Calgary Wins the Grey Cup on Last-Second Field Goal

Mark McLoughlin’s 35-yard field goal on the final play gave the Calgary Stampeders a thrilling 26-24 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup on Sunday at Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Ron Williams put Hamilton ahead, 24-23, with a one-yard touchdown run with 2:02 remaining. The two-point conversion failed.

Calgary quarterback Jeff Garcia, named the game’s outstanding player, led the Stampeders 80 yards over the final 1:57, setting the stage for McLoughlin’s field goal.

Calgary slotback Vince Danielsen was named the game’s outstanding Canadian.

Calgary won its second Grey Cup title in four appearances in the 1990s.

Winter Sports

Pierrick Bourgeat of France, mastering a course badly rutted by snow and warming temperatures, skied from 14th place to a stunning victory in a men’s World Cup slalom at Park City, Utah.

Bourgeat, whose best previous performance was a second last year, made up over two seconds on the field in the afternoon run, thanks in large part to his skill at maneuvering through ruts that tossed his competition like rag dolls.

Bourgeat completed two runs in 1 minute 43.34 seconds, which was 0.44 seconds faster than Norway’s Olympic champion, Hans-Petter Buraas, who led the Frenchman by 1.67 seconds after a morning-session run during a snowstorm.

Finland’s Hannu Manninen won the season-opening World Cup Nordic combined event and American Todd Lodwick placed third on his 22nd birthday at Rovaniemi, Finland.

Golf

David Carter made a birdie putt on the 18th hole to cap a four-under-par 68 and clinch England’s first World Cup of Golf title after three second-place finishes.

Carter and Nick Faldo, who had a final-round 69, finished with a total of 568 strokes, two better than Italy.

The United States, Scotland and Argentina tied for third with 571 totals over the 6,850-yard Gulf Harbor Country Club course at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand.

Scott Verplank of the United States shot a nine-under 63 to match the course record set hours earlier by Patrik Sjoland of Sweden.

Verplank finished as the individual champion with a nine-under 279 total, one stroke ahead of Faldo and Costantino Rocca of Italy, who closed with a 70.

Verplank and partner John Daly, who had a 68 for a 292 total, led through 16 holes of the final round, but Daly dropped shots at the par-five 17th and par-four 18th.

Track and Field

U.S. sprint star Marion Jones said that she is skipping the entire 1999 indoor season--including the world indoor championships in Japan--to concentrate on her attempt to win four gold medals at the world outdoor championships in Spain. In addition, Jones will limit the number of meets she competes in next year to prepare for the worlds in Seville and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The governing body of track and field is considering selecting the venues of four world outdoor championships in a single eight-year “package deal,” said Primo Nebiolo, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

Nebiolo said the IAAF’s proposed package for 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 would include venues for the world indoor championships, the World Cup and other “most important events” during the eight-year time frame.

Miscellany

Bowl games matching the two top-ranked junior college teams in Southern and Northern California will be played Saturday, with the winners advancing to the Shrine Bowl on Dec. 12 at Sacramento City College for the state title. In the South, top-ranked Long Beach City (10-0) plays at Palomar (9-1) in the First Down Bowl. San Francisco City (10-0), ranked first in the Northern California, will play second-ranked Sequoias (9-1) in the San Francisco Hawaiian Punch Bowl. Moorpark College (9-1), Western State Conference Southern Division champion, will make its 11th consecutive junior-college bowl-game appearance Saturday when the Raiders play at Chaffey (8-2) in the Southern California Bowl.

New England Blizzard guard Carolyn Young, the leading scorer in ABL history, will miss the rest of the season after tearing a ligament in her right knee. Young averaged 21.2 points during the ABL’s inaugural 1996-97 season, and averaged 21.9 points last season, finishing second in the scoring race to Portland’s Natalie Williams. In five games this season, Young averaged 20 points.

Mike Skinner outmaneuvered Jeff Gordon in the final corner to win his second straight NASCAR exhibition race in Motegi, Japan.

Skinner took the lead on the 140th of the 201 laps, winning the NASCAR Thunder Special Coca-Cola 500 by 0.153 seconds.