Page Twelve
PRO FOOTBALL ROUNDUP:

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Friday, July 22, 1977

Atkinson-Noll trial moves ahead

By The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - There is no doubt Pittsburgh
Steelers Coach Chuck Noll was trying to damage
George Atkinson when he linked him to a "criminal
element" in professional football, a federal court jury
was told yesterday.
"Mr. Noll was nobody's dummy," attorney Willie
*Brown said in final arguments at Atkinson's $2 million
slander suit. "He knew what he was saying.
"There is no question he had in mind doing serious
damage to Mr. Atkinson's reputation. He showed ab-
solute reckless disregard as to what might happen
to Mr. Atkinson in his career."
Steelers' attorney James Maclnnis, however, said
Noll's explanation of what he meant by "criminal ele-
ment"-those who wantonly break the rules-shows that
his words were "aptly applied and correctly used."
U.S. District Judge Sam Conti said yesterday he
would send the nine-day-old case to the two-man, four-
woman civil jury today.
Atkinson, the Oakland Raiders'' veteran defensive
back, is seeking $1 million each from the Steelers and
Noll because of remarks Noll made following a Steelers-
Raiders game last September.
In an emotional closing statement, Brown asked the
jury to "give Mr. Atkinson back his name."
"The conduct of Mr. Atkinson is not something which
should merit the kind of labeling, i.e. criminal for life,
that has been put on him by Mr. Noll," Brown said.
"It is clear Mr. Noll had in mind doing considerable
damage to Mr. Atkinson," Brown added. "It is clear he
meant for Mr. Atkinson to be held up to ill repute."

Gaines faces surgery again
PONTIAC-Just a few hours before the Detroit Lions
70-man training camp was to open, the NFL team got
word yesterday that running back Lawrence Gaines
would undergo a second knee operation today.
The 23-year-old, 240-pound fullback's rookie year was
one of the few bright spots in the Lions' 197+
season. Gaines rushed for 659 yards and caught 2,3 pass-
es. He finished behind only Dexter Bussey in team rush-
ing statistics.
Gaines underwent surgery in February for dam-
aged cartilage in his left knee. A team spokesman
says the knee has sustained further damage and
Dr. Edwin Guise will operate on Gaines at Ford
Hospital today.
The Gaines injury follows a long series of knee prob-
lems which have plagued the Lions the past two years.
Seven front line players had knee operations in 1975
and 10 more in 1976.
The Lions also announced just before the veterans
were to check in to camp last night that they have
asked for waivers on rookie quarterback Steve Mathie-
son of Florida, their ninth draft pick.
Former Buckeye gets uppity
FULLERTON, Calif.-Bob Brudzinski, Los Angeles'
No. 1 NFL draft selection, hasn't even donned a Rams'
uniform yet but he's in company with a number of the
team's top veterans-all holdouts.
Brudzinski, a 6-foot-4, All-American linebacker from
Ohio State who weighs 226, joins five Rams veterans

who have taken hard-line stances in negotiations with
the team.
The veterans who are supposed to report today but
still have not come to terms are offensive guard
Tom Mack, center Rich Saul, tight end Charles
Young, wide receiver Harold Jackson and linebacker
Jack Reynolds.
The only player overdue at the Rams' training camp,
however, is Brudzinski, who has reportedly turned
down an offer of $55,000 a year.
He was supposed to report with the rest of the Los
Angeles rookies and some veterans last Sunday, with
the balance of the squad scheduled to show up today.
Brudzinski contenls' that some of his friends got
$20,000 more per year when they signed with NFL
teams two years ago, and that there are second and
third-round draft choices signing this year for more
than he's been offered.
'Durable' Dorsett sprains knee
IRVINE, Calif.-Dallas' Tony Dorsett, the first selec-
tion in the NFL draft, suffered a sprained knee in a
Cowboys' scrimmage against the San Diego Chargers
yesterday and was expected to be sidelined for three or
four days.
Dorsett, last year's Heisman Trophy winner at Pitts-
burgh, said recently he considered himself one of the
most durable college running backs ever. He was
hurt when tackled by the Chargers' Keith King.
He had carried four times for 10 yards before being
injured.

....._

Royals crown

Tigers, 8-1

By DAVE RENBARGER had few problems with the first
two Tiger pitchers, racking up
Special To The Daly a total of 11 hits.
DETROIT - On Opening Day Cleanup hitter Al Cowens led
at Tiger Stadium last April, the the way for the Royals, going
Bengals were no match for the 4 for 5 with a home run and
Kansas City Royals, dropping five RBI's.
that contest 7-4. The comparisons to the Op-
ening._Day encounter were plen-
Last night at the old ball- tiftl. Tiger southpaw Dave Ro-
park, half-a-season later, and berts started and lost both
fresh from the three-day all- games, while Royal lefty Paul
star break, the red - hot KC Splittorff picked up both vic-
comingent gave the Tigers tories.
even more trouble, pounding S P L I T T O R F F WAS
out an 8-1 victory. absolutely, masterful last night,
limiting the Tigers to a mere
MAYBE THE second - place four singles, while fanning a
Royals have gotten better since season - high six in going the
April, or maybe the sixth- distance. Only an unearned run
place Tigers have gotten worse, in the second deprived the KC
But at any rate, the heavy- hurler of his second shutout of
hitting Royals, carrying a .279 the year as he upped his mark
team average into the game, to 8-5.
Hot-putting Trevi no lead's
Canadian Open by one
By The Associated Press
OAKVILLE, Ont. - Lee Trevino, riding what he called "the
best puting round I've ever had," composed a five-under-par 67
and took the first rotsnd lead yesterday in the $225,000 Canadian
Open Golf Championstap.
Trevinc one-putted 11 times, once dropped a 45-footer to save
par, holed putts totaling 199 feet in length and was the first to
admit "I can't keep it up."
"I didn't shoot a 67. I putted a 67," said Trevino, a for-
mer winner of this sational championship. "I should have had
a 72, and it would have been a good 72, not an easy one. I've
got to start hitting the ball better it I hope to do anything.'
Jack Nicklaus, designisr of the 7,090-yard Glen Abbey Golf
Club course, the permanent site of the Canadian Open that is
being played for the first time a~t this layout, headed a large
group at 68, four-under-par on the long, hilly, leg-straining layout,
that required more than fiv- hours to play.
"The course played abct as easy as it can," said Nicklaus,
a runner-up in his last two t tarts. "I don't think you'll see scores
this low for the rest of the week. They had the pins on the front
of the greens in most cases, and that takes off about two clubs."
He was tied with Bruce Lietzke and Tom Purtzer, each of
whom scored two eagles, George Archer, Tom Kite, Mike Morley,
Georgen adle and Jeff Mitchell a 22 near-nld ronkie.

Roberts lasted less than three
innings, gave up five runs and
dropped his season slate to a
disappointing 3-9.
The well-rusted Tiger bats
remained in hibernation all
evening long. Aside from the
unearned run, only two Ben-
ga % advanced as far as sec-
ond base, and two of their four
hits never made it out of the
infield.
AFTER YIELDING meekly
to Roberts in the first inning on
three straight infield outs, the
Royals came through with a
two-inning five-run barrage to
seel the Tigers' fate.
Right fielder Cowens legged
out a slow roller to short for
an infield single. Former De-
troit sandlot slugger John
Mayberry then powdered Rob-
erts' one-two* serve deep into
theright field upper deck, giv-
ing the Royals a 2-0 lead.
THE ROYALS SENT Roberts
to an early shower in the third
DETROIT
E b r h bi
Lelai]e of 4 0 0 0
Fuents2b - 4 0 2 1
Staub ht 4 0 0 1t
Kemp f 3 3 0 0
Oglivie pr , 0 0 0 0
Tmpsnth 4 0 1 0
MStnly rf 4 0 0
ARdrgz 3b 3 0 0 0
MMayrc 3 0 0 0
Veryzrss 3 5 1 0
Totalt 32 1_ 4 1
KANSAS CITY
ab r h bi
GBrett 5 2 2 0
McRae dh 4 2 1 1
Otis of 3 0 1 0
Cowensrf 5 2 4 5
Maybry lb 5 1 1 2
Zbebhif 4 0 1 0
Porter e 5 0 05
Patek S 45 0 00
Fwhite2b 4 1 1 0
Total 39 5 11 8
Kansas City .023012000-8
Detroit 001000000-1
E-Cowens. Thompson, ARodriguez.
LOB-Kansas City 8, Detroit 5. 2B-
MeRae, GBrett. IR--Mayberry (15),
Cooens (15).
IPHR ER BB SO
Splittorff (W,8-5) 9 4 1 0 0 5
Roberts (L,4-9) 2 5 5 5 0 0
Grilli 3 6 3 1 2 2
Wilcox 21 0 0 0 1 1
Foucault 1 0 0 0 0 1
WP --Grilli, Splittorff 2. HBP-By
Grilli, McRae, By Spliatorff, Kemp.

with three more runs. Second
baseman Frank White led off
with a sharp single to left and
took second on an infield out.
White crossed the plate on de-
signated hitter Hal McRae's
long two-bagger to right.
Cowens followed with a two-
run homer to left, his 15th of
the campaign.
With the round - tripper, Tig-
er skipper Ralph Houk had
seen enough of his starter, sum-
moning Steve Grilli from the
bullpen. Grilli threw one pitch
to end the inning, inducing
Mayberry to fly out to center.
THE TIGERS pushed across
their lone run in their half of
the third, getting an assist from
Cowens. With two, outs, Tiger
shortstop Tom Veryzer slap-
pei a singletto right, the Ben-
gals' first hit.
Ron LeFlore followed with
what looked like an inning-end-

ing drive to right, but Cowens
came in on the ball a bit too
far and couldn't make the
catch. The error put runners on
firs: and third, and Tito Fuen-
tes promptly singled the run
home.
Yhe Royals closed out the
scoring with a lone run in the
fift, plus two more in the
sixth.
Tiger pitchers Milt Wilcos
and Steve Foucalt held KC in
check for the final three inn-
ings.
Ron LeFlore failed to hit in
four trips, snapping hit thir-
teen game hitting streak - tops
for a Tiger in 1977.
SCORES
Late Baseball
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City 5,Oetot
Cleveland 8. Boston 2 (tad game)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 6, Cincinnati 2
St. Louis 4, Houston 0

Maj6r Leagiue Standings

NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
W L Pct. GB
Chicago 54 35 .607 -
Philadeslpia 52 38 .578 2!
Pittsburgh 50 42 .543 5'!
St. Louis 47 45 .511 8'
Montreal 42 47 .472 i
New York 37 54 .407 50
West
Los Angelet 59 33 .641 -
Cincinnati 48 41 .539 9.
Houston 43 50 .462 16"
San Francisco 43 51 .457 17
San Diego 40 55 .421 20'
Atlanta 34 58 .370 25
Lat egames not included
Yesterday's results
Chicago 4, Atlanta 3 (12 innings)
Today's games
Atlanta (Ruthven, 3-5) at Chi-
cage (Reuschel, 12-3), 2:30 p.m.
Cincinnati (seaver, 10-5) at Pitts-
burgh (Candelaria, 10-3), 8 p.m.
Houston (Andujar, 10-5) at St.
Louis (Underwood, 5-6), 0:30 p.m.
New York (Matlack, 4-12) at San
Diego (D'Aquisto, 1-1). 10 p.m.
Montreal (Brown, 6-7) at Los An-

AMERICAN LEAGUE
W L Pct. G(0
Boston 52 38 .578 -
Baltimore 53 39 .576-
New York 51 42 .548 -.
Cleveland 41 48 .461 15
Milwaukee 41 50 .451 IV
Detroit 41 50 .451 10-
Toronto 34 50 .370 19
West
Chicago 54 36 .600
Kansas City 51 38 .573 2
Minnesota 50 42 .543 5
Texas 46 44 .511
California 42 46 .477
Oakland 39 51 .433 15
seattle 41 54 .432 154
Late games not iheluded
Yesterday's results
Boston 11, Cleveland 4
New York 7, Milwaukee 0
Today's games
Kansas City (Leonard, 9-9) at De-
trait (Arroyo, 5-9), 8 p.m.
Chicago (Kravec, 6-2) at Toroto
(Garvin, 7-9); 7:30 p.m.
Texas (Blyleven, 8-9) at Baltimore
(Grinsley, 9-4), 7:30 p.m.
Cleveland (Fitzmorris, 2-5) at RO'
ton (Wise, 6-4), 71:30 p.m.
Milwaukee (Caldwea, 1-3) at New
York (Torrez, 9-8), 8 p.m.
Cstiorn a (Brett, 6-8) at Mase-
smi (Redfern, 2-4), 8:30 p.m.
Oakland (Blue, 8-11) at Seattle
(Pole. 6-5), 10:30 p.m.