The Michigan Daily- Sports Monday - November 27, 1989 - Page 3


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The ex-Wolverine basketball coach talks about
life at Iowa State before his return to Ann Arbor

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Johnny Orr was Michigan's
head basketball coach from 1968-
80, recording a 209-113 overall
record and 120-72 mark in the Big
Ten, le left the Wolverines to take
the top basketball job at Iowa
State. Daily basketball writer John
Niyo recently talked with Orr.
Daily: What were some of the
reasons behind your decision to
leave Michigan and accept the
coaching position at Iowa State?
Orr: Well, you know John, I
love Michigan. I was excited when
they won the national tournament. I
was happy when I saw 'em beat
Illinois and every time they played
football. But I had been there 13
years and I was not able to make
much money. I had an opportunity
to come to Iowa State and quadruple
my income and start a new
program. It was a challenge and I
thought I'd try it. But it had
nothing to do with disliking
Michigan.
D: Did the Michigan athletic
department give enough attention to
basketball?
0: Oh yes! I never had any
complaints about that. It seems like
people think that (they did not), but
I never had anything to do with
that. I enjoyed working for (ex-
athletic director) Don Canham. I
thought he was a great guy. He did
everything to promote my program.
There's nothing that I disliked
about Michigan at all. I just
thought it was time to make a
change and this looked like a good
deal, so I took it.
D: Nine years later, do you
think it was the right decision?
O: Oh, no question. Yeah,
UNDRAFTED
continued from page 1
he would face stiff competition.
Several current minor leaguers
played in the outfield during
Thompson's first two years.
Last season, Price, Jim Durham,
and Greg McMurtry started in the
outfield for the Wolverines.
Yet, McMurtry, perhaps due to
his playing football, never was able
to get into a groove offensively.
Middaugh occasionally inserted
Thompson to pinch hit for
McMurtry against left-handed
pitchers, even though both players
bat right handed.
"Whenever we felt he
(Thompson) was getting hot with
the bat, we put him in there,"
former Michigan coach Bud
Middaugh said.
Thompson's timely pinch-
hitting earned him the nickname
"Mr. Clutch:'
The amiable Thompson
sometimes wonders whether he
should have been more vocal about
his lack of playing time. But he
concedes, "even though I would
have liked to rock the boat a little
more, it would have made the
situation worse."
Ron Teasley, Thompson's high
school coach who has had 15 of his
players drafted, feels that Thompson
is among the five best players he
has coached.
"What more could he do but
produce every time he got an
opportunity," Teasley said. "The
only other thing he could do was

there's no doubt about that. My
retirement is gonna be a lot better
than had I stayed.
D: Do you think that some
peoples' perceptions of Bill Frieder
as being a person who is hard to
trust are fair?
0: Well, you know, let me tell
you what; when Bill Frieder worked
for me, John, he did an excellent
job. He recruited, he was a hard
worker, he was good on the floor
and I had absolutely no complaints
whatsoever. What happened to Bill
Frieder when I left, I have no idea.
And why he did what he did and
when he did it and his feelings
toward Michigan and their feelings
towards him, I don't know what
brought the change about.
D: Since you've left, the (Iowa
State) Cyclones and Wolverines
have tangled only once, with Iowa
State winning to move onto the
NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1985.
What was it like facing "the old
school?"
O: It was a funny feeling. The
worst part of it was that I was very
sick at the game. The only reason I
went to the game was because it
was Michigan. Otherwise, I would
never have gone. When I came here
I never dreamed we'd play Michigan
in the NCAA tournament because
this program was down so far.
Winning, I think that was probably
the biggest thrill for me since I've
been here.
D: Will it be any different this
time?
O: Oh, I think so now. Things
are different. Frieder's not there any

longer andkCanham isn't there. I
don't think any of the students
know who I am or remember me or
anything like that. Some of my
friends and old timers certainly will,
but I'm still looking forward to
coming back and I wanted to come
back one time before I quit
coaching.
D: You're in the Big Eight
Conference now and you have the
luxury of a postseason tournament
to help your teams' chances for an
NCAA bid. The Big Ten still
doesn't have one. Should they?
O: I will tell you this, being in
the Big Eight, that tournament we
have is the greatest tournament
there is except the Final Four. It's
exciting. It gives every team hope.
It has been a great thing for us.
We've had great success in it and I
think it's a good deal. It doesn't
help us get any more teams any
longer in the NCAA. I don't think
that's it. But I don't think we'll
ever give it up because of the
money involved now. And if the
Big Ten goes to it and they see all
the money, they'll never be able to
give it up. The AD's will never do
that.
D: The state of college athletics
seems to be deteriorating.
Recruiting ethics have gone right
out the window. In your opinion,
what is wrong and what can be done
to change this?
0: I don't think that's right. I
don't think it's deteriorating a bit. I
think that there's a few people that
certainly would like to see it
deteriorate, but I don't think it's
any different now than it has ever
been. I think you have more good

coaches, more competitiveness, and
of course now, you're going to
have more money. Can you
imagine the NCAA now signing a
billion, a billion dollar contract?
This is mind boggling. When you
do that, money-wise it's a super
thing, but it also brings a lot of
problems. I think you'll see a lot of
things offshooting from this.
D: Last winter one of your
better players, Sam Mack, was
arrested for armed robbery. You
stood by him and he was eventually
acquitted of all charges. He
transferred to Arizona State to get a
fresh start. Just a couple of weeks
ago he was suspended by Bill
Frieder after being charged with
alleged sexual assault. How much
did it hurt when you heard about the
latest incident?
0: What hurt me more than
anything is the way it was handled
by the press. He has never been
charged with anything. Actually, if
it had been anyone but maybe Sam
Mack or a few other athletes in the
country, it would have been
nothing. But the way it was, I told
Sam he couldn't come back here.
Then when he left I hoped he was
going to do a good job. I never told
him to go to Arizona State. That
was his own doing.
I told him you can't do anything
wrong. They're going to be after
you anything you do and you
brought this on yourself, so you
have to be extremely careful.
Hopefully it'll get cleared up. He's
a good basketball player and a good
student. I hope he can go on with
his life, but if he doesn't and he
does something wrong then he
should be punished.

Thanks to Miami, bowl
games take on meaning
Had my family held Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, my list of thanks
would have been radically different.
On Thursday, pitcher/head case Pascual Perez, who angrily threw a
ball into an opposing dugout last season, was at the top of my thanks
list. I thank the heavens that Yankee owner George Steinbrenner brought
home such a stable individual to the Bronx Zoo. You can sure count on a
repeat drug and alcohol offender like Perez to be rock solid when the dung
hits the fan in August.
And what a bargain! Only 5.7 million over three years. Couldn't get a
better deal if Perez had been on sale at K-Mart.
Second on the List O' Thanks was "Back to the Future: Part II." One
really can't get enough of Michael J. Fox, can one?
Third on the list was Afrin, because I caught a cold last week.
But the list would have been radically altered if dinner was held
yesterday, because on Saturday, something truly wondrous occurred -
something which deserved all of my thanks.
Notre Dame got its butt whipped in football.
I didn't see part of the game because I took in "Back to the Future:
Part II," but I did see enough to fill my heart with glee. There aren't
many opportunities to witness a Notre Dame football loss, so everyone
should revel in this.
So, let's all sit in Michigan Stadium and pass around the pumpkin pie
and cranberries - for Notre Dame no longer remains number one.
We should also appreciate this defeat since, now that the Irish have a
loss on its record, all the Bowl games this January take on more
importance. In fact, for the first time in recent memory, the New Year's
Day Bowl games take on a playoff-like appearance.
For example, had Notre Dame beaten Miami, we would have still been
thankful because we all like to see the Hurricanes lose, too. Wait. Let's
start again.
For example, had Notre Dame beaten Miami, the only Bowl game of
national importance would have been the Orange Bowl, in which the Irish
play Colorado for the would-be National Championship.
But Notre Dame does have a loss, thank you, making the Sugar,
Fiesta and, yes, even the Rose Bowl more interesting. And this should be
the case every year.
For the past few years, one Bowl game, namely the Fiesta, has been
for all the marbles regardless of which teams play in the other New Year's
games. Two years ago, Penn State and Miami clashed in the Fiesta for
the title and last year the Irish and West Virginia played an anticlimactic
Fiesta Bowl contest.
Sounds more like a siesta than a fiesta.
With Notre Dame's loss, goodness knows what teams will be ranked
where in the polls this afternoon. But, regardless of the Top 25 rankings,
the other Bowl games can indeed have National Championship
ramifications.
If Notre Dame beats Colorado.
In the Rose Bowl, Michigan needs to wipe out the USC Trojans for
the second straight year in order to finally bring home the Gold.
In the Sugar Bowl, Alabama will play Miami and the winner of that
game can win the whole shooting match as well.
Florida State, the only team to beat Miami, and Nebraska face off in
the Fiesta Bowl and, depending on what happens in the other Bowl
games, either team can capture the Championship.
Plus, the Orange Bowl doesn't kickoff until 8 p.m., making these
other afternoon Bowl games somewhat more scintillating to watch.
Therefore, why not set up a Bowl game playoff system for the future?
All the Bowls previous to New Year's don't mean a thing anyway. Who's
going to circle December 30 on their calendars just because Pittsburgh
and Texas A&M play in the John Hancock Bowl?
Hold the eggnog, Tulsa and Oregon hit the gridiron in the
Independence Bowl on Dec. 16!
So, let's have a system which makes the New Year's Day games
exciting every year, not just once in a decade.
Now, that's something for which we could all be thankful.




quit.
"What does that mean he can't
play defense, he can't catch a
baseball? If you have a guy who
has the coordination, the reflexes,
and can hit .350, you're telling me
he can't be a good fielder?
"In high school he was an
outstanding fielder. You get a guy
like Kourtney, you play him all
over the place."
Thompson, who spent four
years and hundreds of practices
working on his defense, adds, "All
of a sudden, I come to an
understanding that I'm a defensive
liability. Let's just say I am a
defensive liability. Think about
Coach Middaugh and what he had to
gain. Couldn't he have taken it
upon himself to turn me into a
good defensive player, with all of
the facilities here. The assistant
coaches told me that all I needed
was to play. If you haven't had the
experience, how are you going to
play?"
Middaugh defended his decision
not to play Thompson every day,
saying, "We just had an awful lot
of good people, we had outstanding
personnel.
"We as coaches try to make the
right decisions, and we hope most
of the time that we succeed."
Despite some personal
disappointments, Thompson still
views his years at Michigan
positively for camaraderie,
education, and the competition it
offered.
While Thompson can only
wonder what might have happened,
Price still has a year to prove

Price
himself.
A member of the junior
Olympic team, the blue-chipper
was heavily pursued by several
Midwestern colleges. Price has
exhibited an uncanny ability to get
on base, reaching 12 consecutive
times during his first Big Ten
playoffs, and fifteen times last
season.
As he enters his final season,
Price is working hard to do more
than just excel for the major league
scouts. One searching for Price
should check local batting cages and
paddleball courts.
"I am enjoying baseball right
now. I was voted co-captain which
means a hell of a lot to me. I can't

wait for the season to start."
When prodded, Price concedes
that his not getting drafted affected
him deeply. Last summer, while
playing in the prestigious Cape
Cod league, Price hit .200, an
uncharacteristically low average for
him.
He has put the past aside and is
looking forward to playing under
new coach Bill Freehan. Price is
also set up to earn a degree in
secondary education mathematics to
put to use after his playing days are
done.
Thompson would also like to go
into teaching after he is finished
playing. Rather than pursue the
free-agent route right away, he has
chosen to get his degree.
Anderson offers this sobering
advice to aspiring major leaguers:
"Go after it with all the
determination and enthusiasm in the
world but when the manager hands
you the pink slip just be ready to
move on. Anybody who has ever
picked up a ball and bat wants to
play professional baseball, we all
wanted to. A study showed that
only one out of 6,000 (little
leaguers) reaches the majors."
With this in mind it's a small
wonder that baseball maintains the
same luster in the eyes of these
youngsters from everywhere from
Oregon to Detroit.
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