FEBRUARY 11, 1960
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
..
FEBRUARY 11, 1980 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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['ROIT PISTONS IN BLACK AT LAST:
;hamberlain, Selling Campaign Raise Attendance'
Michigan Relay Tean
Faoedi LA Me
By TOM WITECKI
Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain
nd a high power selling cam-
aign are two reasons why De-
oit's struggling Pistons will write
ieir record financial records in
lack ink this winter.
7'1" Chamberlain, who has
roken the National Basketball
ssociation's season records for
oring and rebounding (with a
fth of the schedule yet to be
layed), is the biggest attraction
ver to hit the pro league.
And the towering Philadelphia
enter isn't confining his record-
breaking activities to the basket-
ball court. This is especially true
in Detroit where the Pistons have
drawn already more fans in 20
games than they did in last year's
entire schedule of 30 contests.
Selling Campaign
A second reason for the Pistons
financial success this winter is a
constant, diversified selling cam-
paign put on by the team's front
office.
One of the Piston's strongest
appeals have been made to college
and high school students. By pre-
senting his ID card and paying one
dollar, a student can get two and
three dollar reserved seats to Pis-
ton games.
Another come-on designed pri-
marily for college students is the
appearance of big name bands in
after-game concerts. Around 9,000
fans filled Detroit's Olympia Sta-
dium January 30, to see the Pis-
tons play the St. Louis Hawks and
hear a two hour concert by Duke
Ellington.
Come in and GET ACQUAINTED!
Slated next on the Piston "Bands
& Basketball" program are Louis
"Satchmo" Armstrong after the
St. Louis game on March 2 and
the Four Freshmen following the
Minneapolis contest on March 9.
Both of these games will be played
at the University of Detroit's Me-
morial Fieldhouse.
This summer an industrial sales
program was launched and twelve
of Detroit's more prominent in-
dustries invested in season tickets.
Special attention is also being
paid to bloc customers such as
church and civic organizations.
Other Piston gimmicks have in-
cluded the traditional Ladies Day,
free ponies on Kiddie Day, etc.
However, Piston Publicity Director
,Fran Smith looks at these "spe-
cials" as "selling ideas"'rather
than gimmicks.
Expose the People
Said Smith, "The important
thing is to expose the people to
the game. Get them down there
somehow and they may like it and
come back again and again."
The Pistons, like all professional
teams, are interested in heavy
season ticket sales, which means
money in the till before the season
even begins. This is especially im-
portant to the Detroit club since
they have been in the red the two
years they have been in the Motor
City.
"By filling the stadium with spe-
cial student rates, band nights
etc., we hope that eventually a
businessman calling on the day of
a game will be told that there are
no good seats left," said Smith.
"He will be stuck with three or
four clients who are hot to see the
game. To insure that he is not
left out again, he will buy season
tickets . . . or at least we hope he
will."
Thus Wilt "The Stilt" and the
extras are playing a big role in
building up the Piston's future
season ticket sales, something they
need if they are to make their
stay in Detroit a permanent and
successful one.
Grid Practice
Michigan's head football
coach, Bump Elliott, has set
the dates for Michigan's 1960
spring football practice.
He will call his squad together
April 11 to continue workouts
through May 7.
Practice sessions will be held
Monday through Thursday,
with Friday off and a long
scrimmage set for Saturday
each week, the Wolverine men-
tor added. In case of bad
weather on regularly scheduled
days, Friday sessions will be
called in order to get the full 20
days allowed under NCAA rules.
Six
track
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REMAINS IN OWN COUNTRY:
Canadian Athlete Dislikes Aid Plans
By MIKE GILLMAN
An average newspaper reader
going through the sports section
of his daily paper often reads of
foreign athletes taking advantage
of American colleges' willingness
to subsidize their education in re-
turn for their athletic services.
Less frequently does one read
of the athlete who declines the
opportunities in this country and
turns down the chance to border-
Jump. The American sports fan
hears little of the player who de-
cides to remain in his own coun-
try and get an education the hard
way.
But such an animal does exist.
Unknown in U.S.
A case in point is Lionel Con-
nacher, unknown in this country,
but an athlete that stayed in
Canada's headlines all last fall
and promises to remain there for
a few years to come.
For the sake of the uninitiated,
Connacher was the leading figure
in the drive of Western Ontario
to the championship of the Ca-
nadian Intercollegiate Football
League.
A solidly-built 190-pound full-
back, Connacher, in his last sea-
son of collegiate competition
paced Western Ontario to an 8-1
record with a record-shattering
1,300 yards gained on the ground.
Not known for his scoring (he
"only" tallied eight TD's), his
ground-out yardage was an all-
time school record.
Picked to play for the East team
in Canada's East - West Shrine
game, Connacher stole the show
in his collegiate swan song. His
hard-hitting drives led the East
team to an easy 45-6 win over the
West eleven and Connacher him-
self tallied four of the seven
touchdowns racked up by the
winnets.
Here was a player that could
undoubtedly have gotten the cus-
tomary "full ride" at an American
school (and in fact had been ap-
proached by a few), but had
chosen to go it alone and play in
Canada.
Why?
Connacher, in Ann Arbor a few
weeks ago to watch the Western
Ontario swimming team compete
here, explained his position to The
Daily.
No "Rides" in Canada
"Mainly I wanted to get into a
school without having preference
as an athlete. That is also a rea-
son why I chose Western Ontario.
While the Canadian colleges do
not give athletic scholarships, they
do give athletes a break by giving
them 'preference' admission. West-
ern Ontario had a business ad-
ministration school that I wanted
to attend and I was able to enter
on my own without preference."
Connacher went on to say that
he had been approached as a prep
student by American colleges for
both hockey and football. While
only a junior in high school, he
WILT THE STILT
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