The Michigan Daily-Friday, November 17, 1978-Page 11
SPORTS OF THE DAILY

.k....<Sxa :. - 1

Last of the Ninth
By RICK MADDOCK

Tumblers compete in ,

Athletic seating . .
... students lose /out
BRACK IN THE FALL of 1975, when I was a little freshperson, I was all
gung-ho Maize and Blue. I bought more Michigan shirts in my first
term than in all the terms since then. But the longer I attended this fabulous
institution for higher learning, the more I became disenchanted with the
attitude the institution had towards its students. The athletic department's
attitudes were, and still are, the most disgusting.
If it were not for the students, there would be no University. If there was
no University, there would be no Michigan Stadium with a capacity of 104,000
plus and rising to 106,000 plus for those really special games. There would be
no Crisler Arena with a capacity of 13,609. So with all of this great reasoning
behind us, why is it that the students are of such low priority as far as tikets
are concerned?
I'll tell you why. It's because the Michigan sports program has become
too big. It's not a college program anymore; it's a professional one. As a
matter of fact, it's bigger and richer than many professional sports teams.
And just as professional sports are a business first, so is the University's
athletic program.
A big business
This attitude is shown in the seating that the student body is given in
Michigan Stadium, and at Crisler Arena. At the stadium, there is absolutely
no reason in hel why the student body cannot be placed between the 20's on
one sideline. The general public would still pay the money for end zone
tickets. Just look at all the people who buy scalped tickets in the end zone.
They don't care where they sit, as long as they see the game. Besides, I bet
the majority of the general public would understand if the students were
given priority seating.
Unfortunately, the Michigan athletic department caters to the alumni
and the general public first. After all, these folks are paying more for their
tick ts, but more importantly, these folks make contributions to the
University, and a large part of these contributions are due to the successful
athletic program. In other words, by apple-polishing these folks, the athletic
department hopes they will, in return, donate more money.
What is even worse is the basketball situation. How can the athletic
department justify the fact that some seniors have to sit in the gold seats?
Furthermore, how can the department justify sitting the freshpersons,
sophomores, and juniors - all of them - in the golds? And finally, how in the
world can the athletic department get away with putting the Windsor
exhibition game in the season tickets (ah, atleast they did so for the public
too) and not putting Notre Dame in there?
Confused priorities
The athletic department will claim that Notre Dame is in the
Silverdome, and thus could not get a break for the students. If Notre Dame
and Michigan had said they would not play unless the students were given
-priority seating, I doubt the Silverdome folks would have complained. This
e'mment will probably cause snickers in the athletic department, since
here is no way they would speak for the students.
But what I cannot understand is why. Going back to my earlier
reasoning, there would be no athletic department if it wasn't for the
students. The athletic department is not concerned with morals, however,
it's concerned with money. If the students don't want the lousy seats, fine,
the athletic department will sell them to someone else for more money.
,The basketball ticket procedure proves this. If more than 5,500 students
had wanted tsketball tickets, then not all would have been able to get them.
There woHave ben a lottery. The Ann Arbor campus enrollment is
35,954. So if one-sixth of the student body wanted tickets, too bad. Also, the
athletic department does not even want one-half of Crisler to be occupied by
students for a basketball game between the students of Michigan and those
of another school.
I'm sorry. I just cannot understand the priority system involved here.
Maybe I should have applied to the business school. Or maybe I shouldn't be
complaining at all. I do get to see the games, and I should be thankful for
that. Who am I to complain? After all, I'm just a student.
GOOD FOOD, Domestic 8 Imported BEERS
at GREAT PRICESI
1/2 lb. Sirloin and 12 oz. Shell $2.25
$3 Pitchers and Frosted Mugs
7-ft. TV Screen for all sports events!
Michigan Football on Saturdays

By DIANE SILVER
With one victory already under their
belts, the Michigan men gymnasts
travel to Chicago today for the Windy
City Invitational. Fourteen teams will
competeat the Chicago Circle Campus,
starting with compulsaries tonight and
wrapping upwith the optionals and
finals tomorrow.
The tumblers swung into their com-
petitive season last weekend in Toronto
when Michigan posted an impressive
204.4 to 200.1 win over York.
"Last year the team was scoring
197's and 198's, and then last weekend
we scored 204 in the first meet of the
season. The progress is encouraging,"
said coach Newt Loken.
"We're anxious to see what the level
of competition will be like among other
teams this year," added Loken.
The Wolverines will get their chance
to do just that when they face Indiana,
Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and nine other
independent schools in this weekend's
meet. Kurt Thomas, considered by
many as the best male gymnast in the
country, will be among the competitors.

Returning co-captains, Bob Creek
and Nigel Rothwell, lead the 12 member
squad for Michigan. The only new
talent to . the team competing this
weekend is freshman Al Berger.
The Michigan gymnasts will return to
the Chicago area again next weekend
where they will participate in the Mid-
west Open in Rolling Meadows.
For more sports, see Pages 12 & 13
Tankers sweep
The Michigan women's swim team
captured every event last night in
rolling to their 24th consecutive dual
meet victory, 107-20. They did it at the
expense of an inept Oakland University
team.
Although it was only their second
meet of the season, Michigan was able
to qualify three divers for the nationals.
Julie Bachman and Mona Kennedy
placed 1-2 in the one-meter diving.
Kennedy's total of 231.0 was one point

indy City
over the qualifying score. Barb Wein- A E A B
stein won the three-meter event with a BFlexiePogramsARHurs
total of 291.60 to also qualify for
Nationals.
In the swim events, Mary Risch won
the 200 IM in 2:13.75 and Marion Stan- . ,
wood won the 500 freestyle with a
5:14.07. In the closest event of the meet, CENTER
Linda Kendall out-touched her Oakland
rival by 1/100 of a second in winning theTest Preparations'c
100-yard Butterfly. The team of Collins, For formaton ease Calf
Olson, Landis, and Groleau finished the 662-3149
meet by winning the 400 Freestyle For Locations in erCities, C
Relay. " FREE: 8-223-782
-Dave Zeman
HAPPY' FHOUR
Deliciously Different Frozen Yogurt Shakes'-
1/2 Price

* BLOODY LARRY
yogurt & raspberry juice
* SUNBURST
yogurt & orange juice
* APPLE BLOSSOM,
yogurt & apple juice

* PINA COLADA
yogurt & pina colada juice
* PAPAYA
yogurt & papaya juice
* PROTEIN PLUS-a frozen yogurt
shake with wheat germ & fresh
egg added!d I

INDIVIDUALIZED GEOMETRIC
HAIR DESIGN
CAMPUS: 520 E. WILLIAMS-761-3485
DOWNTOWN: 338S. ASHLEY-761-2699

Monday's and Tuesday's Delight Wednesday's Delight
Our famous Our equally famous house-sized
VEGGIE SANDWICH CLUB SANDWICH
50C off 50C off
Specials Nov. only
Aifte"'11 11115 A
w'e O..f FMujA

b

-

All specials from 6-9 pm Mon.-Sat. * 251 e. Liberty " 665-;513

r -g°


and
Monday Night Football
Open 9 a.m. -2-a.m. Monday-Saturday
2045 PACKARD


668-9588

marathon78
Sat. Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.
until Sun., Nov. 19 at 11 p.m.
:Fun for you. Funds for public radio.
?Join our on-air staff for 29 hours of listening fun: premium
r.. .'.t