"ag iwiv -T .-V--'lIriA II-IL MI,AiI -AN kD AIL Thrsay May 22 19751M Page T welve THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, May 22, 1975 BRIAN DEMING'S COLUMN The Social Scene al Editor's note - Sports Editor Brian Dem- ing recently spent a pleasant Saturday af- ternoon at the Indianapolis race track watching the qualifying runs for the Indy 5s. The following is his report on the goings-on at Indy. INDIANAPOLIS - A football game in Ann Arbor might attract as many as 100,000 spectators. If this is evidence of the popularity of football then what of the over 200,000 who witnessed the time trials for the Indianapolis '500' last Sat- urday? Of course the Indianapolis '500' is the premier auto racing event in America, if not the world, so there is little wonder that 300,000 pack the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the annual Memorial Day Event. What seems amazing, however, espe- cially to someone who doesn't regularly follow auto racing, is the attraction there is just for the preliminaries to the event. Over 200,000 witnessed a practice session last Friday, at least as many came for the battle for the pole posi- tion Saturday, and many thousands came Sunday and will come this week- end not to see even a race but to merely see the competition for positions to start the race. THERE IS much to attract fans to these sessions and many prefer the trials to the race itself. For two dollars, cheaper than even standing room tickets for the race, a fan has a seat just about anywhere around the huge raceway. The atmosphere is more like a county fair or a picnic than a sports event. Only rarely does the audience seem fully attentive to the action on the track. Drinking, catching a sun-tan, or, more likely, sun burn, sleeping, and stacking beer cans are the order of the day. Many bring ample beer and chicken and stay over ten hours. There is plenty of room to spread out and relax in the stands and in the infield. The action on the track, for those who are watching, is faster than the race itself. Saturday's highlight was A. J. Foyt's 193.976 m.p.h. for the ten mile trial to wrap up the pole position ahead of Gordon Johncock. The average speed during the race has never been more than 165. PERHAPS THE TENOR of the '500' time trials is only one of many charac- teristics of auto racing that seem to set it apart from other sports. One of the ironies of the spectator pop- ularity of racing is the fact that in al- most no sport is the spectator so far re- moved. Physically, various barriers and fences keep fans far away from the track although pit passes allow a few at least get into the pit area. Cheering, the fan's universal perogative, is noticeably subdued under the roar of the engines. Even if drivers could hear the crowd, the fact that the sport depends so heav- ily on the performance of an imperson- al machine makes cheering ludicrous. Obviously the auto itself is what dis- tinguishes this sport from typical sports. And the auto has given this sports char- acteristics subdued or nonexistent in other sports. THE USE of cars has encouraged co- operation between car racers and indus- try has produced an abundance of tech- nicological advances and commercializ- ation. VIndy Improvements such as high compres- sion engines, superchargers, overhead camshafts, hydraulic shock absorbers, carburetors, fuel injection systems, hy- draulic brakes and tires were all tested and developed at 'Indy', No sport has done so much to develop improvements anplicable to society. It is also true that no sport has em- braced commercialism so ardently. Cars are adorned with names of spon- sors and tires. After each trial Saturday drivers were interviewed and most man- aged to plug some product while on the air. One can understand Valvoline motor oil or Monroe shock absorbers but when Johnny Rutherford sang the praises of Gatorade it seemed a bit absurd. Auto racing is a world ways away from just about every other sport. For some the Indianapolis '500' is the only auto racing event that deserves attention. But, as evidenced by the support given to the time trials and the race, the sport has to be considered, at least during the month of May, one of the most popular in America. B bel lief out to 6-5 ' Tig h RB his Ste Hiller blows it;TTigers lose By AP and UPI It was his seventh homer of the baseman Craig Kusick missed second to put Detroit ahead BLOOMINGTON-Larry Hisle season, and gave Ray Corbin a pickoff throw. 4-0. ted a two-run homer off re- the victory after 10/ innings Willie Horton gave the Tigers But Detroit starter Vern Ruhle Majr League ace John Hiller with none of relief, a 3-0 lead in the first inning on couldn't hold the lead. 0 in the 11th inning last night Gary Sutherland's 11th in- his league-leading 10th homer The Twins countered in theira. s give the Minnesota Twins a ning single drove in Ron Le- of the season, a blast into the half of the second on Eric Soder- ," triumph over the Detroit Flore from second base to short left field porch. holm's two - run homer, and ers. give the Tigers a S-4 lead go- made it 4-3 in the third when AMsErinCAN LEAGUE ing into the bottom of the Sutherland singled and Dan Tom Lundstedt, who was on East isle, the American League inMeyer walked before Horton's base on an error, scored from I leader with 28, delivered WLPshot. third on a double playw .Pct. game-winning blow after LeFlore singled with one out Gene Michael hit his first Steve Braun's fifth inning Boston k 15 .545 ve Brye led off with a walk. and moved to second when first homer of the season in the homer knotted the score at 4-4. Detroit 16 17 .485 3: Baltimore 16 19 .457 4'. New York 16 21 .17 6 Cleveland 14 20 .412 6 Oakland 21 16 .568 - Texas 21 16 .568 - Kansas City 21 19 .525 1' California 20 19 .513 2 Minnesota 17 17 .50017 Ciiage 12 21 .412 5'. Yesterday's Results Boston 7, Oakland 3 Cleveland 3, California 2 Kansas City 4, New York 1 Texas 5, Milwaukee 4 Baltimore 6, Chicago 2 Minnesota 6, Detroit 5 Today's Gaines Texas (Hands 4-2) at Milwauk ee (Colborn 0-1) California (Singer 3-5) at os- ton (Wise 4-3) ' Baltimore (Cuellar 2-3) at Chi- cago (Kant 6-1) Only games scheduled NATriONAL 1LEAGU1E East Chicago Philadelphia Pittsburgh New York Montreal St. Louis Los Angeles San Diego Cincinnati San Francisco Atlanta Houston W . IPc. G 22 13 .629 - 20 17 .541 3 17 16 .715 4 16 16 .500 4'j 13 19 .406 7 14 21 .400 8 West 25 15 .625 -- 20 19 .51. 43 ) 21 20 .512 4' 19 19 .500 5 20 21 .400 51' 16 27 .372 10I'i Yesterday's Results San Francisco 2, Pittsburgh 1 Atlanta 6, Montreal 3 Cincinnati 11, New York 4 Houston 4, Philadelphia 0 San Diego 1, St. Louis 0 Chicago at Los Angeles, inc. Today's Games Pittsburgh (Rooker 2-2) at SaO Diego (Frelolebea 3-3) Chicago (aurrio 5-2) at Los A' geles (Hooton 1-4) Only games scheduled AP Photo CALIFORNIA ANGEL outfielder, Lee Stanton appears to be (andi is) intimidated by a high hard one tossed his way by Cleveland Indian hurler Jim Kern. Kern picked up his first major league victory and manager Frank Robinson hit two home runs as the Indians beat the Angels 3-2.