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 UNIVERSITY TOWERS The Best of Campus Life' Furnished Apartments Great Location Corner of U itniersty & S. Forest 536 S. Forest Ave. 761-2680 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 SHORT OR LONG Hairstyles for Men and Women DASCOLA STYLISTS Liberty off State .. 668-9329 Maple Village - - 761-2733 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.