Banner Graphic, Volume 12, Number 99, Greencastle, Putnam County, 5 January 1982 — Page 6

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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, January 5,1982

Bears make room for Ditka at top

Bv The Associated Press CHICAGO Neill Armstrong is a proud man. He’s proud that in his 27-vear professional football career he has never had to apply for a job. He also is proud that, until Monday, he had never been fired from a job. “Not in 17 years as an assistant and 10 years as a head coach.” he said. "Why, I played eight years of professional football and never was cut." All that changed Monday when Chicago Bears owner George Halas fired Armstrong as head coach. Halas failed to name a successor, but former Bear tight end Mike Ditka, reportedly a prime candidate, has said he is interested in the job. Armstrong, 55, had been head coach of the Bears for the past four seasons in which he compiled a record of 30-34. He said he plans to leave Chicago with his head held high. "I intend to walk tall,” Armstrong said. “I’ve seen other coaches lose jobs and I know how badly I felt for them. "And I’ve seen a lot of players go. I’ve had to tell them myself. The ones I remember are the ones who took it like men. I intend to be the same.” Armstrong was defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings for seven years before taking the Bear job Feb. 16, 1978.

sports

Walsh picked best in league

NEW YORK (AP) - Bill Walsh, who in just three seasons changed the San Francisco 49ers from the National Football League’s losingest team to its winningest, was named today The Associated Press Coach of the Year. Walsh was the overwhelming choice of a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters, named on 6D/2 of the 84 ballots cast. Forrest Gregg, who performed a “worst-to-

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See Tigers for free DePauw University is offering the cheapest entertainment in Putnam County. Beninmng with Tuesday night’s 7:30 p.m. game with Pur-due-Calumet, all DePauw home basketball games in January are free. There will be no ticket price charged at the door. DePauw plays three home games this week alone and none of them conflict with high school boys basketball action. The Tigers, 3-4, host Purdue-Calumet Tuesday, then Marion College Thursday and Huntington College Saturday in a special 2 p.m. game time. The Tigers return to Bowman Gym Jan. 16 against lUPUFt. Wayne and close the January home schedule with Olivet Nazarene Jan. 23.

In his four years at the helm, only Minnesota had a better record than the Bears in the Central Division of the National Football Conference. The Vikings were 31-32-1 in that period while Tampa Bay was 29-34-1, Green Bay 26-36-2 and Detroit 26-38. The Bears were 7-9 in 1978 under Armstrong and 10-6 the following year when they made the playoffs only to lose in the first round to Philadelphia. The Bears were 7-9 in 1980 and slipped to 6-10 this season. Although no successor was named, it appeared the job might go to Ditka, currently an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys. Halas recently asked and received permission from the Cowboys to talk to Ditka, but will not do so while the Cowboys

first” feat with the Cincinnati Bengals, was a distant second with 15V 2 votes. Don Shula of the Miami Dolphins received three votes, Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys got two and Dan Reeves of the Denver Broncos and Walt Michaels of the New York Jets received one vote apiece. The 50-year-old Walsh, who doubles as general manager of the 49ers, piloted the team to a

are still involved in the National Football League playoffs. If the Cowboys defeat San Francisco Sunday, they would earn a berth in the Super Bowl. Although the Bears finished the season by winning their last three games, Armstrong’s position appeared to be in jeopardy when Halas held a news conference Dec. 26 to announce that he was extending the contracts of defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan and defensive assistants Dale Haupt and Jim Laßue. Obviously pleased with the work of the defensive unit, Halas announced the defensive coaches were all to get raises but he refused to speculate on the future of Armstrong or any of the offensive coaches, including offensive coordinator Ted Marchibroda.

13-3 record, the best in the NFL, in 1981. When he took control of the club before the 1979 season, it had won just 31 of its previous 86 games and was coming off a 2-14 season. San Francisco went 2-14 again in ’79, then improved to 6-10 the following year before storming to its first winning season since 1976 and its first National Conference Western Division championship since 1972.

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QB KEN ANDERSON: Most valuable player

Anderson is voted MVP for best year of career

CINCINNATI (AP) - Quarterback Ken Anderson, one of pro football’s most accurate passers, accepted a coveted honor in the same low-key manner that he guided the Cincinnati Bengals to their finest season. “It means a lot because your team is winning,” said Anderson, who was chosen by a panel of Associated Press sportswriters and broadcasters as the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player for 1981. “Leading the league in passing and having good statistics is nice. But the ultimate is winning. That’s what makes the award special.” Displaying the accuracy that made him one of the most feared quarterbacks in the mid--19705, Anderson shattered several personal passing records in leading the Bengals to a 12-4 regular season mark and the American Conference Central title in 1981. The 11 year veteran from Augustana College in Illinois threw for 3,754 yards and 29 touchdowns, completed 62.6

Evansville Bosse is N 0.3; Clovers receive votes

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indianapolis Howe and Anderson Highland remained first and second this week, but unbeaten Evansville Bosse climbed to third and Plymouth, winner of the South Bend holiday tournament, rocketed to fourth in the latest Associated Press high school basketball poll. Plymouth, ranked 13th in the last AP poll before the holiday break, won the South Bend Invitational with a 73-57 rout of then-N0.3 LaSalle. It was the 10th victory without a loss this season for the Pilgrims, led by high scoring senior guard Scott Skiles. Howe, unbeaten in seven games, increased its lead slightly over Highland for the No.l ranking. The Hornets received eight of 18 first-place votes and 332 of a possible 360

Tournaments will be played on Saturday The weather-postponed Putnam County girls varsity and boys junior varsity tournament championship games will be played Saturday afternoon at South Putnam High School, according to South Putnam Athletic Director Jim Huter. The boys junior varsity tournament title game featuring Greencastle and South Putnam will begin at 1:30 p.m.. Greencastle is the defending champion. The girls varsity tournament championship contest featuring defending champion South Putnam and first-time finalist Cloverdale, will begin immediately after the first game, or approximately 3 p.m.. The games were originally scheduled for Dec. 17, the night after the opening round. However, heavy snow fall forced two postponements.

percent of his passes (his sec-ond-best career mark), was intercepted just 10 times in the regular season. He was the topranked passer in the NFL. His precise passing earned him a spot on the All-Pro team for the fourth time in his career and put the Bengals in their first AFC title game. After suffering through two injury-plagued seasons, the 32-year-old Anderson was benched for his poor performance in the first quarter of the 1981 season opener against the Seattle Seahawks. But Coach Forrest Gregg started Anderson the next week, launching the quarterback’s record-breaking season. “He came back like a champion,” said tight end Dan Ross, who led Bengals’ receivers with 71 regular-season catches. “It’s been a storybook season for him.” Gregg, who thought about benching Anderson for the Bengals’ second game against the New York Jets but decided to stick with the veteran, concurred with the MVP choice.

rating points, while Highland earned six votes for No.l and 32 rating points. In the last poll, Howe led Highland by only one point in the statewide balloting by AP’s board of sports writers and broadcasters. Bosse, 8-0 going into tonight’s game with Evansville Central, climbed four spots to third this week, with two votes for first place and 204 rating points. Plymouth had the remaining two votes for No.l and 200 points. Marion and Indianapolis Cathedral, both 8-1, exchanged places this week, with the Giants moving up to fifth at 196 points and the Irish falling to sixth at 195. Anderson, idle last week, fell three spoots to seventh, while New Albany and Indianapolis

“He had a lot to overcome,” Gregg said Monday. “He was sort of the second choice of the fans (who preferred younger back-up Jack Thompson). It’s tough to be playing in your home stadium, you’re introduced as the starting quarterback and you hear the hometown fans booing. That has to affect any player, particularly a quarterback. "Kenny really developed a mental toughness that enabled him to handle that kind of situation. I think that has earned him the respect of his teammates. It’s turned everyone’s mind around in Cincinnati. You don’t hear any more boos when he’s introduced.” “The real satisfaction is that those of us who have been here for a lot of years have been through the hard times,” Anderson said. “It’s nice to kind of rise up again together.” “I thought that last year when I wasn’t hurt I played pretty well,” Anderson said. "But I was hurt last year.”

Pike, both unbeaten, climbed one spot apiece to eighth and ninth, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 is Indianapolis Washington, idle last week and down two spots to 10th. Heading the second 10 is South Bend LaSalle, down eight spots after the loss to Plymouth. Lafayette Harrison dropped one spot to 12th, Evansville North rose two places to 13th, Alexandria fell two spots to 14th, Jeffeersonville dropped one spot to 15th, Madison jumped four rankings to 16th, and Loogootee climbed one spot to 17th. Rounding out the Top 20 are newcomers Terre Haute South, 18th; East Chicago Roosevelt, 19th; and Anderson Madison Heights, 20th.

The Associated Press Indiana high school boys’ basketball Top 20 teams, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through games of last Saturday and rating points (360 possible): 1. Indpls Howe (8), 7-0, 332 2 Anderson Highland (6) 8-1, 326 3. Evansville Bosse (2), 8-0, 204 4 Plymouth (2), 10-0, 200 5 Marion, 8-1, 196 6. Indpls Cathedral, 8-1, 195 7 Anderson, 7-3, 159 8. New Albany, 6-0, 140 9. Indpls Pike, 9-0, 138 10. Indpls Washington, 7-1, 129 11. S.Bend LaSalle, 7-2, 93 12. Lafayette Harrison, 7-0, 69 13. Evansville North, 6-0, 64 14 Alexandria, 7-1, 60 15 Jeffersonville, 7-2, 36 16 Madison, 7-0, 32 17. Loogootee, 8-0, 24 18. Terre Haute South, 6-0, 17 19. E.Chicago Roosevelt, 7-1, 14 20. Anderson Madison Hts, 7-3, 12 Others with five or more rating points listed alphabetically: Cloverdale, Con nersville, Elkhart Memorial, Ft.Waym Elmhurst, Ft. Wayne Harding, Ft.Waym Northrop, Ft Wayne Wayne, Franklin Homestead, Indpls Ben Davis, Lake Cen tral, Michigan City Rogers, Portage

Fields' Findings

IHSAAhelps local sectional winner with assignments By STEVE FIELDS Banner-Graphic Sports Editor When the Indiana High School Athletic Association announced its basketball sectional assignments Monday for the coming 71st edition of “Hoosier Hysteria” it increased the odds for a team from outside Terre Haute to win the regional at Hulman Civic Center. The Greencastle-IHSAA sectional is the only one of the four feeding into Terre Haute’s March 13th tournament that did not have a change of some kind. Defending sectional champion Cloverdale, South Putnam, North Putnam and Greencastle will again be joined by Rockville and Van Buren at McAnally Center March 3-6. SWITZ CITY’S SECTIONAL, annually won by Bloomfield, virtually remains the same, the exception being that Eastern Greene has been granted its cry for mercy. The Thunderbirds have been moved back to their native tournament with the six other county teams and away from the Bedford-North Lawrence sectional where they ran up against Bloomington South, Bed-ford-North Lawrence, Mitchell, Orleans and Medora. Of course, the good money goes to Bloomington and Bedford there. Terre Haute and South Vermillion is where the big shake-up takes place. At least one of last year’s regional foursome won’t be back at Hulman-Civic Center this year. Brazil and Terre Haute South have both been assigned to the Terre Haute North sectional along with Clay City, Staunton, West Vigo and the host. The South Vermillion tournament is guarantee a new champion before the draw takes place. Dugger-Union, Montezuma, North Central (Sullivan County), Rosedale, Sullivan and the host will compete for a regional berth. ESSENTIALLY, THE SOUTH Vermillion and Terre Haute sectionals swapped three teams as part of the IHSAA’s efforts to appease the small schools that do not exactly cotton to the idea of competing with Terre Haute North and South. If you’ll recall, a couple of years back Sullivan High School principal Jerry Miller led an unsuccessful effort to bring class basketball to Indiana. Although never officially stated, or admitted, the move appeared to center around the fact Terre Haute North and South each were sectional hosts and schools like Clay City, Dugger-Union, North Central, Sullivan and Staunton were tossed into the ring against them. This year’s sectional swap goes like this: Brazil, Clay City and Staunton have been moved to Terre Haute, while Dugger-Union, North Central and Sullivan have been moved to South Vermillion. IF YOU KNOW YOUR Indiana geography you’ll note that Dugger-Union, North Central and Sullivan drive right through Terre Haute on their way to South Vermillion, located north of Clinton (and that’s about the only thing outside of a road sign the school is near). Greencastle basketball fans know it’s one of the nicer facilities on the schedule, but heavens to gasoline, it takes forever to get there. Can you imagine how Dugger-Union feels about the situation? Coach Joe Hart’s team is approximately 12 miles from Switz City, and maybe 40 miles from Terre Haute, yet his Bulldogs will ride more than an hour, or approximately 65 miles to play at South Vermillion. The Greencastle sectional is fine. All of the teams are within reasonable driving distance away, no more than 30 minutes away. But would someone tell me why the board built the state’s 19th largest high school gymnasium with a 5,400 seating capacity without building a parking lot big enough for at leasl - that many cars? IT’S EASY ENOUGH TO criticize what others do while standing - on the outside because you don’t know what is going on behind closed doors. If you put one team in this sectional, another team won’t be happy because it is moved. Or if you add another. SIO,OOO or so dollars to construction costs of an athletic facility, * more than a few folks are going to get upset. Six of one, half dozen of another. **** If I had opened my mail last Wednesday morning instead of waiting until the afternoon, I would have learned that DePauw University was victimized by the leading scorer in NCAA Division 111 basketball. Ron Stewart scored 31 points for No. 3-ranked Otterbein in the championship game of its own holiday tourney and sent the host into the second half of the season with an 8-3 record. Stewart was averaging 28.3 points per game going into the tournament. Not bad for a 5-10 guard. ALSO, OTTERBEIN WAS the No. 3 team in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 87.7 points per game. DePauw lost the game 83-72, which means the defensive-minded Tigers held Otterbein below its average. I wonder if that’s any consolation to coach Mike Steele? Remember, all DePauw basketball games in January at Bowman Gym are free of charge and open to any and every one...as long as you plan to cheer for the Tigers.

Sports schedule Wednesday West Vigo at South Putnam, 6:30 p.m. swimming. Thursday Marian College at DePauw, 7:30 p.m., basketball. North Putnam girls at Greencastle, basketball. Greencastle at Cascade, wrestling. North Putnam at North Montgomery, swimming. North Putnam at Southmont, wrestling. North Central girls at South Putnam, basketball. South Putnam at Cloverdale, wrestling 6:30p.m. Cloverdale girls at Clay City, basketball. Mooresville freshmen at Cloverdale, basketball. Friday West Vigo at Greencastle, basketball. Edgewood at North Putnam, basketball. South Putnam at Rockville. Saturday Huntington College at DePauw, 2 p.m., basketball Cloverdale at Eminence, basketball. North Putnam at Fountain Central, basketball.

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