Sports
Tuesday, July 20, 1982.
Page 12
The Michigan Daily
James works overtime
By RON POLLACK I would. That's how much I love competition." tersted in me since I'll only have one year of
"I have yet to figure out what team Joe is really It was that love of competition that caused James eligibility.
on," said a fan during the third game of last night's to quit the Michigan squad last season. Unhappy with But wherever he decides to play, there is one thing
Sandy Sanders Summer Basketball League at his limited playing time, he left the squad midway that James would love to do. "I'd definitely like to
Pioneer High School. through the year. comeback against Michigan someday and do well,"
It was an astute assessment of Joe James. ALTHOUGH there have been rumors that he has said James. "That's my main objective. It would be
ALMOST EVERY night that the summer league is transferred to Eastern Michigan, he says that he has revenge and a matter of saying 'here' is what I can
held, James plays not one but two of the three games not yet reached a decision as to where he will go to do.' I'll be honest about my feelings on that."
held. It's almost as though he's trying to make up for college in the fall. He has, however, narrowed his James scored 10 points in the first game of the night
what he considered to be insufficient playing time at choices to Eastern Michigan, Northern Michigan and which saw Moe's/Whiffletree down previously un-
Michigan last season. Northwood. He says that Western Michigan and beaten Penthouse Hair Design, 103-90. That Garner
"I usually just like to play against a lot of com- Siena Heights have also expressed interest in his paced Moe's/Whiffletree with 25 points, while Terry
petition," said James who played in two games as basketball abilities. Duerod led all scorers with 38 in the losing cause.
usual last night. "So whenever I can, I ask Sandy "Basically, I'm looking for a place where I'll play be- In the final game of the evening, James led
(Sanders, who runs the league) if I can play a second cause I know I have the potential to play. I'm also Hathaway House to an 85-78 win over Brewer's Gulf
game. He's cooperative and usually lets me, although looking to get a degree. with a team high 20 points. Eric Turner scored 21 in
he won't let my play all three. If Sandy would let me, "It came as a shock that so many schools were in- defeat.
Duerod stars in summer league
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By RON POLLACK.
The Sandy Sanders Summer Basketball League
must seem just like the good old days for Terry
Duerod.
When he was playing for Detroit in college, Duerod
was a standout player. He scored a career high 47
points against City College of New York in 1979, a year
in which he earned All-American honors.
BUT WHEN Duerod turned pro, he was no longer
the big gun on the team. The Dallas Mavericks cut
him in 1980, but he was picked up by the Boston
Celtics that same year. This past year, Duerod
averaged a mere 3.4 points per game.
The ability to score points in bunches has not left
Duerod, however. His play in the Sandy Sanders
Summer Basketball League has shown that. He
regularly scores 30 or more points a game, hitting
from anywhere he pleases when he's hot. -.It may
not be the NBA, but Duerod has looked good.
Even though he hasn't'had the opportunity to score
a lot of points on the very talented Celtics, Duerod
says he knew that he still had the ability to light up
the scoreboard.
"MY GAME IS scoring and shooting the ball," he
said after a typical 38-point night in league play.
"That's my job-shooting the ball. That's what I get
paid for."
Duerod only played 21 games at guard last season,
due much in fact to an injured right foot in February
that kept him out the rest of the season. Despite the
injury and the fact that guard Danny Ainge gave up
baseball to join the Celtics late in the season, Duerod
does not express much concern over his prospects of
making the.team.
"My situation is that I'm supposed to be there and I
need to be in shape and ready to play," said Duerod.
AS FOR HIS play in the summer league in which he
is once again a starter, Duerod said, "I think I've
been playing well and getting in shape. If only
everyone weren't always double teaming me."
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Hearns to meet unknown boxer
McCracken on Sunday
DETROIT (AP) - Former World
Boxing Association welterweight
champion Thomas Hearns will fight
unknown Jeff McCracken on Sunday in
a nationally televised fight, it was an-
nounced yesterday.
The hastily arranged fight was put
together after the WBA heavyweight
title match to be televised by CBS Sun-
day between Mike Weaver and Randy
Cobb was canceled because Cobb suf-
fered a badly cut lip, promoter John
Yopp said at a news conference.
FOR HEARNS, who lost his WBA
crown last September in a fight with
Sugar Ray Leonard, the bout at
Detroit's Cobo Arena will be the first in
his hometown since December 1980.
"I'm anxious to make a good showing
and sort of bring back the fans and
followers from before," Hearns said. "I
think some of the fans are no longer
there. They feel Ray Leonard is much
better."
Hearns is 34-1, with the lone loss
coming to Leonard.
"JUST BECAUSE I lost that fight, I
don't think I lost anything," he said.
"It's not a case of being down. It's just a
matter of capturing another champion-
ship. I still consider myself a ,cham-
pion."
Promoters listed the record of Mc-
Cracken, 24, who fights out of Los
Angeles, at 19-0.
"In order to get him to fight Thomas
Hearns, we have to give him a lot of
money," Yopp said, refusing to disclose
how much was paid to McCracken. And
despite McCracken's unblemished
record, Yopp acknowledged the
Californian was not ranked among
middleweights.
PROMOTIONAL material described
McCracken, who was not present at
yesterday's news conference, as a for-
mer sparring partner of Hearns' prior
to the Leonard fight.
Hearns, however, said he never
sparred with McCracken, had viewed
no recent films of his opponent and had
not seen McCracken since both were
amateurs at least five years ago.
"I never take any fight lightly,"
Hearns said. "I always train hard. I've
been training for this fight since I heard
about ita month ago."
HEARNS explained that he had been
preparing for a fight for three months
now although the opponents and dates
have been changed.
A middleweight title fight against
champion Marvin Haglar was scrapped
when Hearns injured his hand in
training. Then the two camps could not
agree on sites and money for a
rescheduled bout.
Sunday's fight will be the first for
Hearns since Feb. 27, when he knocked
out middleweight Marcos Geraldo in
the first round in Las Vegas. Mc-
Cracken last fought in June when he
defeated Ben Serrano in Atlantic City.
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Hearns
... ready to make comeback
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