Portland Observer, January 5, 1983 Page 7
Sport Talk
by Ron Sykes. Sports Editor
Okay, sure I know all about hind
sight always being 20/20. But after
viewing all season long the prowess
o f one Marcus A llen o f the L .A .
Raiders, it's hard to imagine how
any N FL team needing a good run
ning back could pass on Allen.
The Minnesota Vikings, who had
so much success during the Chuck
Foreman days, drafted the first run
ning back in the 1981 draft and opt
ed to go with D arrin Nelson, 3-9,
185-pound speedster from Stanford.
Minnesota suppoedly was inter
ested in Nelson because he was con
sidered to be more versatile. Twice
during his career on " th e fa rm ”
Darrin was the only collegiate back
to gain a thousand yards both rush
ing and pass receiving.
Pro scouts are usually a very
knowledgeable lot. They usually
look for the little hidden things that
will determine whether a player can
play and usually can know at what
level. They all missed on Allen.
Some considered him as having
questionable speed, his forte was
durability and intelligence. And
some wondered how much influence
that massive USC line had on his
running ability.
If some o f those pro scouts had
bothered to attend just one USC
practice and had gotten out early
they could have seen the 6-2, 210
pound Allen not only catching pass
es but also throwing them; you see
Marcus was a brilliant prep QB be
fore coming to SC. And now that
I'm the proud possessor o f hind
sight I can easily see that M r. Allen
can do all those wonderful things
that Mr. Nelson was noted for, plus
a little more.
more than potent as a power runner.
The pack is back. Thia slogan has
cascaded down the streets of Green
Bay ever since the irrepressible
Vince Lombardi departed Lambeau
field. No time in the past has it been
more true than today. ‘ ‘The pack is
b ack.” Green Bay fields the best
two wide-receivers in the game to
day in James L o fto n and John
Jefferson. This will be a good show.
The prediction; Pick ’em!
I f the Raiders are to advance in
the playoffs, and I believe they are.
Marcus Allen will have to play a big
role.
In last Sunday's big win over San
Diego, Marcus rushed for 120 yards
on 16 carries and scored two touch
downs.
NFL Picks
New York Jets at Cincinnati
Tampa Bay at Dallas
The Jets coming o ff a season dos
ing 37-17 loss to the KC Chiefs
w on't rind it any easier this week
when they meet the Bengals.
Cincinnati, last year’s runner-up
in the Super Bowl, should have little
trouble overcoming N .Y . But, one
should remember that this is the
playoffs and strange things have
been known to happen in post-sea
son play. The Jets' strong point is
their passing game where they rely
on the speed of wide-receivers Wes
ley Walker and Lou Jones. The Jet
weakness is the secondary, and
that’s sad when you're confronting
a QB the caliber o f Ken Anderson.
Anderson w ill pick them apart if
given the time. Pressure on Ander
son is the key for N .Y . Without it it
will be a long afternoon for Jet fans.
This is the playoffs and all the
marbles are on the line. So wouldn t
it be really un-American not to pick
America's team
Right. Okay, so
we'll take the Cowboys to prevail at
Texas Stadium.
QB Doug Williams and the Bucs
fought Dallas even-up in the regular
season only to give it up in the dos
ing minutes of the fourth quarter.
Danny W hite and Tony Dorsett
should rebound from Monday's sad
showing. Dallas 21, Tampa 20. Or
maybe the other way around.
TERRY BRADSHAW
AFL Picks
San Diego vs. Pittsburgh
The Bengals combine the passing
of Anderson, with the rushing f 260
pound running back Pete Johnson
to form a very form iddable team.
Bengals 27, Jets 13.
Naw England at Miami
M iam i, 7-2, tied the Bengals for
second place in the A FC behind the
Raiders 8 -1.
FRANCO HARRIS
Coach Don Shula's teams are al
ways well coached and his current
one is no exception. New England's
game is sporadic. The team doesn't
know from one day to the other just
who will be their quarterback. M i
ami 21, New England 10.
Detroit at Washington
The Lions, 4-3, claimed the 8th
and last N F L spot on the heels of
defending Super Bowl champ SF's
loss to the lowly Rams.
D e tro it, sorry to say, is not a
worthy contender for the 8-1 Red
skins.
Washington is my pick to meet
the Raiders at Pasadena. The Red
skins are solid both offensive and
defensive. QB Joe Thiesman is hav
ing a super year. Redskins 24, De
troit 7.
St. Louis at Qraan Bay
The Cardinals 3-4 and the Pack
ers 5-3-1 could very well be the best
matchup of the opening round. St.
Louis QB Neil Lomax is still in a
learning pattern, but does show
steady improvement.
Roy Green is better than most
wide-receivers and O.J. Anderson is
The Steelers just won’t be able to
put enough points on the board to
hold o ff the aerial crazy chargers.
Dan Fouls just may be the best
passer in the game today. H e’s cer
tainly the most productive. On the
other side, Pittsburgh's Terry Brad
shaw has been on a roller coaster
ride Sometimes up and sometimes
down.
Bradshaw started the season like a
house afire, but cooled o ff consider
ably as o f late. Since this w ill un
doubtedly be an offensive show, be
cause neither team is really strong
defensively, we must go with the
best offensive QB and that's Dan
Fouls. Charger, 34, Steelers 24.
ham and A rizo n a. Whereas the
U S FL teams are not competing
against the N F L , they are latching
on to the apron strings of the older
league, and that probably is because
of th e T .V . market.
What I'm wondering now is with
the renovation o f C ivic Stadium
why co uld n't Portland support a
team at this level?
As you can see the Pacific North
west is the one area that was com
pletely left out.
Civic Stadium with a capacity of
40,000 would be ideal and the meter
area o f more than 2.3 m illion to
draw from could be more than ade
quate. From March to July weather-
wise wouldn't pose much of a prob
lem. Civic does have artificial turf.
Just have to believe it could really
work here. Are there any investors
around?
Our congratulations go out to
black golfer Calvin Peete for all the
successes he enjoyed during 1982.
Peete won four tournaments for a
total of $318,470. The best ever by a
man of color. At the ripe old age of
39, too.
Calvin Peete had to overcome nu
merous obstacles. He did, and we
wish him success through '83.
Also congratulations to ex-U of O
great Ahmad Rashad. Rashad end
ed his career with the Vikings and
was immediately signed by CBS to
do sports commentary.
It seems like only yesterday when
I first met Rashad, then going by the
name of Bobby Moore. Bobby was
riding in the back seat o f friend
Henry Lewis' 1969 G TO , clad in tee
shirt and blue jeans and hoping to
make the starting lineup his second
year at Oregon.
their championship game on July 3.
Everything about this new league
seems to be well thought out and in
the best interest of all concerned.
U nlike the now defunct W F L ,
this new league w ill make no a t
tempt to overshadow the NFL.
The new kids on the block are:
The Los Angeles Express, Arizona
Wranglers, New Jersey Generals,
Washington Federals, Birmingham
Stallions, Chicago Blitz, Oakland
Invaders. Philadelphia Stars, Den
ver Gold. Michigan Panthers, Bos
ton Breakers and Tampa Bay Ban
dits.
One can easily see that all are cur
rent N FL cities except for Birming
Jackson Named
Stu Jackson, a player for the U ni
versity of Oregon during the Dick
H arter years has been named to
Coach Jim Haney's staff as a fu ll
time assistant.
Jackson played for three seasons
at Oregon. He moves up from the
part-time assistant post he held last
year.
Jackson, who finished his basket
ball playing career at Seattle U . in
1978, averaged 13.2 points for the
Ducks as a sophomore in 1974-75
and 11.3 the next year. He ranks
No. 23 on Oregon’s all-time scoring
list with 861 points.
Jackson is one o f 14 players in
Duck history to score 30 or more
points in one game, hitting 31
against Seattle Pacific in 1975.
Jackson, a native o f Reading,
Pa., will he active in recruiting and
other adm inistrative duties. Stu
earned a Masters degree from Ore
gon last fall.
W ERE
HERETO
HELP
USFL Draft
The USFL was scheduled to hold
its first draft Tuesday. The League
will play its first game on March 6.
Arm ed with good T V money the
USFL should get o ff to a good start.
League officials are planning to play
STU JACKSON
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