The Michigan Daiy-Wednesday, Mal'PJ98-W.age15
THIS BUD'S FOR YOU Michigan triumphs again.. .
. . . pity poor Eastern
By BUDDY MOOREHOUSE
Y OU REALLY have to feel a little sorry for
the Eastern Michigan Hurons. Not because
they lost two straight games and the Mideast
Regional title to Michigan over the weekend. The
Wolverines clearly demonstrated that they were
the better team, shutting the Hurons out twice
when no other team had been able to do it once all
year. The tournament only showed once again
why pity is due the Hurons.
In case you didn't know, Eastern is situated in
Ypsilanti, the city just six miles down the street
that you always pass on the way to Detroit. It's a
fairly large school, with about 20,000 students, but
the shadow cast by the academic and more impor-
tantly in this case, athletic, prowess of Michigan is
more than large enough to cover all of Ypsilanti
and Eastern.
So now we see why Eastern is due a little pity.
Nowhere else in the state, and probably not many
places in the rest of the country, does a university
the size of EMU have a big brother so close down
the road that hogs all of the area's athletic fan-
dom.
If you were a Washtenaw County resident and
the choice for your athletic loyalty was between
Michigan, a nationally-known powerhouse, and
Eastern Michigan, which barely draws 10,000
bodies to its home football games (which students
get into free), which would you choose?
It was easy to see who rules the roost in the area
during the Sunday and Monday Michigan-Eastern
clashes. Every time the Huron loyals would start
up with a "Go Green" chant to get their team
moving, the more numerous Wolverine fans would
immediately drown them out with cries of "Go
Blue." Just one more case of big brother beating
up on little brother.
Actually, I've been feeling sorry for Eastern for
quite some time now. Growing up in Ypsilanti, I
got to see first-hand how much of a shadow
Michigan casts over its neighbor to the east. Even
the citizens of Ypsilanti, save for a few, have
chosen Michigan over EMU .as their favorite
college team. That's what makes Eastern
unusual. The Hurons don't even have a lock on the
fans that live in their town. Western Michigan
doesn't have to compete for the attention of
Kalamazoo's fans. Central Michigan has Mount
Pleasant all to itself. Ditto with Northern
Michigan, Michigan Tech, and the rest of
Michigan's universities. Only Eastern has such a
looming shadow to live in.
And don't think that Eastern can't attract area
fans because the Hurons stink at sports. While
they don't compare with Michigan on a national
level, the Hurons continually field fine teams, par-
ticularly in baseball and track. Among the
athletes that have graced the Ypsilanti campus
are George Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs, Dave
Pureifory of the Detroit Lions, and Olympic Gold
Medalists Hayes Jones (high hurdles, 1964) and
Hasely Crawford of Trinidad-Tobago (100 meters,.
1976).
Eastern's problem lies, rather, in its image. Or
more accurately, its lack of an image. When Don
Canham came to Michigan in 1967, he soon
established the University as a school with a win-
ning image. Eastern doesn't have a winning,
losing or any other kind of image, something it
definitely needs to acquire if it hopes to compete
with Michigan for fan attention.
That's why some Michigan students would be
hard-pressed to tell you where Eastern is, much
less who its starting quarterback is. If the Hurons
hope to come out of Michigan's shadow, they need
to start selling their product.
It probably won't reach the point where Eastern
takes so many fans from Michigan that Canham
will let students go to events free, but we can
always dream.
SPORTS OF THE DAILY
Brewers bomb Bengals
MILWAUKEE (AP)-Jim Gantner
touched off Milwaukee's seven-run first
inning with a single and capped it with a
two-run double, while Pete Vuckovich
notched his fifth consecutive victory,
leading the Brewers to a 7-3 triumph
over the Detroit Tigers last night.
Gantner's single and a double by
Charlie Moore ignited the Brewers' big
first inning and a bloop single by Cecil
Cooper scored the first run. After a
walk to Gorman Thomas loaded the
bases, Ben Oglivie hit a sacrifice fly
and Roy Howell lined an RBI single,
chasing Milt Wilcox, 5-5.
Aurelio Lopez relieved and gave up a
sacrifice fly to Robin Yount and a walk
to Don Money. Mark Bgouhard singled
home another run and Gantner followed
with his double for a 7-0 lead.
Vuckovich, 5-2, allowed only one hit
and faced the minimum 15 batters
through the first five innings. He gave
up a run in the sixth on singles by Rick
Leach, Tom Brookens, and Alan
Trammell as the Brewers ended
Detroit's three-game winning streak.
Averted strike?
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a decision
that could lift the threat of a strike by
major league ballplayers, the National
Labor Relations Board's general coun-
sel yesterday upheld the players' claim
that team owners have bargained un-
fairly.
But NLRB official, William G. Lub-
bers, delayed an immediate decision
recommending whether the board will
seek an injunction to force the owners
of major league teams to reveal the
financial status.
In a decision announced yesterday,
Lubbers said he would make a final
determination on the matter today.
On Monday, Mark Belanger,
Baltimore Oriole player representative
said: "If we get injunctive relief we
would consider not striking."
SCORES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland5,Boston2
Baltimoe 6, New York 4
Texas 2 Minnesota 1
Milwaukee 7, Detroit 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsbuehi ,wcagok
Philadelphia 7. NewYoeks5
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