Express, Breakers Meet Today at Pierce in exhibition opener

Nothing that happens in today’s United States Football League exhibition game between the Los Angeles Express and the Portland Breakers is likely to be etched in pro football history. Nor even deserving of a footnote.

But it will deserve a prominent spot in the history of Valley sports. Today’s game at Pierce College in Woodland Hills is believed to be the first waged between pro teams anywhere in the Valley.

Although the Express reached the Western Conference championship last year before losing to Arizona, the club begins its third year on shaky footing as it searches for an owner and financial solvency. In the interim, the league is running the team.

The Breakers haven’t had any kind of footing since the club was formed. This band of nomads was the Boston Breakers in 1983, the New Orleans Breakers in ‘84, and is training at Cal Poly Pomona. After today’s game, it will head for another new home in Portland.

One place the team has had stability has been at the head coaching spot where former Mater Dei High and Cal State Fullerton coach Dick Coury is beginning his third year. He was USFL Coach of the Year in ’83.

One of his star running backs, Marcus Dupree, is doubtful today with a hamstring injury. That will leave Buford Jordan the primary ballcarrier. Jordan rushed for 1,276 yards last season to place fourth in the league behind Birmingham’s Joe Cribbs, Baltimore’s Kelvin Bryant and New Jersey’s Herschel Walker.

Portland recently signed former New York Jets quarterback Matt Robinson to run the offense. Two other former NFL stars on the team are place-kicker Tim Mazzetti and tight end Dan Ross.

The Express has only one player hurting enough to miss this one--center Mike Reuther, who is recovering from a knee injury. His replacement will be Wayne Jones, who spent this past fall (the offseason for the spring league) as an assistant coach at West Los Angeles College.

The team’s quarterback shouldn’t be too hard to spot. He’s the one with the $40 million price tag on his head. Steve Young will start the second of four years on an agreement that pays him approximately $40 million, most of it deferred over a 43-year period.

Los Angeles won seven of its last nine games last season to win the Pacific Division with a 10-8 record. It beat Michigan, 27-20, in triple overtime in the playoffs, then was eliminated by Arizona, 35-23. The Breakers were 8-10 last season.

Today’s historic game will kick off at 1 p.m. Seats are priced at $4 and $2 and may be purchased at the college. The game will benefit the school’s athletic department and a scholarship fund.