Sports
Page 12
Thursday, July 22, 1982.
The Michigan Daily
Big Ten Athlete of Year
Indiana's Spivey tops
Michigan's Woolfolk
By RON POLLACK
Michigan's Butch Woolfolk may be
better known by the average fan, but it
was Indiana track star Jim Spivey who
yesterday became the Big Ten's first
Athlete of the Year.
The Michigan tailback, however,
came extremely close to earning the
honor. Spivey received 34 points to edge
Woolfolk, who compiled 33 points.
"WHILE BUTCH Woolfolk had a
tremendous season, I'm not surprised
to see Jim Spivey win it since he won
four Big Ten titles this past year," said
Big Ten spokesman Mark Rudner. "He
may be one of the best Big Ten track
and field performers to come around in
a long time."
Spivey won the mile and two-mile Big
Ten outdoor titles last winter and took
the 1,500 and 5,000-meter champion-
ships last spring. He placed third in the
mile at the NCAA indoor champion-
ships and was the winner of the NCAA
1,500-meter outdoor title.
Woolfolk, meanwhile gained 1,459
yards on the ground this past season
and was named MVP in the Bluebonnet
Bowl for his 186-yard performance. He
earned All-American, team MVP and
All-Big Ten honors in hislast season as
a Wolverine. He was selected in the fir-
st round of this year's National Football
League draft by the New York Giants.
The voting for the Big Ten Athlete of
the Year was conducted by an 11-
member panel of media represen-
tatives from each conference city along
with one Big Ten representative.
Finishing third in the voting was
Minnesota gymnast Brian Meeker who
received nine points. The rest of the
candidates for the award, as chosen by
their respective schools, all finished
with three or less points. They were,
Illinois All-Big Ten quarterback Tony
Eason; Iowa football All-American An-
dre Tippett; Michigan State hockey
player Ron Scott, college hockey's
player of the year; Northwestern sof-
tball standout Ellen O'Keefe; Ohio
State quarterback Art Schlichter, The
Big Ten's 1981 Most Valuable Player;
Purdue basketball player Keith Ed-
monson, the conference's leading
scorer this past season; and Wisconsin
All-Big Ten defensive back David
Greenwood, who also was the Big Ten's
outdoor high-jump champion.
RUNNING BACK BUTCH Woolfolk carries the ball during a game last
year. Woolfolk, who finished his career at Michigan as the school's all-time
leading rusher, finished second in the voting for the Big Ten Athlete of the
Year.
Paris is a starter from 'day one'
By RON POLLACK
Firstinan eight-partseries
When most college football players
get drafted by the Super Bowl Cham-
pions, they figure that they'll spend
some time cn the bench and eventually
earn a starting berth. The only time of-
fensive tackle Bubba Paris intends to
spend on the San Francisco 49er bench
is when the defense is on the field.
"When I talked to the coaches, they
said I'd be a starter," said Paris who
was selected early in the second round
of the draft after a distinguished career
at Michigan. "When I went to mini-
camp (in May), I was a starter from
day one. That's when I understood the
difference between college and pro
football. In college, it's almost unheard
of to start from day one. But here, when
I was drafted, (head coach) Bill Walsh
said 'you were hired to start and if you
can't do the job we'll fire you and get
someone else.' He didn't exactly say
that, but it was there in so many wor-
ds."
ANY THOUGHTS of bringing Paris
along slowly were dashed when All-Pro
offensive guard Randy Cross broke his
leg and tore ligaments in his ankle after
the draft. Cross is not expected to be
ready for the start of the regular
season, and he may miss the whole
year. As a result, tackle Dan Audick
has been moved to guard and Paris
pencilled in as the staring tackle when
he arrived at the May mini-camp._
"At first they thought they'd groom
me, but with the loss of Cross there's no
time to groom me," said Paris. "The
investment has to pay off now."
If Walsh's early assessment of
Paris's play proves to be accurate, the
"investment" will pay off handsomely.
"Coach Walsh sets a lot of goals for
me," said Paris. "He was so impressed
with me after mini-camp that he said I
should shoot for All-Pro, not All-Rookie
or starting since he said I should do
those."
IF HE IS TO even come close to ear-
ning All-Pro honors, Paris realizes he
has a lot to learn. His first lesson came
on the opening day of mini-camp when
he was assigned to block defensive end
Fred Dean, one of the best pass rushers
in the National Football League.
"On that first day, he beat me and I
learned that you can't overpower
people. It's a game of wisdom and
position."
Paris says that his run blocking is
better than his pass blocking due to the
fact that Michigan paid more attention
to the former. He says that if he knows
what is good for him, and 49er quarter-
back Joe Montana, he'll have his pass
blocking up to pro standards by the
time the season begins.
"I BETTER have my pass blocking
mastered before the first game of the
year, because I'd hate to be em-
barrassed on national TV," said Paris.
"I'll have to have my pass blocking
mastered since the left tackle has to
prevent the quarterback from being
blindsided. We can't have me making
mistakes and learning or I'll get the
quarterback killed."
In addition to pass blocking, Paris
will have to master the art of
. motivating himself - something many
scouts felt he didn't do well enough
while in college.
"People have said things about my
motivation, but when you join the world
champions and the coach says you're
the starter that's all the motivation you
need," said Paris.
While he may not have had enough
motivation in college to satisfy the pro
scouts, he always had enough size. And
in the pros, he will have even more size
than last season when he weighed in at
270. "I will never play at 270 again," he
said. "I will never be lighter than 280.
San Francisco wants a big tackle who
can move."
At 280 pounds he certainly qualifies
as big, and he's already shown that he
can move - right into the starting
lineup.
The attempt of Stan Edwards to make
the jump from college to pro foot-
ball will be featured tomorrow.
Paris
... now a 49er