turday, July 23, 1977
Shed
AP Sports Analysis
SEW YORK - It isn't easy
,ig Reggie Jackson.
Good looking, intelligent,
articulate and rich, Jackson
irauld have the key to this
iy. Instead he is being
ked out. The fans boo him,
teammates don't under-
ai him and his manager
ants to punch him.
sulted at home games and
sted on the road, he is a
an without a city. As the ob-
t of hate wherever he goes,
eprallel with Jackie Robin-
30 years ago seems valid.
Robinson was not accepted
many players and fans be-
use he was the first black. In
me circles, color has a bear-
on why Jackson's fan club
>es not need a big room for
Smeetings. But for the av-
age fan who looks at statis-
rather than skin, the criti-
sa rgoes deeper. Jackson is
tplaying or acting like a
9 million player. -
t i thai simple.
NINE OUT OF 10 guys
Ild love his statistics," said
13 ando of Milwaukee, Jack-
i friend dating back to
ir chanmpionship days in
b' "I wouldn't sell him
sri With all the pressure
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
a tear
lie's under, I think he's having
an outstanding year. '
"All season long he's been
)atting fifth, sixth or seventh,
and taking enormous abuse
rm the press and fans, but
he still made the All-Star team.
"The pressure on him is un-
believable. If I were in his po-
stion, I know I couldn't han-
die it."
Bando, a free agent, signed
in mellow Milwaukee, the
center of middle America.
Expectations run lower there,
and Bando, who signed a $1.4
million contract for five
years, says he has not been
booed at home-even though
he has had his troubles at the
plate.
Jackson, batting .286 with 16
home runs, 30 runs batted in
nd a team leading nine game
winning hits, was the only
Yankee booed in Thursday
night's doubleheader with the
Brewers. He has now come to
accept negativism from the
fans.
"I was booed the second day
of the season and, ever since,
y've been trying for the good
catch or the -good play that
Sould turn it all around," Jack-
son said Thursday night. "It
hasn't happened."
"I've had my troubles all
for Reggie Jac
over, on and off the field. It's
weached the point where I now
expect the worst."
THE LOW POINT may have
come Tuesday night. Booed in
his own ballpark in the All-Star
Game, Jackson tried winning
over the fans - as he often
does -- by signing autographs
late into the night. Weary and
mentally drained, Jackson ex-
cused himself from the auto-
graph session.
Jackson, who was with his
parents and girl friend, then
'vas subjected to a stream of
profanities from some of the
kids. Jackson couldn't take it
anymore. He chased one 13-
year-old, but never caught
him, he said.
The teenager claimed he was
-oughed up by Jackson, a
charge that has been refuted
by several eyewitnesses. A good
deed by Jackson had turned
into another nightmare.
"Reggie Jackson is one of
the most accommodating
baseball players in the ma-
jor leagues," said Yankees
owner George Steinbrenner
in a statement tfhursday
night. "He often spends as
much as a half hour in the
crowd after the games sign-
ing autographs and talking
and you could not ask for
anything more from a ball-
player."
But Jackson hasn't been en-
tirely blameless. In his first
season with the American
.eague champions, Jackson
was quoted in Sport magazine
os saying only he could be the
'eam leader, not Thurman
Munson, last year',.j Most Val-
rable Player in the AL and the
team captain.
"The Munson article was out
of bounds," Jackson now ad-
mits. "Everything else I have
done, I would do ,the same."
THAT APPARENTLY includes
the time he hit a home run and
refused to shake his team-
mates' hands. And last month,
Yankees Manager Billy Martin
and Jackson had words, then
almost. got into a fight during
a nationally televised game in
Btoston.
AUGUST GRADS:
DEADLINEDFOR ORDERING
A CAP AND GOWN IS:
FRI., JULY 22, '77
$2 Late Choroe for Gowns
Ordered After Deadline
AVAILABLE ONLY AT THE
U-CELLAR
in the Basement of the
Michigan Union
Page Eleven
kson
Jackson is a proud man, who
sometimes turns his anger into
-lestructive behavior. He needs
to be wanted. Martin could
make him feel welcome, but he
doesn't seem to want to. He
never wanted 'to sign Jackson
in the first place.
"Martin's the manager. He
has to lead," said Dr. David
Brook, a staff psychiatrist at
the Mt. Sinai School of Medi-
cine. "He should know that
tackson needs strong paternal
support.
"But instead of patting
him on the back, all he wants
to do is cream him.
"I feel sorry for Jackson. He
can't get support anywhere.
The fans hate him, the mana-
ger hates him and his team-
mates hate him."
SUNDAYS for
BILLIARDS
Reduced Rates
1 P.M.-6 P.M.
AT
The Union
5-
Noll acquitted of slander charges
ny The Associated Press
R iANCISC'O- A federal court jury yes-
cirdi :rturned a verdict in favor of the Pitts-
hurh Stalers and rejected George Atkinson's
"""'"" slander suit against the NFL team
aad catch (huck Noll.
Iii- to-man, four-woman panel deliberated
'.r fistir hours before returning the verdict,
detarmitning that Atkinson, a veteran defensive
back lor the Oakland Raiders, was entitled
to no damages for remarks made by Noll.
"I AM PLEASED," said Steelers' president
Dan Rooney. "It was the most depressing ex-
perience of my life. I'm happy. We got a fair
trial. The press was fair to us."
Noll and Atkinson were not present when
the verdict was read. Atkinson left shortly
after the case went to the jury to take a pre-
training camp physical and Noll left Thursday
for the Pittsburgh training camp.r
"This case never should have gone to trial,"
Atkinson had said earlier. "All I ever wanted
was a retraction from Coach Noll."
Atkinson had filed a suit seeking a maximum
12 million in damages for remarks made by
Noll at a news conference the day after a
Pittsburgh-Oakland game last September.
STEELER receiver Lynn Swann suffered a
concussion in the game when he was hit in
the head by Atkinson as he ran a pass pattern
and Atkinston attempted to defend against him.
Noll, in response to a queston, told news-
men in Pittsburgh:
"You have a criminal element in every
society and apparently we have it in the NFL,
too. George Atkinson's hit on Lynn Swann was
with intent to maim and not with football in
mind. I'd like to see those guys thrown out of
the league. They put a guy's whole career in
jeopardy."
Atkinson's attorneys charged the remarks
were a "calculated, deliberate action . . .
made knowing they were totally false or with «
utter disregard for whether or not they were
false."a
THE STEELERS countered by saying Noll
spoke the truth and does not apologize for
the remarks. The remarks were "aptly applied
and correctly used," said the Steelers' attor-
neys.
Just before the case went to the jury Friday,
Atkinson attorney Willie Brown told newsmen
the case never should gave gone to trial.
But Atkinson, who claimed he thought Swan
was about to catch a pass when he hit him,
said the only thing the public will remember
about him in future years is that he was known
as the "criminal element" in the NFL.
MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE
SEMINAR SERIES
JOSEPH T. COYLE
DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOLOGY AND
EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
"Striatal Lesion With Kainic Acid: Animal
Model for Huntington's Disease"
MONDAY, JULY 25, 1977
SEMINAR: 3:45 P.m., Room 1057 MHR
ANGELL HALL
CINEMA IIIAud.A
BINGO LONG'S TRAVELING
ALL-STAR CIRCUS
Richard Pryor steals the show in this
hilarious comedy about baseball when it
was really baseball. A great Summer
film about the great Summer game.
7:30Ond 9:30 $1.50
m
m
WEST, JARVIS ABSENT
Lions open camp
By The Associated Press
ROCHESTER, Mich.-Safety Charley West and wide receiver
SJarvis were' not among the 66 players at the Detroit Lions
'[} training camp yesterday.
The team said Jarvis is not satisfied with his contract
fer. General Manager Russ Thomas said the veteran would
fined $500 a day for each day he misses practice.
West, another veteran, has indicated he may retire.
In another development, fullback Lawrence Gaines under-
I knee surgery in Detroit to remove damaged cartillage.
tors said there were no complications.
Lions coach Tommy Hudspeth said he expected second year
Gaines would return in time for the first regular season
e or perhaps at least by the third game.
Thomas said he had not spoken with Jarvis, but added
ft* ney was the problem. Jarvis is in the option year of his
tract. He was the Lions' most valuable player on offense
year and their leading receiver.
hldspeth said West's legs have been giving him problems.
ADVERTISING IN
DOESN'T COST .
YOU'RE READING THIS, AREN'T YOU?
Display-764-0554 Classifieds-764-0557