September 9, 1984

DALLAS AT first, the tugs of war within the Dallas Cowboys family were almost imperceptible. The owner's health was failing; he needed to settle his estate. The team's confidence in the quarterback was eroding; the younger man yearned for the chance to take over. Recent drafts had been less fruitful than expected; the team was aging. By the 15th week of the season, it all began to blow open. In the third quarter of a close and critical game against the Redskins, Danny White called an audible, which was clearly not what Coach Tom Landry had wanted. The Redskins went on to win handily. The following week in San Francisco, the Cowboys lost by a wide margin again, and in the wild-card playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams in Dallas, they lost once more. Their season was over; not since 1961 had they finished with three consecutive losses. If this was America's team, America was in trouble.

Twenty years after drug abuse first became a major national concern, almost every strategy to control it has failed, and a growing chorus in Congress is saying the United States should try more drastic approaches, such as revoking foreign aid to drug-producing countries. The dimensions of the problem are enormous. At home, drug abuse leads to crime, broken lives, addiction and death. But that is only where the ramifications begin. Inducing foreign countries where drugs are produced to cut off the supply has largely failed. Federal estimates show that more marijuana, cocaine and heroin are being produced than ever before, and far more of the world's supply goes to the United States than to any other country.

Nicaraguan rebels have raised more than $10 million dollars in the last six months from private corporations and individuals in the United States and from foreign governments, including Israel, Argentina, Venezuela, Guatemala and Taiwan, according to Reagan Administration officials and rebel leaders. Each of the foreign governments has denied any involvement with the rebels. ''We're raising more than $1.5 million a month, much of it donated by private Americans and corporations, including some large, well-known companies,'' one rebel leader, Mario Calero Portocarrero, said in an interview this week. He and the other sources declined to identify any of the individuals or corporations.

From the bright heat of midday to the chilly blackness of a late summer night, the four men's semifinalists at the United States Open yesterday clawed for the right to meet in today's final, with John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl enduring brilliant challenges from Jimmy Connors and Pat Cash. With a men's 35-and-over match starting the day's program to accommodate CBS-TV, and a three-set final between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert Lloyd wedged between the two semifinals, the marathon 16- set day of tennis lasted 12 hours 13 minutes. McEnroe played 51 games in 3 hours 45 minutes and Lendl 54 games in 3 hours 39 minutes, prompting questions about how either will recover in time for today's 4 P.M. meeting. McEnroe won his match by the score of 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to run his streak of victories over the defending Open champion to eight and his record this year to 65-2. Lendl, McEnroe's conquerer at the French Open, where he won his first Grand Slam title, won by 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. Lendl was a finalist here the last two years, losing to Connors. McEnroe will be seeking to regain the title he won in 1979, 1980 and 1981.

Having just watched Dwight Gooden beat his team with a one-hitter, Jim Frey, Chicago's manager, shrugged off the overpowering performance Friday night and said: ''Every Friday we come into Shea, Gooden beats us. Then we come back Saturday and win.'' The Cubs, particularly Rick Sutcliffe, proved their manager correct last night, stopping the Mets, 6-0, and reclaiming a seven-game lead over them in the National League's Eastern Division. The loss, which Sutcliffe engineered by pitching a four-hitter for his 14th victory against only a single defeat, was devastating for the Mets because it prevents them from sweeping the three-game series and slashing a significant chunk off the Cub lead. The worst the Cubs can do now is leave New York with a lead one game less than when they arrived.