THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Tuesday, January 14, 1969
THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, Jonuory ~4, 1969
Luck earns
ice
ors split with
Denver
RETSIGER
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RETSIGER
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RETSIGER
By ELLIOTT BERRY
Last Friday night the Michigan
icers suffered through the most
difficult evening they've exper-
ienced during this young WCHA
season.
Badly out-finessed, the Wolver-
ines had a difficult time getting
out of their own zone as Denver's
"red wave", constantly poured
over the Wolverine blue line and
forced play deep into Wolverine
territory.
Theresult of this evening of
seemingly imminent disaster was
a somewhat astonishing 5-4 over-,
times Wolverine victory.
Saturday night the Wolverines,
took to the ice as an obviously su-
perior team to the one which
sneaked off with a victory the
night before. From the opening
face-off they flooded across t h e
Pioneer line and kept the pres-
sure on Denver goalie Gerry oPw-
ers almost continuously for t h e
first ten minutes of play.
While the Wolverines showed a
marked improvement the Pioneers
appeared to have lost a degree
of their sharpness as their pin-
point passing attack of the prev-
ious evening became exceedingly
erratic.
For all of Michigan's improve-
ment and Denver's slightly less po-
tent attack the Wolverine's were
soundly beaten 5-3.
Friday night the Wolverines
won on a phenomenal perform-
ance by senior netminder J i m
Keough and the eleventh hour
heroics of left-winger Dave Per-
rin, who tallied the tying and
game winning goals. It was Perrin
and his hustling sophomore line-
mates Paul Gamsby, and M e r 1 e
Falk who supplied most of the fire
power for Michigan.
The Wolverines spent most of
the series opener bottled up in
.their own zone and coach Al Ren-
'rew admitted that his team was
"pretty ,tight and was probably
affected by Denver's reputation
and all of their favorable press."
Nevertheless they made the best
of the opportunities which pre-
sented themselves and skated off
with the victory.
Renfrew attributed the inspired
play of his team in the opening
period of Saturday's game to the
fact that they were "much more
This Week in Sports
WEDNESDAY
SWIMMING -Indiana at Matt Mann Pool, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
HOCKEY - Michigan at Colorado College
SATURDAY
BASKETBALL - Ohio State at Events Building, 2:00 p.m.
HOCKEY - Michigan at Colorado College
WRESTLING - Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern at
Iowa City, Ia.
MONDAY
BASKETBALL - Michigan at Northwestern
relaxed having Friday's win be-
hind them."
Unfortunately for the Wolver-
ines they played the first period
of that game much the same as
the Pioneers had played most of
the game the night before; they
did everything except put the puck
in the net.
Late in that opening stanza the
Pioneers sustained two minor
penalties within forty seconds of
each other giving the Wolverines
a two-man advantage for over a
minute. Renfrew called Michi-
gan's failure to take advantage of
this golden opportunity "the turn-
ing point of the game."
The Denver defense anchored
by All-American Keith Magnu-
son asserted itself in the second
period while the Pioneer offense
finally found the puck bouncing
right for them after four periods
of frustration, and when the buz-'
zer sounded to end the period the
Wolverines faced on insurmount-
able 4-1 deficit.
The most noteworthy part of
Saturday's contest was its chippi-
ness which Renfrew attributed to
the fact that "both teams were
very tired." From the opening
face-off the hitting was crisp and
tempers were on the verge of
flaring at all times.
Due to the referee's quick
whistles and the closeness with
which he called penalties, little
more developed than menacing
JIM KEOUGH
glances at short range. Speedster
Gamsby appeared to be a target
for the Pioneers for most of theI
evening but he emerged quite un-
awed, "they're a good hockey team
he admitted, "but they're n o t
tough. I'm looking forward to
playing them again in the play-
offs-that's when it counts."
The series' only casualty was
last year's team scoring leader
Doug Galbraith who suffered a
chipped vertebrae. He was side-
lined for Saturday's contest but
it is unknown for how long he will
remain out of the lineup.
MONOTONY:
UCLA still top cage team
HSUR
9:30 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m.
Fishbowl and
Dorm
Sports Beat Sports Beat Sports Beat
By David Weil
HAIR
The NCAA's' recent decision to allow a school to remove an
athlete's scholarship if he is found guilty of manifest disobedience'
is not racist in the sense of being a direct slap at black athletes.
It is, however, a decision motivated strictly by avarice and it
may well be used by coaches to punish blacks and non-conformists
alike when the opportunity arises.
. The rationale for : the action was prevention of the type of
"flagrant, disruptive action" which recently occurred before a San
Jose State - Brigham Young football game. NCAA executive director
Walter Byers was horrified to think that seven SJS black players
"lay down on the field and refused to play" Brigham Young -
a school controlled by the avowedly racist Mormon church.
The actual purpose of the rule is not control of this type
of behavior, however, since it is normally going to be con-
trolled by most schools already.
The rule will instead be used to cut those players from the
team who warm the bench for four years while collecting
all those beautiful scholarship funds.
The price pf carrying 90 players on the varsity roster each year
(as Michigan does) is a heavy one to pay in order to win football
games. Especially when only a little over a third of those players ever
see any action.
Most coaches divide the third and fourth stringers into "demon-
stration squads" which act as dummy opposition for the starters
during daily practice sessions. The athletic department never seems
to "get its money" out of the matter, however.
The new NCAA ruling will alleviate this problem. Coaches
will be able to regulate the personal aspects of a bench-warmer's
life very closely. If a black benchwarmer decides to wear an Afro-
haircut, he may very well get cut from the squad.
This will never happen to a star player, however. Great athletes
(as always) will have to cause a good deal of trouble before they are
stripped of their grants-in-aid.
This is not to say that all coaches will be rigid authoritarians
and use the rule to discriminate against blacks or any other parti-
cular group. But the fact that it's on the books is enough to guarantee
sanction to discriminatory action by racist coaches around the
country.
Meanwhile, one of the most important justifications for inter-
collegiate athletics is being considerably weakened by the new rule.
Traditionally, athletic scholarships have been awarded to a large
number of likely prospects 'with no strings attached'. In other
words, a boy was guaranteed a college education once he received
his scholarship. Whether or not he ever got to play was irrelevant.
This tradition has been consistent with the notion that col-
legiate athletics are not 'professional', and are not a form of
'big business'.
As college football has become more and more spectacular-
drawing bigger TV and stadium audiences and attracting more
press coverage - athletic departments have been busily out-
spending each other in obtaining the best coaches and equip-
ment available.
As a result, losing football has now become an inefficient business
operation. Many schools are going into the red.
It is estimated that big schools such as Michigan spend up to
150,000 dollars per year on 'excess tenders' for football players
alone. This is not to mention the extra players in every other inter-
collegiate sport. The total expenditure takes up a sizeable portion
of the yearly budget.
But now, with the new ruling, athletic departments will be
able to slice excess scholarship funds significantly. Coaches will
simple be told to get rid of anyone who rocks the boat. So much
for progessivism in college athletics.
The decision has particularly dangerous implications for Mich-
igan athletes. At an institution where athletes generally have a
higher level of academic consciousness than at most other schools,
there are logically going to be more of the "long hair, bearded types"
so feared by NCAA officials.
Both Athletic Director Don Canham and new football coach
Bo Schembechler have condemned the trend toward longer hair
worn by athletes. Schembechler recently told a Daily reporter:
"I despise long hair. It shows that someone is worried too
much about himself. Football dominates a player's life during
the season. He needs to think about the game and his physical
condition, and not about his hair."
Canham, who in six months as Athletic Director, has hired three
black coaches, and established an unparalleled progressive record,
also dislikes "long hair."
Problems will occur at Michigan unless Canham and Schembech-
ler recognize Afro-cuts and the like for what they are - necessary
steps in the current development of a black consciousness. (The
same is true of course though on a different level, with white ath-
letes.)
At any rate, an increasing portion of Michigan athletes are going
to fulfill the implied conditions of "manifest dsobedience" during
the upcoming season.
It will be an unfortunate situation if Michigan officials
interpret the rule in _a way detrimental to the educaton of these
deserving athletes.
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