TheMichigan Daily-,-Thursday, July,1 6, 1981-Page 11
Owens still lacks contract
By RON POLLACK
Daily sports writer
First inasix-partseries
This is first in a series of six ar-
ticles examining the attempts of
former Michigan football players to
make an NFL team, their thoughts
about such an endeavor and their
new pro coach 's analysis of their
abilities and future in the sport. The
series was written by Daily Sports
Writer Ron Pollack.
When the Los Angeles Rams drafted
Michigan linebacker Mel Owens with
the ninth pick in the first round of the
college draft, the team's linebacker
coach must have felt quite relieved -
and with good reason, too.
The day prior to the draft starting
outside linebacker Bob Brudzinski had
been traded to the Miami Dolphins
because of a contract dispute. Fur-
thermore, Jack Reynolds, the Rams'
starting middle linebacker, was as yet
unsigned (and was eventually released
when the two sides could not reach an
agreement).
IN OWENS, the Rams knew they had
a player who possessed both size and
speed. But now the Rams were faced
with the prospect that Owens will have
Former 'M' gridder
eould be holdout
they basically use the same system as
Michigan does. You can only do so
many things in football. But the ter-
minology is different."
Owens says that being drafted in the
first round eases his mind since it is
very unlikely that he will be cut, but
adds that there are also disadvantages.
"More eyes are on you," he said. "If
you do something bad, they'll notice it
right away. But if you do something
outstanding they expect it."
TOMORROW: GEORGE LILJA
more than size and speed when training
camp begins. Owens may also have an
unsigned contract which would result in
his absence from training camp.
"Saturday is the deadline for repor-
ting to camp," said Owens. "By Satur-
day if I'm signed, everything will be
rosy. If not, something's gone wrong."
"THERE'D BE no sense in going out
and playing without a contract, because
if I got hurt then, I'd be worth nothing to
them."
Once Owens signs a contract, he will
set his sights on the starting spot left
vacant by the Brudzinski trade.
However, he admits that it will not be
easy to become an immediate starter.
"Of course I have a chance to start
with two starters being gone, but I
wouldn't say I'll start right away," said
Owens. "But if the opportunity is there,
I think I can start sometime into the
season."
OWENS' CONTENTION that an in-
stant starting berth will be difficult to
attain is shared by the Rams' head
coach Ray Malavasi. "He's not a star-
ter right now," said Malavasi. "He's
got a lot of ability, but it'll be pretty
hard to come in and start. We prefer to
bring him along slowly because he has
to learn our system.
"The pro game is different than the
college game. We ask him to do more
than they ask him in college. So the bet-
ter he learns our system, the better
he'll be down the line."
However, Malavasi adds that he does
not consider it out of the question for a
rookie to start. "I've seen some draft
choices come in and look so good, that
you start them right away," he said.
"That's always nice."
WHEN DISCUSSING the reasons
why it will be hard for Owens to become
a starter when the season opens,
Malavasi says that although Owens,
"definitely has some great strengths -
excellent speed, and he's a good tackler
- he's got to learn the system and what
we expect of him."
Although Owens has no illusions of
joining Los Angeles with a thorough
knowledge of the Rams' defensive
system, he sees enough similarities
between it and the defense played at
Michigan to ease the difficulty of the
learning process.
"We were out there for mini-camp
and they gave us a play book with one-
fourth of the plays," said Owens. "And
1968 - Year of the Tiger
It doesn't matter if you side with the players or the owners in the
current baseball strike, there is one thing that everyone agrees on-it is
an unfortunate situation. So in order to partially relieve the misery of
any baseball junkies going through withdrawal, throughout the
duration of the strike the Daily is providing a look back to a more
pleasant time-1968. There was no free agent compensation, no
NLRB, no court injunctions-and no strike. And for those of you
who don't remember, in 1968 the Tigers were winners, World Series
winners, in fact. Each day the Daily relates the results of the previous
evening's Tiger game-minus 13 years.
July 15-Angels 4, Tigers 0
-Owens
... still unsigned
Labor Seeretary
attends strike talks
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Jim
Fregosi and Aurelio Rodriguez
smashed two homers yesterday as the
California Angels defeated the Detroit
Tigers, 4-0, shaving another game off
the Tigers' American League lead.
Since the All-Star break the Tigers
have lost three straight games and four
of their last five games. Their lead was
trimmed to 61/2 games as the second
place Baltimore Orioles beat the New
York Yankees.
The Angels only managed to collect
three hits, but two of the hits were home
runs, both coming with two outs.
In the third inning, Vic Davalillo got
the Angels' first hit of the ball game off
Mickey Lolich, a double, and Fregosi
followed by lining his ninth homer of the
year over the left field fence.
Detroit
AB R H RBI
McAuliffe2b. 3 5 . .3
stanley, cf............. 4 0 0 0
Kaline, lb ............. 4 0 3
Freehanc. 4 .. . .4
Hortonif ....... 4 0 0 0
Wert,3b.......... 4
Northrup, rf ........... 3
Tracewski, ss .......... 4
Lolich, p ......... 2
Pricerph........ ... 1
Patterso, np .......
0
0
0
0
0
TOTALS.. 33 0
California
Fregoi,s ...... 4
Reichatsf ............ 2
Morton, rf ............. 3
Repoz, rf .............. 0
Knoop, 2b ............. 3
Hin, ,.lb...... 3
Rodrigez,3b. 3
Rodgers, c ............. 3
Davalillo f. 4
Brunet, p........ 3
0
1
0
H
i
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
RBI
0
0
0
NEW YORK (AP) - Talks to end the
34-day major league baseball strike
resumed yesterday with a new spirit
and a more hopeful tone under the wat-
chful eye of U.S. Secretary of Labor
Raymond Donovan.
Asked if he had brought the two sides,
meeting in a 17th-floor suite at the
Doral Inn, a message from President
Reagan, Donovan told newsmen in the
hotel's lobby: "The message was from
me and it was to please get back to
serious bargaining. They did that. The
collective bargaining system is
working and I'm very pleased."
ASKED IF HE thought he would talk
to the two sides again later in the-week,
the labor secretary replied: "I would
hope that collective bargaining will
work to its fullest and I need not come
back or they come down to Washington,
D.C. There's a nice spirit up there."
Earlier, Kenneth Moffett, the federal
mediator trying to resolve the thorny
free-agent compensation issue, said
Donovan had told the negotiators that
they must reach a settlement soon.
Donovan, the first member of the
Reagan administration to take part in
the talks, met with Marvin Miller,
executive director of the Major League
Players Association, and Ray Grebey,
director of the owners' Player
Relations Committee, "in an effort to
add new leverage to the bargaining
process," said Moffett. ,
"The secretary suggested that he was
hopeful that they could reach a set-
tlement. He also told them that if they
could not come to an agreement, the
parties could rest assured that they,
would be hearing from him about
coming down to Washington, D.C.," for
more intensive bargaining, presumably
with a news blackout, said Moffett.
Yesterday's meeting was the first
since talks broke off last Saturday
amidst bitterness following the rejec-
tion by owners of a settlement proposal
by Moffett.
R
0
TOTALS ............28 4 3 4
Detroit .......... ..... . ..000 000 0040
Califoria . .. . 002 200 0x-4
E-Kaline, Roriguez. LOB-Detroit , Califor-
nia 1. 2B-Davalillo. HR-Fregosi (9),
Rodriguex (1).
IP H R ER BB SO
Lolich (L, 7-5). 6 3 4 2 1 5
Patterson ...... 2 50 0 5050 1
Brunet(W.9-9)........ 9 5 0 0 2 3
T-2:07 A-22,098
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM
(S.E.P. OR 50/50)
1981-82 APPLICATION DEADLINE JULY 31, 1981
S.E.P. provides modest grants equally matched by department
funds, for student employment. The focus of S.E.P. is on in-
structional, research, and student service projects which sus-
tain the high quality of educational programs at the University.
For information write: Student Employment Program, 2520
Student Activities Building, or call 763-5738.