,
SPORTS
The Michigan Daily Thursday, November 6, 1980 Page7
Fate reaches out fo
By RON POLLACK
Last week he was involved in the
Syracuse-Pittsburgh college football
game. This week he will be a key figure
for his team during the Minnesota-In-
diana contest. He also received his
education here at the University.
A case of falsified transcripts? An
illegal transfer? Hardly. "He" is Bill
Flemming, a member of the ABC spor-
ts broadcasting team.
ALTHOUGH Flemming has made
broadcasting his career, he considers it
an accident that he entered this field.
When Flemming attended the Univer-
sity he was a pre-med student.
However, during the spring of 1948, fate
intervened and Flemming was on his
way to becoming a broadcaster, rather
than a doctor.
Flemming entered and won a campus
oratorical contest. One of the judges
was Waldo Abbot, the director of
broadcasting at Michigan, who
following the contest told Flemming
that a new radio station (WUOM) would
soon begin broadcasting. Abbot added
that he thought Flemming might make
a good announcer and offered him a
part-time job.
Broadcasting turned out to be an
ideal situation for Flemming, who at
the time was doing adequately in his
pre-med studies, but not as well as he
might have liked.
"I WAS GETTING along, but I knew I
wouldn't be valedictorian," he said. "I
wds taking other courses (other than
pre-med) and getting all A's, while I
was struggling to get B's in pre-med."
Needing only four hours to graduate,
Flemming decided to take Abbot up on
his proposal while he finished school.
The job proved beyond a shadow of a
doubt that Flemming was best suited
for a life behind the microphone.
"My work for medical school was
drudgery. I did news and sports from
noon until 8 p.m. and couldn't wait to
leave classes and go to work," said
Flemming.
Flemming said he became convinced
of the direction in which he would take
his career when his dean gave him the
following advice: "There is no way you
can be happy in medicine if in the back
of your mind you are still wondering if
you could have been successful in
another field. Medicine takes 100 per-
cent dedication."
TAKING THIS advice into con-
sideration, Flemming "jumped with
both feet into broadcasting." When the
Board of Regents made WUOM the of-
ficial station for Michigan football and
basketball, Flemming found himself
covering these sports.
After graduation, Flemming con-
tinued broadcasting at Michigan for
five years, which gave him an excellent
foundation for his career. "Those were
really valuable years. I was literally
doing everything. Whenever anyone
came to campus, I interviewed them
(Flemming adds that these interviews
r ABC'
were of well known public figures, such
as Eleanor Roosevelt). It gave me an
opportunity to meet a lot of people and
it gave me a fantastically broad base."
At one point in his career Flemming
not only worked at WUOM from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m., but also held a job at WWJ
radio in Detroit which he would not get
home from until 1 a.m. That lasted for
13 months and since then he has been in
television.
WHEN LOOKING back on his years
at the University, Flemming speaks
very positively. "If I hadn't won the
contest, I wouldn't have gone into
broadcasting. That's the great thing
about a big university-there are so
many things offered.{
"If you have any doubt about your
field, a school like Michigan or UCLA
will give you many choices where you
can sample many areas," he continued.
"The student who likes a lot of different
things, but no one thing in particular,
will like Michigan. Wherever I go
people seem to know that I'm from
Michigan and I'm proud of it. I'd do the
same thing again."
Throughout his years as a broad-
caster, Flemming has had his share of
memories. But the one anecdote that
stands out in his mind is a blooper he
made when he first got into television.
He was covering an international boat
show, and the climax of the show oc-
curred in the area of the larger boats.
At this time Flemming had to leave to
do an interview for the show. Although
he could no longer see the show, he con-
tinued his commentary since rehear-
sals had been going on all week, and he
knew what was "supposed" to take
place. The show, however, did not go
completely as planned. A represen-
tative of a swim suit company had a
woman, who, Flemming later learned,
was wearing a "very tight looking
suit," go on board of one of the large
boats.
Flemming, unaware the woman was
on board, said, "How would you like
this waiting for you in your boathouse
some Sunday morning."
AS THE well-endowed, but scantily-
clad woman turned sideways, Flem-
ming continued his commentary (of the
boat). "There's no red-blooded
1!
s Flemrming
American man who wouldn't like to get produces programs for Home Video
his hands on those throttles. This is one Cassette, Inc. Flemming is currently
of 50,000twin screw jobs." producing a 90-minute special halled
That miscue aside, Flemming has "The Golden Decade of College Foot-
done very well in the broadcasting ball: 1970-1979," which shows 75 All,,
field, as evidenced by the numerous American players in action, including
sporting events that he covers for ABC. Michigan alumni Billy Taylor and Rick
These telecasts include four Olympics, Leach.
over 600 "Wide World of Sports" It is Flemming's assertion that
segments including the first show in "home electronic entertainment is the
1961, college football games, auto coming thing of the 80's."
races, golf tournaments and the Flemming considers it an accident
"College Football '80" highlight show that he became a broadcaster
for which he is host. However, considering the success that
IN ADDITION to working for ABC, he has achieved in this, field, one can
Flemming is also director of sports only wonder if it was really an accident
programming for the Magnetic Video or fate.
Corporation of Farmington Hills, which
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t VII
CLUB SPORTS ROUNDUP:
M s
'1M'skipp ers
By ALAN FANGER points to the
The Michigan sailing team sank the The team
Navy, Coast Guard, and a few others to the War I
last weekend on its way to a third-place Point, N.Y.,
finish in a regatta held at the same type
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, present at M
Competing as the only non-East Coast has qualifis
team in the meet, the sailors finished ta, which is
X behind only the host team and its coun- competitive
x terparts across the Charles River, Crew
Boston University. Many of the entran- Victory is
t ;ts, including Navy and Maine Vcoyi
ritime, were highly-ranked. sweeter whe
:;The surprising showing prompted away from he
coach Kirk Nims to declare that his That's exa
team "should be solidly into the top ten, crew clubd
if not the top five, in the nation." defeated M
Team captain Doug Wefer outraced regarded No
some of the East Coast's much- The win n
heralded skippers for first place in the club had eve
' A' Division. Scott Ferguson fashioned didn't come
F a seventh-place finish in Division B', sity eights,
' thus contributing some more crucial didn't assum,
strokes, an
victory was
a IM SCORES' second.
Of the eigt
TUESDAY seven of th
Racquetball respective
-Fraternitv earlier_ at th
sailtoward SugarBowl
Michigan effort.
now moves on this weekend
Memorial Regatta at Kings
a meet that will feature the
of competition that was
IT. Nims also said his team
d for the Sugar Bowl regat-
one of the nation's most
intercollegiate races.
always sweet, but it's even
n you beat a few archrivals
Tome.
actly what the Michigan
did last weekend, as it
ichigan State and highly-
tre Dame in East Lansing.
marked the first time the
er defeated the Irish, but it
easy. In the women's var-
for example, Michigan
ne the lead until the last five
d even then its margin of
a mere six-tenths of a
ht boats Michigan entered,
em finished first in their
events. Only two weeks
he Head of the Charles race
e rowers had finished in the
the pack in every event.
meet marked the end of the
on for the club. Its mem-
d a row-a-thon on the Huron
aturday to raise money to
replenish equipment.
-S. SHERBER
uigby
oit Tradesmen left town
ed out from a football game
a rugby match, as the
' side ran circles around
them in a 48-3 win Sunday at Elbel
Field.
The win improved Michigan's record
to 5-2, and gave the club momentum
going into its final two matches of the
season-the battle with the tough Scioto
Valley Club this Saturday at 2 p.m. at
Elbel, and the November 22 clash with
Ohio State in Columbus the morning of
the Michigan-Ohio State football game.
The 'B' side, meanwhile, boosted its
record to 4-1 with what club captain
Dan Schimpke called an "unofficial"
winning tally of 24-0.
The Ohio State game has turned into
a competitive rivalry, Schimpke said.
He added that the Buckeyes are "one of
the better college sides in the Midwest.
They're generally lacking in skills but
more than make up for it in hustle."
-ALAN FANGER
Women's rugby
For Sue Chase, the problem is
elementary. People. Bodies. Players.
Chase, the mastermind behind the in-
ception of the Michigan women's rugby
club, said participation in the club "has
been dwindling" since its inception two
months ago. She explained that 10 or 15
women had been competing in Septem-
ber, but that only a handful have been
playing regularly since then,.
And she's hoping she can field a full
side of 15 for the club's triangular mat-
ch against Michigan State and the
Detroit Women's Club November 15 at
Elbel Field at 1 p.m.
"The MSU team has enough
(players) for two full sides," she said.
"They can't believe that we don't have
enough people to field even one side."
Chase added that the club should
have a higher rate of participation
when it begins its spring season in late
March.
-ALAN FANGER
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CUSTOM JEWELRY DESIGN
AND MOUNTING SHOW
Our Designer and Goldsmith will be in the store one day only, Saturday, Nov. 8 from
10 to 4. He will be showing an exciting collection of hand made gold jewelry styles available
for immediate delivery or Christmas Layaway at special low prices. Many of the styles can
be adapted as mountings for your stones. Our designer can also offer the help you need to
interpret your thoughts onto paper and finally into a workable concept as beautiful jewelry.
He will also make a variety of suggestions to achieve a design that is pleasing to your contem-
porary or traditional taste.
Stop in at your convenience Saturday or if you prefer appointments for specific times during
the day, they are available.
USTIN DIAMOND
1209 SOUTH UNIVERSITY
0
Lambda Chi Alpha 2, Beta Theta Pi 1
Kappa Sigma 3, Delta Tau Delta 0 (forfeit)
Football
Independent
AAS 18, Another One Bites the Dust 0
821stSquadron 22, Gonzo Coolers 0
AFROTC 7, "E" 0 (forfeit)
Positrons 7, Droogs 0 (forfeit)
Irradicators 22, Droogs 0
Fraternity
Class 'A'
Alpha Sigma Phi 8, Sigma Phi Epsilon 0
Co-Rec
Evanscholars 12, Amoebas 0
Graduate
Thunder Chickens 8, BOAST 0
Blue Axles 10, Agent Orange 6
Residence Hall
Class 'A'
~ Bursley Bruizers 14, Rumsey 0
Michigan House 36, Chicago House 0
F Huber Tockets 14, MoJo Madmen 12
Elliott 12, Bursley Crush 0
-.
Medical
School
* Four-year fully recogni.
ealM, 4 1
in Boston, th
final third of
,The MSUi
rowing seas
bers will hol
River this S
update and r
Men's rj
The Detr
looking wip
rather than
Michigan 'A
e ipjizIse
PH-iiP GLASS
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ENSEMBLE
friday, november 7 8pm
raCk ham auditorium
n r .
KO .
Tickets. $7.50 reserved