4 The Herald, Thursday, November, 22, 1979 Page 5 By STEVE MERTL EDMONTON (CP) — When Ron Lancaster stopped accepting snaps and retired as quarterback of Saskatchewan Roughriders last season to become thelr coach, Tom Wilkinson became the oldest player in the Canadian Football League. Lancaster was 40 and Wilkie Is only 36 but his longevity as a starting quarterback has surprised even him. ’ “Tf remember when I firat started playing ball, I thought that if I could play untll I was 3), that would really be a long time and that would be old," says Wilkinson. “]'m 36 now and I don’t really feel any different than Thave in the last five years, except maybe: a little atronger."" Wilkinson will start when the Eskimos meet Montreal Alouettes for the Grey Cup Sunday at Montreal'a Olympic Stadium, It will be his sixth trip to the CFL championship since he atarted with the team eight years ago. Once cut by Toronta Argo- nauta, Wilkinson spent same time with B.C. Lions before coming to Edmonton in 1972, He’s become something of a local inatltution, with half a television program and high profile jobs in advertising but doubt's he'll turn Into the kind of icon Lancaster 1a In Saskatchewan: “No, I'm a lot taller,”* His jald back.manner may have something to do with his feeling that quarterbacks don't have to live by the Bamne age requirements ag other football players, that the sage wisdom they aequire with age is prized by coaches, : “With a quarterback, they tend to look at you and say you've got a little more ex- perience, soageisn't really a hindrance,” His game has changed a little, he says, He doean't take off downfield unless it’s absolutely necessary, “You look back and a lot of the times when you ran the ball you got hurt and then you couldn't finish the game or other things.” oe talk rippled Uy, © sports pages here last season but it's been noticably absent this year, although second-year quarterback Warren Moon ia taking more of the load. Moon had only four starts Esks healthy By STEVE MERTL EDMONTON (CP) — Edmonton Eskimos are golng into the Grey Cup game against Montreai Alouettes this Sunday in the healthiest condition in recent years, says trainer Jim Adams, and at least part of the reason is because the club plays half its games on natural tur. The Eskimos are missing defensive linebacker Dave Zacharko because of a knee ury and backup. running | back Don Warrington with a torn hamstring. But everyone else, including both quarterbacks, all the star- ting receivers and star running back Jim Germany, are iit. In fact, says Adams, over the season the Eskimos have lost only Ian Bryans with a torn knee cartilage. Veteran offensive tackle Mike Wilson had a slight back injury. which kept him out for three games-but he’s back in. the lineup, te. Adams says experience in the Canadian Football League seems to be un- derscoring studies done in the National Football League that players get more serious injuries playing on artificial turf. “Most of our serious in- juries have happened on artificial turf,” says Adams, noting both Bryans and Zacharko were hurt on Saskatchewan's _ plastic grass, “Both had thelr feet planted and got hit in the knee and ended up with atretched knee. ligaments, which is a typical injury that you find on artificial turf, whereas on grass the foot will give and you don’t have such a serious injury.” The problem, saya Adams, is that while artificial turf gives traction, it is also very hard and forces knees and ankles to absorb ali the shock of quick stops and turns. “The bottom of the feat stops but the rest of his leg over the ankle continues forward and you get a jamming effect with the joint and bones coming together, and you get ligamenta holding the bones in place tearing.” Adams says there are also more concussions on ar tificlal turf because a player getsa harder knock when his head hits the resilient sur- face, Players definitely prefer a natural grass field, says Adams. “David Boone, when he was traded here, mentioned that he thought he could extend his career by three or four years becausé now he’s going to be on grass pratising and playing every day instead of hard artificial Adams sees no way of getting around the drawbacks of artifical turf. - The beat advance has been made in refining natural turf irr playing fields which come in for a lot of use. Drainage systems have been improved and the grasa is stimulated electrically to speed up growth between games, a ‘You can't get artificial turf that matches that because if you try to get more padding underneath it starts sliding on top and if you reduce the padding then it becomes concrete hard.” concrete hard,’” Dalla Riva’s last Cup game? MONTREAL (CP) — Win or loge, next Sunday’s Grey Cup game could be the last hurrah for Montreal Alouettes” tight end Peter Dalla Riva. “T guess it could be my last game, you never know,” the 32-year-old Dalla Riva sald reflectively. “But I never look at a game as being my last one, Next year is next year. I'm just worrying about this year.” Untll now, it has not beena vintage year for the native of Treviso, Italy, whe was only 23 years old when he helped lead the Alouettes to a Grey Cup triumph in the 1970 Canadian Football League BeaEOn, A sprained ankle coat him two games and parta of a few others during the 1979 season, limiting him to only 10 pass receptions. He caught only one pass in the Eastern Conference final agalnst Ottawa Rough Rid- ers last Saturday and was used mainly in a blocking e Alouettes’ head coach Joe Scannella said that Dalta Riva's speed has diminished, and he can no longer outrace defenders the way he did when he burst upon the CFL ecene, after only two years of junior football with Oakville Black Knights. Dalla Riva himself con- cedes that the game has become tougher to play, but retirement plans are still on the back burner, “Tl think about it over the winter," he said. "I guess Ive learned to live with the aches and palns, but the last game of my career ... I really don’t know." Before he takes account of the situation, Dalla Riva has his sixth Grey Cup ap- pearance awaiting him, and another memory to add to his collection. The flret Grey Cup game in 1970, however, will always bear a special signficance, Tt waa an unbellevable feeling,” he sald of the Alouettes’ victory against Calgary Stampeders. ‘I was 80 young and inexperienced and uptight back then, Playing on a Cinderella team. i thought the Grey Cup was the biggest thing in the world, the biggest thing in life, But then you mature and realize there are more im- portant things in llfe,”” Dalla Riva andthe Alouettes earned a berth in the Grey Cup five of the next eight seasons, but only he and defensive tackle Gordon Judges remain from that froup of fuzzy-cheeked youngsters that caused an upset in 1970. There were Grey Cup vic- tories in 1974 and 1977, and defeats last season and in 1976, with what Dalla Riva paid was a nucleus of players who played well together and had gained maturity. ’ but came in to relieve Wilkinson regularly. He actually out-threw the veteran with 148 completions in 274 attempts for 20 touch- downs, while Wilkinson had 120 receptions on 206 at- tempts for 17 touchdowns, which gave him a_ hetler ” percentage. Moon also came in during the second quarter of the Western Conference final when Wilkinson got bogged down against ‘Calgary Stampeders. Moon produced the game's only two touch- downs and stayed in for the 19-7 victory. But coach Hugh Campbell's approach has been to rotate both quarter- i re rae EE backs, depending on who is nelng successful on a given y. Wilkinson says he assesses his performance on a yearly basis. “You know that you're going ta be too old sometime," he says. “The thing you do is wait until the end of the season and look back on it, find out if you felt you played decent football at all and helped the club and if you think you can agaln," But he'll avold try lo drag his career out for just one more year. “If it comes to a point where you think, maybe I have one more year, if I come to that decision I would retire then.” Skeena Hotel over McEwan Skeena Hotel dumped McEwan GM 8-5 Wednesday night in Terrace Com- mercial Hockey League action despite a four-goal performance by Darryl Mallet, to put McEwan into last place all alone. The two teams had shared fourth place in the five-team league until Iast night's game, but Myron Crown's hat trick led the Hotel team past McEwan to move into sole possession of fourth spot. McEwan has four games in hand, however. Skeena led 2-1 after the first period and 5-3 after the second, Don McColl put McEwan up 1-0 with 9:50 left in the firat period, but Ken Ziegler tied the score with 6:57 to go and Crown got his first 2:30 later to put Skeena in the lead. Mallet got his first of four lo Lie the game again at 1:09 of the second, but that was the closest McEwan got for the rest of the game. Gerry Dempster pul Skeena in the lead to stay at 5:44, Crown scored again al - 7:39 and Wayne Leslrange scored with 2:04 left to go in the second to eglablish a 5-2 lead. . Mallet’s second goal came with only 10 seconds to go in the period. Peler Kirby got two goals in the third perlod for Skeena, with Crown com- pleling his hat trick as well. Mallet got his final two goals in the third period to com- plete the scoring. The Juveniles play Terrace Hotel tonight at 8 p.m. in the Terrace arena. Leagues split In Interlocking games between the Kitimat and Terrace Commercial Basketball Leagues Wed- nesday night, Kluss and Sons from Terrace beat Kitimat Teachers 79-71, and Kitimat City Centre beat Terrace's Skeena Hotel 86-48, In the first game, Willie Chemko scored 29 polnts for Xlusa and Sons, while Tony McCrory was high scorer for the Teachers with 30. In the second game, Harold Bartel got 27 for City Centre, with ‘the Short- staffed Orphans getting 18 from Pat Kofoed. The Terrace league sees action tonight at Skeena Junior Secondary when Kluss and Sons play the Skeena Hotel Orphans and All Seasons meets Ev's Clippers. Games start at 8 pm. Celtic winners with big Rookie sensation Larry Bird and veteran Dave Cowens sparked a second- half comeback to rally Boston Celtics to thelr eighth consecutive home victory Wednesday night, a 111-103 Natlonal Basketball Assocl- ation decision over New Jersey Nets. The Celtics, who trailed by ag much as 17 points in the second period and by 13 at the half, struck back in the third period and went on to thelr ninth victory In the last 11 games, and their 13th In 17 starts this season. Bird, held to four points in a dismal firat half, caught fire in the third period, scoring 11 points and finishing with 24. Cowens scored 10 of his 21 points in the third period as Boston outscored New Jersey 31-17 in the quarter. Boston began its charge while trailing 72-57 in the third period. The Celtles, playing Bird, Cowena and Nate Archibald virtually the entire second half, opened up an 11-point lead four minutes into the fourth period, and were in little danger the rest of the way. Ed Jordan led New Jersey with 21 polnts. Elsewhere, Indiana Pacers dumped New York Knicks 119-108, Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Washington Bullets 122-103, Detrolt Pistons edged Utah Jazz 98-93, Housten Rockets beat Philadelphia "7éers 97- 4, Denver Nuggets walked over San Diego Clippers 105- 84, Milwaukee Bucks defeated Atlanta Hawks 04- 83, Phoenix Suns outscored Kansas Clty Kinga and Seattle SuperSonics Los Angeles Lakers 119-110, CHEEPER RENT-A-CAR 638-1700 Bird Pacers 119 Knicks 108 The Pacers, sparked by the long-range shootlng of Joe Hassett, and the inside scoring and defence of Clemon Johnson, ran off 20 straight points in the firat six minutes of the second quar- ter to overcome a New York lead. Johnson finished with a career-high 22 points. Cavaliers 122 Bullets 103 Randy Smith scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half as the Cavaliers won their eighth game againat 13 losses. Bobby Dandridge came off the bench to lead Washington with 23 polnts, Pistons 98 Jazz 93 Bob McAdoo led the Pistons with 22 points. Detroit had a 16-point lead at the half, but Utah, led by hot- handed Adrian Dantley with 34 points, cut the margin to two with 5:29 left in the Bame, Rockets 97 Sixers 04 Moses Malone hit four free throws in the final two minutes and finished with 24 polnis as Houston took its elghth win in the last nine games. Nuggets 105 Clippers 94 David Thompson had 29 points and Dan Issel 23 as the Nuggets won their second in a row. Lloyd Free scored 27 polnta for the Clippers. Bucks 96 Hawks $3 Kent Berson sank two free throws for the go-ahead polnts with 42 seconds to play and Brian Winters followed - With a clutch steal, Uftng Milwaukee over Atlanta. Marques Johnson, who sat out eight minutes of the firat half with three fouls, had 25 points for the Bucks. weet te ae \. “TERR ACK-AITIVMUAT herald SPORTS | NORTH Young helps out By IAN MacLAINE The Canadian Press Timothy Young had been ticketed for stardom in the Natlonal Hockey League ever since he graduated from Ottawa ‘678 of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. But it may. just have taken a serious injury to another Ottawa grad, Hobby Smith, to get Young motivated in that direction. The 6-foot-2, 178-pound centre, substituting for the injured Smith, scored two of Minnesota's goala and assisted on the other to lead the North Stara to a 31 victory over the slumping New York Islanders Wed- nesday night. The game was Young's second between Smith’s linemates, Al MacAdam and Steve Payne, on the team's top scoring line, Smith, the team's leading scorer, will be out several weeks with a broken ankle, “ft was pretty nervous about faking over for Bob- by,'’ Young said afterwards. “That line had been going so good, f didn’t want to have a bad game and let Al and Steve get down." Swedish rookie Anders Kallur scored the Isianders’ only goal at 18:39 of the first period. : Elsewhere Wednesday night, Wayne Gretzky scored. two power-play goals and assisted on two others as ‘Edmonton Oilers pulled out a 44 tle with Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg made the most of their first seven shots and scored four goals en route to a 4-4 victory over New York Rangers, Pitte- burgh Penguins trimmed St. Louis Blues 5-2, Atlanta Flames beat Detroit Red Wings 41, Chicago Black Hawks blanked Washington Capitals 4-0, Hartford Whalers defeated Buffalo Sabres 5-3, and Philadelphia Flyers continued as the top team in the NHL with a 14-1-2 mark by beating Los Angeles Kings 6-4. Oilers 4 Maple Leafa 4 Goals by linemates Gretzky, Brett Callighen and Blair Mac- Donald in the second period . had offset a first-period Toronto goal by John An- derson. But scores by Walt McKechnie, Jerry Butler and Rock Saganiuk in just over two minutes early in the third period restored Toronto's lead, the Oilers’ - Jets 6 NY Rangers 4 Lorne Stamler scored twice for Winnipeg, the other Jets scores going to Barry Melrose, Morris Lukowich Willy Lindstrom and Peter Sullivan, Phil Esposito, Anders Hedberg, Steve Vickers and Ron Duguay shared the New York goals, Penguins 5 Blues 2 Greg Malone had one goal and drew two assists in the game. Rod Schutt, Gary McAdam, Peter Lee and Nick Libbett also scored for Pittsburgh. Blake D and Brlan Sutter were the St, Louis marksmen. Flames 4 Red Wings 1 Ivan Boldirev scored twice as the Flames won their third straight. Bob Mac- Millan and Jean Pronovcat added the other scores. Detroit's lone marker, by Dale McCourt, had staked the Red Wings to a 1-0 lead in the first period. Biack Hawks 4 Capitals 6 Chicago seored four times in the first perlod and goaltender Tony Espoaite posted his 7ist career shutout, tying him with former Detrolt and Torontc great Harry Lumley for elghth place on the all-time shutout list. 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