Two Soviet Ilyushin 38 reconnaissance planes entered Italian airspace near the North Atlantic Treaty Organization base at Sigonella, Sicily, last week while a Soviet spy ship was in international waters nearby, apparently monitoring NATO radio traffic, Italian newspapers reported. Two Italian F-104 fighter planes from the Trapani-Birgi air base intercepted the Soviet aircraft after they entered Italian airspace, and the Soviet planes then left the area, the La Repubblica newspaper reported. The Soviet spy ship remained in international waters off Sicily, the newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported.
Soviet dissident Yelena Bonner entered a Boston hospital where she is scheduled to undergo heart bypass surgery today. Bonner, 62, wife of Soviet dissident Andrei D. Sakharov, waved to reporters, smiled and said goodbye as she entered Massachusetts General Hospital accompanied by her mother, Ruth Bonner, and her son, Alexei Semyonov. Yelena Bonner came to Boston in December on a three-month visa granted by Soviet authorities.
Militant youths, who in October sparked some of Britain’s worst urban violence since 1981, have been accused by Scotland Yard of trying to murder police officers by trapping them in housing-development garages flooded with gasoline that they planned to ignite, a British weekly newspaper reported. The Mail said it obtained a copy of a report by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Michael Richards, who investigated the October 6 riot at a municipal housing complex in Tottenham, north London. It said police and firemen did not enter the garages until the rioting was over. A policeman was hacked to death and 232 officers were injured in the rioting.
U.S. helicopters rescued all 21 crew members of a British South Pole expedition support ship that sank the same day as three British. explorers reached the pole on foot. Crew members of the Southern Quest sent out a distress call when pack ice split the vessel’s hull. The three explorers, who were retracing the doomed 1912 polar journey of Capt. Robert Scott, are expected to be flown out by specially fitted Cessna aircraft. The ship’s crew was taken to McMurdo Sound, where the United States and New Zealand share an Antarctic research base.
The capture last week of a top Solidarity fugitive occurred when the police raided a clandestine printing plant while the underground leader was inspecting it, opposition sources said today. The official Polish press agency announced Saturday that security police in Gdansk had arrested the fugitive, Bogdan Borusewicz, but did not say when he was seized or give any details. The opposition sources said that Mr. Borusewicz was captured “by chance” when he went to inspect a printing press in a Gdansk apartment that was under surveillance by the police. Mr. Borusewicz and five other people, including the owner of the apartment and his wife, were arrested when the police raided the building either late Thursday or early Friday, the sources said. Mr. Borusewicz, 37 years old, who represented Gdansk on the Solidarity underground’s three-member Provisional Coordinating Commission, had been in hiding since the December 1981 martial law crackdown that led to the banning of Solidarity.
Italy faces new terrorist attacks because of instability in the Middle East, Prime Minister Bettino Craxi told Parliament in his semiannual report on the activities of Italian intelligence services. He said about 70 foreign spies had been uncovered in Italy in the last six months, more than usual.He did not reveal their nationalities but said the large number suggested Italy was facing an unusual period of violence. The Prime Minister, leader of the Socialist Party, said the country faced a “permanent danger posed by certain Middle East groups whose terrorist initiatives can be seen in the wider context of international subversion.”
Last month’s terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports are reported to have caused complications in efforts to gain the release of Western hostages held in Lebanon. Lebanon’s leading daily, An Nahar, said in a dispatch from Paris today that because of the two attacks, in which 19 people were killed, President Francois Mitterrand would not consider demands by the Islamic Holy War organization, which says it is holding four Frenchmen. So far the French Government has not reacted to a statement that the group issued here on Thursday asserting that the health of one of the Frenchmen had deteriorated and that he might die. According to An Nahar, officials in Paris believe the statement was designed to increase pressure on Mr. Mitterrand to give in to the captors’ wishes.
Israel’s leaders appeared to be near an agreement on submitting a border dispute with Egypt to binding international arbitration, Cabinet sources said. The decision was reached by the 10-man “inner Cabinet,” consisting of five Labor ministers, led by Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and five Likud ministers, headed by Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir. The Cabinet announced its readiness to submit the Taba dispute to arbitration — provided that Egypt agreed to fulfill certain conditions — after a debate stretching from 6:30 PM Sunday until shortly before 7 AM today. “The Cabinet decided in principle to accept arbitration,” Prime Minister Peres told reporters as he emerged from the marathon session. But the sources said they expected the meeting to drag on today. They said they could not rule out the possibility that no final agreement would be reached today or that the whole government could still far apart over the dispute.
Syria tested air raid sirens in Damascus amid statements by Syrian officials defending their right to install antiaircraft missiles on the border in in Lebanon’s Bekaa region. At the same time, Western military and diplomatic sources said they expected Syria to move their mobile missiles back into Lebanon soon. Today, meanwhile, for the first time in more than a year, the Department of Civil Defense conducted a three-minute test of the air raid sirens in Damascus, which some diplomats characterized as a symbolic display of military preparedness. Damascus residents were warned of the test in brief announcements Saturday in newspapers and over the official 2 PM radio news broadcast.
A banana boat from Nicaragua steamed into port in Tripoli, Libya last week. Several people were injured in the riots that broke out at fruit and vegetable stores throughout Tripoli, diplomats said, as people pushed and shoved one another for the prized imported fruit. There were similar riots two months ago, the envoys said, with two women killed and several people hurt when another banana boat arrived from Nicaragua. Libya is still pumping about 990,000 barrels of oil per day, but it has no bananas, nor much meat, nor toilet paper, nor matches, nor detergent, nor soap. Fresh vegetables are also in short supply, as are many other products.
Iran intercepted a U.S. freighter in international waters near the Persian Gulf, White House and State Department spokesmen announced, saying that it was a “matter of serious concern.” The American freighter, the President Taylor, was stopped by Iranians who boarded from an Iranian Navy ship and searched the American vessel for more than an hour. White House and State Department spokesmen said the incident today on the American freighter, the President Taylor, was “a matter of serious concern” but withheld further judgment until after the freighter’s captain, Robert Reimann, could be interviewed by United States Embassy officials. American officials said the captain was in Fujaira, a Gulf of Oman port in the United Arab Emirates, where the ship docked after the search by the Iranians, who boarded from an Iranian Navy ship. “There were no injuries or loss of property in the incident,” said Bruce Ammerman, a State Department spokesman. A spokesman for the ship’s owners, American President Lines, said 43 crew members were aboard. The shipping company said the incident occurred 30 miles south of Fujaira, where it was bound when it was boarded.
Tamil guerrilla groups said they are calling off an eight-month-old, Indian-mediated truce with Sri Lankan troops, the Press Trust of India reported. The news agency quoted a spokesman for the Eelam National Liberation Front alliance of Tamils as saying that the cease-fire failed because of Sri Lankan army atrocities. The spokesman, in the Indian city of Madras, said the guerrillas will take action to protect the minority Tamils in their longstanding ethnic conflict with the Sinhalese majority.
While American and Vietnamese officials expressed satisfaction last week with the atmosphere of good will surrounding two days of high-level talks in Hanoi on Americans missing in action since the Vietnam War, both sides agreed that they had reached a time when building confidence and increasing cooperation would be critical. Material progress will have to be made, they said, if the issue of the missing is no longer to prevent better relations between the two countries. There are potential problems on both sides, officials said, and the wide attention paid to the negotiations, which produced no breakthroughs, could sharpen divisions. Not all Vietnamese leaders favor cooperation with the United States.
Amid signs of an ideological crackdown on Chinese film makers, a Politburo member has warned that movies must benefit Communism or face a stern “red light,” the official press reported today. The Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily quoted Hu Qiaomu, a Communist Party Politburo member, as saying: “In today’s artistic circles there are some people who don’t bear the masses in mind, nor do they bear in mind art — only money. Films which are healthy and beneficial to socialism should get the green light — and bad films should get the red light.” Mr. Hu, 57 years old, is considered a senior protege of the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.
A private U.S. conservative group endorsed the candidacy of Corazon Aquino, who is challenging Ferdinand E. Marcos in a February 7 election for the Philippine presidency. The National Defense Council, which has been a prominent supporter of President Reagan’s policies in Central America, said, “Mrs. Aquino expresses democratic and anti-Communist views….” The group’s decision to back Aquino reflects a split in U.S. conservative ranks over Marcos, who has been praised as a bulwark against communism by such figures as the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Other U.S. conservatives have expressed fear that Aquino might be naive in offering to accept Communist support.
Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone of Japan arrived in Canada today for a four-day visit that is expected to center on Japan’s attempts to enlist Canada’s help in opposing protectionist measures in the United States. Mr. Nakasone was greeted by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and about 1,000 other people at Pearson International Airport. Mr. Mulroney said protectionism threatened both countries. “I share your conviction that all countries, rich and poor alike, benefit from an open and competitive system of international trade,” he said.
Adler Volny, a tall, gray-haired schoolmaster, stood in his ransacked bedroom in a city 90 miles north of Port-Au-Prince, amid mattresses askew, dresser drawers emptied in heaps, papers and books tossed about. “All my rooms are like this,” he said Thursday. “They said they were looking for arms, pistols, guns. But when they got me to the police station they questioned me about my son and nephew who were in the protest march.” Mr. Volny, who is 50 years old, was one of dozens of people who have reportedly been arrested and questioned in the last few days in Haiti in connection with a series of protests calling for the ouster of President Jean-Claude Duvalier, whose family has ruled Haiti for nearly 30 years. Like Mr. Volny, many of the arrested people were reportedly released after a few hours of detention and questioning. Some, also like Mr. Volny, said they had been beaten by policemen or soldiers. Unlike some of the others, Mr. Volny showed no bruises or other signs of physical abuse.
In one of his strongest statements to date, the Archbishop of El Salvador today condemned the indiscriminate bombing of civilians by the Government air force and the destruction of homes and crops in army sweeps of rebel-held areas. The Archbishop’s charges, made in a prepared statement read this morning in his name at the national cathedral, come after a highly unusual one-week trip by the Archbishop to rebel-held territory in northern Chalatenango department. The Archbishop, Arturo Rivera y Damas, also charged that two bombs had been dropped within four miles of him on the first day of his visit. The charge by the nation’s highest Roman Catholic prelate directly contradicts a statement by the Minister of Defense, General Eugenio Vides Casanova, that no bombs were dropped in the area.
A black activist was fatally stabbed in South Africa hours before he was scheduled to meet with Chester A. Crocker, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Pro-Government adversaries reportedly killed Ampie Mayisa, a community leader from Leandra, a township near Johannesburg. The stabbing occurred at his home, which was fire-bombed. The visiting American official, Crocker, broke with his previous practice in visits to South Africa by touring two segregated townships — Duduza and KwaThema, both east of Johannesburg. Mr. Crocker, who has made regular visits to South Africa, has in the past met only with white Government officials, not their black adversaries.
Bishop Desmond M. Tutu of South Africa visited New Jersey yesterday and thanked Governor Kean and other officials for their leadership, which, he said in a speech in Newark, “has led yours to be the first state to pass legislation seeking to bring pressure on the Government of South Africa.” In August, Governor Kean signed legislation requiring the state’s $13.9 billion pension fund to withdraw its investments in companies with a “physical presence” in South Africa. The state’s action, which is expected to affect some $2 billion in investments, has already led to the withdrawal of more than $400 million. Speaking at St. Joseph’s Plaza, a former church that has been converted to a commercial center by a nonprofit development organization, the Bishop, flanked by Mr. Kean, Representative Peter W. Rodino Jr. and Senator Bill Bradley, told a largely black audience that “racism anywhere threatens freedom everywhere.”
Nonmilitary spending must be cut by 4.3 percent on March 1 under the terms of the new budget-balancing law, the Reagan Administration has concluded. A slightly larger reduction in defense programs also must be made. Administration officials said this reduction would be about 4.9 percent. James C. Miller 3d, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and Rudolph G. Penner, director of the Congressional Budget Office, plan to announce Wednesday budget reductions affecting every Federal “program, project and activity,” except Social Security, and other benefit programs. The cuts are designed to save $11.7 billion, divided equally between military and other programs, in the current fiscal year. The cuts would be automatic; under the new budget law, no further action by Congress is required.
Space shuttle Columbia blasts off on mission STS-61-C with a crew that includes the first Hispanic-American in space, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz. Space shuttle Columbia soared into space after seven postponements. Within hours, its crew launched a communications satellite and began preparations for scientific experiments on the five-day mission. One of the crew’s assignments is the first extensive observation from space of Halley’s comet. The flight is the first of three consecutive flights that are to study the comet. Other nations have launched spacecraft toward the comet, but they are not yet in position.
Secretary of State George P. Shultz suggested today that he believed the United States should take military action to punish terrorists or those who help them and not just apply economic sanctions. “My opinion is that we need to raise the cost to those who perpetrate terrorist acts by making them pay a price, not just an economic price, so they will have to think more carefully about it,” Mr. Shultz said. But Mr. Shultz, who spoke on the CBS News program “Face the Nation,” added that in the case of military action the United States would have to “consider the consequences to others who may be innocent victims.” Mr. Shultz has been widely depicted as the most forceful voice in Administration deliberations in favor of using America’s military might against terrorists or nations suspected of aiding and harboring terrorism. But he has steadfastly refused to comment publicly since the latest crisis developed with Libya on action he recommended President Reagan take against the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d said today that terrorists convicted of killing American hostages should be sentenced to death. Mr. Meese, appearing on the NBC News program “Meet the Press,” defended the Reagan Administration’s responses to international terrorism, but said more could be done if Congress included the killing of Americans among capital crimes. The United States should “make an assault or the murder of a United States citizen abroad a Federal offense so that we would have jurisdiction, either with another country if they were taking action, or in addition,” he said.
Former CIA Director Stansfield Turner recommended that the intelligence organizations in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps be disbanded and their activities centered in the Defense Intelligence Agency. Turner said the DIA was created in 1964 by Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara to provide intelligence to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that was free of bias from the various services. But, Turner wrote in the Washington Post, the DIA has failed to attract the best people in the armed forces.
The Gambino organized-crime family has replaced its former leader, who was slain last month, with a man convicted of manslaughter and accused of racketeering, according to a report in the New York Times. John Gotti has taken over the post after the slaying of Paul Castellano outside a Manhattan restaurant, the article said. President Reagan also was in the news concerning crime — under his own byline. He declared in a magazine article in the New York Times on organized crime that “for the first time in our history, we finally have the mob on the run.”
Shouting authors twice interrupted Secretary of State George P. Shultz as he told an international conference of writers in New York that the Reagan Administration is “on your side” regarding freedom of expression. Mr. Shultz was greeted on his arrival at the New York Public Library by a public letter signed by 65 writers and editors calling his appearance at the congress “inappropriate.” Referring obliquely to such objections, Mr. Shultz said he regarded the invitation by Norman Mailer, the president of the PEN American Center, “as another shining example of that charitable spirit for which New York literary circles have long been famous.” Norman Mailer, the president of the PEN American Center who invited Shultz to speak at the 48th International PEN Congress, apologized to him after the incident. Several writers had signed a protest letter accusing the United States of supporting “governments that silence, imprison, even torture their citizens for their beliefs.”
Officials searched for weapons today while Indiana State Police detectives questioned prisoners at the Indiana Reformatory to determine what triggered a short-lived uprising that claimed the life of one inmate. At least 20 people, including five guards at the maximum-security prison, were injured when the melee began about 8:30 Saturday night in the gym, said Sgt. Jim Grindle, a prison spokesman. About 300 inmates were in the gym at the time, he said, but it was not known how many actually participated in the hourlong uprising at the prison 20 miles north of Indianapolis. The dead prisoner was identified as Gary Swafford, 30 years old, who was serving a 32-year sentence for murder and died from multiple stab wounds in the head and back, officials said.
More than 2,000 people, workers on strike against the Hormel meatpacking plant here and their supporters, staged an enthusiastic rally here today in support of continuing the strike. Geo. A. Hormel & Company has said that Monday it will reopen its Austin, Minnesota plant, shut by a strike of 1,500 workers since August 17. Strikers have been asked to report to work Monday morning and the company has said it will then hire new workers to replace strikers who do not report for work. This area, in southern Minnesota, has substantial numbers of people looking for work because of the decline in jobs in agriculture and in other areas of the economy. A bargaining between the company and local leaders on Saturday ended without progress. No bargaining was scheduled today. Today the people at the rally heard Miles Lord, a former Federal District Judge retained by the local, urge workers, “If you are not going back to work, you should all stay out.” Mr. Lord also urged strikers, “don’t be violent” when others cross picket lines.
The uranium-processing plant in Gore, Oklahoma, where a chemical leak killed a worker nine days ago, has been a source of controversy for more than a decade over routine discharges of small amounts of radiation and pollutants to the air, soil and water. Documents filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington show repeated leaks of uranium, radium and other materials from waste ponds and other areas of the plant, sometimes in violation of Federal permits. The agency says the problems are minor, with no significant threat to public health. Environmental groups say the problems show a pattern of sloppiness that helped cause the accident that killed James Harrison and sent 100 people to the hospital for tests.
The F.D.A. inadequately monitors the use of toxic drugs and nutrition supplements in raising livestock, posing a grave threat to the health of consumers, according to a Congressional report. The study is the most detailed Congressional evaluation in 15 years of the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to oversee and regulate the nation’s $2 billion-a-year animal drug industry.
Treatment of heart and circulatory disease, the country’s main cause of death, will cost an estimated $78.6 billion this year, the American Heart Association reported at a science writers’ forum in Sarasota, Florida. The estimate equals about $325 for every person in the country. The costs include $48.2 billion for hospital and nursing home services, $13.6 billion for lost work time due to disability, $11.8 billion for doctor bills and $5 billion for medicines. Dr. Thomas J. Ryan, association president, said some of the costs might be reduced if physicians would be more discriminating in their use of medical technology.
The publisher of the Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Times, responding to negative reaction by employees, said he would reconsider a plan to bring drug-sniffing dogs into the building. “I am totally overwhelmed by the response that memo got,” James H. Hale, publisher and chairman of the board at the Kansas City Star Co., said about the notice of a new anti-drug policy by the company’s owner, Capital Cities-ABC Inc. Executives announced last week that drug-sniffing dogs would be sent into its newspaper and television offices as part of a crackdown on drugs.
Mormon Church President Ezra Taft Benson, 86, who was rushed to a Salt Lake City hospital Saturday after suffering a fainting spell, was alert and in good condition, a church spokesman said. “President Benson had a restful, comfortable night, and he continues… in good condition, alert and awake,” Jerry Cahill said.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday observances began in Atlanta. His birthday on January 20 will be a national holiday, which hundreds of other cities and towns are expected to observe. Atlanta began a weeklong schedule of concerts, church services and school activities, opening with an interfaith service at Big Bethel Church, where Dr. King, the assassinated civil rights leader, is buried.
Winds gusting up to 67 mph swept across the upper Midwest, fueling a fire in Minnesota that killed two persons and ripping roofs off buildings. Weather advisories were in effect most of the morning for parts of northwestern Minnesota, and the Twin Cities International Airport clocked high wind gusts. Strong gusts also tipped over icehouses on Minnesota lakes. In Duluth, Minnesota, the winds ripped the roof off part of the airport terminal building, shutting it down for several hours.
Gases generated by industry are changing the earth’s atmosphere, according to an international report coordinated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It says that industrial and other human activities are irreversibly changing the atmosphere and that these changes on being made without sufficient knowledge of the long-term environmental consequences.
Chicago Blackhawk centre Denis Savard scores at 4 seconds of the 3rd period.
NFL Conference Championships:
AFC Championship Game: New England Patriots 31, Miami Dolphins 14
The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, 31–14, at the Miami Orange Bowl. In an upset, the Patriots racked up 255 rushing yards and converted six Dolphins turnovers into 24 points. On Miami’s first offensive play, Steve Nelson stripped the ball from running back Tony Nathan, and Patriots defensive end Garin Veris recovered it to set up Tony Franklin’s 23-yard field goal. The Dolphins later scored on an 80-yard drive, with quarterback Dan Marino completing passes to Bruce Hardy for 12 yards and Mark Duper for 18 before finding tight end Dan Johnson in the end zone with an 11-yard touchdown pass. But New England responded on a 66-yard possession, featuring a 45-yard run from Robert Weathers, to score on quarterback Tony Eason’s 4-yard touchdown to Tony Collins, giving the Pats a 10–7 lead. On Miami’s next drive, Marino fumbled the ball and nose tackle Lester Williams recovered for New England on the Dolphins 36-yard line. Patriots running back Craig James then rushed for 23 yards on three carries and Eason completed a 12-yard pass to Stanley Morgan on the 1-yard line before throwing a 1-yard touchdown toss to tight end Derrick Ramsey, giving the Patriots a 17–7 lead. Just before halftime Miami missed the chance to cut the deficit down to three points when tight end Dan Johnson dropped a pass from Marino in the end zone on a first and 10 from the Patriots’ 16. As the next two plays fell short of a first down, Miami settled for a field goal from the Patriots’ 14 yard-line, but Fuad Reveiz’ kick sailed wide to the right after a badly taken snap.
Miami’s Lorenzo Hampton then lost a fumble on the second half kickoff on a hit from Mosi Tatupu, and Greg Hawthorne recovered for New England on the Dolphins 25. Eason then converted the turnover into points at the end of a 6-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Weathers, making the score 24–7. The Dolphins had a chance to take the momentum back when safety Bud Brown recovered Fred Marion’s fumbled punt return on the Patriots 45-yard line. But after a 19-yard run by Joe Carter and a 16-yard catch by Ron Davenport, Marion made up for his error by intercepting Marino’s pass in the end zone to keep Miami from scoring. New England then put together a 13-play drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock and moved the ball to the Dolphins 24-yard line. But Franklin missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, keeping the Dolphins’ slim comeback hopes alive going into the fourth quarter. Three plays into the final quarter, New England fumbled another punt return, this one lost by Roland James, and Miami took over on the Patriots 10-yard line. This time, they took advantage of their scoring opportunity with Marino’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Tony Nathan on the next play, cutting their deficit to 24–14. Things looked even more promising for the Dolphins when they forced a punt and drove to the New England 38-yard line. But then Carter fumbled the ball and defensive end Julius Adams picked it up for the Patriots fourth fumble recovery of the day. New England then put the game away with a 9-play drive, featuring a 14-yard run by Tony Collins and a 13-yard carry by James. Tatupu later finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, putting the score out of reach at 31–14. With 7: 34 left in the game, Miami mounted one last spirited drive, moving the ball to the NE 8-yard line. But two penalties pushed them back to the 28, and then a desperate pass from Marino was picked off by Raymond Clayborn in the end zone.
James was their main contributor on offense, rushing for a career postseason high 105 yards of the Patriots 255 total rushing yards in a game played in a steady rain. Of note, the Patriots ran the ball on 59 out of 71 offensive plays, amassing 255 rushing yards in an upset of the favored Dolphins. Weathers added 87 yards, while Collins rushed for 61 and caught three passes for 15. Eason threw for just 71 yards, but completed 10 of 12 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The win was the first for the Patriots at the Miami Orange Bowl since 1966, the Dolphins inaugural season, ending a string of 18 consecutive losses by the Patriots in Miami and earning the Patriots their first trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history, and becoming the first to do so by winning three playoff games on the road. This was the second postseason meeting between the Patriots and Dolphins. Miami won the only prior meeting.
NFC Championship Game: Los Angeles Rams 0, Chicago Bears 24
The Chicago Bears crushed the Los Angeles Rams, 24–0, at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Bears defense dominated the game by limiting Rams running back Eric Dickerson to 46 yards, forcing him to fumble twice, and holding quarterback Dieter Brock to just 10 completions on 31 attempts for 66 yards. While Chicago’s offensive numbers were hardly stellar (232 yards and 10 punts), Los Angeles only gained 130 yards of total offense and had to punt the ball 11 times. After forcing the Rams to go three-and-out on the game’s first possession, Bears quarterback Jim McMahon threw consecutive 20-yard completions to tight end Emery Moorehead and receiver Willie Gault before finishing the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run on third down and 10. Kevin Butler added a 34-yard field goal to give the Bears a 10-0 first quarter lead. With 1: 04 left in the second quarter, LA had a huge opportunity to get back in the game when Dale Hatcher’s punt bounced into the leg of Bears defensive back Reggie Phillips and safety Jerry Gray recovered the ball for the Rams on Chicago’s 21-yard line. Dickerson rushed twice for nine yards and caught a pass for 7, but on his reception he was tackled on the 5 as time expired in the half. “We did call time out right before the half”, John Robinson, the Rams’ coach, insisted. “It depends on how long the ref takes to recognize that a player has called a timeout.”
The Rams drove to their own 47-yard line on their first drive of the second half, but then linebacker Otis Wilson forced a fumble from Dickerson that was recovered by Mike Richardson on the Bears 48. Faced with fourth down and 6 on the Rams 35-yard line on the ensuing drive, Chicago picked up a first down with McMahon’s 13-yard completion to running back Walter Payton. Then they took a 17–0 lead with McMahon’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Gault on the next play. LA responded with a drive into Chicago territory, but Leslie Frazier ended it with an interception. With 2: 37 left in the fourth quarter, Dent forced Brock to fumble while sacking him, and linebacker Wilber Marshall picked up the loose ball and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown. It marked the end of a long day for Brock, having been sacked three times and taken numerous additional hits and harassment the entire game by the stifling Bears defense. This was the second postseason meeting between the Rams and Bears. Los Angeles won the only prior meeting.
Born:
Kieron Richardson, British actor (Ste Hay in “Hollyoaks”), in Eccles, England, United Kingdom.
Died:
Lars Leksell, 78, Swedish physician, professor of neurosurgery, and inventor of radio surgery.
Marcel Arland, 86, French author (“L’ordre”, “Lumière du Soir”).
History Diaries 