Wednesday, January 15, 1969 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Eleven Wednsday Jauary15,1969THE ICHGAN AIL _ _ J , from the seat Bill Levis of my pants I M I i Strategy key to Michigan tank hopes I Hpow the Jets'a Shattered the Dream There is something gone forever now that the upstart New York Jets have conquered the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl. Sure, the underdog has triumphed. The American Football League has been vindicated. And Sports Illustrated's Tex Maule has been humiliated. But the dream has been shattered. The Jets really did beat the Colts They didn't squeak out with a hairy 16-7 victory. They just beat them. That AFL dream has materialized but there is something vulgar in the realization of a dream. It's always better as just that, a dream. A dream is like a comic book. As a kid, you wished that there was a Superman but you would have been disappointed if he really appeared. He was part of your imagination and that's where you wanted him to be. The Superman television show was even a vulgarization of the comic strip. George Reeves, the TV Superman, didn't have all the rippling muscles that the cartoon Superman had. Instead, he had a small tire around his waist and a bulge around the middle. Everybody knows that Super'man is perfect. While the American Football League, the New York Jets, and es- pecially Joe Namath are far from perfect, there was something dream- like about them. Here was this little upstart football league with teams in cities like San Diego, Oakland and Denver claiming that it was good enough to challenge the National Football League, the establishment, in a test of strength. The AFL, with NFL castoffs George Blanda and Tobin Rote, thought that it could wage war against the money league with the latter's most potent weapon, the dollar, and come out with a competitive product. The odds from the beginning were against them. The All- American Football Conference had tried it in the late 1940's and failed. Sure, the Baltimore Colts (who had entered the league as the Dallas Texans, version number one), the San Francisco '49ers, and the powerful Cleveland Browns did make it into the NFL. But the conference didn't. Even with the big money betting on its demise, the AFL began operation in 1960 with the Dallas Texans (version two and now the Kansas City Chiefs), the Los Angeles Chargers (now San Diego) and the New York Titans (now the WORLD CHAMPION Jets) among others. What followed was a six-year war for recognition that finally r culminated in, the AFL-NFL merger before the 1966 season. It was the most costly merger in pro sports history. The; six year war was fought by the AFL before miniscule au- diences in cavernous stadiums and small television audiences. It was fought by millionaires with the dollar and even when they finally got their merger they had to pay more. It is costing the AFL $20 million to be recognized by the NFL. There is one main reason why the AFL is able to pay that price and that is television. The exposure and the money that the ;junior circuit got from television in the early '60's kept it barely alive while the owners were taking blood baths at the gates. The Jets, for example, averaged little over 5,000 fans a game their first year of existence in 1963. The only reason the AFL stayed in New York was its audience potential. Everytime the Jets play at home before a capacity crowd of 63,000, the wisdom of that decision becomes apparent. The turning point for the junior circuit was 1965 when the Na- tional Broadcasting Company, after losing the NFL money war to CBS, shelled out $36 million to televise AFL games over a five year period. The transaction put the junior circuit in the black. and the AFL on the map to stay. It was that move, along with rookie money wars, that convinced the NFL that merger was better for their health than the galloping inflation of salaries which might cause bankruptcy. The year 1967 marked the beginning of the Super Bowl but the dream was still intact. The AFL representative in the first two contests, Kansas City and Oakland, got whopped by the Green Bay Packers. The AFL did win 13 exhibition games before the 1968 season but everyone knew that pro teams experiment in those games and that the scores were probably not indicative of the teams' strengths. In a real showdown, the writers reported, the NFL would continue to run herd over the competition. All the reporters did was to make the dream seem that much more unreal. Everybody knew that Namath was good but the people who are supposed to know, the bookies, made his team 18 to 20 point un- derdogs to the Colts in the Super Bowl. Who was going to disagree with men who bet money for a living? Well, the dream disagreed, but then it was only a dream. The dream saw Joe Willie fading back to throw three touchdown pass- es to flanker Don Maynard to give the Jets a 21-10 victory over Baltimore. Namath didn't throw a touchdown pass but New York did win and the biggest loser besides Doni Shula, his Colts and NFL fanatic Tex Maule was the dream. It was now reality and there is nothing worse to face than that. Well, at least, there still are the New York Mets. Break the Dorm Habit Rush TEP Where Our House 'Is Our Home Tau Epsilon Phi 1412 CAMBRIDGE RD. Telephone 761-3618 By ROD ROBERT "I'm waiting for God to strike and tell me what to do," says Michigan Swimming Coach Gus Stager. TheWolverine mentor faces the ungodly task of placing swimmers in just the right events, so that his team can knock off power- house Indiana at 7:30 tonight at Matt Mann Pool. As usual, the Hoosier team has more depth than the Wolverine squad. Stager is the first to ad- mit, Overall, Indiana has a better team." But if he can put his swim- mers in events that will emphasize Michigan's strengths, while at the same time covering up weak- nesses, Michigan has a real chance to sink Indiana. daily sports NIGHT EDITOR: BILL DINNER NBA All-Star game and more sports on page 12 through, the chance for victory will then lie upon the shoulders of the divers and sprinters. This is because Stager does not expect to pick up any extra points in the breaststroke or butterfly. He com- ments, "Since the fly and breast are pretty well set, we're going to have to surprise Indiana in the other events." Bill Mahoney is Michigan's on- ly tanker capable of doing well in the 200 breast, while Tom Arus- so and Lee Bisbee usually swim well in the 200 yard fly. Therefore, Dick Rydze and Jay Meoden must upset Olympians Jim Henry and Win Young in diving. At the Big Ten Relays, these four divers proved to be the class of the Conference. The Hoosier duo, however, were just a little classier than their Wolverine com- petitors. Still confident that Rydze Meaden will make a fight out of these crucial events is Diving Coach Dick Kimball. "Dick and Jay are both tough and are a Every single one of the twelve |.| |||| | events will be crucial. So if Mich- GUS STAGER igan fails to pick up a point hereG and there, or loses some race un- Sophomore sprinter Bob Zann expectedly, the chances for vic- says, "All we need to do is pick tory will become slim, up about seven or eight points, Nonetheless, Stager still might and we could eke out the biggest pull off the biggest upset of the victory of the year." year in the swimming world. He The two swimmers that Stagerl has a fine crop of sophomores, will have to count on most are possibly the best since the Robie- Junior Juan Bello and Gary Kink- Scheerer-Kingery class. As sopho- ead. They both will have to make mores in 1965, they helped knock excellent showings if Michigan is off the Hoosiers 70-53. Michigan even to hope for victory. sank Indiana the following year, Right now Stager is still un- but this time by only a 62-61 decided where to put these two. score. Kinkead can swim distance free- If the Wolverine squad is going style, backstroke, and the individ- to win tonight, one point could ual medley. Bello is also strong again be the margin of victory. in the I-M, as well as most of the Pre-meet estimates put Michi- freestyle events. gan's total at just under 55 points. If Bello and Kinkead do come -Daily--Jay Cassid3 JUNIOR GARY KINKEAD warms up for his unenviable task of swimming against Indiana's Olym- pic silver medalist Charlie Hickcox tonight at 7:30 in Matt Mann Pool. Kinkead may have to face the indomitable Hickcox three times, in the 200 yard back, 200 individual medley, and in !a back- stroke leg of a relay. If Kinkead can win one event, Michigan may have a good chance of upset- ting the top-ranked Hoosiers. i PONDER CHANGES: Grid rulesmakers face dilemma I lot better than what we had against Indiana last year." But each diver will only compete once, since Kimball and Indiana Coach Hobie Billingsly have an. agreement not enter any man more than once. So Michigan is lucky this year in that Indiana's Olympic divers aren't competing twice. According to most of the swim- mers, though, the sprints will be the most crucial races all night. These include the 50, 100, and 200- yard freestyle. In these sprint events, the seconds and thirds are almost as important as cap- turfing first place. Michigan's only favorite here is Juan Bello in the 200. The other two events will feature Hoosier speedster Bryan Bateman, one of the Big Ten's best sprinters for the last two years. The most complete supply of NEW and USED TEXTS and PAPERBACKS is of the Student Book Service r 11 In fact, Indiana hopes to sweep the 50, and maybe even the 100. It will be the responsibility of Bob Kircher, Bob Harmony, and Greg and Bob Zann to prevent this fatal result. To stay alive, the Michigan speedsters almost have to win. The relays might give the Wol- verines the final key to victory. A victory in the medley or free- style relay is a must. But If Mich- igan happens to take both relays, they're going to have an excellent chance to lock the door against a Hoosier triumph. 7 , PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. (A) - for big squads, and colleges are College football rulesmakers met worried about the increasing costs. Monday to try to extricate them- Nothing will be decided or an- selves from the horns of a dilem- nounced until the sessions end to- ma. day. But a spokesman for the 16- College football has just com- member group said it appears the pleted its biggest season ever. Im- present substitution rules will not proved offense is given the credit, be changed pending a thorough and unlimited substitution is the study of the costs of all athletics main reason for the higher scores. - not just college football - this But unlimited substitution calls year, ber of the rules committee, is ex- pected to offer a resolution Wed-, nesday proposing such a survey. It is no secret that college of- ficials are deeply concerned with the rising costs of athletic pro- grams. The administrators, however, are well aware that college foot- ball enjoyed one of its most suc- cessful years. For that reason, the spokesman said, committee mem- bers don't want to tamper with the more basic rules at this time. dipa4 Phi Omef * 2 NATIONAL SERVICE FRATERNITY ANNOUNCES WINTER RUSH GENERAL RUSH MEETING JAN. 16th, 7:30 p.m. 3rd Floor Union or contact T. GRABOSKI at 764-2734 evenings or Alpha Phi Omega office, 2528 S.A.B.-761-6663, 1-5 p.m. W CHA Standings North Dakota MICHIGAN Michigan Tech Denver Minnesota Michigan State Colorado College Minnesota -Duluth 9 5 4 6 4 1 1 1 L 1 1 4 4' 5 6 9 Pct. .900 .833 .800 .600 .500 .167 .143 .100 Fritz Crisler, former athletic di- rector at the University of Michi- gan and a lifetime honorary mem- .BilIboard. The Michigan Sports' Club As- sociation is holding a meeting tonight at 8:00 P.M. in Room 3529,nSAB. All interested people are invited to attend. COME TO Student Book Service and visit LIZ HAHN CLIFF CAROL LOFTUS Cycles sell in Classifieds 1? ' r . I ,fir 1 , "p - . ......... t......... . . . For people who want to help make the world a little bit better +SERYIe AMDUI A Will interview on this campus WEDNESDAY JANUARY 22 °4 U of M JUDO Club BUY NOW!..