Page Six
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednesday, October 22, 1969
14 BLACKPLAYE DRS()Dil OcHE eOEOAr2
Wyoming gridiron
showdown
- discipline or dissent
By LEE KIRK
Daily News Analysis
Not since the days of President Warren
Harding, Interior Secretary Albert Fall
and the infamous Teapot Dome scandal
has the placid state of Wyoming seen such
an uproar, The political and civil rights
of fourteen black football players h a v e
been prostituted by Wyoming football
coach Lloyd Eaton and the university ad-
ministration and every remotely concerned
group in the state is getting into the act.
The fourteen were suspended after wear-
ing black armbands as part of a Black
Students Alliance protest against the rac-
ial policies of the Mormon Church and
Brigham Young University, the Cowboys'
Saturday gridiron opponent.
The players had talked to Wyoming
mentor Lloyd Eaton about wearing the
armbands in symbolic protest and were in-
formed that if they did so they would be
violating an alleged rule against partici-
pation in any political demonstrations and
would be subject to dismissal from the
team. The players went ahead and wore
the bands and Coach Eaton announced
that they were off the team.
WYOMING IS tlie least populous state
in the country, and it is therefore some-
what surprising that the school has recent-
ly emerged as a national football power.
The team's success can hardly be attri-
buted to home grown talent, for most high
schools in Wyoming are too small to sup-
port football teams. Eaton and the Cow-
boys success can be attributed directly to
highly successful recruiting, and their
pitch must be an awfully good one to lure
competent gridiron talent to Laramie.
No matter how nicey-nice one may want
to be about it, football players for the Cow-
boys came to Wyoming primarily to play
football for Eaton. No matter how smart
or dumb they may be. their primary mo-
tive in choosing to go to school in Lara-
mie had to be football. To some, this might
seem like prostitution, but arguing this
point is purposeless.
THE REAL CONCERN raised in the
suspension of the fourteen players is whe-
ther they also have to sell their minds to
play the game. The questioning of estab-
lished authority has spread to all areas of
collegiate life in this decade, and ath-
letics are no exception. The image of the
clean, crewcut athlete is being overthrown.
Joe Namath and his Fu Manchu, L:>w Al-
cindor and Ken Harrelson with their mod,
hip styles, and sideburns on athletes in
almost every sport. The rebellion extends
far deeper than external appearances.
The old notion that a student-athlete
owed first responsibility to his team was
apparently dying, but it has been resur-
rected in the foothills of the Rockies. The
assumption that a player could live his
own life off the field if he fulfilled his
obligations on it is still apparently a myth
in too many places.
Too many members of the coaching pro-
fession still firmly believe that discipline
is directly proportional to hair length and
dedication to football is antithetical to any
form of political expression, no matter
how subtle or symbolic it may be. While
several Michigan captains did sign a let-
ter to The Daily in support of the Viet -
nam moratorium, their action appears to
be sadly atypical.
The roll and extent of disciplinw is not
viewed by athletes as it is by their coaches.
The emergence of militancy by some black
athletes, for example, has caught many
coaches completely unprepared. Oregon
State football coach Dee Andros stirred
up a hornet's nest when he ordered a black
piayer to shave off a moustache in the
off-season. Washington coach Jim Owens
admits lie doesn't know exactly what to
do, and his job is in jeopardy because he
no longer produces wvinning squads.
TO VIEW the problem as racial is to
understate the increasingly evident con-
flict of values. The old idea that an athlete
should view his coach as a marine pri-
vate views his sergeant no longer is uni-
versally accepted.
A group of Maryland football players
complained to the athletic director a few
years back that the head coach was being
overly strict. The coach was shortly there-
after dismissed. Bill Wehrwein. an out-
standing middle distance runner for Mich-
igan State, was kicked off a team bus
bound for the Drake relays this past
winter because he had not gotten a hair-
ct. The list of similar incidents goes on
and on.
And now invisible battle lines are be-
ing drawn - athletes feeling their rights
suppressed and coaches feeling their dis-
cipline undermined. The events this past
weekend at Laramie are by far the most
unreal to date. It is hard to understand
what Eaton hoped to accomplish by the
dismissal of the players, for it is doubtful
chat Wyoming as a university or Wyoming
as a football factory gained anything at all
by his acts. The university's role as a
haven of free inquiry and expression has
been badly smeared, and from a purely
practical standpoint, Eaton has done ser-
ious damage to all Cowboy teams, both
present and future.
Black athletes on other Wyoming squads
are still working out, but they have ex-
pressed disgust with the action and there
is no guarantee that they will stay on their
teams.
THE ISSUE has already mushroomed
into a political football, and Eaton is be-
ginning to feel the squeeze. He readily ad-
mits that he wouldn't be at all surprised
if he is fired, adding that he is not con-
sidering rescinding his action because he
feels that this would be unfair to the other
members of the team, now all white.
The University Board of Trustees, in an
emergency Friday night meeting with
Wyoming Governor Stan Hathaway, voted
to support Eaton, and alumni and coach-
ing groups in the state have rallied to the
cause, The faculty senate, however, voted
to ask Eaton to make the suspensions
temporary until an investigation can be
made, and the student government has
frozen all student fee money normally ear-
marked for the athletic department. The
snowballing effect has reached all the way
to the University of New Mexico, where
the local ACLU has asked that university
to reconsider its membership in the West-
ern Athletic Conference (BYU and Wyom-
ing are also members), questioning whether
the University's interests can be w e 11
served by association with an organization
that includes racist institutions.
One can only wonder what inner fear
motivated Eaton to lash out as he did,
totally oblivious to the consequences. If
the players are kept off the team, which
unfortunately looks more than likely right
now, it will be a setback not only for the
Wyoming 14. but for college athletes any-
where desiring to express themselves on
political questions. The tragedy, however,
cuts far deeper, for there is no way that
anyone or any group can profit by this
mass martyrdom. All involved will suffer.
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Otis keys OSU's attack
By MARC LEVENTHAL But Otis was not one of those
Mattel and Remco were not con- sophomores and amid the enthu-
tent with their Pentagon approved, siasm exuberated for the game, hE
miahf an ncinfp ffl T
guaranteed-to-decimate, run of
the mill war weapons and toys.
They have now, through joint ef-
fort. come up with the ultimate in
destruction: The Annihilate Your
Opponent Woody Hayes Football
Machine. There's even a three year
patent pending on it. It comes with
full guarantee not to break down.
The only constraint you will en-
counter is in finding someone to
play with you. After all, it is a
rough game!
As in every machine, there are
vital cogs, some more vital than
others. These cogs, of course, mustI
be kept well oiled. Jim Otis de-
cided he wanted to be the fullback
cog of this "game." After all, what
else is there toudo ifyou're from
Celina, Ohio but hunt, fish, and
play games. But take heart. For
the purity of the plastic world we
can trust in Jim's integrity. He
has three sisters.
mi gnt get ost in the snu ie. tI
actuality, camouflaged under all
the advertising done for junior
quarterback sensation Rex Kern,
Otis can be your secret weapon.
How can you ignore 1968 totals
of 985 yards in 219 carries (4.5
y'ards per carry). 17 touchdowns,
and 102 points, all OSU records?
You can even fool your friends
who come to play with you. Otis
caught 10 passes last season for
82 yards.
Even after a season marked by
such individual and team play,
this is one toy that lasts longer
than it takes you to get it home,
or get over the shock. "The coach
(Hayes) keeps the pressure on,
heven if the other team's don't."
So go the thoughts of this power-
ful fullback.
The little old toymaker from
Columbus still has shirt sleeves
into things. Thus, Otis continue to
yards in 103' rushing attempts for
an average of 4.4 yards and seven
touchdowns, leading the Buckeye
machine and Kern. who has scored
six times so far this season.
Otis has excellent quickness and
hits holes a$ fast as any Buckeye
fullback in many years. He is
very strong through the should-
ers. to which many an opposing
tackle can attest. Being s t r o n g
physically, he experienced no let-
up or "bad" game last year, scor-
ing at least one touchdown in
nine of ten contests, missing only
against Purdue.
"With our early leads I'm not
playing as much as last year,"
sighed Otis. It's more like playing
less and enjoying it more. We
must keep our battle scarred piec-
es healthy. There's only so much
you can do with plastic.
As a pre-dental student he'll
have to compromise two futures.
somewhat, if he is drafted into faro
football. "I'll just have to work
that out," realizes Otis. Jim Otis
is certainly a well oiled cog of the
OSU machine, and its gears will
continue to run smoothly as long
as he does. Won't you come out
and play?
1{.
Electrical Engineers
Daiy-Eric Per-uux
MICHIGAN SAFETY' Tom Curtis blocks the path of Ohio State's
all-American running back Jim Otis during last year's Wolverine-
Buckeye debacle in Columbus. Otis scored a plethora of touch-
downs in Ohio State's 50-14 victory.
SUMMERN JOBS
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MASS MEETING
7:30 P.M.-THURSDAY, OCT. 23, 1969
ASSEMBLY HALL, MICHIGAN UNION
International Asscciation -for the Exchange of Stu
dents for- T-chnical Exoerience
wear down. Last season he logged
more playing time than any other
member of the Ohio State squad
283 minutes).
But as crucial as Otis is to the
machine, he could still get lost
among all the other pieces. Coach
Woody Hayes,the originatoiof
the game has been known to note
that ". . . last year we caught a
few people by surprise with our
outstanding sophomores, but every
one will be ready for us this year."
Eighteen regulars are returning
to that national championship
team, eight on offense and ten
on defense. So you don't have to
woriy about r'eplaceable parts.
But Jim must be acquired as an prove his durability. After OSU's
extra. He is a mighty big pack- first four "exercises" of the season
age, you know. But as a six foot, "TCU, Washington, MSU. and
214 pound senior he also will not Minnesota). Otis has gained 452
(uridde Iitski ugs
Ever notice the fools in yellow jackets running around at home
football games? Sometimes known as the football managers they are
in reality glorified waterboys whose chief function, aside from picking
up the player's sweaty clothes after the game, is to chase loose foot-
balls trying to save the athletic department $22.
Known far and wide for their incompetence, the managers have
shown their stupidity many times over. Don Canham applied for a
Federal Poverty Loan to replace them, but was refused because
poverty of intelligence was ruled insufficient grounds for a grant.
Not content to be incompetent in only one field of endeavor the
managers have decided to try playing football. In their infinite idiocy
they have challenged the mighty Libels to a football game to be played
before 10.1001 sleeping fans in the Michigan Stadium.
As always the Libels are ready for the opposition. They considered
adding a few new plays for the contest but since three of his players
are in jail and the rest are sleeping off hangovers Coach Buster
"Cowboy" Block decided to forget practice for the week.
i
I
C
Y.
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3f.
MICHIGAN at Minnesota
Michigan State at Iowa
Illinois at Ohio State
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for information call
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Tickets are available
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Northwestern at Purdue
Indiana at Wisconsin
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Cornell at Yale
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UCLA at Stanford
Ohio U. at Penn State
Texas Tech at SMU
Texas A&M at Baylor
Oklahoma State at Nebraska
Oklahoma at Kansas State
Missouri at Colorado
,Mississippi at Houston
Kentucky at Georgia Tech
Pennsylvania at Princeton
DAILY LIBELS at Football
Managers
Your abilities and knowledge are impor-
tant to Southern California Edison.
Come work with us and enjoy the new life
happening here in Southern California.
There are sports of every type and enter-
tainment ranging from Hollywood
scenes to renowned museums: Dozens
of colleges and universities are near
at hand.
We need nev. ideas, new techniques and
sound planning for projects necessary
to serve the enormous electrical po, er
requirements of Central and Southern
California.
These projects will cost approximately
S1 billion during the next three years.
During this period we will build or
participate with other utilities in the
development and construction of approx-
imately 3,300,000 kilowatts of generat-
ing capacity. That's a lot of kilowatts -
about one-third as much, in fact, as our
total capacity today.
at the Four Cor ners a n Plant in
New Mexico.
A new 500,000-volt A.C. transmission
line from Four Corners to Southern Cali-
fornia was completed early in 1969.
Spanning 650 miles, it makes a mighty
leap over the Colorado River.
The Mohave Generating Station in Clark
County, Nevada will have Pwo 790,000
kilowatt units. A 275-mile slurry pipeline
will deliver coal fuel to the plant from
Arizona.
Edlson is alo) active in the advanced
technologies of EHV transmission, both
A.C. and D.C. We're looking even further
ahead to such direct conversion meth-
ods as fuel cells, thermionics thermo-
electrics and magneichydrodynamics.
It takes plenty of talent to make this kind
of progress. We're prepared to pay
"elI for it. And we're prenared to offer
advancement, and to nick up the ta
for work on advanced denrees,
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THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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