Page Twelve
THE SUMMER DAILY
Tuesday, May 15, 1971
Page twelve THE SUMMER DAILY Tuesday, May 15, 1973
Riggs
'T IS NOT often that sport tran-
scends the dimensions of
the playing field. But when social
values or political ideas inter-
vene the sporting event is ob-
scured.
There have been more exam-
ples of this phenomena in re-
cent years, centering aro-nd such
issues as youth vs. age, black vs.
white, liberal vs. conservative.
But neverrbefore have we, the
viewing public, witnessed a di-
rect confrontation of the sexes
.that is until last Sunday
when Bobby Riggs met Margaret
Court on the tennis Court.
Before continuing it should be
noted that just because Riggs
defeated Court, which he did with
apparent ease, he is not neces-
sarily the superior player. One
battle does not a war make.
OBVIOUSLY COURT did not
play her normal game. Tinder
normal circumstances (minus
won the battle, but...
T Rmentin
-chuck bloom
the hoopla), she probably could
have beaten Riggs, since as
Riggs himself admits "she is blt-
ter than I am in all phases of
the game.
Sunday's showdown was
held under "normal circumstanc-
es." The pre-game publicity had
the battle of the seves as the
-focal point. Court was represent-
ing all the women of the world
when all she really wanted wa
to represent the women tennis
professionals. And, with Riggs
playing the role of the male su-
premist to the hilt, the game a;-
sumed epic porportions.
Also Court was simply not pre-
'HIP YANKS, 8-(
pared for Riggs and it became
painfully obvious early in the
match. Following the old "let
your opponent win the game for
you", Riggs played a cautions-,
ly defensive game that befud-
dled Court, causing the Austral-
ian to misplay badly. The secret
of Rigg's control was his ex-
cellent consistent shot placement.
That way he let Court do all the
work and she responded by re-
peatedly slamming the ball into
the net.
AND WHEN Riggs charged the
net. Court was out of position
to counter. In the hour it took
Rigs to win, Court played aboat
five minutes of her own style,
a style that has dominated the
world of women's professional
tennis. The rest of the time, she
played right into Riggs' nand,
adopting his fifth-grade. style.
Even though - Court was burd-
ened by the pressure, R i g g s
himself had a lot of pressure with
which to contend. What a blow
it would have been to the male
of the species had he lost! What
an insult to men's tennis! And
maybe even more important,
Riggs had put up his own money
for the staging of the match. So
he had a lot to lose, not to
mention his own ego.
BUT THE 55-year-old - former
Wimbledon champion, noted more
for his moxie and chutzpath than
a powerful serve, responded so
well and played so brilliantly
(moving far better than anyone
expected) that even his sternest
critics and Court's admirers must
show a grudging respect for the
game he played. As Howard Co-
sell said yesterday, "He left his
mouth home, and brought his
racquet to play"
It is not a chauvinistic state-
ment to say that men's tennis is
better than women's. No way
could a Margaret Court, Bilie
Jean King, or Chris Evert stand
a chance against the likes of
Stan Smith, Rod Laver, or Ar-
thur Ashe and I believe every-
one knows that.
But women's tennis has brought
new interest to the game and
has provided the needed exposure
to move tennis from the country
club courts to the living rooms
of millions of television watchers.
For that they deserve all the
money they can get.
The Riggs-Court match was
such a novelty event that, in the
end, the battle of the sexes was
not such a big battle at all. It
wasn't a triumph for male su-
premacy nor a blow to women's
lib. It was a. good day for tennis
and a great day for sports.
Tigers win
Sports of The Daily
I
In memoriam
Last Saturday Art Pollard, 46, died in a flaming crash while
attempting to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Death in sports is
always tragic, as was the case with Pollard, but because of his
profession it was not a shock. Auto racing' is appealing because
of the danger, something all drivers must live with. Pollard was
not a great driver but a nice human being and that in itself
makes his untimely passing a tragedy. Pollard will be buried
later in the week in McMinnville, Ore.
Trade market
Lots of trading in the world of sports . . . in football, the
Minnesota Vikings announced yesterday that linebacker Lonnie
Warwick and quarterback Bob Lee had played out their options
and signed with Atlanta. In return, the Vikings received quarter-
back Bob Berry and Atlanta's first round draft choice for next
year . . . in hockey, Chicago traded goalie Gary Smith and
forward Jerry Korab to Vancouver for defenseman-center Dale
Tallon .. . . The Detroit Red Wings swapped defensemen by
shuffling Serge Lajeunesse to Philadelphia for Rick Foley -
and in baseball, the Tigers let go of catcher Gene Lamont to
Atlanta for catcher Bob "Hiya" Didier . . . and Kansas City
sold catcher Jerry May to New York as a replacement for in.
jured backstop Jerry Grote.
Meeting of the clan
MINNEAPOLIS - Football redshirting, long overdue, may
be approved formally today by the Big Ten at the spring busi-
ness meeting. Redshirting was tentatively approved last March
by a faculty representative group in Chicago but got bogged down
in red tape. The plan calls for varsity football competition over
a five-year period; something the conference coaches for many
years have pleaded for but until now have been denied.
Michigan notes
Upcoming action for Michigan teams this week end include a
pair of Big Ten championship meets. The outside track title will
be decided at Minnesota while Michigan should easily take the '
tennis crown in Madison. The baseball team will need some
help from Illinois and Purdue in their quest for the baseball -.
crown while the batsmen meet Wisconsin and Northwestern at
home.
On tab...
. . . the Michigan batsmen, only one game out of
first in the torrid Big Ten race host the Broncos of Western
Michigan for two today at Ray L. Fisher Stadium starting
at 1 p.m. . .. Pete Helt (3-4) and Chuck Rogers (3-2) will
be hurling for the Wolverines . and on Channel Two,
you can see a battle of baseball giants (?) beginning at
7:30 p.m., when the Tigers visit New York to play the
Yankees.
From wire service Reports
NEW YORK-Joe Colman, the
only Tiger pitcher winning with
a n consistency, blanked the
Yankees on six hits as Detroit
wrapped out 12 hits winning 8-0
last night.
The Tigers got the ball rolling
early, scoring four times in the
second inning. Frank "The Big
Man" Howard reached first on
a pop fly single that fell in front
of secondbaseman Horace Clarke.
Mickey Stanley beat out a bunt
and Ike Brown followed with a
single to score Howard.
Loser Fritz Peterson, 3-5, then
hit Duke Sims on the arm to
laad the sacks for rookie Dick
Sharon, playing in place of ailing
Al Kaline. Sharon hit a grounder
up the middle that eluded Gene
Michael to score two more Ben-
gals. Little E d d i e Brinkman
brought in the fourth with a
single.
.Detroit, whose winning streak
stands at one, added singletons
in the fifth and sixth on RBI
singles by Bill Freehan and
Sims. They scored twice more in
the eighth off reliever Mike
Kekich.
Coleman, 7-2, was in command
all the way fanning eight and
passing four.
Bosox squeek
BOSTON - Designated hitter
Orlando Cepeda singled home
rookie Mario Guerrero with the
lone run of the game in the 11th
inning last night as the Boston
Red Sox edged the Baltimore
Orioles 1-0.
Guerrero beat out a grounder
behind second base to open the
11th off Bob Reynolds, 1-2. Carl
Yastrzemski sacrificed Guerrero
to second, then Cepeda singled
to center to drive him in.
Royals flushed
"KANSAS CITY - Pinch-hitter
,Tom McCraw singled home Jim
Sfencer in the 10th inning, lift-
ing the California Angels to a 3-2
victory over the Kansas City
Royals. last night.
With two out, Spencer singled,
Rudy Meoli singled him to third
and McCraw, batting for Jeff
Torborg, singled to left for the
winning run.
Kansas City's John Mayberry
drove in his 33rd run of the sea-
son when he singled home Steve
Hovley with two out in the third
AP Phosto
DETROIT ROOKIE DICK SHARON (27) is dead on arrival at
third in last night's 8-0 blitzing of New York by the Tigers. Sharon
improved later in the game with two rbi's and his first m7jor
league hit, a double.
Summer Daily
. NMajor League Standings
AMERICAN LEAGUE NATIONAL LEAGUE
East East
W . "Pet. GB W L Pet. GB
Milwaukee 14 15 .412 - Chicago 2. 13 .606 -
Boston 14 15 .482 - New York 17 14 .548 2
Dietroit 15 17 .4118 1 Montreal 04 154. 8n 4
Cleveland 15 1 '451 1'Pittsburgh 12 15 .444
Baltimore 14 17 .452 1 Philadelphia 12 19 .381 7
-New York 14 17 .452 1 St. Louis 8 23 .258 11
West west
Chicago 11 0 .892 -- San, Francisco 2~5 52 .676 -
Kansas City 20 13 .606 1 Houston 22 13 .628 2
Catifornia 16 13 .551 31/Clnneinnati
Oakland 17 15 .5314 Los Anteles 19 05 .559144'/
Minnesota 12 155A44 61 Atlanta 13 19 .406 414
Tesas11557' s 3428 . San Diego 12 22 .353 1114
Yesterday's Results Yesterday's Results
Tesas 2, Minnesota 6, Ast; 2nd, inc. Montreal 3, P'ittsburgh 2
BDetrot 0, New York 0 . Philadelphia 10, St. Louis 5 '
Boston 15, Baltimore 0, 11 iBnn. At.
Calltoenla 3, KanssaA City 2, 50 tlanta 7, Houston 1
Cleveiandia, ,ilaukee 1 San Francisco at San Diego, inc.
Chsirago at Oakland, i. New York at Chicago( post.
. Today's Games Today's Games
Detroit (Lolich 2-4) at New York Philadelphia (Christensen 1-3) at
(Kline 2-4). St. Louis ("wise 3-2).
Baltimore (Palmer 2-2) at Boston New York (Kosman 5-0) at Chi-
(Tiant 4-3). eago (Hooton 4-2).
Minuesota (Blyleven 2-6) at Texas Montreal (M Anally 2-1) at Pitts-
(Stanhsouse 0-3). buegh (Blass 1-2),
Caliornia (Ryan 4-3) at Kansas Los Angeles (Osteen 3-2) at Cin-
City (Dal Canton 2-1). cinnati (Gulltt 3-2).
Cleveland (Bosman 2-5) at Milwau- Atlanta (Gentry 4-2) at Houston
kee (Belt 4-3) (Wilson 3-3).
Chicago (Bahnsen 5-2) at Oak- San Francisco (Bryant 4-3) at Sae
land .(Blue 3-1). - Diego (Caldwell 1-4).