Wednesday, October 13, 1971 -THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven Wednesday, October 1 3, 1971 1HL MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven Tom Darden-Michigan's TD on defense By DEBBIE WISSNER College football has traditionally been considered a game of offense, with Heisman trophy backs and raz- zle-dazzle plays dominating thehead- lines. In the past few seasons, how- ever, defensive football, which coach- es have always maintained wins ball- games, is also beginning to sell its share of tickets. The 1971 Wolverine defensive squad has captured the hearts of the fans, who apparently expect to see com- plete annihilation of Michigan's op-' ponents. The heart of the Wolverine second- ary, safety Tom Darden, or T.D., as he prefers to be called, agrees that the defense is finally getting the recognition it deserves. "Great offen- sive teams are being stopped this year," he says, "and it has to be because of great defenses." T.D. has to be considered some- what of an authority on defense, hav- ing played a different defensive posi- tion in each of his three varsity sea- sons at Michigan. "Changing from wolfman to defensive halfback wasn't so hard-my basic responsibility was still forcing the play," he says of his career. "But now, at safety, I have so much more room to move, and so many more places to cover." Darden admits, however, that this freedom .t safety makes it his favo- rite position. "It's a great challenge. The ideal safety, on every play, should be, if not in on the tackle, at least somewhere near the play." Although Michigan State's 13 points was considerably more than Wolver- ine fans are used to seeing racked up by opponents, T.D. strongly asserted that there was no defensive let-up on Michigan's part. "Statistically, they didn't get anything out of the ordinary on us. We were hurt by a few big penalties at the wrong times." Before the game, the Spartans had been claiming an emotional advant- age, but Darden pointed out, "Both teams are always 'up' for that game. I guess the final score shows who was more ready to play." He also said, "I try not to pay attention to the crowd, but I could tell the difference last week. The home-field advantage is all psychological, but it is a factor." T.D. believes that the biggest key to this year's defensive success is the fact that most of the defense is play- ing together for the third year. "This has to make the team more solid. We all know each other's moves and capabilities; we can cover for each other;" Darden played his high school foot- ball in Sandusky, Ohio, where he says he was a fan of Clevelandhrunning back Jim Brown. Although he might have been expected to -pend his coil- lege years under the tutelage of Woody Hayes, T.D. confesses, "I guess I was always prejudiced against Ohio State. Some of my friends went to OSU, and they had some really bad experiences." Darden has been playing football since the sixth grade, and despite all the games he has played in, he still Darden stated. "It's just a matter of priorities." Professional scouts rate Darden as a good pro prospect because of his speed and his versatility, although he says he is making no assumptions as far as his chances in the pros. "But I do feel that it's useless to go through years of training and preparation :: r::::::.^.".:::::v:. :gssstinsgs: iisi e . :.:vr::::.im gass l ": ' :": r:aiE : m is "":4:"i4"":"": ti: "Great offensive teams are being stopped this year . . . it has to be because of great defenses." -Tom Darden ' :::::::::::::::. .. . r.:'. ... r l:::":i n:':': rigm i : .i 1 i s e:.....:..:: 5:: .............:":..r% r..rI. rule out the possibility of Canadian football, should he not get a chance at the NFL. "Athletics, and especially football, has been a very important factor in my life," T.D. said. "Football 'en- ables you to deal with people of all backgrounds. You have to put your trust in white guys and black guys and Jewish guys. You learn to judge a person's character by what he does, if he fades out when the going gets rough, or if he rises to meet the situa- tion. Also, I have made so many close friends through football that I would never have met otherwise." The charge is sometimes made to- day that college football exploits ath- letes who are on football scholarships. To this charge, Darden replies, "I don't expect to get something (my education) for nothing. But by the same token, I can only give In return for what they give me." "It's true that college football is a business," T.D. admits, "and every, business has it's impersonal aspects. But for the most part, the coaches and sports staff here at Michigan have taken a very personal interest in the athletes. A very high percent- age of Michigan athletes do graduate, and this is something that the athletic department and the University can be proud of." enjoys watching football on television. T.D. did say, however, that he, "couldn't come out to Michigan Sta- dium every week to watch a game. I don't know how all those people do it. I couldn't be a spectator." In the last ten years, Darden has devoted coountless hours to football. Here at Michigan, actual daily prac- tice time is about two hours. When the time involved in getting dressed and taped, team meetings, and watch- ing films is included, it amounts to a total of 4-5 hours daily. "You find time to do what you want to do," without reaching the highest level of achievement," he said. "Pro football has to be the ultimate goal of every player. Any college player who says he doesn't want to play pro ball has to be lying." T.D. makes it clear that he has no preferences when it comes to playing for any specific team; he just wants a chance to play pro football. "Of course," he said, "I wouldn't play for nothing. They'd have to offer me some reasonable amount of money." Although he admitted that he hadn't given it much thought, Darden did not Tom Darden on the run BuCs Blass PITTSBURGH (P)- Steve Blass, unmercifully shelled in the Na- tional League playoffs, turned Baltimore's lethal bats into tooth- picks yesterday with a three-hit, 5-1 victory that gave the Pittsburgh Pirates their first ,World Series S triumph over the Orioles. The defeat ended an amazing NIG 16-game winning streak put to- JOH gether by the defending champion Orioles who won 11 games at the end of the regular season, three blazing fast consecutive playoff games and the curves and HT EDITOR: N PAPANEK balls and round house held them scoreless Robinson homered in burns Blass, who had a no-hitter work- Ing. until Brooks Robinson singled with one out in the fifth, thus made something of a prophet of Pittsburgh Manager Danny Mur- taugh. Murtaugh had w a r n e d against counting the Pirates out until they returned to their home ha bP . t ThrPP Rivers Stadium. Blass set the Orioles down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, took a standing ovation from a crowd of 50,403 when he came to bat in the Pirates' half of the eighth and then went out to the mound in the ninth to finish it up. He struck out Merv Rettenmund fly to center and then surrendered a single to his only tormentor, Frank Robinson. But then he ended it by getting Hendricks on a one-hopper to sec- ond baseman Cash. In all, Blass threw 136 pitches, striking out eight, walking just two and going to a full count on only three other batters. Baltimore Pistons wallop Knicks; 76ers bounce past Bulls II first two series games. Dave Cash scored Pittsburgh's first run, Jose Pagan drove in the second and BobRobertson cracked1 a three-run homer. But the day belonged to Blass as the Pirates pulled back into contention after two defeats at Baltimore. Driven from the mound in both his playoff starts and facing a Baltimore team that had mauled Pittsburgh pitching for 24 hits and l 16 runs in two previous games,I Blass bounced back with an over- powering performance. The 29 - year - old right - hander kept the Orioles completely off balance with an assortment of' until Frank the seventh. That trimmed Pittsburgh's lead to 2-1, but it was the only time the Orioles were able to break through against Blass, a 6-foot, 170-pounder' regarded as one of the easiest-going members of the Pi- rates. And he probably couldn't help smiling wv h e n his teammates, mocked for their inability to find a crack among the Orioles' 20- game winners during two defeats in Baltimore, put it away against left-hander Mike Cuellar on Rob- ertson's three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. ase atue vca aauii. leading off, got Powell on a long The trumph also underscored thel critical nature of tonight's fourth game-the first World Series night game in history. Baltimore's fourth 20-game winner, Pat Dobson, will go in that one against Luke Walk- er, 10-8 during the regular season. But it is doubtful that more attention could be focused on one man than was focused on Blass in this one. For even as he checked the Orioles they weren't out of it. until Robertson's blast in the sev- enth inning. That made it 5-1, and all Blass. had to do was coast the rest of the way. But just as ne had done after Robinson's homer, his sixth hit and second homer of the Series, he bore down. By The Associated Press; NEW YORK -- Burly Bob La- nier muscled his way for 29 points: last night and led the Detroit Pistons to a 91-84 victory over the cold-shooting New York Knicker- bockers in the National Basket- ball Association season opener for both teams.7 The 6-foot-11, 260-pound La- nier scored 20 of his points in the# first half when Detroit built a 46- 43 advantage it never relinquished. The Pistons went ahead to stay with 2:39 remaining in the second quarter, 39-38, on two free throws by former Knick Howard Komives. Dave Bing, the Pistons' all-time leading scorer, was held to eight points in the first half but col- lected 16 after intermission for a total of 24. * * * Philly flies CHICAGO - Philadelphia's one- two punch, Archie Clark and Hal' Greer, produced 57 points last night to lead the 76ers to a 114- 100 victory over the Chicago Bulls in their National Basketball As- sociation season opener. Greer, who netted 28 points, and Clark, with 29, led the 76ers to a 55-49 helftime edge. Philadelphia scored eight straight points in a surge led by Luke Jackson and grabbed a 83-74 lead entering the fourth quarter, and were never headed. Royals ream CINCINNATI - Tom Van Ars- dale, red-hot from outside, erupted for 22 points in the second half and 34 for the game to pace the Cincinnati Royals over Atlanta 127-113 last night in the National Basketball Association opener for both clubs. Van Arsdale, connecting on 16 of 23 field goal attempts, tallied 13 points in the third quarter to help the Royals widen a 58-57 edge to a 92-80 gap by the end of the period. He added nine more points in the final quarter when the Gridde Pickings "Margaret, answer the door!" shrilled Jim through the barrier separating the two spacious compartments of bliss. Startled by the piercing ripples of sound emanating from the oaken plank, .the merry maiden wavered, "Who could that be at this unearthy hour of the evening?" "Could it be a bearer of evil tidings? Perhaps it is the Caped crusador merely checking up on a pair of ordinary citizens. Per- chance it is Michael Anthony delivering one of his humanitarian gifts on behalf of the anonymous John Beresford Tipton." A short stubby darkly clothed figure extends his handlike ap- pendage. In it is a small rectangular white envelope. Margaret quickly seizes it and slices the top off. "It's . . . . your ticket for your free Cottage Inn Pizza for winning last week's Gridde Picks. Royals ran up as much as a 22- point lead at 107-85. ** * Sonics 'soar BUFFALO -- Spencer Haywood collected 29 points and 14 re- bounds in triggering the Seattle SuperSonics to an easy 122-90 vic- tory over the Buffalo Braves in the National. Basketball Associa- tion season debut for both clubs. CHEAt'ERS NEVER PROSPER? Spartans' rules rile rug gers Be like Jim Mecoli and turn But who is Margaret? 1. Illinois at MICHIGAN (pick score) 2. Ohio State at Indiana 3. Minnesota at Iowa 4. Michigan State at Wisconsin 5. Purdue at Northwestern 6. Pittsburgh at Tulane 7. Western Michigan at Toledo 9. Kansas at Nebraska 10. Stanford at USC 11. Texas at Arkansas in your picks by Friday midnight. By CHUCK DRUKIS The dreams of an undefeated season for the Michigan ruggers skidded to a halt in East Lan- sing Saturday. To say the least, it was an unexpected loss. The reason for the setback is quite obvious, however. Michi- gan State wanted to win the game more than Michigan did. State came prepared to play the game, except they forgot to make the field the right size, forgot to bring a game ball, for- got to get a referee, and forgot to put up the goal posts prop- erly. Moreover, the State touch judge was more interested in editorializing from the side line than he was in observing where the ball went out of bounds. Overlooking State's m i n o r faults, they played a fairly good defensive game. Their ! backs quickly covered Michigan's of- fensive sweep. Whenever the Blue tried to pass out to one of the wing positions, State confi- dently moved in for the tackle. If a State player missed his man trying to cut down the sideline, State wouldn't be at all dismayed. The condensed field was sure to find Michigan step- ping out of bounds. Early in the second half Mich- igan's Richard Thompson at- tempted a 35-yard penalty kick which would have been the mar- gin of a Blue victory. As soon as it was kicked it became ob- vious that the kick was right on despite a prevailing crosswind. However, at the last moment the ball seemed to die. It hit the crossbar and fell back toward the playing field. But would the kick have been good with regulation goal posts? Ten minutes after the scheduled starting time, several State play- ers were still digging holes for the goal posts. Another was pulling old nails out of one of the goal posts to nail the cross- bar in place. Since everyone was anxious to get the game started, they didn't bother to dig the holes deep enough so the cross bar would be at the proper height from the ground. Regardless of whether State's actions were unethical or a mat- ter of circumstance, the Blue is a better team than the way they played during the game. Michi- gan was guilty of failing to cover sufficiently on a n u m b e r of plays. Michigan's backs also failed to adjust to the bizarre "playing conditions. The indication of a good team, however, is the abil- ity to adjust to the unexpected and play accordingly. Hopefully, by this Saturday the ruggers will have forgotten the unpleasant memories of the past and start anew. Notre Dame will send one team to Michigan on Sunday to battle the Blue. The Irish play a style of rugby that is character- ized by hard hitting and aggres- sive tackling. They like to kick the ball into the air and be there to recover it when it comes down. The ffme a ainst Notre Dame 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Colorado at Oklahoma North Carolina at Notre Dame Davisson at Furman Alabama at Tennessee Hofstra vs Wayne State University Xavier at Temple Iowa State at Kansas State Maryland' at South Carolina LIBELS vs Football Managers I SALVtATION the people's store will begin at 1:00 on Palmer-Associated Press Field. PITTSBURGH PIRATES' WINNING PITCHER Steve Blass Toldeo will also send a team mounts teammate Bob Robertson after the Bucs' 5-1 victory in to battle the Michigan Gold on the third game of the World Series yesterday. Blass fired a three Sunday.The Toledo - Michigan hitter and Robertson blasted a three-run homer to narrow Balti- game will start at 2:30 on Pal- mer Field. more's series lead to 2-1. TOM & hARRY'S WATERBED FANS! WITH STUDENT i I.D. SAKING QUEEN 00 DOUBLE$1 SINGLE I rvf& 7eta CapitalS .. i'eleaje4: John Leno-laine S A L The Band-Cahools Steve Miller Band-Rock Love Joy of Cooking-closer to the Ground Seatrain-Marblehead Messenger ___ PRESCRIPTION EYEWARE and SHADES . 4 Sale through Sunday, Oct. 17 at both Salvation Record Stores: $257 each l.p. 330 MAYNARD (through Nickels arcade 769-5458)