6B
Wednesday, November 14, 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Surgery keeps Young off the field
The Associated Press
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Steve Young, still troubled by his alling left shoulder, underwent arthroscopic surgery yesterday morning and will be lost to the San Francisco 49ers for another three to four weeks.
Young, who won MVP honors in the 1994 season and in the Super Bowl, has been sidelined since an Oct. 15 loss at Indianapolis, where he suffered a sprain and bone bruise in his passing shoulder.
Team physician Michael Dillingham forecast a four-week rehabilitation, and Young, trying to return in
time for Sunday's game at Dallas, tried to accelerate his recovery.
But lingering soreness forced him to back off workouts in the past two weeks, and coach George Seifert said yesterday that team officials, Dillingham and Young all decided Young should undergo exploratory arthroscopic surgery to better determine the nature of the injury.
The decision to perform the procedure was made in the plane ride home from the 49ers' 38-20 victory Sunday at Dallas. Elvis Grbac, who started the past four games in place of Young and threw for 305 yards and two scores in the win at Dallas,
"It was like Steve was getting better but never quite went over the top, and Dr. Dillingham felt as though we had to be more aggressive." Seifert said.
will remain San Francisco's starter until Young can return.
Seifert said Young would need three to four weeks to recover from the arthroscopic procedure alone. However, if the procedure finds additional damage, Young could miss more time.
There was no immediate word on the outcome of the surgery. Seifert said the team would release additional details later.
Maddux enters uncharted Cy Young waters
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Greg Maddux became the only pitcher to capture four consecutive Cy Young Awards, winning unanimously for the second straight year.
Maddux, who led the Atlanta Braves to their first World Series title, routed the field yesterday in balloting announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Maddux received 140 points, followed by Cincinnati's Pete Schuebler with 55, Braves teammate Tom Glavine
with 30, Los Angeles rookie Hideo Nomo with 19 and
Dodgers pitcher Ramon Martinez with eight.
Steve Carlton is the only other pitcher to win four Cy Youngs. He did it for Philadelphia in 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1982.
Sandy Koufax is the only other pitcher to win the award unanimously in consecutive years — in 1965-66 for the Dodgers.
Maddux led the NL in wins with a 19-2 record and was tops in the league in ERA (1.63) and complete games (10).
San Diego struggles as Chiefs charge on
SAN DIEGO — While the Kansas City Chiefs race on with the NFL's best record, the meltdown of the San Diego Chargers seems almost complete.
The Associated Press
Now, the Chiefs are aiming for where the Chargers were last year — on top of the AFC — and beyond.
By defeating San Diego 22-7 on Sunday, the Chiefs matched the same 9-1 start they had in 1969 on the way to winning the Super Bowl. And they won their sixth straight game, one short of the club record set in'69.
Defensive end Neil Smith said the Chiefs were merely on their way to their first goal of winning the AFC West and clinching home-field advantage in the plavoffs.
"We feel that we can't be beat at home," Smith said. "If you've got to come through KC, then it's going to be a rough road. I think this team knows that, and we're putting it together. We're having fun with it."
Steve Bono and Marcus Allen scored on short runs, and Lin Elliott had three field goals for the Chiefs.
Allen, who was MVP of the Super Bowl following the 1983 season while with the Los Angeles Raiders, wouldn't bite on any Super Bowl comparisons.
"I think we have a good team with a possibility of being a great team," he said. "We're not going to look too far down the road."
The Chargers, meanwhile, are a mess. With AFC-leading rusher Natrone Means out with a strained groin, the Chargers (4-6) lost for the fifth time in six
games. They're now tied with Seattle for last in the AFC West.
"It was a very lackluster performance on our part," coach Bobby Ross said. "I'm going to try to rationalize it. When that happens, it ultimately comes back to me. I take full responsibility for it."
Quarterback Stan Humphries said, "I think that it's probably one of the worst performances we've had in the last four years."
The Chiefs have defeated the Chargers in 10 of their last 13 meetings. One of the Chargers' victories was 17-0 in the 1992 playoffs.
Allen scored the clinching touchdown on a 1-yard run with 6:16 to play in the third quarter, giving Kansas City a 19-7 lead. Bono's conversion pass to Lake Dawson failed.
Although the Chiefs didn't need last-minute heroics from Bono and punt returner Tamarick Vanover like they did in a 29-23 overtime victory against San Diego on Oct. 9, they nonetheless got steady play. Bono finished 17 of 27 for 137 yards, his second-lowest total of the season, with one interception and three sacks. Greg Hill gained 78 yards on 17 carries, and Allen had 63 yards on 16 carries.
"It's a good feeling to beat these guys because they went to the Super Bowl," said Chiefs defensive tackle Joe Phillips, a former Chargers player.
"The last thing you want to do is have to play them in the playoffs," Phillips said. "Anything we can do to keep them out of the playoffs is a big boost for us."