The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - October 9,1989 - Page 3 DEFORD Frank Deford tells of his new publication; takes a shot at Bo Frank Deford is one of the most prominent figures on the national sports scene. For 27 years, Deford served as a writer for Sports Illustrated where he won the U.S Sportswriter of the Year in 1982, and 1984-88. He was named the U.S Magazine Writer of the Year in 1987 and 1988 and the G Q magazine called Deford "the world's greatest sportswriter." Deford recently left Sports Illustrated in order to start The National, America's first daily all- sports national newspaper. Recently, Deford spoke with Daily sports writer Steven Cohen. Daily: The National. What are you trying to do with it? Maybe you can talk about your difficulties leaving Sports Illustrated... Frank Deford: I didn't have any difficulty leaving Sports Illustrated. I felt it was time for me to go but I wasn't going to cut off my nose to spite my face. I wasn't going to go do something just to get away from Sports Illustrated. But I certainly felt, and had felt for several years that I had accomplished everything there that I could. There was no new ground to break. But, again, I wasn't going to leave just for the sake of leaving. I was very happy there, D: The U.S is the only major country without a daily sportspaper, correct? F.D: America doesn't have it, and most countries do. And so, it would seem to me why this is all the more reason why this should work. D: It's rumored that the salaries you are paying are real high? F.D: Well, I mean we're paying very competitive salaries. I think any time you have a new enterprise you're obliged if you want good people to pay more than the WISCONSIN Continued from Page 1 defense that put Michigan ahead, 21-0. "We got caught in the defense on that run," said Wisconsin linebacker Tim Kneock. "We were in a blitz situation and when you get by the first line you got a good shot at going." However, the most important event of the afternoon came from a player who had been benched at the beginning of the week. Cornerback Lance Dottin lost his starting spot to Todd Plate. The last two weeks, opposing wide receivers flocked through Dottin like immigrating East Germans. But when Badger quarterback Sean Wilson tried to put a screen pass into the hands of tailback Fred Owens, Dottin became a wall of defense. As the ball moved through the air, Dottin ducked around Owens, * picked off Wilson's pass, then sashayed 22 yards for Michigan's first touchdown of the afternoon. "It's a great feeling to get a touchdown for the team, instead of giving one up," Dottin said. "I read the quarterback the entire way. When he threw the ball out to the flat, I was in good position to make the play.:" Dottin would provide all the existing. Whether you're starting a basketball league or a newspaper, you have to entice people away from the security and comfort of something that already exists. D: Maybe you can discuss some people that have already signed on. F.D: Sure. O.K. We have Scott Ostler. I certainly hope we get Mike Lupica. Dave Kindred from The Atlanta Constitution will be another columnist. Chris Mortenson, also from The Atlanta Constitution, will be our football writer. Sonny Rawls from the New York Times and Jeff Marx from The Lexington Herald, both will head up our investigative staff. D: The National is coming out in January? F.D: Well that's the plans right now. We're a little beholden to technology. But if all goes well it will be out in January. We're not going to come out too soon, we're not going to rush it. We'll come out when we're ready to come out but we're shooting for January. D: How will it differ from say, USA Today, and why do you feel The National will be succesful where USA Today hasn't been? F.D: Well I don't compare it to USA Today except in'the logistical sense that they'll both be national newspapers. USA Today is a general newspaper. We're much closer to The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal is a specific subject newspaper business. We're a specific subject newspaper, sports. What we will have is a sports section about four times better than USA Today's because they have three other sections. D:I don't know if you got a chance to hear it, Bo Schembechler made some scathing remarks about your former colleague Rick points in the first half. During the opening two quarters, Elvis Grbac finally looked like the red-shirt frosh he is. His 7 for 13 half de- ceived many, especially considering how many times receivers had to come back for footballs, preventing potentially big plays. Grbac misfired horribly on two passes in particular. One was dropped, but Eric Thomas did not lose the second Grbac error, giving Wisconsin the ball at their 45-yard line for their best scoring opp- ortunity of the afternoon. Badger backs Robert Williams and Jimmy Henderson punched through holes to reach the Mich- igan 19. The Wolverine defense held there, creating a fourth and one situation for coach Don Morton. But Rich Thompson's 36-yard kick could not reach the goal posts. Michigan's defense held the rest of the game, stopping the Badgers for only one first down and 15 yards total offense in the second half. Even with those numbers, Bo spoke critically of the team's performance. "I didn't think that was a great defensive performance by a long shot. That tackling didn't impress me. I see guys squirting through there, knocking us back for five yards. I see that, I didn't think that should happen." Telander's book condemning college athletics? F.D: No I didn't get a chance to hear it. D: He said, "Rick Telander is a loser. He's been a loser all his life. You wouldn't want him on your team, you wouldn't want him in your organization.... I don't give a damn about what he says." F.D: Yeah it certainly does sound like he was upset and um, sounds rather hysterical. I wouldn't want someone like that coaching my child.... I would like somebody more balanced, who takes the world, the whole world into context. D: What do you think about college athletics? F.D: I think college athletics are terrible. A horrible influence on American education. They emphasize all the wrong things, particularly in an educational context. U.S. News and World Report took a survey not too long ago and 86% of college presidents said that college athletics were damaging the education. I can't say that any better. This is the only country in the world where athletics are mixed with academics, it's a terrible mistake, can't be corrected, and it's Telander's point, the book points out, which I have for years, that this is a bad situation, that has never been correct, there was never any Golden Age in college athletics, they've always had a bad influence on academics and they always will... Notwithstanding what people like fo Schembechler, who make his money in that sewer, have to say about the subject. D: So if you had to search for any postive aspect about college athletics... F.D: I would go to small colleges in Division III or As the Oakland A's steamroll over the Toronto Blue Jays, headed for what looks like a destined world championship title, it seems that we've finally found a true sports dynasty in the making. The first team since the 1977 and 1978 New York Yankees to repeat a division title, the Oakland A's seem virtually unstoppable. Complete with speed, pitching and hitting. A clean fighting machine. But there is only one thing that could keep them down. Only one thing that can hold them back from true longevity and greatness. Head cases. Amidst the home runs, accolades, and stolen bases, the fact still is that Oakland's monster right-fielder Jose Canseco is a head case. This man has definite problems. Problems that can break a team in two. For instance, last Thursday, Canseco took himself out of the line-up. Out of a playoff game lineup. For most players, a playoff game would be a memorable experience. Most would have to be dragged off the field with a monster truck. But not Jose. He's not your normal, everyday guy. You see, Jose had a migraine. He had a headache this big. And it had riding the pine against a tough. right-handed pitcher written all over it. While migraines are pretty painful and a bit rough, playing baseball with one might be possible. Really. Face it. Not the best and finest physical specimens of sport play this game. Fat San Francisco Giant pitcher and 17-game winner Rick Rueschel happens to be successful at it. And he looks like Jabba the Hut with a mean off-speed pitch. But with that pounding feeling and no relief in sight, Canseco sat out one of the most important games of the season. While Canseco squinted at the action from the bench, you had to be wondering what his teammates thought about that. Most of them didn't seem fazed, as they went out and won the game convincingly. But they were probably thinking: Look Jose, take three and get the hell out into right field already. Interestingly enough, this was Jose's most legal distraction for his baseball team. Earlier in the year, while injured, Canseco got busted for having a nice piece of a gun in his sports car. You know, the car in which he breaks the speed of sound on your major highways. Sooner or later, this attitude will cause major, major dissention on this team. Especially after they become winners and much more complacent. But, for now, Oakland can rely on other players to pick up the slack. Like, say, Rickey Henderson for instance. Another major head case. All throughout the American League playoff series, Henderson has played phenomenally. On Thursday, while Jose watched from the bench in great pain, Henderson stole four bases, Game 2 and the whole Head cases spell future doom for A's show. The night before that, Henderson slid into second base, breaking up a double-play, allowing the winnin2 run to score. On Saturday, he topped all of this, hitting two diggers in the playoff game. No wonde, people are mentioning him as the Most Valuable Player of the ALCS. But while Henderson steals everything under the sun, he also swipes away our memories. For during his tenure with the New York Yankees, Henderson played much like a dog. With the Bronx Bombers, Henderson would sometimes have a monster first-half of the season and then disappear for the latter half. See you. I think I'll play like a dog from now on. Thinking of Henderson as a Yankee brings up the same memory: Henderson loafing after a ball rolling around in the corner while enemy runners book around the basepaths to beat the Yankees, 20-19. Frequently, Henderson would stare at the Yankee Stadium crowd while play continued. Sometimes he would sway like a child, staring into his glove. The only thing that separated himself from a little-leaguer is the fact that he didn't chew on the strings. And sooner or later, he'll grow tired of Oakland and go back to the same old tricks. Remember what they say about old dogs. After Oakland wins the World Series, and it will do that, these idiosyncrasies, these annoying little acts of personal selfishness should break up the squad. Once complacency sets in and Henderson decides to stop playing and Canseco puts the pedal to the metal even harder, the A's will squabble. Look at the New York Mets. After their win in 1986, it seemed as if this team was a true dynasty of awesome potential. But ever since then, dissention has ruined the team. Darryl Strawberry, the head case of all head cases, has annoyed every teammate, and even sparked a pre-season intrasquad brawl this year. Unbelievable. In the pre-season, he ticked everyone off. And this was after Strawberry and the team had been apart for months. Much of the Mets' problem stems from their manager, Davey Johnson, who really looks as if he doesn't give a damn. Johnson just manages the team and leaves the card-playing and whining to the players. And this is where the A's might save themselves. Their manager, Tony LaRussa, happens to be the best in baseball. With his hands-on, free and easy approach, he might be able to keep his head cases in line. He might be able to control Henderson. And while no one can control Jose, LaRussa can only hope that Canseco keeps smashing homeruns at his current alarming rate, averaging 46 home runs a season. That way, nobody should care what Canseco does off the field. But sooner or later, it's going to get them. Dissention looms on the horizon for Oakland. ,. _ r VOLLEYBALL On Saturday night, Ohio State was able to feast on the Wolverine's weaknesses: backcourt defense, serving, and receiving. Michigan committed nine receiv- ing errors to Ohio State's one, and Michigan came up with only 39 digs whereas the Buckeyes had 53. Carla Hunter, a strong force in the frontcourt, had to be pulled out of the match and replaced by Heather Wells after missing several service receptions while in the backcourt. "She's been playing real well in the front row (Hunter led the team with 8 kills), but she's had some problems passing in the back row," said Michigan coach Joyce Davis. Team leader Karen Marshall also suffered from a sub-par performance as she only came up with 5 kills and a weak .052 hitting percentage. Frosh Hayley Lorenzen saw limited action, but continued her solid frontcourt play, leading the team with a .666 hitting percentage. SUITS SUITS SUITS SUIT'S SUITS. HAPPY'S 100% Wool & Worsted Woo] Suits & Tuxedos -Dress Shirts-Ties- Free Alterations Student 15% Discount 313 S. 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