MICHIGAN'S MONEY-MAKER:
Canham-what makes him tick?
The Michigan Doily-Thursday, November 8, 1979-Page 9
National Football League
American Conference
East
By BILLY NEFF
First in a two-part series
-Don Canham. That name means many different
things to many different people. Whatever the image
surrounding this name, there is strong opinion. There
can be no other way.
As the athletic director and thus overseer of what
may be the biggest sports budget in the nation,
Canham has a mission to bring in all the economic
gain and athletic excellence he can to the University
that employs him. Obviously, this mission may con-
flidt with some factions. Most of the time, it is the
students who are at odds with his policies.
"If you ask the-average student who Don Canham
is, he probably wouldn't know. The image I read
about fluctuates from year to year. A few years ago, I
was a hero when I was pushing for intramural
buildings. Sometimes,- I'm pictured as a money-
hungry guy who is capitalizing on anything I can. I
think I'mi somewhere in between," said Canham.
Those students who have heard of Canham'
view him in a different. light, generally because of
their seating in Michigan Stadium or Crisler Arena.
Is the student criticism justified or is Canham, as
the expression says, just doing his job?
"The seating was set up by the students them-
selves, years ago. Only 10,000 attended games then.
The students got the best seats. You can't throw out
people who've been there. Are you going to throw a
whole section of lettermen out? What about your
faculty? The student allocation has to be divided
equally," Canham declared.
He continues, "What's a good seat? This guy wants
to be high and his wife wants to sit in row 25. You
cap't please everyone."
The former Michigan track coach and small
businessman believes what he says and says what he
believes. And one of the things he believes strongly in
is his role, regardless of public opinion. He knows
what he must do and feels he has done that.
"False modesty is a fat pain. I think I run this place
fairly efficiently and try to have fun along the way.
You're in the enjoyment and pleasure business," said
Canham.
The list of Canham's accomplishments is long, if
one considers how this campus has been transformed
into an athletic power. "Michigan has done things
that no other school has done. We took an old
fieldhouse that they were going, to knock down and
built the best fieldhouse in the country (YostArena);
we're the second school to put artificial turf in. We
built the first track and tennis building. The football
stadium is a showplace," posited Canham.
"Nobody ever thought of bringing Slippery Rock
in; now everybody's saying what a hell of a deal. Now
other people want to use the same idea," noted an ob-
viously pleased Canham.
One overriding principle in Canham's work is ob-
viously economics, but another, according to
Canham, is to make Michigan as competitive as
possible athletically. "We're not winning national
championships now; we need all the people we can
get," Canham asserted.
"Our purpose is to excel. Varsity sports are for the
very talented in athletics. I wish we had less varsity
sports so we could give each of them more help,"
Canham continued.
Canham, in his desire to excel, has to seek the best
coaches available to attain the aforementioned goals.
Once that has been accomplished: "All of our
coaches are at a very high level", his mission is to
please them, because they are his path to the athletes
and success.
"I have a rule that a coach can walk in here
anytime. One time President Fleming was in the of-
fice and a coach interrupted him. When a coach has a
problem, he needs an answer now. I take care of the
coach right now and they take care of the athletes,"
concluded Canham.
Canham has a large list of problems, too. One item
missing from this list is whether he likes his job or
not. "I'm not interested in leaving Michigan. I don't
set any goals. The guys who say they set goals, they
give me a pain. You work from day to day and week
to week, and hope you solve your problems," said
Canham.
"The thing, though, is that I've never had a job.
When I was coaching, I was enchanted with it. Since I
became athletic director, it has been fascinating,"
added Canham.
He relishes his role as athletic director, his accom-
plishments, and continues to strive for excellence.
Whatever Canham does in athletics, he does it with a
belief in himself, that has not and will not be deterred
by public opinion. He knows he has a job to do, and his
image means little when he sets out to accomplish
that.
(Tomorrow: Canham's beliefs on the issues of the
day in Michigan athletics.)
W
New England............7
Miami..................... 6
N.Y. Jets................ 5
Buffalo.................. 4
Baltimore............ 4
Central
Pittsburgh .............. 8
Cleveland......... .....7
Houston................7
Cincinnati...............2
'West
Denver.................7
San Diego ..............7
Oakland........6
Kansas City.............4
Seattle..................4
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4 0 179
5 0 221
6 0 200
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National Conference
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PA, Dallas..............8 2
15 Philadelphia ............. 6 4
142 Washington..............6 -4
249 N.Y. Giants .~..... 4 6
185 St. LOUIS............ .. 3 7
207 Central
157 Tampa Bay.............. 7 3
224 Chicago ................ 5 5
212 Minnesota................4 6
248 GreenBay..............3 7
48Detroit.................. 1 9
149 West
173 Los Angeles.............5 5
194 New Orleans ........ 5 5
152 Atlanta .................... 4 6
233 San Francisco ............. 1 9
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overine grapplers
look for big season
By K. ANTHONY GLINKE
The room is very hot. This is the first
noticeable thing, On the mats, their
faces beet-red, the wrestleme lay in
puddles of sweat while coach Dale Bahr
goes over one of the finer points of
takedown techniques. On the wall
hangs a large sign which reads "The
Michigan Tradition." Beneath it- are
pictures of former greats which date
back to 1926. Mercifully, Bahr signals
the end of practice and this is met with
scattered applause.
'Although never receiving the
notoriety of football or basketball,
r4ichigan wrestling has always
produced top-notch teams. For instan-
ce, witness last year's team which
compiled a 10-5 record, sent "three
wrestlers to the Nationals, and
produced three-time national champ
Mark Churella.
WHEN ASKED about this year's
team possibilities, 'Bahr said,
"Although Mark will be sorely missed,
I think we will have a better balanced
team this year. Last year we wrestled
with four and sometimes five freshmen
in our lineup, and gave up a lot of points
in the early matches. This year those
kids are coming back a year older and
wiser."
Team co-captain Steve Frazier
agreed and stated that he is looking
forward to a big season. Frazier kept in
top shape -this summer competing as
the, only underclassman on the U.S.
World Greco- team. The Hazel Park
senior along with Ann Arbor native
Bill Petoskey, the teams' 177-pounder,
and heavyweight Steve Bennett
stressed the importance of team unity.
Co-captain Petoskey thinks the best
way to achieve this is to "set an exam-
ple the younger wrestlers can follow."
Bahr is stressing this by letting the cap-
tains work with the other grapplers
together more, and encouraging them.
to think of each other.
BAHR AND company have good
reason to be optimistic this season. At
118 pounds, another Hazel Park native
Tom Davids, will be leading the first ef-
fort of the Wolverines on their tough
dual meet schedule. Bahr calls fresh-
rnan Davids "tough in the head, but still
with a lot to learn." -
:An early loss of veteran Jim Mathias
his left two-time state champ Larry
Haughn of Traverse City at 126. Haughn
was red-shirted last year, and accor-
ding to Bahr is an extremely hard
worker who needs to work into com-
petition and get back his old confidence.
;At 134, the grapplers will be counting
on another freshman, Bob Siar from
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania. Siar was a
state champ and high school All
American compiling a record of 98 wins
add three losses.
ALSO FROM Pennsylvania is 142-
pdunder Mark Barson. The sophomore
letterman competed at 126 and 134 last
year, and is considered by Bahr as "a
scrappy kid who has improved a lot sin-
ce the beginning of last season."
Another letterman returning this
year at 158 is sophomore Nemir
Nadhir. The two-time state champ from
Detroit Catholic Central "can be as
good as he wants to be," according to
Bahr. The whole team, in fact, is
looking for big things from Nadhir.
ADDING STILL more depth to the
upper end of the lineup is junior 167-
pounder Bill Konovsky,. Konovsky is a
two-year letterman who filled in for
Churella last year, and beat two all-
Americans. The LaGrange, Illinois
grappler is lauded for his quickness,
and his health should be a big factor in
the Wolverines' campaign this year.
The team's co-captains Petoskey and
Frazier bring much-needed experience
and stability to the lineup. Petoskey
placed fourth in the Big Ten last year
and was an NCAA qualifier..
He describes himself as a good, solid
fundamental wrestler, and has set his
personal goals as winning the Big Ten
and finishing high in the NCAA. He
maintains that injuries could be the key
to this year's showing.
AT 190, IS veteran Steve Frazier.
Frazier was an All-American two years
ago, and according to Bahr, is the
team's most experienced and best
wrestler. Bahr went so far as to call
him a potential nationial champ, and
-looking at his massively muscular 5'7"
frame, one can hardly disagree.
Frazier said of his own chances that
"They're as good as anyone's, but a lot
of strange things happen at the
Nationals."
Rounding out the lineup at
heavyweight will be either senior Steve
Bennett, or sophomore state champion
Erik Klasson. Bennett was an NCAA
qualifier two years ago, and stated that
he was "really looking forward to this
year." Having set personal goals of a
Big Ten title and a placing in the
Nationals, the communications major
spent last summer working hard on
weight training and running.
Bennett's chief rival at heavyweight
is 6'4/2" Klasson. The 240-pound Iowa
City resident was redshirted last
season. Klasson is praised by Bahr as a
hard worker, and should give Bennett a
run for the money.
One final plus for the Blue grapplers
is the presence of new assistant coach
Joe Wells. Wells is an excellent
wrestler from the University of Iowa,
who relates well to the students and as
Bahr states, "adds a lot to the team."
A sign which hangs in the wrestling
room states: The strength of the pack is
the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is
the pack. Watching the wrestlers prac-
tice their escapes, reyersals and
takedowns in the blistering heat makes
one aware that this is very appropriate,
and further, that the tradition lives on.
Hawks hand Pistons
fifth straight loss
By BUDDY MOOREHOUSE and DREW SHARP
Special to The Daily
PONTIAC - The youthful Detroit Pistons played with what team cap-
tain Bob Lanier called "reckless abandon" in the second half last night at
- the Silverdome, but their gutsy play was not enough as the high-flying Atlan-
ta Hawks sent the Detroiters to their fifth straight loss, 115-107. The victory
extended the Hawks win streak to five.
Atlanta's John Drew led all scorers witli'28 points, 26 of those coming in the
second half. However, the true margin proved to be the Hawks' tenacious
Concerned about
THE
JOB.
MARKET,
defensive play.
"Atlanta is the class of our league because of their defense," said Piston
coach Dick Vitale. "They play the best defense in the NBA." Uw~
The Hawks stretched the three-point halftime lead to as much as 18 ino
the third quarter, but the Pistons came back with a valian't effort and drew to -.
within two, 103-101, late in the fourth quarter.
Part of the reason for the Piston surge was the play of Lanier, who led
Piston scorers with 27 points, and rookie guard Roy Hamilton came on to Don't miss your chance to
replace ailing James McElroy in the fourth quarter. Also adding to the effort interView-Read at1y
was second year man John Long who had five crucial steals in the second recruiting advertisements
half in addition to 22 points.-
(giing*ho")
ign I- Gung Ho, adjective.
Enthusiastic. Energetic.
Shumate Willing to help. From an
HOUSTON (AP) - John Shumate oldDChinesephrase,'wor
three-year NBA forward waived nine together." Describes very
days ago by the Detroit Pistons, wasl-
signed yesterday by the Houstondp
Rockets.wteuolve new students. Meier
Shumate was to be in uniform lastJ
night asthe Rockets met the New Jer-t is ging ho about college,
sey Nets in a National Basketball ab u
Association game. too. Meijer Thrifty Acres
To make room for Shumate, theis perfect for college stu-
Rockets waived Rudy White, a third- t spefctfrcolgesu
year guard who missed all of last dents; new and old. We
season with a broken toe.,
have the selection of the
name brands you want,
SCORES
NBA priced to save you money.
Atlanta 115Detroit 107
Boston 117, San Antonio 105 I M aybe enough for chow
Indiana 97, Portland 906
Philadelphia 110 Kansas City 102mein and won ton for two
NIII.
Detroit 5. Edmonton 3Aa
Montreal 3, Pittsburgh 3
N;Y. Rangers 8, Los Angeles 4 people, gang ho. Always
Washington 6, Winnipeg :3Wilj help
Philadelphia 4, Quebec 3 tiIw 'illi ng t o 2 Ji h
Daily
Sports staff!
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