Page 16 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, June 20, 1986
Aretha Frankness . For Mills, Robinson...
By Dave Aretha 5 *"*.rule's in their favor
L IKE THOUSANDS of other high school graduates,
Terry Mills and Rumeal Robinson are nervously
awaiting their SAT results. But unlike most of the
others, Mills and Robinson aren't concerned about get-
ting into the school of their choice-they're coming to
Michigan even if they get all the answers wrong and
misspell their names. They're sole concern is whether
they'll be playing basketball for the Wolverines next
season.
They may have been scoring machines on the high
school basketball court, but if Mills and Robinson don't
score 700 on their SATs, they'll be denied basketball
eligibility their freshman year. It's all due to the new
NCAA rule, Proposition 48.
Mills and Robinson took the SATs on the final testing
day, June 7, and they'll get their results sometime next
month. It is believed Mills took the test for the first
time, June 7, while Robinson has taken it more than
once. It's hard to say whether they'll pass or not.
"I really don't know," said Michigan basketball
coach Bill Frieder. "We'll just have to wait and see."
But for Frieder, one thing is for sure: "I'll be disap-
pointed if they don't pass that test."
If Mills, Robinson, and other star athletes like them
don't pass that test, a whole lot of people are going to be
disappointed. Even before the athletes took their
exams, coaches, players, and fans cried that the new
rule was "biased" and "too harsh." You can bet
some of those cries will turn to wails once athletes find
they didn't make the "700 Club."
Even though Frieder is all for tough academic stan-
dards, he also believes the rule is biased.
"I think that (SAT) test is so prejudiced that that
concerns me," he said. "Whether it's due to culture or
whatever, there's no question that black kids haven't
done as well on those tests as white kids."
Frieder's right. White students average about 40
points more on the SATs than blacks, and many exper-
ts confirm that the test is biased. Most of the people
who oppose Proposition 48 use this "prejudice"
reasoning as their arguments.
I agree that the SATs are probably biased, but I also
think there's a more important issue here. Proposition
48 is more than a matter of "black versus white; it's
more an issue of "student versus athlete." And through
this line of reasoning, Proposition 48 isn't harsh; it's
excessively lenient.
Indeed, Michigan students in general average about
1180 on their SATs. And no matter what kind of talent
they have, hardly any non-athletes are accepted with
scores below 1000.
Take the hypothetical case of Laurie Bird, a
Michigan Art School applicant. Now Laurie has been
described by art scouts as a wizzard with the paint
brush. I mean, once she gets that brush in the paint,
there's no stopping her. But if Laurie doesn't score 700
on her SATs, there's absolutely no way she's gonna be
admitted to Michigan.
Not only will Mills and Robinson be admitted with
sub-700 scores, and not only will they be given three
years of basketball eligibility, but they'll also get full
four-year scholarships to boot! Now you can talk about
bias.
Michigan basketball coach Bill Frieder has to "wait and see" if recruits
Terry Mills and Rumeal Robinson pass their SAT tests.
Slow but sure, soccer
By JULIE LANGER
A soccer coach in a professional
league in the UnitedStates was once
asked, "How many years will it take
America to produce a soccer star?"
The answer was easy. "Five years,"
he said. "That's the time it takes for
naturalization."
No other team sport attracts so
many participants. Both male and
females worldwide take part in the
sport. Yet until recently, only North
America seemed unaffected by the in-
fluence of soccer. In 1967 soccer
began to catch on in the United States.
This was the. year that two
professional soccer leagues were
founded.
WITH A combined total of twenty-
two teams, the United Soccer
Association and the National
Professional Soccer League
overestimated the interest of the
American sports fan. Within two
years the two leagues were forced to
combine due to budget losses. The
North American Soccer League was
the result, with only five franchises.
By 1975 the league grew to fifteen
teams but consisted of semi-
professional athletes and could not
compete on an international basis.
In 1975 the New York Cosmos, an
NASL team, took a huge risk. They
signed Brazilian superstar Pele to a
$5 million dollar contract, an amount
equivalent to the entire league's
payroll. The NASL, in signing such a
star, was immediately an inter-
nationally recognized soccer
organization. Within a few years hun-
dreds of foreign stars added their
names to the NASL, improving the
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quality of play as well as attendance.
In 1978, the Major Indoor Soccer
League began with six teams. This
North American league plays with
six-player teams on an artificial turf,
with goals built into the ends of the
stadium. MISL, the indoor version of
the NASL, offered fans a more fast-
paced, high-scoring game. By its fifth
season the MISL grew to fourteen
teams and again was lead by a New
York team, the Arrows.
SINCE THEIR beginning, both
leagues had management problems,
dwindling attendance, and lack of
network television contracts. The
NASL has since folded. But it is in the
dramatic increase in participation by
the young players, the ticket buyers
of tomorrow, that soccer fans can
look to for hope. A 1982 A. C. Nielsen
report estimated that seven to eight
million Americans played soccer, of
whom nearly half were under the age
of twelve.
Soccer is gaining popularity on
college campuses. College athletic
departments see the safety and low,
costs of soccer as a possible alter-
native to football. Several colleges
have built their own soccer stadiums
for their varsity teams. Duke Univer-
sity, Indiana University, and the
University of Connecticut draw major
crowds to see a sport that many did
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grows in U.S.
not know existed a few years before. watching the World Cup, as
Michigan has yet to recognize soc- Americans would watch a Superbowl,
cer as a major sport. The University or a World Series. According to
does have a soccer club, consisting of Variety magazine, the attendance at
over 30 members, which plays inter- movie theaters in Copenhagen, the
collegiate soccer against varsity capital of Denmark (home of "Danish
teams from other schools. Dynamity," their undefeated soccer
FUNDING FROM the Department team) was down 28.1 percent since
FUNDIG FRO theDeparmentthe World Cupbga
of Recreational Sports at Michigan th e World Cuphgan.
coves tave, uifomsandpla~ti This year, the World Cup has been
covers travel, uniforms, and playg given the most extensive television
equipment, yet players often bear giverage yt eve teevson
some of the extra burden. Bob Chad- overage yet provided for the North
dock, Director of Club Sports" at Aeiafn. NBC paid $5 million
Michigan said, "The club is partially for the English-speaking rights to the
fuchndebyth sdholbubtsnotiougytournament, and is airing at least five
funded by the school, but not enough entire games during its coverage.
programs." e other varsity ESPN is telecasting fifteen games, in-
cluding the two semifinals. The
Spanish International Network
Though Michigan does not (SIN) is beaming all 52 matches to the
recognize soccer as it does football or United States, completely in Spanish.
baseball, the rest of the world regards Juaquin Iorga, a visiting student
soccer as the largest spectator sport. at Michigan from Spain, does not un-
The World Cup is currently bringing derstand America's nonchalance
together the world's finest soccer about the World Cup. "Someone
players during a four-week festival of asked me to go to the pool yesterday,"
international competition. The World Torga said, "but Spain was playing
Cup is often referred to as one of the Northern Ireland. At home we stay
world's greatest sporting events, and home from school, work and
rightly so. Soine two billion people everything so we don't miss the
will be watching on June 29th when games."
the finals will be held in Mexico City's Jose Nunez, also a visiting student
Azteca Stadium before a crowd of from Spain, wanted to see a match
114,000. but couldn't find one to go to. "I heard
all about baseball and football and
The 13th World Cup actually began basketball, but where is soccer?"
a year and a half ago, when the Nunez asked. "Soccer is an obsession
qualifying rounds started. Teams all over the world. It's like the United
representing 121 nations played for a States is in a bubble."
place amongst the 24-team final field. If the United States is in a bubble, it
Last year's champions Italy and host looks like it will soon be popped. Soc-
Mexico automatically make the final cer is the number-one participation
cuts. The United States lost in an sport in our country. Although the
early round. World Cup is a foreign sporting event
to us today, in a few years it could be
SPORTS FANS around the world as big and important to the United
have been glued to the television set States as the Olympics.