Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.sports From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: sports Tue, May 19 1992 Date: Tue, 19 May 92 05:21:11 EDT Message-ID: 05-19 0000 DECISIONLINE: Sports USA TODAY Update May 19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BLACKHAWKS WIN NINTH STRAIGHT: The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 Monday for their ninth consecutive win and a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Campbell Conference final. Michel Goulet tipped in Steve Larmer's shot for the go-ahead goal with 3:41 left. Larmer scored two goals and Stephane Matteau scored the Blackhawks' final goal with 2:56 left. Game 3 is Wednesday in Edmonton. JAGR FILLS IN WELL: Jaromir Jagr, 20, has been filling in for injured Pittsburgh Penguins star Mario Lemieux, but he says he doesn't feel pressure to fill his skates. Jagr, who scored the winning goal in overtime Sunday to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead over the Boston Bruins in the Wales Conference final, says, "I don't feel anything. I'm still young." LAKERS HIRE PFUND: The Los Angeles Lakers named longtime assistant Randy Pfund head coach Monday. He takes over for Mike Dunleavy, who resigned to sign an eight-year contract last week to coach the Milwaukee Bucks. Before joining the Lakers, Pfund, 40, coached in Illinois high schools two years and was an assistant at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., for eight years. PLAYOFFS RESUME TUESDAY: The NBA playoffs resume Tuesday with the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers up against tough competition. The Jazz, trailing their best-of-seven Western Conference series 1-0, will look for a way to slow down the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Cavaliers brace for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference final. Cleveland plays at Chicago and Utah travels to Portland. JORDAN WINS MVP AWARD: Michael Jordan was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second straight season and third time overall Monday. Jordan, who averaged 30.1 points per game, called this season "the most trying for me mentally." He received 80 of a possible 96 first-place votes from panel of NBA writers and sportscasters. Clyde Drexler was second with 12 first-place votes. BRAVES DOWN CARDINALS: Terry Pendleton, Brian Hunter and David Justice hit home runs Monday to power the Atlanta Braves to a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Charlie Leibrandt (4-2) pitched a six-hitter in his first complete game of the season. In other NL games: Cincinnati 2, Montreal 1; Houston 4, Philadelphia 2; San Diego 3, New York 0; Chicago 3, Los Angeles 0. TWINS TOP BLUE JAYS: The Minnesota Twins beat Toronto 6-2 in 11 innings Monday, handing the Blue Jays their fourth straight loss. Former Twins pitcher Jack Morris failed to hold an eight-inning lead in his first game against his old club. In other AL games: New York 7, California 2; Boston 3, Seattle 2; Texas 3, Cleveland 2; Milwaukee 9, Detroit 1; Oakland 8, Baltimore 4; Kansas City 6, Chicago 1. NFL OWNERS TO MEET: Several cities will be watching closely as NFL owners open a two-day meeting Tuesday. Owners may trim the field for two expansion slots from seven cities to five. In the running: Baltimore; Charlotte; Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis, Oakland; Sacramento; St. Louis. Also, owners will debate a plan by the Saints and Bears that clubs carry 50 players but dress 40 for games. SELES, COURIER ARE TOP SEEDS: Defending champions Monica Seles and Jim Courier are top seeds for the French Open, which begins Monday in Paris. Seles, winner of the last four grand slams in which she played, is seeded to possibly face Steffi Graf in the final. Stefan Edberg is seeded second to Courier. The seedings follow the computer rankings, which this week list Ivan Lendl at No. 11. USA DOWNS RUSSIA: Pete Sampras and the doubles team of Patrick McEnroe and Jim Grabb won matches Monday and gave the USA a 2-1 win against Russia on the opening day of the World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany. Sampras beat Alexander Volkov 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). McEnroe and Grabb defeated Volkov and Andrei Cherkasov 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3. SPIRA CONVICTION UPHELD: A federal appeals court Monday upheld Howard Spira's 1991 conviction for attempting to extort money from New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Spira's argument that an incriminating tape recording was improperly admitted during his trial. SANDERSON RESIGNS: Wimp Sanderson, Alabama men's basketball coach for 12 seasons, resigned Monday amid charges he struck his longtime secretary in the face during an argument in March. The secretary, Nancy Watts, has filed sex discrimination charges against the coach and the school with the Equal Opportunity Commission, a necessary step if she wants to file a lawsuit. SKATING PENGUIN OUT: The Pittsburgh Penguins will discard their popular skating Penguin logo next year for a more stylish image that blends the profile of a Penguin with the city's black-and-gold Golden Triangle symbol. The team had planned to unveil the logo before the NHL draft in June, but it's already being packaged on pucks sold in Canada. 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Sports Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Sports Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM