Thursday, March 12, 1970
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Eleven
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_a . -- .
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7A
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A. LEE KIRK.
UCLA
faces
tough
I
The professional
iconoclast
0 ONE OF THE least exalted but most obvious of the privileges
of being a senior sports editor is getting your own column
and the added privilege of spewing forth any sort of garbage
that comes to mind. It is this sacred and honorable privilege
that I will invoke in this, my first and perhaps last general
gripe column - my purely personal prejudices.
If Joe Falls is so sick of writing about Denny McLain
in his Detroit Free Press column, why does he persist in
doing it? I'm saturated and neuseated with the plethora of
runnings from diarrhetic pens on McLain. Unfortunately,
it'd too easy (and too profitable) to hit a man when he's
down. About the only men who could conceivably have any-
thing useful to say about McLain are Tiger' catcher Bill
Freehan, who's already doing quite a job, and Bowie Kuhn.
The foggy-brained athletic directors of the Big Ten have
again taken two steps backwards in order to go one step
forward. They decided that conference teams could play an
eleventh game in 1971, provided that it was against a conference
foe. At first, this doesn't sound at all illogical. However, the
only time that an extra game against a conference foe could be
scheduled would be the Saturday after the season ends. In most
years, this would be the Saturday on Thanksgiving weekend, a
time when most students are not on campus.
As it now stands, the end of the conference season is high-
lighted by three traditional games (Michigan and Ohio State,
Minnesota and Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana). If indeed these
schools do decide to schedule another conference game, when
then shall the traditional finale be played? If it is left on the
date where now scheduled, it would not be the finale any
longer. Lovers of climaxes to the gridiron season would thus
* be deprived of the kind of treat that games like the last two
contsts between Ohio State and Michigan have provided.
It is conceivable that the finales could be moved back a
week and the new games scheduled in their place. For this
idea to work, all the Big Ten schools probably would have to
agree to add the extra game, but even then, the difficulties would
still exist, for then the traditional finale would fall on the
Saturday after Thanksgiving, forcing students to either miss
the game or shorten their vacation.
The purpose of an eleventh game is to provide more
revenue for athletic departments' ever-shrinking coffers. A
game over ,Thanksgiving break would in all probability
draw no more fans than a game in August. The real losers
would be season ticket holders who would in effect have
to purchase a lame duck in order to insure decent seats.
The Big Ten should have thought twice before implement-
ing the eleventh game in this way.
After reading of South Carolina's demise in the Atlantic
Coast Conference Tournament, I can only be amazed that the
ACC and the Southern Conference persist in this folly. Consider
what happened to Gamecocks. Many felt that they were the
best team in the nation, and they did very little during the
regular season to disprove it. They went 14-0 In the toughest
and best-balanced basketball league around, winning the regu-
lar season title by five games.
And how were they awarded for their Herculean efforts?
By being top-seeded in a tourney against teams they had
creamed twice before. The ACC tournament is the roughest thing
around-a real meat-grinder. The games are played -on three
sucessive nights in front of crowds that literally scream their
heads off. Every conceivable measure is used to win, and with
a titanic power like South Carolina around, desperate measures
wereobviously called for.
Clemson, a team' that had won one conference game all
year, employed a slowdown against the Gamecocks and lost by
one point. Virginia, another team that won but once, knocked
off powerful North Carolina, and suffered a one point loss to
North Carolina State the next night. The Wolfpack, soundly
thumped by South Carolina in their previous two meetings, em-
ployed a slowdown and a seven minute freeze to eventually
eke out a frantic 42-39 double-overtime victory in the finals.
This is not to say that the ACC tournament isn't just
about the most exciting thing going, but excitement or not,
the tournament just isn't fair to a team like South Carolina.
It is a rarity in the world of sports when a champion has to
lay it on the line, against teams they've already beaten, in
a single-elimination, do-or-die tournament. The Gamecocks
can do nothing but suck it up and wait until next year.
Now that I've aired a few of my gripes, why don't you think
about, getting some complaints off your own chest. Just send
your caustic comments to The Sports Staff here at 420 Maynard.
Or, in the immortal words of Abe Lincoln, Why don't you come
up and see us sometime?p
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By JIM McFERSON
Tonight there are sixteen teams, Friday
night there will be eight and in nine days
East will meet West to determine the champ-
ionship of the NCAA, as all the experts are
keeping their usually flaccid lips sealed, re-
fusing to pick the big winner.
It is, however, relatively safe to say that
it will be UCLA ready to take on the Mideast
regional winners in College Park, Maryland
next week, so the question now is: "Who
can take the Mideast?"
IOWA WILL BE fighting Jacksonville,
and Kentucky Notre Dame for the Mid-
east title. Consensus around the Daily sports
desk leans toward Iowa with a vocal minority
favoring the Kentuckians of Adolph Rupp.
Kentucky, led by 6-8 All-American center
Dan Issel, has to be given the edge over
Notre Dame, despite the hot hand of All-
American Carr and sizzling performances by
the whole Notre Dame team in the past
two months. The Wildcats are real slick,
with scorers like Mike Pratt and Bob Park-
er who, along with Issel, can grab more
than their share of rebounds. The Irish have
6-8 Collis Jones, a tough cat under the
boards, but Kentucky's bench and Rupp-
directed finesse should win out.
It'll be a fast, loose game between Iowa
and Jacksonville, pitting the incredibly bal-
anced Hawkeyes against the towering front-
court, which includes skyscraper Artis Gil-
more, of Jacksonville. The nod goes to the
fast-rising Iowa fivesomes, wh o have won
road in
16 games in a row and are led by forward
John Johnson, a very underrated player.
Gilmore, who regardless of other reports is
not surprisingly fast for a big man, will
score but depth will do it for the Big Ten
champs.
THE EAST Regional winner, who will
meet the Mideast winner, could be any-
one; North Carolina State plays St. Bona-
venture, while Niagara battles Villanova.
It will be all Bob Lanier in the State-
Bona game -- if the Big Cat gets the ball
Bona wins, but if the physical Carolina
team, which proved its mettle against a
great South Carolina squad, can score
enough points, they'll take it. Vann Willi-
ford leads a balanced team which can hit
from all over but Lanier, fed by playmaker
Billy Kalbaugh, will make or break the
game. The Bonnies should tuck this one
away.
Niagara and Villanova are unpredictable.
All-American Calvin Murphy, who can drib-
ble on a flagpole while twirling a baton
with his feet, will have to knock out at
least 35 and get some help from the rest of
his small mates if the Purple Eagles are
to win. Villanova counts of 6-8 forward
Howard Porter, the human rubber band, to
provide the rebounding and scoring punch
that gave Villanova a ten point victory
over Niagara last January.
The West Region, dominated by UCLA,
will have the Bruins against Long Beach
State and Santa Clara playing Utah State.
Even Marty McLaughlin would be at a loss
for words if the boys from Long Beach
were able to whip UCLA, another Wooden
super-concoction, but it's going to be mighty
close.
NEVERTHELESS, John Vallely and Henry
Bibby will weasel up and down the court
and the agile front line will combine to
put the kibosh on Long Beach.
The Santa Clara-Utah State game has
no onecexcited.dDennis Awtrey of Santa
,Clara can handle the boards and score
plenty; the rest of the team provides all
adequate backdrop to his play. Utah State
looks good, with both Mary Roberts and
Nate Williams averaging over 20 points a
game. Either way, who cares?
The Midwest Regional has Drake against
Houston and New Mexico State meeting
Kansas State, with the winner of it all
going on to fight the winner of the West
Region.
New Mexico State has defense and All-
American center Sam Lacey, enough to
slip by K-State's balanced but unexciting
squad.
Drake is a hustling, scrambling team which
hopes to speed past all-around kangaroo 01-
lie Taylor of Houston, who accounts for
most of his team's scoring. Drake forward
Al Williams, leading the team in rebound-
ing and scoring, will lead the hearty Ducks.
THERE THEY ARE, the sixteen teams
left, in NCAA competition; all of them cap-
able of jerking off the title and each ready
to lay everything out to gain the prized
honors.
-Daily-Thomas R. Copt --
ICERS FACE DENVER
li
Puck extravaganza
By JOEL GREER
Despite a rather unconvincing
regular season, the Michigan
hockey team enters the WCHA
playoffs hoping to come out of
their year-long slump. Known as
a team that can explode at any
time, the Wolverines hope their
highly touted offense can carry
them from the depths of the sec-
ond division to a Western regional
berth in the NCAA championships
at Lake Placid, New York March
19-21.
The WCHA playoffs open at two
sites tonight with the Big Ten and
more sports page 9
WCHA 'MacNaughton Cup winner
Minnesota facing cross-state rival
Minnesota-Duluth at D u 1 u t h;
while defending NCAA champion
Denver takes on a. fine Michigan
State team at Denver.
FRIDAY NIGHT, . Michigan
Tech, which tied Denver for sec-
ond place in the final league
standings, meets North Dakota at
Duluth and the Wolverines tangle
Eastern out
of tourney
KANSAS CITY (IP) - Eastern
Michigan was knocked out of the
NAIA basketball tournament last
night by Guilford in a hair-rais-
ing 89-85 chiller. Eastern had won
its opening round game yester-
day 108-85 over an outclassed East
Central Oklahoma State aggre-
gation.
Former South Haven ace Ken-
nedy McIntosh' led the Hurons
with 20 points while 6-8 soph star
David Smith tossed in 35 for Guil-
ford.
The loss, which dropped Eastern
to a final 22-7, smashed the Hur-
on's hopes of an NAIA crown. It
was an especially bitter pill for
them to swallow since they also
failed to take championship last
year, losing to eventual champion
Eastern New Mexico.
dal
sports
NIGHT EDITOR:
MORT NOVECK
with the hungry Badgers from
Wisconsin who will engage in their
first post-season playoff action.
The winners at Duluth will meet
Saturday to determine an eastern
division champion while the Den-
ver winners will face off Saturday
to determine the western division
champion.
There will be no consolation
games and the Duluth and Denver
winners will not meet. However,
thewinners do gain high consider-
ation from the Western Selection
Committee as the two western
representatives in the annual
NCAA championships at Lake
Placid. This situation is about the
same as the Big Ten football
champion being invited to the
Rose Bowl by the athletic direc-
tors' vote. It's almost certain that
the two winners will go since there
is little competition elsewhere in
the West.
IT'S JUST like a new season
as any of the eight teams in the
playoffs has a chance at the two
spots. With the explosive Michi-
gan attack the icers can break
a game open at any time with one
of their scoring bursts. Their most
explosive night came at East Lan-
sing when the Wolverines tallied
four times inside a span of one
minute and six seconds.
Spartan Coach Amo Bassone
sees both Michigan and Michigan
State as possible finalists despite
finishing sixth and seventh re-
spectively. He looks at the lower
peninsula rivals as somewhat sim-
ilar teams that can explode at
anytime. The Spartans proved
that in their last appearance here
when theycrushed the Maize and
Blue 7-1.
The western division will be in-
teresting since Denver and Wis-
consin finished one-two in the
WCHA for the entire season coun-
ting non-conference games. The
Pioneers finished 20-9-1 while the
Badgersf were second at 20-10.
W C H A champion Minnesota,
which won the league title with
a 18-8 conference mark, finished
third overall at 20-11.
WISCONSIN will enter the con-
test with Michigan holding a 3-2
season's edge. The two teams split
home-and-home seriese with the
Badgers defeating the Wolverines
5-3 in the opening game of the
St. Louis Invitational Tournament.
Scores
NAIA
Guilford 89, Eastern Michigan 85
Stephen F. Austin 74, Augusta
College 71
Tennessee State 92, South Dakota
State 89
Buffalo State 75, Stetson 74
Philadelphia Textile 101, American
International 53
Central State of Wilberforce 83,
Wiley College 77
open 's
Wisconsin is banking on its bal-
anced attack and on the superb
goaltending of Wayne Thomas.
The Ottawa, Ontario senior was
superb in the nets last Friday
when + he shut-out the Spartans
5-0. It was the his first WCHA
shutout and the third of his career
which enabled him to end the sea-
son as the league's top goalie with
an average of 3.0 goals allowed
per game. Wisconsin's other sen-
ior goalie Bob Vroman was the
Saturday night 4-3 victor and he
completed his season with a goals
against average of 3.33 to rank in
Michigan sophomore Bernie
Cagnon was named to the all-
WCHA second team.
the top five in final WCHA goalie
standings.
The Denver-Michigan State
game tonight will center around
two stars: the Pioneer's George
Morrison and the Spartans' Don
Thompson. Morrison won his sec-
ond straight WCHA scoring crown
with 18 goals and 19 assists. How-
ever, Denver may be hurting since
the Scarborough, Ontario junior
came up with a twisted knee in
the Pioneers' loss to Colorado Col-
lege last Saturday and his status
for the playoffs is uncertain.
Thompson, who scored five goals
in Michigan State's last conquest
here, has been given the nickname
"Zippy" by h i s teammates.
Thompson has the speed and agil-
ity to break a game open single
handedly.
'.w4-,
Eas
New York
Milwaukee
Baltimore
Philadelphia
Cincinnati
Boston
Detroit
We
Atlanta
Los Angeles
Phoenix
Chicago
Seattle
San Francisco
San Diego
Professional Standings
NBA Yesterday's Results
stern Division
W L
58 16
54 24
46 30
40 36
33 44
31 43
31 46
stern Division
44 34
42 35
35 42
34 41
33 44
28 48
24 51
Pct.
.784
.692
.605
.526
.429
.427
.403
.564
.545
.455
.453
.429
.368
.320
Yesterday's Games
Atlanta 122, San Diego 121
Boston 144, Cincinnati 127
Baltimore at San Francisco, inc.
NHL
East Division
GB
6
12
19
26!Y
28%
111
8Y2
10Y4
15
18!
GA
9 186
154
9 163
145
165
206
1150
196
196
209
0 212
248
Montreal 5, New York 3
Detroit 3, Toronto 1
Boston 0, Chicago 0, tie
Pittsburgh at Oakland, inc.
St. Louis at Minnesota, inc.
r
f
I
1
Boston
New York
Detroit
Chicago
Montreal-
Toronto
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Minnesota
Oakland
Los Angeles
W L T1
34 14 16
34 17 14
34 18 12
36 20 8
32 19 13
26 27 11
West Division
31 23 9
23 30 10
15 26 23
12 30 20
17 37 9,
10 44 10
Pt. GF
86 239
82 223
80 199
80 202
77 204
63 197
71 184
56 153
53 178
44 178
44 140
30 141
BUSINESS STAFF
proudly announces its
DEPARTMENT MANAGERS for 1970
Billing-MARILYN WEISBERG
Circulation--ROBERT BURRELL
Classified-JANE KRUEGER
Display-RICHARD RADCLIFFE
JOHN SOMMERS-Associate
Layout-JAMES FLYNN
DOUGLAS BUCHANAN-Associate
- : TA XTE'T' XTr Ir
Miss J moves up to spring in
soft navy wool coat. it's a young,
lively style with a belt and wide roll
collar, and double-breasted buttoning
BACH CLUB
presents
11
THE GOLIARD
BRASS ENSEMBLE
t Bach, Contropunctus 3
9 Gabrieli, "Canzone"
9 Vivaldi, Concerto for 2
I
Jlil
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