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The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 15, 1985 -
THE SPORTING VIEWS
Tigers and
Terrell win
USFL tries to pass go.. .
W. ..but NFL holds monopoly
By SCOTT SHAFFER
HINK OF all the young talent in the
SS USFL. Doug Flutie, Jim Kelly.
Steve Young. Anthony Carter. Herschel
-Walker. Gary Anderson. Mike Rozier.
"-The list goes on, but the attention given
to these stars does not.
Many of these players sign big con-
tracts with the USFL but are rarely
heard from again. Why is this so?
While some may say not enough
people care about the league, media
coverage given to the spring league is
largely, responsible for any disinterest.
1ewspapers and television affect
-,people's opinions to a great extent. If
the press treated the USFL with as
much enthusiasm as even the NHL,
,public opinion would begin to rise.
Too often do I pick up the paper and
,read yet another column about how
boring the USFL is. Sure, the USFL is
not the NFL's equal. But it certainly is
superior to college football in terms of
layer ability. Think about all of the ex-
,college players competing for jobs in the
pros and you will realize this to be true.
In most cases, the difference between
a player making the NFL or the USFL
isn't even that great. A couple of tenths
,of a second in the 40 yard dash or a few
Winches in height can determine whether
or not a player makes the team.
- 'Although the USFL's line play isn't up
to NFL standards, the player talent as a
whole is not what is holding the spring
league back.
Although some teams, such as the
Los Angeles Express and the Arizona
Wranglers/Outlaws have been hurt by
poor management. I believe the
main problems are playing in the
spring and dealing with the television
networks.
The owners tried to correct the first
problem when they announced a move
to the fall, effective 1986. However, this
move is now in jeopardy because of the
""network's refusal to show the USFL
v 4'during NFL season.
The USFL has gotten decent ratings
.Jn the past (5.5 percent of household in
t .4984) but the networks refused every
proposal. League negotiator Eddie
Einhorn offered to switch games to
Saturday and even offered CBS the en-
tire 1986 season plus the playoffs for a
mere $4 million if the network would
commit themselves for 1987. When you
compare $4 million to the $500 million
that the three networks pay the NFL
annually, you have to wonder why
Einhorn's offer was turned down.
The answer in a word -
MONOPOLY. The NFL's monopoly of
the airwaves is obvious in light of the
above facts. "When the product et-
ting better doesn't make any differen-
ce, when the price of the rights doesn't
make any difference, when the fact that
I've got a Saturday opening doesn't
make any difference, do you need a
picture, do you need a Degas painting to
tell you what's happening? The fix is
in," Einhorn said in a recent issue of
Sports Illustrated.
One plus for the fledgling league is its
willingness to innovate to gain fan sup-
port. While the NFL is busy passing
rules that take excitement and color out
of the game (such as the anti-
celebration and spiking rule or the 15
yard penalty against kickers trying to
draw roughing calls), the USFL is ex-
perimenting with instant replays to
determine close calls and with stopping
the clock while the chains are set after
the two minute warning to make com-
backs possible.
Another gripe I have with the NFL is
that there is little incentive for a team
to win with a guaranteed income of
roughly $15 million per year from TV
alone. A case in point is the Buffalo
Bills.
In recent years, they have allowed
Tom Cousineau (CFL) and Jim Kelly,
(USFL) both first round picks to escape
and did not draft Doug Flutie when
given the opportunity to, despite the
fact that quarterback position is their
biggest question mark.
Buffalo faithful also had to suffer the
loss of their biggest'star, Joe Cribbs,
who signed with the USFL's Stallions.
The USFL has the big names, the ex-
citing contests and the burning desire to
succeed. It would be a shame if the
NFL's monopoly on the networks stop-
ped it.
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - Detroit's Walt
Terrell made his second strong showing
and the Tigers took advantage of five
St. Louis errors for a 5-4 exhibition vic-
tory over the Cardinals yesterday.
Terrell, who came to the Tigers in an
off-season trade from the New York
Mets, breezed through the first three
innings, yielding three harmless hits
and striking out two.
THE VICTORY improved the Tigers'
spring record to 6-1, while the Cardinals
were playing their first exhibition
game.
Lance Parrish singled in the Detroit
first, went to third when first baseman
Andy Van Slyke misplayed John
Grubb's grounder for an error and
scored on a grounder by Darrell Evans.
In the Tigers third, singles by Doug
Baker, Lou Whitaker and Mike Laga
produced another run off loser Bob
Forsch. Whitaker trotted home when
Laga stole second and catcher Mike
LaValliere's throw skipped into center
field.
THE TIGERS made it 5-0 in the fifth.
Whitaker reached third when center
fielder Vince Coleman dropped hislong
fly ball for an error and scored when
Ron Johnson doubled down the right
field line. Kirk Gibson walked, Parrish
was safe on Ron Jackson's error at
third and Laga came home on Grubb's
sacrifice fly.
The Cards got two runs in the ninth on
a single by Darell Porter and doubles
by Jackson and Argenis Salazar.
Associated Press
Anarchy in the U.K.
English soccer fans invade the field at the end of an FA Cup match in Luton. After Luton had defeated Millwall, 1-0, fans
ran onto the field hurling broken seats at police.
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