SPORTS OF THE DAIL The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, July 16, 1980-Page 15 } Sports Y Johnson protests his innocence ATLANTA (AP)-Eddie Johnson, the. Atlanta Hawks guard jailed on drug charges Sunday, declared his innocen- ce yesterday but said he didn't blame police for arresting him. "I'm not guilty," Johnson told the Atlanta Journal in an interview at the Fulton County jail. "I was driving a rent-a-car. That stuff (a quantity o . white powder suspected to be cocaine) could have been there when I got the car. "They thought I had a concealed p weapon and they treated me that way," he added. "They got me against the car and searched me. They were just doing their 'job. I don't fault any man for doing his job." Johnson was charged with possession of cocaine, driving under the influence and driving without a valid driver's license. The 25-year-old National Basketball Association All-Star was bound over to Superior Court Monday after he waived a preliminary hearing and met with a judge in chambers. In the interview yesterday, Johnson said he wanted to continue playing for the Hawks and to dedicate the 1980-81 season to Terry Furlow, a former Hawk' who died in an apparent drug-related auto accident near Cleveland, Ohio, in May. "I want to dedicate the season to Terry," Johnson said. But he added, "There's no way I'll abuse my body like Terry Furlow, my best friend, did. There were times when I loved him and times I hated him, but he was a real man." Asked if he had a drug problem, Johnson said: "No, I don't. I'm covered. You all think athletes use drugs. That's society." Miller still unsigned ATLANTA (AP) - It looks like No. 1 draft choice Junior Miller won't be on hand Wednesday when the Atlanta Falcons open their summer training camp at Suwanee, Ga. Miller, a tight end from Nebraska who was the Falcons' first-round draft pick this year, still had not signed his contract Tuesday, team officials said. Under National Football League rules, he cannot practice without a contract. "We'd like to have him here, of cour- se," said Eddie LeBaron, the Falcon's general manager. "But it doesn't look like he will be here. The chances are less than 50-50 he'll be in camp anytime soon."m The Falcons' problem with their No. 1 draft pick isn't unique. Some of the bigger names from the draft also hadn't signed contracts as of Tuesday. "It's unusual," said LeBaron. "I can never remember this many first-round choices being unsigned this late in the game. "I don't know what it is, either. I thought it would all break loose when Billy Sims signed with Detroit, but ob- vious 4 that isn't the case." South Africa expelled MOSCOW (AP)-South Africa was formally excluded Tuesday from the International Amateur Basketball Federation, Tass reported. The Soviet news agency said an "overwhelmingly majority" of delegates to the pre-Olympic FIBA congress voted to expell South Africa, but it gave no figures. "Prev'iously, South African basketballers were not allowed to take part in international tournaments and friendly games helad' under the auspices of FIBA," Tass said. "The representatives of that country could only take part in the work of the federation." Fourteen new delegations attended the FIBA congress for the first time; pushing membership to 155 countries and making it the biggest international sports federation. "Earlier the International Football Federation with 150 member countries was the biggest," Tass said. Sharers willfight Cobb CANTON, - Ohio (AP)-Veteran heavyweight boxer Earnie Shavers is to meet Randy Cobb of Beaumont, Texas, in a 10-round fight Aug. 2 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, according to Frank Luca, Shavers' manager. The bout will be on the same card as the World Boxing Association cham- pionship fight between titleholder Pipino Cuevas and Thomas Hearns. Both bouts will be carried on closed cir- cuit television. Shavers, of Warrren, Ohio, originally -had signed to fight New York heavyweight Gerry Cooney pt thet Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. Cooney withdrew, however, after suf- fering a back injury in training last week. Cooney's withdrawal came simultaneously with the announcement that Shavers had been licensed to fight ,by the New York State Athletic Com- mission. Doctors pronounced Shavers fit after he underwent surgery to repair a damaged retina suffered in a title fight against Larry Holmes last year. Nicklaus shoots for fourth British Open MUIRFIELD, Scotland (AP) - Jack Nicklaus, spurred by his U.S. Open vic- tory, is making an untroubled approach to his next major challenge: winning the British Open golf championship for a fourth time. Nicklaus and fellow-American Tom Watson are co-favorites for the tour- nament that opens Thursday over the windswept 6,926-yard par 71 Muirfield course on Scotland's East Coast. "I'M PLAYING all right, hitting the ball all right," said Nicklaus, who has completed three practice rounds here and found nothing amiss with his game. "I'm not worried about anything right now," he added. Nicklaus won his first British Open title as long ago as 1966, following up with further wins in 1970 and 1978. But then came the longest lean streak of an illustrious career, leading to rumbles that he was over the hill. But his win last month in the U.S. Open silenced the gloom merchants and the Golden Bear was back on top. OTHER LEADING rivals in the tour- nament that offers more than $400,000 in total prize money are Seve Ballesteros, the Spaniard who added the Masters title to the British Open championship he won last year, PGA champion David Graham of Australia, South Africa's Gary Player, Japan's Isao Aoki, who was runnerup in the U.S. Open and a whole squad of America's seasoned circuit veterans. In addition to Watson, who has twice won the British event, these include Lee Trevino also a two-time winner, former champions Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller, Andy Bean, Hubert Green, John Mahaffey, Larry Nelson, Jerry Pate and Ben Crenshaw, a runnerup in both 1978 and 1979. Crenshaw told reporters that he is backing himself to win this time, although he nominated Nicklaus and Watson as his major problems while Trevino was playing "very well. Nicklaus noted that the way things are in Scotland, conditions may vary vastly during the day. "You play in the morning and get really different weather in the afternoon," he said, ad- ding that on the whole he'd prefer some Scottish sunshine to the wind and rain. TAKE A LITTLE OFF CINCINNATI (AP)-Tom Seaver, the star of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff, believes in cutting his percen- tages fine in pitching. , "You shouldn't ever try to throw at 100 per cent velocity," he said. "Because when you do, you have a ten- dency to try to do more. If you stay just below 100 per cent, you'll be fine. If you overdo, you usually fall way short." A real'] 0' It seems hard to believe that it was only four years ago that 15-year-olk. Nadia Comaneci of Romania captured the world's heart by becoming the first Olympic competitor ever to be awarded a perfect score of 10. Comaneci, shown here in Moscok practicing up for next week's Olympics, is expected :to excel again in the Games.