Conference 7.286::sports_90

322.0. "American Bowl '90" by YUPPY::STRAGED (CLEAVAGE is a man's breast friend) Mon Aug 06 1990 07:47

    		LA RAIDERS  vs   NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
    
    Last night's American Bowl '90  between the Raiders and the Saints
    demonstrated some of the best and the worst of the NFL.  The 5th Annual
    Exhibition Game was played at Wembley Stadium - a sporting shrine if
    ever there was one - to a raucous crowd of 63,106.  
    
    The game itself started slowly and built to a surprising climax but was
    as ragged and full of errors as you'd expect a pre-season game to be.
    Neither team could sustain a drive until just before the half when John
    Fourcade fed Reuben Mayes for a 3-yd dash.  The Raiders could only
    manage a field goal in response.
    
    Dave Wilson then took the reins for the Saints and led them to a 77-yd
    drive 14-3.  Morten Anderson extended the lead to 17-3 shortly after.
    
    Then the game started to pick up.  Vince Evans took over from Jay
    Schreider and rallied the Raiders (some of whom were beginning to feel
    the heat of Art Shell's cutting knife!!).  Elvis Patterson blocked
    Kevin Brown's punt out of the end zone and recovered it himself to
    bring the Raiders to within seven points, 17-10.  With time running
    out, the Raiders tried in vain to tie the game - Vince Evans making two
    high school mistakes that had Shell blowing up on the sidelines. 
    
    (After a long gain up the middle, Evans took the snap and threw the
    ball dead to stop the clock.  When he returned to take the snap he
    didn't like the formation he saw and called time-out - unfortunately,
    his defense had used all the timeouts on the Saints last drive.  Delay
    of game and 5-yds back.  His second mistake was even more
    elementary...with 11 seconds left in the game, and the Raiders 30 yds
    away from the end zone, Evans had two chances for passes into the
    end-zone.  HE took the snap, primary receivers were covered and so
    instead of throwing out of bounds , he scrambled..and scrambled..and
    scrambled until the clock ran out!!   As I said, Shell was not a happy
    man!!)
    
    The most polished group on the field were the Cheerleaders (they
    certainly got as much attention from the British crowd as the players
    did).  But as one Brit in the stand behind me said,  "You can tell the
    Raiderettes come from Silicon Valley!!"
    
    He wasn't wrong...
    
    From your overseas correspondent,
    PJ

    Thanks for the report.  From your description, Madonna on HBO was much
    better, although I bet both telecasts had plenty of people grabbing
    their own crotches.
    
    	--dan'l