Sp orts Page 16- Friday, July 24, 1981 The Michigan Daily SEES NO MORE BASEBALL IN '81 Miller downplays proposal 4 WASHINGTON (AP) - The chief ne- gotiator for the striking major league baseball players said last night that chances for the resumption of the season this year were "very bad," but added that he would pass along the owners' latest proposal to his union's executive board. Marvin Miller, executive director of the Major League Players Association, made the comments after Ray Grebey, management's chief negotiator, described the two sides as being "as close as they've ever been." BOTH SPOKE after another day-long session in the 42-day-old strike which' has cancelled 499 major league games since June 12, wiping out 24 percent of the season. Miller said he would take the latest free-agent compensation proposal from the owners to player representatives from each team but would pass it along without recommendation for approval. The player representatives, who make up the union's executive board, are to meet Monday or Tuesday. Grebey said the meetings have been recessed to allow the players to study a new proposal by the owners in the four- th day of talks in the nation's capital. "WE HAVE moved much closer, narrowed our differences," he said. "Unfortunately, the parties have been unable to totally resolve the differen- ces." But Miller said: "I became convinced tonight that they (the owners) do not want a settlement, and it is inaccurate to say that we will take their proposal to a vote. I said the board would meet, and I would report to them as accurately as I can where we are, period. "With respect to the proposal, we will not recommend it. And, my belief is the executive board will act accordingly." MILLER PAINTED an entirely dif- ferent picture than Grebey had momen- ts before. Grebey, emerging from the negotia- tion sessions, told reporters that after the players meet to discuss this week's negotiations, "we hope ... this will produce a settlement." Grebey refused to discuss what specific movement had taken place on the two areas of discussion in the last 48 hours. Miller said that despite the players' so-called pool proposal for compen- sation, "the owner's committee said they had numerous problems with it." "WE ADDRESSED them one by one, and each time something new came up until we became convinced tonight that they do not want a settlement," he said. One issue involves the number of players to be protected from being. claimed as compensation for free agen- ts. Another is the question of whether owners would consider using a pool of player talent supplied by a number of clubs to provide professional compen- sation to teams losing free agents. Federal mediator Kenneth E. Moffett said he expected the next negotiating session to take place sometime next week, possibly Wednesday. He did not indicate whether those talks would be held here or in New York. THE TALKS moved to Washington at the request of Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, who wanted to remove them from the media "fish- bowl" of New York. Donovan put the pressure of his office on both sides by bringing them here in an attempt to salvage the season, but it remains to be seen whether that attempt was'succes- ssful. q 4 U.S. trackers, tankers faring well at Games 4 BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Larry Cowling and Stephanie Hightower added to the United States' growing collection of World University Games Gold Medals last night. Cowling, of the University of Califor- Moffeti ... close, but not quite nia, won the men's 110-meter hurdles in 13.65 seconds. The 21-year-old from Sacramento, Calif., just beat Pall Palf- fy of Romania to the tape. Georgy Shabanov of the Soviet Union took the bronze medal. HIGHTOWER, 23, from Ohio State, won the women's 100-meter hurdles in 13.03, her best time this year, and the fifth best in the world. The two victories yesterday lifted the U.S. track and field team's total to six gold medals after three days of com- petition at this, the biggest meet since the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Larry Ellis, the chief coach of the U.S. team, is not surprised by the suc- cesses. "I THINK this is almost certainly the strongest team we have ever sent to the University Games," said the Princeton coach. Four University Games records fell in the swimming competition yesterday as two Americans, a Soviet and a Romanian won gold medals. Jill Sterkel of Hacienda Heights, Calif., and Kris Kirchner of Solon, Ohio, won the men's and women's 100-meter freestyle, respectively. KIRCHNER, A 22-year-old Univer- sity of Texas student, clocked 51.39 seconds, beating the record of 51.88 set by Italian Marcello Guarducci in 1979. Sterkel, also a student at the Univer- sity' of Texas, broke her own Games record with a time of 57.17 seconds. She had set the previous mark of 57.69 in qualifications Wednesday. Her teammate, Barbara Major of Stanford, took the silver medal with a time of 58.28, followed by Olga Klevakina of the Soviet Union in 58.65. An exuberant American coach, Frank Comfort, said "It's certainly been a great evening" as he clapped his swimmers on the back. 4 4 4 Blowing off some steam AP Photo Sometimes things get a little hot during the tension of training camp, especially among those players fighting for a spot on a squad's roster. That was the case yesterday in Kent, Ohio, the training site of the Cleveland Browns, where Elvis Franks, at left, and Joel Patton air their differences. Several Browns moved in and quickly broke up the skirmish. 4