Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 13, 1989
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Soccer
club
loses its home
opener, 4-3
by David Schechter
Daily Contributor
by Ryan Schreiber
Daily ports Writer
Contrary to popular belief, the
New York media does not cause
championship or collapse for its
sports teams. Front office manage-
ment decides the fate of New York
City sports teams.
Player personnel, talent and luck
all play a part in winning seasons,
but, especially in New York, an
unstable front office crushes any
hopes for success.
Baseball is a prime example.
The New York Yankees; over the
course of 17 seasons under owner
George Steinbrenner, have had 18
managerial changes, including Dallas
Green, who was axed in August.
Steinbrenner treats his general man-
agers poorly, too, as his "do it my
way" attitude recently bullied away
another highly regarded front office
worker, Syd Thrift.
THE YANKEES won in the
late 1970's because their talented
players overcame the front office
meddling. But, today, Steinbrenner's
dictatorial rule continually breaks the
mold of the previous staff and starts
from scratch. Obviously, as evi-
denced by the Yankee losers of the
last eight seasons, this just doesn't
cut it.
The Mets are the exact opposite.
The best acquisition the Mets made
was obtaining GM Frank Cashen.
Taking the job in 1980, Cashen
engineered a total loser into a World
Series Champion in six years. His
brilliant trades for proven veterans
mixed with a highly successful farm
system turned around one of base-
ball's worst teams.
Front office management plays
a part in the success of New York
football, too. The New York Giants
have been consistently successful
due to the stability maintained by
owner Wellington Mara and general
manager George Young.
The New York Jets, however,
are so clueless that the team has no
general manager, and has Joe
Walton, a coach worse than his
predecessor, Walt Michaels. Even
the fans know better, popping up
"Joe Must Go" signs all around
Giants Stadium.
In 1986, the best season the Jets
recorded in recent history, owner and
gasoline tycoon Leon Hess' team
lost five consecutive games to end a
weakly-scheduled regular season.
To make matters worse, the Jets
were bounced out of the playoffs
when they surrendered 10 points in
the last five minutes of a double
overtime loss to the Cleveland
Browns. Despite the horrid play, the
Jets didn't have a general manager to
fire Joe Walton.
Meanwhile, the Giants won the
Super Bowl.
THE YANKEES and Jets
should follow the lead of New York
basketball and hockey teams. After
years of losing, the New York
Knicks scrapped two general man-
agers and two head coaches and
finally produced a winning com-
bination with GM Al Bianchi and
Coach Rick Pitino. Unfortunately,
with Pitino's departure to Kentucky,
the Knicks may falter.
Even the New York Rangers are
joining the cause, tossing Phil Es-
posito who offered little consistency
to his team. In an egotistical power
grab, Esposito fired coach Michel
Bergeron with two games remaining
last season and took over the reigns.
His unsuccessful campaign, an 0-6
clip, led to his removal and a shift to
a youth movement, headed by coach
Roger Nielsen and GM Neal Smith.
As far as the New York Island-
ers are concerned, nobody from New
York proper cares about them.
They're just out there driving their
Bimmers on some huge Arbour
Island.
It is definitely time for the
Yankees and Jets to get with the
program. The Yankees need a change
in ownership and the Jets should let
a football person run the show.
Their lack of intelligent moves adds
insult to injury for the fans.
Gas does not make the team go,
Leon.
Doc Edwards (left) was fired yesterday as manager of the Cleveland
Indians and was replaced on an interim basis by John Hart, a former
Baltimore Oriole coach.
Who's gone, Doe.
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Cleveland Indians fired Manager Doc
Edwards on Tuesday, hoping to reverse a late-season swoon that dropped the
team out of its first pennant race in 15 years.
The Indians, who haven't won a division or American League title since
1954, were 54-54 on Aug. 4, only 1 1/2 games out of first. But since then,
they've gone 11-24, falling a season-worst 14-and-a-half games off the pace
at 65-78.
Edwards, 52, was replaced on an interim basis by John Hart, 41, a
former coach and minor-league manager in the Baltimore Orioles
organization. Hart was the Orioles' third-base coach last year and was
brought to Cleveland as a scout by Indians president Hank Peters, formerly
Baltimore's general manager.
The early favorite to be Edwards' permanent replacement, is Mike
Hargrove, a former Cleveland player who managed the Indians' Class AAA
Colorado Springs affiliate this year. Hargrove and Hart will be among the
people considered for the job, Peters said. Others outside the organization,
such as former Yankees manager Lou Piniella, might also be considered, he
indicated.
"I think they (Indians' players) had reached the point where they were
satisfied with the type of baseball they were playing, and I wasn't," Peters
said.
Edwards was nearing the end of his second one-year contract with the
Indians. He replaced Pat Corrales as manager on July 16, 1987, and
compiled a record of 173-207.
As the maize and blue gates
opened on a new women's soccer
season, the Wolverines entered
Mitchell Field looking rusty, losing
to the University of Windsor, 4-3.
By halftime the team strode off
the field looking fortunate to only
trail by a score of 2-1. Sophomore
Sandy Najarian fired in Michigan's
only first half goal in retaliation of
an early Windsor score. The
Wolverines were unable to penetrate
Windsor's defense while Windsor had
no problem with Michigan's.
In the second half, Windsor
continued to play Michigan's song
as they burst through for another
goal within the first five minutes:
That's when first-year forward Molly
Douma grabbed the reigns.
First, she unleased a close range
goal followed by a 30-foot free kick
that sailed over the defense and into
the Windsor net, tying the score at
three.
Still, the Wolverines could not
stem the Windsor tide as their
opponents scored once more to seal
the victory. A late game shot by
junior Leslie Martin could not quite
muster a tie.
Michigan's leading scorer
Douma was upset with the club
team's home opener.
"It's that were just starting to;
work together. We couldn't quite
put it together today," she said.
"That was just today. The team in
general has big plans."
Coach Bob Paul agreed with
Douma that the club could improve
its play.
"We played extremely poorly,
extremely sluggish. We've got
enough talent to play far better."
Read
Rich Eisen
in Sports Monday
a
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