Page Six
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Tuesday, June 10, 1969
_.
x
Against
'The wall
SayI it ain't so..
... Broadway Joe
By LEE KIRK
CLACKERS!
I mean, its only spring and all of a sudden, like a bolt from
the blue, Joe Namath retires.
Joe Namath, Broadway Joe, refused to bow before the forces
that be (i.e., the establishment) and hung up the 39 pads that.
protect his knees from blood thirsty Raiders and overdue Bills.
Broadway Joe, in a style not his own, damns the torpedoes
and then blows up his own ship.
If he stays out, it will be a huge loss for pro football (the
Jets' value reportedly dropped $5 million), the entire sports
world, and Eastern teeny boppers.
Namath was a unique species among the stars of the 60's.
He had a mind and was not afraid to speak it. He had style -
class - a gift for calling attention to himself and all that sur-
rounded him.
The Super Bowl was probably as much Broadway Joe as it
was the Jets. The Colts, -the super team, were favored by 20
points, and not even a devout armchair quarterback would
normally get aroused about a game that looked like an incred-
ible mismatch.
But apathy never stood a chance in the face of the pride
of Beaver Falls. He simply announced, "We'll beat 'em." Sud-
denly the Super Bowl, an afterthought liqueur for the satiated
football fan in its first two years, became a main course.
Many fans, I among them, were eager to see Namath clam-
med'up and the Jets sent back to the AFL licking their wounds.
Pro, football had temporarily lost its aura of automation and
had reverted td a game of mortals, and none proved more mor-
tal than the Colts.
MANY HAVE COMPARED Namath's retirement with simi-
lar gestures made by baseballers Donn Clendenon, Ken Harrel-
son and Maury Wills. Some compare it with the suspension of
Alex Karras and Paul Hornung for betting on pro games.
But by and large, there are very few coincidental points be-
tween these occurrences and the anguished decision of Namath
to quit.
The events surrounding the rise and fall of Muhammed Ali
offer a great many parallels with Namath's career. Ali was not
merely vocal. He possessed in his prime a plethora of prolific
polemics. 'Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee' was the philo-
sophy of his tongue as well as his fists.
The small well of disgust aroused by his assault on penta-
meters crescended into a furious roar when he became a Black
Muslim.
Yet boxing owes Ali a debt. A series of deaths in the ring,
Mafia influence, a declining number of quality boxers, and sag-
ging attendance had the fight game on the ropes until the vocal
Louisville Lip lifted the sport to its feet.
Yet Ali never was a hero. In fact, he made Sonny Liston the
people's choice. At least Liston knew his place.
Boxing never appreciated what he did for the sport. He was
never called by his Muslim name, it was always Cassius Clay.
They never gave him credit for being the greatest heavyweight
of all time.
WITH BROADWAY JOE we may never have the chance to
be sure.
. Both Namath and Ali eventually got nailed for standing by
what they firmly believed right.
If courage of conviction can be measured by personal
sacrifice, a sacrifice that is Meore than just a monetary one,
Muhammed All makes most of us look like gutless hypocrites.
Broadway Joe's decision is perhaps not based on as deep
a principle as Ali's, but it still rests on the assumption that a
man should not have to act against his will.
When Commissioner Rozelle came storming into Bachelors
III like the Ajax White Knight, Joe declared himself to be clean
already, thanks just the same. Rozelle ordered Joe to clean up
and fearlessly shook his all-purifying lance. Nmath humbly
excused himself.'
Rozelle is kidding himself if he thinks that forcing Namath
to sell his nightclub interest will help pro football move to purity,
just as the WBA was wrong when it stripped' Ali of his, title
in hopes of purifying boxing.
These ill-considered moves were both justified as being
essential for preserving the image of the sport involved. This is
a not overly subtle way of saying that football and boxing both
felt it essential to take action to insure the continued flow of
the almighty, All-American, middle class WASP d o 11 a r into
their pockets.
It does seem a little absurd for Rozelle to stand up and
play the game "J'accuse" when even the FBI announces Namath
is as clean as a whistle. Rozelle appears intent on becoming a
law unto himself in matters not his concern. What Joe Namath
or anyone else does in his private life is not anyone's concern
unless he goes beyond the bounds of the law.
If Broadway Joe comes back, I won't be surprised, and he
has swallowed his pride before, but let's face it, Namath is in-
teresting because he is unpredictable.
You've got to admire men like Namath and Ali. They have
chosen the road less traveled and are willing to live with the
consequences.
Namath reiterates
SLOLICH FANS 16:
aN Aa 7 44LLL-ICH FANS116:
1-ULIL UIG1iU1iL j
STATELINE, Nev. 3P) - Joe
Namath said yesterday nothing
had occurred that would cause
him to reconsider his decision to
quit pro football, but that he was
willing to discuss that matter with
National Football League commis-
sioner Pete Rozelle.
Namath, here to play in an in-
vitational golf tournament spon-
sored by a local casino, said he
had not talked to Rozelle since
he announced his retirement last
Friday.
He indicated he would like to
discuss the matter with Rozelle
daily
sports
NIGHT EDITOR:
PHIL HERTZ
but "did not think Rozelle would
budge one inch."
Namath, who led the New York
Jets to an upset victory over the
Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl
in January, announced his retire-
ment rather than sell his interest
in a New York City bar that Ro-
zelle said was frequented by,
gamblers.
His reply was a simple but em-+
phatic "no" when asked is he
would change his mind about re-
tiring.
The only qestions that drew 1
"no comment" from Namath were
whether he was interested in
buying into one of Nevada's legal
casinos and whether he had ap-
plied to a Las Vegas bank for
money to do that.
Namath answered questions for
about 20 minutes at a news con-
ference after coming off the rain-
soaked Edgewood Tahoe golf
course. Hewore a blue rain slicker
and white striped trousers, a n d
twirled a drink in his hand.
The Jets quarterback said he
was "a little disappointed" with
the handling of the affair by the
Jets' front office.
Revealing some of the details
for the first time, he said that
about two months ago he had re-
reied from the Jets a list of un-
savory characters who supposedly
Russell grabs
long jump title
Ira Russell, Michigan's crack
broad jumper turned in his finest
performance of the year Saturday
and easily captured first place in
his specialty at the Central Colle-
giate Conference Championships
held at Bowling Green, Ohio.
Russell leapt 24 feet 1/2' inches,
far outdistancing Wayne State's
Don Robinson, who had a jump of
23-8%/.
Two other Wolverines compet-
ed in the meet. Leon Grupdstein
finished sixth in the 220-yard
dash and John Lowe qualified for
the 440-yard intermediate hurdles,
but was unable tokrun injthe fi-
nals because of a knee injury.
Michigan's 440-yard relay team
did not enter the meet because of
an injury to Larry Midlam.
In the team standings, Michi-
gan racked up ten points, far be-
hind meet champions Ohio Uni-
versity, whose 61 points were just
enough to beat out Western Mich-
igan, who had 60 points a n d
NCAA titlists Kansas, who rolled
up 60 points.
This weekend several Wolverines
will take part in the United States
Track and Field Federation Meet
at Lexington, Kentucky. Entered
are Russell, Grundstein and Mich-
iga'ns freshman pole vaulter Lar-
ry Wolfe, who will compete as an
unattached independent. Michi-
gan's 440-yard relay team will be
entered in the meet, but will be
representing the Ann Arbor Track
Club.
ilots drop Tigers, 3-2
Sox, Petroceli roll on
By The Associated Press
DETROIT - Detroit got a 16-
strikeout performance from Mick-
ey Lolich, who also singled in a
run, but the Seattle Pilots broke
through against reliever Pat Dob-
son for two runs in the 10th for a
3-2 victory over the Tigers I a s t
night.
The Tigers then threatened in
the bottom of the inning when re-
lief pitcher Diego Segui allowed a
single, a walk and a rui scoring
single to Al Kaline. John O'Don-
oghue then came in and got a
strikeout, but then yielded a
bases-filling walk.
That brought on John Gelnar,
who struck out Willie Horton and
got Tom Matchick to ground out,
ending the game.
Dobson, 1-4, came on for the
Tigers after Lolich was lifted for
pinch hitter Gates Brown in the
ninth after the Tigers had loa'ded,
the bases with two outs. Winning
pitcher Marty Pattin, 6-4, who
struck out nine, then got Brown
to ground out.
* * *
ST. PAUL - MINNEAPOLIS -
Homers by Carl Yastrzemski and
Rico Petrocelli sparked Boston to
an early lead and Vicente Romo
protected it with clutch relief
pitching as the Red Sox beat the
Minnesota Twins 5-3 last night.
The Twins, down 5-1 going into
the seventh inning, came up with
two runs after two were out be-
fore Romo came on in relief of
Ray Jarvis and Sparky Lyle.
After singles by Rod Carew and
Tony Oliva and a walk to Har-
mon Killebrew, Lyle replaced
starter Jarvis, now 3-1.
Following a two-run single by
Rich Reese and a walk to Graig
Nettles, Romo came in to get Car-
denas on a bouncer to short.
'4,1
MAJOR LEAGUE STANDINGS
T.v~
-Associated PressI
Broadway Joe presents an Emmy award
frequented his club. Bachelors III, -----.------------ _.___
on New York's upper,East side:
Bachelors III then contacted the Alci g
New York City district attorney's
office, Namath said, and asked to f "
hire a man to work at the club 0". J. advtses Namath to
who would help spot these people.
game;
fight--- '-
B
B
De
Ile
N
Ci
Se;
He did not say whether any in-
vestigators were ever hired.
Namath said the Jets "made, no
attempt" to help him.I
The next time he heard about
the matter, he said, was I a s ta
Tuesday night when he was con-
tacted by Rozelle and given 24
hours to sell.
He safd his attorneys contacted
Rozelle Wednesday and got an ex-
tension on the deadline.
"The first feeling I had was toj
sell," he said. "Then I talked to
friends and lawyers and I felt it;
was not right, it was not fair. -I
just want to know the reason,"
said Namath.
Namath said he had talked'
about his proposed retirement
with teammates and friends.
"The people I have heard from
all said it was a good decision,"
he said.
"The big problem, as always, is
that we want to play football.
That's the big problem."
Namath said he hoped that
teammates have indicated t h e y
would quit if he did would re-
consider and stay with the club.
Namath said that during the
football season he spent two or
three nights a week at Bachelors
III .but that for six months of the
year he was in Miami, Fla., where
he has a home.
By The Associated Press C
LOS ANGELES-Lew Alcindor, three-time UCLA All-AmericanC
basketball star, has apologized for punching Los Angeles Stars' center
Dennis Grey but Grey, his jaw shattered, isn't talking.
Alcindor, the 7-foot-1%/ agile giant who led the Bruins to three
straight national titles, sent Grey of the American Basketball Asso-
ciation Stars reeling Saturday during a pick-up basketball game. The
blow sent Grey to a local hospital where a two-hour operation was
required to set the broken bones.
Alcindor, when informed of the seriousness of the injury called
the hospital and apologized. He said he would pay all medical ex-
penses.
* *
* NEWARK-Q. J. Simpson has a word of advice for Joe Namath
-"fight."
Simpson, University of Southern California running back who
was drafted by Buffalo of the American Football League, was in
Newark to official at the city's annual Soapbox Derby Sunday.
He said he thought Namath, who announced his retirement from
the New York Jets and pro football last week in a dispute concerning
his part ownership of a New York bar, should fight his case.
"I'd fight it; in the courts, in the press . . . anywhere," the Heis-
man Trophy winner said.
* * * *
* WARSAW-Skiing will stay on the program of the Olympic
Winter Games and Jean Claude Killy of France and Nancy Greene of
Canada will keep their gold medals won in the Grenoble Games last
year, the International Olympic Committee decided yesterday.
The decision, announced by an official IOC spokesman, was con-
sidered a rebuff to American IOC President Avery Brundage, who in
the past has criticized Alpine skiing for being too commercial and
who publicly suggested that skiers Killy and Miss Greene be stripped
of their medals for alleged violation of Olympic amateur rules.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East Division
WV L Pct.
altimore 39 16 .709
oston 35 18 .660
)etroit 27 23 .540
Nashington 29 29 .500
ew York 28 29 .491
leveland 18 32 .360
West Division
[innesota 29 23 .558
ak:and 25 24 .:10
eattle 24 28 .462
hicago 21 28 .429
Cansas City 23 31 .426
;alifornia 17 34 .333
Yesterday's Results
Boston 5, Minnesota 3
Cleveland 5, Chicago 1
Kansas City 7, New York I
Seattle 3, Detroit 2, 10 inn.
Other clubs not scheduled.
Today's Games
Boston at Minnesota, night
Cleveland at Chicago, night
Seattle at Detroit, night
California at Baltimore, night
Oakland at Washington, night
Kansas City at New York, night
GB
3
912
12
18
5
6%
7
11 /z
Chicago
New York
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
Philadelphia
Montreal"
W4
Atlanta
Los Angeles
Cincinnati
San Francisco
Houston
San Diego
W
36
28
26
25
is
12
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East Division
L
17
23
28
31
37
est Division
32 20
30 22
27 21
29 23
27 30
24 "33
Pct.
.679
.549
.481
.469
.367
.245
.615
.577
.563
.558
.474
.421
GB
7
10'
1114
16
22
2
3
3
iOi
'..
Yesterday's Results
Cincinnati 4, Chicago 1
Other clubs not scheduled.
Today's Games
Chicago at Atlanta, night
St. Louis at Cincinnati, night
Pittsburgh at Houston, night
Montreal at San Diego, night
Philadelphia at Los Angeles, night
New York at San Francisco, night
Paying for the Other Guy's Accidents?
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$25,000 B.I. and P.D. $1,000 Medical Expenses
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