Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 5, 1986 SPORTS OF THE DAILY McNamara receives AL award BOSTON (AP) - This time, John McNamara won a -close contest. Eight days after hisBoston Red Sox were edged by the New York Mets in the seventh game of the World Series, McNamara scored a narrow victory yesterday to become American League Manager of the Year. "THAT WAS the furthest thing from my mind," he said of the award. "I would have rather had a win and let somebody else be manager of the year." But the win didn't come in the sixth or seventh games of the World Series, even though Boston led both, and some of McNamara's decisions were questioned. "YOU'RE GOING to be subject to second-guessers, but you stay with what got you there," he said at a news conference. "That's what we did." McNamara, 54, is the man who got the Red Sox to within one strike of the 1986 world championship after they finished in fifth place in the American League East in 1985. That accomplishment brought him the first manager of the year award in his 13 seasons at the helm of the major league.team. The self-effacing leader of the surprising Red Sox beat Bobby Valentine of the Texas Rangers by a single first-place vote in the balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America before the post-season games. Each got eight second-place votes and six third-place votes from a panel of 28 sports writers, two from each AL city. But McNamara received 13 first-place votes, one more than Valentine. McNamara had 95 points based on a system awarding five points for a first-place vote, three points for a second and one point for third. Valentine had 90 points. "I did my job," McNamara said. "I'll let somebody else evaluate what I did." Bears activate Flutle LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) - Quarterback Doug Flutie was activated by the Chicago Bears yesterday but Coach Mike Ditka would not reveal who will start at quarterback Sunday against Tampa Bay. "We have four quarterbacks and one, Jim McMahon, will not play," said Ditka in the aftermath of Monday night's 20-17 NFL loss to the Los Angeles Rams. McMahon definitely has been ruled out this week because of his shoulder problems. On Monday, the Bears thought about putting him on the injured reserve list but ruled out the move. TO MAKE room for Flutie, who was signed last month after leaving the U.S. Football League when it decided not to play this year, the Bears released wide receiver Clay Pickering, who they plan on signing to a future contract. While Ditkawould not commit himself as to the starting quarterback, he did say that if running back Walter Payton is unable to start, Thomas Sanders would replace Payton. Payton injured the big toe of his right foot in the third quarter against the Rams. Sanders replaced Payton and scored touchdowns on runs of 10 and 34 yards to put the Bears ahead 17-10. But Los Angeles came back to tie the game on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Steve Dils to Ron Brown and won on Mike Lansford's 50-yard field with four seconds to play. "We had our opportunities but didn't't capitalize on them," said Ditka. "Give the Rams credit. They drove when they had to and kicked a 50-yard field goal." Hubbard signing close RICHFIELD, Ohio (AP) - The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly close to signing former Michigan center Phil Hubbard to a one-year contract worth about $425,000. Hubbard, who missed 59 games last season because of a wrist injury, was one of two Cleveland free agents who remained unsigned when the NBA regular season opened this past weekend. the other was guard World B. Free. The (Akron) Beacon Journal reported yesterday that Hubbard, a 6-8 forward, might be in uniform by Wednesday, when the Cavaliers open a seven-game road trip in Utah. GRADUATE NURSES Your education will not end with graduation. As a graduate nurse at Rochester Methodist Hospital, you will receive a comprehensive twelve-week long orientation where you will further develop your professional skills.Beyond orientation, you will have the chal- lenges and the growth opportuni- ties that a world-class medical center can provide. December grads apply now for positions available in early 1987. Starting salary $23,681. Attractive benefit package. Rochester Methodist Hospital is an 800 bed acute care facility affil- iated with the Mayo Medical Cen- ter. Choose challenge. Choose growth. Choose Rochester Meth- odist Hospital. Rochester Methodist Hospital Personnel Services Nursing Recruitment Section 201 West Center Street Rochester, MN 55902 Call Collect: (507) 286-7091 ROCHESTER METHODIST HOSPITAL An Equal Opportunity Employer THE SPORTING VIEWS Pistons and Wings... ..winter season is hot By ERIC MAXSON As Vin Scully would say, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times. Sure, the Tigers have returned to the days of being mediocre chokers. Sure, the Lions are looking at another high draft choice this year. Okay, so things have been boring on the Detroit sports scene this year. But don't despair, sports fans. Wake the kids. Phone the neighbors. Winter, usually a last bastion of boredom for Detroit sports, is nearing and bringing with it a couple of teams that will be, if not champions, at least interesting. First, there's the incredible emergence of the Red Wings. Last year, they were doormats for the doormats, but here they are in '86 at .500 and near first place. It may look like someone put the Norris Division standings in upside down (Toronto and Detroit at the top? C'mon, snap out of it. Slap), but it's true. The Red Wings, once the Dead Things, have no one to thank but new coach Jacques Demers. Jacques, a strapping French-Canadian, has them playing a full game of solid hockey. It isn't trickery, and they aren't playing beyond themselves. They now have discipline and desire, things previously more rare to the Wings than octopi in the spring. They should be strong all season. They may get better. This is a young team, with a lot of hot-shot maturing draft picks (that happens when you're in the cellar long enough to personally know several generations of rats). Offensively, Shawn Burr, Joe Murphy, John Ogrodnick, Petr Klima, Steve Yzerman, and Adam Oates are all expecting improvement. This team could score more than James Bond. The big change, though, has been on defense. While a pack of epileptic ostriches on skates would be better than last year's defense, this year's team ranks third in the NHL so far. Whodda thunk it? At any rate, the Wings are looking good, and in the Norris Division, who knows where they could end up? Meanwhile, over at the Silverdome, the Pistons have stormed out of the gate a rip-roaring enigma. After a 7-1 preseason, including victories over Boston and Milwaukee, they're 0-2 after humiliating defeats at the hands of the Bucks and ever-powerful Indiana. Would the real Pistons please stand up. They should be improved. They picked up Adrian Dantley and rookies John Salley and Dennis Rodman. Dantley finally gives them some inside scoring, Salley was impressive in the pre-season, and Rodman is an exciting leaper and scorer. So far in the regular season, though, the Pistons have been in a strange position. Their defense has been better than the offense. And the defense has been nothing special. Of course, they've always needed more defense. Their only shot blocker last year was 7-5 Chuck Nevitt, a kind of Manute Bol without the talent. And he rarely played. If Bill Laimbeer ever blocks a shot the refs will stop play and award him the game ball. He's tall, but his legs are lily white. This year, Salley should help defensively, and the team will be better as a whole. But it wasn't meant to come at the expense of the offense, which still has some kinks to work out. Once that's done, this team should be good enough to challenge for the division crown. They can't wait too long to get it together, though, because the Central Division has turned into one of the best in the NBA. The fates of the Wings and Pistons Will be interesting, certainly more so than the Lions and Tigers. So don't be afraid to take those sports pages to class for when the prof starts droning on about left-wing Fascist or linear curves. Or whatever. This winter, they'll keep you awake. I 14 I 4 This Weekend Only! UTRR ?TREK -K BLOOPERSy SHOWT A RARE COLLECTION OF UNRELEASED OUT-TAKES FROM FAMOUS T.V.SHOWS Eastern Michigan U. Sill Hall No. 2 E-Z to find on Forrest St. between Perrin and BallardT 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. each night - Adm. $5 $1 off with EMU 1.D. or this ad F' Limited good seating - Come Early - No children please 14 R H V vNG Hd nN 0 GRIDDE PICKS Amr El-Bayoumi and Laura Bourgeau tied in last week's Griddes by turning in identical 17-3 records and predicting that Michigan and Illinois would score 37 (37?!) points. So they only picked 37 points for the tie-breaker -- they still won 17 games. Pizza Bob's, every Gridde fan's favorite sponsor, has happily agreed to donate a second pizza to the cause. Make sure to thank Pizza Bob during your next stop in his State Street shop. A grant from Pizza Bob has made possible the Official Griddes' Hall of Fame. At-this time we'd like to take time out from out regularly scheduled programming to honor the following inductees: Scott Kremkow: Griddes' organizers dream about participants like Scott. Not satisfied with being just another Griddes' player, Scott provides a full sheet of fun-filled and sometimes thought-provoking comments next to his picks, as well as a weekly update on his record for the previous week. Griddes' organizers sympathize with his distaste for the Fighting Irish, and more specifically Notre Dame's proclivity for being on national television all the time. On top of all that, Scott wished us a Happy Halloween. What a guy. Linda Rapp: Not only does Linda consistently finish near the top of the Griddes' pack week in and week out, but she has the most amazing handwriting we've ever seen. We always appreciate compiling her picks after wading through a pile of crumpled, pizza- stained, illegible picks. Rene Bergero: Rene turned in her picks last week on the back side of what previously had been some sort of personal note. The note read, "Hi Honey, give me a call around two-ish. I want to talk to you about - " before abruptly cutting off. We were getting pretty excited reading that stuff - we sportswriters don't get out of the office very often. Congratulations to all three. We're looking for more inductees - turn in your picks by midnight Friday and win a free pizza from Pizza Bob's, an FTD bouquet, and glory among your peers. 1. MICHIGAN at Purdue . (Pick total points) 2. Northwestern at Ohio State 3. .Indiana at Michigan State 4. Iowa at Illinois 5. Minnesota at Wisconsin 6. Maryland at Penn State 7. Miami, Fla at Pitt 8. Florida State at South Carolina 9. Georgia vs. Florida at Jacksonville 10. LSU vs. Alabama at Birmingham 11. North Carolina at Clemson 12. Nebraska at Iowa State 13. SMU at Notre Dame 14. Arkansas at Baylor 15. Houston at Texas 16. Arizona at Washington State 17. Stanford at UCLA 18. Washington at Oregon State 19. Morehead State at Middle Tennessee State 20. DAILY LIBELS at Purduped E L _ w..._..