walloped San Diego, 40-17, back on Nov. 8 did their own townspeople turn on to them. It was like that with the 49ers, too.

They were so lightly regarded that when they lost the season opener to Detroit, 24-17, the Lions caught hell for having so much difficulty handling 'em. Not until the fifth week did the 49ers climb over the .500 mark but they have won 14 of their last 15, and that's phenomenal. San Francisco's success is attributed to coach Bill Walsh, who is generously described as a "genius." Walsh has something personal to prove in this Super Bowl. Call it a vendetta, if you like. He was a Bengal assistant when Paul Brown Walsh's Midas touch pans out 49er gold SAN FRANCISCO Ring, Board, Ayers and Williamson is not a Bay Area law firm.

Nor is Puki, Audick and Quillan. So who are Bill Ring, Dwaine Board, John Ayers and canton Williamson? How about Craig Puki, Dan Audick and Fred Quillan? Over the next two weeks, you'll learn. The above people, along with numerous others with which you may not be familiar, are members of the San Francisco 49ers football team starters for the National Conference champions and party of the second part (with the Cincinnati Bengals) in Super Bowl XVI In the Pontiac Silver-dome Jan. 24. Talk about No-Name Defense.

This Is a No-Name Team. Jack Saylor 43ert retired in 1975. Brown named Bill Johnson as his successor. Walsh walked out in a huff. Now he will come here to prove Paul Brown was an idiot in the first place.

Walsh's speciality is quarterbacks. He had developed Ken Anderson, the Bengals' quarterback, into the NFL's most efficient passer. He moved to San Diego and From the dregs of a club that won only two of 1 6 games two years ago, from the remnants of a run-down franchise that went through three coaches in two years, Bill Walsh and his henchmen have pieced together a winner in just three seasons. "The Bengals and the 49ers came from opposite ends of the spectrum," said Walsh, the proud builder of this squad. "They (the Bengals) have done it with draft choices look down their roster and see the first- and second-round draft choices.

See 49ERS, Page 6D rvuon Paul Brown immediately made Dan Fouts Sketches by Free Press Art Director DICK MAYER Talk about No-Name Defense. The 49ers of coach Bill Walsh are a No-Name Team. Every starter on coach Forrest Gregg's team is a Cincinnati draft choice. the most productive passer in the NFL. Given the head job at San Francisco, he quickly went to work on Joe Montana, who was in the mold of Tigers take two pitchers from slim draft Choosing 19lh9 club adds Alabama shortstop to list By JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer The Tigers, saddled with the 19th pick from what flopping ex-Notre Dame quarterbacks.

The rest, as they say, is history. Nobody calls the Bengals' Forrest Gregg a genius. What he did in resurrecting the Bengals was scare hell out of players who had become sloppy and overweight during a pair of 4-12 seasons. Like the Lions' Monte. Clark, he's a huge, stern-looking, intimidating sort.

He's a Hall of Fame tackle from the old Vlnce Lombard! Packers. He had been saying the 1962 Packer-Giants championship game in Yankee Stadium was absolutely the damndest, coldest football game ever played. We agreed. But the minus-59-windchill win over the Chargers in Cincinnati Sunday, he says, was worse it wasn't so much football as a crying will to survive. The Bengals have been "surviving" all season.

They were 5-2, then blew a game, 17-7, to the 1-6 New Orleans Saints, for gosh sakes, at midseason. Then while the world forgot the Bengals, they got on a roll and have won nine of their last 10. So here they are in the Super Bowl. admittedly was not a bumper crop of amateur ball players," i Li i. i aa I a I selected a pair ui promising rigm-imuueu yuuieis aim at shortstop in Tuesday's semi-annual baseball draft.

The Tigers drafted Thor Edgell, a 20-year-old pitcher at Fullerton (Calif.) Junior College, and Jody Ryan, an 1 8-year-old hurler who attends Seminole (Fla.) Community College, fTqriVi ft jJ 5 rC'nf AtuLr "Uf AH "Sik if iiiiimr I Sampson gets star treatment Everywhere Ralph Sampson goes, the opposition is sure to follow. Sunday, North Carolina not only fronted the Virginia Ail-American with Buzz Peterson (22) and James Worthy (52), but posted a third defensive player behind Sampson (arms visible lower left and right). It must have worked the Tar Heels won, 65-60. AP Photo In the primary phase of the draft. This process, over the years, has produced Tigers such as Dave Kozema, lorn Brookens and Steve Kemp, as well as such major league stars as Tom Seaver and Carlton Fisk.

In the secondary phase, the Tigers picked shortstop Dana Williams, a 5-1 0, 1 70-pound inf ielder from Mobile, who was drafted but not signed by Cincinnati last June. The Tigers passed on the second round of the secondary draft, because they did not believe there were any more high-quality players available. "Edgell has a fine arm and is capable of having three major league pitches," said Bill Lajoie, the Tigers' assistant general manager. "He has some control problems at the PISTON ROOKIE SHOULD BE A STARTER Isiah's Star outlook: Guarded present time, but we feel tney are Basically mecnanicai problems and can be corrected." EDGELL, a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder, was previously drafted by Montreal in 1979 and Seattle in January 1981, but did not sign. Because he was not selected during the secondary phase last June, he was eligible for the primary phase again this year.

According to Lajoie, Ryan, a 6-foot, 185-pounder from Homosassa, has "an average big league fast ball that could get better because he is so young." "Williams is a talented athlete," said Lajoie. "We feel he If it could happen to them Seeing the Bengals' and the 49ers' success, you are left to wonder anew what happened to the Lions, and what will happen with them. Monte Clark's characters were 9-7 a year ago and presumably in great shape to make a run for post-season booty. They flopped again. Owner Bill Ford says Clark did a superb job while dropping to 8-8 and missing the playoffs again.

I don't buy that. But Ford wants to re-sign Clark to a contract, and apparently sees no point in carping now. Still, there are valid criticisms to be made. For whatever reason, Clark could not get the Lions to play well consistently. Clark is making one change in his coaching staff offensive co-ordinator Bob Schnelker is out.

It's too bad. Schnelker is considered one of the better pass masters around. Problem was, he and Clark were not on the same wavelength. The Lions can dazzle you with some impressive numbers. But take a second look.

For instance, they were third in the 28-team NFL in total offense. They were first in rushing but 17th in passing. Similarly, they were fourth in total defense. They were first against running but 14th against passing. The "buts" tell you why the Lions are spectators, like the rest of us, for the biggest football show we've ever had here.

San Francisco coach Bill Walsh expects a warm welcome for his team from Super Bowl fans at the Siherdome. Jack Saylor has the story on Page 5D. NEW YORK (UPI) Detroit rookie Isiah Thomas is way out in front among guards In voting for the NBA Eastern Conference's All-Star team. Thomas had 274,265 votes in figures released Tuesday by the league. The second spot is a battle between Chicago's Reggie Theus (191,009) and Boston's Nate Archibald the MVP of last year's AI1-Star game.

Philadelphia forward Julius Erving con- may be able to play shortstop, or some other position. He has the basic tools, arm and speed." Williams is currently enrolled at Enterprise (Ala.) Junior College. "Considering where we had to pick, I think we did damn good," Lajoie said. The amateur draft will continue today, but Lajoie said he tlnues to lead all Eastern Conference vote-getters for the Jan. 31 game.

Erving, the league's MVP last season, who currently ranks fifth in scoring with a 25.2 average, received 322,016 votes through Jan. 12. Boston's Larry Bird has a secure lead for the other starting forward spot with 266,277 votes compared to 181,418 for John Drew of Atlanta. The final totals will be announced Jan. 17, Voting by fans ended Jan.

1, but ballots are still being tabulated. Philadelphia's Darryl Dawkins (208,164) and Artis Gilmore of Chicago (189,725) are dueling for the starting center spot. An update on the Western Conference voting will be issued later this week. After the starters are announced, the coaches in each conference will fill out the 12-man squads. 3HS Isiah Thomas did not know if the Tigers would participate.

"We will have to re-evaluate things tonight," he said. Only one athlete from Michigan Christopher Joslin from Gaines, southwest of Flint was drafted Tuesday. Joslin. a 20-vear-old left-handed Ditcher who now attends Troup has early PDA money lead AKRON, Ohio (AP) Guppy Troup of Jacksonville, Fla. has taken an early lead among money winners in the 1982 Professional Bowlers Association tour.

Troup, who won only $23,160 on the 1981 tour, has nearly equaled that. i Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College, was selected by the I Texas Rangers on the secondjjound of the scndary draft..