:rTGHT THE MICHIGAN DAILY
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1959
ab Program Enriches Language Study
Top Ten Local Sports Stories
Illustrate New Michigan Spirit
(Continued from Page 1)
has been hiring coaches and play-
ers in its intent to open play in
1960.
5) Alex Olmedo's downfall in
the Davis Cup was the big tennis
story of the season. The Peruvian,
competing for the United States,
had won the Wimbledon and al-
most everything else before going
to Australia in late August. He
turned professional immediately.
6) Syracuse gave Eastern foot-
ball its biggest boost in years by
going undefeated against solid
teams throughout the nation. The
Orangemen were ranked number
one, averaged nearly 40 points per
game and limited its foes to 19.1
yards rushing per game.
Blaik, Erdelatz Quit
7) Red Blaik of Army and Eddie
Erdek2,. of Navy surprisingly step-
ped down from two of the best-
regarded football coaching jobs in
the nation. Blaik left West Point
Jan. 13 and Erdelatz followed suit
three months later. With their
losses came lots of defeats to Army
and Navy teams in 1959. They had
been ranked 1-2 in the East.
8) Montreal retained its Stanley
Cup title in hockey for a record
fourth year in a row.
9) Sword Dancer, a three-year-
old colt, repeatedly beat older
thoroughbreds to become the horse
of the year despite its loss to Tomy
Lee in the Kentucky Derby.
10) Out of nowhere, California
stunned the basketball world by
working its way into the NCAA
finals and then edging West Vir-
ginia in the finale. West Coach
basketball had done it again.
Action at Home, Too
While all this action dominated
the national sports scene the cam-
pus provided its own share of tri-
umphand turmoil, happiness and
heartaches. At least three of the
best four stories were due to spirit
-the recent fad in Michigan ath-
letics.
Hustling Wolverines in swim-
ming, track and football gave their
respective followers lots of big
moments.
1) The best of these was un-
doubtedly when Michigan swim-
mers attended the NCAA finals at
Ithaca, N.Y. Team winners in the
previous two seasons, the local
contingent was a slight favorite to
repeat.
Then within period of three
days, almost everyone on the squad
gave their best performance and
the slight favorites won by 93%1
points. It's because of the victory
margin-not just the victory-that
this event stands out as 1959's
best.
2) Happiness turned to sadness
for the swimmers in mid-summer,
however. Bruce Harlan, the likable
little guy who broke up Ohio
State's diving domination, was
killed when he fell from a diving
tower he was dissassembling.
. From Ninth to First
3) When a team jumps from
ninth place to first in a one-year
period, it certainly lifts some eye-
brows. That's exactly what Michi-
gan's track team did by annexing
the 1959 Big Ten indoor crown.
And its sophomores did a one-man
job of mauling defending cham-
pion Illinois. En route to the team
title, dashman Tom Robinson set
two Big Ten marks and established
himself as one of the world's fore-
most sprinters.
4) Big things were hoped for,
but not expected of, football coach
Bump Elliott in his initial year.
Yet, despite his 4-5 won-lost rec-
ord, few people were disappointed.
They had seen one of the most
spirited teams in the nation and
a c auple of groups called the little
blond "the Big Ten coach of the
year."
5) M. C. Burton made a sweep
of three of the Big Ten individual
basketball titles in leading Michi-
gan to its best finish since the
19J7-48 campaigin. The Muskegon
Heights senior led the league in
scoring and rebounding, and was
named the Conference MVP.
6) Michigan's tennis team fin-
ished a great season in a great
way. Never before had a Confer-
ence team swept all possible points
as it won the championship.
Stager, Olympic Coach
7) Gus Stager, Michigan's hard-
working swim coach, got some
extra compensation for his efforts.
The American Olympic Committee
named him to coach its 1960 team.
Stager, however, couldn't attend
the meeting when the announce-
ment was made-he was too busy
coaching!
8) The story that never ended
provided newsmen and fans lots of
chatter during the fall. That was
wl-n Athletic Director Fritz Cris-
ler didn't accept a job offer to be
commissioner of the new pro foot-
baLl league.
9) Last spring, a time when
Michigan's future Rose Bowl hopes
were at their lowest, the Big Ten
broke its Bowl pact with the West
Coast group.
10) Gymnastics rarely make
headlines in the United States.
One of the lone exceptions is when
a man named Newt Loken (Michi-
gan coach) used lots of Canadians
and defeats a powerful team like
Illinois. That's what happened
here last winter as Michigan won,
58%-55%. A capacity crowd of
more than 1,000 was on hand to
watch this little-known sport.
Bowl Games
Slated for'Tv
By The Associated Press
Two brand new football Bowl
Games, both of which appear
ready to take places alongside the
older year-end attractions, make
their appearance on the scene and
on the nation's television screens
Saturday.'
Penn State, which had an 8-2
season record meets Alabama (7-
1-2) in the Liberty Bowl while
Clemson (8-2), and Texas Chris-
tan (8-2), play in the Bluebonnet
Bowl.
* * * *
O'Brien Wins Award
NEW YORK - Parry O'Brien,
World Record Holder and Olympic
Shot Put Champion, yesterday was
named winner of the First Annual
Lawrence di Benedetto Memorial
Award for the outstanding single
performance by an American
Track and Field athlete in 1959.
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DUAL FILTER DOES IT!
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Here's how the t} Fitter does it:
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