THE MICHIGAN DAILY9T To HoldIntras quad eeti S PORT-WHYS AI a...ayb eAi A Team . .. Maybe. s Thinclads Perform Tonight In Preview of 1959 Season By BILL ZOLLA t represent Michigan during the Michigan's highly-touted fresh- coming Big Ten season. man and varsity track teams will In tonight's meet, each class go on display for the first time at (senior, junior, etc.) will have a 7:15 p.m. today in the annual pre- team, made up of members of that Christmas open intra squad meet class. The meet will be scored on at Yost Field House. a 5-3-2-1 point basis, for indi- In addition to being the premiere vidual events, and 8-6-4-2 for the showing of a team that is expect- relays, ed to establish a new track dynas- Canham said, "There should be ty for the Wolverines this will he a close duel between the sopho- II I 1V1. L I I U',.VA V~t'., ~V lV ~t' i., L111.!, one of the few times this season that the freshman squad can be seen in competition. The frosh team has shown much promise and is considered as high- ly by Coach Don Canham as last year's yearling standouts. Close competition will be ex- pected in all events, as the new- r~nmrr ill bo nt to imnacra_ UP AND OVER-Eeles Landstrom, fourth-ranked pole vaulter in the nation, will return to competition tonight in Michigan's annual intrasquad track meet at Yost Field House. Landstrom and comers wi oe out o impress Can- Mamon Gibson are counted on to make the pole vault a strong ham, and the varsity members event for Michigan this year. willbe battling for the right to Red Wings Contend for NHL Lead-; Sawchuck, Howe Give Needed Help By TOM WITECKI stumbled into third, but could have Without Howe, who has won the Back into action on the profes- just as easily ended up fifth. league's Most Valuable Player tro- sional circuit after whipping Mich-';lausMotVubePayrr- sgan's Wolverines, h-i, in an Mixhi- Red Wing Coach Sid Abel gives phy four times, including the last a great deal of credit for his team's two years, there is no doubt that bition game Monday, the Detroit good showing so far this season to Detroit would be far below its pres- Red Wings find themselves in the the fine play of goalie Terry Saw- ent second place position. League race. tochuk. He said, "Sawchuk has As to whether Detroit could done a great job for us this season. cetch front-running Montreal Abel Lodged in second place, four Without his steady play in the nets commented, "Barring injuries, we points behind league-leading Mon- we would be a lot further down in should be able to- stay close to treal and three ahead of challeng- the standings." the Canadiens and possibly pass' ing Boston, the Wings have made IIte. a surprise improvement overlast Trails Plante them." year's dismal showing when they The 29-year-old netminder, who If the Wings are to do this they more and freshman teams, but I look for the sophomores to be vic- torious. The seniors should finish third, with the juniors last." The youthful squad contains a great majority of lowerclassmen. One of the highlights of the meet will be the long-awaited re- tun to competition of Eeles Landstrom, star Wolverine pole vaulter, who has cleared the 15- foot. mark. Landstrom was ineli- gible for the second semester last season. Captain Mamon Gibson will press Landstrom in the vault, and if he can keep up his steady imn- provemen of last year, he might also clearthe 15-foot barrier. However, despite these two per- formers the senior team is ranked. no better than third because it is so short on depth. Defending Big Ten hurdles titlist Pete Stanger, shotputters Joel Boyden and Ermin Crown- ley, broad-jumper Lou Williams, and a third vaulter, Bill Guinness, comprise the rest of the seniors. The juniors are lacking in first, place threats in all but the middle distance events. There, Earl Dear- dorff and Cam Gray should figure in the 1000-run, and Bruce Fisch- er Is favored in the 600-yd. run, Don Truex, Jm Wyman and Dick Schwartz will run in the two-mile. The sophomores are favored mainly because they have both depth and quality. Among their first place favorites are Les Bird in the broad jump, Dick Cephas in the high jump and; hurdles, shot-putter Ray Locke,, Tom Robinson in the dash, andj middle and long distance mena Fred Montour, Wally Schafer, Bryan Gibson, and Don Chalfant. From this strong field, thej squad will enter two top relay relay teams, either of which could1 take first. COLLEGE BASKETBALL 1 Army 75, Amherst 56 North CarolinaS tate 92, LaSalle 66 Cincinnati 112, College of Pacific 66 North Carolina 70, s. Carolina 57 Navy 53, Maryland 50f Fordham 80, Syracuse 75 William and Mary 72, Davidson 56 '4 Connecticut 72, Colgate 57f Vanderbilt 70, Wyoming 65 Michigan State 74, Notre Dame 54 SMU 59, Oklahoma Si NBA SCORES 5t. Louis 136, New York 122 Boston 102, Detroit 5 NHL SCOREX Chicago 5, Boston 2 C has won the Vezina trophy three times in his nine-year NHL career, Ro als' t ris trailing Montreal's Jacquest Plante in the race for the trophy, which is given annually to the 11a v ave Clot goalie with the lowest goal-per- game average in the league. CINCINNATI W) - Physicians Sawchuk, who currently is in disclosed yesterday that Si Green, second 'place in the race for ailing star for the Cincinnati Vezina honors, would be in the Royals of the National Basketball lead save for a couple of nights Association, may have a blood clot when the Canadiens went on ram- on the brain, pages against Detroit. Dr. Frank Mayfield, neurosur- The Wings offense is, as usual, geon, said surgery may be required. centered around one of the league's "The boy does have something all-time greats, Gordie Howe, who wrong with his head and we think Just last week scored the 400th it's probably a clot," Dr. Mayfield goal in his NHL career. isaid. "We'll hold a series of tests Abel has placed Howe on a line today and if the tests confirm it, with Alex Delvecchio and Norm we'll go ahead with surgery.'" Ullman, and the trio has clicked to The former Duquesne star had produce almost half of Detroit's collapsed three times this season goals this season. and has been a hospital patient Hard Worker since Dec. 9. In addition to taking regular In a game at Philadelphia last turns on the ice with his line, month, Green was jolted during Howe is a seemingly inexhaustible a scramble under the basket an4 workhorse who is usually in action Dr. Mayfield said a clot could for half the game, taking part in be caused by a bump on the head. penalty-killing and power-play Green is the second Royals' combinations. player to be stricken with a serious ailment. Last spring, MauriceC Stokes, the team's great rebound CAPPON EYES UPSET: artist, was stricken. He has been in the hospital ever since suffer- ing from a brain disease. CT have to improve on their personal record with Montreal, which now consists of fAve losses and two ties. THISIS BILL PERIGO--tenth yearaschbasketballcoachat-hin. and it is the tenth season that his players have been both too few and too short. It has been customary for Michigan to field the sntaflest team in the Big Ten, and for the Wolverines to lack the depth that is necessary for effective Conference competition. The result: Michigan has had a run of losing basketball seasons. The reason: Perigo and his aides have been unable to get BIG baket- ball players, and MANY basketball players to come to Michigan. It was expected that the genial mentor from Western Michigan would |have trouble getting the ball rolling back in 1950, since Michigan wa really in the doldrums when he took over. However, Michigan has had only sporadic risings from that position since. There have been good ball players, but never enough. Then three years ago the freshman team downed the varsity in the annual late November contest, and it seemed that Perigo's for- tunes were on the upturn. Now the boys that pulled that upset-M.c , Burton, George Lee, Jack Lewis, and a few others-are seniors and this should be the year that all "M" cage fans have be" looking forward to. But instead Michigan has gotten no pre-season buldupa, and according to the experts should again finish in the second division of the Big Ten. Same Old Problems... WHY HAS THE POWER that seemed destined to flood the 'M" court been sapped? A number of reasons have entered the picture, but the biggest one remains: still no height and depth. The 1$58-0 team has the strongest veteran nucleus that Perigo has been blessed with in his 10 years. Seniors Burton and Lee form a potent forward combination, while Terry Miller has gained great poise at guard witi; a year of experience behind him. The loss of Lewis t the other uar due to his involvement in parlay card dealings haes been partlyreon-i ciled by the great play of sophomore John Tidwell, while center GordI Rogers has filled in well despite his inexperience. However, Rogers at 6'6" is the tallest man on the team, while Burton is 6'S" and Lee 6'4", thus forming the shortest front lie e in the Big Ten. And when depth Is needed up front, either Tidwell moves up or Lovell Farris comes off the bench, and they are both only 6'3,. Height isn't as important at guards, and the depth is better there with junior Dale Kingsbury shaping up well and sophomores Rich Miller and Rich Robins showing good form. On the whole, however, the picture isn't bright. Michigan will often face opponents with bett than two-inch height advantages per man, and many.of the Big Ten0 teams will have as many as five capable performers for bench strehgth, And the freshmen don't look any better. In fact, it Is the same story as always: a pretty good crop, but not tall. And Some New Trends . . BUT AT THE SAME TIME, there are some new trends In Michbiga basketball that are becoming apparent. For the first time in maw years the Wolverines have teamwork. Perigo has always sent his me through plays in practice, and often last year the varsity looed great during mid-week. But this is the first year that the effects ha shown up during games. This year's batch of starters seem to know the meaning of the word cooperate, and the effects have been quit. noticeable. The other sign for the better is the general shooting ability of the players. All five starters have proved themselves to be extremey accurate at times, while Perigo states that shooting ability is the fresh- man squad's best asset. Of course, the question is whether teamwork and shooting as"irae, can overcome height and depth. Any expert would say no, and the reasons would be simple: any team can develop teamwork and shooting eyes improve as the season progresses, but there is no cure for the team that is too short and too sparse. But basketball is a strange game, and the "best" team doe 't always win. In a game where the emotional state of the five men from each team plays an important part, assets like teamwork and personal confidence can often offset physical disadvantages. With an Unusual Five... HICHIGAN'S 1958-59 cage squad looks like it may have those iw- ortant assets, and it must be pointed out that the Wolverines' "phys- al disabilities" aren't quite what simple height statistics seem to indi- ate. Let's examine the varsity for a minute: 1) M. C. BURTON got off to a slow start this year, but last ?riday ight proved beyond any shadow of doubt (31 points worth of proof) hat he has all of the scoring power needed to rate with the best In he Conference. As for defense, he was tops on the "M" squad last year nd held down some of the Conference's best. Burton's case is one 'here the height is deceptive, as he was also one of the league's top 'ebounders last year. 2) GEORGE 'LEE Is also quite deceptive, as the rugged senior as also shown that he can rebound with the best. For a "big man" he s probably the top driver in the league, making most of his points in the move. Leading the team in scoring as a sophomore, he has often tcked consistency, but again this year seems destined to battle for op honors. Although defense was a problem in the past, Lee showed at he Kent Tourney that he can be a real tough man to get around, and is hustle was enough to bring the partisan Kent fans to their feet number of times. 3) GORDIE ROGERS lacks the experience and the weight that is front line buddies have, but has shown great improvement in The oung season so far. In the second game of the Kent Tourney he isplayed an amazingly sharp shooting eye, and apparently gained the onfidence that he has needed in his shots. Defense could prove a problem here, but Lee and Burton will be available to cover the tougher pponents. 4) TERRY MILLER has learned much with a year of varsity ex- erience behind him, and is probably the most consistent player on the eam. Quick on defense, and the playmaker on offense, he has cormbined number of cage talents. He is a top-notch dribbler, often getting the quad out of tight defensive presses, and this talent has made him he team quarterback. His sharp passes often set up others for easy askets, and when the defense gets wise for passes, Miller will let ose with long and always accurate jump shots which keep the junior card up in the scoring race, too. 5) JOHN TIDWELL is well on his way to being the best all-around all player in recent "M" basketball annals. Leading the team in scor- ig so far, he has demonstrated a smooth touch that will make him a ard man to hold down in any league. Although his defensive play as been bothered by fouling, he showed in the opener against Pitt's on Hennon that he can be a stern guard. ,vo Must Get Together [HE WOLVERINES have the talent to beat just about any team on any given night. And it is an old adage of basketball that ANYONE can win ANYTIME. But if the Michigan team is to win often i this year's Big Ten race, it will take one thing in particular: CON- ENTRATED EFFORT. So far it has been the same old story-each layer has a big night, and they take turns. This will win most non- ague games, but It won't do when the Conference chips are down. Then they will need EVERYONE working, saoring, and defending t the same time. Whether this will happen or not won't be known for while. SID ABEL ... credits Sawchuck ace Ex-Wolverine Coach 1 BY MIKE GILLMAN A native of Holland, Mich., he head football coaching job for the to sto take an ex Michig thefi graduated from Michigan in 1924. Jayhawks. round of the coming Motor City He gained recognition in his un- Coached from 1930-38 Basketball Tournament. dergraduate days for both schol- staff ipn 1928returned to Michigan When Coach Bill Perigo's cag- astis and athletics by winning eand took over the ers take the floor on Monday, Dec. tst rn Coher ic en- basketball team in 1930. His ten- 29, against Princeton, they will be the Western Conference proficien- ure, which lasted until 1938, saw meeting a former head coach of cy medal, awarded to the Big Ten the Wolverines compile a confer- - Michigan's basketball team, Frank athlete outstanding in both. ence record of 52 wins and 44 (Cappy) Cappon. In addition to being a regular victories, and an overall total. of 92 Princeton's head coach for 18 guard on the basketball team, he His.rbest year was the 193-3? seasons, Cappon will be out to up- was chosen as an all-conference season which saw Michigan post a set the Maize and Blue that he football player. 16-4 record. himself led onto the floor for 152 Following a one-year stay in After leaving here, he took over contests over a span of eight sea- Ann Arbor as an end coach, he the reins of the Princeton team, sons, went to Kansas to take over the whose fortunes he has guided ever -_ _ _- since, with one interruption. He was called to active duty in 1942 with the United States Navy CSASE-physical fitness program in this 4 1country and overseas. Cotton flannel RAYON and Winning tRecord Upon his return to the quieter BLANKET 72 x 90 NYLON BLANKET basketball wars, Cappon set about Regular 3.5l Regular 5.95 eading Old Nassau's hoopsters to Reguar 50Reguar *~5the top of the Ivy League. Now Now 2.25 Now 3.95 the dean of the league's basketball coaches, he has maintained a win- .ningpercentage of .553 at Prince- ..Gton. 3-pieceHASSOCK In the past decade, his cagers TOI LET SETS have won three league champion- Regular 2.95 (plastic) ships (more than any other team) and finished in the first division Now .90 0% O F insixof the other eight seasons. 190/isOThis will be the thirdtime Cap- _pon has b r o u g h t the Tigers { a against his alma mater, In 1940 Gift-boxed HOSTESS APRONS Princeton stopped Michigan, 30- TOWEL SETS 29, and in 1952 the wolverines Regular 4.95 Regular 1.4 got revenge, copping a 62-44 win. i e Bringing a team boasting five 2.95C lettermen to Detroit, he will find himself coaching an underdog as his old team, the Wolverines, are L eAntiquerated slight favorites in the holi- II Si6 day action. 1L~ne SATI N DRAPES Linen Table Cloths 44" x 90" t .' F E r , ~hile, 1