Page 12-Thursday, July 13, 1978-The Michigan Daily FRANCIS' FIVE PACES 10-0 ROUT: Express derails Earthquakes I Puckihff PONTIAC (UPI) - Trevor Francis scored five goals to lead the Detroit Express to a 10-0 triumph over the San Jose Earthquakes in a North American Soccer League game Wednesday night at the Silverdome. Francis' performance tied the NASL record for most goals in a game and helped the Express raise its record to 15-9 with a 48-point lead in the Central Division of the American Conference. Danny Vaughn, who came in midway through the second half, added two goals for Detroit while Alan Brazil, David Bradford and Ian Davies con- tributed single goals. Francis' astonishing five-goal per- formance boosted his season goal total to 13, three better than teammate Keith Furphy, who was the club's leading scorer prior to last night's contest. The Earthquakes, the worst team in the league at 5-18, suffered their 11th straight setback - just one loss shy of the league record. Detroit now can clinch the division title in its debut season by defeating Houston in Sunday's game at the Silverdome. I Turner turns pro.. . . . .but is he ready? By GARY KICINSKI SAY IT ain't so, Deano. Tell me you didn't really skip out on your final two years of eligibility at Michigan. Tell me it's April Fool's, tell me that the New York Rangers didn't sign you to a three year contract for $250,000. Tell me you'll be back on the Yost Arena surface next fall, lumbering up and down the ice, booming your patented slap shots six feet wide of the net, and taking your occasional dumb penalties. Because for all your shortcomings, you were still one of Michigan's most exciting players, loved by both the fans and players for making things hap- pen on the ice. But now he is gone to play with the big boys, where games mean dollars and penalty minutes mean fans. Apparently that's what the Rangers had in mind when they drafted the 20-year-old defenseman in the third round of the NHL amateur draft several weeks ago. But while most amateur collegiate players stay their final two or three years and then turn pro, Turner couldn't pass up the get-rich-quick oppor- tunity and decided to sign right away. "When I actually saw the figures in dollars, I looked at it and said, 'Well, I think I can pass up the glory and take the money.' You know? I gotta be realistic about it. I could get hurt. Now it's signed and now it's final," Turner said. "It's not how much you make. It is how much you can keep and I am going to try to keep as much as I can. If you are going to become a millionaire, you gotta do it in business." A big surprise It would be easy to brand Turner as a money-hungry egotist who suc- cumbed to the whimsical influences of the American buck. But the fact is that you or I might just as easily have done the same thing if we were in Deano's skates. It's easy for the average Joe to criticize sports figures for signing big money contracts, but the average Joe probably has never had $250,000 dangled in front of his bulging eyeballs. But the pertinent question that needs to be asked is not, Is Dean Turner a fathead, but rather, Is Dean Turner ready to play in the NHL? More than one person was surprised when Turner was the first American college defenseman drafted, to say nothing of the shock waves generated when he decided to sign right away. The reason being that anyone who has seen Turner play knows that he has occasion to make some less-than-professional plays. For every time he has made a legal crushing body check he has made an illegal one, and for every time he has blasted a slap shot on target from the left point he has been caught up ice on breakaways. Deano's Jekyl and Hyde play leaves one with the distinct impression that he isn't quite ready for the pros. Maybe after two more years of seasoning, but not quite yet. Having viewed the Michigan defense on the whole for the past season, it's hard to imagine that somewhere in the group lurked a ready-made NHL player. Michigan Coach Dan Farrell was hardly distraught over the loss of Tur- ner. "We feel that when we sign a guy we make a commitment to him for four years and we would like to think they'd do the same for us. And if they don't want to do that, we're not going to try to talk them out of it." But no one can deny that Turner is an exciting player when he's playing well. One game I'll never forget was the Friday night home game against North Dakota, when Coach Dan Far ' stuck the rugged defenseman in the slot on the power plays in an attempt up the team. Turner parked himself in front of the crease and drew a couple of NoDak penalties from defensemen who practically had to behead the 6-2, 215 poun- der in order to move him. Turner sparked the club to score six goals in coming back from a 4-0 deficit. Whether Deano can create that kind of excitement in the NHL remains to be seen. One thing is for sure though -- his ominous presence will be missed on the Yost Arena ice. IF Itctja League SkLediag6 AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST W L Pct. GB Boston .............57 26 .687 - Milwaukee .......... 48 35 .578 9 New York ........... 46 38 .548 11 / Baltimore ..........45 40 .529 13 Detroit .............42 42 .500 15 / Cleveland ........... 39 46 .459 19 Toronto ............32 53 .376 26 WEST California ..........46 40 .535 - Kansas City .........44 40 .524 1 Texas............42 41 .506 21/ Oakland ............43 44 .494 3%/ Minnesota ..........39 42 .481 4% Chicago ............38 46 .452 7 Seattle ............30 58 .341 17 Today's Games Chicago (Wood, 9-5) at New York (Guidry, 13-1), 2 p.m. Texas (B. Ellis, 7-4) at Boston (lee, 9-3), 7:30 p.m. Minnesota (Goltz, 8-5) at Baltimore (Flanagan, 12- 6), 7:30 p.m. Kansas City (Splittorff, 10-7) at Milwaukee (Cald- well, 9-5), 8:30 p.m. Toronto (Lemanczyk, 3-10) at California (Tanana, 12-5). 10:30 p.m. Cleveland (Waits, 6-9) at Oakland (Johnson, 5-5), 10:30 p.m. Detroit (Rozema, 4-4) at Seattle (Aboott, 3-7), 1035p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST W L Pct. Philadelphia ........47 34 .580 Chicago ............43 39 .524 Pittsburgh ..........40 41 .494 Montreal ...........41 45 .477 New York ........... 36 50 .419 St. Louis ............34 53 .391 WEST San Francisco......52 34 .605 Los Angeles .........50 36 .581 Cincinnati ..........49 37 .570 San Diego ........... 42 45 .483 Atlanta .............37 47 .440 Houston ............36 46 .439 GB 4% 7 8% 131/ 16 2 3 101/ 14 14 Today's Games San Diego (Perry, 9-4) at Chicago (Roberts, 4-3), 2:30 p.m. San Francisco (Barr, 4-6) at Pittsburgh (Can- delaria,8-8), 7:35 p.m. Houston (Niekro, 5-5 or Lemongello, 7-8) at Mon- treal (Grimsley, 11-6), 7:35 p.m. New York (Koosman, 2-9) at Cincinnati (Seaver, 9- 7(, 8:05 p.m. Los Angeles (John, 10-6) at St. Louis (Denny, 7-6), 8:35 p.m. AP Photo Slide-swiped Kansas City Royals' second baseman Frank White grimaces with effort as he attempts to score, but it's all in vain as Baltimore catcher Rick Dempsey applies the tag. Somehow the satisfaction of getting his man has not yet registered on Dempsey's face. ...