I SPORTS
Real Dreams
Oak Park Ace Jason Novetsky's
Name Should Come Up in the
Summer Baseball Draft
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Sports Writer
1:11 reaming of a major
league baseball career
is easy. Most boys do it.
Having a realistic chance
to play pro ball, and con-
tinuing to play well in spite of that
pressure, is something else.
Oak Park High senior Jason
Novetsky is getting used to seeing
scouts when he pitches. But the first
scouts who came to see him,
specifically, made him nervous.
"In the first game of the year, I
was just going to pitch one inning to
stay sharp, because we had a league
game the next day . . . and while I was
warming up my coach (Mike Crain)
comes up to me and says the Los
Angeles Dodgers scout's here. And I
didn't want to hear it. That was kin-
da hard. I threw bad that inning. I
walked two in a row and then I came
back and struck 'em out. From now on
he knows not to tell me when they're
there. But it's hard not to tell me,
when there's radar guns behind the
screen. But now I've learned to just
block it out:'
Still, the major-league dream is
attractive. "That's my dream," Novet-
sky admits. "I want to be that ..
After this year, after actually seeing
the scouts come out, it's something
that I'd like to do."
The left-hander entered this week
at 3-1 with two saves. In 36 innings
he has struck out some 80 hitters, bet-
ter than two per frame. His best game
was a 3-2, eight-inning win over
Suburban Athletic League rival
Willow Run, in which he fanned 20
hitters. The Redskins, defending
league champs, began the week 9-5
overall, 971 in league play.
When it comes time for a decision
this summer, Novetsky will be well-
prepared. He has already set his
philosophy regarding any professional
offer he may get as a result of the
summer amateur draft.
"It's got to be real mega-dollars
for me not to go to college. It's got to
be way over six figures not to go to
school. Education's important to me.
And I can play on a good college team
— down south somewhere, I'm hoping
to go. Unless I'm drafted in the top 15
rounds, I probably won't go .. .
Because if they just give me
$40-50,000 to go there, it's just like
getting a $40-50,000 college scholar-
ship. It's the same for me.
"I'd rather play a few years in col-
lege and then, maybe, get drafted.
That's Trobably what my main goal
Jason Novetsky in his wind-up.
is. Play maybe three years in college Robichaud, his second no-hitter in two
and then go;' pro.
years. "This one was harder," he
The Redskin's ace is seriously con- recalls, "because (his teammates)
sidering the University of Southern kept telling me every inning that I
Mississippi, which he may visit soon. had a no-hitter. Last year I didn't
"They've been treating me really know until the last batter."
well;' Novetsky says, "and that's what
Despite his high strikeout total,
I'm looking for because a lot of other he does not consider himself a power
colleges, they don't treat you as nice pitcher. "I throw in the low 80s (miles
as they do down south:'
per hour). So I've just got to mix 'ern
Novetsky, a three-year varsity up a lot . . . I play (American) Legion
starter, began the season with a no- ball a lot and I strike out maybe four
hitter against Dearborn Heights or five a game, not 19 or 20. I have to
Kozloff Runs Away With Honor
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Sports Writer
E
d Kozloff of Huntington Woods
was recently named by
Michigan Runner magazine as
its Runner of the Year. Kozloff also
won one of the magazine's honors in
1984, for administrative contribu-
tions to the sport. But this year he
was selected as the overall winner.
"It was kind of a surprise because
we've been doing a lot with running
for a number of years in the area:'
says Kozloff, since 1975 the president
of the Motor City Striders. "Just kind
of a great thine he continues, "not
only for me, but for (tri-county) area
running?'
Modestly, Kozoff says he likely
won the Runner of the Year honor for
"tending to get most of the details
right, most of the time," at the races
in which he participates.
52
FRIDAY, MAY- 13, 1988
Kozloff, 45, helps coordinate 20 to
25 races per year, including the Free
Press Marathon, Detroit's pre-
Thanksgiving Day parade "Turkey
Trot;' and Royal Oak's "Oak-Apple
Run!'
While Kozloff sees each race as
unique, one of his favorites is the
Elias Brothers 10,000-meter run. The
14th annual edition of the race, the
oldest in Oakland County, took place
at the Pontiac Silverdome last
Sunday.
A science teacher at Warren's
Beer Junior High, Kozloff has little
time to run himself. He no longer
competes, and says he runs "just for
fitness, but not as much as I should!'
Still, his passion for the sport is ob-
vious to anyone who spots his multi-
colored van, which is decorated with
the red-white-and-blue Striders' logo,
and sports a vanity plate that says,
"RUN- ."
The passion for the sport of runn-
ing is shared by Kozloff's family, in-
cluding his wife, Sue, sons Ron, 15,
and Ken, 12, and daughter Diana,
eight. Ron runs on the Berkley High
School cross country and track teams.
The other family members run for
fun.
"I'm very fortunate to have a
family that helps me out on a lot of
aspects," says Kozloff. "My children
help time and do other things at
races. My wife helps with the data in-
put and other things that are
necessary to make sure that
everything gets done right!'
Kozloff's next running project is
the Greater Berkley Run, a two-mile
and 10 kilometer event on May 23.
The Oak-Apple Run, also a two-mile
and 10K event, takes place on June
4 in downtown Royal Oak.