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Friday, January 9, 1970
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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Bill Cusumano_
Number One ..
... mf courage
ELL, ALL MY fans will be glad to hear that I finally made
it back from sunny California and am suffering in the cold
long with the rest of you.
But the freeze you may feel is nothing compared to the
,hills that ran 'through everyone in the Rose Bowl press box
when it was announced that Bo Schembechler would not be
coaching the Wolverines on that fateful day. It was the final
blow to what Dave Matthews of the Lansing State Journal
called "the weirdest Rose Bowl ever."
And that was the most appropriate description of the
travesty that was conducted in Pasadena on New Year's day.
The numerous injuries have been delineated and are well known
to all. Michigan went into the contest with a battered and
bruised body.
But even with that kind of handicap the tremendous desire
and spirit which the Wolverines had displayed all season might
have been enough to carry them through if the coronary had
not struck Schembechler. With that disaster the soul of Mich-
igan was also removed The driving force of a fantastically
dominant leader was gone. A dazed Michigan team stepped on
to the field.
It would have been easy for the Wolverines to fold under
such circumstances but they didn't, and their performance has
to rank them as the greatest Michigan football team in one
respect-guts. Battling adversity they went out and took it to
a fine Southern Cal team, letting the Wild Bunch know they
had been in a game and darn near winning it besides.
A lot of Trojan supporters like to think that their bowl
triumph gives them a claim to Number One. It's a pretty
shallow claim when you consider that they barely beat a
physically and emotionally disabled team. Actually the
Rose Bowl proved nothing, except that the score really
isn't the important thing. Although it was overlooked every-
where in the country the real story in Pasadena was the
courage of a group of Michigan football players.
The underrated Michigan defense slammed away at the
Trojan offense just as well as the Wild Bunch did on the other
side, while" the Wolverine offense proved that the ball could
indeed be moved on SC. But that doesn't really prove courage.
I can only use isolated incidents to illustrate my point.
For instance, there is Lance Scheffler. An unsung, third-
string tailback, Scheffler was forced to enter the game when
Billy Taylor left with a slight concussion. All Scheffler did was
personally spearhead the Wolverines' only scoring drive. Four
times Scheffler picked up the needed yardage for a first down
to keep the drive going.
Or Billy Harris, the often maligned wide receiver. He fin-
ished the game in pain, tearing the cartilage in his knee while
driving for a pass he could have never caught. And that was
Harris' only dive of the afternoon; on several other occasions he
made brilliant but futile efforts to reach an errant pass.
Don Moorhead is another case. The quiet quarterback was
tested under late game pressure for the first time in his career
and responded nobly. He stood up the fierce Trojan rush while
making one last effort to direct the Wolverines to the goal line.
And then there is Cecil Pryor. Cecil is a soft-spoken man,
S inclined to give an impression of being easy going. Cecil has
often been accused of "dogging it," not putting out. His de-
tractors should have seen hh in the Rose Bowl. Putting his
awesome physical talents to use Pryor was a demon on defense.
On one particular tackle he took tailback Mike Berry head on
and jolted the Trojan runner, knocking him back three yards.
Pryor's truly great play, though, came on a pass to Bob
, Chandler late in the game. Desperately fighting to regain the
ball Michigan painfully saw an SC completion. As the danger-
ous Chandler headed down the sideline visions of his earlier
touchdown came. But Pryor managed to come cross-field, after
rushing the passer, and knock the receiver out of bounds.
It was individual efforts like that that typified the Wol-
verines' afternoon. And as a result, the team performance shone
even brighter than anyone could have thought possible
The Los Angeles press had made a concerted effort to
denigrate Michigan in general and Bo in particular before the
game and continued to do so on January 2. Particularly in-
sulting was the column by Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times.
Murray believes that one must be snide to write good
sports and applied this axiom to Michigan. The Wolverines
have been' shortchanged in LA and across the country by
people such as Murray. All the world knows is that they
lost. No one knows how they lost.
Perhaps some day the record will be set straight. I hope so,
because the 1970 Rose Bowl proved something. It showed that
football is not just a game played by animals, but a contest in
which thinking, feeling, emotional, courageous men participate.
On New Year's day, 1970 the Wolverines lost their first
Rose Bowl game ever . . . and truly proved, themselves to be
the Champions of the West.
No evidenu
NEW ORLEANS (4)-Pete Rozelle, commis-
sioner of professional football, said Wednesday
night he had been advised by the U.S. attorney
in Detroit probing gambling activities in sports
that there is no evidence involving a professional
football player.
The commissioner made the statement at an
informal news conference soon after his arrival ,
for Sunday's Super Bowl championship.1
Len Dawson, quarterback of the Kansas City
Chiefs, one of the teams in the game, was among
football players named Tuesday by NBC as pos-
sible witnesses to be called by a grand jury in the
probe.
Rozelle said he has been in contact with Robert
Brinkley, the U.S. attorney conducting the in- '
vestigation.;
Rozelle said he had been assured that no pro-
fessional player was currently involved.
"Some people may be called in for question-
ing," Rozelle stated. "I can't say now whether or ;
not athletes will be subpoenaed."
Dawson was listed by NBC Tuesday as one
of four quarterbacks to be called in for question-
ing in connection with the investigation. The
others are Joe Namath, quarterback of the New 1
York Jets; Bill Munson, quarterback of the De-
troit Lions, and Karl Sweetan, reserve quarter-
back of the Los Angeles Rams. Pete Lammons,
Jets' end, and Coach Bob Devaney of the Univer-
sity of Nebraska also were named by NBC as
possible witnesses.;
Asked for comment on Dawson's statement
Tuesday night that he, Dawson, had been ac-
on
football stars, Rozelle told
quainted with and had received telephone calls
from Don Dawson, Birmingham, Mich., restaura-
teur who has been arrested in connection with
the gambling probe, the commissioner said:
"I was aware that Dawson knew Don Daw-
son, no relation. But I was sorry that he saw fit
to make the statement he made." Meanwhile, a
Justice Department source said witnesses called
before a grand jury probably would not be in-
dicted.
"Justice Department policy clearly prohibits
calling anyone a witness when there is an in-
dication that you are going to indict them," a
source said.
James Ritchie, head of the Justice Department
Task Force handling the probe, has not named
any persons to be subpoenaed by the grand jury.
Ritchie caled the NBC report "poppycock."
Rozelle was asked if the reason Len Dawson
was brought up before the football authorities
for investigation in 1968 traced to the fact that
three Kansas City games that year are taken "off
the board."
"Yes," Rozelle replied.
The expression is a gambling term which means
bookmakers refuse to take bets on a game, one
usually surrounded with some suspicion.
"Because Dawson was the quarterback of the
team, all sorts of rumors were going around," the
Commissioner said. "Because of the quarterback's
importance to the outcome of a game, it is only
natural that the quarterback would be questioned
first in such cases.
"In this case, we found nothing to require dis-
ciplinary action against Dawson.'
Rozelle had revealed in his Tuesday statement
that Dawson had been questioned. However, Ro-
zelle said the Kansas City quarterback had re-
quested and had been given a lie detector test
which proved satisfactory to football authorities.
Rozelle said he had never heard of Don Daw-
son until the story of the restaurateur's arrest
broke in the newspapers New Year's Day.
Don Dawson was arrested with more than
$400,000 in cash and checks in his possession and
was booked on federal gambling charges.
Len Dawson said in his statement that he had
received telephone calls from Don Dawson but
these were personal calls in which the restaura-
teur asked about the quarterback's injured knees
and offered regrets on the death of the Kansas
City players' father.
Rozelle was asked, "Did he, Rozelle feel that
pro football had been scarred by the latest de-
velopments?"
He replied: "I sure don't think its healthy."
Rozelle reaffirmed that an investigation by the
professional football security forces had turned
up no information that would require disciplinary
action against any professional player. He added
that Brickley had informed him that the U.S.
attorney's office also had not come up with any
information of that nature.
"I do not want to make a sweeping appraisal
of anyone's integrity," the- commissioner added,
"but I want to say that Len Dawson cooperated
with us in every way and we have no reason to
be doubtful of his sincerity."
Namath, in Miami Wednesday, originally had
scheduled a television news conference but sud-
denly called it off. It was reported that he had
done so at Rozelle's insistence.
In a telephone interview with the New York
Times, Namath was quoted as saying, "I don't
know anybody who has been arrested in their in-
vestigation. Hell, a subpoena, that's nothing. That
just means they want to talk to you.
"But the bad thing is that as soon as you're
mentioned, most people suspect that you're guilty
already."
Namath told Times sports writer Dave Ander-
son, "I feel bad for Lenny Dawson. He's got the
Super Bowl game to play ani with all this going
on, it's going to be hard for him to.
Rozelle said persons who leaked the informa-
tion to news media were irresponsible and neither
he nor Brickley knew who they were. He added
that all the players whose names had been pub-
licly mentioned had been spoken to.
Replying to a question whether this could be
the biggest investigation in sports history, Rozelle
said: " I do not consider this an investigation
into sports. It is an investigation of gambling
and bookmaking."
Contacted in Detroit about Rozelle's comments.
Brickley said, "I told him, Rozelle, we had no
basis on which to prefer criminal charges against
any of those who were named by NBC."
Brickley declined to comment to newsmen on
whether there was any evidence against other
football players, but did not dispute Rozelle's
statements.
sIteens
Swimmers Lace weekend trial
following long vacation break
AM
TRY FOLLETT'S FIRST!
By NORM SCHERR son, two distance men, and back-
Southern Illinois's swimming stroker Bill Tingley. All t hr e e
finest invade Michigan w a t e r s had excellent times in their tangle
tonight as the season shifts from with the Hoosiers.
vacation lull to full speed ahead. Middle distance and sprints are
The meet at Matt Mann Pool the specialties of Bob S h o o s,
will prelude the Big Ten Relays, to
be held here on Saturday after-
noon. d iy
"Southern Illinois will provide
us with out first real contest so
far," stated Michigan coach Gus
Stager. "In their meet against s
Indiana, they swam quite well.
Their times were good for this NIGHT EDITOR:
early in the season." BILL DINNER
Back in the last decade Michigan More Sports, Page 7
easily knocked off Minnesota and
Wisconsin, and then settled down
for a long Christmas break of Rick Andrews and Vern Dasch.
exams, vacation, and, for some, Butterfly and breaststroke are the
the trip out West. But C o a c h talents of Rob Dickson and John
Stager didn't let them dull too Holben.
much in the festivities, and feels The Michigan roster will bear a
that they will be up and ready for slightly different appearance than
the tough weekend ahead. the usual, as Stager maneuvers his
In today's meet with Southern super speedster to his best tacti-
Illinois, the Michigan swimmers cal advantage.
will face a possible threat in Sal- Heading the distance freestylers
uki's Bruce Steiner and Tim Hix- is Captain Gary Kinkead, with
Mike Casey, Rick Dorney, Dave
Kelley and Curt Finney as ample
backup. The middle distance
events will be covered by the ver-
satile Juan Bello and freshman
Ray McCullough.
McCullough starred in his prep
school days in Illinois, where he
was an All-State swimmer.
Michigan's butterfly squad has
a new look this year. Sophomore
Byron McDonald returns as the
only veteran of this specialty
stroke squad. He'll be coupled with
freshmen Larry Day and Bob
Gavin.
Promising frosh Tim Norlen will
lead the individual medley, while
Bill Mahoney, Rick Dorney and
Bill Kennedy close out breaststroke
and backstroke. Sprints and the
freestyle relay will be filled by
Bob and Greg Zann, Bill Harmony
and Steve McCarthy.
Diving Coach Dick Kimball,
honored as the "Outstanding Div-
ing Coach of 1969," will choose be-
tween divers Al Gagnet, John
Hamilton and Dick Rydze for the
low board event.
up to 331/a%
on USED, TEXTBOOKS
FROM
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STATE STREET AT NORTH UNIVERSITY ".ANN ARBOR
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is ULRICH'S Ann Arbor's busiest bookstore ?
THERE must be a GOOD Reason-
T EN...YES 10%'o ISCOUNT
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TEXTBOOKS,
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on all UNIVERSITY TEXTBOOKS
UP TO /s OFF
ULBICH'S
The Student's Bookstore
and SUPPLIES
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Billboard
All persons interested -in be-
coming IM referees for the up-
coming basketball season should
attend a meeting at 7:00 p.m.
on Monday, Jan. 12 in the IM
Bldg. Wrestling Room. The boys
at the IM Department inform us
that the pay is excellent and no
experience is necessary.
The Intramural Department
is in need of basketball officials
for the coming season. No ex-
perience is necessary, the de-
partment will train. They also
tell us the pay is good. For all
those interested, an organiza-
tional meeting will be held
Monday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. in
the Ili Bldg. wrestling room.
COLLEGE SCORES ,
Oli Dominion 64, Randolph Macon 58
Oberlin 96, Western Reserve 85
Slippery R~ock 51, Fredonia 43
Tampa 82, Georgetown, Ky. 81
Indiana, Pa., 77, Stubenville 64
Furman 19, Wofford 86
Clark Ga. 89, Morehouse 54
Campbell 93, Belmont Abbey 72
Fayetteville State 73, Pembroke'69
Southern U. 93, Prairie View 82
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We are discontinuing our University Textbook
Department to make room for specialized and
general books.
Take advantage of these bargain prices for your
current and future class needs while stock lasts.
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OFFICE HOURS
A large selection of titles from which to choose
additions to your reference shelf.
CIRCULATION - 764-0558
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COMPLAINTS -9 a.m. - 11:30a.m.
SUBSCRIPTIONS - 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
SSIFIED ADS-764-0557
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DEADLINE FOR NEXT DAY- 12:30 p.m.
LAY ADS - 764-0554
MONDAY -9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sale prices available January 5 through January 15 only
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