SPORTS Friday, October 22, 1982 The Michigan Daily Page 11i IRISH DUO TO TEST BLUE ICERS THE SPORTING VIEWS The college farm system.. . . . _athletics above academics By MIKE BRADLEY 2npart of a two-part series The intense competition for the services of high school standouts puts an enormous burden on their early collegiate lives. A freshman football player's first real experience at the University is football practice in August. Before he has purchased books or settled into his room, he is playing foot- ball. Once the school year begins, this student-athlete (who is only 17 or 18 years old), must go to classes in the morning, and then attend meetings, practices and training sessions until dinner time. After eating, he must disregard his mental and physical fatigue and study his lessons for the next day's classes. Fridays and Saturdays are lost for this player, as well, as he must prepare for, play in, and recover from the week's games. Where is the emphasis being placed here? The young student-athlete is spending between four and six hours every day playing football, and is then responsible for his schoolwork. That doesn't count the seven to 10 hours spent on Saturday. The basketball player has it no easier. In fact, with the "longers schedule and road games during the school week, they might have more standing in the way of their completion of college. What develops is a system that has these athletes working full-time whie supposedly going to school full-time (practice is work, my friends). It is easy to spot a trend developing here. Athletic departments are trying to maximize revenues by producing successful sports programs. In order to do this, they offer the athlete a chance at an education in return for services rendered on the playing field. This system fails to give the athlete a complete opportunity to pursue his education. Is this the way a respectable university wants to operate? Set up minor leagues Reform is necessary. College football and basketball have become the farm systems for their respective professional leagues. This, of course, makes the leagues happy since they don't have to spend any money to develop these farm systems, as baseball does. What is to be done, then? The professional sports leagues could set up and finance a minor league system, like in major league baseball. Here, athletes could be signed right out of high school and brought up to the big league as soon as they are deemed ready. There would be no need to go to college in order to play professional sports. Although this would diminish the number of superstar athletes who play at a college level, and ----- lower the "quality" of football and basketball - played at the major universities, what would be the 0A harm? The Ivy League schools, all maintaining a - Q de-emphasization policy toward athletics, seem to survive quite well in the world of academia without .. a high-powered sports program. --...' Another possible solution would be to pay the athletes according to the monstrous' revenues their respective universities' athletic programs generate. These athletes are the major reason that a football or basketball program makes any money at all. They work full-time, so let them be adequately compensated for their labor. This idea has already been suggested in Nebraska, where state legislatrs have proposed to put the athletes on the state payroll. When one considers r7 this, it is not all that preposterous. After all, these students are responsible for millions of dollars in revenues for a state-run institution. - -Smaller but better The most favorable solution would just be to put a lid on the overwhelming growth pattern that is developing in NCAA football and basketball. This would entail more active participation by the NCAA in the policing of the various institutions under its jurisdiction. Penalties for recruiting violations of any sort would be drastically escalated, practices would become shorter and limited to only a certain period of time during the year, and scholarships based on athletic ability would become obsolete. Of course, the most important thing that would have to occur would be a r stricter set of admission requirements. No longer would a university be allowed to admit a person solely on the basis of his ability to dunk from the foul line or throw a football through a brick wall. This is not to say that all college basketball and football players lack intelligence, but for every Steffan Humphries or Dan Pelekoudas who excels on the athletic field and ' in the classroom, there are many who exist on campuses simply to further the progress of the teams on which they play. This crackdown would bring the size of the athletic departments under control and bring athletics back into the realm of the university, instead of estranging them from college life. The universities themselves would regain integrity by not lowering admission standards or allowing athletes to spend four or five years on campus to play ball. Most of all, though, the athletes themselves would be looked at as students who make contributions to the university in other places besides the sports stadiums. If this were to happen, maybe today's term of student-athlete would not mean the reverse. Bellom) By CHUCK JAFFE For Notre Dame hockey players Kirt Bjork and Rex Bellomy, tonight's game against Michigan marks two different holidays. For Bjork, a Trenton, Mich. native, the game is a homecoming, while for Bellomy it is New Year's Day. Bjork calls Yost Ice Arena his "favorite place to play," while Bellomy was expected to be out with a knee in- jury until the first of the year. Together, they lead a potent Notre Dame attack that challenges the inex- perienced Wo)verine defense tonight and tomorrow. "I THINK Bellomy and Kirt Bjork are two guys who will really test us on defense," said Michigan coach John Giordano. "Traditionally Notre Dame has good speed, and they have good forwards. Those two are no excep- tions." "Getting Rex back in time for the season has to be a tremendous help for us," added Notre Dame mentor Charles "Lefty" Smith. 'He"is in great shape, especially when you consider that he missed the first two weeks of the year and wasn't supposed to play until January." But the fast recovery from the knee operation is not Bellomy's only story. While most top hockey prospects come from the mid- and northwest regions of , Bjork4 the country, bellomy hails from Knox- ville, Tenn. Despite not growing up in a hockey hotbed, an early start, three years in a New York prep school and great athletic ability have transformed Bellomy into one of the CCHA's top cen- ters. "KNOXVILLE used to have a semi- pro team, the Knoxville Knights, and spark N my neighbors took me to games when I was three and four years old," said the 5-11, 175-pound senior. "I started skating when I was five, and I don't think I spent a lot of time off of skates until I was injured. "I had a cast for six weeks, and I got the cast off on the first of August. The doctors told me I wouldn't play until January," Bellomy added, "but I just worked my butt off. When I first star- ted on the ice, about three weeks ago, I felt a little behind the rest of the team. It took about two weeks to get my wind .back, but now I'm in good shape." Also in good shape for the Irish is Bjork, who was the team's second- leading scorer last year, with 22 goals and 22 assists. Bjork has been preparing for this game for a long time, since his entire family will get the chance to see him play. "PARENTS, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters - everybody is going to be at the games," the 5-9, 170-pound left wing said. "Ann Arbor is my favorite place to play, and I've played with a lot of the guys on the Michigan team, so it is fun. I played with Ted Speers in the National Sports Festival, so he and I might have a little friendly rivalry going." Bjork is in the same -position as attack Michigan's Speers tonight, hoping to lead a Notre Dame team that, like Michigan's, lost a lot of experience on defense, and will rely on the forwards to carry the team through, the early season. "We'll be the two surprise teams in the league, because everyone will look down our rosters and try to exploit the freshmen," said Bjork. "We're not as deep as we have been in the past, but when the players get playing time we will get better. Our team and Michigan are in the same boat." . The same boat tonight and tomorrow willbe Yost Ice Arena where Michigan and Notre Dame will square off and try to overcome a lack of experience. It is also where Notre Dame's Kirt Bjork and Rex Bellomy will try to hold holiday celebrations. The Michigan hockey team's con- ference opening series against Notre Dame begins tonight at 7:30 at Yost Ice Arena, with the finale in Ann Arbor tomorrow. Tickets are available at the gate or at the Athletic Ticket Office at the corner of State and Hoover, for $3 and $4. All Michigan games will be broadcast by WJJX radio, 650 AM. Broadcast time is 7:15. Bellomy ... back in action quickly SPOR TS OF THE DAIL Y NFL COCKEYSVILLE, M National Football League the 31st day of their strik psychological and legal boa from the National Labo Board's top lawyer who issue a complaint chargi. NFL engaged in unfair lab during negotiations. William A. Lubbers, gen of the five-member boa complaint will be based management's "refusal t good faith with the uniona give the union information collective bargaining." GARVEY SAID the com away the NFL's threat to the season because they w be liable for all back pa players rec [d (AP) - players if the season is canceled. It also players, in means each striker has an absolute y, received a right to. reinstatement. Est yesterday But in response, the Management r Relations Council said: "This complaint will, of said he will course, shift attention from the ing that the bargaining table to the courts and un- or practices fortunately most likely delay any set- tlement." neral counsel' Prior to the NLRB decision, sources rsaid the on both sides of the negotiating table rd, sadthe had indicated the strike could be settled o bargain in within a week. d failiga to MEDIATOR SAM Kagel said and failing to negotiators were "going into each of the n relevant to economic issues in great depth." plaint "takes And in San Diego, the Chargers filed p close down suit Thursday in San Diego County o clearly Court to block 16 of their players from woufl all the participating in the series of union- sponsored all-star games. eive legal boost The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Musselman quits (ยง,avs. District of Columbia on Wednesday CLEVELAND (AP) - The Clevel reversed a lower court ruling that had Cavaliers changed coaches yester blocked teams from filing suit on a local for the third time in less than a y level to block the players from playing only eight days before the start of in the games. National Basketball Associa land rday ear, the tion As a result of that ruling, the players' association cancelled games planned for Sunday in Toronto and Monday night in Atlanta. season. Bill Musselman, who returned to the Cavaliers for a second stint as head coach in March, resinged and was replaced by Tom Nissalke, who last coached the Utah Jazz. GRIDDE PICKS We had a big problem. It has been tradition that each week's Griddes champ hasreceived a small one-item pizza from Pizza Bob's. Hoping to en- tice more people to enter Griddes, we asked a friend if he could get some special topping for the winner's pizza. So our old friend, a certain retired auto executive, left for the west coast and La-La land to procure some of the mystery powder. But before he could return to the land of Maize-and-Blue, he was stopped by the boys in blue. Take your best shot at out-guessing a future convict. Bring your picks to the Daily by midnight Friday. Include your name, address, phone number, and the score of the Michigan game. Winner gets a totally legal, one-item Pizza Bob's pizza. 1. MICHIGAN at Northwestern (pick score) 2. Illinois at Wisconsin 3. Ohio State at Indiana 4. Purdue at Michigan State 5. Iowa at Minnesota 6. Pitt at Syracuse 7. Georgia at Kentucky 8. SMU at Texas 9. Missouri at Nebraska 10. Arkansas at Houston 11. Penn State at West Virginia 12. South Carolina at LSU 13. Harvard at Princeton 14. Maryland at Duke 15. Chattanooga at Jacksonville State 16. Colgate at Rutgers 17. Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois 18. Bowdoin at Coast Guard 19. Slippery Rock at Lock Haven State 20. DAILY LIBELS at Hopeless Hurons Pursue a Rewarding Career Shape the Future of Jewish Life Enjoy Freedom and Flexibility Graduating in Engineering, Computer Science, Accounting or Finance?* Consider ANR's career possibilities OIL & GAS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION ... NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION, STORAGE ... COAL GASIFICATION & SYNTHETIC FUELS DEVELOPMENT... COAL DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING ... INTERSTATE TRUCKING FREIGHT SYSTEM. MZHLGN FOOTBALL 1982 1 ?Air 1! 1 f7A Courses Leading to Degrees in: Rabbinical Studies Jewish Education CantorialStudies Jewish Communal Service Graduate Studies Hear every exciting play with JOHN KOEHN & BILL DUFEK at the microphones versus NORTHWESTERN Ameran Natural Resources Company is a Michigan-based, S3+bilio. nmulticomnvncornoration involvepd inths Hebrew Union College -