FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1..966 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE NINE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1966 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE NINE w0 ishei By HOWARD KOHN Whoever heard of an athmatic fullback .. .who looks like a fire- pug ... sprints like a torpedo .:. leads the Big Ten in rushing but who never made it as a sports- writer? Bump Elliott's answer is Dave Y Fisher. But he cannot understand why Fisher didn't cut it as a sports- writer. "Well," says Fisher, "I thought about being a writer, but I had trouble getting even B's in Engin' English so I dropped the idea." You can't have everything. Fisher agrees. "Besides," adds' he, "I'm really quite lazy. I don't think I'd have the initiative. "I'm a complacent kind of guy. You know, I like to take things as they come." Who's Kidding Who? Is he putting you on? Well, he likes to do his share of double- talk. His fraternity room is an incessant forum of joking and kid- ding-back and forth. "They only put one 'star' in a room here," says Fisher. "That's why I'm here," says roommate Jon Kramer, second- string defensive end. Another enterprising 'fraternity brother joins the conversation. "I remember the time Fish ran the fastest lap for the 880-relay qual- ifying runs in high school .... and then got leg cramps and we fin- ished sixth in the finals." Fisher ran the 100-yard dash in 9.9 during his prep career as a three-sport letterman. "I used to pride myself on being the fast- est Caucasian in Ohio . . but I could never beat Carl Ward," he puts in parenthetically. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Fisher has the quick infectious laugh of someone who's ration- alized that the world isn't all "true to life" TV serials or all "'Lost Generation" ppth-seeking novels or all of anything and who really doesn't give a damn. He prefers to play it cool, ' That, of course, doesn't mean to say that he considers playing football or going to college friv- olous. A barrel ful of T~nawxh.iO GRID SELECTIONS -AL-.,N %-/W -Daily-Chuck Soberman WOLVERINE FULLBACK DAVE FISHER appears to be relying on the art of karate to destroy any Minnesota defenders he encounters while blocking for a teammate last Saturday. Fisher is aver- aging 5.7 yards per carry to lead the Big Ten in that department. He also leads in total rushing. respects the Wolverine coaching; staff and the opportunity to play' at Michigan. "I'll have to admit that Mich- igan was my second choice. I wanted to go to a Big Ten school, but I wanted to go to Ohio State," he says. "But my parents were against, going to OSU ..,. and Jack Fouts (f o r m e r assistant Wolverine coach) convinced me to go here. "It was probably the greatest thing I ever did. I have really enpoyed it here. "As I look at them now, my reasons for going to Ohio State; weren't that significant-a lot of my high school friends were go- ing there ...and, of course, Woody Hayes was a great recruiter. He'da make you feel like you were worth a million dollars . . . until you got these. Three Yards and a ... "Besides, I'm playing as much. at Michigan as I probably would have at OSU." Fisher is a cloud-raising work- horse in the old Ohio State tra- dition-with a misleading balance of speed and power on his low- slung frame. His almost roly-poly shape on the gridiron have inspir- ed "wits" to call him "cannon- ball," the "barrel on rollerskates," adinfinitum. But his charged-up running has also inspired Bump Elliott to call him "the most consistent runner on the team." "He's been really playing well this year," adds Elliott. "Even his, blocking has improved." Fisher the Roadblock Blocking had been Fisher's ma- jor weak point during his previ- ous years at Michigan. "I was probably the worst blocker that ever came to Michigan," he ad- mits. "But blocking was what Dave was expected to do in high school (where he was named the MVP in the Ohio All-Star game)," once explained his father. And so he has spent much of his spare time working on throw- ing good solid blocks. "He's come a long way since he was a sopho- more," claims Elliott. Fisher silimarly has mutual ad- miration for Elliott and his assist- ants. "I owe a lot to them," he says. He has little regard for post- NBA Eastern Division W L Pet. GB Philadelphia 4 .0 1.000 - Boston 4 0 1.000 - New York 4 2 .667 1 Cincinnati 2 3 .400 3 Baltimore 1 5 .167 4 Western Division Chicago 4 3 .571 - Detroit 2 3 .400 1 St. Louis 2 3 .400 1 San Francisco 2 3 .400 1 Los Angeles 1 4 .200 2 LAST NIGHT'S RESULTS Cincinnati 121, St. Louis 118 Boston 123, Chicago 100 Fisher's opinion of Michigan's' season to date is summed up in one sentence. "We've just made too many mistakes, and in this game one bad play can erase 10 good plays., He is just as realistic about his plans for the future. "If I am offered any kind of fair deal from the pros, I'll probably give it a try. I enjoy the game so much that I feel I owe it to myself." While envisioning a possible pro career, Fisher is also contemplat- ing on doing graduate work in! either engineering or business during the winterlayoff from foot- ball. "I also thought about going> in- to law school for awhile. But I'm not that interested in law-. - and when you start going to school for economic instead of academic reasons, you're in trouble. "Actually, I wouldn't mind stay- ing here for the rest of my life. But I suppose I'd eventually grow tired of it. You've got to avoid getting into a rut." Unless it leads through a gaping hole between guard and tackle. THIS WEEK'S GAMES (Consensus in Caps) MICHIGAN at Wisconsin Illinois at PURDUE INDIANA at Iowa OHIO STATE at Minnesota MICHIGAN STATE at Northwestern Bowling Green at MIAMI (O) Wake Forest at CLEMSON OKLAHOMA at Colorado BAYLOR at TCU Yale at DARTMOUTH Washington at STANFORD MISSISSIPPI at LSU Missouri at NEBRASKA South Carolina at MARYLAND Texas at SMU TULANE at Vanderbilt KENTUCKY at West Virginia GEORGIA TECH at Duke ST. JOHN'S at Gustavus Adolphus JIM LaSOVAGE (Associate Sports Editor, 82-38--.683)-Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Miami (0), Clemson, Oklahoma, Baylor, Dartmouth, Washington, Mississippi, Nebraska, Maryland, SMU, Tulane, Ken- tucky, Georgia Tech, St. John's. GIL SAMBERG (Assistant Sports Editor, 79-41--.658)-Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Miami (0), Clemson, Oklahoma, TCU, Dartmouth, Stanford, Mississippi, Nebraska, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Gustavus Adolphus. JIM TINDALL (Associate Sports Editor, 74-46-.617)--Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, MIami (O), Clemson, Oklahoma, Baylor, Dartmouth, Stanford, LSU, Nebraska, Maryland, Texas, Tulane, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Gustavus Adolphus. CHUCK VETZNER (sports Editor, 73-46-.60)-Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Miami,(0), Wake Forest, Oklahoma, Baylor, Dart- mouth, Washington, Mississippi, Nebraska, Maryland, SMU, Tulane, West Vir- ginia, Georgia Tech, St. John's. STEVE VETZNER (Guest Selector, Sports Editor, NIlihilite)-Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Miami (O), Clemson, Oklahoma, Baylor, Dartmouth, Stanford, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, SMU, Tu- lane, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Gustavus Adolphus. Fisher is averaging 5.7 yards in 49 carries in conference play this season and has accounted for nearly half of Michigan's total rushing yardage. What Price Glory? He is also probably one of the most under-publicized backs in the country. But then he isn't out for glory. He'd rather win football games. "I can't wait to get onto the field. I love to play the game, and I believe in the philosophy that if you want to really do some- thing, you'll want to do it well. Steve Vetzner, erstwhile brother of da Boss, and sports editor at Niles East High School in Skokie: Ill., has begun his grid picking game criticism of their strategy. career on a very sour note. He picked Wisconsin over Michigan just "Second-guessing destroys all the because he wants to go there. Such irrational bias is, as we all know, 'cools' of football. It's like doing completely unforgiveable. a problem after you know the an- All Grid Picks entries must be brought in to 420 Maynard St. swer." by midnight tonight, in order to be eligible to win two tickets to the A Losing Equation Michigan Theatre. 'M' Statistically Victorious By DOUG HELLER Big Ten statistics are fast ap- proaching the phenomenal as far as Michigan is concerned. In ad- dition to leading the conference in total offense (the Wolverines are eighth in the country), they are ,closing in on the leaders in de- fense as well, and all this with a 1-2 league record. Michigan is tied for the Big Ten lead in points per game with Pur- due at 25.7. They are far out in front in first downs with 21.3 per game. Net yards gained per game is no contest, with the Wolverines almost 60 yards ahead of their nearest rival, Northwestern. The Wolverines have gained 202.7 yards per game passing, 36 better than their closest competitor, and 167.6 yards per game rushing, good for second and only .6 of a yard behind Michigan State. Most Plays Just for a change of pace, Mich- igan leads with 75.0 plays per game, a full three plays ahead of second place Indiana. The Wol- verines also lead in net yards per play with 4.9 and average yards gained on the ground, 3.6. Michigan also has 15.7 com pleted passes per game out of 29.0 attempts per game, both leading the league. And just where does Michigan not lead in offensive statistics? In addition to yards per game rush- ing, Michigan doesn't lead in yards per play passing and completion average. That is all. On defense, they are fourth in points per game allowed, and only one behind the leader in oppo- nents' first downs, each totaling 14.0. The Blue is second behind Illinois in opponents' net yards, with 212.3 per game, on 152.3 rushing and a league leading 60.0 per game passing. Only Second Michigan is second in yards per play allowed, with 3.3 (3.2 by rushing and a league leading 3.4 per play passing). The Wolverines have also allowed the opposition the smallest completion percent- age, .302. They have had no passes intercepted themselves, the best mark in the conference. Of the 23 statistical categories mentioned, Michigan leads in 13, an awesome performance. Yet there is one statistic that has at least helped negate all of these- Michigan has been the most pen- alized team in the conference, with 69.3 yards per game. "I get psyched out and really go." That's all very good . . . and what player doesn't want to win and play on a championship team. But -to Fisher, it's a lot more than that. "It's going out there and going like hell for 60 minutes and really liking it. "It comes down to the point where enjoying the game is incen- tive enough to go out there and play. I've been sad and disap- pointed after games, but I've nev- er been really disillusioned. "That's important to me. It means that I still haven't given "n on the hope that Michigan Sure, it's a dim hope. But if me will go to the Rose Bowl this year. quit now, we'll never go." You've got to admire his atti- tude. And you've got to also point out that he has a 3.3 grade in Structural Engineering. (Yes, his number is also 33.) Slide-Rule Jockey... Sometimes In the early mornings and on weekday nights, he treks over to the Law Library or other ignom- inous places to study. "Whether I get anything accomplished de- pends what kind of mood I'm in, I guess," he explains. "Sometimes I can sit for hours pushing the slide rule back and forth. Other times . .." He's happy with his record, which has earned him a berth on the All-Big Ten academic team, but he isn't looking for an invi- tation to design a launch pad at Cape Kennedy just yet. "There's one thing about this university that you notice right away. It deflates any ideas of be- ing a super being." He's happy about that, too. "I like real people. That's why I'm not so sure I want to be an engineer. I don't want to live in a room. I'd like to be a consultant or something and get out and meet people." Fisher's trademark around cam- pus used to be a techni-colored, multi-dented Mercury which could have qualified for one of the sev- en unnatural wonders of the world. It originally belonged to his par- ents back in his junior year in high school. But he'd banged it up "a little" one night and had to trade his sports car to his parents for the Merc. "It would have cost too much to have it fixed up, so when I came to Michigan I started hav- ing fun with it . . . just about every day it'd come home with a new bump in it." Metamorphosis In addition, the car went through molting periods of, color changes--from red to blue to blue and maize. "But last spring, the car died. "We dumped cement blocks on it from on top of the house and then had it hauled off to a junk- yard. "I guess I'm just getting too old for fun and frolics anymore," Fisher explains jokingly. Then, in a more serious tone, he adds, "I think that owning a car like that makes you really re- spect having a good car." 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