SPORTS
The Michigan Daily Wednesday, November 19; 1980 Page 7
UNIVERSITIES PROMOTE THEIR STARS
'Selling the Heisman candidates
By CHUCK JAFFE
This year, as it has for the past 45, the
nscription on the Heisman Trophy will
ead "The Heisman Memorial Trophy
s presented by the Downtown Athletic
ub of New York City to the Outstan-
ling College Football Player in the
Jnited States." It remains to be seen,
lowevef, whether the award will go to
:he best player, or to the one who has
:he most active publicity staff working
n his behalf.
For the past few years, schools that
ave legitimate Heisman candidates
iave published literature promoting
their player for the honor. This year,
however, the competition among the
letes for the award has not been as
rce as that between the Sports In-
ormation Departments.
BOTH PURDUE, which is promoting
Mark Herrmann for the award, and
South Carolina, which is promoting
George Rogers, publish weekly fact and
statistical sheets, which they then
distribute to the 1,200 Heisman voters.
The Pittsburgh Panthers have put out a
full color poster of defensive end Hugh
reen, who, if successful, would be the
stdefensive player ever to garner the
trophy.
All of these publications get straight
to the point: "Vote for our candidate for
the Heisman." The poster of Green is
especially blatant in its advertising. It,,
reads, "Hugh Green is the name.
Playing defense is the game. Winning
the Heisman is the aim." That is
followed by statistical information
about both Green and the Heisman.
The Sports InformationDirectors of
the various universities, who are in
charge of the promotions, all agree that
advertising is a necessity.
"If you think you have the best player
in the country, it's your duty to promote
him," said Dean Billick, SID at Pitt. "I
could sit on my duff. and not do
anything, but that's not my job."
"YOU HAVE TO be fully convinced
and involved with your candidate from
early on,",said Purdue SID Tom Shupe.
"Anytime something comes out of my
office, Mark Herrmann must be the
focus if we want to have a chance to
win." '
All of the promoters indicated that
they had used certain strategies for
publicizing their candidate. Most of the
schools utilize the fact sheet, a weekly
paper with information about the can-
didate and quotesr from coaches and
scouts. "For a quarterback," Shupe
explained, "it's awfully easy to have
good stats, but it's awfully easy to have
poor ones, too. It's just a matter of get-
ting those stats to the Heisman voters."
Billick took a different route in
promoting Green. "In the case of Hugh
Green, I felt it was not to our advantage
to put out a weekly fact sheet, like we
did with Tony Dorsett," he said. "Hugh
,Green has never thrown a pass, never
completed one, or gained a yard
rushing. He doesn't have those neat lit-
tle statistics."
NONE OF THE SID's questioned
believed that their advertising took
away from the validity of the award.
"It depends on how you publicize it,"
said South Carolina SID Tom Price. "If
you get out and beg, that cheapens the
award, but if you deal in facts, that
doesn't cheapen it."
With all the publicity clouding the
minds of many Heisman voters, the
possibility of the award not going to
"the outstanding college football
player" is great. Rudy Riska, who
distributes the Heisman ballots on
behalf of the Downtown, Athletic Club,
said, "It's an unfortunate thing, but it's
part of the game. You can't look at it as
being bad, because it is part of the
whole picture of sports."
There are those, however, who see
the publicity as disproportionately
significant. One such person is Bob
Dickinson, SID at The Citadel. Dickin-
son is trying to promote Stump Mitchell
for the Heisman. Mitchell has been the
nation's leading rusher for much of the
season and is currently third in the
nation behind Rogers and USC's Mar-
cus Allen.
"I don't think the advertising makes
them more deserving," Dickinson said.
"It is supposed to go to the best player.
If Mitchell was running against better
teams, or with Rogers' offensive line, it
might be a different story. In any case,
it is all relative.
DICKINSON'S efforts are hampered
not only by The Citadel's lack of
publicity, but by the lack of a larger
school's budget. Pittsburgh estimates
that it used $3,000 to promote Green,
while South Carolina said that it spent
between $2,000 and 2,500. Dickinson is
quick to point to these factors.. "We
don't have the money for any slick
posters," he said, "so we use a lot of
postage and some phone calls."
On December 1, when the Heisman
Trophy-is presented to "the outstanding
college football player in the United
States," there will be a lot of controver-
sy as to whether or not the best player
was actually selected. Perhaps when
they present the Heisman to the athlete,
they should simultaneously deliver an
award to the school's Sports Infor-
mation Director. The inscription could
read, "This trophy is presented to the
outstanding college football advertiser
in the United States."
THIS PICTURE of South Carolina's George Rogers is actually an example
of the promotional material being distributed by various universities to the
1,200 voters who will cast ballots for this year's Heisman Trophy award.
I MSCORES
SUNDAY
Football
independent
Parenteau:
Harrier who excels
best under pressure
Dish Rags 14, DAILY IES0
Frustrated Jocks 12, Abeng 6
Silver Streak 36, Spoon River 8
Arbory Pirates 12, Powerhouse '80 6
Fraternity
Class 'A'
Phi Sigma Kappa 20, Alpha Delta Phi 0
Psi Upsilon 20, Delta Chi 0
Class "B'
Sigma Phi Epsilon 6, Theta Delta Chi 0
6 Night at
THlE
STADIUM
. at
thj Goun3
1140 South University
668-8411
By JOHN FITZPATRICK
Athletes respond to pressure situations in one of
two ways: either they perform well below par, or
they "come through in the clutch" for their team with
a valuable performance. Michigan harrier Gary
Parenteau fits into the second category.
"I usually do well under pressure," said Paren-
teau, who ran solid races at the Big Ten meet in East
Lansing and at the NCAA District IV meet in Cham-
aign last Saturday, where he finished 41st. He 'ter-
med the latter a "poor run," but it was one which
guaranteed the Wolverines a place at the starting line
of the NCAA meet in Wichita, Kansas on November
24, as they finished second, behind only Indiana.
Parenteau had been plodding through a lQw-key
season until the Central Collegiate meet last October,
where he was the fourth man to-finish for Michigan,
helping the Wolverines to second place, barely edged
by powerhouse Penn State. He played a crucial role
in the Big Ten meet, in which Michigan tied with In-
diana for the conference title.
According to Coach Ron Warhurst, "With three-
uarters of a mile to go, there were four guys from
Indiana ahead of him, and he caught all but one of
them. That probably saved the meet for us."
Parenteau finished 11th in that race, which he
described as his "best collegiate performance ever",
and was expected torun well at the NCAA District IV
Championships.)But during the week prior to the race
he "felt sluggish. . . flat" in workouts, something
which probably contributed to his less-than-
satisfactory run, a run which, though disappointing to
him, would have pleased many other lesser-talented
college harriers.
Parenteau's career as a distance runner has been
hindered somewhat because of school obligations -
he's a chemistry major with a heavy load of classes,
and, like teammate Dave Lewis, plans to enter
medical school upon graduating.
"He just runs cross country," said Warhurst. "Sin-
ce he's interested in getting into medical school, he
hasn't had the time to run track over the last three
years."
Parenteau gives a much simpler reason for not
running track. "I just like cross country better. It's a
closer, smaller team than in track, and it's more of
an individual thing."
Warhurst called Parenteau a "very motivated run-
ner," something which is apparent considering that
he has had to miss team workouts on Monday and
Friday due to his hectic class schedule. "I still do the
same workouts the team does," he said.
As far as goals are concerned, Parenteau is looking
simply to the immediate future, and not beyond.
"Right now I'm concentrating on getting ready for
the MCAT's (Medical College Admissions Test) and
sending out medical school applications. In medical
school, I doubt if I'll train seriously. I might miss it
and do a little fun-running, but nothing more than
that."
The one thing weighing on Parenteau's mind, as
well as that of his teammates is the NCAA Meet.
"The pressure's going to be on for the nationals," he
said. "I'm hoping to help the team place in the top
ten. In order to help them do that, I'll probably have
to place in the top 60, which would be pretty good run-
ning."
Parenteau regards the University of Texas at El
Paso (UTEP) as the favorite in the race and looks for
Michigan to battle it out for as high as eighth place
with Indiana.
If his past races serve as an accurate guide for his
future performances, it would not be surprising to see
Parenteau fulfill his goal of finishing in the top 60 at
the NCAA's. After all, in a race where "the
pressure's going to be on," who could do better than a
runner who's tough in the clutch?
UPI Top Twenty
1. Georgia (36) 10-0-0 621
2. Notre Dame (4) 8-0-1 545
3. Nebraska (2) 9-1-0 535
bition game 4. Florida State 9-1-0 528
easier than 5. Ohio State 9-1-0 435
esethn 6. Pittsburgh 9-1-0 393
7. Penn State 9-1-0 311
8. Baylor 9-1-0 253
cember 3, 9. Oklahoma 7-2-0 245
:uard Ricky 10. Alabama 8-2-0 239
sophomore 11. MICHIGAN 8-2'-0 238
season, had 12. Southern Cal 7-1-1 211
Ted Owens. 13. North Carolina 9-1-0 97
14. Brigham Young 9-1-0 90
has "som'e 15. South Carolina 8-2-0 86
d Monday's 16. Mississippi State 8-2-0 71
nsas coach, 17. Washington 8-2-0 70
:ted that the 18. Texas 7-2-0 30
discuss the 19. UCLA 7-2-0 22
cial announ- 20. Florida 7-2-0 9
PUBLIC ENEMY
See Cagney go from a bad kid to a rotten man. So rotten that he smashes a
grapefruit into his girlfriend's face when he isn't bootlegging gin. 7:00 Only.
LITTLE CAESAR
This film initiated the gangster movie popularity of the thirties. E.G. Robinson
plays Caesar "Rico" Bandello,* who rose from the gutter and returned to
the some place. Bump him off, on the lam, that's swell kid, I'm the one see,
"Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?" 9:00 Only. LORCH HALL.
CINEMA GUILD
SPOR TS OF THE DAILY:
Northwestern dumps coach,
EVANSTON (AP) - Northwestern Athletic Director
hn Pont and bead football coach Rick Venturi both were
fired yesterday in the wake of a disastrous and winless foot-
ball season marked by a revolt of black players.
The announcement was made by University President
Robert Strotz who said an immediate search is being made
for replacements and that Ken Kraft, associate athletic
director, will serve as interim athletic director.
NORTHWESTERN CAPPED a winless season with a 39-
19 loss to Wisconsin last Saturday which extended the Wild-
cats' losing streak to 20 games, longest in the nation among
major universities.
Venturi, a former Northwestern player, succeeded Pont
head coach with Pont remaining as athletic director. Ven-
ri had two years to go on his five-year contract. In his three
years as head coach he posted a 1-31-1 record which included
27 straight losses in Big Ten competition.
Jayhawk uproar
Michigan's relatively, easy non-conference basketball'
schedule, which begins Monday with an exhil
against Windsor at Crisler Arena, may be even
expected.
KANSAS, THE Wolverines' opponent De
probably will be playing without its standout g
Ross. Rumors circulated yesterday that Ross, a
guard who averaged 11.7 points per game last:
been dismissed from the Jayhawk team by coach'
Ross, who according to Game Plan magazine
adjusting to do on and off the court," misses
workout, and afterward Owens, the 17-year Ka
expressed disgust with his absence. It was expec
coach would call a press conference yesterday to
matter, but university officials said that no offi
cement would be forthcoming until Owens spoke Y
Part of the trouble with Ross stems from a
pering with university telephone accounts.
with Ross.
lleged tam-
THE CONSUL
GRIDDE PICKS
Rumors were circulating that ex-
Ohio State coach Woody Hayes was
coming out of retirement to coach the
Buckeyes in this week's game against
tho Wolverines after he was seen
looking at Michigan game films. Hayes
quickly denied the rumors saying, "I
was only looking at the films before
making my Gridde picks."
If you want to beat Woody this
weekend, send in your picks to the
Daily at 420 Maynard by midnight
riday. A one-item pizza from Pizza
b's awaits the winner.
1. MICHIGAN at Ohio State (pick score)
2.. Iowa at Michigan State
3. 'Indiana at Purdue
4. Minnesota at Wisconsin
5. USC at UCLA
6. Oklahoma at Nebraska
7. Brigham Young at Utah
8. Kentucky at Tennessee
9. Washington at Washington State
an opera by:
Gion-Carlo E
Menotti
2-
4> >
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