Former losers, Tagge and Lion win By GRANT KERR VANCOUVER (CP)- There was a time last winter he'd been a contestant on the Gong Show a few fao many times. . The former all-American from Nebraska had been gonged out of the National Football League twice. He also. had been part of the folding of the World Football Bue. And just to make it complete, the big quar- terback had his proposed ae 3 Ne contract with Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League thrown out by the owner. Then along came British Columbia Lions and their new head coach, Vic Rapp, and a mutual admiration pact which has lifted the rag-tag Lions to first place in the Western Football Conference this season with ‘a 6-2 record. Tagge, 27, has been the catalyst behind.’ the resurgence of the Lions. ° weater logo for the Terrace Reds Junior Hockey Club is hand- drawn by the Club’s owner, coach and general manager Red L’Estrange. Tagged said Wednesday The team's ground game has been a bust, but the passing game engineered by Tagge has overshadowed the team’s deficiency, Twice Tagge has passed the Lions to victory in the, last minute of a game - the last time Aug. 31 in Ottawa when he threw a touchdown to Jim Young with no time left on the clock for a 27-24 win. “The Canadian game is just perfect for me,” in wi an interview. ‘The em- phasis here is on the passing game because of the three downs, instead of four in the States. . “Like most quarterbacks, I like to throw the football and let the hired hands do the work. I'm happy playing here and the game has become fun for me once again.” “At this time last year Tagge didn’t know if he had a future in professional football, He had been cut by em Bo Chicago Bears of the NFL without playing a down in exhibition games. It wasn’t a new ex- ‘perience for Tagge who, after two years with Green Bay Pakcers of the NFL, was released by Bart Starr. He also was with San An- tonio of the Wii in 1975 when the league suddenly suspended operations for Last November was another time of dejection for the native of Green Bay, The Reds are entering the Pacific Northwest Hockey League for the first year. Practices begin at the arena Monday at5 p.m. Superbowl team looks back BY ERICPREWITT TheAssociated Press. Oakland Raiders remember the close game of the 1976 National Football League season as well as thier runaway -victory over Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl. “Every season, there are some . games. where everything goes right, some that are -really tough and osme where things go wrong,” sayd coach John Madden. “In all three, you aeill pave to find ways to Madden and the Raiders found ‘ways to win games that seemingly were lost, such as a 31-28 decision over Pittsburgh in the season opener, a 28-17 victory over Chicago at mid-season and a 24-21 win over New England in the playoffs. - That ability to scramble to yictory in the otugh games had more to do with the Raiders claiming the NHL title than their performance in the Super Bowl,. where everything. went right. as. they trounced the Vikings 92-14. . It also set .the Raiders apart from their challengers in the American Conference West. Denver Broncos, San . Diego Chargers, and Kansas - City Chiefs all came close in at least one meeting wi Oakland but finished with a combined 10-6 record against the team which won jts ninth. division title in 10 years with a 13-1 record. Denver was second, but a 9-5 record wasn't good - Make Sxatine A PLEASURE HAVE YouR SKATES SHARPENED RED'S BILLARDS, NO WAITING! OPEN 10 A.M.-Midnight 7daysaweek AT’ SPECIAL RATES- for hockey teams upon request. THE WHILE INTHE Marci WEST GO aes WITH THE BEST enough to eatn coach John Ralston another try at catching Oakland. Red Miller is the new coach, perhaps getting the job because the New England offence he coached last year handed the Ralders their only loss, 58-17. The Broncos also. have a new. No. 1 quarterback, Craig Morton, and former Los Angeles Ram James Harris ia the Cahrger’s new quarterback. The Raiders have all . theirfront-line players back and. the starters Sept. 18 against San Diego should be the same 22 who started in the Super Bowl. . Naturally, Madden’s club is an over- whelming favorite again to beat the Broncos, Chargers, Giefs and the AFC West member, the Seattle Seahawks... . “The Raiders look stronger than I‘ve ever seen them,’' ‘Chargers coach ‘Tommy Prothro said after a 95-7 exhibiton loss to them. Oakland quarterback Ken Stabler led NFL passers last season with 66.7 per cent completion percentage and 27 touchdown passes. He has .two excellent young — ’ peeeivers in Cliff Branch and tight end Dave Casper. At Denver, Miller takes over a team which held opponents to 206 points, second-best defensive mark in the AFC last year, but th - scored more than two touch-. downs in only six games. Morton, whose last NFL stop was. with New York Giants, will be working with one of the league's most dangerous running backs, Otis Armstrong, and has TERRACE such excellent receivers a5 Haven Moses and tight end Riley Odoms. San Diego's offence has several new faces.. Besides Harris, there are his former Los Angeles team-mate, Bob Klein, at tight end,- former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny rodgers at wide receiver and Joe Washington at running back.. Rodgers and Washingotn may not be starters but they should make the Chargers one of the most dangerous teams in the leagues on kick returns. : Kansas City, 5-9 last year, has a tough early schedule, facing New Engiand, Oakland .and Baltimore .in the opening month. But the Seahawks’ building program under the direction of coach Jack Patera appears to be progressing ahead of schedule. YOUR SPEEDOMETER Through September all provincial highway signs will be converted to metric. Wi SPEEDOMETERS: Most 1977 and all 1978 model cars have speed- ometers and odometers calibrated in km/hand km. a earlier model cars havé speedometers with dual calibrations. If yo Speedometer indicates only mph, you may find this conversion scale handy. MPHo 10 kavne 1 20 30.4950 607280 99100 ! | | T 4 20 30 40 50 60 Always drive at the posted speed. It is legal when posted. You'll be sur- prised at how little time you really save when you exceed the speed limits. SOME TIPS: Keep this advertisement or the folder prepared by the Ministry of Highways and Public Works in your glove compartment. basal oe Province of Ministry of Highways and Public Works British Columbia Wise. He had agreed to contract terms with general manager Bob Geary of the Alouettes, but new president David Berger elected not to approve the agreement, — "Tt knew just about nothing about the CFL, but I still wanted to prove to myself that I could play pro ball,” said Tagge. ‘When Vic Rapp called in January, I couldn't have been hap- pier.” Rapp was. an assistant coach at Missouri in the early 1970s when Tagge and the Nebraska Cornhuskers were terrorizing the Big Eight Conference. Tagge’s top receiver was Johinn Rodgers, who signed wi Its strength is in the results it commands. Somewhere, someone has something to sell, buy, rent, lease or offer. As fast as a phone call, results - | Our classified page, with the help of our professional telephone ad representative, get well as those who are looking. —F* PHONE THE AD-TAKER 635-6357 Terrace Daily Herald x —- Montreal when both were first-round NFL draft picks. Rapp learned about Tagge - through one of his assistants here, Vince Tobin, whose older brother Bill is per- sonnel director in Chicago. Bill Tobin, ironically, was with Green Bay when Tagge was drafted and later also was let go by Starr, coach and general manager of the Packers. Tagge says his ego “went down the gutter’ when he was cut by the-Bears and coming to B.C. was “a chance to get it out."’ The 6-2, 220 pounder isn't a. scrambler despite his size. He prefers to drop back in the pocket and wait for pass results for those who advertise as (eae THE HERALD, Thursday, September &, 1977, PAGE S together patterns to be run by receivers. “T Jike the Candadian game because the 12th man balances both sides of the- field,’ he said. “Coaches go uts in the States trying to throw to the weak side, but here everything seems to be in balance. “1 don’t throw to any one particular receiver a lot because we've got so many guys who get open. I’m learning more and. more about them each week and I think they're starting to get wed to me.”