Page Eight
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednesday, November 25, 197th
Page Eight THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, November 25, 1 97~1*
Frazier,
Foster:
Reflections
on
a
two
round
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The author is of t h e anxious excitement of
an assistant professor of English fight night.
at the University.)
ByeU Es ULyI) What you miss in theater tel-
By JOE MULLIN evision as well as in home TV is
Last Wednesday night, armed the spectacle of boxing. Y o u
with a press pass and a free $50 can't see the color. and style of
ticket, I attended the first hea- a fight crowd arriving during
vyweight championship f i g h t the prelims when you are in the
held in Detroit in twenty years. dark, looking only at backs of
Fewer than 6000 people paid heads, facing a solid wall on
less than $100,000 to see Joe which the management shows a
Frazier knock out Bob Foster Yugoslavian western to pacify
in two rounds. Those who stay- you until 10:30. No sporting
ed home felt intelligent, I am event can match the color and
sure, when they discovered that style of an important fight.
the fight ended so quickly. I arrived at Cobo about seven
And if they waited to watch o'clock, early enough to check
the television films on Saturday my seat, go to ringside to tug
afternoon, they saw the knock- at the red ropes and to slap the
out in closeup four times, from pale-blue canvas, and make
three angles, in two speeds. sure everything was fit. After
They saw more of Frazier's pow- studying the Official Program
er and precision than I saw sit- carefully, I settled in my seat to
ting one hundred feet from the enjoy the arrival of the crowd.
ring in Cobo Hall. For such an During the prelims at least
obvious reason the prudent stay fifty men made impressively in-
home on fight night and wait dividual entrances. In blond
for the stop-action highlights and in black furs, in lavender,
on Saturday afternoon. green, and scarlet leather coats,
Still, there is talk of a possi- men strolled and swept and
ble $10 million gate for a Fra- swaggered to the $50 and $100
zier-Ali fight. People are pay- seats. Although some had at-
ing a lot of money to watch tractive and expensive women
live-action boxing on cable tele- with them, the men themselves
vision, because it captures some were the show.
Plunkett cops
They gathered, greeted o n e
another, and conferred about
the fight. They circulated slow-
ly and deliberately, only begin-
ning to settle down when the
added attraction, a closed-cir-
cuit bout from New York, be-
gan.
George Foreman, who is re-
membered by Middle America
f o r waving a small American
flag after winning the Olympic
Heavyweight title in 1968, stop-
ped a fellow by the name of
Boone Kirkman in two rounds.
I had no chance to know what
Kirkman can do. But I have
watched Foreman a half dozen
times now and have seen him
improve to a point where he is
clearly the best heavyweight af-
ter Ali and Frazier. Foreman
will be brought along for an-
other year or more before he
fights for the championship,
needing victories over fading
heavyweights like Jerry Quarry
and Jimmy Ellis.
He is- almost ready now. He
knocked Kirkman down three
times in two rounds, pounding
him with hard combinations. He
is big at 216, fast and aggres-
sive. So skilled at 22, Foreman
is bound to be the champion n
time.
cup
The crowd booed when the
TV picture faded and they hiss-
ed angrily when the bout ended
in the second round. But they
quieted when treated to a slow-
motion repeat on the large TV
screen. Then they began mov-
ing again, realizing that since
a fight can end quickly, they
must be seen before the main
event begins. They were surpris-
ed by the early arrival of the
challenger.
Bob Foster, the ' light-heavy-
weight champion, moved toward
the ring slowly - in a kind of
progress - wearing a regal,
blue-velvet robe with a white
satin hood and a red sash.
I had seen him in the press
room of the Sheraton Cadillac
the day before, when he had
been wearing a blue polka-dot
fencing shirt and p a 1 e green
bellbottoms. The Official Pro-
gram assured me that he thinks
of himself as "Mr. Mod." At
nearly six feet four inches, he is
tall for a fighter and handsome.
But despite thirty-five knock-
outs in forty-one fights, Foster
had been fighting men lighter
than Frazier and did not look
durable enough carrying 190
pounds on his tall frame.
Frazier came shadow-boxing
up the aisle, covered by a black
robe and hood. When he bound-
ed into the ring, everyone could.
see his 204 pounds more solidly
distributed.
During the instructions from
the referee neither fighter gave
any signs of his intentions, but
as soon as the first round began,
Frazier took charge. He is at
the peak of his ability now. He
moved Foster around the ring,
taking a few punches, but hit-
ting Foster with b o t h hands.
Foster danced briskly, moving
his head out of the way of the
shorter champion. I gave the
round to Foster for a couple of
impressive counter-punches, but
I was suspicious that it might
be the last round Foster won.
In the second round Frazier
came out smoking, and as he
circled Foster to the right, he
knocked the man over with a
left hook. At the press confer-
ence later Frazier said that at
that knockdown he had known
that Foster was finished. Foster
said later that he had not heard
the count. But he got up and,
after avoiding three or four
punches, got walloped by two
quick left h o o k s, one to the
body and then one to the head.
He said after the fight that he
had not known he was knocked
down a second time.
At the press interview, some
twenty minutes after the knock-
out, Foster entered still groggy.
He claimed that the weight dif-
ference had not bothered him
and he said he wanted another
try at Frazier, for what purpose
I cannot imagine. He claimed
that he had been hit harder by
Doug J o n e s. If he had, one
shuddered for him, because a
half hour after the fight he was
still shakey and forgetful.
Frazier came down to meet
the reporters after -his shower.
He is not a very colorful fellow,
but he spoke thoughtfully about
the fight and said he thought
it should have been stopped
sooner. He had not wanted to
hit Foster after the first knock-
down, but he was forced to when
Foster struggled b a c k to his
feet. Frazier never mentioned a
rematch for Foster; no reporter
suggested one.
What Frazier has in mind is
a match with Ali for that $10
million gate. Ali needs m o r e
matches to get back into fight-
ing trim. If he wins these bouts,
fight
and I cannot imagine a loss, the
two champions will fight in late
winter.
Frazier has the aggressive
style, the ability to take punish-
ment, and the power to hurt
with both hands which are nec-
essary to beat Ali. The former
champion will be in the tough-
est fight of his career when he
takes on Joe Frazier.
Waiting for that winner, in a
year or more, will be George
Foreman, who, in, a y e a r or
more, may be better than eith-
er of them. When has the hea-
vyweight division had three such
impressive fighters? Perhaps in
the mid-forties with Louis, Wal-
cott, and Charles. Perhaps. not
since the twenties.
On the way out I was brush-
ed aside by a tall man wearing
a saffron jumpsuit and a saf-
fron turban, parting the crowd
before him with a j e t black
cane. I could not have seen him
watching Saturday television.
Since it was only 11:15, I took
myself over to Monroe Street
and at the New Hellas ordered
a custard baklava with ice
cream. I would not have had
one of those watching Saturday
television, either.
4
NEW YORK P)-Jim Plunkett,j
Stanford's rifle-armed quarter-
back who is college football's all-
time king of total offense and
passing yardage, won the Heisman
Trophy yesterday as college foot-
ball's outstanding performer of
1970.
Plunkett received a total of
2,229E points from the 1,059 elec-I
tors in a battle as expected with
two other highly-touted quarter-
backs-Joe Thiesmann of Notre
Dame and Archie Manning of Mis-
sissippi. Thiesmann was second
with 1,410 points and Manning
third with 849.
Plunkett, a 6-foot-3, 204-pound-
er, is expected to be a top pro
draft pick.
In 11 games this season he has
passed for 2,715 yards and 18
touchdowns, nationally in total
offense with an average of 263.5
yards a game.I
The voting is counted on a 3-
2-1 basis with Plunkett getting
510 first-place votes, 285 seconds
daily
sports
NIGHT EDITOR:
MORT NOVECK
Plunkett was rewarded person-
ally yesterday for not thinking
of himself last year.
The reward came in the form
of the Heisman Trophy and un-
doubtedly will be embellished by
a lucrative contract when the
Stanford quarterback is selected
in the annual pro draft at the end
of January.
{ _But the position he is in now
and 129 thirds. Thiesmann had stems from the decision he made
242 firsts and Manning 138 firsts last year to remain at Stanford
in the balloting conducted by the despite the fact he was eligible
Downtown Athletic Club. for the pro draft then.
Rounding out the top 10 in the But Plunkett decided to stay at
country were Archie Manning, Stanford, saying: "Coach John
voting by 1,059 electors across the Ralston, all our coaches, and my
Mississippi quarterback; S t e v e teammates have been building
Worster, Texas ' fullback; Rex something at Stanford for the past
Kern, Ohio State quarterback. Pat couple of years. If I were to leave,
Sullivan, A u b u r n quarterback; I would always have the feeling
Jack Tatum, Ohio State corner that I let them down."
hank Eq ria , nin Air Fnr c .
Dac ;trnie, jennings,ai r orc
flanker; Don McCauley, Nort
Carolina halfback, and Lynn Dic
ey, Kansas State quarterback.
WOLVERINES EIGHTH:
Blue drop in AP p
Michigan dropped . to eighth
place in this week's Associated
Press football poll, after their loss
to Ohio State last Saturday. The
victorious Buckeyes mounted to
second, knocking Notre Dame into
the fourth spot.
Texas which did not play last
weekend held onto first place and
received 20 first place votes. Ohio
State got 14 votes for first place,
Nebraska pulled in six, Notre
Dame three, and Arizona State
two,
Nebraska remained in third
place by overcoming Oklahoma
28-21 to end their regular season
with a 10-0-1 record. The Corn-
huskers will get their next test in
the Orange Bowl against either
LSU, Texas, or Arkansas.
The Razorbacks of Arkansas
vaulted into fifth place, but due
only to their good luck. The Hogs
climbed over Texas Tech, 24-10,
and moved into the spot vacated
by Ohio State.
Sixth place fell to Louisiana
Son of
Gridde Pickings
We promised that we wouldn't
run anymore Gridde Pickings for
nine months, but after an early
abortion we're back. We know we
promised, but a promise from the
Daily sports staff is only as good
as a Cottage Inn pizza anyway,
which is the very reason why this
thing is getting written. We need-
ed a way to announce the winner
in last week's contest.
Not that he deserved to win.
Anyone who picks Ohio State, as
the winner, Jack Wagner of 3816
South Quad did, deserves a fate
worse than death. But we think
we've found one. Wagner can have
any kind of pizza he wants, as
long as it has anchovies, onions,
and garlic on it.
A fate worse than death also
awaits Daily readers as Son of
Gridde Pickings is not one of your
one shot deals. Starting in Janu-
ary, everyone will have the chance
to test their prognostication pros-
pects against the mighty men of
the maple as hoope pickings makes
it debut.
Icers to Fargo
For M .hi.an' hokev team-
State which was able to move i
the ratings after losing their gam
to Notre Dame last weekend, 3-
Seventh is now Gator Bowl-boun
Tennessee which mauled the pa
thetic Kentucky Wildcats, 45-0.
Arizona State held its surprisin
ninth-place ranking after a wi
over New Mexico. Tenth place no
belongs to Archie Manning's MiE
sissippi team, which was idle la:
weekend.
Unbeaten gridiron behemoth
Dartmouth and Toledo hold 14t
and 15th respectively, and Geo
gia Tech, Penn State, Northwes
ern, Colorado, and Washingto
were lucky enough to receiv
enough votes to round out the to
twenty, despite mediocre season
e And this Year he elevated them }
h to the Pacific-8 title with an 8-3
k record and a berth in the Rose
} Bowl New Year's Day against
Ohio State. BOB FOSTER collapses after receiving a second flurry of pun
"I hate to think where we'd be pionship fight. Joe Frazier was credited with the knockout a
without Jim Plunkett," Ralston fight foster did not remember this action occurring.
said recently. "We'd be going _
somewhere, but not toward the
Rose Bowl." FOOTBALL BOY(
He undoubtedly will be a first-
round selection and might very
n wellbe selected No. in the draft, W
he is potential and publicity virtual-
i- the neighborhood of what O. J.
wimpsBufalon nsimdlarhei sSEATTLE, Wash. (IW -- Reac- It was the second racial
i stances two years agou tion to an announcement by four dent at the university in two
gn csophomore black athletes Monday sons and third in four years
Simpson's contract reportedly is that they would not return to the The statement by the four
s-a four-year contract at $50,000 a University of Washington football the completion of athletic el:
st year plus a large loan for invest- team next year appeared to be sur~ ity by six black seniors left
ment purposes. prise and confusion. Husky squad without any b
s Plunkett currently ranks second Mark Wheeler, a halfback w h o Two black freshmen said the
th nationally in total offense and quit the team in midseason with- not know what action they v
r_ fifth in the nation in passing on out giving a reason, read the pre- take.
t- the basis of 17.4 completions a pared announcement Monday. The Joe Kearney, director ofs
n game. He has completed 191 of three remaining blacks on the var- programs, issued a statement
ve 358 passes for 2,715 yards .and 18 sity, Cal Jones, Ira Hammon and ing the action by the four b
p touchdowns. Charles Evans, were present. caught the entire athletic de
s -- -------
Dierdorf named-All-American;
Huff cops spot on Kod team
NEW YORK (P)-Jim Plunkett, Gatewood of Notre Dame and ine Dierdorf and Buckeyes T
-Associated Press
nches in the second round of the cham-
t 49 seconds of the round. After the
COTT
acks qui~t
inci- ment by surprise. A number of
o sea- teammates also said they were sur-
prised by the move.
rt plus "To my knowledge no black
igibil- football players from the start of
t h e practice in late August to today's
lacks. press release have directly contact-
ey did ed or visited coach Jim Owens re-
would garding any. racial grievance,"
Kearney said.
sports "In addition, I have not been
t say- contacted by any of our black foot-
blacks ball players regarding any racial
epart- grievance within the ranks of the
black football players," Kearney
added.
The statement read by Wheeler
said, "The racial practices of the
University of Washington coach-
ing staff have forced us to the
point where we no longer can tol-
erate the playing conditions im-
posed upon us.''
The four declined to elaborate
Tatum n the statement. In it they refer-
-+Associated Press
BOB FOSTER falls to the canvass. for the first time in the
second round of the heavyweight championship bout Nov. 18 in
Detroit. World Champion Joe Frazier towers over his fallen
opponent.
FOSTER SECOND
Munson tops AL rookies,
1. Texas 20
2. Ohio State 14
3.,"Nebraska 6
4. Notre Dame 3
5. Arkansas
6. Louisiana State
7. Tennessee
8. MICHIGAN
9. Arizona State2
10. Mississippi
11. Auburn
8-0
9-0
10-0-1
9-0
9-1
7-2
8-1
9-1
2 9-0
7-1
7 -2
812
760
718
676
482
414
413
385
311
'246
202
s3 nford the Heisman Trophy winning
14. Dartmouth 9-0 86 quarterback from Stanford, leads
15. Toledo 11-0 68 the 24-man Kodak All-America
16. Georgia Tech 7-3 9 team selected by the American
17. Penn State 7-3 40 tetdby heA ria
18. Northwestern 6-4 33 Football Coaches' Association yes-
19. Colorado 6-4 24 terday.
20. Washington 6-4 19 Joining Plunkett in the back-
Others receiving votes, listed alpha. onn lneti h ak
betic iy: Alabama, Florida State, Hous- field were halfback Don McCauley
ton, Louisville, North Carolina, Okla- of North Carolina, fullback Steve
homa, Oregon State, Purdue, San Diego Worster of Texas and flanker
State, Southern California, SyracuseChuck Dicus of Arkansas. The
Texas Tech, Tulane, UCLA, West Vir-.CukDcso rass h
gnia. other two ends selected were Tom
Wolverine gymnastics squad
bein defense of national title
Ernie Jennings of Air Force.
Also named offensivelyv
center Chip Kell of Tennes
guards Larry Dinardo of N
Dame and Bob Newton of Neb
ka and tackles Dan Dierdorf
Michigan and Bobby Wuensc]
and Stillwagon.
were The other Big Ten honorees are
ssee, fullbacks John Brockington of-
otre Ohio State and Mike Adamle of
ras- Northwestern. Adamle led the
f of Wildcats to their best Big Ten
h of record in years, 6-1, and a second
c
x
r
ti
z
r
E
By BETSY MAHON
The Wolverine gymnastics squad,
defending Big Ten and NCAA
champions, will lay those marks
on the line when they begin their
season this weekend. They will be
competing in the Mid-West Open,
sponsored by the Illinois Gymnas-
tics Coaches Association and t h e
Midwestern Gymnastics Associa-
tion, which will be held at Addi-
son Trails, Illinois.
According to Coach Newt Loken,
the meet has a twofold purpose: it
allows the Wolverine gymnasts to
see the stage of preparedness they
are at and it provides an opportun-
and everyone, including the se-!
cond stringers and freshmen, will
be given a chance to compete. Fri-
day night will feature trampoline
competition, which is now a sep-
arate sport according to NCAA
rules. Saturday moi'ning, competi-
tion in the six gymnastic events of
floor exercise, parallel bars, high
bar, side horse, rings and vault-
ing, will take place. On Saturday
night the top five performers in
the vaulting and trampoline cate-
gories and the top eight in the
other events will compete again.
I
It
Texas. place tie with Michigan.
Defensive players selected were: Adamle picked up over 1000
Ends Bill Atessis of Texas and yards on the ground, setting an
Charlie Weaver of Southern Cali- all-time conference record in the
fornia, tackles Rock Perdoni and process. The 5-9, 190 pound run-
Jim Stillwagon of Ohio State, line- ning back also set a league mark
backers Mike Anderson of LSU, for carries in one game.
Murry Bowden of Dartmouth. Aside from Plunkett, the other
Jack Ham of Penn State and I signal callers named to the team
MartyCHuff of Michigan and backs were Archie Manning of Missis-
Tom Casanova of LSU, Dick Har- sippi, Joe Theismann of Notre
ris of South Carolina, Jack Tatum Dame and Pat Sullivan of Auburn.
of Ohio State and Larry Willing-
ham of Auburn.
Bill McClard of Arkansas was For the student body:
selected as the kicker.
The Big Ten was represented by
four players, Dierdorf and Huff of
Michigan and Stillwagon and Ta-
tum of conference champion Ohio
State.
In another All-America team
announced recently, The Football Slim Fits.....$6.98
News named five Big Ten gridders (All Colors)
to their honor roll. Holdovers from
the Kodak selections were Wolver- DENIM
red to the past "because things
were supposed to be changing: yet
to date things have changed very
little."
Sophomore quarterback Sonny
Sixkiller, one of the sophomore
players credited with leading the
Huskies back from a racial-torn
1-9 season in 1969, could only say,
"I'm surprised. It's really weird."
Other members of the team said
they were surprised, but declined
to comment without first having a
chance to talk to the blacks.
VISIE
"GALLERY
Featuring a great selection
NEW YORK (P) - Thurman
Munson of the New York Yankees
was named the American League's
1970 Rookie of the Year yesterday
by a landslide margin, becoming
the first catcher ever to win the
award.
Munson, a stocky line-drive hit-
ter following in the footsteps of
former Yankee catching freats Bill
Dickey, Yogi Berra and Elston
Howard, received all but one vote
from a 24-man committee of the
Baseball Writers Association of
America.
Outfielder Roy Foster of t h e
Cleveland Indians got the other
vote.
Munson, who led New York in
batting with a .302 average and
paced major league catchers in as-
sists, is the sixth Yankee to win
the AL rookie prize since its incep-
tion in 1949-and the second in
three years.
['OUR
OF SOUND"
of Columbia portable stereos.
Pitcher Stan Bahnsen was se-
lected in 1968, shortstop Tom
Tresh in 1962, shortstop T o n y
Kubek in 1957, pitcher Bob Grim
in 1954 and second baseman Gil
McDougald in 1951.
Munson hit six -home runs and
drove in 53 runs in 132 games. He
also had 80 assists, half of them
nailing opposing runners in 69
base-sealing attempts.
Foster, 25, batted .268, belted 23
homers and drove in 60 runs for
the Indians.
Munson signed by Yankee scout
Gene Woodling, is only the second
cather in either league to win the
Rookie of the Year award. Cin-
cinnati slugger Johnny Bench, the
National League's Most Valuable
Player this year, captured 1
rookie honors in 1968.
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