Page 18-The Michigan Daily-Friday, March 25, 1988

4

Photo by DAVID W
Tim Hood, a Muskegon resident, runs through the maze-like 'Green Bay Drill' at last week's tryout for the Arena Football League's new
team, the Detroit Drive.
A ena football hits Detroit

By DAVID WEBSTER
I finally got my shot at the big leagues.
Last week I was extended the first and proba-
bly last opportunity I'll ever have to play a
professional sport. I tried out for the Detroit
Drive, one of four new teams in the embryonic
Arena Football League.
Arena football is a funky game played ih-
doors on a 50 yard-long field. Each team con-
sists of eight players, all of whom play both
offense and defense-except quarterbacks and
kickers. Punting is not a part of the game, and
the scores are usually out of sight.
The tryout, which was more like an over-
crowded gym class, was held at Macomb Com-
munity College in Warren. It was an open
event, meaning that any schlep talented enough
to tie'his own sneakers could walk in and try
out. Having been endowed with that God-given
gift, I decided to go for it.
TIHE FIRST order of business was to fill
out a form waiving the league of any
responsibility if, by chance, I was physically
mangled. I thought twice about signing the
waiver after looking at the 250-pound
musclehead standing behind me, whom I had
overheard talking about his unsuccessful tryout
with the Detroit Lions.
But I decided it would be pretty weak to cop
out during the registration phase of the tryout,
so I signed my life away and in return got a free
Detroit Drive tee shirt.
After everyone had registered, head coach Tim
Marcum gathered us in the middle of the field
house and explained how the tryout would be

run. Each person was to run through a series of
drills including the forty and twenty yard dashes,
the shuttle run, the standing broad jump, a
twenty yard backpedal, and a confusing maze of
pylons called the 'Green Bay Drill'.
I put on my grey Drive tee shirt, pinned the
number 215 to my chest and with 49 other guys
headed for the area where the 'Green Bay Drill'
was being timed.
WHEN MY turn came I took a couple of
deep breaths and put a determined look on my
face. It seemed like the thing to do. As I weaved
in and out of the orange cones I could vaguely
hear the other guys cheering me on and
encouraging me.
"Push it all the way baby, push it," someone
shouted.
I must have run a decent time because a lot
of people stuck their hands out to congratulate
me as I got up. A fat man with a stopwatch
whacked me on the butt and said "good hustle."
As my group of 50 co-candidates rotated be-
tween the different drills, my fear of looking
like a fool was quickly erased. I found that my
performances were average and that made me
feel great. In the forty yard dash I ran against the
same musclehead who was behind me in line at
registration-number 216. I beat him with
ease- twice.
At the broad jump station I managed to jump
eight feet. The musclehead jumped seven feet
and two inches.
B E C A U S E there were so many people
trying out, it took about four hours to get
everyone through the five drills. There were
some men who took the tryout more seriously

than most of us. They were the guys who knew
they had a real shot at getting invited to training
camp next month.
Former Wolverine tailback Rick Rogers was
obviously the most experienced and talented
player in my group. He was pretty confident
too.
"I think this league could be sweet for me,"
he said when I asked him about his chances.
While I was talking with Rick, coach Mar-
cum called us all together again and explained
that we would now run through "some football
drills." Since I had signed up as a wide receiver
and defensive back, that meant I would be run-
ning pass routes and doing pass coverage.
I hadn't run pass routes in an organized
situation since I last donned a helmet for the
Fighting Fishermen of Gloucester (MA.) High
School, over four years ago. But that didn't
bother me because I was having fun.
BEFORE we split up to run the next set of
drills, Marcum thanked us all for trying out and
said he would be inviting about 25 guys to go
to camp with the Drive. We all gave ourselves a
uearty ovation and threw high fives around like
they were going out of style. Even if we didn't
make the Drive, we were part of the team for at
least a day.
I lined up with the other receivers and ran a
short post pattern when my turn came. The
quarterback threw the ball to the receiver on the
other side of the field. After playing defense on
the guy in line behind me, I slipped out of line
and headed for home.
I wore my Detroit Drive tee shirt in pride for
the rest of the day.

Duke edges
Rhode Island
in third round
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Kevin Strickland scored 11 of
his 12 second-half points during a 22-10 spurt that brought Duke from
behind for a 73-72 victory over upstart Rhode Island in the NCAA East
Regional semifinals, last night.
The fifth-ranked Blue Devils, 27-6, play the winner of last night's
second game between top-ranked Temple and Richmond in Saturday's
regional final. Temple had beaten Rhode Island, its Atlantic 10 Confer-
ence rival, all three times they met this season.
Duke, which led by as many as 13 points early in the first half,
trailed 51-46 with 15 minutes left in the game.
The Blue Devils, looking to make their sixth trip to the Final Four,
responded with their 22-10 spurt in the next 13 minutes, with Strick-
land hitting two free throws to make it 68-61 with 2:13 left. He also
hit Duke's only 3-pointer during the rally.
Rhode Island, which finished the season 28-7 after upsetting Mis-
souri and Syracuse in the sub-regional, closed the gap to 68-65 on two
free throws by Kenny Green with 1:10 left.
But Robert Brickley, who scored 15 points, hit four straight free
throws in the final 1:04 and grabbed a key rebound off a missed free
throw by Strickland with 50 seconds remaining.
Brickley's two free throws with 13 seconds left made it 73-69.
Rhode Island rushed the ball upcourt without a timeout and got a 3-
pointer from Carlton Owens, the Rams' only 3-point goal of the game,
with seven seconds to go.
Duke quickly inbounded the ball, and no Rhode Island player could
stop the clock with a foul before the game ended.
Danny Ferry led Duke with 17 points, Strickland finished with 14
and John Smith 12.
Rhode Island was led by Owens with 19 points and John Evans,
Tom Garrick, and Mergin Siria with 14 each. Garrick had averaged 30
points in Rhode Island's five previous postseason games, which in-
cluded a 68-63 loss to Temple in the Atlantic 10 tournament final.
The Rams lost to Duke 63-62 in the first round of the 1978 NCAA
tournament, the only other meeting ever between the two schools.
Villanova 80, Kentucky 74
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Doug West and Mark Plansky keyed
a late first-half run, giving Villanova a lead it never lost as the Wildcats
upset sixth-ranked Kentucky 80-74 in the NCAA Southeast Regional
semifinals last night.
The lone Big East representative remaining from the six who started
the tournament turned aside favored Kentucky with a nearly flawless
performance.
Plansky scored five points and West four in a 14-3 burst in the last
4:30 of the half to create a 43-32 lead. Villanova, 24-12, built its lead
to 49-36 early in the second half and withstood a pair of surges that
twice saw Kentucky get within fpur points.
The victory sent the sixth-seeded Wildcats, who won the national
championship in 1985, into Saturday's regional title game against the
winner of last night's clash between No. 4 Oklahoma and Louisville.
Kentucky, finishing 27-6, first got within four at 63-59 with just
under nine minutes remaining, but a 3-point basket by Kenny Wilson
ended that threat.
The Southeastern Conference champions got within 74-70 with 2:04
to go, but Villanova milked the 45-second shot clock and West, who
finished with 20 points, converted a 12-footer.
Plansky and Wilson each hit two free throws in the final 33 seconds
to create eight-point leads as Villanova went 17 of 17 from the free
throw line in the game.
Rex Chapman led all scorers with 30 points, including five 3-point
baskets.
Bullets 94, Hawks 91
LANDOVER, Mo. (AP)- Moses Malone sank four free throws in
the last 14 seconds as Washington held off Atlanta 94-91 last night,
giving the Bullets their first victory over the Hawks in nearly two
years.
Atlanta had beaten Washington eight times in a row dating back to
April 4, 1986. The victory also ended Washington's four-game losing
streak.
The Bullets led 80-75 before Dominique Wilkins scored eight of the
Hawks' next 12 points, pulling Atlanta within 90-87 with a double-
pump dunk with 1:44 to play.
When Kevin Willis took a no look pass from Glenn Rivers and
-dunked with 37 seconds left, Atlanta after trailing since the middle of
the third quarter, was within 90-89.
Then Washington's Steve Colter committed a turnover, stepping in-
bounds before releasing the ball.
Wilkins, who finished with 28 points, hit a 16-foot jumper with 21
seconds left to give Atlanta a 91-90 lead. Wilkins then fouled Malone

who sank two free throws with 14 seconds left.
"Hunan Garden reaps the rewards
of fine preparation."
from Detroit Free Press, March 21, 1986
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"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
almost
STARRING
JEFF

11

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