Saturday, January 31, 1970
4 , _ _ _ _ _ Bill Cusumano -
Creating a crowud-
Part II
As you may have figured out, I have an obsession about the
crowds at Michigan basketball games. As I said yesterday, I
think they are lousy.
The result has been that I have been dwelling on factors
that' help to create crowd reaction, things such as the cheer-
leaders and the band. The deficiencies of both have been ex-
amined and the conclusion was made that greater cooperation
and coordination between the two are needed. '
Will it occur? Off the desires of the girls and the remarks
of Dr. William Revelli (quoted yesterday) it would seem that
'the way is easily open for such a meeting. However, there are
some who do not trust Dr. Revelli. One person close to the band
gave me the opinion that, "Revelli is not going to do anything
expressly for the cheerleaders." Should this be the true attitude
of the band director the girls are in trouble
Girl cheerleaders are an experiment and their success this
year is crucial to their existence. Only by getting the same help
from the band that cheerleaders get at other schools can they
truly succeed. Thus it is imperative that the girls go beyond the
agreements that they have made personally with some members
of the band and receive official cooperation. If Revelli's atti-
tudes are truly those reported yesterday then they are in good
shape, if not there could be trouble.
However, the band director only has one year left at Michi-
gan so the probability is that the cheerleaders situation with the
band will improve no matter what. Accepting this as being true
we can expect better and louder cheers. Certainly that would be
a base upon which crowd reaction could be built, but there must
be even more done.
The cheerleaders should expand their number and be able
to cover the entire floor. They should use tamborines, more pom-
pom routines, any device to give more flair to the game. They
also should get closer to the fans. But to do this they need help.
At the present time the student section at the Events Build-
ing starts in the corner and goes up. Too many students are
away from the action, they are not near enough to the court
to make their presence felt. What would be ideal would be a
student section right down on the court, across from the benches.
If the student section were there the cheerleaders could
work right in front of them. As it is now, with the students high
up in the stands behind the benches, the cheerleaders have no
access to them. The team benches prevent the girls from getting
in front of the crowd and so people are not really conscious of
them.:
There isa lot of support for bringing the students closer
to the action. Particularly anxious to do so are Fred Snowden
and Johnny Orr. Having been around the Big Ten they realize
how much a rabid crowd can help a home team. Sometimes
Snowden just moans, "Oh, I would love to have those kids down
next to the floor."
And the kids deserve to be there, not only for the noise
they would make but because it is their school, their team and
their building. It's all well and good that the fat cats fork over
$25 a year for season tickets but that doesn't mean they should
get every good seat in the house. Ticket manager Don Weir
complains that, "There are never enough good seats," and he is
right. But in a place with the capacity of the Events Building
there should be enough manueverability to get at least some
students closer to the game.
A lot of people would like to blame Don Weir and the ticket
department for bad fan support, though, and that's just not
true. Weir is in the unfortunate position of never being able to
please everyone. Ie does his best for the students but there are
limitations on him. People still use him for a scapegoat, though.
Another area where the blame is placed is the big barn it-
self. A lot of people complain that it is too comfortable for a
crowd to get really stirred up. That is also a feeble excuse. Any-
one who has been to Purdue or Illinois or lyorth Carolina or
South Carolina or anyplace else with a new arena knows that
comfort and craziness can go together.
The real trouble is the fans. It's true that cheerleaders have
to improve, that the band must improve, seating policies must
improve, and of course it would be nice to have a winner. Still,
there are a lot of losing teams that have great support and there
is no reason why it can't occur at Michigan, whether the team
wins or nots ,
But it's all you clowns out there, the frt rats, the sweet
sisters, the super quaddies, the modern slum dwellers, are the
ones who really have to create a good crowd. Maybe it's true
that you people think Michigan is too sophisticated for that
kind of action, but on November 22 you proved that you could
forget that idea for at least one afternoon. There's no reason
why you can't always forget it.
Athletics themselves are not sophisticated entertainment.
$ They are a release, ai. experience, something to be vocalized
over. Part of the joy of an athletic event is that the spectators
can participate. If you only want to watch then go to a sym-
phony. You are not losing your dignity if you yell at a referee
a few times. That's just part of the fun of a game.
Many people at Michigan haven't seemed to learn this,
though. They don't know -that a great crowd can make an ath-
letic event even better, that they can help their own team by
being vociferous in their support. Many people were quick to tell
me that I was right when I criticized the girl cheerleaders. None
of them ever considered that part of the girls' troubles came.
from themselves, the people who wouldn't cooperate with the
girls by cheering. I've got news for you, folks, the girls aren't
supposed to yell for you, their job is to lead you in the cheering.
Your job is to do the actual screaming. Until you learn that any
suggestion that I or anyone else makes on improving cheerlead-
ers, bands and ticket policies will be useless.
The ultimate decision on the make-up of Michigan crowds
is really in your hands. When you learn to actively support the
team and make your presence felt maybe the things you gripe
about will change. Until that time comes I'm going to have to
continue going to Purdue and other places to see real hellraising
crowds, the kind that makes basketball the most active, exciting
game in the world. Or, at least it is in those places. At Michigan
you people are trying to make the sport into a granny game.
M'-4EeMICHIGAN DAILY
Wolverines seek revenge
By ELLIOT LEGOW
Rick Mount and his Purdue
Boilermakers play host to Mich-
igan's Wolverines today in La-
fayette and hope to down the
Blue for the second time this
season.
In their first meeting at Ann
Arbor three weeks ago, the
teams battled to a regulation-
time tie, but the Boilermakers
overpowered Michigan in t h e
overtime period to snatch a 103-
96 victory from the Wolverines.
Since that game both teams
have fallen on hard times. The
Wolverines have slipped to a
2-4 conference mark and are
out of serious contention for the
Big Ten crown. The Boilermak-
ers' chances of retaining their
conference title also have been
dimmed by their recent skid to
a 2-2 m a r k and fifth place
standing in the Big Ten.
T h e home court advantage
which ought to favor Purdue
doesn't figure to be a major fac-
tor in today's g a m e. Judging
from Michigan's performance
so far this year, a home-court
disadvantage seems to be more
the rule. The Wolverines stand
0-3 at home but 2-1 on the road
for the early stages of the Big
Ten race.
A LOOK at Purdue's previous
game plans won't tell m u c h
about today's game, either.
Boilermaker Coach George King
has been disappointed by his
team's recent performances and
has gone "back to the drawing
board" to prepare f o r today's
game.
King is not yet s u r e what
lineup he will use and is plan-
ning to restructure his offense.
"Northwestern did a hell of a
job throwing a defense at us.
They came up with the right
answer in a combination de-
fense and I expect we'll see a lot
of it the rest of the way.
"We've got to figure a way to
give our kids something other
than the 8 or 10 foot pop shot
...because we can't make them.
MOUNT is one player King
doesn't have to worry about. He
is currently averaging 38.8 per
game in the Big Ten to lead the
conference and ranks sixth na-
tionally, just two places ahead
of Michigan's Rudy Tomjano-
vich,
In the first Michigan-Purdue
encounter Mount paced the
Boilermakers with 39 points and
scored 10 points in the overtime.
The only other starters King
is sure of are g u a r d Larry
Weathford and forward George
Faerber. A ga in st Michigan,
Weatherford hit for 19 points
and Faerber added 20.
The other t w o front court
spots are up for grabs between
Bob Ford, Bill Franklin a n d
Tyrone Bedford, all of whom
saw plenty of action against the
Wolverines, and newcomer Ran-
dy Thompson.
Michigan's prime asset again
will be All-American Rudy Tom-
janovich. Called by the Associ-
ated Press "the Big Ten's top
p r o prospect," Tomjanovich
ranks eighth in the nation and
fourth in the Big Ten in scor-
ing and leads Big Ten rebound-
ers for the second consecutive
year.
TOMJANOVICH is averaging
14.7 rebounds a game but in his
last two games has pulled down,
respectively, 22 and 17. He has
scored at least 20 points in ev-
ery outing this year and canned
30 against the Boilermakers be-
fore fouling out in the closing
seconds of overtime.
But if the Wolverines are to
pull this game out, they will
probably need a balanced attack
like they showed last Saturday
in upending Michigan State. In
that intrastate battle, Michigan
got fifteen points or better from
four starters as the Wolverines
shot a lofty 54",. from the field.
Purdue has shown that they
can be beaten and Michigan will
be out for revenge for their ov-
ertime loss. Michigan coach
Johnny Orr said, "We should
have beat them the first time
and our kids think they can do
it this time.
"We thought we had them
beat and then they caught us
in the last seconds and beat us
in overtime. But we've got a
small team and we can't make
a mistake. Our kids think they
won't this week,"
-Daily-Thomas R. Copi
MICHIGAN'S SIX FOOT EIGHT all-American Rudy Tomjanovich lets fly with a jump shot during
the Wolverines first encounter with Purdue's Boilermakers at the Events Bldg.-a game won in over-
time by Purdue, 103-97. Tomjanovich who has been called the Big Ten's number one pro prospect,
scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in that contest. Michigan and Purdue square off again
today in a televized afternoon game.
MEET BUCKEYlES TODAY
{
}
Grap
By LEE KIRK'
An aroused Michigan wrestling
team took out the frustrations of
last week's loss to Purdue and
romped past fllinois 26-6 ina ig
Teni dual meet yesterday at the
Events Building. The win w a s
Michigan's first triumph in Big
Ten competition this season and
evened their overall record at 3-
3-1.
The Wolverines look to go above
.500 for the first time this sea-
son as they meet Ohio State this
afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Events
Building.
The only fall of the meet was
recorded by the Wolverines Jim
Hagan in the 126-pound bracket
as he put h i s Illini opponents
shoulders to the mat at 3:54.
The Wolverines Tom Quinn
gained satisfying revenge at 167
pounds by earning a decision over
Bruce Kirkpatrick, who had beat-
en Quinn earlier this year at the1
Midlands: Leading 5-4 late in the
third period, Quinn clinched the
victory with a takedown as Kirk-
patrick desperately gambled to
gain the winning points by taking
his foe to the mat.
The tempo of the meet was set
in the opening match and w a s
pretty much continued through-
out. Jerry Hoddy dominated his
Illini foe and racked up two points
for riding time en route to a 7-1
triumph, and after Hagan's pin
at 126, th Wolverines were al-
ready sitting pretty.
In probably the most hotly con-
tested match of the day, Wolver-
ine Ty Belknap lost a hardfought
match to the Illini captain John
Fregeau, 6-5. Belknap fought back
from a 3-0 deficit in the second
period to tie the match with a
takedown and riding time. The
third period started with Fregeau
on top, and he took advantage of
the top position to gain two points
on a predicament. Belknap, how-
ever, almost immediately got the
points back with a reversal, but
he was unable to maintain the ad-
vantage, and with 1:34 left, Fre-
geau escaped for what proved to
be the deciding point.
Mark King eked out another
close match at 142 as he decis-
ioned Enos Brownridge. King
scored two points for riding time
in the second period for the de-
ciding points.
Lane Headrick exploded for two
reversals and a near fall in the
second period of the 150 match to
defeat Quentin Wolff, 7-5. Head-
rick's near fall was near indeed,
as he had his foe flat on his back
for about 15 seconds.
The most lopsided match of the
day came at 158, where Michi-
gan's Jim Sanger was very im-
pressive in a 14-2 decision over
Earl Medley. It was a satisfying
triumph for Sanger after being'
beaten by his Purdue foe last
week.
Quinn's win cinched the meet
for Michigan and the rest of the
matches in some ways reflected
this. Jesse Rawls toyed with his
177 pound foe, Denver Beck and
piers
throttle
Illini
daily
NIGHT EDITOR:
PHIL HERTZ
scored two escapes in the second
period for a somewhat lethargic
4-2 decision.
The fans got their biggest kick
from t he 190 pound match as
Preston Henry made his first start
since joining the team after the
Rose Bowl. The eager sophomore
quickly won the fans to his side
with his energetic style, but his
stamina desterted him in the
third period, and Illinois' P a u
Jacob racked up the win. The de-
ciding point in the c 1 o s e 2-1
match was awarded to Jacob with
one second left in the second per-
iod. Referee Doug Horning award-
ed the point to Jacob in order to
penalize Henry for going off the
mat to avoid a takedown. Henry
started the third period in the up
position, but Jacob escaped, and
the tired Michigan grappler was
unable to take down his heavier
foe.
Michigan Assistant Coach Rick
Bay nioted that it wias Henry's
first varsity meet of the year, and
added that "Henry was at a dis-
advantage because we weighed
him in at 177 and he wrestled at
190."
Rick Bolhouse, wrestling for the{
first time in two weeks, took the
match to Mike Levanti, his heavy-
weight foe, and predominated
throughout in an impressive 7-1
win..
Ihuni emasculated
wm,
118 POUNDS -Jerry Ioddy (M) dec.
Bob Mayer, 7-1L
12u^ POUNDS - Jim Hagan (M)I pin-
ned Greg Zuidema, 3:54.
134 POUNDS - John Fregeau (I) dec.
Ty Belknap, 6-5.
142 POUNDS - Mark King (M) dec.
Enos Brombridge, 4-3.
10 POUNDS - Lane Headrick (M)
dec. Quentin Wolff, 7-5.
158 POUNDS - Jim- Sanger (M) dec.
Earl Medley, 14-2.
167 POUNDS - Tom Quinn (M) dec.
Bruce Kirkpatrick, 7-4.
177 POUNDS - Jesse Raws (M) dec.
Denver Beck, 4-2.
190 POUNDS - Paul Jacob (I) dec.
Preston Henry, 2-1,
IrWT. -Rick Boihouse (M) dec. Mike
Levanti, 7-1.
Krane po blasts
Lawy er sues Eagles
By The Associated Press
* ALBANY, N.Y. - The New York Mets' Ed Kranepool may
never have set foot on a pitcher's mound in his life, but the kind
of verbal pitches he fired Thursday looked like sizzling fast-balls
aimed at Carl Yastrzemski.
"Yastrzemski is nothing more than a yo-yo for'American League
President Joe Cronin," said Kranepool, who served as the Mets'
player representative.
The Mets first, baseman was discussing a recent attack made
by the Red Sox star on the Players' -Association for its support of
Curt Flood in his lawsuit attacking baseball's reserve clause.
"Yastrzemski was against our strike last year and now he's going
around yelling about a move that will help all 700 baseball players,"
Kranepool asserted. "What really gets me is that he couldn't go right
to his owner player representative with his ideas about our move."
* * *
-Daily-Richard Lee
Tonm Quinn (op) goes to work
This W eekend ine Sports
TODAY
BASKETBALL - at Purdue in West Lafayette, 2 p.m. (TV,
channel 4)
WRESTLING - OHIO STATE at Events Building, 2 p.m.
SWIMMING - MICHIGAN STATE at Matt Mann Pool, 7:30 p.m.
GYMNASTICS -- MINNESOTA at Events Building, 4 p.m.
TRACK - MICHIGAN RELAYS at Yost Field House, College
Division, 11 a.m., University Division, 7:30 p.m.
Company, is ooking for women skiers for a chalengIn
creative opportunity.
Applicants must be attractive, 5'6" to 5'9" and a size 10, 21
years of age, independent, and able to travel next fall.
INTERVIEWS: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3 and Wed-
nesday, Feb. 4. Contact U-M Placement Services, 764-7460, for
an appointment.
SATURDAY 7:30 P.M. - HILL AUDITORIUM - SUNDAY 1:00 P.M.
"THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION"
The Right Reverend Edward Crowther
David Hilliard-Black Panther Party
Arthur Kinoy-Lawyer; Prof. Rutgers Univ.
Jerry Rubin-Chicago Conspiracy Defendant
THE SURVIVAL OF CIVIL LIBERTIES AND POLITICAL FREE-
DOM REQUIRES THAT EVERY MAN BE CONSTANTLY VIGI-
LANT. DURING PERIODS OF RISING ANTI-WAR ACTIVITY
AND AGROWING MILITANT STRUGGLE BY THE DISENFRAN-
CHISED FOR BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS, ATTENTION MUST BE
4
CAMPUS PIZZA No.2
7DAYS A WEEK 4820042 5 P.M.-2 A.M.
mi n FOOT-LONG HOME BAKED BUN - HAM, SALAMI, LET-
,